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Inevitably you are going to experience at least some hunger when you are on the HCG diet, but there are several ways to deal with it, and in this article we will be going over some of the top strategies to deal with hunger and how you can reduce it as much as possible. In general, during the early stages of the diet you can expect to be hungrier, but toward the middle and the end of the diet it starts to get easier. Your body is adjusting to a lower calorie intake during the first week as well as the metabolizing effects of the HCG hormone, so it isn't always that easy to suppress your appetite, but these tricks can help you.
Use water to suppress your appetite
Drinking a ton of water is very helpful for hunger control, and it will help make your meals more filling. Be sure that you're drinking the recommended half gallon to one gallon of water each day, and be consistent with it. The more dehydrated that you are on a low calorie diet, the more likely that you are to cheat. Dehydration has been shown to lead to increased hunger in several studies, and it's easy to fix that problem just by getting enough water in your diet. Tea can also be a substitute for water, but be sure that you don't add anything to it outside of stevia and lemon or lime juice, and natural sparkling water without additives is another option.
Coffee works well as an appetite suppressant
Another appetite suppressant that works well is coffee. The caffeine in coffee helps to control your appetite naturally, and it is quite effective. But you should be sure to drink black coffee and avoid adding any sweeteners or other ingredients that have calories. Adding stevia to your coffee or non-fat milk in small amounts should be okay, but talk to your medical provider before adding any dairy to your diet. The effect that coffee can have on you can be quite substantial in terms of its appetite suppressant effect, but if you are sensitive to it, you might need to limit your consumption to just a few cups per day.
Green or black tea can work for hunger suppressing as well
Black tea and green tea are two good appetite suppressants, with green tea being superior because of certain compounds that can cause weight loss. In particular, green tea lowers the appetite by inhibiting an enzyme that breaks down dopamine and norepinephrine. Green tea also releases another hormone called CCK which immediately reduces the appetite. This same hormone is released after consuming a meal. In addition, green tea's polyphenols can increase thermogenesis or natural fat burning. Green tea doesn't have any negative effects on the cardiovascular system unlike unnatural compounds and additives. In general, it's a perfect drink for the HCG diet, along with black tea, and again you have to be careful to avoid adding any sugar or dairy products in your tea, but stevia, lemon juice and other approved HCG diet seasonings are allowed.
Split your meals up
By splitting your meals up throughout the day, it can be a lot easier to control your appetite, but this varies from one person to another. Some people do better when they consume most of their calories at just one meal and then basically fast for the remaining period (while staying hydrated), while other people prefer to split the meals up into two or more. It's definitely worth a shot to experiment with different methods when it comes to this. If you find that you are extremely hungry during the day and you've been splitting your meals up, try the opposite and eat most of your calories in one sitting.
Be sure that you're getting adequate protein
You definitely want to be sure that you're getting the recommended 3.5 ounces of protein per meal while on the HCG diet. Neglecting this will definitely make the diet a lot harder than it needs to be. The protein breaks down gradually and helps to control your blood sugar levels, which in turn will keep you feeling satiated between your meals. But if you substitute the protein for more vegetable or fruit servings, you won't be as satiated and you're be more likely to feel low in energy. If you are vegetarian, there are options available for whey protein shakes and other protein replacements, but you should never skip the protein requirement.
Limit your physical activity during Phase 2
It might seem counterintuitive, but you should definitely limit your physical activity during phase 2 of the diet. This is because you are only limited to 500 calories per day, and if you start to exert yourself or do more physical activity than you're used to for any reason, it will end up draining you. You'll feel hungry much more often and you'll be more likely to slip up if you increase your activity level. When you start Phase 2, be sure that you aren't changing anything up in terms of your routine, for instance if you don't walk a lot regularly, don't start increasing your walking distance, otherwise you might start to experience some difficulties with the diet.
Increase your vegetable servings
If you've tried everything else and you are still finding that you're hungry on the diet, try to increase your vegetable servings a little bit. You can consult with your medical provider and find out of it is okay to increase your vegetable servings while decreasing your fruit servings or your breadstick option. By doing this you'll be adding more fiber to your diet and you can increase the number of meals that you have each day. Also, another great option for the HCG diet is to make soups, which are more filling and in general you can eat larger quantities without having to worry about calories. Soups and salads are great meal options and be sure that you are getting the recommended serving sizes for each type of vegetable.
At Nu Image Medical we provide you with plenty of details regarding this, and if you have any difficulties with hunger or other problems on the diet you can always ask your medical provider questions. To learn more about the HCG diet or to ask questions, click here to talk to a medical provider at Nu Image Medical today.