Can You Increase Calories and Still Succeed on the HCG Diet?

The original HCG diet by Dr. Simeons is a very rigid diet of 500 calories per day, but many people have wondered if they can still succeed at the diet while increasing the calorie intake. The vast majority of people don't have serious problems with hunger, but some people are on the diet now and are struggling, while some haven't started yet but feel increasing calories may help them be more successful. Despite Dr. Simeons' strict attitude about calorie intake, it is possible for some people to succeed on the HCG diet by increasing calories.

As the HCG diet increased in popularity, more and more people began experimenting with calorie intake, including many doctors working in their own clinics. Several ebooks have been published outlining increased calorie plans. Even Dr. Oz appeared on Good Morning America and suggested that increasing the diet to 800 calories is a feasible way to do the diet.

Increasing your calorie intake will most definitely result in slower weight loss than you would have by following the original plan. Average weight loss on the original HCG diet plan ranges between 0.5 and 0.75 pounds per day (claims of more than that are exaggerated), so plan on less than that if you increase your calorie intake. If your weight loss isn't what you want, you'll want to go back to the original 500 calorie plan.

So, how should you go about increasing calories on the HCG diet?

The first key is that you still have to follow all of the other diet rules, including the same dosage of HCG diet drops, the same list of allowed foods, and all the rest. You eat the same types of allowed protein, fruits, and vegetables while eating no sugar and only a small amount of carbohydrates from your daily fruit and grissini or Melba toast. The only difference is that you eat a little more of those foods.

The second key is that you have to pick a plan and stick with it. You can't eat 500 calories one day, 800 calories the next, and 1100 the next. While taking HCG diet drops, your body is busy readjusting its metabolism, and even your brain is adjusting anything that was out of balance before. For this to succeed, you have to be consistent with your calorie intake. If you really feel the need to change, wait at least a week

How much can you increase calories? Many experts suggest that you can increase calories to 800. To do this, you can simply eat one extra meal per day, making sure it's the same as your other HCG diet meals (3.5 oz of protein, one vegetable, one fruit, and one starch from the list of allowed foods). It's also possible to increase calories up to 1100 and still lose some weight. This can be done by adding an extra meal just as described above but also allowing an unlimited amount of vegetables and adding two low-carb protein drinks per day. If the idea of unlimited vegetables worries you—don't. Nobody ever ruined their diet by eating too much fiber.

So if you feel the original 500-calorie version of the HCG diet may not be for you, it is possible to increase calories and still lose weight. A more carefully detailed plan for increasing calories is included in the HCG diet drops package offered by HealthyHCG.com.