You can eat fantastic food while you’re on the hCG Diet Protocol AND reach your weight loss goals.
As a personal chef, I’m accustomed to revamping recipes to fit my clients needs. So when I started the plan, or as I like to refer to it, the “Protocol,” I got busy looking through my personal file of over 1,200 recipes to see which ones I could modify to fit the hCG diet plan. Check out my HCG Diet Journey on YouTube, if you’re interested.
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Even though Phase 2 is restrictive, in calories, fat, and carbs, there are a myriad of ways you can jazz up your meals. The Phase 2 (P2) hCG diet recipes have been tested in my kitchen for myself, my clients, and my friends.
After you’ve been on Phase 2 for a while it can be a challenge to figure out just what you can have and not have on Phase 3 (commonly known as P3). To be sure, no sugar, no starch may sound like easy rules, but sometimes not that easy to do with a typical recipe. Many of my Phase 3 recipes are innovative and different, but I also have some tried and true, good old American style dishes up my sleeve.
Even though you don’t need to count calories on the Protocol, I have provided the calorie count, fat grams, and carbs for many of the recipes on the site. I’m also sharing my daily menus. I think it’s important to see what a real person eats on a day-by-day basis on this protocol.
Basically, I want to make it easy for you to stick to the HCG Protocol and never be at a loss for what to eat, whether you’re Loading, on Phase 2, Phase 3, or Phase 4. There is something for everyone here. If there’s a recipe you’d like to see featured, please leave a comment and tell me about it. I’m always looking for new recipes to feature on this site. For more inspiration, check out this video I made that shows an easy way to prepare several of your hCG diet recipes at one time.
How to find hCG recipes
The hCG diet recipes are categorized in the right hand column, and you can also search for recipes by using the search box just above the categories or by clicking on the hCG Diet Recipe Index link in the navigation bar.
Phase 2 of the hCG Diet
I’m going to be completely honest–you don’t need complicated recipes to make your Phase 2 meals. The plan is very simple and the list of approved ingredients is short. That doesn’t mean you have to eat plain boiled chicken and baked fish every day. Having said that, there are lots of different ways to liven up your menu and still stick to the Protocol 100%.
It’s really all about the seasoning, so spice blends are one of my favorite things to use on my chicken, beef, fish, and shrimp. You can buy a lot of different spice blends in the grocery store, but I like to make my own so that I can control the level of spice and also the salt content. You also want to make sure there’s no sugar in a pre-made spice mix. Cajun Spice Mix is my very favorite, but I also like Moroccan Spice Mix, and Blackened Seasoning.
Like me, some people can use coconut oil to saute Phase 2 recipes without stalling or gaining weight. If this is you, great! If not, there is a way to saute your food without oil of any kind.
The meat in Phase 2 seems to fill me up a little more when it’s cut up and made into a soup or stew. Maybe it’s psychological–just looking at a little 3.5 oz piece of chicken on a plate is enough to make me hungry! My go-to soups are Mexican Chicken Soup and Southwestern Chicken Chili.
Since there’s only a handful of veggies you can have on Phase 2, I like to change up the way they are prepared. Served raw, cabbage has a nice crunchy texture in Cabbage Slaw. Crispy Baked Spinach is also a nice deviation from the standard steamed fresh spinach; this is my favorite P2 snack! I love to grill asparagus on my grill pan or puree it into a soup.
I usually save my fruit, the apples, oranges, and grapefruit for either breakfast or dessert, but I do also work them into savory dishes like Chicken and Green Chili Stew with Apples, or use the juice in my Spicy Orange Sauce recipe that I’ll serve over chicken. Fruit is also great in dressings and vinaigrettes like Strawberry Vinaigrette or Grapefruit Vinaigrette.
The breadsticks that are allowed sometimes provide a welcome change because they’re crunchy and great to snack on when your mouth is a little bored! But I really prefer to use them as an ingredient in my main dishes, like as a topping on Crunchy Cajun Baked Fish, or as a filler in my Crab Cakes.
You may not need to follow a recipe for all of your Phase 2 meals, but when you’re stuck, or just wanting something different, be sure to come back here and take a look.
Phase 3 of the hCG Diet
Transitioning into Phase 3 of the Protocol can be tricky. For 21 days following your last VLCD (very low calorie day) you will increase your caloric intake, but you cannot have any starches or sugars. Many people choose to eat the same foods they ate during Phase 2, only in larger quantities. You can’t eat unlimited calories on Phase 3 either. Eat the amount of calories that would be sufficient for you to maintain your current weight. Remember, the key is not to gain or lose more than 2 lbs in a given day on Phase 3.
During Phase 3 you may cook your meals using oil. Olive oil is great, but I prefer to use coconut oil due to it’s many health benefits. I’ve included some of my favorite Phase 3 recipes on this site, many of which I developed for particular clients who were on low-carb eating plans.
I would suggest slowly adding new foods to your diet during Phase 3. This is a time to to stabilize your new weight loss, but also to get to know what your body can and can’t handle. I missed nuts and cheese the most during Phase 2, but I quickly realized that I needed to add limited amounts of those items very cautiously.
You may have gotten used to not eating breakfast during Phase 2. Luckily, there are some healthy Phase 3 recipes that are perfect for breakfast. My favorites are: Deviled Eggs, Vegetable Fritattas, Fruit Smoothies, and Phase 3 French Toast.
For lunch I love soups, salads and (bunless) burgers — Tarragon Chicken Salad, Southwestern Turkey Burgers, and Broccoli Cheese Soup are recipes that I make over and over again.
Dinner usually consists of a lean meat, like pork tenderloin, chicken, or fish, and a lovely green vegetable. Broaden your vegetable horizons, but be sure to stay away from starchy veggies like corn, peas, and especially potatoes. By the way, cauliflower is an excellent substitute if you’re missing potatoes. Try Twice Baked Cauliflower. I love main dishes like Moroccan Spiced Pork Tenderloin, Chicken with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Balsamic Citrus Glazed Salmon, and side dishes like Green Beans Almandine and Creamed Spinach.
hCG Diet Menus
In addition to fabulous and easy to follow recipes, I am sharing the menus that I’ve prepared on my protocol. Sometimes we get stuck in a rut with our eating habits, not only while on the protocol, but in general. I find it helpful to see what others are eating–perhaps you will too.
You can find some sample hCG Diet Menus here.
Please leave me a comment and let me know how you’re doing on the hCG diet!
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