Living Fitness

Dr. Albert T. Simeons’ hCG diet protocol, published in the widely available manuscript, Pounds and Inches, remains the definitive version of the diet pioneered by the endocrinologist in the Fifties. Many custom protocols have competed with the Dr Simeons Protocol, most notably from Dr. Daniel Belluscio and most controversially from Kevin Trudeau. Regardless of which protocol you adopt in the end, the best practice is to study the canonical version first to establish a frame of reference, then look up an hCG diet forum to compare and contrast different facts and opinions on other protocols.

Dr. Simeons’ HCG Diet Protocol

The Simeons Protocol is as simple as it is restrictive. Without hCG, the protocol would be too restrictive to be sustainable, since no more than 500 calories are being consumed on any given day. With hCG as an appetite suppressant and metabolic regulator, most dieters manage the hCG protocol without hunger.

HCG Injections

The standard protocol calls for a regimen of 125 IU daily hCG injections (pure hCG, as opposed to homeopathic hCG) over a maximum of 40 days. For those who only need to lose 15 pounds or less, a 26-day program is recommended, where the dieter receives 23 days’ worth of injections followed by three additional days on the Very Low Calorie Diet to prevent weight regain.

Prohibited Items

While excercise is allowed, massage of any kind is not. Aspirin and birth control pills are forbidden. No sugar, alcohol, oil, butter or dressing are allowed. Eggs are generally not allowed, but those who don’t eat meat may substitute eggs, eating the whites of three eggs for each whole egg eaten.

The diet prohibits the use of oil-based and cream based cosmetics, which can alter the effectiveness of the hCG hormone by entering through the skin. Traditionally, only lipstick, eyebrow pencils, and powder based makeup are allowed; but a search on “hCG makeup” will turn up many allowable products.

Daily Meals

Breakfast. Breakfast is limited to any amount of unsugared tea of coffee. These beverage may be sweetened with saccharin or Stevia—the latter being preferred, since it doesn’t affect the body’s glycemic index.

Lunch and dinner. The protocol for either meal is the same—i.e. for dinner, repeat the following instructions used for lunch. Each meal consists of four items: one lean meat, one breadstick, one type of vegetable, and one selection of allowable fruit.

• Meat and fish. 100 grams of meat or fish, weighed prior to cooking, with any visible fat stripped away. Forbidden fish are tuna, herring, eel, salmon, or any fish that’s pickled or dried
• Vegetables. Any one selection of the following: asparagus, cabbage, chard, celery, beet greens, cucumbers, green salad, onions, tomatoes, chicory, red radishes and fennel
• Breadstick. Breadsticks are sometimes called their Italian term, grissini (with grissino being the singular). A single grissino is allowed, or a slice of Melba toast as a substitute
• Fruit. Any one selection of the following: one half-grapefruit, one handful of strawberries, one orange or apple—a single apple, not two small apples

Allowed seasonings and condiments: salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, parsely, mustard powder, vinegar or marjoram. Foods may also be flavored with the juice of a single lemon per day.

Between lunch and dinner combined, no more than 200 grams of fresh meat or fish should be consumed on the hCG diet protocol, nor any type of food exceeding 500 calories on any given day.

Finding a good hCG diet forum isn’t easy. Most forums on just about any topic are victims of natural selection. They die by attrition, and the few that survive go on to become authority sites. An hCG forum requires good moderation to keep its information up to date and free of spammers. If you’re looking for the best hCG diet info forum, use the follow list instead of wasting half a day wading through orphaned sites that still show up in search engines. One site with “HCG Diet Forum” in its name doesn’t even have a forum! Here a few living, breathing hCG forums.

5 Great HCG Diet Forum Sites

HCG Diet Info. In terms of membership size, thread views and sheer number of posts, HCG Diet Info is clearly has the highest level of community engagement. Many hCG diet forums contain the same topics—loading, phases (P1 through P4) and testimonials—but HCG Diet Info has a somewhat unique forum for vegetarians, as well as one of the only forums that discusses Dr. Daniel Belluscio’s protocol. Most hCG sites either stick to one hCG protocol, or focus primarily on the protocols of Dr. Albert Simeons or Kevin Trudeau.

HCG Weight Loss Forum. In its visual layout and topic organization, the HCG Weight Loss Forum is virtually identical to HCG Diet Info, though the latter gets more traffic. While the Weight Loss Forum seems at first glance to be a carbon copy, it has its own thriving community and informative forums in its own right, with topics that are even more well organized. For instance, instead of having forum that covers all four phases of the diet, HCGWLF has an individual forum (or “Lounge”) for each phase. There’s also a separate recipe forum for each phase.

HCG Forums. The site generically named HCG Forums has a much smaller membership and a much smaller body of posts than the sites listed above. The top forums in HCG Forums have a few hundred posts, while HCG Diet Info has tens of thousands. While this is a less essential site, it does have good a good forum on Teas and Supplements as well as one on Meals and Snack Recipes. The moderators could be more agressive in controlling spammers, but they don’t let things get completely out of hand.

HCGDietChat.com. Like HCG Forums, HCGDietChat.com is another relatively low traffic, low membership site that still offers some good info—particularly their Recipes forum, which is split into phase-specific subforums. While many of the forums lack recent posts, the Lounge forum still gets a healthy amount of engagement.

HCG Dieters. The Diet Club Forum’s subforum, HCG Dieters, doesn’t have any subforums of its own. It’s basically a long, one-page general discussion thread on the HCG diet. Since it doesn’t delve into more focused discussion threads, the forum doesn’t need to be revisited on a regular basis; but it’s an excellent thread to read if you’re new to the diet, and just want to get a feel for the issue surrounding it in one sitting.

When people consider hCG diet injections vs drops, there doesn’t seem to be much compelling about sticking a needle in themselves for 43 days in a row. As anyone can intellectually appreciate, hCG shots wouldn’t be offered if they had no advantages. HCG injections can be applied directly to trouble spots of accumulated fat, such as the buttocks or the upper arms, and burn fat more quickly than drops or pills.

Because the hormone is a direct intra-muscular application, the body needs 40% less of it than would be the case for oral versions. After their first injection, hCG dieters almost always discover that, like insulin shots, hCG shots are essentially painless. In fact the shots are applied with the very same fine-gauge insulin syringe. Many users prefer to go to a weight loss clinic, where the 23- to 43-day program can be supervised, but it’s also possible for users to purchase the hormone themselves after receiving a prescription.

HCG Products

HCG for use with a syringe is prescription-only, in contrast with hCG drops which come in homeopathic and pure (non-homeopathic) versions. Where a daily dose of pure hCG taken orally might be 175 to 225 International Units, a standard 6x dilution of homeopathic hCG (HHCG) is only .0001 UI, meaning that it contains almost nothing but water. On the hCG injections diet, dosages as low as 125 IU per day can be used, though 150-175 IU is the norm.

Most hCG injection kits sold through online resellers do not include hCG itself, which must be purchase separately. Some hCG resellers get around the prescription requirement have routing fulfillment through a distributor with a doctor on staff. The protocol is to have the customer submit a request to the distributor in the form of a questionnaire where “weight loss” must be specified as the reason for the request. As long as the customer agrees to purchase directly from the distributor, the in-house doctor will provide the prescription.

The contents of these kits, which usually come in 23-day and 43-day versions, typically include the following: 23-43 single use syringes (either combination syringes, or a single syringe with a supply of multiple needles), two sterile vials, two mixing syringes, two mixing vials, a supply of daily alcohol wipes, and a set of instructions. Some kits also come with a vitamin B12 supplement. 23-day kits tend to cost between $25 and $45, while 43-day kits are generally between $40 and $80.

Prices of hCG drops vs injections tend to favor drops. A 30-day supply of injectable hCG costs 50-100% more than sublingual drops. Prices can vary greatly between online resellers, but a somewhat common range for hCG drops is $100-150 for a 30-day supply compared to $250-300 for the same supply of hCG shots. For customers who would rather not hassle doing the work of mixing hCG with bacteriostatic water themselves, many vendors offer it premixed.

Should You Try the HCG Injections Diet?

HCG drops are appropriate for dieters who a especially needle-phobic, allergic to needles or cannot access injectables in their state. Some states will not allow the sale of needles without a prescription—but ultimately, a prescription will be necessary for any non-homeopathic hCG anyway. Due to the lower dosages needed, injectable hCG is more economical in the long run, can be used for spot reduction, and burns fat at a faster rate. Aside from the psychological resistance to needles, the greater efficiency of hCG injections may make it a better overall value.