Helpful Hints for Maximum Results

• DRINK 8-8oz glasses of water a day.

• Drink Herbal teas or coffee. Corn silk tea, green tea, dandelion tea, fennel tea, and parsley team.

• Always use a scale to weigh your protein for dinner and lunch.

• Use only raw apple cider vinegar.

• Take 1 B-12 pill and 1 Potassium pill daily.

• No oils of any types. This includes food, hair, or skin products.

• No massages while taking HCG Drops.

• No tans while taking HCG Drops.

• Do not exercise while taking the HCG Drops.

• Tea, coffee, plain water, or mineral water (2 Liters of water per day is recommended) are the only drinks allowed, but may be taken in any quantity and at all times.

• The fruit or the snack (Melba Toast or Grissini bread stick) may be eaten between meals instead of with lunch of dinner, but not more than four items listed may be eaten at one meal.

Seasonings Allowed on HCG Protocol

• The juice of one lemon daily is allowed for all purposes.

• Salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard powder, garlic, sweet basil, parsley, thyme, marjoram, and lemon pepper may be used of seasoning.

• No oil or butter allowed.

• Only Walden Farms salad dressing allowed.

All “Apple” or All Steak Day

If you cheat and did not follow protocol, you can do an all Apple day or all Steak day. This should NOT be a common occurrence. Only do an all Apple day or all Steak day once during phase 2 or phase 3!

• Apple Day: Take your drops and eat up to “6” large apples “only” throughout the day. Drink 8 oz. glasses of water. Take B-12 and Potassium daily.

• Steak Day: Take your drops. Drink 8 oz. glasses of water. Take B-12 and Potassium daily. Eat “1” meal, which will be one 6 oz. steak with all fat removed before cooking.

Go back to 500 calories the next day.

Top 10 Most Common Errors During the 500 Calorie Diet Phase

1. Using the wrong spices. Spices must be used with extreme caution. Check all ingredients for any unallowable foods (shredded orange peel), any form of sugar (brown, white, maltose, dextrose), starch (modified corn starch) and/or any kind of oil can have sugar and modified cornstarch.

2. Gorge Days. Not loading enough fat during gorge days, which are the first two days of HCG can impact how you start the diet. This might explain hunger and associated crankiness during the first week of HCG very low calorie phase.

3. Mixing Vegetables at a meal. Dr. Simeon clearly states one vegetable per meal. While many people lose quite satisfactorily when mixing vegetables, it is a place to review if losing slows.

4. Chewing gum & eating mints. These items are not allowed during the VLCD (very low calorie diet phase) Again some lose quite satisfactorily when violating protocol, it is a place to review if losing slows.

5. Drinking un-allowed diet drinks, including Crystal Light, diet soda, or other diet drinks. ONLY water, tea, coffee, and mineral water should be used. Use allowable sweeteners, flavor, and variety.

6. Eating too much American ground beef, which is noted as significantly more fatty than the beef Dr. Simeon refers to.

7. Weighing 100 grams (3 ozs) of protein after cooking. Weight of protein is based on pre-cooked weight. This can make quite a difference in the prescribed serving.

8. Not drinking enough water. You should be drinking at least 2 quarts of water and other allowable liquids per day.

9. Using the scale. Weighing in significantly different clothes or at different times each morning causes undue concern, confusion, of false appearance of weight gain/loss.

10. Eating at restaurants. To a large degree the meats have been “juiced”, or manipulated to be more flavorful, tender, or juicy, with a multitude of processes that could easily slow your weight loss, particularly chicken.