7 HCG Diet Mistakes You Must Avoid
The HCG diet is not that difficult or complicated, but there are several places where you can slip up and make mistakes. The more mistakes that you make during the diet it more difficult it will be to lose weight. Even though a lot of people will make mistakes, the diet is so effective that it can often make up for those mistakes and you will still very likely lose a large amount of weight after just one cycle of the diet. But, limiting your mistakes as much as possible is critical when you are trying to lose as much weight as possible. To get the most out of the diet, be sure to avoid these common HCG diet mistakes, and when you are planning out the diet think about the mistakes that you made with your previous dieting attempts to come up with a strategy for success.
Mistake #1 - Not following the protocol
The HCG diet protocol is not that detailed, but it does have a few requirements that you have to stick to. One of the biggest mistakes that dieters make is to not follow every aspect of the protocol. The requirements include avoiding cosmetics with lotion, sticking to a very specific list of HCG diet foods, sticking to only HCG approved seasonings, avoiding exercise, etc. The list of requirements is published on our HCG diet manual, and you should read the manual at least one time so that you know what to expect once your diet starts. You don't want to make mistakes just because you didn't take the time to read the manual, for example you should know which fruits and vegetables that you are allowed to eat or have the list of approved foods always available, and only stick to those foods. The more closely to stick to the recommendations, the more likely that the diet is to work for you.
Mistake #2 - Guessing food portions
The HCG diet requires careful measuring of portions to ensure that you don't eat too many calories and that your meals are not too large. The portion sizes of 100 grams of protein and 1 cup of vegetables per meal are very precise, and it is more important to be precise with your protein servings as opposed to the vegetable servings because of the fat content and extra calories. With the vegetables you can afford to be a little less accurate, but you still want to be as close as possible to the recommended portion sizes. Be sure to use have a food scale available to measure out your portion sizes accurately and stick to using it throughout the diet every time you cook, especially for Phase 2.
Mistake #3 - Exercising on the diet
Any exercise outside of your normal daily activity on the HCG diet is a mistake and can actually make your diet go a lot worse. Exercise can force you to eat too many calories and cause your weight loss to stall, or you may even gain weight. It is also potentially dangerous to exercise on a very low calorie diet. It can cause severe symptoms like dehydration, fatigue, low blood sugar and more. You shouldn't exercise at all when you are on the diet, and you should only perform the minimal amount of physical activity needed for your job. If you have an active job you may need to increase your HCG diet calories slightly, but you should do this without a medical consultation. People with an active job can usually increase their protein intake safely when on the diet, but most other people need to stick to the maximum recommended calories and avoid any exercise for the three or six week very low calorie diet.
Mistake #4 - Using canned vegetables or fruits
You don't want to use canned vegetables or fruits on the HCG diet at all because they often add preservatives or other ingredients. Canned fruits will often have extra sugar added to them, while canned vegetables can be high in sodium or have preservatives added. These chemicals can interact with the HCG hormone and make it difficult for you to lose weight. The extra sugar in canned fruits can cause weight gain and is an extra source of empty calories. Canned fruits and vegetables also won't have as high of a nutritional value as fresh fruits and vegetables because the canning process can destroy a lot of their natural health properties. Your best bet is just to shop regularly and get the fruits and vegetables that you need fresh for that week.
Mistake #5 - Using the wrong cuts of meat or non-organic meat
Ideally you should use organic meat for the HCG diet, however in some cases this is not possible because of the lack of availability or the cost. In that case you will want to stick to mainly seafood or cuts of meat that are specifically approved for the HCG diet. For example, you should be very careful with steak and cuts of beef, because not every type of steak is approved for the diet. There is a major difference between the fat content of a tri tip steak and a T-bone steak for instance. Eating a T-bone steak, even with the fat trimmed off of it will end up causing major problems on the diet because the meat has a higher percentage of fat compared to other beef cuts. Also, non-organic meats may have hormones or additives that can cause problems with the HCG hormone.
Mistake #6 - Drinking the wrong beverages
There is a specific list of approved beverages for the HCG diet, and the list is fairly small. You can drink stevia flavored drinks like coffee and tea, but you don't want to drink stevia flavored sodas or other drinks that can have additives. Also, drinking artificially sweetened drinks is definitely not allowed on the diet, and it can make weight loss much more difficult. Studies have shown that artificially sweetened drinks can cause the body to release insulin, can lead to inflammation, and otherwise wreak havoc on your metabolism. You will want to stick to drinking mostly water with the occasional unsweetened tea or coffee when you are on the diet. You'll have to go cold turkey from soda and sweetened drinks for the very low calorie diet, but it is well worth it as you will lose weight quickly.
Mistake #7 - Using cooking spray or oil
You shouldn't use any cooking spray at all when on the diet or oil. This can be a bit challenging to cook with but certainly not impossible. You can use non-stick pans as one option for cooking most of your meats and other recipes that call for a pan. Also, you can use broth as a substitute for oil in a lot of cases. Most HCG diet recipes will show you how you should prepare your food. Steaming and grilling are also two methods that you can use to cook your recipes that won't require any fat. If you do have to use cooking spray, use the absolute smallest amount possible, and you might even trying spraying a paper towel and wiping the pan with it to barely coat it. No matter what you should never use any cooking oils at all, and this is only for the very low calorie diet. Once you hit Phase 3 you can start using cooking oils, but stick to natural oils like olive and coconut oil and avoid vegetable oils and margarine.