At the Beginning....Again.

Here I am at the beginning of Round 4 Phase 2....after losing 100 lbs. then gaining 51 back. :'(

My loading days have gone well, but I may have overdone it a bit. I have found that the better you load the easier it is to transition though. Time will tell, but I tried to get as much fatty foods in as I could stand. At this point, I'll be glad to eat next to nothing for the next little while.

I went shopping and stocked up on chicken, steak, and shrimp which are my favorites. I weighed out each portion and put them in baggies for easy cooking later. I went ahead and cooked up about 4 days worth of chicken so that if I need to grab some in a hurry, I can do that. I'm super busy these days so every bit of advanced prep helps.

One of the hardest things, I think, about doing this diet is the fact that the rest of my family still needs to eat. It's easy for me to focus on my meals, recipes, preparations, and forget that I still have children and a husband who want food too. (Go figure.) My oldest, who did the HCG with us last time, has decided that she wants to eat what I eat in a bit larger portions. But the other daughter and DH still need food. I think I'm going to try to let them all eat the basic HCG recipes that I prepare, but cook an extra side or two for them to bulk up their meals. What do you all think? Do you have any ideas for helping your family to keep eating healthy while you are on a restricted diet? Do you have any easy recipes that the kids can make for themselves? Please share your great ideas!

Phase One of the HCG Diet-My Favorite!

The first phase of the HCG diet is your loading phase. I LOVED THIS PHASE! Two days of pure unadulterated indulgence. I had friends start this phase and they went out and got a shake on the second night. That was their BIG SPLURGE. Please don't waste this phase! If you ever wanted something fat and tasty and good, now is the time. Eat as many high fat/high calorie foods as you can during this 2-day loading phase. Pasta, doughnuts, ice cream, whatever. Nothing is off-limits during phase 1.

The purpose of this is to make sure your body has extra fat stores to use while the HCG begins working. It takes up to 3 days for the HCG to kick in and begin to burn enough fat to supplement your 500 calorie diet.

In other words, your body must have fat to burn while you begin the 500 calorie diet or you may get too hungry and give up on the diet altogether. Make sure you are following your doctor's recommendation for Phase 1.

A Word About Cleansing: Some websites recommend a month-long cleansing period, which they also call Phase One of the HCG diet. I did not know about this until after I had completed one session and I do not think it is necessary to the success of the HCG diet. And it certainly doesn't sound like as much fun!