Everyone wants to know what the best diet out there is. There is no simple answer to this. If your goal is to lose weight, PLENTY of diets can help you achieve that goal. By definition, “going on a diet” basically means that you are going to change eating habits to drop weight. Diets can be ranked by speed of weight loss, expected diet length, nutrient mix and ease. It is the desired mix of these factors that leads to the discovery of the BEST diet for you. In this article, I’ll share my opinion on HCG vs The Atkins Diet. I’ve tried em both, so here’s my two cents.

So… let’s say you can be disciplined for a short period of time and you prefer more balanced meals AND you want to lose weight super-fast… then HCG is perfect for you. Or… let’s say you want to lose weight fairly quickly and want to be able to eat more food but don’t mind giving up carbohydrates, perhaps Atkins can work for you. Both are effective in their own right and the choice may come down to preference. It’s attractive to know you can eat a large plate of hamburger meat with a hunk of cheddar cheese on top and still lose weight. If that’s so, than why oh why would anyone choose to diet any other way?

In my humble opinion… here is why I would opt for HCG over Atkins every time. First… no carbohydrates?.. Well that’s a bad idea. Carbohydrates are what fuels the body AND the brain. Ingesting no carbohydrates forces the body to burn other fuel. This is the cool part and that is helps you to lose weight on the Atkins diet even though you’re still consuming plenty of fat and calories. This doesn’t work very well for very long, however. Weight loss for the first couple of weeks is usually pretty good, but tends to slow down fast after that. More importantly… how long can you eat that way? Just meat, eggs and cheese for several months? Sounds tasty but imagine a world forever fearing bread… or fruit… or rice. See… once you introduce carbohydrates back into the diet… boom… Weight comes back super quick. You’ve got to think BEYOND the diet period and know the weight loss can be maintained.

HCG diet calls for a serious calorie restriction but the maximum time for a cycle is six weeks! The HCG diet has you eating fresh fruits, vegetables and lean meats. In other words, you are eating healthy meals throughout. HCG weight loss comes from the very low calorie diet forcing the body to burn stored fat for fuel. The hormone keeps the body from going into starvation mode and fat loss is ultra-quick. Many people lose 30 or more pounds in the 6 weeks. The next three weeks after stopping the HCG is the “maintenance phase”. During this time you’ll eat a decent amount of calories BUT you eat healthily and avoid sugar and starches. Now, you’ve built healthy eating habits over the last few months and are ready to take on the world as a happy and fit individual.

Ultimately habits are what make you. With regards to HCG versus The Atkins Diet, first determine which diet you can stick to. Next decide if that diet will help you to develop good habits and you’ll be more successful over the long haul. HCG appears the obvious good habit choice… on the other hand, getting to eat rib-eye steaks and cheese omelets with sausage every day sounds pretty good too. The choice is yours.

When there is a pause in the weight loss scale and a halt in decreasing waist measurement, does this mean that we should panic thinking that the diet program might not be working? Not really. In fact, while your body is burning the abnormal fats, your muscle tissues are also toning up. So instead of losing more pounds, the muscles forming contribute to the leanness of your body. That explains why your weight is still the same even though, in reality, you're actually not as bulky as you were before.

There are three other possible reasons why the weight loss has reached the plateau. Studies show that it is probable that the body has become immune to the HCG Drops, which slows down the improvement of the body figure. When this happens, it is advisable that you limit your drops or lower down the dosage of the drops. Even better you may need to take a six month break before doing another cycle of the HCG diet. Another factor would be that the target weight may have been achieved. If this is so, you have to confirm to your body that the idyllic body has been attained and as a reward, maintain the figure with less effort than when you started off.

In the third factor, you may want to consider the first stage of business marketing, when the introduction stage is the peak of its’ sales, the booms are off the cliff. It happens to your body as well. When you first started the diet program the weight loss effect is impressive. However, as you go on with the curriculum, your body will get used to the low calorie intake, thus making it the norm of your system. With this, the diet will have a little effect on your body. There are remedies when the dramatic weight loss suddenly stops. These remedies are called plateau breakers. There are numerous online resources to help you out with the specifics of this phenomenon.

Dieters should not fret during weight loss stalls. They ought to press on with the HCG program and make sure to follow the instructions correctly. Losing an inspiring 2-4 pounds a day can be exciting but it is not guaranteed that you will lose weight in the same manner every day. In truth, it is very possible that the scale will seem jammed for several days and then suddenly show a reduction of a couple of pounds one day. But this should not serve as a discouragement to the dieters. Dedication towards the program will cause an average of a pound a day, eventually. All it needs is commitment, a bit of enthusiasm and a dab of faith to go on with what you have started on.

We have provided HCG drops throughout the world and we have found that whether you are doing the diet in the U.S or the United Kingdom, you are going to lose weight with HGC! It's just a matter of making sure that you follow all the phases properly and that you do an apple day or a steak day when necessary.

1) Drink Ample Amounts of Water

Every day you are supposed to drink at least 8-8 ounce glasses of this essential liquid, but few people actually obey this doctor recommendation. The benefits of this are truly significant, however, as it increases kidney functioning and sheds more calories each day via metabolic processes.

2) When you Walk – Walk Fast

This may seem almost useless (and it is quite easy), but research shows that people that walk at a rapid pace lose 50 calories every 10 minutes. Compare this with the 20 or so calories you lose over the same period walking normally, and it\’s obvious that this is a big \”step\” in the right direction.

3) Park Further Away

Though this won\’t work if you\’re running late (always be on time!), parking further away from your place of business or residence is a great way to add extra distance and burn extra calories. That extra flight of stairs in the parking deck, or extra 5 blocks to work will save you more than a few dollars on the higher priced inner city parking!

4) Climb Stairs More

Though this may seem obvious, \”Take the Stairs\” is a truly excellent addition to your daily routine. You will not only burn calories, but help tone that tush. If you usually take an elevator for less than 8 floors each day, those 2-3 minutes it would take to walk up the stairs can be a huge help in staying healthy each day

5) Cultivate Healthy Daily Routines

This may seem hard, but it can really be quite easy. On that lunch turkey club, don\’t put mayonaisse, use mustard! Pack your lunches for work each day, rather than ordering in (saves calories and money!). Add at least one green vegetable to each meal, and eat it first, saving the best for last. These easy steps can offer you a huge boost in your overall health. Cultivate healthy routines through the day, and before long it will be commonplace to live and stay healthy.

It’s always tough for people to achieve a high degree of health and maintain it in the long term, yet it’s all about taking it a little at a time. Adding just one of these per day for a week can totally transform your life in the long term. Just 1 good habit, added each day, can change your life in a month or less! What more energy for your family and kids? There’s no better way than to live a healthy life. Good health releases endorphins to your brain and makes you happier, improving mood and functionality. Bettering your health means bettering your life!

Geraldine Jones is a Graduate from Princeton University class of 2008, with bachelors in English and Philosophy. She writes for her hCG blog regularly and submits content about various health topics related to her expertise.

For the user who does not consume alcohol by habit, this abstinence will not be an issue. It is quite a different matter for those who are used to enjoying a couple of glasses of alcoholic drinks every night or every couple of days. However, for a chronic drinker using the hCG diet program to detox, lose weight and stay off the bottle, can be quite a challenge.

Or so we think.

Although it is true that alcoholic beverages aren’t allowed especially during Phase 2, the belief that those who like their daily wine are going to have a hard time is actually contrary to what really happens. There are many alcoholic drinkers who have reported actually losing the urge to drink. Somehow, the hCG diet program sufficiently curbs the thirst so much so that in the maintenance phase, the individual doesn’t seek out the bottle anymore or, in milder terms, would find no problem in staying away from alcoholic beverages.

This phenomenon has been popularly attributed to the effects that the hCG has on the hypothalamus gland. This gland is responsible for the function of our autonomic nervous system (ANS) also known as our visceral nervous system. Our ANS controls our respiratory and heart rate, perspiration, salivation digestion, and arousal. Through this system, the hypothalamus thus controls the temperature of our body, thirst and hunger, sleep, circadian cycles (body clock), and fatigue.

All in all, drinking alcoholic beverage is allowed but only in the maintenance phase. It is crucial that no alcohol be consumed in Phase 2 of the hCG diet. When consuming alcohol in the maintenance phase, be sure you are aware of the sugar content of your beverage. Likewise, be sure to keep an eye out on your alcohol tolerance levels after Phase 2. After such a long period of abstinence from alcoholic beverages chances are high that you will easily feel the effects sooner than before you started on the hCG diet.

Unfortunately, there isn’t anything you can do about the abstinence from alcohol mainly in Phase 2 of the hCG diet program but there is another way to look at it though. Think of it as a means of finally getting rid of that alcohol urge. What’s more, you’ll be replacing it with more beneficial nutrients demanded from the diet. All too soon you’ll actually be experiencing what millions can only wish for; finally living a healthier lifestyle. Additionally, you can still drink a goblet of wine every now and then after completing Phase 2 of the hCG diet.

People tend to want to throw weight loss drugs and supplements all in the same barrel. Before we zero in on the dangers of HCG, let’s discuss what HCG isn’t and how it differs from the weigh loss drugs we’ve seen before.

The drug companies have been coming out with the “best-est and greatest” fat burners for years.  Some of them are “prescription” strength while others you could get at your local GNC.  The majority of these fat burners work using a process call thermogenesis.  This is just what it sounds like.  Since a calorie is essentially a measure of heat generated, these diet aids work by “speeding up” the body, which makes it work harder and generate more heat.  During the day, your metabolism is significantly increased and you magically shed pounds.  Unfortunately, drugs like ephedrine and phen phen made the news because unnaturally speeding up your heart rate like that can be deadly.

HCG is not a thermogenic.

HCG is a hormone that naturally occurs.  Hormones are essentially triggers that regulate specific body functions.  Think of them as levers.  Just like you flip a switch to bathe your room in light and flip it the other way to turn it off, your body releases hormones that order fat to be stored and hormones that order it to be released.

HCG is produced in pregnant women and it tells the hypothalamus to burn fat for energy, even in periods of starvation, to ensure that the fetus has steady nutrition.  Over 50 years ago, Dr. Simeon discovered that by administering HCG into obese people and putting them on a restrictive diet, they could lose fat at a rate of one to three pounds a day.  The HCG controlled their hunger by keeping the blood sugar in check and protected their muscle from wasting as would have naturally happened with so few calories ingested.

So how is HCG dangerous?

Following the protocol to the letter has exhibited zero side effects.  That said, I would love to tell you that HCG is the best way to lose weight, but then I wouldn’t be telling you the whole story.  HCG is the fastest way to lose unwanted pounds with minimal effort but the best way to maintain it is through diet and exercise.

While the HCG diet does encourage creating the habit of healthy eating, it’s important to adopt an overall healthy lifestyle when the diet is finished.  The only danger I’ve witnessed is people who use the diet to get down to their goal weight and then go right back to the same habits they had before the diet.  Inevitably, they gain the weight back over the next year or so and then do the diet again and again and again.  Remember, gaining excess fat is NEVER HEALTHY.

HCG is not dangerous inherently.  Use it to get rid of those pounds you’ve been struggling with all this time. It’s very fast and it’s super easy. It’s important to remember that once you reach your desired weight, you treat your body well by eating the right foods and adding in a little exercise. That way, your body will consistently look and run great until a ripe old age.

In general, Phase 2 consists of 500 calories per day made up of 8 oz of protein, 2 fruit servings, 2 vegetable servings and 2 bread sticks or Melba toasts. Normally all the food is eaten during the lunch and dinner periods with breakfast only being coffee or herbal tea.

HCG does a wonderful job of maintaining our blood sugar levels so that we don’t experience the hunger we normally would while ingesting so few calories. It is up to us, however, to keep those calories low so the HCG can concentrate on burning those extra pounds of fat out of our bodies.

First off, the cleaner the food the better. If you have the means, always opt for organic foods as opposed to conventional. We want our bodies operating as sleek fat burning machines. The last thing we need is our liver working hard at disposing of chemicals and pesticides that it truly has no idea how it should deal with as opposed to joining in the fat metabolism game. Also, with so few calories ingested, you are going to want as much nutrition as you can squeeze out of every bite.

Organic foods on average will have significantly better nutritional profiles. NO PROCESSED FOODS; There really isn’t room for processed foods on this diet. Generally the foods you want to eat don’t contain several ingredients, they are the ingredient.

If you buy a bag of broccoli, it should say “Ingredients: Broccoli. The end. If after “Broccoli” you see a string of words you can’t pronounce, step away from the bag slowly. Your Grissini bread sticks and Melba toasts will obviously have multiple ingredients, but they should be all natural.

Lean proteins – the emphasis is on LEAN. Do not go and get 80/20 ground beef and think if you throw it on a Foreman grill all the fat melts away like in the commercial. Your best bet is to stay with chicken or fish. Chicken is great because there is very little fat when its boneless/skinless. Fish has an amazing amount of nutrition including selenium, iron, and zinc plus Omega 3’s which are great for the heart.

Try to stick with fish like flounder, cod, tilapia, halibut and red snapper. You can also have crab, shrimp and lobster. If you are going to eat beef, try veal or lean cut steaks. Again, your goal is to not introduce more fat into your system than you have to. You’ll eat 100 grams or roughly 4oz of protein twice per day. Use plenty of seasonings as many have health benefits and contain vitamins and minerals.

Vegetables – Pick green vegetables like spinach, broccoli, kale, lettuce, chard, celery, cabbage, cucumbers and asparagus. These have very low calories and plenty of nutrition and fiber. You can also eat onions, fennel, tomatoes, beet greens, radishes and the like. Avoid starchy vegetables. That’s right, there are vegetables besides potatoes that are starchy like corn, green peas and carrots.

Fruits – think low sugar and plenty of fiber. The best choice for fruit is an apple. You can have a handful of strawberries, half a grapefruit or even an orange. Do not eat fruits like bananas and pineapples as they are higher in sugar. You are allowed 2 servings of fruit per day.

Bread – Either one Melba toast or Grissini bread stick 2 times per day.

Find yourself a good multi-vitamin and drink a lot of water. Try to get through a gallon a day. Ice water actually requires calories for your body to heat it up. That’s a fat burning bonus! Staying hydrated is key to weight loss, so make sure keep water available at all times and drink even if your not the least bit thirsty.

Embrace these food choices and you’ll enter Phase 3 as a lean, mean, good lookin’ machine! Good luck.

The HCG diet is said to “reset the hypothalamus”.  The hypothalamus is a part of the brain that is largely responsible for the amount of fat stored on your body.  HCG works by instructing the hypothalamus to release stored fat and use it for energy.  The theory about resetting the hypothalamus is that the hypothalamus acts like a thermostat.  If your thermostat is set for high, for instance, you’ll retain more fat than someone whose thermostat is set for low.

At the conclusion of the HCG diet, there is a three-week maintenance phase designed to lock in the new “thermostat” setting for your body and your body should “normalize” at your maintenance weight.

The HCG diet also assists in creating new eating habits.  After several weeks of following the strict HCG protocol, dieters begin to eat “on purpose” as opposed to reactively;  This means they’re more likely to pay attention to what they are eating and why,  as opposed to just putting  random things into their mouths with little thought.  In addition, the weight loss of the HCG diet is so dramatic that just the fear of possibly gaining the weight back is often motivation enough to continue eating properly.

Even with these two great benefits, maintaining that weight loss is still not guaranteed.  It doesn’t matter where you set your thermostat if you decide substitute every meal that could be something like grilled chicken and brown rice with pizza and red velvet cake; that weight is coming back.  Period! Yes, there are few people on this planet that can scarf that stuff down daily and not gain a pound but I’m fairly confident that none of those people have any reason to read this article.

Keeping the weight off increases in difficulty as we get older because our metabolism slows down.  One reason for this is that we lose muscle mass as we age.  The less muscle we have and the less muscle we use, the less calories we burn.  What I’m saying here is that if you’ve gone through the trouble of losing all that fat on the HCG diet, you owe it to yourself to take up some sort of exercise program.  Not only will it keep your metabolism revved, it will help you look better, feel better and positively impact nearly every aspect of your life.

Even though it is easy to maintain your weight loss after the HCG diet without much effort, good habits and consistent exercise will guarantee it for life.