Catching up on HCG progress

It has been a long time since I've checked in. I moved from Chicago to Denver at the end of July and have been on a break from HCG since mid July. I just needed life to normalize a bit before starting up again. I have a project for work that has me traveling A LOT but the craziness has become the new normal so I felt ready to start again.

So between round one and two I lost 53 pounds. If I can give anyone a piece of advice from what I've been through so far it is To stick to your P3 with no cheating. I was in Poland during the last week of P3 and you try eating no carbs in Poland! I paid the price for it. I had a terrible time stabilizing my second round and ended up 8 pounds over my last dosage weight (LDW). Boo. My first round I followed protocol to the letter, didn't cheat, and stabilized 1lb under LDW. if you can fight the mental and emotional battles that put the weight on in the first place and stick to protocol you will be amazed at how you can stabilize. If not, it is like any other diet where you try where you put it back on.

So I ended my last round at 196.8 I started my round three on 10/8/11 at 206.8 (that is after loading for 2 days so I gained some weight during load). It is discouraging to re-lose weight but I learned a lot about the diet, my eating issues and how to do it better for round 3. I will be traveling almost the whole time so I won't know how I am doing very often. I hope to finish my 30 day round with a minimum of 20 pounds lost but will do my best and be happy with where end up (or at least try). So far so good. I have been on the road the entire week of this round and won't be home to weigh for another 6 days.

I feel mentally stronger this round. I had lots of time to adjust to my new size and the changes that come with that. I will write more in that later but bottom line is that people treat you differently she you are closer to normal weight. Some of that has been very difficult. Along with the difficulty is also a lot of positives. I feel better, I am much more aware of how my body reacts to different foods, I feel more confident and lively. I feel like I laugh more. I take more pride in getting ready in the morning and don't feel like fading in to the background quite as much as I did...to be continued.....


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HCG Round 2 - Getting Ready

I'm mentally preparing for my next round. I'm excited. I learned a lot in the break I took but am ready to start losing again!!!

I start loading this weekend. That is where you take the HCG hormone and eat as much good fats and protein as you can so that you have some reserves handy for the first few days of the diet so you are not hungry. I wish I would have loaded while I was in TX but I forgot my hormone on my trip so I'm detoxing a bit from my trip (I ate HORRIBLY) and then I'll do a 45 day round starting Saturday.

I'm hoping to have a good round and lose 30-35 lb but I'll shoot for 20lb since the average for women is .5lb/day and Round 2 is supposed to be the hardest.

OK, not a great update but I haven't written here in so long I thought I would stop in.

HCG Journey Phase 3 Mind Body Connection thoughts

So I've had a bit of a hard time wrapping my brain around this new person...so I talked about it...for a long time...but the upside is you get to see my handsome hound dog Buster! That's worth the long vlog...I hope.

HCG Round 1 Before and After shots

I finally got around to posting this - i've been procrastinating not wanting to put my before out there. I have a long ways to go but it's been a great journey so far. Here's to the next 30 pounds!!!

Confessions of a Lush!

Checking in on day 17 of P3.

P3D7 - hoping for the best

I've had a hard time maintaining weight since coming off the HCG. i went up 4 pounds from my last dosage weight and did a steak day. I was also on TOM (time of month) and I'm sure that made a difference. Anyway...went down the next day 3.8 lb so I am just a pound above LDW now...this morning it looked like I was up a pound again but turns out I just needed a bit more rest. I weighed at 5:30, went back to bed and by 7:30 my weight was the same as the day before...I'd had a late dinner so I'm sure it was just not enough digestion or something.

My bloggie camera came in today so I'm super excited...I'll be blogging on it soon. Hooray!!!!!!!!!!

Need help on P3

Starting phase 3 and catching up

Hi everyone. I started P3 so I want to give my P2 results. Happy Friday!!

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HCG P2 Cabbage n Cumin Recipe

So I have a new love in my life. He's spicy, he's exotic, he's foreign (although he's been in this country long enough that he's a native here too)

he....

is....

CUMIN!

Who knew? I've had this spice in my cupboard because I have one, only one dish that requires it. When I'm cooking off-recipe I sniff it and turn up my nose and put it back in the cabinet but no longer! Cumin has moved up in the world baby! I My spice cabinet has rows with the first row being the ones I use the most and the ones behind in alphabetical order. Cumin has literally moved up in the world to my first most-used row. I wish I'd discovered this sooner in P2 - it would have saved me some heartache and given my veggies more flavor.  I've been obsessing about it on cabbage. Here is my P2 cabbage recipe:

Chop up cabbage (amount depends on how much you need for your meal/calories but usually around 250 g)
Mix in to cabbage

• 1tsp cumin,
• 1tsp red pepper flakes and
• ginger (if you use fresh i like to slice it and put it in the water that I"m steaming in - if not powdered is fine)
• pinch of Himala salt (any will do, this is just my favorite)

If you do this in a pan then take some garlic and brown it in lemon juice. If you are microwaving in a steamer dish or bag then I just throw a little garlic in.

Steam 3-5 minutes (depending on how wilty you like your cabbage) then squeeze 2 lemon wedges on top.

YUM-O!

This is also really good with spinach leaves. I add coriander when I make this with spinach.

P2 friendly homemade ginger ale - YUM

I've been missing carbonation and so I've been experimenting with different items and fizzy water. My previous favorite was peach ice tea, 10 drops of Stevia and carbonated water...but now I'm replacing it with home made ginger ale. It's super simple!

You get fresh ginger and peel it - about 6 inch piece or so. You slice it pretty thin. In a small saucepan heat 2 cups of water and 2 tsp of liquid or powdered Stevia. After it is dissolved/mixed then add the sliced ginger. Simmer for about an hour. This makes a syrup that you then mix by the glass with seltzer water. YUM! Keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Had to share - it's good stuff. I'll probably heat longer next time to give more ginger bight - I really like the spiciness!

Oh! I almost forgot. I went to buy a George Forman grill today and ended up buying a different one (Calphalon - the George looked cool but felt rickety compared to the steel Calphalon)...anyway...made grilled chicken and grilled my asparagus and it was SOOO yummy. I miss grilling during the winter so this made me so happy. The asparagus were incredible. I doused them in lemon juice then rolled in Keltic salt and black pepper. Yum-O.

Day 39 - 6 to go

Hoping for 4 more pounds to hit and even 30!!! Think thin thoughts!!!

Update VLCD 32

No weight loss today but I did well the last two. I'm down 25.2 pounds in 35 days. I was hoping for a pound a day but women average .5 so I'm above that. It's sad that no one can really tell I've lost weight because I have so much to lose but I'm proud and I am committed to not only taking off the weight but also changing my life and my relationship with food. I have really been struggling with coping mechanisms and some of the issues that I fed instead of dealt with so I've contacted a counselor that my former doctor and dear friend recommended. I'll measure tomorrow and maybe do a quick stats. I start eating Atkins style next Monday. My partner started today so there is chees in the house - but I don't think I will cheat - I only have a short time to go so it isn't worth it. I'm hoping to get a full 30 pounds out of this round before I start the 6 week break. Susan lost 33 pounds in her round - she did really well. OK, that's all for now. Just wanted to check in and write down that the scale and I have made peace for now. Hoping to see a loss tomorrow.

Oh scale, why do you taunt me?

Now the scale is taunting me. I lost zero one day, .8 the next then this morning I step on and lost zero again. What? No, that can't be right. So I step on it again (because stepping on it three times yields three different results) and it says I am down exactly a pound. OK, that's better...but which one is right? So I neurotically step on it 4 more times and it comes up with the same result three times and different results 2 times. So I don't really know what my weight loss is. I am ready to throw the scale over the balcony and let it get run over by a car and then see what it has to say. I, of course, logged the 1lb number as my loss - after all it came up with that number 3 out of 5 times. I may be in for a big disapointment tomorrow when I find out I didn't really lose a pound.

It's frustrating. I feel taunted at my most vulnerable. I have 11 days left of my low calorie diet and I want to lose another 7.6 before I end this round. If I lose 7 it will put me at 30 pounds even and I'd be hapy with that...but I'd like to be at an even number and squarely down in the 210's instead of 220's.

What kind of sacrifice do you offer the scale gods?

Last night I prayed to the scale gods to be kind to me and this morning I am down another pound. Woo hoo! This leads me to wonder...what kind of offering do you give the scale gods when they answer your petition?

Norse folklore tells of the ritual of sacrificing your first born son...um clearly that's not going to happen...

Mexican folklore talks about providing food at tha altar of the god to appease and thank it...but since we're talking about a scale that seems counterproductive...

Biblical offerings were done by burning something...which is totally against the firecode...or by slaughtering animals...I don't think my dogs would appreciate that very much...

Judaism talks about "first fruit" offerings, which used to be literally the first part of your harvest and then as professions progressed it became the first part of your earnings (now tithing in the protestant churches)...so I could certainly leave stacks of money for my scale but is bribery really the way to go? And if it were would money be what the scale wanted???

That leaves me the question of what does the scale really want? What would cause it to be kind to me today (besides the fact that I may have actually lost the pound and this has nothing to do with my pleading bed-time blog)?

I did offer to keep it in fresh batteries and that seems important to a scale. I did neglect it for a while, being on business travel for 10 days...perhaps the scale punished me for my neglect (after all how would it differentiate between me being there and not...scales do not have eyes) and is now rewarding me for stepping on it more consistently several days in a row.

So I shall give it a nice gift of rechargeable batteries and attention and we'll see how that goes. Maybe a name. All my other appliances have names...my scale needs a name. Hmmmm....what should that name be? That shall be another blog once I've come up with it.

Prayer to the scale gods

Please oh please dear scale gods, let the scale be in my favor. Let me not be in a slump/stall at the very end. I promise to be very good and keep you supplied with fresh batteries. Amen.


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Weight has stalled

Ok now I am frustrated. Two days with zero loss. I only have 13 days left and need to lose 9 lb before this round ends but I stopped losing at the rate I was before. Frustrated.

Location:W Huron St,Chicago,United States

A new kind of measurement.

The scale is not my friend lately. I've been rockin along with this diet. Women average about .5lb daily and I averaged .96 up until I went to CA for work. Now I've hit a stall. I still lost 5 pounds in 10 days while travelling AND having my period so all that affects weight loss and I was happy with that. Yesterday I lost .6 so I thought it would catch up...but today I'm exactly the same as I was yesterday. I haven't cheated on this diet at all (except that accidental olive oil) so I hope this isn't a stall. It's really too soon to tell so I shouldn't be discouraged...I just don't have many days left on this round and I was hoping to be out of the 220's.

OK, let's refocus the mind here and look at this objectively. I started this diet at 249.8. I am not 228.6. I did this in 29 days and I have 14 left. I want to be 219.0 by the end of my round so that's totally within reason. Here are my inches lost:

Arm: 3.0
Bust: 2.8
Waist: 4.0 - WOW!!!
Hips: 2.0
Thigh: 2.2

OK, that no loss this morning isn't the end of the world. Just keep going. This process works and I've learned so much. Some time I need to sit down and write about all I've learned about me and food and even my relationship and food. We are learning to enable each other in the good way - which is vital for keeping this weight off!

Let's quote Dr. MLK and look at the word "Measure" with a double meaning to help keep me focused this morning:

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

This weight represents how I've stood for my challenges in the past - I've fed them...now it's time to measure in a new way.

Back from CA a few pounds lighter and a lot clearer

So i had to go to California for work two weeks in a row so I decided to stay over the weekend. My partner came out and we celebrated my 38th birthday. We stayed in a hotel where we could cook our food, bought a cooler, packed our lunches and dinners and did really well on our diet. The only thing off diet was my birthday dinner we went to a restaurant. I ordered steamed crab and they put olive oil on it...didn't know that was going to happen. But I came home and had lost 5 lbs so that's not bad. It's been 24 days and I've lost 21 lbs. I'm very happy with that. I have a long way to go but I've learned so much. I've learned a lot about my relationship with food...how it is my tool to numb my emotions...and how I have to start feeling them through and dealing with them rather than feeding them. I'm finally ready for this change. I hate that it is coming in my late 30's but at least it is here.

So...I'm back from CA a few pounds lighter but with a much clearer understanding of myself, my goals, my strengths and where I can stumble again in the future. That's great start.

Day 15

So I'm on day 15 of my low calorie diet and have lost 14.4 lbs! Woo hoo! I'll be honest, the first couple of weeks are tough...but about day 10 I mentally and physically turned a corner. The hunger is completely manageable. I only get weak when I over-exert myself (like the day I got all sprung with energy and started Spring cleaning in February! I cleaned for 6 hours). I'm feeling pretty good. My birthday is right smack in the middle of this diet so no wine, cake or fancy dinner for me. Boo hoo. We'll be in San Francisco for my birthday though so I'll get lots of fresh crab and go do fun stuff to make up for it. Food is NOT my friend. I'm learning that. It is so amazing how TV ties your stomach to your emotions - making you think that eating is emotional when it is only a means of nourishment. We've made it our entertainment, our comfort, our friend. I hope I can break that cycle.

OK, just wanted to post really quickly. I posted another VLOG on my YouTube site but forgot to post it here. More later.

VLOG from 1/27

I've been on low calorie diet 9 days and have lost 9 lbs! hooray. This was the last VLOG I did and hadn't posted it yet.

Delinquent in posting VLOGS

Start and stop again...so sad

I'm really disapointed. I've been waiting 2 months to start this diet but am derailed again. After the first two days I am supposed to start my low calorie days today but time of month came and you have to be on the hormone for 10 days before you can do that so I have to stop and start again. I'm not due for 2 weeks so I guess my body responed to the hormone! Anyway, here's a blog on it. :( I guess I'll wait some more and start again next week.

R1D1P2 - Today is the first day of my shrinkidinkiness!

So I started my HCG diet today and did a little VLOG. I'm excited and feeling good about it. Time to take my second dose and head off to bed!

It's Here!!!

I'm so excited...after almost a month my HCG has finally arrived!!! I will start loading on Saturday. Yippee!

Oh man, I better have a drink tonight while I can...no alcohol for me for a VERY long time.

It will be worth it if I can shrink!!! Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee