Seven HCG Diet Eating Habits You’ll Want to Keep (Part 1)

Dr. Simeons’ HCG Protocol is not only an effective plan for losing weight. It simultaneously incorporates new habits that, when used after finishing the diet, will help to maintain your weight loss. The definition of a habit from Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary is “an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary”. In other words, it’s more automatic, you don’t have to consciously decide to do it and, what’s more, it feels odd or bad if you don’t do it. If you observe naturally thin people, you’ll notice that they have many of the same eating habits that are practiced on the protocol. These eating habits of naturally thin people include choosing healthy foods to eat, as well as preparing their food in a healthy fashion and basically, eating only when they are truly hungry.

Researchers have done studies to determine the length of time required to change a habit and the answer is… it varies. No surprise there, right? It depends on the level of complexity, (quitting smoking is complex because of the addiction to nicotine) the level of difficulty (running two miles a day is physically difficult for many people) and the level of motivation (assessing the value of the habit change while taking into account the effort necessary to implement the change). The greater the motivation, the more likely the habit is to take hold. So, after you revel in the fact that you’ve lost an impressive amount of weight, consciously commit yourself to continue those simple, yet important routines you’ve implemented during the protocol and realize that new habits get easier and easier since you gain momentum as you repeat them.

Below are some of the eating habits, some explicitly spelled out and some naturally occurring, that are encouraged during the HCG Diet. These will help you to maintain your weight as you move on to the Maintenance phase and then to life after the protocol.

1. Choose Fruits/Vegetables You’ve Never Eaten Before – When starting the HCG Diet, most HCG Dieters didn’t eat one third of the 13 vegetables allowed on Dr. Simeons’ list, but many acquired a taste for things like sliced raw cucumbers and grilled onions. These are vegetables they would not have touched before doing the diet.
2. Eat Fruits/Vegetables Raw – With such a short list of allowed fruits and vegetables on the list, didn’t you try to change things up a bit? For example, slaw tastes entirely different than cooked cabbage, but it’s the same vegetable. Try to eat more raw food since it satisfies the body’s need to chew and crunch better than eating cooked food does. Raw food also takes longer to eat, so you’ll eat less food overall. Read more…