Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
How Much Weight Will I Gain on the Loading Phase?
How much weight you gain while loading on the hCG diet is highly individual, but there are few things that I have observed in watching many people on youtube do the hCG Diet and in my own rounds of hCG that contribute to this.
First time loaders
If this is your first time loading on the hCG Diet, you may find that your loading gain is minimal, usually in the 1-4lb range.
Say what?? How can I say 4 lbs is minimal?
Well, as you’ll soon see my hCG friend, 4 lbs is nothing to the hCG hormone and this protocol- if you gain 4 lbs loading, you will most likely lose most, if not all of that, after your very 1st or 2nd VLCD (very low calorie day).
Why are loading gains on the first round of hCG usually minimal though? A couple reasons this could be is that loading weight is typically at least partially water retention. New loaders who perhaps may have been already eating a salty, high fat, or sugary diet before starting the hCG Diet (this was me) most likely are already carrying excess water weight, so there is no major inflated gain from extra water weight from suddenly increasing fat/sugar/salt while loading- you have already been eating like this (I was).
As an example, I only gained .8 lbs loading for my first round of hCG. And believe me, I did load well- cartons of ice-cream, the whole nine yards. It seems like first time loaders usually gain somewhere between 1-4 lbs loading (sometimes called gorging) for hCG.
Subsequent rounds of hCG
I have also noticed that a large percentage of people who load for the hCG diet (the traditional way with starches and sugars included- more on that in a minute) on subsequent rounds seem to gain more- sometimes quite a bit more.
I have seen loading gains of 6-9 lbs for subsequent round loaders. I can’t be sure of the reason for this, but one of my guesses is that those who are loading for 2nd, 3rd, 4th rounds, etc. have often been eating a very healthy diet during P3 and P4, between rounds, and thus are not carrying around extra water weight or having excess water retention because of this healthy diet. Thus the sudden enormous increase in carbs and sugar while loading causes a fair amount of water retention, inflating their loading weight (ie. a person who gains 9 lbs loading did NOT gain 9 lbs of fat in 2 days-I’m pretty sure that’s totally impossible).
Additionally it’s possible the hCG hormone itself is more easily recognized by a person’s body after the first round and perhaps get’s “into their system” more quickly than before.
These are just my ideas- not fact by any means, but the truth is, traditional loading (loading with sugar and carbs included) does cause larger loading gains on future rounds from what I’ve seen.
Loading “clean” or loading “dirty”
This definitely will play a role in how much weight you gain loading for hCG. I have loaded what can be called “clean” or “low carb” for the last 3 hCG rounds.
You can read all about how and why to consider a clean hCG load.
But basically, this means loading on only high fat, high protein foods and leaving carbs and sugar out of the picture entirely.
Loading clean will result in the smallest amount of loading gain.
What does clean or low carb loading on hCG look like? Watch my vlog for Round 5 loading and my list showing what foods I ate for that load.
I ate 4000 calories and 300 grams of fat EACH day while loading, but did it “clean” and only gained a net of 1.6lbs loading (and this was at my current weight then of 132 pounds).
Loading with sugars and carbs included:
This is the traditional way to load, where you just eat whatever you want while you load the 2 days, just in larger amounts than usual, but still with a focus on making sure the food items are high in fat.
This could include things like pizza, ice-cream, cake, donuts, etc. Dr. Simeons did make it clear however that the purpose of loading is to get a high amount of fats into your system, but he made no restriction as to how the fats were taken in and even mentioned some of the aforementioned foods himself as possible options. You can, and many do, load for the hCG Diet, this way, and if that is what you want to do, do not attach any guilt to it. It’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do while you load for hCG- Dr. Simeons himself said so! That said, you will experience the most loading gain, especially on subsequent rounds, when you load this way.
How Fast Will I Lose the Loading Weight So I Can Start Losing Real Weight?
So how soon will you lose the weight you gain loading on the hCG Diet? This of course depends partially on how much weight you gain while loading for hCG. In general though, you can usually expect to lose all the weight you gain from loading on hCG within 2-3 days of starting the VLCD (very low calorie days) of the diet. Most of the time I would say 2 days. Less often, 3 days. If you load “clean” (low carb with just high fats and proteins and no sugars or starches) you will most likely lose all your load weight in 1 day.
Warning here: For people on their 2nd round and beyond of hCG, who load “dirty” with sugar and carbs, it is not all the uncommon for people to email me telling me they gained like 8 lbs loading and that it took them a whole week on hCG to get it off – so just some more food for thought here when you make your decision about how you want to load.
My personal hCG loading and hCG losing stats:
How much weight I gained loading on each hCG Round and how much weight I lost the first two days of the diet.
Time it took to lose my loading weight: 1 day
Round 1:
Load: +0.8
VLCD 1: -1.8
VLCD 2: -1.8
Totals: Lost all load weight + new weight after the 1st diet day.
Round 2:
(3 day load, loaded dirty with sugar and carbs)
Load: +3.6
VLCD 1: -3.4
VLCD 2: -1.8
Totals: Lost all but .2 of the loading weight in 1 day.
Round 3:
(clean load, 2 days)
Load: +0.6
VLCD 1: -2.2
VLCD 2: -1.2
Totals: Lost all load weight + new weight after the 1st diet day.
Round 4:
(clean load, 2 days)
Load: +1.0
VLCD 1: -2.2
VLCD 2: -0.2
Totals: Lost all load weight + new weight after the 1st diet day.
Round 5:
(clean load, 2 days)
Load: +1.6
VLCD 1: -2.0
VLCD 2: -0.6
Totals: Lost all load weight + new weight after the 1st diet day.
I should mention: for those loading on their 2nd, 3rd rounds and beyond, sometimes individuals seem to gain more weight than usual when they load the normal way (with starches and sugars as part of it), and at times I’ve seen it take quite some time to get this load weight off- like 6-12 days! Thankfully this is not what normally happens, but for me this is all the more reason to load what I call “clean” or low carb. I load without starches and sugars, and my loading gains are always minimal when done this way and always come off in 1-2 days. I definitely don’t want to spend half my round losing loading weight. Again, this isn’t what normally happens, but I have seen it and I don’t know why it occurs.
As you can see I gained very little my first round, at my highest weight of 172lbs (at 5’1” tall) and this was with eating tons of ice-cream and cake that particular load. The 2nd round I loaded for 3 days instead of 2 (which in general I don’t think is necessary) and still only gained 3.6 lbs- again this was with eating plenty of dessert type foods. But I warn you again- while it may not getcha the first round, future rounds of loading this way can cause significant loading weight to pile on- to me it’s not really worth it.
But Do You NEED to Load on Sugary Carby Foods for the Protocol to Work Right?
Some have suggested that loading with sugar and carbs is necessary in order to lose the proper amount of fat or in order to maintain the weight loss. I feel my own experience has debunked this- I have maintained a size 2/4 dress size now for close to 2 years, using a clean load only for my last 3 rounds, and I think I look pretty snazzy too.
I Lost Weight Loading for hCG- Is That Normal and Okay?
I’ll just quote Dr. Simeon’s mention on this subject below:
“During the two days of forced feeding from the first to the third injection – many patients are surprised that contrary to their previous experience they do not gain weight and some even lose. The explanation is that in these cases there is a compensatory flow of urine, which drains excessive water from the body. To some extent this seems to be a direct action of hCG, but it may also be due to a higher protein intake, as we know that a protein-deficient diet makes the body retain water.“
So the majority do gain weight loading or gorging in the 2 days before starting the VLCD on hCG, but some, including myself, have lost weight on at least 1 of the loading days. Typically for me I lose a little weight after the first loading day- like maybe .8 or 1 lb, then I gain 1-3 lbs the 2nd loading day, so my net loading gain is usually like 1.5-2lbs. And yep, this is fine!
Want Motivation?
37,000+ hCGers Join
hcgChica's
Email Tribe
how-to's | interviews | pep talks
Yup, I want this!
kathleen says
Well I fell off the wagon… I’m on P1 R3 and fell off by loading dirty… OMG pasta, cheese and cookies… Holy crap I’ve gained 7 lbs in two days… R1 and R2 Ioaded clean, I normally do this to also prevent detox hangover… but it was a rough week and decided to use P1 as an excuse to cheat in a big way and now I’m paying the price. I was going to do a 3 day load, but with these numbers I’d end up gaining a whole round of progress back in 3 days… 🙁 Part of this diet is changing my life style of eating… and discovering how different types of food affects me. Lessoned learned…. And I’ve learned if I don’t have a plan in place or “fall off it” I crash and burn. I finished 7 weeks of P3 following your program and then went rogue… I should have repeated a week while waiting for my shipment… UGH…
Lisa Norwood says
I am about to start a round of HCG and wanted to to load clean. Can you provide some suggestions for this. Last round I gained 8 pounds on loading. I really want to it smarter but successful at the time same. Thank You in advance for your time.
Brenda says
I cheated on the hcg diet and gained disgusting fat,. My body lost muscle and I gained many unsightly fat pockets. How do I get rid of this fat now. I was not that heavy when I started 140 but now my body is unsightly thank you. I look puffy swollen and fat
Gen, hCGChica team buddy says
Hi Brenda,
I am sorry you are struggling badly with the diet. You may want to consider stopping hCG if you continue having a hard time but if you feel like you can still do this without cheating and being really strict then you can still continue. How far along are you in your round?
I’m sharing with you Rayzel’s article on how to fix a cheat: http://hcgchica.com/how-to-fix-cheat-on-hcg-diet/ It’s not too late you know.
And this, too, about cheating smarter: http://hcgchica.com/cheating-smarter-hcg-diet/
Hope that it helps you.
Gen
Megan M says
I started my first time doing HCG injections on Saturday. My load days were Saturday and Sunday. My starting weight Saturday was 186.6. Today is Tuesday so I’m in two days in to VLCD, I just weighed in and I’m 188. I have followed everything and am super discouraged! And advice would be awesome.
hcgchica's helper says
Hi Megan!
This is Lucelle, Rayzel’s assistant. Nice to meet you! 🙂
How much weight did you gain from loading?
If you’re about to have your period this could possibly be water retention.
Kathy says
Gained 6 lbs on loading for round two, had been at my lowest weight , actually lost 2 lbs on my 3 week phase 3. Now it’s taken me 4 days to lost 5 of the 6 lbs- hopefully tomorrow Ill be starting to really lose again! Going to do 3 week round with break then another 3 week round. Don’t think I’ll add the Krispy Kreme next time! (I ate 8.5 out of a dozen!) Definitely want to load in a cleaner way for round 3!
Ms Burness says
Thanks Rayzel!! I really needed this information. I woke up to weigh after my 1st load day of round 3 and I had gained 3 pounds. So of course I ran to your site to see if I was on the right track. Here I found out about dirty or clean load. How I wish I had known about this before. I feel do terrible after eating all if the sugar and starches yesterday. Thankfully my body is just not use to all of the junk. Today, my 2nd load day, I will do a clean load. Since I am a vegetarian, I will do it with a lot of salmon, black bass, flounder and vegetables. Thank you so much for being here when I need you. Ms Burness
Jo says
I was going to do 3 days (for the bad reasons you mentioned – pizza party at work on my 3rd day) but after day 1, with a 2lb gain and feeling overstuffed, I think I’m gonna stop at 2 days. This is my second round of HCG (this year – I’ve tried it in the past and lost only a little due to extraneous cheats, but I’m devoted this time). My first round last month, I used homeopathic drops and they had other ingredients in them, so I don’t think they were pure HCG. I lost 12 lbs and am so ready to do it again, this time with pure injections.
Sandy says
I’m on day 2 of loading and feel really bloated and gross. This makes me feel like I’ve been force-fed. I have included carbs in my load, though. If I do a round two, I will try the other way, just to see the difference. This morning I was up .8 lbs after one day of loading.
Jessie says
I don’t know if I can load my second day, I could barely do today. I’m just ready to lose weight. The sight of food is making me sick. Ugh
spooky12 says
just started my load and I have to admit, I feel ill from eating all day long. Ugh
Inpsired Girl - Barbara Yaffee says
Thanks for this Rayzel! I have experienced the same things. Each round i gained more during loading, and on my ‘clean load’ i gained less and lost it faster. Also, because I normally eat really clean, when i recently did a ‘dirty’ load, i just felt AWFUL, full, and sick. I do like getting any cravings out of my system, but it really isn’t worth it. I did however, lose my 4.5 pound load gain in 2 days. This is all great info, thanks!
~Inspired Girl aka Barbara
http://www.inspiredgirl.me