The HCG weight loss diet is well-known for its specific foods on a Very Low Calorie Diet of 500 calories per day. This, indeed, would be a starvation diet in the absence of HCG. A common question is, how many calories can you actually consume and still be successful. The answer may surprise you.

One thing that Dr. Simeons mentions in his 1954 book, Pounds and Inches, is that a low amount of weight loss can be easily achieved while taking HCG by adjusting the daily calorie intake upward. Specifically, in my own experience, I reached my target weight on my second round within about 2 weeks on the hormone. At that point I doubled my caloric intake to 1,000 calories per day for the remainder of the 30-day protocol. My weight stabilized at my target as long as I ate the same foods as before, just at twice the intake.

The question that occurred to me based on my experience was, how many calories did I really need while on the hormone? Or, to be more exact, how many calories could I consume and still lose or maintain my weight?

An interesting answer has appeared lately, based on a clinical research program that I encountered online. Rather than summarize this program, I will just refer you to their video, which I link below. Of particular interest to me, and to many others, is that this program advocates a diet of 800 calories per day. Wow!
Take a look for yourself:

Does A Higher Caloric Intake Work?

Apparently, the answer if YES. A diet of 800 calories per day works well when consuming the same foods as in the original diet. Other components of this modernized version of the HCG weight loss diet seem to make this protocol easier than the original, with the same level of success.

All the best,

Dr. D