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So we talked about what the loading phase on the hCG protocol is and how to do it in this post already.
But why? Why are we trying to eat more than normal for 2 days prior to losing weight?
Why Do This
The purpose of the loading phase:
There is a two fold goal here, and a reason I recommend loading low carb instead of the traditional way that allows sugars.
a. It takes a couple days for the hCG to be in full effect in your system. You need to build up a store of easily accessible fats in your system to make your first couple days on the VLCD (very low calorie diet) easier. This will happen whether you load low carb or with donuts.
b. Supposedly by eating high fats while the hCG is getting into your system helps the hormone to recognize where your fat stores lie so that it can then access them and use them for fuel. I cannot vouch for this, but it hasn’t hurt me so why not? I certainly did experience amazing body re-shaping.
c. Loading low carb as opposed to the traditional way will make your first days on the VLCD much more easy as you won’t be having a sudden drop in carbs to your system that would could easily cause intense sensations of hunger, low blood sugar, and cravings.
out
More In Depth on the “WHY” for the Loading Phase of hCG
What the purpose is NOT:
I’m quoting a section from an hCG site here (we’ll keep them anonymous so they won’t feel embarrassed): loading ” also makes you get your fill of those foods you can’t have while on the VLCD (very low calorie diet) portion of the diet. It really makes you not want those foods for a while and keep you from wanting to cheat.”
I’m sorry- that’s total BALONEY.
Think about it – for how many years have you been eating fast food and chocolate cake, or whatever your food vice of choice is? Obviously if you had gotten sick of those foods after eating them for a period of time, you would have stopped eating them a long time ago!
When I have loaded with sugars and carbs as part of the picture, I am only turned off to those foods for about 15 hours while I’m still stuffed. As soon as 3pm on the very first very low calorie day hits, I’m reading to stick my face right back into a cake again.
If I get 10 people to email me and tell me they have experienced otherwise, I’ll remove this section. Otherwise, I think it’s foolish to think that binging will cause you to not want to binge.
That never happened to me in over a year of having a binge eating disorder. As soon as the food was digested, I was ready for more. Anyone else? Okay moving on.
What If You Are A Normal Person Who Occasionally Enjoys A Slice of Pecan Pie Now and Then?
okay, so in that case, I can see where loading on whatever you feel like eating could turn out fine. It sounds like you are an average healthy eater and the excess weight you are carrying is more due to hormone imbalances and slow metabolism than because of poor eating habits. If that’s you, perhaps having one last slice of cheesecake before you start the hCG protocol really would make you feel satisfied and ready to start the diet with a fresh outlook.
What is the true purpose of loading for the hCG Diet?
Sometimes referred to as “fat loading” or gorging, loading has to do with eating a high amount of fat for some reason while taking the hCG hormone.
To be honest I still haven’t read a totally clear 100% “this-is-exactly-what-is-happening-when-you-load-on-hCG” reason.
But it’s worth noting what 2 actual authorities on the hCG Diet have stated regarding this topic.
The first is Dr. Simeons himself. Here is what he stated in his book Pounds and Inches about loading on the hCG Diet:
“One cannot keep a patient comfortably on 500 Calories unless his normal fat reserves are reasonably well stocked. It is for this reason also that every case, even those that are actually gaining must eat to capacity of the most fattening food they can get down until they have had the third injection. It is a fundamental mistake to put a patient on 500 Calories as soon as the injections are started, as it seems to take about three injections before abnormally deposited fat begins to circulate and thus become available. We distinguish between the first three injections, which we call “non-effective” as far as the loss of weight is concerned, and the subsequent injections given while the patient is dieting, which we call “effective”.”
The second is Robin Woodall, author of Weight-Loss Apocalypse: Emotional Eating Rehab Through the hCG Protocol
Please note Robin advocates a 3 day load, whereas Dr. Simeons recommended only 2 days for the average healthy non-dieting adult. This leaves it up to you as to what you want to do. I loaded for 3 days one of my rounds, but I have found 2 days to be sufficient for me. One way to figure it is see how much weight you gain loading the first 2 days- if it seems like enough, you’re probably good. If you haven’t gained much at all and don’t feel like you really packed those fats in there, a 3rd day may be warranted. I actually discuss this in a lot more detail here: Should You Load 3 Days for hCG?
What Does This Really Mean??
None of this making sense? Don’t worry. It doesn’t really make sense to me either. I think I need some more science classes or something.
But the point is, loading appears to be important, even if you don’t understand the entire concept behind it fully. Enough people have done this protocol now to see that it works as it’s been written. As Robin puts it, “Loading is a fundamental necessity for the entire protocol to work. Without loading, participants can experience symptoms of starvation for longer than two weeks.”
If you want to be one the first to experiment with hCG without loading and then get a body fat test afterwards to see what your ratio of body fat loss to muscle loss is, be my guest- then report back to me and let me know how it went!
Since I only have one body, I’ve decided to in this case to stick with what appears to work best since it wouldn’t hurt me to do so, and not loading could potentially hurt me. That’s how I decided that.
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Yup, I want this!
I started my first loading today.. I don’t. Even think I have taken up to 2000kcal today.. it seems hard to eat that much for loading.
My biggest issue with loading is the fact that if you want to lose 15 pounds during this diet what is the point of putting on an additional six at the end of the diet you will really have only lost about 5 to 7 pounds meanwhile you’re eating 500 cal a day for 23 days. I struggle with gaining five more pounds because when the diet is over I will not feel I accomplished in March and I am menopausal and not considered obese I’m 5 foot seven and weigh 164 I want to get down to 145
Hi Dawn!
This is Lucelle, Rayzel’s assistant. Nice to meet you! 🙂
I get your point. Rayzel has a method that minimizes the loading gains a lot, especially in subsequent rounds when some people seem to gain quite a few pounds in the 2-3 days – that’s by doing what we call Clean Loading
https://hcgchica.com/loading-low-carb-clean-hcg-diet/
Hope that helps!
Anyone experience a hard time loading. Meaning that you almost felt sick to eat so much? I’ve done this before using the drops from compounding pharmacy and was fine. This time I’m on injection and I am just not very hungry and don’t feel like eating but am forcing myself to eat high fat. I did have some carbs the first day but today am eating low carb and high fat.
Just curious if its been difficult this way for others?
Yes, there are some times that I do feel the same way with loading and I’ve heard a lot of others say the same thing. I sometimes feel like I didn’t load enough because I just can’t eat anymore or I feel nauseous.
But we just hang in there and do it. Have a great round!
-Lucelle
hCGchica’s assistant
I’m suddenly in a panic! This is my second round of hcg. First round lost 30 lbs and 7% body fat – ending up at 147 and 24%. I waited to get past the holidays to start this round. Prior to taking my shots I ate carefree for about a week and then loaded 2 days prior to first injection. Now I’m reading I should have loaded while taking injections. I’m 2 days in on shots and just starting second day of VLCD. Right now I’m feeling like just rolling with it but I’m anxious! I feel like this is how I did first round but now I’m questioning myself! My hunger yesterday didn’t seem any worse or better than the first round.
I lost 20 pounds on the HCG diet about 6 years ago, and I did not load. I thought it sounded crazy (I didn’t have an explanation as good as yours) and just started immediately on the 500 calorie diet. I lost quite a bit of weight the first week, usually 2 pounds the first day, but I suspect some of that was water weight. I wasn’t hungry at all the first 2 days, but by the third day I was starving. That was true in both rounds I did. I wonder if it’s because I didn’t load? The hunger eventually went away, but Day 3 was terrible.
I kept the weight off for three years, but stopped watching my diet and have gained quite a bit back. I’m about to try the diet again, with some changes. I’m going to do injections this time instead of sublingual, and this time I’ll do the 2-day loading to see if it prevents that hunger on Day 3. Will report back and let you know. Love your website, by the way. Very informative!
Hi Pam,
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. You know, Rayzel found that even with loading, those first few days of the diet, people typically do still experience some hunger as their body adjusts and adapts. You see, your body does not adjust immediately. However, after a few days, if the hunger doesn’t go away, your dosing may likely be off and it’s actually the dose of hCG that determines hunger or non-hunger. Have you read Rayzel’s detailed post on dosage? You can find it here: hcgchica.com/dosage
Additionally, how hungry you feel first week also has to do with what foods you loaded on. If you eat a lot of sugar and carbs while loading or if your prior way of eating in day to day life before starting the diet contained a fair amount of sugar and carbs, then it’s very common to go through a carb withdrawal period and that’s very possibly what you experienced as well on day 3. Your body can run on the carbs left in your system from prior eating for a couple of days and then when it runs out you can feel hungry and crummy in various ways until your body gets past the carb withdrawal hump and adjusted to the diet.
With that said, if that is a factor for someone, the other thing that may help the first week of P2 go more smoothly is to do Rayzel’s pre-hCG diet for 7-10 days, and to low carb load. She wrote two posts on that which you can find here:
http://hcgchica.com/hcgchicas-little-pre-hcg-diet-thing/
http://hcgchica.com/loading-low-carb-clean-hcg-diet/
If you could get back to us and share your experience after you’ve finished a round but this time with 2-day loading, that would be great. We’d love to know how it works out for you.
Gen
My co-workers and I did the 40 day round without loading, but we ate all our favorite fattening foods the weekend prior to starting Monday. We were pretty strong about getting through the first two days. My one co-worker lost 11 pounds the first week -no load. We all lost about 30 pounds for the round.
I would highly suggest new folks follow the load, but yes it can be done.
I did a round of HCG, 800 calories/day protocol. I didn’t load very well at all, because I ended up experiencing quite a bit of anxiety on the days I was supposed to load. I may even have eaten less than usual. I did continue on, despite the lack of proper loading, and I was able to lose 20 lbs. I felt relatively good throughout. I’m not necessarily recommending it, but it did work out OK for me! Not sure how that would work out for someone doing the traditional 500 calorie/day protocol.
Hi Chica! Could you give me examples of what to eat in the loading days? Thank you
I am doing what you have suggested, to eat clean with low carb food choices before beginning hcg. I also have issues with binge eating. I’ve always had them, but I never started gaining weight so dramatically until I gave birth to my second child, which I felt I never lost the weight after the birth of my first child, then BOOM I was pregnant again. I got so depressed, probably mostly to do with hormones (boo). So I guess I’m finally done with having no energy and feeling so heavy. I ordered my kit and hopefully will start in another week. Thank you for your time on creating this website. I really feel confident now that I can do this. No more mental gymnastics…just get it done 🙂
I would say it’s got to have something to do with hunger versus losing more fat. My first round I purchased from a local doctor who gave me a prescription for an appetite suppressant. I was very successful. The second round I purchased online and I was hungry the first couple days without loading….to the point of quitting. I waited for it to leave my system and started over with loading. It helped but I was tempted possibly because I didn’t load clean.
Hey @disqus_saaB9MScX0:disqus love hearing your input. Interesting. I have wondered how it feels to do the protocol without loading at all but haven’t really been contacted by anyone who has done this, so it’s good to hear you weigh in on this. They do say it takes that time for the hCG to build up in your system so it makes sense that you’d be ravenous at least the full first day and into the 2nd day if starting the 500 cals right away. Although I do fast fairly frequently for about 24 hours at a time without issue, but this is something I think my body has adjusted to over time so I don’t feel hungry on these days- plus I’ve never extended it beyond 24 hours, so it’s possible I’d start feeling crummy past that point. Seems like as the woman mentioned below, at least eating normally even if not loading the first 2-3 days vs. just starting the 500 calories would work better. What you mentioned about not loading clean and temptations later is true too! It can take a few days for that sensation to pass. Thanks for commenting!
About Robin’s Woodall’s 3-day load….
One round, I tried loading for 3 days. Not only was three days of eating to capacity way more than my body and mind could handle, I honestly didn’t feel that it gave me any advantage during or after the round.
A friend of mine who has worked with Robin Woodall told me that, on Robin’s suggestion, for her last round, she did a modified version of the 3-day load. On the day of the first injection, she ate normally, according to hunger and fullness. On days 2 and 3, she loaded by eating to capacity of the richest foods she could get, just like any other ordinary load for hCG. The day of her fourth injection was VLCD 1.
This made a lot of sense to me. It gives the hCG more time to build up in the body, but it doesn’t add that extra day of nonstop eating.
If I were to do another round, I would try loading in this manner.
Hey @disqus_IrS8P552AA:disqus great to hear your feedback. I like that alternate approach! Definitely makes sense. I agree for me, the one time I loaded 3 days it was too much for me. I could see how possibly for someone who have been kind of starving/dieting for quite a long time just before starting hCG though might benefit from it. For me 2 days has always been just right. Thanks again great feedback!