7 Ways to Add Flavor to HCG Approved Meals

One of the hardest parts of sticking to any diet is finding recipes that taste good, or adding flavor to simple dishes. Having done four rounds of HCG, I have learned a few tricks that arent on the original protocol, but pose no risk to your weight loss. Here are 7 ways to add flavor to your HCG approved meals:

Franks Hot Sauce

I love using Franks Red Hot Original Sauce on chicken. Its a simple addition that really ramps up the flavor. Plus it only contains a few simple ingredients, all of which are approved for the HCG Diet. The only caution with this is not to use more than a teaspoon per meal because it does contain salt which can cause water retention. Franks Red Hot Original Sauce can be found in the condiment aisle of the grocery store.

Mrs. Dash

Mrs. Dash has a great line of salt-free, MSG-free seasoning blends that are absolutely amazing. Mix them up with some stevia and vinegar for a dressing, or sprinkle them on our meat while it cooks, these are a healthy, simple addition to any HCG Approved meal. Mrs. Dash seasoning blends can be found in the spice aisle in the grocery store.

Lemon Juice

It sounds simple, but adding lemon juice can make all the difference to your Tilapia or asparagus. Its also great on apples, in ice slushies, water and more. Lemons are super cheap, too!

Salsa

Now this one was a life saver for me in round three. I would use Pace Picante Mild salsa. It has no added sugar and its low in calories. I would add a couple tablespoons to chopped chicken and serve it over lettuce. Technically that is mixing veggies, I know, but it never affected my weight loss and it saved me from cheating on the diet on numerous occasions. Look for it in the Salsa aisle in the grocery store.

Onion
Like lemon juice, this seems like another no-brainer, but there are certain veggies that dont seem to pose any problems when mixed with other veggies. Onion is one of those. Try chopping up a small chunk of onion and grilling it with chicken and chopped tomato. Its simple but the onions add a great, fresh flavor that seasonings cant.

Combine your Fruit and Veggie Serving
Did you know that you can make some pretty amazing fruit and veggie combos? Yup. Try mixing your apple with spinach and topping it with chicken, you can also do that with oranges. Or you can try mixing grapefruit with cucumber, strawberries and lettuce, and even apples and celery. Mix and match your fruits and veggies to create new flavor combinations.

Trulicious Powder/Liquid

Trulicous powder is an amazing product of Blue Earth nutrition. It is stevia that is combined with a unique fiber blend to help promote digestive health. It is the best powdered stevia I have ever tasted plus its packed full of health benefits you wont find in Truvia. I love mixing some powdered Trulicious, cinnamon and sprinkling it on an apple then baking it. Its like a mock apple pie! Its also great in tea and coffee. Plus, HCGDiet.com offers Trulicous stevia liquid in multiple flavors.


What are ways you have found to add flavor to Phase 2 of the HCG Diet?

Looking for some health, Phase 2 approved recipes? Check out Eat Well, Slim Down. Its a digital HCG Approved recipe book with over 100 recipes! Plus its only $10! 

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4 Mistakes that could be Ruining your HCG Diet

This isnt your first rendezvous for the HCG Diet. You know what youre doing. But for some reason, every once in awhile your weight loss seems to slow or stall. And that is frustrating, even for an HCG Diet veterans like you and me.

 We like to think we know what were doing, weve read Pounds and Inches, weve gone through every page of the guidebook, and maybe even got our hands on Lose 50 Pounds Guaranteed, but somehow even us veteran HCG Dieters miss details that could be slowing down our weight loss. 

Here are 4 things that may be ruining your HCG Diet:

Not Measuring
OK, lets be honest after our second or third week on the diet we lose interest in measuring everything we eat, at least I did. However, trust me when I say you need to measure, no matter what. The thing is, we think we know what 3.5 ounces of meat looks like but its easy to add an extra ounce and sometimes even two. Those extra ounces add up to extra calories and they can be slowing down your weight loss. So do it a night ahead or pack a food scale in your purse. This is one fine detail that when skipped adds up over time.

Over Compensating
Have you ever eaten something you were supposed to and thought, "I can fix this, Ill just do a Cali Kicker, some sit-ups, take green coffee, go for a walk, take my appetite control, and cut back on dinner." Im guilty of that train of thought. But you dont need to freak out like that. Just get back on track at your next meal and let your body correct the problem itself. If you do too many quick fixes at once youll confuse your body and the problem will only get worse.

Deviating from Protocol

I went through this phase where I was eating banana peppers because they are low-calorie and didnt have any oil, but the thing is they arent on the original protocol for a reason and that reason is sodium. There are also a lot of other things that seem like theyd be fine but they arent. For instance certain fruits like mango and watermelon are too high in sugar for the diet and can slow you down. Even unlisted veggies can cause problems. So simply put, if its not on the approved foods list... dont eat it.

Skipping Calories

Toward the end of Phase 2, I have a hard time getting all of my 500 calories in. I know that sounds crazy because Im not eating very much as it is, but the appetite suppressant in HCG Triumph drops is pretty powerful. So its tempting to skip out on your fruit or veggies, but then your body (even though it doesnt feel hungry) goes into starvation mode and you stop losing weight. Eat all of the food youre suppose to eat.

And for those of you who arent quite HCG vets, you may not have slipped into these bad habits yet, and thats good news. So take notes and make sure you never start. :) 

Are you guilty of any of the above diet blunders? What other bad habits have you found slow down your weight loss?

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And Its All Thanks To HCG Triumph

If one year ago I had been approached by someone from the future and told how much my life was about to change, I wouldnt have believed them. If they told me I was going to lose the weight of a European supermodel, I would have laughed in their face. So how did it start? How did I go from an obese diet skeptic to a much healthier diet blogger? Simple. It all started with HCG Triumph.

HCG Triumph is one of the few legitimate HCG brands left. Despite a lot of misconceptions, HCG Triumph drops still contain the HCG hormone, but more than that they contain a powerful blend of amino acids that help support your body during the low calorie portion of the diet. I did a lot of research before I decided to start the diet. I read a lot of articles on HCG and calorie restriction, and when it came down to it I knew that using HCG Triumph would be healthier than resigning to a life of obesity.

The HCG Diet was hard, but it worked. What a lot of people dont understand is that when you have over 100 pounds to lose, losing a pound a week, while better than nothing, makes the task seem impossible. With the HCG Diet, I lost about 1 pound per day. Each morning I felt rewarded for my hard work and suddenly losing all that weight seemed doable. And even though my caloric intake was restricted to two meals of lean meat and fruit and vegetables, I felt satisfied because of the amino blend in the Triumph drops.

Day by day and pound by pound I conquered my weight loss. I lost, 100 pounds, 90 inches, revamped my wardrobe on a couple occasions, and dieted through every holiday and social event imaginable. I survived the HCG Diet, and whats even better: the HCG Diet gave me my life back. I no longer have to worry about living in discomfort, shopping in the plus size section, or not being able to cross my legs and its all thanks to HCG Triumph.

HCG Triumph made me a new person. It has transformed me and hundreds of others completely. Now imagine what it could do for you.

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Sixteen Months Later

Sixteen Months Later....

And I still have moments of panic where I feel like my stomach is going to rise up into my throat
I still cry from time to time
I still miss him
I still grieve
I still have to pinch myself and remind myself that this life is real
I still curl up with his t-shirt once in awhile
I still like to read his letters to me and feel him speaking to me

I find myself living with a new man and realizing how wonderful he is and that Barry had to have sent him our way.  Hes too great for me to have found on my own.  He and Barry even have a lot of similarities.  I dont feel like getting into them, but Ive noticed several.  I have even called James Barry a few times, and have to catch myself before I say all of his name.  The kids have called James "daddy" and "dad" a few times.  Weve been very open about this and have told them that they can if they want, but dont have to.  It comes and goes with them, really.  It is hard for me to hear them call him that sometimes though, as it is another reminder of whom we lost.

Ive also noticed that I dont feel Barry around as much anymore.  I used to be able to feel that he was around, by orbs in pictures, or just sensing something around me, or the kids even noticing it.  But I think he is here less and less because James is here.  Am I crazy? I really think that he sent James my way because he wanted me to be happy.  I could be totally off my rocker for thinking that, and whether I am right or wrong, I dont care, and Ill just think that James is here because of Barry.  But I still miss Barry, and wish he was around more.

I have thought a few times of his final moments.  What were his final thoughts? Was he scared? Did he think of me? The kids? I wish I could know, but that will be a mystery to me forever.  At least I can be confident and comforted knowing that he died loving me, and knowing he was loved so very very much by me and his children.


One last thing...i know all my images are gone.  Shabby blogs deleted the design I had, and I have yet to fix it.  Ill get on that soon...be patient with me!!

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Stuff I Wish I Could Share

I always loved sharing funny things that the kids did with Barry.  It always gave us a laugh to see what crazy crap they would come up with.

Our oldest daughter V, who will be 10 on the 8th of February, has really been spouting some winners lately.  This past week she had spelling homework to do, and decided to be lazy and make up all of her definitions.  This is what she did:

Obviously we ALL had a laugh, and I even posted it on facebook because it was so funny.

And then today, James and I were in As room putting some stuff up on her walls and it was Vs job to vacuum her shared room with her sister E.  V says "James, James, the vacuum is broken.  It wont turn on, we need a new vacuum.  I keep pressing the button but it wont turn on!!".  He went in and checked on her and had to pull me into my bedroom barely able to contain his laughter as he told me what she was doing.

She hadnt plugged it in.

Thats V for you though, she is SUCH a blonde! Barry and I would always laugh about the stupid stuff she would do.  I wish I could share this stuff with him though, because I can see him in my head reacting the way he always did. Laughing and sighing at the same time.  He would have gotten a kick out of it.

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3 Ways Negativity Could Be Ruining Your Diet

I am making efforts in my life to be more positive. Life is just better when I have a smile on my face. I feel better, I eat better, I have better workouts. Overall, being positive is good for my health, and Im not the only one who thinks so. According to an article from Mayo Clinic: 

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health                      benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Lower rates of depression

• Lower levels of distress

• Greater resistance to the common cold

• Better psychological and physical well-being

• Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease

• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

•  Increased lifespan 

I am completely serious when I say Im making an "effort." At times being positive is difficult and it takes a lot to see the good in an awful day, but the more effort I put in to being positive, the more I realize that negativity is much like a disease. It starts with something small, maybe a complaint about the way you look in your outfit, then that negativity spreads and what started out as a little complaint turns into an infection of negative, self-doubting, irrational observations. Suddenly, that one little complaint has got you into a negativity funk.

 If youre dieting, this funk can easily throw you off track. Dont believe me? Let me explain. Here are 3 ways negativity could be ruining your diet. 

Its Harder to Recognize Accomplishments
For me, when Im negative, I dwell on the bad so much that I never recognize the good Im doing. For instance, last week I went to the gym and was supposed to do 45 minutes on the treadmill. I got halfway through my workout and I didnt want to keep going anymore. I had a bad day and just wanted to go home. I stopped the treadmill and went to stretch. Initially I was really disappointed in myself for giving up. I felt like a failure. I had two options in this moment, I could choose to feel like a failure and let that keep me from stepping back on the treadmill the next day, or I could take the more positive approach. So thats what I did. I reminded myself that one bad workout is not the end of the world. Plus, Ive come so far! It wasnt until later that night that I realized I had set a new time for running a mile, so even though I didnt finish my entire workout, I still I improved. I never would have recognized this in my moment of negativity.  When I took the time to look at the situation from a different perspective, I realized that I accomplished something amazing!

Take the time to recognize all youve accomplished. Maybe you didnt lose as much weight as wanted to but youre closer to your goal now than you were before you started, right?

Youre More Likely to Engage in Emotional Eating
The pity party. Weve all thrown ourselves one. If you eat when youre mad  or lonely or sad, negativity can be a catalyst to diet cheats. You see, that little negative Nelly that lives inside our heads likes to make us think that being mad will help us feel better, that voice makes us think that we are alone and no one cares, that voice also tells us were not good enough shes wrong! Her observations are based off emotion and not fact. As emotional beings, we try to seek out something to cope with those feelings. Unfortunately that tends to be food. Dont let emotions rule your life! When youre feeling emotional, take just one minute to analyze the facts. The fact is, being mad wont solve your problems. Youre not alone, there are literally dozens of people in this world who care about you. They may not be available at every moment you need them to be, but they still care. You may be sad, but sadness is a temporary emotion, there will be more moments of happiness in your life if you can just get through this small struggle. 


Youre Less Likely to Feel Motivated
Have you ever gotten up in the morning and just wanted to lay in bed for the rest of your life? Youre tired of dealing with work,  youve got a million things on your plate, you just want to close your eyes and escape the chaos. Well, this isnt the best way to start your day! Its hard to get pumped up for an awesome day when all you can think about is how tired you are. Look at each day as an opportunity. Acknowledge that some days are going to be difficult but you are more than capable of making it through. Try this: First thing when you wake up say, "I cant wait to see what challenges I overcome." Isnt that so much better? This statement acknowledges that you may encounter problems, but it also reaffirms your ability to come out on top. Its so much easier to stick to your diet when you start your day with empowering thoughts. 

Bad days are inevitable, but a bad day doesnt mean you have to eat poorly. Staying positive, even when its tough, can make all the difference in your diet! 

What are some ways you pull yourself out of a negativity funk? 

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