Interruptions

Whilst on the HCG Diet for either 3 or 6 weeks, you may encounter “Unexpected” interruptions so the below advice is to help you turn these into “Planned” interruptions, to avoid sabotaging your weight loss results.

Try as you may, you may not always be able to plan your HCG phase ii (active cycle) around events in life.

 

We always recommend it is best to plan for when you will be home and be able to control your environment – however that doesn’t always allow for  when your work asks you to take a trip away or something comes up that means will be away from home for a period of time and cannot continue the 500 VLCD or get access to the exact recommended foods.

The below is an extract from Dr. Simeons’ Pounds and Inches manuscript, where he discusses this scenario and says it is best to plan for the interruption if you will be away for 4 days or more:

Unforeseen interruptions of treatment

“If an interruption of treatment lasting more than 4 days is necessary, the patient must increase his diet to at least 800 Calories by adding meat, eggs, cheese, milk to his diet after the third day, as otherwise he will find himself so hungry and weak that he is unable to go about his usual occupation.

If the interval lasts less than two weeks the patient can directly resume injections and the 500-Calorie diet, but if the interruption lasts longer he must again eat normally until he has had his third injection.
When a patient knows beforehand that he will have to travel and be absent for more than four days, it is always better to stop injections three days before he is due to leave so that he can have the three days of strict dieting which are necessary after the last injection at home. This saves him from the almost impossible task of having to arrange the 500 Calorie diet while en route, and he can thus enjoy a much greater dietary freedom from the day of his departure.”

“Interruptions occurring before 20 effective injections have been given are most undesirable, because with less than that number of injections some weight is liable to be regained. After the 20th injection an unavoidable interruption is merely a loss of time.”

It is recommended that you have at least 20 days of an active cycle before an interruption,  however sometimes this is unavoidable. If the interruption needs to occur before the 20th day some of the weight lost may be regained, however, providing you follow the recommended guidelines, once you resume your 500 calorie diet this will come off and you will be able to finish your round without massively compromising weigh loss.

Some may try to use this time as an excuse to resume old eating and drinking habits, so it is important to note that whether it is planned or unplanned, an interruption should not become a free for all. You cannot just resume eating habits from before which may have included sugars, alcohol and starches and expect not to regain your weight lost. During an interruption you you will need to follow phase iii  style eating  – and if it is more than a few days you will need to increase to your maintenance/phase iii calorie intake. Dr Simeons says at least 800 calories if for 4 days, but if it is longer you will need to increase or you will gain if your calories are not high enough.

Always make health choices and they will pay off in the long run. Do your best and know when you return you will get back on track as soon as possible.

GUIDE FOR PLANNED INTERRUPTIONS

Where possible, allow 72 hours to elapse from your last injection or spray before you increase calories and/or introduce non-VLCD foods.

If only a short while and you do not have unavoidable lunch or dinner obligations, after the 72 hours, simply increase your calories to 800 per day, with a focus on meat, egg, cheese, milk.

If for longer than a few days, increase to maintenance calories and follow phase iii style diet plan, including avoiding sugars and starches and alcohol.

If up to 2 weeks or longer, you will need to begin eating normally for the first 2 days of  injections/spray.

Whilst it may sound contradictory, taking in too low calories, without the actions of HCG in your system, may result in weight gain.