P3 - week 2

Hanging in there!

This morning I was at 149 again - so I'm like 2.5 above my LIW ... but staying here. Maybe this is where I'm supposed to be. I don't think I ate enough yesterday but I am drinking alot of water, watching the sugar/starch intake and feeling great.

I am not suffering through another steak day while I'm in school, as I get hungry during the day and lunch actually mentally gives me a break. :) Not eating would not be good for me. Maybe on the weekend when I'm busy and can keep myself occupied and not thinking about lunch. Last steak day I did, I was hungry before dinner time.

So far so good ... this P3 has been easier than the last, which I completely screwed up and felt terrible about. Round 1 of P3 was cake and I stabilized, as well as round 3 has been good. Round 2 I went to Myrtle Beach thinking I could stay away from starch/sugar. Yeah right. :P til tomorrow!

day after the egg day

Ok so I totally expected to see a LOSS today due to the egg day being yesterday and the fact that I apparently gained a lb from it. hmph.

Today I was exactly the same - 149. At least I'm consistent.

So yesterday I had an omelete w/ cheese for bfast, a salad w/ chicken breast, parm cheese & my ranch dressing for lunch. oh and a string cheese. Dinner was more chicken breast, some whipped califlower/spinach with celery to dip into it, and a mixed green salad w/ my ranch dressing. And I stayed the same.

Today was an omelete w/ cheese for bfast, salad w/ my ranch and chicken breast ... dinner a burger, whipped califlower with celery - yes I eat alot of the same stuff. It's only me eating it and I wanna get rid of stuff. :P I'm going to have a salad when I get back from a seminar I have to go to tonight, and I have had 60 oz of water today. I will drink more and see where we are in the morning.

I feel like a slave to the scale lately.

Egg day results!

So yesterday I did the 'egg day'. Ate eggs allll day with some cheese in an omelet form - (bfast,lunch,dinner). I woke up this morning to see that I apparently GAINED a lb. Maybe its the coffee with heavy cream I drank all day and the fact that I only drank 40 oz of water all day, but I am NOT happy with this. Or maybe it's that I didn't eat dinner til 8 pm. Whatever it is, I'm not happy one bit. grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Eating normal today - back to school - and a good salad w/ a no sugar ranch dressing and parm chicken on top of spinach/mixed greens will make me feel better. Not sure I'll be eating eggs for breakfast though. (lol) I'm kinda 'egged out'.

alternative day ..

So I woke up w/ the intention of doing high protien today ... had an omelete and cheese for breakfast. Decided at lunch time that I was going to have another omelete w/ cheese...after finding this ebook I had purchased last time I did the hCG...there is such a thing as an egg day. You eat between 8-12 eggs in a day. Cheese is allowed, mayo and relish in small amounts - in case you wanted to eat deviled eggs.

Sure. I can do this to see what happens. No veggies and no fruits and no meat. Different for sure - and I had forgotten about these alternative days to correct a gain. I had done a steak day yesterday and am 2 lbs heavier than my LIW - where I'm allowed to be. But I'd like to be closer to the LIW so I don't worry about going over again.

I'll let you know how the 'egg day' works out!

:)

P3 and wow

Ok, so P3 is way different than P2, and I should know this as I've done this before. I'm not new. ;)

I LOVE apples and ate them every day on P2. EVERY day. LOVE them!
So I'm telling my friend that I have eaten apples on P3 and she's surprised. I wonder why. I look up the food list, and apples are on the lower carb side but still have sugar. EVERYTHING has sugar in it. Bacon, ham, apples, peanuts ... holy mackeral. To stabelize, I am trying to be SO careful.

Last thursday night I stayed w/ my bf at his camp in the middle of nowhere. We had pork chops w/ an apple chutney (see, I love apples and it was AHHHHMAZING!), whipped cauliflower and salad w/ ranch dressing (that *I* made so I know there is no sugar) - he had a captain & diet coke and I skipped the captain but had a diet coke ... we woke up and had bacon, eggs w/ cheese and the last honeycrisp (my FAVORITE)apple that we had with us. I didn't get to weigh in as I didn't get home til after noon on Friday. Saturday I weighed in at like 150.6 ... my LIW was 146.8 so I'm allowed to be at 148.8 ... which means I was 1.8 lbs over my LIW. argh.

Saturday turned out to be a steak day. I had 2 eggs w/ a laughing cow cheese wedge, and then nothing but water & coffee all day til dinner. I had bought 2 steaks (NY Strip?) and made them for dinner and had a HUGE honey crisp apple with it (I was allowed!!) :) I only ate one steak and immediately was STUFFED.

I woke up this morning to see 148.8 which means I am just at my LIW allowance. I am wondering if I should do another correction day today just to be safe...but I'm still having eggs this morning before I decide.

Hang in there ladies, we are doing great! :)

p3 ...

Ok last night I had P3 for dinner - a burger (that i didn't weigh!), a salad with cheese and tomatoes and ranch dressing (that I made to ensure no sugar)...and my stomach was not happy. LOL but it was yummy! I even had some almonds last night because I had been waiting and waiting to have them.

this morning I woke up to a .2 gain and I was ok with that, considering I drank hardly ANY water. Bad girl. :)

I had 3 eggs w/ cheese this morning and coffee with heavy whipping cream & stevia. (yummmmy). Lunch was a burger and a salad with cut up apple and cheese in it (with my ranch) and some almonds. Dinner was a burger again (see how I'm trying to use it all up?), a salad and some califlower with cheese on it. YUM!

I'm stuffed. And I've eaten enough but not enough to stuff me. Doesn't take much to fill me up apparently. Tomorrow I'm having ham and brocolli ... I'm ready for some different stuff!

P3 ... soon!

I read last night that it is indeed 72 hours (not 3 days) from the last 'injection' that you start P3. That will be tonight around 8 pm. I might wait and have dinner late and have some eggs!

I jumped on the scale this morning, afraid of what I'd see - as I've been a bad girl. I was hungry yesterday and ate like 4 apples (and thoroughly enjoyed it!!!) - so I was afraid of the scale this morning. I was at 146.2 where yesterday I was 146.6. Not looking for a loss, but no gains is what I'm looking for.

Excited to stick with the same foods that I have been eating and adding new ones (brocolli, cauliflower), including that yummy ranch dressing I found online w/ no sugar. :)

Off we go - new phase. total hCG loss is 37.3 lbs. This round: 19.4 lbs. From a size 14 or 16 to an 8, with a couple pair of size 6 jeans thrown in. I'll take it. Not quite the 40 lbs I had hoped to be at - but can't always get what you want. :)

well alrighty then.

So this morning I woke up and weighed 146.6 and decided to stop the juice. Almost 7 weeks of P2 ... and I'm tired of hearing my body tell me that it's ready for a break. I gave in. :)

So that's that. Done with 1 day of no juice but VLCD...2 more to go and eggs on Sunday morning. Does it get better than that? I think not!

So here we go, into P3 land. Wish me luck!

yuck but ok

So this morning I run down and get on the scale. First thing is says is 145.8 and I'm estatic. So I have to get on it again just to be sure...2nd time is says 146.4. GRRRR! So whatever. :P

I took the 146.4 because it's realistic and either way - I'm doing great.
I started at 165.6 and thats a 19.2 lb loss.

I have realized that weekends are terrible for me, as I don't drink alot of water. School is great because I put a case of water in my trunk (20 oz bottles) and I drink 3 or 4 all day while I'm there. 60 or 80 oz of water that I do not drink on sat or sun.

I was at school this morning when I felt dizzy. The other day I felt hungry. Maybe it's just in my head, or maybe it's just time to do P3. I should be THRILLED with a 37.1 lb loss (total) but I really wanted to go to the 40 lbs mark, which is why I was trying to hang on as long as I could. Still going to do continue the P2 thurs and fri and see how I'm doing at the end of this week. Possibly stopping the juice and getting onto P3.

...to be continued.

ps. I wanted to post some new pictures but my camera is gone to Best Buy heaven to be fixed. Should be back soon!

not sure wth is going on.

Ok so this morning I get on the scale as soon as I get up and pee. It said I've lost .2 lbs. I get a shower and back on the scale and now it says I'm down 2 lbs. grrrrrrrrr.

I have NO idea where I am on the damn scale and it's frustrating me.

So on top of all of this - my mom had a bottle of 'juice' at her house, so I'm saved for a few more days. However, this morning at school I'm sitting in class and my stomach starts growling ... I haven't been hungry in a very long time - and it's 8:30 am. NOT GOOD.

So maybe I won't be going until I can't do it anymore, if my body is telling me that it is just done. I guess I could do a new round in January, even if I wanted this to be my last. I'm lighter than I've been since I can remember, loving my body and the way I'm feeling - and it's amazing.

I'm going to get on the scale again in the morning and maybe I'll get a clear reading. It's just frustrating to me - maybe the scale needs a new battery. If it's goofy tomorrow, I'll change it.

Here's to losing and losing and feeling amazing! I'm just not ready for P3! : /

what? wait!! noooooo!

Ok so a friend of mine needed a couple more doses to complete her 6 week gig. I mixed up a bottle and she used it for like 3 doses. I went to her house last night and got that bottle, and the two empty bottles that she had at her house.

I bring them all home, and I put the one w/ juice in it - in the fridge. So I have my bottle which is almost empty and hers which is mostly full. I decide I'm going to 'marry' them so that there is one bottle with juice in it.

I set them on the counter. I am also doing dishes. (Can you see where this is going?)I decide to wash the 2 empty bottles and somehow the 3rd gets put into the sink too. I notice that one of the bottles in the water has the lid on it. So I unscrew the dropper and put some dishwater in the bottle ... mix it up and start to pour it out and realize that its RED....oh noooooo! That is my juice!!! So I stick some in my mouth to see how dilluted it is ... and it doesn't taste like it's totally dilluted. I'm swearing at myself and put it back in the fridge.

The problem is: I have 2 vials left. But they are not available to me. Therefore, if I take this juice and I'm hungry - obviously it's dilluted and not going to work. I will have to stop hCG and go into P3 ... which I was hoping not to have to do just yet. So we shall see. I hope it's not THAT dilluted and that the soap won't give me chronic diarreah ... LOL wish me luck!

Oh and the scale this morning said I was down .2. I did an apple day yesterday so I don't believe this. I wait about a half hour and get naked and on the scale again. Now it says I'm down 2.2 lbs. WTH. I have no idea where I am as far as my weight, and will try again in the morning.

grrrr what a day!

where I am.

and this is where I am lately. :)

36.9 lbs gone. From size 18 to a 6 or 8. Happy. Healthy. did I say happy? :)

where i've been

So here are some pictures of who I used to be in this skin that I wear now.

The 1st and 3rd were from my bday (9/27) in 2008. A year ago.

ending week 6 on P2 of R3

so this morning is the last day I'm supposed to be on the 'juice' and I weighed in at 146.6. Would have been more if I had not cheated on my birthday (last sunday) and wasted a week to get back on track. ah, it's ok.

I started this round at 165.6 and therefore have lost 19 lbs as of today.

Total loss on hCG is 36.9 lbs.
ahhhhhmazing. life changing. emotional.

I asked my ex when he last saw me this size and he thinks when we started dating. That was in 1999. Ten years of being overweight. Having 2 boys and staying overweight until hCG fell into my lap ... and I was ready. That's a huge key. hCG isn't a hard diet to follow if you have willpower and are just plain ready to do it. I was about a size 18 at one time, and the other day I walked in and pulled on a pair of size 6 jeans at Old Navy. All girls know that Old Navy is generous with their sizing, and that I really wear a size 8 normal jeans .. but that's ok. Size 6 on the tag behind me. :)

Yesterday at school I was talking about the diet with someone who was asking me questions. Until now, I have been very secretive about why I eat an apple, a hamburger and a cucumber or tomato every day at lunch. Amy was asking and I like her alot and know that my experience has been life changing ... so I want to share with her. I am telling her about my experience and I'm getting tears in my eyes ... I'm very emotional about this. I tell her that buying a size 12 swimsuit off of jcpenney.com for vacation - and pulling it right on when it came and feeling AMAZING in it - was life changing. I hadn't done that in YEARS & YEARS. Walking in and trying on clothes to start school, picking up a Large shirt and a size 10 pants to find out that they were indeed TOO BIG is life changing. I'm a size 8 and medium now. Talk about an ego boost. However, hCG is amazing but I give myself alot of credit. It's not necessarily easy. I did this.

I have decided to do another 2 weeks at least to see where I end up. I would like this round to be my last round and it can be if I do it right. I don't need to be 120 lbs to be happy - I feel better than I have in years - I look better (healthier) than I have in years ... and the other day someone told me it was hard to believe that I had a 9 year old. I'll take it!

P2 - ending of week 5 on round 3.

So this morning I hopped on the scale and saw 147.8 and almost screamed. I'm lighter than I've ever remembered being. I have one more week of this 'normal' round and I think that I'm seriously going to try and extend it as long as I can. We shall see, I have noticed that I am getting hungry earlier in the day - maybe my body is telling me enough is enough.

I still don't 'see' myself as lighter, even if everyone else sees it and comments on how good I am looking. I FEEL amazing, energy is great, my jeans feel great - but to look in the mirror I don't see the weight loss as much as it is. I am at a 35 lb loss as of right now. Pretty impressive - I love hcg!

I have been dragging all of my books into class every day with a bag on wheels, thank god. I put 5 bottles of water in that bag (on top of my 17 books) and force myself to drink them while I am in school. This is a huge help! I get down 40 oz of water while I'm there, and that leaves 3 more bottles to be chugged at home. Most of the time this isn't a problem - but sometimes I had to force myself. I do believe that water is the key to a great loss.

P3 - R2 - 4 weeks down - 2 to go

I got on the scale today - my 2nd day in my 5th week of HCG and jumped on the scale ... and saw 149.2. my lowest ever weight on HCG. I'm down 34.3 total lbs from hCG. I'm beyond thrilled. My LIW last round was 150 so this is unchartered territory. (hoooray!)

Yesterday I decided to go shopping, basically because on Saturday I put away all my summer clothes and realized that I literally had no clothes for the fall. Last fall I weighed 183, and went on this diet in January. I gave away all my 'fat' clothes and here I am with a bunch of summer stuff that I can't wear now.

I went shopping with a great friend who likes to shop (I don't) and she was very helpful. We were in the fitting room at Target and I'm trying on size 10 jeans that are a little big ... she grabs and 8 and it fit. I ALMOST CRIED. Not stretchy 8s that fit because there is spandex. True size 8s. :)

So I got a bunch of cute clothes, and new shoes and was excited to get up today and wear clothes that really fit me, and I felt AMAZING.

I'm thinking of going for as long as I can with the hCG ... til I can't do it anymore or I hit immunity. I'd love this to be my last round. I am a protocol girl, never wavering ... so this is a big deal that I'm 'thinking' about doing something that isn't written down! ;)

R3 P2 day 27

I started this round all gung ho and excited to keep the blog up. I failed at that, mostly becuase I started going to school f/t 2 weeks ago and it's craziness as far as lack of time that I have for things like blogging.

This round has been very easy for me as far as no hunger, no problems. Especially with going to school, having the limited diet really helps me as far as having to prepare for lunch/dinner. Of course people at school look at me crazy when I eat the same thing every day, but you know - I'm not explaining a thing. :)

I eat alot of ground meat, like every day. I haven't eaten chicken or fish once this time around - hamburger and baked shrimp every day. I do great with just keeping with a couple things, and find that I don't get bored. I haven't eaten a grapefruit and strawberries only once. Apples every meal with an orange thrown in once in awhile. Cucumbers and tomatoes daily with asparagus thrown in once in awhile. Thankfully I am not one of those who needs to eat different things to feel fulfilled. I do look forward to things like a big loaded salad with every veggie I can throw into it - but for right now - I'm great with what I'm eating. I am seeing weight loss (almost) daily and know the end result is worth it. It will be more work when I am on P3 and have to PLAN my food. :)

I bought this little hamburger press thing that I found at Bed Bath & Beyond - I put in 3.5 oz of burger and press into a perfect hamburger patty - put it in a freezer bag and lay it flat in the freezer. Prior to school in the morning, I put it in a skillet (frozen) on medium heat - and before long I have a burger to throw in my lunch bag. This little gadget makes my life easier.

I started 8/24 at 165.6. This morning I was at 150.6. I have decided to try and see how long I can go on this round and see how much I can lose. So not stopping in 2 weeks (at 6 wks) and just going for another 2 and maybe another 2. I never follow anyone except the protocol but people on my hCG groups (yahoo) have done this with great success. I am hoping this is my last round, and if I could knock it out this time, that would be great. I'm not sure where I want to end up - every day is just a bonus - as I'm .6 away from where I wanted to be.

I have some new friends trying hCG and I'm thrilled for them. I'm a pretty good cheerleader, and I have them text me every day how they are doing. Keeps them supported and me motivated by them.

I'm going to blog more - it's important to remember how this went for me - and so far so good. I LOVE this hcg gig!

i've been terrible...

at keeping up with this blog! However, I have been successful with round 3 ... and am 2 lbs away from my very 1st goal that I set for myself.

I took some pics of myself today - I hope I can get them to upload. I wanted them to be front, side, back but of course they are all messed up. But here I am. :)

These pics are me at 152. I have 3 weeks left so I'm thinking I may dip into the low 140s before it's all over. That would be great, but again, 150 was my goal so anything over that is just bonus.

skeptical but ok

So this morning I get on the scale and it says 149.4. Yesterday I was 156.8 so I find this hard to believe, I mean wouldn't I feel 7.4 lbs gone?

So I got on the scale again and it said 152.8 - 3x in a row. I'm not sure what is going on and will see what the scale says tomorrow morning to see if todays weigh in was crazy or what. So - it's saying I lost 4 lbs overnight.

I've never had a loss like this in week 2 so I'm skeptical. However, looks good on my calendar (where I keep track daily)! LOL

VLCD day 9 R3 P2

The scale gods were good to me this morning, if even a little.
I weighed in at 156.8 - which is 8.8 lbs lighter than I was 9 days ago. I'll take it.

I was actually hungry yesterday for the 1st time on this protocol, in this round. I had no energy last week (first week) and do feel better in that aspect.

Thinking I might do a 4 week run this time, although I just ordered more HCG from ADC yesterday to do 6. I guess we'll see where I end up at the end of 4 weeks.

til tomorrow!

end of week 1 on P2

So yesterday I had gained and was sure I was going to lose today on the scale.

And I was right! I started this week at 165.6 and ended it at 157.8. A 7.8 loss this week, I'll take it!

I'm tired the past the couple days - not sure if it's the new diet changes or what, but yuck. I hope the energy kicks in next week. :)

P2 R3 day 6

The weigh in this morning wasn't fun - I'm up .4 this morning. This could be due to eating all that chicken the night before last ... or that I really didn't drink enough water yesterday. OR the face that I forgot my 'juice' the other night. Either way. No major set back and today will change it. :)

HCG life changes

I have to give alot of credit to this miraculous stuff in a little amber bottle...

I have always wanted to have a breast reduction, ever since having babies - which was 6 years ago. They did their job (nursing) and then I was done w/ them.

I was always afraid of doing it before I was 'thin enough' as then if I lost weight, I'd lose what I had left. So I needed to lose, therefore trying all kinds of things that didn't work.

Til HCG ...

I lost 32.8 lbs (but who's counting?) with HCG in 2 rounds (11 weeks).

I had a consultant with a plastic surgeon, who was interested to hear that I had lost this weight and never changed bra size. Only the band went from a 38 to a 36, but was still a DD in the cup. The volume of course was different (much softer after losing weight) but no smaller.

I had the breast reduction on 8/7/09 ... and feel like it was a dream come true.

Losing weight made me more confident in myself, and confident enough to do something that I had only talked about/dreamed of. I have stressed to the Dr. that I'm going to lose more weight and he is confident that nothing will change with my new girls! :)

I have to thank myself for the determination with HCG to not cheat, and follow the protocol 100% (except once!) and the HCG itself for being amazing.

week 1 over! VLCD day 5

I survived week one!

Hardly any hunger this week, but not much energy either. I did have to have some bloodwork done for school, including a TB test and a tetanus shot - maybe I just feel funky from all of it in combination.

Last night I went out to dinner and had a chicken ceasar salad minus the dressing, croutons and cheese. Lettuce and chicken. I ate the whole portion of chicken, which I'm pretty sure was more than 3.5 pre cooking - but I hadn't eaten since noon, and it was 7 pm and I was hungry! We'll see if I pay for it tomorrow.

This morning I weighed in at 158.8 which is 6.8 down from Mondays weight of 165.6. My LIW was 150 so once I get there, the rest is just a bonus. I was happy at 150, however I'm thinking I'd like to see what 140 looks like! :)

Also, I forgot the 'juice' last night - I fell asleep and realized when I woke up at 4 am that I had forgotten. argh. I've only done that twice in 2 other rounds. annoying!

I keep chugging the water as it is a huge factor for me, I know I don't drink enough. I bribe myself - as I LOVE hot flavored tea with stevia - that if I drink 2 bottles of water, I can have a tea. :)

R3 VLCD Day 3

So I loaded all weekend and had some yummy things but not everything I wish I had eaten, now that I think back. I didn't even eat any Ben & Jerrys! ;)

I was at 165.6 on Monday morning ... and the VLCD was starting.
I lost 3 lbs overnight and weighed in at 163.6 on Tuesday.
This morning (wednesday) I woke up and was at 160.6 and am thrilled for a 5 lb loss in 3 days.

I made about 6 loaves of zucchini bread today and 24 zucchini muffins ... and never cheated once. I just get into the 'zone' and swear that I don't even have the urge to eat the stuff I bake.

I LOVE HCG!!!

P2 for R3 ...

The day is here!

Not sure I'm ready to give up the stuff I've been eating - as summer isn't over YET ... but I am ready to see some weight loss on the scale and in my clothes.

I have not weighed in this morning ... and loading day #1 has begun.

Mixed up and took my 'juice'already, and am having my coffee ... thinking about all the stuff I'm going to eat today. Bryce told me yesterday that he was excited that I was starting my diet again ... because he will get to eat garbage with me. Cream puffs specifically. (niiiiice! I thought he was being supportive to my loss!)

So off we go again. Hopefully this will be the last round of HCG for me. Being that I started at 183.5 ... and I am still in the 150's somewhere ... I'm still ahead of the game. I tend to not get greedy about the loss ... I don't say "I want to be 130 lbs" because truth be told - at 150 I got alot of 'wow you are skinny, how much more do you want to lose and where you losing it FROM?'.
The boyfriend loves me any way that I am ... which makes me happy.

So here we go! Load Day #1 in process!

truths & time!

Hi all! Been a long time since I blogged!

I stopped P2 and entered P3 and then visited Myrtle Beach, SC for a week. It was not good for maintaining of the weight loss. I knew that it was a possibility that I wouldn't be as successful being my vacation so close to ending P2. A week in the sun with drinking everything BUT water, will help you gain and hold on to some weight.

I gained about 7 lbs back over LIW ... and then was able to stabelize that. I wasn't too happy about it, but now that I look back and see that I had an amazing summer with my kids - I'm not worried about it. I know that R3 will take care of the 7# and then the rest I wanted to lose, too.

Next week I'm going to start P2 for the 3rd time and am very excited about it! I also have an old friend starting with me, and she's just as excited. I know we'll be great.

See you back on the blogs sooner than later! :) hope you all had a great summer!

P3 for the 2nd time

Today is the first day of P3 and I'm ready!

Had my eggs/cheese ready to go with my coffee with heavy cream in it. yummmy!

I weighed in at 149.8 this morning - which I never thought I'd see the 140s so it made my week. ONE more round outta do it - even if everyone else seems to think I'm good where I am.

Speaking of - I don't see myself this much smaller. I still see myself as 180s and that's that. The other day in the store (that I hadn't seen in a year) made such a big deal and I was confused for a minute, then I realized she last saw me 30+ lbs heavier. I had my bf take some pics in my undies yesterday to see the changes and to see it in a picture is amazing - as I don't see it in the mirror.

So here we go onto P3. I'm excited to get where I'm supposed to be and then maintain it.

My 8 year old son is already picking out foods for my loading days - and yes he labeled them correctly. "hey mom, next time you do the loading weekend, can we get some creme puffs?" to which I replied "heck yes we can!". So how can I not do one more round? ;)

Another accomplishment - my neighbor recently lost weight too (with WW) and gave me a dress of hers which was a size 10P. I was skeptical - as the fabric has no give to it and I'm wearing a loose 12 or a tighter 10. The dress is a true size 10P. I put it on last night and it fits. A TEN! I was a 16. It's almost a tearful thing. :)

end of P2 R2...

Not sure I was ready for this to end so soon (it's been 5 weeks) but due to vacation in June, it must end now. Otherwise, I will still be on the 3 week NO carbs gig and I can't have that on vacation!

So here I am - all done with P2 of R2 - weighed in at 150.8 this morning.
Started at 168 so I'm pleased with the total loss of 32.7 lbs in two rounds.

I am going to do another round in July after my all girls camping weekend - and I think the bf is going to do 4 weeks with me. He needs to lose like 5 lbs, but whatever makes him happy. :) He's a great support to me and that makes it that much easier.

I am in a size 12 now and can get into a 10 depending on the clothes. I have no summer clothes as I certainly wasn't this weight last summer, but that's a good problem to have.

I love the HCG diet, and I find that it is hard to do - but with willpower and committment you really can change your body which in turn, changes your life. I am smaller than I can ever remember being and I feel great. :)

HCG has changed so much. May 09 & June 07

R2 P2 Day 34 - hanging in there!

Ok so this past couple weeks has been up & down.

I am going to admit my faults because I want to be honest.

I am usually MILITANT to the protocol. I do not do anything that isn't on the manuscript that we follow.

On May 14th my amazing boyfriend took me to the Springsteen concert in Albany. I had lunch before we left so that was ok. We get to the hotel and we're running late so we decide we'll have dinner with room service so we can get ready and eat quick. Mark is looking and looking at the menu (which is limited anyhow) and he's trying to figure out what I can eat - and asking if I brought my fruit and breadsticks (yes he's been through this twice now, he's a pro!) and I just said to him "you know what? I'm not worrying about it today. I've done HCG for 6 weeks the first time and 4 weeks this time and NEVER cheated. So I'm giving myself permission to have a nice dinner with you and not stress over the food." and he is just looking at me like I've lost my mind - because I'm the food nazi!

I had a chicken caesar salad and ate the croutons. and it was GOOD! After the concert we hit the hotel bar and I had a few captain & diet cokes and they were GOOD! I had to eat more because I was cheating and going to pay for it anyhow - so we split a hamburger and fries - oh and chocolate lava cake and ice cream. and it was GOOD! And I gave myself permission and didn't fall off the wagon.

I gained 2 lbs on that trip, and an apple day took it all away. On saturday I was 157.6 and on Sunday I was 155.6. So that week I ended up losing nothing because of my gain. But that's ok. :)

This past week I started Monday at 153.8 and ended on Saturday at 151.2.
In some weird way, doing the cheat and the apple day kinda got me going again.

So there, I have confessed. No one in my 'real' life knows about this because I'm so strict usually, I just don't feel the need to tell everyone.

um...I knew that!

Ok so Saturday was an apple day ... it jump started the weight loss.

I woke up yesterday to see a loss again and had set a new goal for myself - I was going to drink 8 bottles of water. I only drank 4 of the 8. But NO iced tea - which previously I had been living off of - and water was only when I had to.

This morning showed a loss of 1.4 lbs from yesterday and I do believe that water is the way ... 2 more weeks - no more iced tea and we'll see what happens!

This mornings weigh in was the lowest it's ever been in 9 years - 152.4 lbs.
I can officially say I have lost 30.6 lbs on HCG on both R1 & R2.
Losing 15.6 lbs on R2 alone.

finally!

I had been having a hard time as of lately and I know it's because I haven't been drinking enough water. The past 2 days i've made a huge effort and woke up this morning to the lowest number i've seen YET ...

to date (both rounds 1 & 2) i've lost 29.2 lbs and in R2 I've lost 14.2 - in 4 weeks. Not too shabby!

This week my goal is to drink as much water as possible and see how it helps. If I could get into the 140s this round - I'd be thrilled.

R2 P2 Day 23

So last night I was surfing around on some website that I found and enjoy ... and saw some P2 recipes. I loooove shrimp and one sounded yummy. You crunch up your grissini, mix it with parsley, 1 Tbsp of broth, and 1 clove garlic. Put your shrimp in a pan, put the mixture over it and bake for 10 minutes. After it comes out, put the juice of a 1/2 lemon over it. Sounded great.

I got almost done with it and something just wasn't right - for some reason my stomach wasn't having any of it. I didn't finish the shrimp and spend the rest of the evening with a very upset stomach, which hasn't happened in P2 to me. I think I'm going to stick with what I know and not try to mix it up too much.

This am I was at 155.4 and it's slow this week, but I'm losing.

My SIL (sister in law) asked about the diet today - and I'm THRILLED that other people are interested in it. It's the most amazing thing I've done. Not only the weight loss - which is obviously the benefit - the way I view food now, the life changes I've made and the hard work it took to be successful - I want everyone to experience that!

P2 R2 day 22

I'm on R2 day 22. I started (after the loading time) at 168.5 lbs.
I lost 7.1 lbs the first week.
I lost 4.2 lbs the 2nd week.

I lost 1.8 lbs this past week. FRUSTRATING! I stalled at the same weight for 3 days this week (tues - thurs). I finally thought I broke through it on Friday. The scale said 157 and when I re-weighed myself, I was 155.6 so I was relieved and of course used that number as the days weight. Today I'm 156 which is .4 more.

Last night I felt exhausted and just not well - and fell asleep on the couch at 7:30 pm. This morning I feel the same way. I'm coming up on week 4 of the hcg - and I haven't felt this way in a long time. The 1st week of R1 was pretty rough as far as energy - but after that I felt AMAZING.

I don't want to give up but I'm getting frustrated. I do not deviate from the protocol. I haven't cheated once. I've lost 12 lbs in 3 weeks and I'm not complaining about that - I'm just very very frustrated. This is hard for me as i'm normally a very high energy, very positive person so feeling like crap just doesn't work for me.

I wanted to do a 6 week protocol ... but I need to figure out what's going on.

In posting on a website that I visit (and where I copied this post from) - I am reading that week 3 is hard for alot of people and then week 4 is great. This makes me optimistic.

finally!

So Tues, Wed and Thurs I was 157 even. No scale movement.
This morning I get on the scale and it says 157.2.
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I move the scale behind the bathroom door a little closer, get on and look - it says 155.6.
I of course don't believe this huge difference. So I get off. Reset it and get on again. 155.6.
I tell my boyfriend about the difference and he tells me that he moved the scale the other day and it was a huge difference for him too. So maybe thats where the scale should stay - the lighter spot! LOL

I wanted chocolate yesterday in the worst way. He had a business meeting in Montreal and I tagged along. We went to a huge mall and chocolate was everywhere. Feeling upset that the scale hadn't moved, I was ready to just have ONE bite but didn't. This was really the first craving I've had on this diet. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. I didn't give in and I'm happy as apparently I did lose something finally.


22 lbs lost in R1 of HCG - 6 week round
12.4 lbs lost in R2 of HCG so far. 3 weeks to go.
27.4 lbs total so far on HCG.

wk 3 of VLCD (P2)

All is well. Besides a botched up Apple Day - I am doing well.
I'm eating shrimp like every day, not sure what's going on with that but its healthy! LOL

I was at 157 even this morning, which tells me that tomorrow I'll see a new number if things keep going as they have been.

Hunger is absent, energy is high and willpower still going strong!

some of my changes - 2b continued!

This was February 1, 2009, and I weighed 172.



This was Feb. 11th, 2009 and I weighed 167.


This was the end of April, 2009 and I weighed 158.

Jans success

The above picture is of my old boss (and friend) Jan and I, at my sons 5th bday party in August of 2008. She is the one who introduced me to HCG.

The below picture is of Jan & I in March of 2009 (I'm in middle and she's on the right). Jan is 82 lbs lighter (thanks to the Protocol) and I am about 20 lbs lighter - than we were in August of 2008.

It is AMAZING to me to look at these pictures, and I wanted to share them.

screwed up apple day

Argh!

I was stalling on my loss all last week and decided to do an "apple day" yesterday.

Well I apparently haven't done one in forever and got it confused with the "steak day". I drank about a gallon of iced tea and ate 6 apples. Three quarters of the way through the day a friend of mine reminds me that I'm not supposed to drink anything on an apple day, only to quench my thirst. It was kinda too late. LOL

I screwed it up and made myself sick of apples - but did manage to lose 1 lb.
I woke up to 157.2 which puts me at a 25.8 lb total loss on HCG.

weirdness - diet & baking

I love to bake while I'm on this diet! Cakes, cookies, granola bars, etc.

I don't get it. I don't eat what I bake, or even lick my fingers or a spoon. Not ONE bite - but I love to make stuff.

When I was on P2 the 1st time, I was working and would just take all this yummy stuff to work and everyone else would eat it. Now that I'm not working - and my mom and ex husband are on my diet - no one will eat what I make.(my kids don't eat alot of sweets.) So I took 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies and another pan of chocolate chip cookie bars into my ex husbands office today for his sales floor to eat. I have no idea if they tasted good or not - I honestly didn't even taste them. They all thought I was crazy. Here I am shrinking from my diet but making yummy gooey desserts and not even tempted.

I deal with normal every day because of my kids and have no urge to eat what they eat. Nothing tempts me when I'm in my 'hcg zone', which I find amazing.

Have I said that I LOVE this diet?

success

My ex husband texted me this a.m. that he is 1.6 lbs away from having lost 20 lbs this past 2 weeks. AMAZING this diet is. I'm thrilled for him and happy its been soooo successful!!!

TOM loss

So my friend came yesterday - a day early. And I was sure that I wouldn't see any movement on the scale, as I hadn't the day before either...I woke up this morning and was 2.2 lbs lighter than yesterday.

I'm amazed. I went for a 1.5 mile walk on Monday and did yard work - so that must have helped me alot. In the past, I see no loss and then lose a couple after my 'friend' is gone.

I'm also thinking about foods and how my thinking has changed. When discussing the loading days, one of my friends said she considers it the foods that she won't eat normally after she loses the weight. And that makes total sense to me.

For example: I will NEVER sit down with a big bag of Lays wavy potato chips and watch a movie. I also probably will never eat pringles again - as I know me, and 5 aren't enough. I'll eat the whole can.

So this diet has not only given me alot of clothes that don't fit - its completely changed how I view food and the use of food. You are what you eat.

I wish I had eaten a huge sub on the loading days, OH! and a PB&J sandwich. Every day I make my 5 year olds lunch I think about it. Not that I want to eat it right then - I just wish I had eaten it when I could have. LOL

week 2 of P2

So week 1 of P2 was good - went from 168.5 to 161.4 = 7.1 lbs gone.

This week I'll be able to start adding the loss to my 1st weight loss of 24 lbs on Round 1 of P2.

I am feeling great - not tired like the 1st round and seem to have alot more energy.

I also am not really hungry. When lunch time rolls around, I'm ready to eat but I am not hungry all day long thinking about food. Actually my whole idea about food is different because of doing P2 the 1st time.

There is alot of 'noise' from my belly - esp. in the evenings when I'm watching tv. I like to think that it's my body burning fat. :)

My TOM is due tomorrow (Wed.) but has shown up today, which explains the back ache and general crabiness today. She'll be here for longer than she should be and I won't stop taking the HCG. Hopefully I'll see a good loss afterward - as I've stayed the same for 2 days.

TY to Blondie for the 'chili' recipe that i made last night with ground beef and a tomato with yummy spices...such a nice change from the usuals ... I felt like I was cheating!

new scale

So the new scale is turning out to be my friend. :)

This morning I weighed in at 160.8 where yesterday I was at 162 - 1.2 loss.
I haven't seen anything but .5 and 1 lb losses, I was excited to see some different numbers.

So now I can start adding to my loss ... My LIW was 161 and I'm under that, if only by ounces!

day 5 of VLCD - 1st week of P2

Whew! Week 1 is almost done

I'm so excited to be back on P2 ... and lost 6.5 lbs this week total so far.
One more lb and I can start adding to my previous P2 weight loss for a 'total weight loss on HCG', which is pretty exciting.

Thursdays weigh in was unsuccessful, as I didn't lose. I was at 163 on Wed & Thurs. But I stayed positive, knowing that I would catch up and as long as I didn't gain, it was all good.

Yesterday I went to Montreal w/ Mark for a business meeting that he had. We ate out at a NY Steak & Grill resturant.

First time doing P2 I would have never tried to eat out, I was terrified of screwing up. It wasn't so hard this time. I ordered a grilled chicken caeser salad with no dressing and lemons on the side. I cut the chicken breast in half and only ate that -and I forgot to tell them no cheese or bacon, so I waded through that and only ate salad lettuce with lemon juice squeezed onto it. I hoped that I was careful enough not to screw up my diet.

And apparently I was because I was down 1 lb this morning.

I've also realized that my scale is not recognizing anything but .5 for weight loss. never another number after my weight. Example: 161.5 or 161 is all I have ever seen. So I'm buying a new scale and thinking that I have lost in the past and didn't know it because it wasn't a full lb. so I was frustrated. argh!

day 3 of VLCD

I love the beginning weight loss!

I was 165 yesterday and this morning I'm 163. That is +2 of my LIW ... so in 2 more lbs I can start adding this loss to my total weight loss of 24 lbs.

My ex and my mom are estatic and doing great too!

Yesterday I was hungry but not as much as Monday - but I was more tired. I know today will be great and I'm so excited to be doing P2 again!

day 2 of VLCD

Good morning!

I couldn't sleep - wanted to jump out of bed to see the scale and was happy to see a 3.5 lb loss from yesterday. Started at 168.5 and now down to 165. YAY!

Yesterday was a bit tough - I was hungry around 10:30 am and held out til almost noon.
Had a burger/cuke/orange and forgot to eat my bread. I had that around 3 which worked out nice. Dinner - I held out til 5:30 or 6 pm and I had shrimp in garlic/asparagus/granny smith apple w/ cinnamon & Stevia with breadsticks. And I was satisfied with that amount of food - but was hungry twice today. I know this will go away and I look forward to that.
I also wasn't as tired as I had expected to be, but I was ready for bed earlier.

My ex and mom started with me and were both excited, and then 3 more people at his office want to start on Friday. I'm excited about this, more people going to find out the weight loss secret that is changing my life.

loading days ...

...are no fun!

Yes when you are on the VLCD or on P3, all those forbidden foods sound great. You always want what you can't have, right?

Day 1 of loading was yesterday and I was ready. Got all the food out of the cupboards that I was going to get rid of (by eating) - chocolates, chips, etc.
Had breakfast 2x, chips, chocolate truffles, ice cream with chocolate sauce and sprinkles, a granola bar, for dinner I had a whopper jr. with large onion rings with a chocolate milk shake. This is what put me over the edge. Blech. Blech. Blech.

I woke up this morning with a sour belly and realizing I had another day of garbage to eat. Yuck. Scale is up 3 lbs. I think I did good as far as loading. Not sure how long it will take for my belly to forgive me ... and after all that fat - I am looking forward to the VLCD.

Off I go ... to eat ... (LOL)

P2 for the 2nd time

I have had great success with the HCG diet and have had alot of people inquire with me about what I'm doing and how it works.

I am starting P2 this morning for the 2nd time and I'm very excited.
Not excited to give up my salads every day but excited to see the scale move every morning.

I maintained my LIW for 6 weeks until the very very end. It's amazing to me that you can really eat everything in moderation and wake up to see the scale is in your favor.

I was up 2 lbs from the allowed weight (+2 liw) and was not very happy about that being being that I was traveling it wasn't easy to just do a steak day. I'm a strict protocol girl and to not do what I'm supposed to do - was hard too. But I didn't do one and I'll just be up 2 lbs when I start. I can live with this.

I have 2 family members starting today as well as my friend in WI. I'm very excited to see how they all do.

My friend in WV did the diet for 3 weeks and lost 16 lbs. He just couldn't hang on w/ the restrictive diet as his wife is pregnant and likes to eat out. LOL I understood and was happy he saw great results before he stopped early.

Here we go!

simply amazing.

I took my boys home to my dad & step moms house for a visit.
There were waaaay too many temptations on this trip. Easter being one of them. Candy everywhere. But in my house, I'm stocked with things that I can eat - and being at my dads was hard. I had my favorite pizza, I had handfuls of candy, etc.

Oh and I forgot to mention that I had forgotten my scale. I was going by my step moms but had no idea if it was right.

I was afraid to weigh in when I got back for fear that I'd have to do a steak day before starting P2 again. I got on the scale and had gained ONE lb. This is amazing to me as I did not hold back anything. I ate a bite of everything I wanted. This diet really does change the way your body deals with food ... and I am in amazement. And so very happy that I did follow the protocol the way I was supposed to ... the results are so very worth it!

very 1st steak day

This AM's weigh in proved to be unfavorable.
I was at 164.5 which is +3 from my LIW of 161.5.
Anything over 2 lbs above requires a steak day. I've never done one, nor have I grilled a steak - so this would be interesting.

I had my coffee this morning with half and half ... and then ate nothing. It's now 5:07 and the steak is on the grill. My stomach is growling at me to eat something and I've had 3 bottles of water today. I don't feel like I'm starving but I definately am ready to eat.

I bought a steak today with the help of Mark, as I'm just not a 'steak person'. he told me how to buy one and then how to make it. We shall see how it turns out and what the scale says in the morning. Now I'm all excited to see how this works.

Wish me luck!

so excited!

I was talking to my ex last night about the HCG diet and he's all wound up about it. Wants to start very soon. He said that one of the girls in the office was saying how good I looked (she saw me when I stopped in his office to pick something up) and that started a conversation about the diet and how he was going to do it. Another girl who works with him said she was willing to look at it and maybe do it with him.

This particular person is ready to have gastric bypass - so this made my heart jump when he told me. If we can help her NOT have that surgery - and be spared all the potential risks that come with it - what an amazing thing!

The fact that he'll have a 'buddy' right there at work with him is also amazing, as I know he'll need the moral support. I love that people I care about want to be healthier. :)

P3 week 5

Ok 1 more week after this one to do P3 and then off I go to P2 again!

Last night I went to the Outback with Mark and had a beautiful salad with half of a chicken breast in it with ranch. Had a discustingly delicious brownie/ice cream/whipped cream/ hot fudge dessert ... and immediately was ready to just get pj pants on and let my belly be free. LOL I have not eaten that much food in a long time. And I was stuffed.

This a.m. I skipped breakfast and ate an apple on the way home. Lunch was a Cobb Salad from Quiznos with ranch dressing. Dinner was a 2 egg omelet with a Laughing Cow Cheese wedge and some raspberries. Oh and then a half of a cup of ice cream - but its ok, the ice cream is all gone and I won't be buying any more that I love. :)

My AF is screwing with my stomach and I haven't weighed in today - so tomorrow may either shock me because I have gained a ton or shock me because I ate all that an was still able to stablize. I am amazed that I can pretty much eat anything I want (in moderation) and still stay within +2 or - 2 of LIW. verrrrry cool!

I have some more friends who are interested in doing the diet and I'm very excited to be motivating people! With such an amazing result - it's so worth the 4-6 weeks of drastic change. And seeing me keep the 24 lbs that I lost OFF for another 6 weeks is amazing in itself. I am truly ready to get back into P2 and lose another 24 lbs.

It definately can be done with some willpower and the readiness for change.

P3 - LIW +2.5

Yikes!

Well my AF showed up not 1 or 2 days early - but 6 days early. She's screwing with the scale and today - my body. I hardly ate yesterday because I was outside taking advantage of the beautiful weather, let alone stuff I shouldn't have had - so I know its her adding to the scale.

I am seeking measured droppers that fit 4 oz bottles ... and a friend recommended that I go to the Yahoo Groups and find the HCG dieters. I did this and signed up.
I immediately realized that I couldn't hang out there. People are stupid. period.

One girl was told by a friend that the HCG diet is only good while you are taking it - and just like the Atkins, once you stop, you gain it all back. So this person got all down on herself and the diet, pigged out and gained 4 lbs. Now she needs some encouragement to stick with the diet and help her not to do that again.

c'mon! seriously?!?! You can't do a diet (ANY diet) and not maintain it somehow. It has to be a life change. Obviously her friend isn't hip to the notion that going back to your old eating habits will make you have the same results = getting fat again. You can't eat spinach & shrimp for 6 weeks and lose awesome weight and then start going thru the McDonalds drive thru and not expect to see a gain.

Oh and most of the posts on there are ways around the Protocol. Some kind of noodles that have no carbs/calories/fat that people are eating on P2. I never read about those on the Simeons Protocol - and I would never entertain the idea of eating them. I survived P2 once before and with great success - why would I do it wrong the 2nd time? There are ways to eat eggs instead of meat, salad dressings that people have used that didn't affect their loss. I mean, if you want to eat that stuff or fit the diet into your life - have at it. Good luck. I personally have fit my life into this diet as it was written and refuse to alter it.

This is just one of the many times when talking about this diet, I have to remind myself that everyone is not like me. Everyone is not like me. Keep saying it to myself and get unaggravated - and am able to be somewhat open minded about whatever someone else is doing. Besides, I know the results I have had, as well as others have had and it's very motivating.

Maybe I'm mean. Maybe I'm just honest. I just hold myself accountable and expect others to, too. When they don't - it irritates me beyond belief and I just have to stay away from the situation. So, no more HCG Dieters Group for me. :)

I'm happy to have found others who actually do the diet the way it was intended, and do not give themselves permission to cheat - they movitate me!!

P3 - LIW +1.5

Good morning!

Well I have alot of personal stress going on right now and will admit that I ate more peanuts and dried fruit yesterday than real food. I expected to pay for it this am on the scale - and guess what? Still within the 2 lbs + or - which is amazing to me. I have never been so aware of my body, or been able to tell when I've gained 3 lbs, like I am now. Getting on the scale every day is a great thing, on a diet or not.

I am anxious to start P2 again. Easter Weekend is supposed to be my loading weekend but I don't know if I'm going to do that...I will have a house full of company that weekend. I wanted to go out and have a huge dinner with Mark on that weekend, so I might start early or late.

My two friends who are new to the HCG diet are doing fabulous and both can't believe how the weight is falling off of them. I think I'm as excited as they are!!

2.5 weeks til P2!

Ok so this week I can have carbs. yay! :)

This a.m. I weighed in at 162.5 which is good ... and tonight I'm going to Albany with my amazing boyfriend and I'm going to cheat on my diet for the 1st real time. LOL I have some personal stress going on and I feel the need to have a beautiful dinner with him and not think about HCG/Low Carb/No Carb. So there!

I have 2 new friends doing this diet now and they both just started Monday with the VLCD ... I asked them to check in every morning with me.

1. it holds them accountable to more than just themselves
2. it makes my day to hear their success! I think I'm just as excited as they are - and it's not my success!

HCG is life changing ... and I just truly believe in it if you follow it the way you are supposed to.

I am getting my ex husband to jump on the bandwagon. He is not healthy - and bottom line - my kids need a dad. Whatever I have to do to help him, I will. I'm thankful that we have a great relationship and that I am able to help him be healthier. Wish us luck!

impatience...

should be my middle name!

I have a couple of friends starting P2 - one took her first HCG does this a.m. and is on her loading days and another is starting monday.

I am WICKED excited for the both of them and am jealous - as I want to start P2 again! One of the newbies asked me "why?!" when I said I wanted to start the HCG again - I am guessing because of how the 500 calorie diet looks overwhelming - but I thought it was easy. Being told what to eat is so easy for me - this P3 is hard!

Anyhow - I have people asking me daily how my diet is going or how they can read about it - which makes me very happy. It has been life changing for me and I know that my friends/family will also benefit from it.

The scale today was at 163 - so I'm 1.5 lbs up from LIW (161.5) - but the protocol says this is ok. I'm able to get it back down if it does up - so I'm feeling pretty much in control.

I do realize that I can't have jars of peanuts around the house unless I take the time to measure out portions... because it is VERY easy to eat waaaay more than you are supposed to.

Next thing you know you had beef jerky and sunflower seeds ... and have to count that as your dinner because you ate all of it. yikes.

holding steady...

had a rough weekend stress wise which kinda helped the cause ;) ... holding at my LIW of 161.5.

I even cheated a bit both weekend days ... thankfully the scale stuck.

Tonight I went shopping for some new clothes - as we have an important meeting at work and I have nothing that fits - that isn't jeans.

I found a pair of khakis at Old Navy which are size 12 and kinda big - but comfortable. I tried and tried to find a cute top to go with it and was extremely frustrated. The tops were either extremely tight or too big and sloppy looking. I didn't find one that I liked.

So. weight is good. last week of 'no carbs' and onto 3 weeks of 'low carbs'. :)

This picture was taken in Salem Mass. on one of Marks adventures with me, in October 2008. I was around 180 lbs. and fairly comfortable with myself. One of the perks of being with someone who makes you feel amazing is that you are comfortable. I look at it now and I see my belly, my chin, my thighs... all so different now!

pics

2/3/2009 (pink) 3/11/2009 (white)

2nd week P3

Ok I think I have it down.

I promised myself I'd be honest on this blog so I'm admitting when I do things that you shouldn't do - or that I would tell someone else not to do. :P

I had a few beers Saturday night. (GASP!) I paid dearly for it.
Monday I weighed in at a whopping 165. My LIW is 161.5.

I decided that I wasn't doing a steak day, that I just needed to grasp the food thing and get control. A friend of mine who followed the HCG protocol reminded me that I'm supposed to do a steak day. My comeback was that I understood that, but I am going to do P2 again - and the 'resetting' wasn't for the rest of my life.

So I got control of my diet. Breakfast. Lunch. Snack. Dinner. water water water.

Tuesday 3/10 I weighed in at 163.5 - which is ok as far as the -2/+2 of LIW.
Wednesday 3/11 I weighed in at 162.5 - which is AWESOME!

The diet thing scares me though, as far as if you don't eat enough, you gain. You eat too much, you gain. It's scary!

I also found www.sparkpeople.com and really like it! Check it out!

day 5 weigh in

My LIW is 161.5 lbs.

Ok yesterday (Day 4 of LIW)I was at 164 lbs. (FREAKING OUT! +2.5 of LIW!)
This am after watching what I ate yesterday I am at 163 lbs.
The protocol says I can be +2 or -2 lbs from the LIW ... so now I'm where I should be as opposed to over.

I do not want to do a steak day - so I'm going to watch my diet today and tomorrow and see where I am on Mondays weigh in.

This diet is HARD! It is like a free for all and not knowing what to eat makes it difficult. I'm just going to try really hard to stay in the guard rails, even if I don't know what they are. LOL

day 4 of P3

Today I woke up and made a 2 egg omelet with a handful of mushrooms and a piece of 'laughing cow' light swiss cheese. A friend of mine recommended it, as it's lower fat than regular cheese, one serving is 30 calories, and it comes in a couple different flavors. Being that she is a great source of information - I bought some and it is yummy!

Lunch was a 6 oz (pre cooked) (lean) burger w/ some ranch dressing on it (that I made myself because I couldn't find any at the store that didn't contain sugar in it.). I had a side of asparagus and some trail mix.

In the afternoon I had some celery with another 'laughing cow' cheese wedge.

I got home later than I had wanted (6:30ish) and made some shrimp with garlic and dried onion flakes in some olive oil. I ate that with a beautiful salad that consisted of italian blend lettuce, some cucumber, some tomato, sunflower seeds, sliced up strawberries (probably a no no but only 4 pieces), bleu cheese crumbles, and my ranch dressing again.

While watching Nip/Tuck - I had some trail mix mixed with some peanuts. This is my downfall right here. I seem to have to be eating. Something in my mouth all the time. bad bad bad.

So that was it. Now I'm having some hot tea with Stevia - which is a life saver.

Tomorrow when I get on the scale I'm probably going to be mad, but I'm holding out until Monday to see where my weight is. I am not freaking out over 2 lbs, but know its important to stay within that range.

frustration ...

Through this whole HCG diet, I've been very positive about following the manuscript as it is written.

Alot of people try to fit this diet into their life, when in fact, you have to fit your life into this diet. Period.

The frustration is that people do whatever they want and then wonder why it didn't work for them as far as losing weight.

If you aren't a vegetarian, you don't get to eat cottage cheese! Why cheat or mess up the diet as it is written - as it works.

There are a couple websites that I like to visit as far as the HCG diet.

On one of the websites I visit daily - there is a forum where people ask questions.
Can I use Splenda? sweet n low?
Can I eat brocolli? Can I use chap stick?
What happens if I fell off the wagon and ate a cupcake?

Holy crap batman! Read the manuscript! Then re read it again. Every time I read it, I learn something new or read something that I didn't quite get the last time. It's amazing!

There is a gentleman who has done so well on the HCG diet - and he answers alot of questions for people on this website. He has the patience of a saint, as I am usually yelling at my screen because people ask the same questions over and over. And the answer is usually "NO" to what they are asking. I find him extremely helpful and I don't know how he doesn't flip his lid.

This isn't the easiet diet that I've ever done, but it is very effective. I've made alot of changes in my life for this diet and am very proud that I've stuck with it as I have. I do have to remind myself that not everyone is like me and is able to get in a 'zone' and just do whatever needs to be done. I struggle with remembering this, but I try.

Also, I had seen alot of blogs that were not very consistent as far as following the diet, for one thing. I found it extremely hard to follow someone in the HCG adventure, who wasn't even following the manuscript. If someone cheats every other day or wants to give up every third day - I have no interest in what they say. I understand that *some* people need encouragement and I'm all for it! But if you don't have faith in yourself - who the heck will?

I decided to make my own blog to be entirely honest about this diet and my experiences. There has to be more people like me, who just want the truth and to do the HCG truthfully as it was written. I hope they find my blog and that they find it helpful.

1st week of P3.

What I'm learning - is that this is scary to me!

On the VLCD (very low calorie diet) that I did when I was taking the hCG 2x a day - I knew what I could eat. I knew exactly what to put into my mouth and what NOT to put into my mouth.

Now I'm not supposed to eat starches and carbohydrates. Ok. So the horizon has been opened up and I can eat whatever I want. Terrifying after watching 24 lbs melt off of my body. I don't want to screw this up!

I am on day 4 of P3 and think I have figured out my game plan for this stage.
I'm going to eat a 2 egg omelet for bfast with mushrooms/tomatoes and some cheese. Lunch will be the same stuff that I ate on the VLCD but with more protien - from 3.5 oz (pre cooked)I'm going to increase it to 6 oz. I'll eat the same veggies that I ate - but drop the fruit and the bread. A snack in the afternoon and then dinner. I'm going to do this for the rest of the week and see what the scale says.

Going on my own, I'm up to 163 from 161.5 and according to the Pounds & Inches, this is ok - as long as I stay within 2 lbs of the start weight of this phase.

I'm also going to get back on the Wii Fit - as I couldn't do that while on P2, no exercises allowed.

So here we go!

1st day of P3!

I weighed in today - and was at 160.5.

Truth be told - the last night of P2 (last night) - Mark and I made meatballs for dinner on Wednesday and since someone had to try one - I did! I hadn't cheated the ENTIRE time I did P2 - and I was able to eat high protien starting the next morning - I volunteered. Was delicious! About 10 minutes later - I was totally feeling the effects of eating it. Growls and gurgles - I think my body was in shock. No fat for 6.5 weeks and here we go - a new chapter.

This a.m. I woke up all excited to eat an egg/cheese/mushroom omelette. Mark made it and was happy that I was happy. About 3/4 of the way through the eggs I realized that I was full. This had never happened like it did this morning. Something just clicked off and I was done. I threw the rest of it away.

I got to work and had some coffee with cream - something I haven't had in 6.5 weeks either. My stomach was seriously in shock from all of this food but it was soooo yummy and I was so happy to have it!

Today for lunch, I had a fully loaded chicken salad with full fat ranch dressing - minus croutons. Oh my gosh! Amazing.

I am excited for the *new* food choices but find that I'm going to follow most of the diet that I've been eating for 6.5 weeks - as I know it's safe. I'm afraid to eat the wrong thing and wreck all the effort I have put into me and this.

ending phase 2 ...

I had taken a couple weeks of HCG that my boss had left over and was taking it. I wasn't sure when I would stop, as I didn't want to waste it.

I decided to have a friend and her kids over for dinner this coming Wednesday. I'm going to make homemade sketti sauce and meatballs...and decided that it would be VERY cool if I could actually eat dinner with everyone - being i've been doing this diet for 6-7 weeks and been eating my own food since then. Well I can't eat sketti, but I can eat meatballs and a huge salad. (I'm almost salivating as I think about this!)

Saturday (2/28) I woke up and weighed myself. I hadn't lost anything and my goal of getting into a new number (150s) was not happening today - so I decided that that was it. I dumped the HCG out and went about my day. I felt no different than when I was taking the HCG.

Sunday (3/1) - first thing I did was hop on the scale when I woke up - it's habit now! I didn't expect any changes - my period is due next week and that seems to change the loss for me. What did I see? 159.5. Shock and excitement - made my day.

We were up early and decided to run to the store for some things that we forgot yesterday - and I felt hunger. For the first time in 6 weeks or so. It kinda stopped me in my tracks when I realized what it was. I came home and had a usual lunch - and within a few bites, was satisfied. Funny how 8 weeks ago, it took much more to make me full. I have to say that I am more tired today. I think it's the changes going on. I felt this way when I started the HCG and now that I'm stopping - the same. I'm sleepy. But I know that in 2 days I'll feel great so I'm not worrying about it.

I'm ready to eat an omelette on Tuesday morning. I have decided that I'm going to pretty much stick to my diet that I am eating now - but adding more protien than 3.5 oz at a serving and adding some delicious MIXED salads! Omg! I can taste it already!

As of today - 24 lbs are melted from my body. I noticed while watching tv today that my ankles are smaller and I can tell in my skin that I've lost inches in alot of places. I know the skin will go back to normal but it's a great indication of changes that I can't see on the scale. Feet and toes are thinner/smaller, my neck is smaller, my forehead is thinner - my jawline. Amazing.

week 4

Now I'm on a roll.

I look at food completely different. I don't lick my fingers when I make Trents peanut butter eggo in the morning. Or when I bake granola bars to take to work. I swear I have baked/cooked more during this diet than I have. And I have no urge to eat what I make.

I realize that I do alot of things out of habit. Lick your fingers. Lick the spoon. Eat the last bite of Trent's sandwich. Eat because you are bored.

I haven't felt hunger in 3 weeks. Week 1 I did have some hunger pangs.
But I'm not hungry anymore. Food is not appealing as it once was.

I realize that I used to eat things that my body didn't need, so I ate because I wanted it, not because I needed it.

3rd week ...

now I'm into it.

I'm noticing differences in my clothes, in my face - the fat from my forehead is gone and left some wrinkles for proof. I'm ok with that, I know that it will all fill out and look great. My chin is thinner and I can see that my mid section is shrinking.

I had no 'goal' weight. I've always had a pretty good self image even when at my heaviest. Like in my head, I don't see me as fat as I really am. I really do love this about myself. So now that I'm losing, it's hard for me to picture me as I am in the mirror - in my head.

I was considering a breast reduction. I'm 99.9% sure I'm done with babies, and since they won't be needed any longer to breast feed - I would be thrilled to lose some of the girls. In speaking with people who have done this, I was told that you should lose weight before the surgery. As opposed to after.

Ok fine. So there's a goal. So what is my "ideal" weight? 127 lbs.
Are you flipping kidding me? I think I weighed that in 4th grade.
And that's a huge number to get into my head to achieve.

2nd week...

...a bit easier but still an adjustment.

Have to admit that I felt better. Food was easier for me and I was getting into a routine.

I am the only person who is on birth control - and doing this diet - out of the people that I know. I started spotting a WEEK before my period was due. I get my friend on Wed. and she came a whole week early. And she stayed for 9 days. She usually is here for 3. I am quite sure that the hormones somehow screwed up my period, but I was frustrated.

I only lost 3 lbs this week, but noticed that my body was getting smaller in places. I contribute the smaller loss to my 'friend' being here for an extended visit.

first week...

...was hard! I won't lie!

The whole diet is different. Your food choices are things I liked, but didn't eat every day. Very strict as far as what you can eat and not eat.

No oil, fat, butter, peanut butter, condiments.
No eyeliner, hand lotion, chap stick, moisturizers.
No milk in my coffee. No Splenda. No diet soda.

Exceptions were made when my lips were bleeding or my hands were cracking, but I bought different things that I had used previously - because any fat you put on your body - it will use for fuel. I want it to be eating MY fuel (my fat) so I avoided it.

I was exhausted. I wanted to eat foods that I had been eating. I missed eating the salads that Mark and I had been eating, that he was still eating.

I had noooo energy. I usually spring out bed in the morning and found myself dragging. My muscles ached. I wondered if I could do this diet, if this is how I would feel for a month.

On Friday of the first week I realized that I had lost 7 lbs. in that week.
That was inspiration enough to get up and continue to week 2.

diet!

Let me say that my boss was very conservative to this diet, as am I.

Other people do the diet and added things in, or changed things - from what they were written in the manuscript. Let's be honest - there is alot of information on the internet and I'm not sure that all of it is verified and frankly - I'm working hard here, and not going to do something because someone I don't know told me I could.

I realized when researching the diet - if I didn't give it 100%, how would I know I got 100% results? Therefore I am very conservative on the diet and will not be swayed. Besides, I know that I am worth every ounce of effort that I am putting into this.

From January 19th to February 25th (today) I have lost 22.5 lbs.
I don't exercise. I am not hungry. I don't crave food. I'm losing all over my body.

It is simply amazing - what my body is doing for me.

'loading days' - are you serious?

Saturday January 17th, 2009

I get the HCG 'juice' as I call it, from my boss. She mixes it for me and I'm ready to go. Some people do injections of the hormone, but we do it under our tongues for quicker absorption than just swallowing it. We hold it there for 10 minutes and then swallow.

I find that it makes me slobber. Alot. I tell her about this and she laughs because she can remember that happening for the first few times. It doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't taste good. I can do this.

The first two days of the HCG - are your 'loading days'. As in - you eat everything that you can shove down your throat. It is necessary to eat very high fat foods, to plump up your fat cells. They say you have better success if you do this, and of course I'm game.

I go to the grocery store and I'm hell bent that I'm going to eat everything that I can, because I won't be able to for 4 weeks at least. It's hard to look for things that you really shouldn't have, when you have been eating somewhat healthy in the first place.

I got some quiche from work, BBQ fritos with cream cheese to dip into with, combos (2 bags), taco roll up thingsy that I dip into sour cream, a huge sub that I was going to slather with tons of mayo - you get the picture.

You are supposed to eat and eat and eat and eat ... and it sounds fun - but it's really not and it's certainly not easy.

The 2nd day we went to McDonalds and I had a club chicken sandwich with a super sized fry and tons of ranch to dip into - went home and thought I was going to die. I simply had not been eating these foods and my stomach was wondering what the heck was going on.

I weighed in on Monday - January 19th and was 3 lbs heavier than I was on Saturday morning before the binge began. Holy cow. Oh and did I mention that I felt like garbage? - actually like what I had eaten all weekend. Yuck.

HCG?

I am very lucky to have a great friend and boss who is very against drugs and modern medicine. Her husband is a chiropractor and they do everything that they can naturally. I have learned so much from this lady and this journey is no exception.

My boss' sister had done this diet and gave the information to her to read. She researched, asked questions and discussed this for awhile before deciding to try it.

I watched her eat very little and hear her tell me that she wasn't hungry but I am not sure I truly believed her. She made alot of changes in her life to accomodate this diet. I wasn't sure I was ready to commit to all that she had. But when she started losing, I was paying attention.

She started this diet last fall and stopped over the holidays. She lost a lb while away with her family, eating in moderation - everything that she wanted. She didn't not eat on purpose, she enjoyed her trip and all that the holidays had to offer.

To date she's lost 82 lbs. She has gone from a size 24 to a 10.

I'm amazed by her. And ready.

She is my cheerleader and we love to talk about the diet, the changes that have happened to our bodies, and our lives because of it. The way we look at food now compared to then - and we stay excited. It helps to have someone who is positive. Because many aren't.

I've learned to not tell people what I'm doing because I get the 'you are crazy' look as soon as I say HCG. So now I tell people to read the information and if they want to talk about it or ask questions - I'm excited to do that. But its alot of information - and frankly I'm not going to just waste my energy if someone isn't serious.

So she was and is my inspiration - and maybe I will be someone else's!