Here is a breakdown of the approximate calories of each food allowed during the HCG diet. As a refresher, HCG, short for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin is a hormone found in pregnant women that when taken allows a person to survive on a low calorie diet (500 calories a day) and in which case they are able to lose on average about a pound or two a day, all while maintaining a healthy physique and not experiencing the usual hunger pains that accompany many diets. Read “How I Lost 40 Pounds in 40 Days” for more information on this astounding diet.
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The actual food consumption consists of lunch and dinner (no breakfast) and the following items per meal:
- 3.5 ounces of selected lean meats (see below)
- 3.5 ounces of selected vegetables (see below)
- 1 Grissini Breadstick or Melba Toast
- Selected fruit (see below)
You are encouraged to drink lots of water (I averaged over 100 ounces a day) and you can drink all the coffee and tea you want as well as moderate levels of 0 calorie diet sodas.
And now for the calorie count of allowable foods.
Fish (avg 98 calories)
- Cod (3.5 oz) – 83 calories
- Crab Meat (3.5 oz) – 100 calories
- Flounder (3.5 oz) – 90 calories
- Haddock (3.5 oz) – 88 calories
- Halibut (3.5 oz) – 110 calories
- Lobster (3.5 oz) – 98 calories
- Red Snapper (3.5 oz) – 110 calories
- Shrimp (3.5 oz) – 110 calories
- Tilapia (3.5 oz) – 94 calories
Additional white fish are listed at the bottom of the page.
Very Lean Beef (avg 152 calories)
- 93/7 Lean Ground Beef (3.5 oz) – 150 calories
- Cube Steak (3.5 oz) – 160 calories
- Sirloin Tip Side Steaks (3.5 oz) – 130 calories
- Top Round Steak (3.5 oz) – 166 calories
- Tri-Tip Steak (3.5 oz) – 154 calories
Chicken
- Chicken Breast (3.5 oz) – 87 calories
Veal (avg 114 calories)
- Veal, sirloin (3.5 oz) – 110 calories
- Veal, loin chop (3.5 oz) – 117 calories
Vegetables (avg 18.8 cal)
- Asparagus (3.5 oz) – 20 calories
- Asparagus (2″ tip) – 1 calories
- Asparagus (small spear) – 2 calories
- Asparagus (medium spear) – 3 calories
- Asparagus (large spear) – 4 calories
- Broccoli (3.5 oz) – 34 calories
- Broccoli (1 cup – 88g) – 30 calories
- Broccoli (5″ spear – 31 g) – 11 calories
- Celery (3.5 oz) – 15 cal
- Celery (medium stalk) – 6 calories
- Cabbage (3.5 oz) – 24 calories
- Cabbage (1 cup shredded) – 17 calories
- Cauliflower (3.5 oz) – 22 calories
- Cauliflower (1 cup) – 28 calories
- Cauliflower (3 flowerets) – 12 calories
- Cucumber (3.5 oz) – 12 calories
- Cucumber (small) – 19 calories
- Cucumber (medium) – 24 calories
- Cucumber (large) – 34 calories
- Cucumber (English long) – 60 calories
- Lettuce, all varieties (3.5 oz) – 20 calories
- Lettuce, all varieties (1 cup) – 8 calories
- Lettuce, all varieties (small head) – 32 calories
- Red Radishes (3.5 oz) – 12 calories
- Red Radishes (one medium) – 1 calories
- Spinach, raw (3.5 oz) – 20 calories
- Spinach, raw (1 cup) – 7 calories
- Spinach, frozen (3.5 oz) – 23 calories
- Spinach, frozen (1 cup) – 41 calories
- Spinach, cooked (3.5 oz) – 31 calories
- Spinach, cooked (1 cup) – 48 calories
- Tomato (3.5 oz) – 20 calories
- Tomato (cherry) – 3 calories
- Tomato (plumb) – 11 calories
- Tomato (small) – 16 calories
- Tomato (medium) – 22 calories
- Tomato (large) – 33 calories
Fruit
- Apple (small) – 55 calories
- Apple (medium) – 72 calories
- Apple (large) – 110 calories
- Orange (navel) – 69 calories
- Orange (Florida) – 65 calories
- Orange (California) – 59 calories
- Strawberries, 12 large – 72 calories
- Strawberries, 20 medium – 80 calories
- Pink Grapefruit (California) – 92 calories
- Pink Grapefruit (Florida) – 74 calories
Bread
- Grissini Breadstick (3 g) – 12 calories
- Melba Toast (3 gram) – 12 calories
- Melba Toast (5 gram) – 20 calories
White Fish List
- Ayr
- Cat Fish
- Cod
- Coley
- Dover Sole
- Flounder
- Flying Fish
- Haddock
- Hake
- Halibut
- Hoki
- John Dory
- Kalabasu
- Lemon Sole
- Ling
- Monk Fish
- Parrot Fish
- Plaice
- Pollack
- Pomfret
- Red & Grey Mullet
- Red Fish
- Red Snapper
- Rock Salmon/Dogfish
- Rohu
- Sea Bass
- Sea Bream
- Shark
- Skate
- Tilapia Turbot
- Whiting
Keep in mind that all the above calorie counts on meats and vegetables do not include any sauces, salad dressing or butter. You are in fact encouraged not to us sauces such as barbecue sauce, A-1 Steak Sauce, etc., on meats nor any salad dressings on salads or butter on vegetables.
One trick I learned in phase two of my diet is that I could use Louisiana Hot Sauce on chicken as it has zero calories. That has helped immensely and because it is spicy, you feel fuller. I also use Balsamic Vinegar on Spinach salads which is quite tasty.
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Here is a TIP that came to me TODAY
TODAY, I “chill”.
Right now, go find cooler spot. It could be someplace in the room where you are, perhaps closer to a door of a window or even step outside. Once you’ve found you spot, take a deep breath in. Let the cool air invigorate you. Every moment of cooler temperature is a signal to your body to increase your metabolism, so you’re producing more energy and burning more fat.
Hi All,
All teas I believe would be fine as long as there is not any form of sugar in it.
Jason I am glad your drops came ok. Stevia seems to work well when you only need a little bit of sugar in something. I made homemade mustard last weekend & it called for a cup of sugar & I USED STEVIA instead. It came out to malty vinegary or too mustard tasting.
I have not used stevia in baking yet.
Meg, good job. I think scales jump around too much if we are baloated(sp) so I try to not get hung up on them. Maybe it is because i am not a PERFECTIONIST on the scale digital or old fashion scale.
Enjoy the day all,
Karen
KellyR,
Yes, I ate the same fruit on Phase 3 as Phase 2. If I remember correctly, my Dr. said all fruit is allowed on Phase 3 except bananas, melons and grapes. I really like strawberries, apples and grapefruit (and they are all very portable if I’m on the run) so I stuck with those.
I’ve been on Phase 4 for a week today and I still haven’t varied the fruit. I plan on trying bananas soon, however. Even though I’m supposed to be able to be eating anything I’m being very careful. The things I’ve tried (with no ill effects) are black beans, corn, & barley (all in the same homemade Turkey Chili), one slice of pizza (including crust), 1 slice of homemade italian bread, multiple slices of low-carb homemade bread, Kashi cereal, a grilled reuben from a restaurant, and homemade apple pie). I still haven’t had pasta, potatoes, rice or other starchy foods. I’ve decided I’d rather have apple pie and the occasional homemade dessert. The next food I’ll try will be pasta.
I am experimenting with baking with stevia (with mixed results). So far, including stevia instead of sugar in apple pie recipes works great. On the other hand, my chocolate cake with stevia and almond flour needs more work. Good luck!
Anyone,
I start Phase 3 on Monday and I was wondering since it’s like Atkins can we eat pork rinds as long as there is no sugar. I am desperately wanting something crunchy. Day 37 down 25…
Jessica,
If you’re on phase 2 you can try an apple day. It helped me when I was in a slump. Also try switching up your foods, if you’re eating the same proteins at lunch and dinner.
One question for any one. I have some herbal tea at wk, but how can I tell for her it really is herbal?
Meg,
The instructions that I was given from the company where I purchased my drops from states to leave it under tongue for 2 minutes and not to eat or drink anything for another 20 minutes for best absorbtion. Hopes that helps!
Hello all,
thanks for the words of wisdom Karen. I surprised myself on the scale today with a full 2lb weight loss overnight. I had added in green tea so I think that boosted. I wanted to post another question since I can’t seem to find the information in the literature. I have organic green tea that I drink, but there are so many flavors of organic green tea. Would that be OK? There are no additional nutrients added like sugar, carbs, etc. So it still looks like drinking water. What do ya’ll think about adding the pomogranite green tea for a bit of variety?
Thanks,
Meg
I need some help!!! I have been at the same weight for about a week now and can not get over it. What can I do to past the hill that I am on? If anyone can help please do. Thanks. Jessica
Thanks so much Jackie.
I am going to up my calories today. question? are you sticking to the allowable fruit from phase 2?
Thanks again for your input
KellyR,
I think the body definitely goes through an adjustment when you move to Phase 3. I don’t think it is unusual that you gained a pound the first day. It should settle down. I also think you should be having more calories. Your body may think it is in starvation mode. My Dr. said not to count calories, just to avoid starch and sugar. That said, many of the posters here have been advised to eat around 1500 calories so that is what I aimed for the first week or so on Phase 3. After that I stopped counting, but “guesstimated” the calories and tried to eat healthy. I make most of my food from scratch and it’s tedious to figure out a per serving calorie count with all the ingredients, etc.
I continue to be 6 tenths of a pound more than my lowest weight (1.2 pounds less than my last dose weight) so I am very pleased. The two most helpful things that I do to keep my weight the same (or a little less) from one day to the next are to finish eating dinner by 6:30 pm and to go to bed at 10 pm. I usually break the rule on weekends (my “splurge” time) but get back on track during the week. This diet is truly a miracle. I feel great and encourage everyone to hang in there. It is definitely worth it. Good luck!
Karen, I received my drops in the mail yesterday when I got home from work (sigh of relief!) I only had enough drops to get me through last night, so it was right on time!
For the past 4 days, I have been only losing .4 pounds a day, which is steady, I guess. This morning I was down 1 pound. 16.8 total in 19 days. Giddy Up !!
Meg,
I think it is two minutes under your tongue. I have been on them for over 6 weeks and only lost 23 lbs. I was not measuring right & I figured out a way to measure about two weeks ago. In two weeks I lost 18 inches. So remember it is not only weight & inches are good, too!
Best wishes to you,
Karen
Jason,
What part of the country do you live in? I would call Ann on Tues. AM at the company & ask her what to do. They usually take 2-3 business days. So you will probably get them on Wed. to Thurs at the latest.
Otherwise,I would stick on the low calorie eating plan & maybe pick up some kinda of supplement at your local Health Food Store to curb appetite. I would ask the Health Food Store what is out there as there are a lot of products with lots of hype out there. That is what I would reccomend doing.
Karen
Hello,
I have been pouring over pounds and inches and Kevin Troudeaux’s book after watching the success of several of my friends on the HCG diet. I also spent some time picking through the posts on this site and have come away with some great information and the answers to some of my questions. I started PhaseII on the 15th. I have lost several pounds so far. I haven’t experienced the hunger I’ve read many people do. Unfortunately, I am one of those people used to a low calorie diet and that is why I’ve packed on 25 extra pounds this year. I was skeptical, to say the least, but with the success of several of my friends I went ahead and tried it. I am on the mail order sublingual since the very small town I live in doesn’t offer any other options.
I do have one question that I’ve gotten so many different answers for, so I’m putting it to the forum. For the sublingual dose how long do I hold it under my tongue? What are the instructions others have received and the strategies for success? I am holding strong at a .5 to 1.0 lb weight loss per day from what I read on the forum that is pretty average, although I’d like to lose more 1-2 lbs a day. I’ve given up what I feel comfortable with in terms of personal care products but there are some things I won’t compromise on. I am looking for more organic choices, but it is difficult.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Meg
Karen,
I sent you the Yahoo links through email.
Any one else needing the Yahoo links? One of the groups I found had allot valuable links and information. They had food calendars and calorie counters. I found most of the information very helpful. Some had a sample menu for a day. I needed that one.
Good Morning All
I wish I had read your post before sunday Jackie!!! For some reason I got the email notification TODAY!!
So, let me report that yesterday was my first day of phase 3. I only ate 1170 calories and this morning gained 1 pound!!!
Did I do anything wrong??? This is what I had
Breakfast= 2 hard boiled eggs and black coffee
Snack= Polyo 2% mozzarella stick cheese
Lunch= lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, 2 tbspoons of grated cheese, avocado w one lemon wedge and 3.5 oz of grilled chicken
Snack=one apple
Dinner- same as above but instead of having avocado, I used a TBspoon of olive extra virgin oil and had one apple
So, I don’t know what I did wrong? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciate it??
Jackie, I am going to try what you did and see if things lighten up a bit
I only have enough drops to MAYBE get me through tomorrow. I am hoping that my other drops will be here tomorrow or Tuesday.
If they are not here, what do I do? I had planned on being on phase 2 for at least 12 more days before I want to start phase 3.
Any recommendations will be helpful. Thanks Jason
Here is Harvel….
Karen,
Thanks for checking. We are doing fine. We had planned on a 23 day course, but when I took a look at the HCG we had left, I realized that we had enough for another week. So, we will be taking the last injection this coming Friday or Saturday. That puts us on maintenance on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, which in turn, puts us on a normal diet (whatever that is) in time to travel to Denver to be with our daughter and her daughter over Thanksgiving and then on to Wyoming to be with our son and his family. I love retirement! After the first of the year, we will take a look at the situation and decide whether or not to go back to the diet. I have, as of this morning, lost 55.5 pounds and Leslie has lost 37.5.
What is really exciting is that Leslie’s blood sugar is below 120, often below 110. That has been a struggle for us. I think (unscientifically) that her weight has broken down through an important barrier.
So, yes, we are doing well. I am not getting new blog postings through my email, so I have to go to the website and check out what is there. I often forget to do that. If you would like you may copy this note onto the website so other folks will know that I have not gone away and we’re doing fine.
Again, thanks for asking about us.
Harvel
Hillary and Everyone Else,
I’m here. Karen sent me an email asking about us. I sent her a long answer and suggested she copy it to this site for all of you rather than retype the whole thing.
Thanks for asking.
The last few days, I haven’t seen anything that needed what little help I can give. Some tough questions and some very good answers. I sort of feel like a teacher whose students have overtaken him and you surely have. Good job, everybody!
Harvel
Karen, yes, I did see your comment about where to get the 12 day supply of drops. I placed an order, but have not yet received them yet. Thanks again !
PS Maggie & Jason did you see my message about the FREE drops for TEN DAYS?
And did you try them? Or has anyone else tried them?
Let me know how they worked out for you; if you did.
Thank you,
Karen
Hi all,
I asked about charlie horses about a week ago that I was having. Thank You to all who led me in the right direction; as I thought I needed potassiumm & had forgotten about the minerals. I am going to order some potassium & minerals today on line. I prefer the liquid ones as I believe they work better & faster. I found a reasonable priced viatmin place on line so I will check it out. Also besides the Smooth Move tea has anyone found anything else good for constipation?
Angelica yes I would like those differnet web links.
Thank You all.
Hi All,
If you have a SPECIAL OCCASSION & know in advance here is a PROTEIN DAY with a protocal you can do.
Or from time to time or every few weeks here is what you can do to enjoy & take a break.
Continue to do your drops or injections as normal
Day One (You can do just this ONE DAY before a CELEBRATION DAY)and THEN ONE DAY AFTER YOUR CELEBRATION DAY
2 hard boiled eggs a breakfast
4 oz. of chicken at lunch
8 oz. of chicken at dinner
My suggestion for flavoring is for the eggs put some paprika & a few other spices on them.
For the chicken I took the Southwestern Rub(what spices I had) along with paprika & poutlry seasoning or sage. This RUB was out of Linda’s book which is at Amazon for $19.95. Bake/Broil with the spices or steam then add spices.
Day Two
Eat your daily protocal with NO FRUIT & you can add veggies back in.
Day Three
Eat your daily protocal with fruit & veggies like normal.
Drink plenty of water UNLIKE the apple day
My experiecne was that the chicken with those spices tasted like stuffing; which I love. I was not hungry. You can also have the 8 oz. of chicken at lunch & 4 oz. for dinner. Or you can even have the chicken at breakfast(as I forgot to bring the eggs to work).
Let me know how this works for all & your suppose to be able to maintain your weight loss by doing this.
Day 2 of Phase IV report… down 1 lb since yesterday.
So, I decided to do an experiment. Instead of going back to no carb I continued to eat normally, with carbs, hoping to see my body normalize. And this morning I was down 1 lb again – within 2 lbs of my stasis weight. All in all, I’m pretty happy. My supposition is that because when the body gets carbs it does a few things: 1. Stores them in the liver (and since mine was empty of carbs it had to replenish) 2. When you eat carbs your muscles hold more water hence holding more weight, 3. I also ate late that first night.
Finally, I learned to just trust it and keep going.
Hope this helps others who are afraid to go into Phase IV.
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