Helpful Charts, Tips, How I felt, Interesting Findings, & Your Skin and HCG
How did it go? Did I like it? Did I loose weight? Do I feel better?
Answers: Well, yes, yes, and yes!!
Along the way I learned a few things during Phase 2, which I will share with you now. Keep in mind that everyone reacts to the HCG diet and hormone differently, so my findings may or may not correspond with yours....
How I felt during HCG Phase 2
- Week 1: I was hungry, took naps, and had weird dreams
- week 2: I was cranky
- Week 3: I felt GREAT and energetic!!
Interesting HCG Tidbits
Fine. Perhaps a tiny bit sweet, but the longer you hold them under your tongue, the less flavor or taste they have. And really, you don't have taste-buds underneath your tongue, so you really don't taste them much anyway....
Hunger-Craving Strategies
- ALWAYS have a lunch packed and never leave your home without it. You never know when a ten-minute errand will turn into a three-hour excursion. When you get hungry, or it is time to eat you MUST have your own food with you, because what is available out there for impulse buying in NOT very nutritious, and certainly does NOT fit in with the HCG diet.....
- Drink LOTS of water. Drinking will give you a feeling of being full, and it keeps you busy. ALWAYS carry around a large water-bottle too... Keep hydrated. I often carried around several.
- Eat six times a day (rather than three).
- Take half the amount of the drops six times a day (rather than the whole amount three times).
HCG and Thyroid Issues
If you suffer from an under-active thyroid, the HCG diet can be quite beneficial, because the hypothalamus resets the thyroid. However, here is a word of caution: when eating cabbage (one of the HCG approved vegetables) it should be cooked first.
The goitronic chemical in cabbage (and other cruciferous vegetables) inhibits the body's ability to use iodine which is essential for the production of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4. Cooking cabbage disables virtually all of the harmful goitrogen.
So remember: COOK YOUR CABBAGE.
Exercise and HCG
Exercising while on the HCG Diet comes highly recommended (by me). I was already exercising 6 times a week before I started the diet, and continued to do so (eliminating strenuous workouts). There were a few times when I found an excuse to keep from going to the gym, and on those days I either did not loose any weight or lost very little. Therefore I strongly encourage you to exercise as often as you can.
What is an Apple Day?
You may need an apple-day if you plateau on a certain weight for 4 days or more. This is how to approach it:
- Eat only apples for one whole day, starting at lunch, resuming the regular HCG diet at lunch the following day.
- Limit the number to six large apples
- No liquids except a minimal amount of plain water, just enough to quench an uncomfortable thirst
Can I Cheat?
DO NOT cheat! You WILL regret it! It will give you a setback that you will then have to recover from.
What do you do on days when you don't feel well?
There were a few days when I was under the weather while on Phase 2, and I did not cheat....!!! I found that drinking hot herbal tea with a little bit of cayenne pepper and Stevia was quite soothing.
Your Skin and the HCG Diet
However, I suffer from severely dry skin and the climate I live in (South-East Idaho) is extremely dry, so going without lotion is quite impossible for me, because it is quite miserable when my skin gets dry.
Sooooo because of this I needed to find a lotion that would not introduce oil to my skin.
I used Renew Intensive Care Lotion by Melaleuca. Renew does not contain any oil, not even mineral oil (mineral oil does not give people like me relief, as it just is a surface solution, not penetrating and healing the skin from the inside). As one of the last ingredients, Renew does list melaleuca-oil, but I assume this to be just a drop or two (maybe three), and only beneficial to the skin, rather than harmful.
I applied Renew to my entire body (even my face) once a day, and several times a day on my hands.
On my lips I used a mineral-oil-based lip balm. The only lip product I could find that contained mineral oil and no other oils was Care Deeply by Avon
I did Phase 2 for 31 days. Because the HCG hormone depletes the body of fats (and oils) the skin on my hands was beginning to be drained of any supple oil by day 29. I do not advise going beyond day 29 if you have severely dry skin. My hands started cracking and bleeding and hurting. Using these moisturizing products while on Phase 2 my skin felt fine until that point.
In short: without Renew doing the HCG Diet would be virtually impossible for me personally.