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I like to give you the DETAILS. The WHY and HOW of it all. In detail. Did I mention detail? But I get it. You are busy. You’re exhausted from work and your eyes start crossing after 300 words. Or you have ADD. Whatever the case, here’s a summary of the article, after which you will find the longer version.

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Share YOUR methods for being successful in difficult situations, whether mental difficulties or physical/situation difficulties, in the comments below- will give other hCG ladies ideas on how to troubleshoot!

Article Summary – the Short of it:

The Problem:

In all the excitement of learning that you can lose all your excess weight so quickly, the rest of the details about eating only 500 calories and forgetting that most of us eat for many other reasons other than just hunger go out the window it never occurs to us that it could be a challenge.  Fast does not equal easy. This protocol can take quite a bit of self-control and self-discipline to complete.

The Solution:

I think the most important thing that is a “solution” here is just to actually realize that this will be hard and to make whatever life adjustments that you can accordingly.  It’s called being modest.  If you modestly accept to yourself that you are NOT superman or superwoman, and that you need to make adjustments to your life in order to create a pathway to success, I feel the majority of will have a higher chance of succeeding this way.

Practical Ways to Do This:

• Plan Your Round of hCG in Advance
  Check your calendar and make your decision about when to start and end the round based on your schedule.  Find a time that is as clear as possible of anything that involves getting together with a bunch of people and a bunch of food.
• Minimize Guilt for Disappearing
  Anyone that you’ve been thinking you need or want to see, or anyone wanting to see you.  Either do it before you start the protocol or make a definite date with them after your round is over.
• Stay Busy with Other Productive Endeavors
  Since you are spending SO little time eating on this protocol, it’s important to fill up the time you used to spend doing this with something else- something that will be fulfilling for you so you will not end up eating when you’re bored. Just finding something to do that doesn’t involve eating that’s a satisfying activity for you can make a huge difference.
• Take a Little Time Out for You to Get/Stay Refreshed
  Perhaps you already have a totally full schedule because of your work or other obligations in life.  If that is the case, see if there is any way that you can take out just small chunks of time here and there do something relaxing for yourself to keep you centered.
• When It Feels Hard Remember the Feeling Will Pass
  Usually the diet does NOT feel hard every single day. Try to remind yourself that acute feeling of how hard it is at that moment will soon pass.
• Lots of Tea. With Stevia.
  See my short blogpost on teas I love

Main Article- Let’s Get Nitty Gritty Shall We?

This is a series of 7 blogposts addressing common causes for failure on the HCG Diet, and thus how we can succeed.  You can see my overview of the 6 basic reasons for failure I outlined in the first post to get us started.  So let’s dive in to Reason #1 and how avoid the problems that can come from it.

Not Having a Clear Idea of What Is Involved with the hCG Diet Plan (It’s Harder Than You First Thought)

This is very common for hCG newbies, and don’t feel bad if you are one of those that got derailed by this.  Before you experience it, it’s easy to think that you can do something like this no problem.

The Problem:

In all the excitement of learning that you can lose all your excess weight so quickly, the rest of the details about eating only 500 calories and forgetting that most of us eat for many other reasons other than just hunger go out the window it never occurs to us that it could be a challenge.  But a challenge it IS my friends!  I have said it before and I’ll say it again- fast does not equal easy.

This protocol can take quite a bit of self-control and self-discipline to complete.

Example 1: I’ll use just one little experience I personally had.  Most people like cashews and I do too, but it’s one of those foods that’s more like, “eh, I could take ’em or leave ’em.”  Halfway through P2 there was a jar of cashews in our house and suddenly they seemed like the thing I most wanted to eat in the world.  I finally gave in and cheated on the diet by eating a bunch- it was so satisfying- for all of 20 minutes until I realized what I’d done and how not worth it it really was.

Example 2:  A social gathering that has a bunch of pie, cake and potato salad.  Normally if you were not on this protocol and just trying to be healthy, you could pass that up and fill up on whatever meat and salad offerings they have, and perhaps even bring some of your own alternative baked goods (check out hCGChica’s Sugar Free Dessert Recipes pinterest) and you don’t have to have that deprived feeling.  But on Phase 2 the story changes.  You go to that same gathering and not only can you not eat anything there, you also can’t “fill up” on anything else either.  You’re only allowed maybe 250 calories for that meal of the day and you are certainly not “full” when you’re finished eating your spinach with dashes of vinegar and 100 grams of chicken breast.  It’s a very different feeling when food is pretty much off limits entirely (but at least to get you through there ARE some P2 desserty/drinky ideas on pinterest here).

I’m not trying to paint a somber picture to make you feel like this protocol is impossible to do, because that’s not true.  MANY MANY people are doing the protocol with success and maintaining that success (check out the private HCG Diet Interviews I’ve done).  But I do think it’s important to let you guys know realistically what the diet can be like AT TIMES.

The Solution:

In order for me to get through a round successfully, I have to plan in advance not to have anything major going on during that time and to save most social situations for before or after P2.  Not everyone may feel this way, but I find it too emotionally and mentally exhausting to constantly be in tempting situations while on Phase 2.  The times I have allowed myself to go through this I have suffered the consequences (bad cravings, cheating, wanting to give up etc.)  And you will often find that what defines “tempting” while on P2 encompasses many more situations than when you are in regular life.  Once you allow yourself to get to this point of having cravings, etc. your chances of cheating or quitting go up- it is better to avoid causing these feelings to arise in the first place when possible.

I think the most important thing that is a “solution” here is just to actually realize that this will be hard and to make whatever life adjustments that you can accordingly.  It’s called being modest.  Which is totally opposite of what we’re raised and trained to do in this world.  We’re taught to think that nothing can get in our way and that we can succeed no matter what.  Which, in a way is true, BUT if you take that kind of mentality too far, it can get you in trouble.  If you modestly accept to yourself that you are NOT superman or superwoman, and that you need to make adjustments to your life in order to create a pathway to success, I feel the majority of will have a higher chance of succeeding this way.

Cut the Path in Advance and Leave the Machete At Home

As an illustration- what if you were told that you were going to run a marathon with several people, and each person would be running on their own personal trail.  It would be timed, so winning is based on speed.

Each of you are assigned a trail, and yours is completely overgrown with trees, bushes and weeds.  You are allowed to groom the trail in advance if you desire.

Your choice is to pull out your machete now and make sure your whole path from start to finish is free and clear so that you can run like the wind, or figure to yourself that it can’t be that bad, you’ll just bring your machete with you on the marathon and cut your way along as you go.  You decide on the latter.

Once the marathon starts, you discover that you have to stop every 15 seconds to knock down what’s in front of you with your machete, and this constant delaying of your travel time, getting exhausted from whacking away at huge roots, along with the fact that the darn machete is REALLY heavy to carry while running (not to mention dangerous), you realize you will most likely finish dead last, if you get there at all, in which case you feel like maybe you should just give up entirely.

It’s smart to think ahead and not be foolish about what we think we can do.  This doesn’t mean we won’t achieve life-changing things.  With this weight loss protocol you can!

But you will increase your chances of achieving this in less time, with less heart-ache, and less strain on your body by being humble enough to recognize your limitations.

Practical Ways to Do This

1. Plan Your Round of hCG in Advance 

Check your calendar and make your decision about when to start and end the round based on your schedule, not your heart or emotions.  Find a time that is as clear as possible of anniversaries, holidays, vacations, anything that involves getting together with a bunch of people and a bunch of food.  Sometimes this involves thinking more with your head and waiting a few extra weeks.  I KNOW this is hard- I’ve been through this myself, but I’m telling you guys, I’ve seen it SO many times- you have a vacation planned in 2 weeks, but you want to start hCG, and because you’re emotionally anxious to start losing weight you decide to start this protocol and tell yourself you’ll somehow stick to P2 while on a houseboat filled with chips, beer and your 4 best friends.  It’s just not going to happen…unless your superwoman, which I am not.  I understand that emotional feeling of feeling overweight and wanting to do something about it right now!  But logically your odds for success will increase if you also approach it realistically.

Watch Casey’s Full Interview here

Watch Donna’s Full Interview here

2.  Minimize Guilt for Disappearing

This again calls for planning ahead.  Anyone that you’ve been thinking you need or want to see, or anyone wanting to see you.  Either do it now and get it out of the way before you start this weight loss journey, or make a definite date on the calendar with them for after your round is over.  This will help ensure your family/friends/extended families feelings are taken care of to help minimize hurt feelings.

3.  Stay Busy with Other Productive Endeavors

Since you are spending SO little time eating on this protocol, it’s important to fill up the time you used to spend doing this with something else- something that will be fulfilling for you.  This is a good thing to try do especially because this is a tool that will help you in the long term as well.  Many of us eat because we’re bored, or because eating is the most satisfying thing we have going on in our life at the moment.  Perhaps you don’t know exactly what activities for you can be enriching- since we’re all unique what calls to each one of us will be different.

One thing that you can start with though that will most definitely help both you and others is to get involved in the hCG Diet Community.  Watching hCG vloggers on youtube, making your own weight loss protocol vlogs, commenting on vlogs, receiving comments on your own vlogs- this is really an important vehicle for support that will help you through the hCG Diet Plan.  If you’ve been thinking about doing this but don’t know how, I made a little How to Vlog on Youtube for hCG post.  I hope to make something more in-depth on this topic in the future to help you guys with this.  Additionally, your helping others on the diet by watching and commenting on their videos does a world of good for them!  This kind of give and take support is one of the real blessings about the hCG Community that many have experienced.

If you are shy and just don’t want to go that route at this time, that’s perfectly alright.  Just finding something to do that doesn’t involve eating that’s a satisfying activity for you can make a huge difference.  I often will spend time updating my own personal family blog or doing some sewing that I usually don’t have time for while on the protocol.

4.  Take A Little Time Out for You to Get/Stay Refreshed

Perhaps  you already have a totally full schedule because of your work or other obligations in life.  If that is the case, see if there is any way that you can take out just small chunks of time here and there do something relaxing for yourself to keep you centered.  One of my favorite things to do when I’m feeling rundown is to take a very a hot shower.  I just hang out in there.  Something about this, when I get out I feel more peaceful and calm.  I also love look at videos and photos of my family and add them to our personal family blog.  Lastly, I love to cuddle with my family.  My son and my husband all snuggled into our king sized bed gives me a very cozy homey feeling that is very relaxing for me as well.  What can you do even if it’s only 10 or 15 minutes that could give you some refreshment and remind you of what you want out of your life?

Watch James’s Full Interview here

Watch Miriandra’s Full Interview here

5.  When It Feels Hard Remember the Feeling Will Pass

Much of the time when the diet is feeling especially hard, it is mostly the worry that it will keep feeling this hard that is intimidating.  It’s easy to wonder if you’ll be able to make it through the 6 weeks if you’re going to feel this crappy every single day.  Barring other health reasons for feeling like that (which is reason for failure #6 btw which we’ll talk about later), usually the diet does NOT feel hard every single day.  Usually it’s more a case of you overdoing it one day, or perhaps some carb or sugar withdrawals.  But this often passes in a day or two, maybe 3, and then you will find that the protocol is not so bad many days.

Try to remind yourself that acute feeling of how hard it is at that moment will soon pass.

And if you’re still with me after this exceptionally long blogpost……

6.  Lots of Tea.  With Stevia.

See my short blogpost on teas I love.

For a little inspiration on what can be achieved, check out the hCG Diet Interviews – over 60 episodes now of successful weight loss stories with hCG.

Watch Sarah’s Full Interview here

Watch Vicki’s Full Interview here

Watch Barbara’s Full Interview here

Watch Elke’s Full Interview here

Watch Helen’s Full Interview here

Watch Lynette’s Full Interview here

Watch Nance’s Full Interview here

Watch Mandy’s Full Interview here

Your Turn:

In the comments below, I’d love to have you share any little tips and strategies you have personally used to be successful with sticking to the hCG protocol- whether it’s something that helped you mentally/emotionally, or a tactic that helped out in a physical situation (like social stuff).

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