The HCG Diet Plan: Keeping Your Hunger Down

hCG Diet Plan – The Trend Is Back!

hCG diet planThe hCG diet plan was initially created by Dr. ATW Simeons in the 1950s. While in India, Dr. Simeons found that hCG activated lipids in about the majority of his patients, bringing about weight loss. He proposed hCG as a supplemental hormone to go with an ultra-low-calorie weight loss diet of under 500 calories. It has become a popular fad in the 1970’s.

hCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone found in the urine of pregnant women and utilized, with FDA approval, as a fertility drug. The 70’s plan was that if you infused hCG day by day for a predefined number of days and went on a 500 calorie diet, you would shed pounds without that ravenous feeling one would anticipate from close starvation.

What We Need To Understand About The 3 Phases of hCG

There are three (3) phases to the hCG based on Simeons’ research and this include the following:

  • Phase 1. This stage includes a high caloric and high fat intake for 2-3 days while taking hCG. Supposedly, the body will endeavor to store new fat cells yet the hormone will keep it from doing as such. Therefore, the body is said to loosen and activate lipids as opposed to storing new fat. Some sites likewise prescribe detoxifying or purifying the body amid this stage by means of a colon cleanse or simply avoiding all processed foods and manufactured sweeteners.
  • Phase 2. This is the most difficult stage for dieters. It requires a strict caloric intake of 500-700 calories per day. Numerous consumers prefer to consume lean protein as well as low-calorie fruits and vegetables. Once in a while dieters swing to espresso and tea for breakfast, and afterward expend two marginally bigger meals for lunch and supper. According to hCG dieters, the vast majority of the weight comes off amid the initial 5-10 days. Be that as it may, many proceed with the hCG diet for up to 60 days.
  • Phase 3. The third stage, or support stage, is the most easiest part of the hCG diet to keep up. Caloric intake is expanded to 1200-1500 calories per day, which is still low yet still within the ordinary range for some. During this stage, hCG use is stopped and weight watchers must hold up no less than 23 days before starting another hCG regimen.

What To Eat and What Not To Eat

What is typical in the hCG diet plan menu? This definitive guide on what to eat during the hCG Diet was shared by Angela Haupt on her article column in the US News adapted from Dr. Simeon’s hCG Plan Summary.

Breakfast
No solid food before lunch. Breakfast is discretionary. It comprises of some dark coffee or tea-any size. Sugar is a no-no, however calorie free sweeteners like saccharin or Stevia are alright. The hCG menu permits one tablespoon of milk over a 24-hour time span, so dieters can blow the day by day distribution and blend it into their morning coffee.

Lunch and Dinner – The Meat
The heft of calories originate from lunch and dinner – both meals call for little measures of veggies and carbs and 3.5 ounces of lean, fat-free protein. Veal, non-marbled beef, chicken breast, fresh white-fleshed fish, lobster, crab and shrimp are all fine; greasy choices like salmon, eel, tuna, herring and dried or pickled fish are off-limits. From time to time meat can be supplanted with an egg or a serving of low-fat cottage cheese.

Lunch and Dinner – The Veggies
One low-calorie vegetable is allowed with both lunch and dinner. Choices include spinach, chard, chicory, beet greens, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, and cabbage. Veggies musn’t be topped with oil, butter or sauce.

Lunch and Dinner – The Carbs
hCG dieters can have one breadstick or one piece of Melba toast with lunch and dinner. Both choices make the list because they don’t contain fat, sodium, or cholesteros and are low in calories – 12 in a piece of Melba toast for example. Dieters also get an apple, an orange, a handful of strawberries, or half a grapefruit with each 250-calorie meal.

Beverages
Tea, coffee and water (tap or mineral) only. There is no limit on how much of these dieters can drink, and Simeons suggest at least 2 liters a day. Alcohol is outlawed.

Seasonings
Dieters can shower their meals with salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard powder, garlic, sweet basil, parsley, thyme or marjoram. But following the plan means steering clear of oil, butter, and any type of dressing. Each day, hCG dieters can also use the juice of one lemon.

Off Limits
hCG dieters must stick to menu items. Everything else is banned. There is no room for the occasional cookie, morsel of chocolate, plate of pasta, or bagel.

hCG As A Quick Weight Loss Solution

hCG can be an excellent choice to add into any weight loss program as long as you know why you are using it and your medical provider is fully educated on the facts about hCG. Although MedShape’s hCG Diet Plan can provide a rewarding benefit to most people in their weight loss efforts, it is not for everyone. You can call us today and schedule your consultation to see if hCG is a good fit to add into your weight loss program.

Related Article:
Common Questions Regarding hCG Shots and Weight Loss Diet


The Benefits of Vitamin B12 Shots During Weight Loss

Benefits of Vitamin B12 Shots

Getting regular Vitamin B12 shots has been found to directly induce weight loss, speed up one’s metabolism, which in turn promote great weight loss. While not know as a “weight loss shot”, patients who have received Vitamin B12 shots have reported a major boost in energy they needed to motivate them to exercise more and conscientiously eat healthy.

Studies also show that Vitamin B12 shots also help fight depression, fatigue and stress, which are often associated with weight gain. Patients who have received these shots from our clinics in both Minnesota and Arizona have been quite satisfied with their new-found energy and rewarding weight loss as a result.  Our superior medical team administers the vitamin shot and explains to patients the benefits of receiving vitamin B12 injections.

Vitamin B12 shots are administered into the muscle for better absorption, and are usually given on a weekly basis and can be administered up to twice a week to really kick start a safe, effective weight loss program.  Aside from weight loss, some of our patients who have received Vitamin B12 shots have noticed improvement in their sleep patterns, more clarity in day to day hectic lifestyles, less hunger, reduced food cravings and a decrease in headaches.

Individual cost for vitamin B12 injections through MedShape Weight Loss are $10.  We offer the highest quality B12 injections to our patients to ensure maximum absorption.

Our team has recognized the benefits of vitamin B12 injections for several years now and has taken the injection to a new level by adding B Complex, B6 and B5 into the mix.  This has allowed us to treat each patient as an individual and cater to our patient’s exact needs when it comes to weight loss.  Some new benefits include Thyroid support, ease of water retention, suppression of the appetite, lowering cortisol levels which are created from stress, helping maintain lean mass and burning out body fat at an accelerated pace.

Vitamin B12 injections offer many positive benefits and definitely enhance any weight loss program.

Know more about our  hCG diet program here.

Simeons HCG Diet Leads To Changes In Body Composition & Health – A Case Report

Given the recent popularity of the Simeons hCG diet, it is likely that thousands of individuals have experienced changes in body composition and health as a result of following the 500 calorie diet. Much of the attention surrounding the Simeons hCG diet has focused on reports of the significant weight loss experienced by users of the 500 calorie per day diet. However, details as to the nature of that weight loss along with health changes that dieters may have experienced as a result of using the 500-calorie diet have received less attention.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with a woman who presented to one of Medshape’s clinic locations for a BodyComp 5000 reading. (The BodyComp 5000 is a state of the art, multiple frequency bio-impedance machine used by the Medshape staff to assess the percent body fat and lean mass levels of their patients before, during and after weight loss efforts.) The woman, Teri, had scheduled an appointment to have her body composition analyzed at Medshape because she felt that previous readings she had conducted at her gym and home scale were inaccurate.

When asked why she felt the body composition results given to her by her trainer at the gym and those from her bathroom scale were inaccurate, Teri reported that she had lost fifty pounds on her own but that both the results from the gym and home indicated that her body fat had increased and recommended additional body fat be lost.

Teri felt that if she lost the amount of body fat that was being recommended she would be at a dangerously low body weight and therefore the results must be inaccurate. Teri sought out the highly accurate results of the BodyComp 5000 offered by Medshape to help clear up this uncertainty.

Upon reviewing the results of the BodyComp 5000, not only did the results agree with those provided to Teri by her trainer and bathroom scale, they went further, much further. The BodyComp 5000 results indicated that 40% of Teri’s body weight currently consisted of body fat, an increase of 7% from the 33% body fat she had before she lost weight!

Teri didn’t accept the results easily, but having three different methods of evaluating body composition deliver the same message, (especially one as precise as the BodyComp 5000) made it hard for Teri to deny. After accepting that her percent body fat had increased despite her weight loss, Teri’s next question was how?

This began a discussion about what Teri had done to lose weight. Teri reported that she had utilized the Simeons hCG diet three separate times over the past two years. The Simeons hCG diet, is an ultra-low calorie diet developed in the late 1940’s to early 1950’s, that allows only 500 calories per day in a very regimented manner.

During our conversation Teri reported that during the three times she used the 500 calorie per day diet she had never administered hCG by subcutaneous injection. During her time on the Simeons hCG diet she took “hCG drops”, which she initially got from her friend who was a hairdresser and then from a local health food store.

Teri reported that she followed the Simeons diet “exactly and only used special shampoo, conditioner, lotion & cosmetics” that she got from her friend who was a hairdresser.

She stated that she lost the most weight the first time she used the 500-calorie Simeons hCG diet. Teri said she maintained her weight loss from the first attempt for about 4 months at which point her weight started to creep back up.

When she regained about half of the weight she had initially lost, Teri resumed the 500 calorie diet for a second time. Teri said that the weight loss was much slower the second and third times she attempted the Simeons diet and that it was harder to maintain the weight loss once she went off the 500 calorie per day diet.

In addition, Teri reported that she started to have trouble with fatigue and depressed mood along with brittle nails and thinning hair during her third time using the Simeons hCG diet.

When asked how long she was able to maintain the weight loss after her third time using the 500 Calorie HCG diet, Teri frowned and said “not long for most of it”. Teri said that immediately upon returning to a “normal” diet after her third time of using the Simeons hCG diet she began experiencing severe abdominal pain after eating. It was soon discovered that she had developed gallstones and a severe inflammation of the gallbladder known as cholecystitis. In fact, Teri said that she ended up having her gallbladder removed just 3 weeks ago.

Teri asked whether her weight loss had anything to do with the development of her cholecyctitis, and while that question can’t be answered with absolute certainty because many women who have never followed a diet develop gallstones, there are strong reasons to think that it might.

Increased rates of gallstone formation are known to occur in conditions where rapid weight loss that consists of a high percentage of lean mass (muscle, bone, skin thickness, etc) occurs. In fact, this relationship is so well known that it is standard practice for individuals undergoing gastric bypass surgery to have their gallbladders removed, due to the high incidence of stone formation associated with the post surgical weight loss.

When reviewing the body composition data from before her weight loss efforts and comparing it to the BodyComp 5000 results, it was clear that Teri had lost between 75-80% of her weight as lean mass. This was why that even though her body weight decreased the percentage of her body weight made of body fat increased.

It was explained that in order to reduce her body fat percentage, Teri must regain lean mass (muscle, bone, skin, etc) that she lost during her use of the Simeons hCG diet, then loose body fat, while retaining as much lean mass as possible. Teri’s response was, “ Great, so I basically have to undo everything I spent the past two years suffering to achieve, I wish I would have known this earlier & before I had surgery”.

Teri’s frustration is certainly understandable, there are many confusing messages about what is the best or fastest way to lose weight and in the end the truth of the matter is that weight loss is only part of the picture. How an individual loses weight is actually far more important, in most cases, than the amount of weight they lose or how fast they lose it.

Being armed with the information about where your body composition currently is and working with a team that can help you interpret the results and guide you on a path to help you reach your goals safely is essential for weight loss success. This is why Medshape has offered a complimentary BodyComp 5000 analysis for individuals who wish to learn more about losing weight and improving health.

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