The Skinny on Managing Your Hunger - With any diet or restriction in calories from a previous norm, you’re going to experience some hunger. HCG 2.0 is no different. However, with HCG your hunger pangs usually peak between days 4 to 6. The reason being is that by day 4 you no longer have residual calories left over from your loading days and because the HCG isn't quite working for you yet. As with any hormone therapy, it takes the HCG up to a week to really begin working for you. As a result, you get a couple of limbo days where you essentially just going it alone.

However, the hunger will quickly subside as the HCG begins to tap into your unwanted fat and converts these calories into usable energy through ketosis. Once you're being supplied ketone calories from stored fat, your hunger will subside. This is also why it's important to keep your carbs below 30 grams per day. If you allow yourself to slip out of ketosis, no only are you slowing your weight loss, you're actually making the process more difficult on yourself because you will no longer be supplied with ketone calories from stored fat. For this reason, cheating with carbs is a lose-lose.

The good news is that while your hunger is peaking during the first week, so is your weight loss. The most exaggerated weight loss on HCG 2.0 is experienced in the first 10 days to two weeks. So while you're hungry and possibly frustrated during the first week, you're also being rewarded by losing 1-2 pounds per day. This well certainly motivate you to continue knowing that you're already seeing success.

Three steps to combat hunger on HCG 2.0

1. Load properly - I know the loading days seem counter-productive, but this phase of the HCG diet is equally as important as the low-cal phase. Not only does proper loading provide an immediate calorie reserve to sustain you in days 3, 4 and 5, but the sudden increase in fat consumption sparks the metabolization of fat, thus jump-starting the diet. So... over-consume on the fattiest foods you love. Carbs are okay too, but the focus should be fats. If this concerns you, over-consume on healthy Omega-3 fats like salmon, avocado and nuts. The bottom line, ask yourself what you can do to add more fat to your meals and do it.
2. Prepare allowable foods ahead of time - Preparing your meals ahead of time will help you avoid temptation when you find yourself vulnerable. I tell all my patients that the poor foods we eat are often not our foods of choice, but our foods of convenience. Setting the alarm clock 15 minutes early to prepare the proper lunch and afternoon snack could make all the difference in your success.
3. "Cheat" Properly - Let's face it, 500 calories isn't enough. When Dr. Simeon's developed his HCG diet protocol in 1940's Italy, resulting in his famous manuscript, Pounds and Inches; A New Approach to Obesity, food was grown fresh - organically. The nutritional value of the mass produced food we find in our grocery stores today isn't what it was in 60 years ago. In addition, Dr. Simeon's treated all his patients on an in-patient basis; absent of the activities and stress of our daily lives, which can consume a tremendous amount of calories. As a result, I often recommend a few food items to help my patients sustain themselves in the first week of their HCG diet, as I'd rather them "cheat" with foods that will have little or no effect on their success. They're listed below...
   1. Green Vegetables - I give my patients the "green light" on green - with the exception of cucumbers or anything with seeds on the inside as they are higher in carbs. Celery, in fact, has negative calories. The calories you burn by chewing and digesting it are greater than that which is being consumed, so eat up.
   2. Chicken Bouillon - Most chicken bouillon cubes or pouches contains only 15-30 calories per serving, but sipping a cup can be quite filling. Don't be concerned about the sodium because the positive effect of weight loss is greater than negative effect of increased sodium consumption. Sodium also facilitates your protein absorption.
   3. Beef Jerky - Not the crappy stuff you buy from a gas station, but quality, preferably organic, beef jerky that can be found at a Whole Foods or your local meat market. Beef jerky has a great protien/fats + carbs ratio, making it the perfect snack food. An ounce or two in between your meals accompanied by a couple of celery stalks won't hurt your HCG diet weight loss.
4. Yes, I know. This titled 3 steps to avoid hunger, but a weight loss patient I had today suggested I add a 4th. She told me that when she gets hungry she brushes her teeth. Seems logical. Give it a try.