Fitness Magazine

HCG Diet Menu: Why the Modern 800 Calorie hCG Diet Menu Works

By Kenin Bassart @Constantramble

In the 1950s, Dr. Simeons, a British endocrinologist, introduced a very strict 500-calorie a day hCG diet menu that utilized a natural hormone called human gonadotropin (hCG) to spur the body to burn its fat reserves and reset its metabolism. The diet was extremely successful, and thousands of individuals have lost a considerable amount of weight and kept it off for a lifetime. With each passing year, the hCG diet menu has evolved and changed as researchers have learned more about the body and how its metabolism functions.

The 800 Calorie hCG Diet Menu

HCG Diet Menu: Why the Modern 800 Calorie hCG Diet Menu Works
Almost a decade ago, Dr. Richard Lipman wrote a book that presented his experience and research involving the 800 calories per day hCG diet menu. The book was titled, ‘New Pounds and Inches’. Within the book, he made changes to Dr. Simeon’s traditional 500-calorie diet and upped the calories to 800-calories per day. The goal of increasing the calories was to make the diet plan more tolerable for patients but still enable them to effectively burn fat and lose weight at a rapid pace.

The 2+2 Rule in the New hCG 800 Calorie Diet Menu Plan

Dr. Lipman set out to match up low calorie, low fat, and low carb foods that all boasted similar calories to the products featured in Dr. Simeon’s original 500-calorie diet plan. He focused on what he considered the 2+2 rule. He picked foods that had both fat and sugar. The fat provides a feeling of fullness and the sugar helps maintain the blood’s glucose level.  Ideally, the products on the hCG 800 calorie diet plan menu must feature two grams of sugar or less combined with two grams of fat or less. If one product contains a higher value such as 2.5 grams of sugar than it still must be adjusted so ultimately both only have a total of 4.

The First Step: hCG Diet Menu Phase 1

Just like Dr. Simeon’s original diet, the new 800 calorie diet also features what is known as the hCG diet menu phase 1 or the ‘indulgence phase or loading phase‘.  For the first two to three days you will be allowed to indulge in whatever foods you desire without overindulging too much. The hCG diet menu phase 1 gives your body time to adjust to the hCG that you will be using and gears your body to start utilizing its fat reserves when you drop down to the 800 calories per day that you will be required to maintain while taking the hCG.

800 Calorie hCG Diet Menu Offers Multiple Choices

Unlike the original 500-calorie presented in Dr. Simeon’s original diet, the new 800 hCG diet menu plan offers multiple yummy choices.

Modern diet choices that can be incorporated include:

  • Atkins Diet Products
  • Products that have been developed for diabetics
  • Innumerable food choices from health food stores, organic markets and online sources that were not available decades ago when Dr. Simeons created his dietary plan.

The Strict Criteria of the 800 calorie hCG Diet Menu

For a food to be included in the hCG 800 calorie diet plan menu it had to meet strict criteria that were laid forth by Dr. Lipman and his many research assistants. The criteria included:

  • Similar Calories: Each food presented had to have similar or lower calories, sugars, protein, carbs, or fat when compared to the traditional Simeon’s dietary plan food choices.
  • Ratios: Special attention was paid to the amount of sugar and carbs in each product. Portion control could level out the ratios.
  • Key Food Products: Food products were discarded if they were found to stop the fat burning process, cause hunger, increase weight gain, or contribute to physical water gain.

An Evolving Diet Plan That Promotes Weight Loss

The following hCG diet menu choices are constantly evolving as discoveries made and research is performed This is one of the key reasons why the hCG 800 calorie diet plan menu is becoming so popular is because it is not written in stone like the traditional hCG diet plan laid out by Dr. Simeons. Instead, the diet and the food choices are changing and evolving to be even more successful than ever believed possible.

Why Change the Traditional 500-Calorie hCG Diet if it Works?

Many people believe, why fix it if it’s not broken? Well, this old saying is true to a certain extent. Dr. Simeon’s traditional 500-calorie hCG diet has proven successful for decades. People have lost significant amounts of weight on the diet plan and they have kept it off. However, the 500-calories are not easy for everyone, especially working men who require more calories than women. Even some women suffer on such a low-calorie intake. This means they require more calories to feel truly satisfied. A low-calorie diet can cause blood sugar reactions and feelings of deprivation. Increasing the calories only slightly from 500 calories to 800 calories helps eliminate such problems and people continue to lose weight consistently and keep it off for life.

It’s All About the Foundation of Protein

HCG Diet Menu: Why the Modern 800 Calorie hCG Diet Menu Works
One key hCG diet menu staple that does not change is the protein foundation for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  During your 800 calorie hCG diet menu breakfast, you can enjoy eggs as your protein choice. Perhaps egg whites or even a whole egg with several egg whites in an omelet. You can also use Egg Beaters. Another option is cottage cheese, just make sure it is low-fat cottage cheese or no-fat cottage cheese. If you love yogurt then you will be happy to know that you can opt to enjoy a bit of sugar-free yogurt in the morning.

Fruits Have Been Added

In Dr. Simeon’s original 500-calorie diet protocol, fruits were very limited. There was just not very much variety. However, with new research that has emerged, the options for dieters have also increased. Fruit is healthy and adequately satisfies the sweet tooth of many individuals which makes their entire dieting experience more tolerable.

Fruits have been added to the hCG 800 calorie diet plan menu such as the following:

  • All berries
  • Grapefruit
  • Limes
  • Cantaloupe
  • Oranges
  • Peaches
  • Lemons
  • Plums
  • Pears
  • Apples

Vegetables are Permitted with the Contemporary hCG Diet Menu

With the new hCG 800 calorie diet plan menu, there is no more measuring or alternating vegetables at every meal. Now all veggies are allowed. The only exceptions to the rules are carrots, corn, or peas which are very starchy Modern research has found that the calories and carbs that exist in most vegetables are extremely low so should not even be considered with using the hCG diet menu. This new method of allowing vegetables increases the variety and taste choices while also offering an almost unlimited choice of recipes to create tasty and satisfying dishes for each meal.

Protein Choices for the 800 Calorie hCG Diet Menu

HCG Diet Menu: Why the Modern 800 Calorie hCG Diet Menu Works
With the new 800 calorie diet, you no longer weigh meat but instead take into consideration its calories. If you opt to dine on low-calorie choices such as fish or lobster, then you can enjoy a larger portion than items such as beef. Ideally, you should only measure your meat portions by the size of your hand. This is an ideal way to measure your foods because large men require more food then tiny females.

Here are your protein choices:

  • Beef
  • Shrimp
  • Lobster
  • Fish
  • Chicken (white meat only)
  • Scallops

Protein Means Muscles

One of the key differences between Dr. Simeons 500-calorie diet and the new 800-calorie protocol is that keeping up the calories through protein means no loss of muscle. This is extremely important if you take into consideration a large working man. A low protein diet means that he will lose not only fat but also muscle mass because he will simply not be consuming enough protein per day to maintain his overall muscle mass. Maintaining muscle mass is the key to successful diet results for large males and other muscular individuals.

Hunger is Better Controlled

The 800-calorie protocol controls your hunger far better than the lower traditional 500 calorie plan. The reduced hunger is a direct result of the increased protein which provides a far greater sense of satisfaction throughout the day. This makes the diet easier to tolerate for most individuals.

A 16-Week Diet for Better Results

Unlike Dr. Simeon’s original hCG diet that called for the dieter to stay on the diet for only 40 days, the contemporary hCG 800 calorie diet plan menu allows you to continue dieting for up to 16 weeks so you will achieve even greater weight loss. The plan is believed to even further assist your metabolism in adjusting so you not only lose the weight but keep it off.

Everything evolves and the hCG diet menu is no different. Modern research has allowed the food choices and calorie levels to increase to create an even more doable and successful dietary protocol than ever before.


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