.2 gone today. At least its a loss. How I would love for the scale to be moving the way it was last week! But I will take what I can get.
I had a rough day yesterday. Nothing to do with hcg or the diet... I just started realizing (again) how busy I am (especially while I'm in school) and how it takes so much time away from my kids and things I want and need to do for them. I had a meltdown and decided for a few hours to quit school. After a good cry I decided that was probably not a decision I could make without a lot of thought and consideration... so no, I have not called and withdrawn from my program. And I have time to decide if there are ways to manage the needs of my kids better while I am school, different than I have been doing the past year.
Anyway, the reason I tell you this is because I got a good glimpse into the comfort I get from food. During my crisis, I wanted so badly to stop somewhere and get something warm, gooey, and cheesy. I was on a road trip and passed restaurant after restaurant, all the while looking down at my cold chicken and asparagus that I had brought for dinner. In the end I ate the dinner I brought, and cheated (a tiny bit compared to what I really wanted) by buying some orange flavored trident, and chewing on 6 pieces as I drove. It's sugar free but still has about 5 calories a piece.
I decided to lower the dose of my hcg to make it stretch longer, but I am still worried because today when I drew it all into my syringe it still looks like its only enough for 4-5 shots. Tomorrow I will skip because I always do on Saturdays. I hope TOM gets here today... crossing my fingers.
More later!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
P2R1 VLCD #32
Good morning everybody! Today I had a loss of .6, the total is 24. The average so far is .77 lbs/day. Not bad!
I am concerned because as I was doing my shot today, I realized that my hcg is looking really low. I drew as much of it as I could into the syringe to see how much it is. It looks like it is only enough for 4-6 more shots. According to what the doc told me when he prescribed, there should have been enough for *50* shots. I have only done 31 so far (because of the one day a week skips). I don't know if I mixed it wrong or if I have used too much on each shot? I have tried to be so careful in measuring it everyday.
I wanted to take the max of 40 shots this round (as per the protocol) but its looking like maybe that's not going to happen. I hope I'm wrong. I drew up as much as I could but there was still some left and its hard to say how much. The main thing I am worried about is that my period should be starting any day now. I have read that ending the shots during that time can make it really hard to stabilize in Phase 3. I don't really know why, but many have had that experience. I felt confident that I wasn't going to run into that problem, having 2 more weeks to go. I'm not sure what to do! I wish it would just start already! It's 28 days since my last started... but lately it has come as late as day 35! (I've had a few pregnancy scares because of it!) If anybody out there has any advice for me I would love some guidance! I wish I could just go get some extra hcg easily, but it takes time no matter how you get it. Unless my doc would just give me another prescription. But I don't know if he could prescribe me just a little bit, and to get a whole prescription just for a few extra shots would be a big waste of money (the hcg probably wouldn't stay good until my next round in 6 weeks).
Anyway, I will try to figure this out and let you know what I decide. Have a great day everybody!
I am concerned because as I was doing my shot today, I realized that my hcg is looking really low. I drew as much of it as I could into the syringe to see how much it is. It looks like it is only enough for 4-6 more shots. According to what the doc told me when he prescribed, there should have been enough for *50* shots. I have only done 31 so far (because of the one day a week skips). I don't know if I mixed it wrong or if I have used too much on each shot? I have tried to be so careful in measuring it everyday.
I wanted to take the max of 40 shots this round (as per the protocol) but its looking like maybe that's not going to happen. I hope I'm wrong. I drew up as much as I could but there was still some left and its hard to say how much. The main thing I am worried about is that my period should be starting any day now. I have read that ending the shots during that time can make it really hard to stabilize in Phase 3. I don't really know why, but many have had that experience. I felt confident that I wasn't going to run into that problem, having 2 more weeks to go. I'm not sure what to do! I wish it would just start already! It's 28 days since my last started... but lately it has come as late as day 35! (I've had a few pregnancy scares because of it!) If anybody out there has any advice for me I would love some guidance! I wish I could just go get some extra hcg easily, but it takes time no matter how you get it. Unless my doc would just give me another prescription. But I don't know if he could prescribe me just a little bit, and to get a whole prescription just for a few extra shots would be a big waste of money (the hcg probably wouldn't stay good until my next round in 6 weeks).
Anyway, I will try to figure this out and let you know what I decide. Have a great day everybody!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
P2R1 VLCD #31
Wow, 31 days down! A whole month! And guess what. I am DONE with school for 4 whole months! What a huge relief~!!!!!!
Today the scale stayed exactly the same as yesterday. I really am fine with it and have been expecting things to slow down, at least temporarily. This past week, I have had amazing losses. Not only on the scale, but I can see my body shrinking. It's awesome and a little strange! In a good way! 3 days ago I took measurements, and did it again today. I had gotten smaller in those 3 days (yes, days!)! My waist was down 1/4" (total: 4"), bust 1 1/4" (total: 4.5"), chest 1 1/4" (total 5"), and hips 1" (total 3 3/4") (the hips part is the most exciting as I have been asking my body to please start removing from that area! :). I think its absolutely incredible. Today while I was walking out of my office, I had a feeling that I haven't had in a long time. A sense of health and wellness and really being on my way to the me who I really am. It's hard to explain. I felt that way when I was having success with Weight Watchers, and it is a great feeling. I am so thankful to be out of that hole of despair about my weight that I have felt stuck in for sooooo long.
I am trying to prepare myself for the next phase because it is only 2 weeks away. I find it hard to believe that I felt the need to eat so much fast food and junk before starting this. I remember feeling like there weren't any other options. What? That is a huge thinking error! There is such a huge variety of healthy foods out there, that can be combined in delicious ways! I am so excited to try some of the low carb recipes I have come across. I am also excited to start exercising at the gym. I really want to start weight training and doing cardio to really help tone my muscles.
But I am trying not to focus on that stuff *too* much, because it *is* still 2 weeks away. As the weight comes off, I get about a million questions from those who want to know how I'm losing weight. I have referred some of them to this blog and assume that the more weight I lose, the more questions I will get. Therefore, I am going to really work on getting some links posted to essential things for people wondering about the HCG protocol to read. If you are thinking of doing this diet, it is so important to fully research it and understand as much as you can about it. The most important thing to read and understand is the "Pounds and Inches" manuscript written by Dr. Simeons. It is free... It's kind of long but not difficult. Especially if you are overweight. Dr. Simeons was an incredible physician and while reading his manuscript, you can feel his compassion for those who struggle with obesity. As far as I know, he himself was never obese, but he spent his whole 40 year career researching and working toward a solution to this problem. It really is an interesting read. I will post a link to it, but if you read this before I do, you can google "Pounds and Inches" and you will find several places where you can read it. Don't pay for it... it is free.
It's also important to know that as you research this protocol, you will run into those who say that it doesn't work. There is research that both "proves" and "disproves" this method. Its important to use your critical thinking skills to evaluate the information you find, and make your own conclusions instead of just believing everything that everybody says.
Well, I think that's about it for today! More tomorrow!
Today the scale stayed exactly the same as yesterday. I really am fine with it and have been expecting things to slow down, at least temporarily. This past week, I have had amazing losses. Not only on the scale, but I can see my body shrinking. It's awesome and a little strange! In a good way! 3 days ago I took measurements, and did it again today. I had gotten smaller in those 3 days (yes, days!)! My waist was down 1/4" (total: 4"), bust 1 1/4" (total: 4.5"), chest 1 1/4" (total 5"), and hips 1" (total 3 3/4") (the hips part is the most exciting as I have been asking my body to please start removing from that area! :). I think its absolutely incredible. Today while I was walking out of my office, I had a feeling that I haven't had in a long time. A sense of health and wellness and really being on my way to the me who I really am. It's hard to explain. I felt that way when I was having success with Weight Watchers, and it is a great feeling. I am so thankful to be out of that hole of despair about my weight that I have felt stuck in for sooooo long.
I am trying to prepare myself for the next phase because it is only 2 weeks away. I find it hard to believe that I felt the need to eat so much fast food and junk before starting this. I remember feeling like there weren't any other options. What? That is a huge thinking error! There is such a huge variety of healthy foods out there, that can be combined in delicious ways! I am so excited to try some of the low carb recipes I have come across. I am also excited to start exercising at the gym. I really want to start weight training and doing cardio to really help tone my muscles.
But I am trying not to focus on that stuff *too* much, because it *is* still 2 weeks away. As the weight comes off, I get about a million questions from those who want to know how I'm losing weight. I have referred some of them to this blog and assume that the more weight I lose, the more questions I will get. Therefore, I am going to really work on getting some links posted to essential things for people wondering about the HCG protocol to read. If you are thinking of doing this diet, it is so important to fully research it and understand as much as you can about it. The most important thing to read and understand is the "Pounds and Inches" manuscript written by Dr. Simeons. It is free... It's kind of long but not difficult. Especially if you are overweight. Dr. Simeons was an incredible physician and while reading his manuscript, you can feel his compassion for those who struggle with obesity. As far as I know, he himself was never obese, but he spent his whole 40 year career researching and working toward a solution to this problem. It really is an interesting read. I will post a link to it, but if you read this before I do, you can google "Pounds and Inches" and you will find several places where you can read it. Don't pay for it... it is free.
It's also important to know that as you research this protocol, you will run into those who say that it doesn't work. There is research that both "proves" and "disproves" this method. Its important to use your critical thinking skills to evaluate the information you find, and make your own conclusions instead of just believing everything that everybody says.
Well, I think that's about it for today! More tomorrow!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
P2R1 VLCD #30
Some people have been asking me to post pictures. I am only posting face shots because I am not ready to post full body shots! Besides, most people comment to me that they can see the weight loss in my face. The first pic to the left was taken on Valentines day of this year (2009). That was a month and 1/2 before I started HCG, and sadly, I think I even put on a few more pounds between then and the time I started. The pic on the right was taken this past weekend. I hesitate to post these, because while I can see a difference I don't know if anybody else can from these pictures. And on to today's news.... .8 lbs more off this body of mine. Total: 23.4. I was a little worried about my water intake yesterday... got to the evening and felt like I hadn't had as much to drink as I normally do. I guzzled lots of water last night and am glad to see a loss this morning! I am expecting that these losses might start slowing down in the next few days as it is going to be that time of the month. Last time I had just started the protocol, and continued losing during my period, but that was my first week, so I don't know what will happen this time. I am just trying to prepare myself not to get too upset if things slow down. Ya know what I mean?
OK, todays exciting news is about my Body Mass Index (BMI). If you look up to the left on my blog you will see my weight loss ticker that shows how much I've lost so far. On the top, it shows my starting BMI and my current BMI. Starting was 35.4 (YIKES) and current is 31.4 (better, but still yikes). 30 and over is considered to be obese. So yes, I am still obese. But I have gone down 4 whole points! Now for the exciting news. 8.8 pounds from now, I will no longer be considered obese but simply overweight. ha ha It's kind of funny that I am excited to be considered overweight. But it is moving in the right direction! I would *love* *love* *love* to reach that "just overweight" milestone during this round. Is it possible? Well let's see, I still have a little over 2 weeks (15 -17 days I think). 8.8 lbs in 15-17 days? I think its possible, but if I slow down a lot for TOM then maybe not. That would take my total loss for this round to 32.2, which exceeds my original goal of 30. Well, we will see. I am not going to get upset if it doesn't happen this time. But I would be so happy if it did.
I just keep thinking, next round (which I will finish at the end of July), I am pretty sure (hoping) I will end at "healthy". Not overweight but healthy. How awesome is that?
Well, y'all (that's for you Paula-if you're still reading!), I have to get up and get going now. I hope you have a wonderful day.
More later!
Monday, April 27, 2009
P2R1 VLCD #29
My scale is being SO VERY friendly to me! 1.2 down this morning!!!!!!!!! Total of 22.6! This is the 4th day in a row of good losses. I am so thankful... It makes it all so worth it! I am less than 4 pounds away from entering the next weight decade. Woo hoo! So today is the first day of my 5th week. I can't believe I have been doing this for almost a month! And I can't believe this first round will be over in a little over 2 weeks. Crazy!
OK, so the pic today is something I promised Grandma I would post. She read the link all about ketosis in one of my previous posts, and I told her I would put a picture of a keto-stick showing I am in ketosis. The darker the ketostick turns exactly 15 sec after dipping it in urine, the higher level of ketosis you are in (the more fat you are burning). As you can see, this one I took a picture of was pretty dark! Usually I am more in the middle of the chart. I don't really care as long as it shows that I am breakin down some fat! I have noticed since I cut out one fruit a day, the color has been darker. I guess its because I am eating less sugar.
Anyway, what else? I am almost done with school! I have one paper that I need to edit a little bit tonight, and that is IT for assignments. Last night I watched TV without a nagging feeling that I should be doing homework. Tomorrow night is my last class. It is such a relief to be wrapping up, knowing that I have a few months off. I am going to try to enjoy every minute of my low stress summer!
Well that's about it for today! More later, for sure!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
P2R1 VLCD #28
The scale went down again! .8 today, for a total of 21.4. I told Jorge last night that I wasn't expecting to lose today for two reasons. One is that I have never lost on a Sunday so far, which is the day after I skip my shot every week (I thought maybe that had something to do with it, but didn't know). Two is that my loss yesterday was so great, I just didn't expect my body to give anymore today. But it did! And I am happy!
Last night Jorge and I went out to Red Lobster for our anniversary. As a splurge, I decided to save my veggie from lunch and have 2 veggies at dinner (I have never mixed vegetables, as per the protocol), but I really wanted to have the salad (lettuce, anyway), and also a side with my crab. So I ordered the salad, and the waitress told me one of the choices was balsamic vinegar... I said "is it just vinegar?" and she said yes. When she brought me the "vinegar" it was most definitely not only vinegar (very thick and oily looking) ... she went to check and came back to say that it had olive oil and some other type of oil in it. Of course! I ended up asking for lemon wedges, and used lemon juice, salt and pepper as a dressing (it was yummy, surprisingly!). Of course I gave my croutons to Jorge. And left the tomato slices and cucumbers... I wasn't brave enough to add even more vegetables to my meal since I was already mixing two. For my main course I ordered 1.5 lbs of crab and steamed asparagus, no butter. Earlier in the day I found something online that said snow crab yields 17% meat, so I figured out that 1.5 lbs was 4.08 oz of meat. I shared some with Jorge and called it good! It was so yummy, even without dipping it in butter like I usually do. And of course the asaparagus was delish... even after all the asparagus I have eaten in the past 28 days, I still love it! Sometimes I even crave it! So glad it is allowed on this diet.
So after dinner we did something kind of weird... we went over to Gold's gym and went to the sauna. I have been wanting to go... have heard that as fat is released so are toxins, and going to a sauna helps to clear them out. So we sat in the dry sauna for about 20 minutes, and then went in the steam sauna for another 15-20 minutes. I took my water with me knowing that it was very important to stay hydrated... but my water even got hot after awhile! Anyway, it was a good night, we had fun and it was nice to go out to dinner and do something (sort of) normal even with being on such a strict diet!
I don't think I've mentioned on this blog my "cheating dreams" (I know, that sounds oh so bad ;).... I have had several dreams (or nightmares) where I ate something that was not allowed, and then after the fact realized what I had done. And I was *so* upset each time, knowing it was going to set me back several days of progress. Well, last night I had a dream where I was at some kind of a church function (dinner), sitting at the table waiting to be served, when it suddenly dawned on me "hey I'm on P2! There is no way what they are serving is on my diet!" so I got up and left! I think that's progress in my dreamland... I went from being totally unconscious of what I was doing in the previous dreams to being empowered to stop eating something I shouldn't before I did! As a therapist in training, I have become a believer that our dreams are a way that our brain works things out of our subconsicous. I'm not saying that *every* dream has deep meaning, but I really do think that these recurrent dreams are something my mind is working on while I am asleep.
Well, folks, I think that is about it for today. I hope you all have a great day!
More later...
Last night Jorge and I went out to Red Lobster for our anniversary. As a splurge, I decided to save my veggie from lunch and have 2 veggies at dinner (I have never mixed vegetables, as per the protocol), but I really wanted to have the salad (lettuce, anyway), and also a side with my crab. So I ordered the salad, and the waitress told me one of the choices was balsamic vinegar... I said "is it just vinegar?" and she said yes. When she brought me the "vinegar" it was most definitely not only vinegar (very thick and oily looking) ... she went to check and came back to say that it had olive oil and some other type of oil in it. Of course! I ended up asking for lemon wedges, and used lemon juice, salt and pepper as a dressing (it was yummy, surprisingly!). Of course I gave my croutons to Jorge. And left the tomato slices and cucumbers... I wasn't brave enough to add even more vegetables to my meal since I was already mixing two. For my main course I ordered 1.5 lbs of crab and steamed asparagus, no butter. Earlier in the day I found something online that said snow crab yields 17% meat, so I figured out that 1.5 lbs was 4.08 oz of meat. I shared some with Jorge and called it good! It was so yummy, even without dipping it in butter like I usually do. And of course the asaparagus was delish... even after all the asparagus I have eaten in the past 28 days, I still love it! Sometimes I even crave it! So glad it is allowed on this diet.
So after dinner we did something kind of weird... we went over to Gold's gym and went to the sauna. I have been wanting to go... have heard that as fat is released so are toxins, and going to a sauna helps to clear them out. So we sat in the dry sauna for about 20 minutes, and then went in the steam sauna for another 15-20 minutes. I took my water with me knowing that it was very important to stay hydrated... but my water even got hot after awhile! Anyway, it was a good night, we had fun and it was nice to go out to dinner and do something (sort of) normal even with being on such a strict diet!
I don't think I've mentioned on this blog my "cheating dreams" (I know, that sounds oh so bad ;).... I have had several dreams (or nightmares) where I ate something that was not allowed, and then after the fact realized what I had done. And I was *so* upset each time, knowing it was going to set me back several days of progress. Well, last night I had a dream where I was at some kind of a church function (dinner), sitting at the table waiting to be served, when it suddenly dawned on me "hey I'm on P2! There is no way what they are serving is on my diet!" so I got up and left! I think that's progress in my dreamland... I went from being totally unconscious of what I was doing in the previous dreams to being empowered to stop eating something I shouldn't before I did! As a therapist in training, I have become a believer that our dreams are a way that our brain works things out of our subconsicous. I'm not saying that *every* dream has deep meaning, but I really do think that these recurrent dreams are something my mind is working on while I am asleep.
Well, folks, I think that is about it for today. I hope you all have a great day!
More later...
Saturday, April 25, 2009
R1P2 VLCD #27
If yesterday's loss of .6 was good news, today feels like I've won the lottery...
2.2! gone! vanished! vamoos!
I couldn't believe it! I weighed myself 4-5 times because I didn't believe it. I still can't believe it. Can you believe it?
Obviously I am thrilled. Especially because this brings me to a total loss of 20.6... 20 lbs is a huge milestone for me! Soooooooooooooo happy! I am a third of the way to my goal people!
2.2! gone! vanished! vamoos!
I couldn't believe it! I weighed myself 4-5 times because I didn't believe it. I still can't believe it. Can you believe it?
Obviously I am thrilled. Especially because this brings me to a total loss of 20.6... 20 lbs is a huge milestone for me! Soooooooooooooo happy! I am a third of the way to my goal people!
I'm not sure why I had such a great result but I am going to keep doing what I have been the past couple of days. Something I forgot to mention yesterday is that I decided 2 days ago to cut way down on the calorie free sweeteners stevia and truvia. Stevia is allowed on this diet, and Truvia is a brand of Stevia that is also mixed with Erythritol. But I realized that I was using ALOT. I was putting the flavored Stevia into almost all my water, herbal tea, and on fruit sometimes. I am still putting it in the tea and on strawberries, but I am really trying not to put it in my water. Who knows, maybe that is making a difference. It makes sense to me. They say that Diet Coke, though calorie free, causes weight gain in some because of what it does to blood sugar levels. I wonder if the same could be true for stevia. Either way, moderation is always a good thing.
Also, after weighing all my food yesterday, I was at 499 cal before I had my last piece of fruit. Decision made, I didn't have it. I had a cup of Vanilla Hazelnut herbal tea as a treat instead. It was good, but not as good as the English Toffee flavor... mmmmmmm. I am thinking that I was *probably* going over the 500 cal a lot in the past, even though I was eating only the foods I was supposed to. Strawberries, for example, are low calorie but start to add up quickly (especially when you are limited to 500/day). And yesterday I had quite a few strawberries at lunch (10 oz I think).
I started tracking my calories at Fitday. It's free and seems to be a great resource. You type in the food you ate, select an amount, and it calculates all the nutritional information, and keeps it recorded in a daily journal. It's a lot like SparkPeople, which is also great. It's just that I have two different accounts at SparkPeople for some reason, and it gets really confusing. I don't know how to fix it, and some of my stuff is entered on one account, and some on the other. Therefore, Fitday is where I'm going to track from now on.
Anyway, that's my super awesome report for today people. Yip-dee-doo!
Also, after weighing all my food yesterday, I was at 499 cal before I had my last piece of fruit. Decision made, I didn't have it. I had a cup of Vanilla Hazelnut herbal tea as a treat instead. It was good, but not as good as the English Toffee flavor... mmmmmmm. I am thinking that I was *probably* going over the 500 cal a lot in the past, even though I was eating only the foods I was supposed to. Strawberries, for example, are low calorie but start to add up quickly (especially when you are limited to 500/day). And yesterday I had quite a few strawberries at lunch (10 oz I think).
I started tracking my calories at Fitday. It's free and seems to be a great resource. You type in the food you ate, select an amount, and it calculates all the nutritional information, and keeps it recorded in a daily journal. It's a lot like SparkPeople, which is also great. It's just that I have two different accounts at SparkPeople for some reason, and it gets really confusing. I don't know how to fix it, and some of my stuff is entered on one account, and some on the other. Therefore, Fitday is where I'm going to track from now on.
Anyway, that's my super awesome report for today people. Yip-dee-doo!
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