Cream in my coffee again!

Weight 150.2
Inches lost 9

Today is the first day of the next, three week phase of the hCG diet. I'm supposed to maintain this 14.4 pound weight loss for the next three weeks, with a 2 pound buffer, and then embark on the next (and hopefully final) round of the Very Low Calorie Diet, coupled with hCG. When I took out the tape measure this morning, I wasn't sure what I would find. It was interesting - there are places that I have not lost anything at all, like my thighs and my arms, and other places where the inches lost is significant (calves?!). The biggest loss was around my waist - three full inches in a month, and that without doing any exercises specifically targeted to the area!
I had fun shopping at Trader Joe's yesterday, buying things that we have not had in the pantry or refrigerator in quite a while, like extra virgin olive oil and a wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. It's a little scary making this transition. The losing phase is so regimented, it's very clear when you are off track, and meals are so simple that planning and clean-up are very easy. This phase really does not have the same kind of limits so there's more discretion required. The only real limit is no sugar and no starchy carbohydrates. This morning I made a pot of freshly ground French Roast coffee and when I poured my cup, I put in a splash of organic half and half. Then came one of the things I have missed the most, a triple shot of MonaVie Pulse, Active and (m) Mun. Breakfast was an organic egg omelette with peppers, a little bit of Italian sausage and a sprinkling of the aforementioned Parmigiano Reggiano.

Perhaps even better than the food was putting a medicated, heavy duty moisturizer on my skin, and my regular facial moisturizer and eye cream. Now I'm going to do a light work out, and put on real makeup. Life is good.

Chicken & Spinach Soup

Weight 152.0

Winding down - today was the last day of injecting hCG for a while. My weight has been hovering the last few days between 151.6 and 152.2. I'm hoping to shed another pound or two in the next couple of days, as I continue to eat the VLCD until the hCG has left my system. I'm glad to say good-bye to the needles for the next three weeks. According to Dr. Simeons this next phase, where we re-introduce healthy fats and continue to avoid all starchy carbs and sugars, is just as important as the weight loss phase. Come Tuesday morning, there will be organic cream in my coffee and organic eggs on my plate, and I can hardly wait. I've learned that being hungry won't kill me. I've also learned to savor my food, and I've got a new healthy favorite - chicken and spinach soup, Since I've been shopping at Trader Joe's a lot, most of the ingredients come from there, but you could get the equivalent anywhere.

Here it is: Steam an entire bag of organic baby spinach and add it to1 cup fat free, free-range chicken broth, 3 oz chopped cooked chicken breast, and the following to taste: Himalayan salt, fresh cracked black pepper, parsley flakes, minced onion, and garlic powder. Chop up the spinach further with kitchen shears, and gently heat until it's the perfect soothing temperature. Mmmm, so good on these single digit January days we're enjoying.

Strawberry Smoothie

Weight 153.0

I am holding steady at 153.0 - this seems to be another natural plateau. On other diets, I used to plateau, sometimes for weeks at a time, so a few days is OK with me, now that I know from experience that I will start losing weight again. My hope is to get below 150 by the time this round ends a week from tomorrow. I have not been able to crack 150 for years (decades?) despite trying other programs and diets. That number is a bit of a bogey for me. If I can get to 149 or below, then I know I can continue to lose until my body says "enough". Walt continues to roll blithely along with a 20 pound weight loss in 18 days.

One of the best discoveries I've made on this diet is Sweet Leaf Flavored Liquid Stevia. I'm planning to go right on using it after this diet is completed. It comes in so many yummy flavors (there's a plain version too) like Root Beer, Chocolate Raspberry, English Toffee, and Apricot Nectar. Two of my favorites are Lemon Drop (great in a can of LaCroix Lemon sparkling water), and Vanilla Creme, (to sweeten a cup of Earl Grey). I've also been using the Vanilla Creme to make a strawberry smoothie. I think this would be a treat even if it didn't come at the end of a day of VLCD: 20 small to medium sized strawberries, a handful of ice cubes, 20-25 drops of Vanilla Creme Sweet Leaf Liquid Stevia. Crush the ice and puree the strawberries in the blender, and add the Stevia to taste. Sip or eat the semi frozen treat with a spoon. Mmmm....

Back on Track

Weight 154.8


The "stall" appears not to have been a stall at all - lost 2.2 pounds when I got on the scale this morning. I noticed that my output of liquid was significantly increased from the past four days when nothing appeared to be happening. I ate some of the things that may cause a problem yesterday, and still the numbers on the scale went down. This is great news for me - it appears I can eat any of the foods on the list and still lose - but it's not going to be consistent every day. I'm glad - I like strawberries, oranges and shrimp, and didn't really want to have to eliminate them. Making it through this first plateau will (hopefully) make it easier when the next one hits. It's amazing to me that I have lost 10 pounds in 11 days. This diet is not for the faint hearted - too much discipline and thought involved. It's kind of like ripping a bandage off fast - it doesn't feel great when you're doing it, but them it's over. I like the idea that I'm not going to be doing this for the next year to get the weight off! I can do anything for 26 days at a time... or maybe 40 days next round - we'll see how much I lose by the end of this one. Only 13 days to go, and then I can put cream in my coffee, yumm.


By the way, the Himalayan crystal salt rocks. Not only is it pretty in pink, but all of our muscle cramps are gone, just from the little bit that goes on our food. I love this stuff!

Stalled

Weight 157.0

I'm "stalled" at 157.0, .4 higher than my lowest weight so far, 156.6 on Saturday morning. I spent yesterday being very very good, and registered a loss of two 10ths of a pound this morning. Meantime Walt goes on losing between one and four pounds a day (isn't that just like a guy), with only one day of slight gain - Sunday morning, when we both went up.  I think the gain was due to our inability to eat at the right times on Saturday. We had our monthly TEAM seminar, and the demands of the schedule found us both eating our last meal in the car on the way home at 11:00 pm. We didn't drink much water that day, or on Sunday for that matter, another day that found us running around like the proverbial headless chicken. That reminded me of Mike the Headless Chicken, who lived a long time after his attempted murder. I digress.

Anyway, yesterday I read up on all of the things that can cause an actual stall, as opposed to an apparent stall which is really just the body breaking down fat and the fat support system (capillaries and other goo) and holding on to water until it's ready to flush it all out. I was scrupulous. I had fish for lunch instead of shrimp, grapefruit instead of oranges or strawberries, used only liquid stevia, had spinach and cauliflower instead of cabbage, and drank lots of water, all things reported to help end a real stall. I'm not sure if I'm back in the losing mode - .2 pounds could just be a fluctuation. Tomorrow will tell.

Learning How to Use a Scale

Weight 158.4

Small drop in weight today - only .2 lbs., but I understand from my friends who have gone before me that this is normal. It's not unusual, they tell me, to go for a couple of days without a loss and then suddenly be  a few pounds lighter on the third or fourth day. We had fun and games with the bathroom scale this morning - discovered that it matters where you put it - all four feet have to be firmly anchored on a tile to register a consistent weight.  Not rocket science exactly but a revelation when you are stumbling around in the morning half asleep. I feel good this morning. Still a little sleep deprived, but not hungry, no significant aches, kind of light and clean. Nice. Walt and I are thinking we will try the Miracle Noodles tonight.

Himalayan Salt

Weight 158.6

Six pounds lost in 4 days of VLCD - today is day 5! This diet is a mind game. I was in Staples yesterday buying a new mileage book, and realized I was surrounded by candy. It was calling to me! I heard it!
On Lynn's recommendation I'm going to buy some Himalayan salt today. Walt and I have both been having some muscle cramps, so some minerals are in order - just not sure which ones. Cramps usually mean calcium is low, but with this diet, I've read that there can also be a potassium deficiency. Although it does not really come from the Himalaya's (it's supposedly mined in Pakistan, which is near the Himalaya's) it contains between 10 - 84  trace minerals (depending on who you ask) in addition to sodium chloride (commonly called "salt") Perhaps its most endearing quality is that it's pink. It has not been refined, or adulterated with anything else after it comes out of the ground. I can get on board with pink salt if it's also good for me.

Here's a link to Dr. Mercola interviewing an expert on Himalyan salt.

Detox

Weight 160.6

Total 4 pounds lost since Sunday. Yesterday I weighed 160.2, and I don't know if I have a lousy scale, if the veggies I ate last night after dinner pushed me over 500 calories, or if it's something else that made my weight go up .4 pounds. I'll take the 4 pound weight loss, though! I've increased my dose to 150iu yesterday and I am less hungry. My fat is getting wiggly and jiggly, which means it is being mobilized. This is a good thing. Yesterday was a nasty day of detox - and I'm not surprised since I really was pretty self-indulgent over the holidays. I'm sure my body didn't like the key lime cheesecake or the English trifle, and I paid the price over the past few days, with nausea, headaches, chills, body aches and fatigue. The good news is today I am much more alert today, no nausea, and most of the aches and stiffness gone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the worst of the detox process is over. I got really brave and injected myself in the gluteals, gluteus medius, I beleive. A full length mirror is a must for shooting up in the, um, derriere.

Losing

Weight 162.0
I lost 2.6 pounds since yesterday! Oh, I think I'm going to like this. I ate one of my fruit servings plus a cup of black coffee with stevia before I left the house this morning and I felt much better this morning. I think spacing my food out during the day will work. For lunch I had a grissini, poached tilapia and an entire bag of organic spinach, lightly steamed and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and bit of dried orange peel. Yummy, and I'm not hungry. Walt bumped his dose up a bit this morning - to 150iu.

Last night I felt very cold, but today I feel much better. Yesterday's fatigue and detox headache are gone. I drank a glass of water with the juice of half a lemon, a detox trick I picked up somewhere along the way, and I think it helped. The only odd thing I am noticing today is some intermittent muscle cramping, mostly in my legs and gluteals. Perusing the diets forums reveals that this is not unusual and probably related to an electrolyte imbalance (maybe low potassium). The folks out there selling the sublingual form of hCG have lots to say about it, trying to convince potential dieters that their drops are better than shots, and won't result in leg cramps. I'm committed to stay the course with the shots and so far the cramps are very tolerable. No unsightly lumps and bumps either, which the drop promoters also warn about. Time will tell, but one thing I really hate is when people bad mouth any product in order to sell their own. We get that in our business frequently and it sucks, plus it makes the person doing it look cheesy. So there.

Diet Day One

Starting weight: 164.7

Today was the first day of the very low calorie diet (VLCD). Yesterday was our second load day of 3500 plus calories. I thought it would be fun, but the hCG must have already been taking effect - or maybe it was purely psychological - but eating a lot of fatty food was actually quite a challenge. Load Day 2 included a breakfast of an egg, fried potatoes, a big fat Italian sausage, and toast with peanut butter and marmalade for breakfast, pasta and sausage in red sauce for lunch and a big fat steak, baked potato and sour cream, salad and a whipped cream and Nutella concoction for dinner. I waddled off to bed, and got up this morning to a breakfast of black coffee and a nice shot of hCG. It was easier to give myself the injection today. I didn't have to wait for Walt to take the lead - I just sucked it up and did it.
Here's what I've noticed so far: I seem to be having a bit of a histamine reaction at my injection sites - just a little redness and itching that goes away in an hour or so. A little research indicates this is pretty common and nothing to worry about. There is a lot of liquid (mostly water) going in - I'm really thirsty - and a lot of liquid coming out. Walt and I were both a little grouchy today and had to make an effort not to be jerks with each other, and I have a mild detox headache. It was a little sad disposing of most of the contents of the fridge today - it looks so bare in there!
Today we discovered Bragg's Aminos, a healthy substitute for soy sauce and one of the mainstays of the hCG diet. We sauteed (well sort of) our 100 gram chicken portions and fresh organic broccoli in a mixture of low sodium organic chicken broth, Bragg's Aminos, minced garlic and fresh ginger for dinner. The broccoli was crisp, the chicken tender, and the whole dish delicious - no deprivation there. I would make this again, even if we were not on this diet.
I waited until lunchtime to eat today, but I think I am going to have to eat one of my servings of fruit in the morning, because I got a little woozy during church, and it felt like low blood sugar to me. In addition to the aforementioned chicken dish, today's festivities also included an apple, two grissini (the teensiest Italian breadsticks I have ever seen - almost not worth eating) eight succulent shrimp, and a raw cabbage salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing. I'm about to eat half a grapefruit and then it's off to bed, to blissful, though frequently interrupted by bathroom breaks, sleep.