How Long Do You Wait Between HCG Diet Rounds & Why
I’m at goal now after following the HCG protocol. It took me 5 rounds to get within 15 pounds of my goal, and another 3 to actually get and stay there. I waited the suggested times between rounds and followed protocol as exactly as possible. I’m wearing 4’s and 6’s at a weight which previously had me in 12’s. That is so amazing—HCG produces a different kind of weight loss than other diets and you end up smaller in size, than you could expect.
Length of Time Between Rounds of HCG for Weight Loss
Every part of the Hcg weight loss protocol is important to your success, but the message in this post is about the time between rounds, because so many people are tempted to cut short the mandated waiting times. What follows are my thoughts about those waiting times, and why they are so critical to your long term success.
The Importance of Waiting the Appropriate Time Between Rounds
First, if you are planning multiple rounds, you really don’t want to risk immunity by not waiting long enough in between. You could be fine in that respect, but what if you were one of the ones that became immune? You would have lost HCG hormone as a tool to get you to your goal. Or at the least, have to wait up to a year before trying again.
Additional Benefits to the Waiting Times:
- Avoiding Sagging Skin:
This diet results in rapid weight loss, which normally would result in loose, saggy skin, or even skin folds. Waiting the appropriate time between rounds, allows your skin the time to shrink up and avoid this issue. This is super important if you don’t want hanging skin and need a tummy tuck and arm flap removal. I’ve lost over 100 pounds and I have very little loose skin now. (I think dry skin brushing along the way has helped too.) - Give Your Body a Break:
Your organs get a rest from processing all that fat during the weight loss phase. - Give Your Body Time to Reshape and Stabilize in a New Size:
There is a reshaping that takes place in the waiting time. Sometimes it doesn’t happen until the end of or after P3 but it can be an astonishing change. Its worth waiting to see how your body will react. You may find you’ve made more progress in inches than you thought. I’ve changed sizes from the beginning of P3 to the end of it without any change in weight. - Longterm Maintenance Preparation:
And maybe most important—you have the opportunity to practice maintenance and find out what works for you. If you ignore the waiting times, you lose those opportunities that will help you find out how to keep your losses. That is huge. I didn’t start to really figure it all out until after my 6th round when I had to practice for 8 months. But I did and I started round 7 at my LIW from round 6. After all other rounds, I had regains. I still don’t have it completely figured out, but each time I learn more about how to stay at my goal weight.
Dr. Simeons Protocol Length of Time Between Rounds: 6 Weeks
According to Dr. Simeons, at least 6 weeks must pass between rounds of Hcg treatment, with this allotted time increasing as more rounds are followed.
The waiting times between rounds are outlined in Pounds & Inches (Dr. Simeon’s original manuscript) :Further Courses
Patients requiring the loss of more than 34 lbs. must have a second or even more courses. A second course can be started after an interval of not less than six weeks, though the pause can be more than six weeks. When a third, fourth or even fifth course is necessary, the interval between courses should be made progressively longer. Between a second and third course eight weeks should elapse, between a third and fourth course twelve weeks, between a fourth and fifth course twenty weeks and between a fifth and sixth course six months. In this way it is possible to bring about a weight reduction of 100 lbs. and more if required without the least hardship to the patient.
Extending the Length of Your Rounds
On my last round, I did extend an extra two injections beyond the maximum 40. And, I lost 2 pounds in those two extra days. But I knew I was at goal, so it wasn’t much of a risk. If I had more rounds to go, I would not have done that. However, what the manuscript says is that about the time of 40 injections, immunity can be reached. So that means it might be 38 injections or 48 or more for some….its not an exact thing. You are taking a gamble that you are one of the ones that can add more doses without becoming immune to the HCG. Incidentally, afterwards, I had to adjust my LIW up the 2 pounds to where I would have been on my 40th injection. So it was basically a wash for me anyway.
Be Patient, and Enjoy the Journey
The hardship Dr. Simeons talks about in the quote above is not about whether you can stand staying in Phase 2 for a super long time, it’s about the hardship on your body. We’ve punished our bodies so long with all the crazy diets and yo-yo-ing weight. HCG gives us the opportunity to be be kind to our bodies, and let them shrink down without unnecessary extra stress. Wanting to force even more results out of the program can be tempting, but my advice is to trust the entire process if you can.
I know that impatience is always a factor, but try to look at the long picture. You want to be able to stay at goal once you get there. The payoff is a lifetime of revised eating tailored to your body that keeps you at goal. That takes trial and error to work out. That is what the waiting times help you do.
As a volunteer coach in the Hcg Diet forums, it has been heart-breaking to watch some that stayed in P2 for many months without taking a break, get to goal and then rapidly regain because they could not stabilize no matter how diligently they followed the rules. Hopefully this article can help save others from that same fate.
Hi
Your weight loss journey is so impressive.
I want to try it out , i trust the process im sure it works, but im just worried that with a low calorie intake the minute i get off the diet and start eating even 1500 calories (which is below normal daily consumption) that i would gain all the weight back. Please help?
Leez has explained it well in her response, but I’ll add a little from my own experience.
When I finished my first round, I was so scared that I would gain the weight back… I went to the grocery store, walked around getting more and more anxious everytime I went to put something into the cart… I ended up with an empty cart and leaving without buying a thing! haha. This was back long before we had easy access to the manuscript, or I wouldn’t have had this issue. Now I know, it’s as easy as following the phase 3 guidelines to avoid eating the wrong foods and stick to the same portions. I have always found it surprisingly easy to maintain during phase 3- even this last time, when I was moving and couldn’t always eat perfectly on protocol. I still didn’t gain the weight back.
I think it’s also important to focus on your “after hcg” plan even before phase 3 comes around. Start considering which exercise or activities you enjoy that you can do a few times a week. Learn a few yoga poses to do every morning. You’d be surprised how little it takes to maintain your new weight point.
Also, get used to the portion sizes you eat during phase 2- this is something I have adapted and it is surprisingly satisfying. There are other aspects of phase 2 that you can incorporate for the long run as well- like food choices. Recognize the hcg diet food list as forever-acceptable foods. In phase 3, as you start adding foods to your menu, you can add more foods to your “these keep my body fit and healthy” list. For example, I know I can eat strawberries and any other berry and my body loves them. Same with almonds. My body tends to gain weight with dairy- I have even realized that my body doesn’t do too great with eggs too often. I gain a little. These will be things you can discover during phase 2 and phase 3, before moving on to lifelong maintenance in phase 4 🙂
Hi Sara,
That is a very common fear, because our experience has told us that once you get off a diet, the weight comes back. This protocol, when precisely followed is very different. I know its hard to believe, but it is more common for people to gain weight in the 3 weeks after the diet from eating too little than it is from eating too much. Coming out of Phase 2, your metabolism is in fat-burning mode and it is really important to stoke those fires to keep it going. You will be amazed at how this works once you get into it. I know I was. The stabilization period (3 weeks following Phase 2) is a critical part of the protocol. It is important to do it correctly in order to keep your progress. That means getting your calories up quickly.
Don’t let your fear rob you of the joy that is part of Phase 3. Try to embrace both phases as part of the same prescription and trust the process for the whole of it. People report over and over how amazed they are at the amount they can eat in P3 and not go out of their 2 pound window. It is the normal result, not the exception. I hope that relieves some of your apprehension.
This seems like a really effective weight loss regime. Thanks for sharing!
It works amazingly well Sarah- I hope you are enjoying learning about it! Let me know if you have any questions.