Dealing with the 500 calorie diet while on the HCG diet plan is a lot easier than one might imagine. The use of HCG, otherwise called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, helps to keep one’s appetite under control and it is therefore easier to eat a very low calorie diet on a daily basis. With the 500 calorie diet, one can lose weight quickly and still maintain enough energy to function at normal capacity.
The use of HCG was first suggested by Dr. Simeons who devised a dieting protocol after the discovery of how HCG curb’s one’s appetite. The protocol that Dr. Simeon’s recommends is rigorous, but essential to one’s success on the HCG diet. Read more about the original 500 calorie Diet (Very Low Calorie Diet) from Dr. Simeons’ manuscript, “Pounds and Inches.”
Whether you choose to utilize HCG injections or HCG drops is entirely up to you, but the 500 calorie diet is required no matter what HCG product you ultimately select. When you stick to the 500 calorie diet, you can easily drop one to three pounds on a daily basis. If however, you do not stick to a rigid 50the0 calorie diet, you will diminish the amount of weight you will lose, and you might only lose a pound each day or less. In other words, whether using HCG drops or injections, eating properly is the key to HCG dieting success.
Dr. Simeon’s clearly defines what foods are acceptable as you engage in a 500 calorie diet. He recommends healthy foods containing the right amount of proteins including beef, shrimp, fish, turkey, and chicken selections. If the meat contains any visible fat, it should be removed before cooking. In term of portion sizes, you are allowed 3.5 ounces of beef, 6 ounces of shrimp, 4 ounces of fish, 3.5 ounces of turkey or 6 ounces of chicken when creating a meal. Your meat selections can be grilled, steamed, or boiled, but not fried or baked. You will want to avoid the use of unnecessary oils.
Meats can be added to lunch or supper selections. You can benefit greatly from preparing your meals in advance; this will help you eliminate potential temptations while in the kitchen. You may also want to create a biweekly or monthly 500 calorie diet menu; if you have an established menu it simplifies all of your meal planning. You should alternate your lunch and dinner choices between beef and poultry or between fish and beef or poultry in order to maximize your HCG weight loss. Try not to eat the same meat selections a few days in a row: this will help prevent you from growing bored with your food choices.
You are also allowed to eat some tasty veggies while on the 500 calorie diet. You actually have over forty different vegetables that you can select from when looking to consume veggies. You can choose from tasty selections like cabbage; red, fresh radishes, mixed veggies, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, and many more vitamin enriched selections. With a 500 calorie diet, you will want to keep a calorie counting journal for ease of tracking your caloric intake. You need to calculate the caloric value of meats, beverages and snacks you have consumed during the day to figure out how many calories you have remaining for a side of veggies during lunch or dinner.
When you are on the 500 calorie diet, you can add snacks to the diet to help keep your appetite satisfied too. Allowable snacks on the plan include Grissino or Melba bread toast or acceptable fruit selections. Acceptable fruits include small portions of strawberries, oranges, or fresh apples. Bear in mind that whatever you eat must be calculated into the 500 calorie limit; you will have to deduct the calories in the snacks you consume from your 500 calorie daily allowance. So you might want to keep snacks to a minimum at all times. Some people forego snacking entirely; this allows for the remaining calories to be used in daily meals.
Beverages that you can have while on the HCG diet are incredibly limited. Your best bet is to consume ice cold water; this helps burn off calories and you don’t add calories to your daily intake. You can also have coffee, tea, or herbal tea offerings if you do not sweeten them with sugar or artificial sweeteners. You can only use a single tablespoon of milk each day, so you are better of drinking your tea or coffee black. However, you can add Stevia or Saccharin to your drink if you desire.