5 Things You Must Know About HCG Diet Before Committing To It
If you are looking forward to taking up a diet program to lose weight, then you may have come across the HCG diet plan. This is essentially a calorie-restrictive program that will help you burn the excess fat in your body in a matter of few weeks. And if the HCG diet plan interests you, then you should definitely know the following things about the program.
Waiting between Rounds
How many rounds of HCG hormones you need to take will depend on mostly one thing – the amount of weight you need to lose. Generally, the more weight you wish to cut down, the more hormones you will have to inject and vice versa. However, you need to wait for a specific period of time before moving from one round of injections to another. After Round 1, you must wait for a minimum of six weeks for doing Round 2. Then you have to wait for about 8 weeks for Round 3. Then, nearly 12 weeks for Round 4 and 20 weeks for Round 5. For Round 6, you have to wait for 6 months from Round 5. Only when you follow these time periods will you be able to lose a lot of weight without any issues. If you take the hormonal injection haphazardly without honoring the established guidelines, you are less likely to lose weight as expected. And in addition, you might also develop some medical issues.
HCG Stall
When you are on an HCG diet, it is very likely that you will have to face an ‘HCG stall’, which refers to a situation where you suddenly stop losing weight even though you are following the instructions to the point. And though this development can be incredibly frustrating, you should not lose hope as this is quite common. This condition can last for about four to six days. Eventually, the situation will correct itself, and you will again start losing weight as a result of the diet program. However, there are some people who will never experience an HCG stall and will keep losing weight almost every single day.
Hormone Injections
When injecting HCG hormones, you will have two ways of doing it – intramuscular and subcutaneous. In an intramuscular injection, you inject the hormones right into your muscles. In contrast, in a subcutaneous injection, you only inject the hormones just beneath the skin. Both methods deliver similar results. As such, you can choose to inject the hormones in any way you prefer. But generally, subcutaneous injections have been observed to be the most popular way to inject HCG. Plus, you will also have to decide the type of syringe to use. And in case you will be using the subcutaneous method, then it is recommended that you use a 0.3 milliliter, 29 gauge syringe with a half inch needle. Additionally, ensure that you are comparing HCG Diet hormones before you buy them.
Weight Loss Target
When you start the HCG diet plan, you will be looking forward to losing a certain amount of weight. However, excessive expectations can dampen your spirits midway and might even cause you to leave the program without completing it. As such, be realistic as to how much weight can be lost through the HCG diet program. On an average, you should expect to lose about a pound per day. So, on a 23 day round, you should be losing about 23 pounds. However, there are people who have lost even 40 pounds during the time period. But to be on the safe side, it is better if you go into the program expecting to lose about 20 to 25 pounds at the end of it.
Skipping Loading Days
In the HCG diet plan, there is a concept called ‘loading days’. As the name suggests, these are the days when you are no longer restricted to eating just 500 calories. In fact, you are expected to eat as much food items as you can, no matter how sugary or fatty they are. This is usually the first two days of the HCF plan. Unfortunately, many people might think of skipping it. This is a bad habit. The loading days have been recommended for a very specific reason. By eating heavily for the two days, you will increase the fat storage of the body. As such, when you are on the 500 calorie diet for the next days, the body will be able to tap into that fat storage and maintain the energy levels of your body. If you skip the loading days, there is a very high chance that you might feel very tired once you start the 500 calorie diet. So, never skip the loading days and eat as much as you can.