hcg heaven

Cowboy Chili (P2)

2010-09-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

Cowboy Chili
This was, by far, my favorite P2 meal. SO filling and flavorful!

Ground Beef
Chunky Salsa
Garlic; minced
Dried Onion Flakes
Garlic Powder
Cumin
Paparika
Chili powder or Cayenne powder
Salt & Pepper
Water or Chicken Broth/Stock
Xanthan Gum
Grissini or Melba Toast; crushed

In a pot, brown ground beef with dried onion flakes and garlic + a dash or two of water/broth/stock. When beef is done, add salsa and stir. Add in about 1 to 2 cups of water/broth/stock (I used 1 cup broth and 1/2 cup water) and seasonings. Bring to a boil and let simmer for several minutes for the flavors to get "happy". Add no more than 1/4 tsp of Xanthan Gum (sprinkle it on top) and mix well. Heat until it has thickened up like chili. Enjoy with crumbled up Grissini or Melba toast on top.

Ginger Garlic Chicken (or Shrimp) & Cabbage (P2)

2010-09-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Ginger Garlic Chicken & Cabbage

Chicken Breast; cubed OR Shrimp; peeled and cleaned
Cabbage; chopped or shredded
Garlic Clove; minced
Fresh Ginger; grated
Bragg's Amino Acids
Garlic Powder
Dried Onion Flakes
Salt & Pepper
Water
Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

In a heated saucepan add garlic, ginger, onion flakes, a few dashes of the amino acids and about 1/4 cup of water. Heat to a boil, stirring often. Add chunks of chicken breast (or shrimp) and seasoning, bring to a boil and then simmer until meat is cooked. Taste sauce at this point to see if it needs more water to temper down the flavor of the amino acids. Add cabbage and heat until desired tenderness.

Phase 3: Day's 1-4

2010-09-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

Time is flying by and everything is going well on Phase 3, so far.
My weight is going back and forth but staying within the 2 lb window in either direction so I'm not stressing about it. I've been able to narrow down what the issue is when it's a gain or a loss so that's a good thing. My main problem seems to be figuring out if I'm supposed to be eating more protein or fat and if legal carbs (fruit, veggies) are ok too or if I need to be watching those numbers as well. I've been staying around 1500 calories a day, give or take 100. My first day was only about 900-950 calories but I had way too much salt, not enough water and ended up with a gain the next morning. The next day I had about 1500 calories and had a loss the next day so go figure. *shrug*

I've been very lazy with my food lately which isn't a great thing. I tend to grab things on the go that aren't the best choices - still legal - but not the best choice.

Here is a recap on my stats for Phase 3 so far:

LDW: 309.2
P3D1: 308.2 (-1.0)
P3D2: 309.6 (+0.4)
P3D3: 308.6 (-0.6)
P3D4: 309.4 (+0.2)

Back and forth.. back and forth. Maybe this is stablizing, I dunno, but I'm ok with it as long as it doesn't start climbing higher and higher.

Some of my food weaknesses on P3:
Cheese Hot Dogs
Jell-O Sugar Free Mousse
Whip Cream
One Minute Muffins (made with Almond Flour)

These are the things I can over-do it with if I'm not careful. I've only had one of the Jell-O mousse cups but I've had almost a pack of the cheese hot dogs over the last 4 days, whip cream a few days this week and a couple of minute muffins. They are so easy to grab and eat but that spells disaster for me so I need to not buy any more on my next shopping trip. The Minute Muffins are ok, but I need to be sure I'm not eating them every day.

Not much else to post. I have a few P2 recipes to post but no P3 recipes yet.

Until next time

-Diana

VLCD #'s 31-32

2010-09-03T02:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm on my last day of P2 :)
I can't believe how fast it went!
Here is a recap of the last 2 days:

Day 31: -0.2 (last dosing day)
Day 32: -0.8 (first day of VLC without hHCG)

Here are some stat recaps and updates:

Highest weight ever: 376
Weight pre load: 333.6
Weight post load: 334.2
Last Dosing Weight (LDW): 309.2
Yesterday's weight: 308.4

Total loss since all time highest: 67.6
Total loss since starting hHCG (not counting load weight): 25.2

The first day without drops wasn't bad at all. I ate on plan, went a little over the 500 calories allowed but I'm not too concerned. Hopefully today goes as smoothly and then on to Phase 3.

I have a couple of recipes and pictures to post for Phase 2 but I haven't uploaded them yet so I will try to do that sometime this weekend. I'm going to do the same thing in Phase 3 with the things I make. Hopefully someone is able to use them. If nothing else, it will help me when I do my next round and can't remember any of the recipes I used :)

I'm VERY pleased with the results so far and I'm looking forward to seeing how Phase 3 goes and if I stablize well or struggle. I hope it's easy!

Until next time

-Diana

VLCD's #25-30

2010-08-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

Time is just flying by.. I can't believe it's been 6 more days since I last posted here. Phase 2 has been easier than I thought. Had someone asked me a month ago if I could last a month at 500 calories a day, I would not have put money on it. Surprisingly it has flown by and tomorrow is my last dosing day. Then it's VLC for 2 days while the hHCG gets out of my system and then by Saturday I will be ready to eat P3 foods. I cannot wait to have a One Minute Muffin!

Here's a recap of the last few days:

Day 25: -0.4
Day 26: -0.0
Day 27: -1.6
Day 28: -0.6
Day 29: -1.6
Day 30: -0.6

Total loss so far: 24.2 lbs

I do not have much to report this time. Just chugging along. I'm both scared and looking forward to P3. I hope it won't be too hard to maintain my LDW.

Until next time

-Diana

Strawberries & Cream (P2)

2010-08-26T00:33:00.001-07:00

Strawberries & Cream
A fabulous treat to have after a veggie (non protein) soup type dinner!

Strawberries; cut in chunks
3-4oz Cottage Cheese
1-2 caps of Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup
2 finger pinch of Splenda

In a deep cup place your serving of cottage cheese, the vanilla syrup and a large pinch of splenda. Using your hand mixer wand, whip this up until very creamy.

Put your strawberry chunks on a plate and spoon the cream mixture on top. Enjoy with a fork!

This is SO good! I do not like cottage cheese but you'll never know this has cottage cheese in it. It tastes so much like a cream cheese & marshmallow cream fruit dip that I make for parties. I LOVE this!

Spicy Chicken & Cabbage Soup (P2)

2010-08-26T00:28:00.000-07:00

Spicy Chicken & Cabbage Soup

Grilled Chicken Breast; cubed
Chicken Broth
Water
Shredded Cabbage
Red Pepper Flakes
Garlic; minced
Garlic Powder
Dried Onion Flakes
Salt & Pepper

In a small soup pot heat up the garlic. Add Chicken broth, water, garlic powder, dried onions, red pepper flakes (just a sprinkle!) and salt & pepper. Mix well and bring to medium heat. Add cabbage and chicken. Bring to a boil and then Simmer on low until cabbage is tender.

This is spicy so take it easy with the pepper flakes!

Abondigas (Mexican Meatball) Soup (P2)

2010-08-26T00:19:00.000-07:00

Abondigas Soup

100g Lean Ground Beef
1 cup Beef Broth (no sugar, no starch)
1/2 cup Salsa (no sugar, no starch)
1 cup Water
1 Garlic; minced
Dash of Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix ground beef with a little salt & pepper. Roll into mini meatballs. Set aside.

In a small soup pot heat up garlic with a dash of broth until you think the garlic flavor has been released enough. Then add in the rest of the broth, salsa, water, garlic powder and a little more salt and pepper. Stir. Bring to a boil. Add meatballs and bring back to a boil. Simmer on low until meatballs are cooked all the way through.

This dish is delicious. I know salsa has onions and green peppers but I was willing to try it and it didn't have an affect on me so try at your own risk.

Chicken & Celery Soup (P2)

2010-08-26T00:12:00.000-07:00

Chicken & Celery Soup

Grilled Chicken; cubed
Celery; diced
Chicken Broth
Garlic; minced
Salt & Pepper
Dried Onion Flakes
Garlic Powder
Water

Put minced garlic into a pot and heat up for a minute. Add chicken broth, water, onion flakes and seasoning - mix and bring to a boil. Add celery and chicken. Bring back to a boil and then simmer on low until celery is tender.

*If you want to add a kick, mix in some cumin or cayenne powder.

Super simple and taste great! Plus it's filling :)

VLCD #'s 18-24

2010-08-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

Wow.. where has the time gone?
I can't believe it's been a week since I updated this.
Time is just flying by.. which isn't a bad thing.

Ok so an update on my stats:
Day 18: -0.4
Day 19: -1.2
Day 20: -0.4
Day 21: -0.2
Day 22: No movement
Day 23: No movement
Day 24: -1.6

Total loss so far: 19.4

Week 1 I lost: 10.4
Week 2 I lost: 1.6
Week 3 I lost: 5.8

I'm in the middle of week 4 and I have 7 days left of hHCG and 9 days left of VLCD's. Then I can have BACON! And One Minute Muffins! I can't wait.

The food on this protocol hasn't been bad, if you're creative and not easily bored .. and if you can keep your focus on the fact that it's only for a month at a time. P3 for me will be 3 weeks and then I will skip P4 this time and cycle right back into Round 2 with my loading days over my birthday weekend (September 26th). I want to work it out where I'm either in P3, P4 or loading over Thanksgiving and Christmas. Once the new year gets here, I will need to look at my calendar and work out my schedule for any future events going on. We're planning a family trip to Mammoth for my nephew's 30th birthday in February and another family trip to Utah, in July, for my auntie's 80th birthday and a family reunion so I want to be on P3 or P4 during those trips.

I'm feeling great. Had a visit from good ol' Bernice Tuesday and Friday of last week but nothing yet this week. I'm not feeling bloated or bad though so I'm going to wait until Friday and see what happens.

I've been on a soup kick lately because they fill me up. I've also been trying to take pictures of all my meals and post them with recipes. I haven't really given measurements because it's whatever your daily allowance is plus a little tweaking for your taste buds. I'm trying to stick to Dr. Simeon's original protocol the best I can. I did mix veggies a little by using salsa in a couple of recipes but I didn't have a gain from it so I think I'm ok.

This Friday is a big night. For the first time - my sister, niece-n-law, my son's girlfriend and I are going to take my littlest niece out for a surprise "girls night" to celebrate her 12th birthday. We do not get to see her as often as we would like so I arranged this since I won't be able to attend her beach party on Sunday. She loves hanging with us but like I said, it rarely happens and she's never been on a Girls Night with just us so she's going to be super excited. 3 of us are going to pick her up early and take her to get a mani-pedi, then to Starbucks to get her favorite drink. Then we'll head down to a popular outdoor shopping center with a great nightlife to meet the rest of our group for dinner, window shopping and letting her buy a few goodies and gifts. Maybe a movie and some people watching will be in the plans too. She doesn't know and I can't wait to surprise her! BUT.. how hHCG plays into this is, we are going out to eat and we'll be hitting up candy stores and getting her dessert somewhere for her b-day. I know I'm going to be SO tempted to cheat a little and go off plan but I hope I can stay strong. I want to order a sirloin steak and side salad at the restaurant and just watch my portion (box up the left overs) but I don't know if that would be wise. I will need to call ahead and see if they will make it to order with no seasoning or anything on it. Wish me luck. I will report back on how I did.

That's about it for now. I'll try to be better about updating my blog for any future readers who might need some motivation or recipes or tips. I hope I'm helping in some way :)

-Diana

Strawberry Shake (P2)

2010-08-19T23:58:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Shake

1-2oz Strawberries; cubed
1-2 tsp (kitchen spoon size) cottage cheese
1-2 capfulls of Torani's Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup
1 Tbsp. milk
Ice
1/2 - 1 cup of water

Mix everything together in a deep plastic cup with a hand mixer and enjoy!

Scrambled Eggs with Onions (P2)

2010-08-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

Scrambled Eggs with Onions

1 Whole egg
3 Egg whites
Dried onion flakes
Salt & pepper

Whip up your eggs in a bowl with a little salt and pepper. Heat up a frying pan and add the eggs, sprinkle with dried onion flakes. Scramble until cooked and enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan (P2)

2010-08-19T23:28:00.001-07:00

Chicken Parmesan
A faux version but pretty tasty!

Chicken breast; cubed
Tomato Sauce
Garlic; minced
2 Garlic Melba Rounds
Dried Onion Flakes
Onion Powder
Italian Seasoning
Water

Bring water to a boil in a pot. Add chicken cubes. Boil until done.

In another pot, combine tomato sauce + seasoning + 1/2 cup of the water from the first pot. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer.

Crush melba toast in a baggy. Take chicken cubes out of the water and drop into baggy with melba crumbs. Shake until coated.

Bring a saucepan to medium heat.. add minced garlic and cook for a minute or two. Dump garlic into tomato sauce and stir. Take chicken and dump out of baggy into this same sauce pan and heat until the coating is toasted.

Once everything is heated through - place chicken onto your serving dish (make sure you cover with all the crumbs in the pan) and slowly pour tomato sauce over the top. Enjoy!

French Onion Soup with Meatballs (P2)

2010-08-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

French Onion Soup with Beef Meatballs

Ground Beef
Onion; cut in half and slices thin into half moon shapes
Diabeti-Sweet
Water
Salt & Pepper

This recipe calls for beef broth but I did not have any so I sorta made my own with the meatballs. If you have a sugar free and starch free beef broth, then you can use that and omit the meatballs all together if you want.

Mix ground beef with a dash of salt & pepper. Form meatballs and place into a pot with 1-2 cups of boiling water. Cook until meat is done and water has more of a broth flavor.

In a sauce pan, place a few spoons of the beef broth and onion slices. Cook for about 10 minutes - stirring and adding more broth as needed, until onions start to carmelize. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of DiabetiSweet over onions and continue to cook until they are soft (about 10 more minutes). Pour entire pan of onions into the remaining beef broth and add meatballs. Taste to see if it needs more S&P. Continue cooking until heated through. Enjoy with a Melba Toast Round.

VLCD's #16-17

2010-08-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

Today has been hard. It's still hard because I won't be going to bed for another 3 hours and I'm hungry. I just didn't plan very well for today and it's my own fault. I need to do better tomorrow.

I haven't drank all of my water for the past 2 days and I haven't eaten or dosed at the correct times for my day.

I did wake up to a loss today and yesterday!

Day 16: -1.2
Day 17: -0.6

Total loss: 15.6 lbs

I'm thrilled! I'm halfway done with P2 for this round. I cannot wait for P3! I already know what I'm going to make - mini cheesecakes, 1 minute muffins, bacon, carne asada and salad with ranch dressing.

This afternoon I made a really good new recipe. One of my HCG friends mentioned meatballs in a spaghetti sauce and it sounded so good. I'm not even a spaghetti fan but when you can't have something, you crave it. I'm still waiting for the recipe from her but in the meantime, I decided to try to make an italian dish.

So I made meatballs and a tomato based sauce with italian seasonings. It came out kinda like a soup but it was so good. It's a keeper. I didn't take a picture but I will tomorrow, when I make it again. I'll post the recipe then.

Nothing else new. Just taking it day by day and looking forward to seeing a release each morning.

Until next time

-Diana

Spicy Cabbage & Meatballs (P2)

2010-08-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

Spicy Cabbage and Meatballs

Lean ground beef
1 Grissini or Melba toast; crushed
Cabbage; shredded
Garlic; minced
Dried Onion Flakes
Salt & Pepper
Cumin
Water
Tapatio Hot Sauce

Combine ground beef, crushed grissini/melba, dried onion flakes, a dash of cumin, salt & pepper. Roll into mini meatballs.

Heat a small amount of water in a frying pan. Add meatballs and cook, carefully browning on all sides. Remove from pan. Add a small amount of water to that same pan and scrape up the meat bits that are stuck to the bottom. Add minced garlic + 2 splashes of hot sauce and let it cook until garlic is soft. Add cabbage and toss to coat. Cook until fork tender.

Put cabbage into a deep bowl and top with meatballs. Toss to combine. Enjoy!

Chicken Tomato Soup (P2)

2010-08-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

Chicken Tomato Soup

Chicken Breast; cooked and cubed
Tomatoes; diced
Garlic; minced
Dried Onion Flakes
Garlic Powder or Salt
Cumin
Water

In a sauce pan bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add garlic and dried onions. Let boil for a minute and then add the tomatoes and spices. Bring back to a boil and then simmer for a minute. Add cooked chicken and more water to cover. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 4-5 minutes until heated through. Enjoy with grissini or melba toast.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing (P2)

2010-08-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

Grilled Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Grilled chicken breast; chopped
Iceberg Lettuce; chopped
Mustard
Splenda (or your sweetner of choice)
Water
Garlic Grissini

Super simple:
Put lettuce in a bowl, top with chopped up chicken. Mix Mustard with a few pinches of splenda (taste to get the right sweetness)+ add a splash of water to thin out, if needed. Drizzle mustard dressing over the chicken and lettuce. Crumble Grissini on top. Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie (P2)

2010-08-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

Strawberries; washed and cut in chunks
1 Tbsp. Milk
2 Tbsp. Torani's Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup
1 pinch of Splenda
Ice
Water

Mix all together with a hand mixer and enjoy!

5 Alarm Chicken Chili (P2)

2010-08-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
100g Ground Chicken Breast
6oz Tomatoes; chopped
1 Clove of garlic; minced
Water
Dash of:
Cumin
Chili Powder or Cayenne (depending on our heat preference)
Paparika
Dried Onion Flakes
Salt & Pepper

In a small pan mix together chicken breast meat with a little salt and pepper and cumin. Brown.

In a small sauce pan heat about 1/2 cup of water until boiling. Toss in garlic and let boil for a few minutes. Add 1/2 cup more of water + tomatoes + all spices. Bring to a boil until tomatoes have broken down some. Then toss in chicken and enough water to just cover everything. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer (taste at this time to check spice levels and add more if needed) until mixture is as close to the consistency of chili as possible. If you like it thinner, you can remove from the heat sooner. It will not be super thick but it will be like a thicker soup. VERY good and VERY hot.

Enjoy!

VLCD's #13-15

2010-08-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Am I really already on Day 15? The start of my 3rd week? Crazy.
Seems like yesterday I was just researching this protocol and deciding if I wanted to try it. This has really been flying by. I love that you do short rounds, I can do anything for 30 days at a time! This may actually work for me, folks.

Ok so a recap of the last few days.
On day 12 I had no movement on the scale. Wasn't too worried.

Day 13: -0.4

Then on Sunday (Day 14) I had a 1 pound gain.
I wasn't worried because I knew why.
I only had 4 hours of sleep the night before and my body needs a full 8-10 hours in order to see a loss each day. I knew Monday would correct itself.

Day 15: -1.8

Told ya.

I'm still feeling really great. I did have 1 night where I was fighting the food demons who dwell within me. They were filling my head with memories of how good baked treats taste and I wanted everything so bad but I stayed strong (almost cried a few times) and made it through the night without cheating. I hate that food has this power over me but I hope one day, in the future, it won't any more.

My menu today:

Lunch was the most amazing 5 Alarm Chicken Chili.
Snack is an apple.
Dinner will be a lean beef hamburger served in a lettuce wrap with mustard.
Dessert will be my new creation: Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie.

I never used to be very creative in the kitchen but I am getting into it and I'm loving my creations.

I'm doing better about eating my 500 calories and drinking my 128oz of water.
Having a hard time taking my suppliments because I'm a weenie when it comes to swallowing pills. *gag*
Waiting for a visit from "Bernice".. she hasn't been seen in a week and I'm kinda missing her. Hope she hurries up!

That's all for now :)

-Diana

Sugar by any other name... is still sugar.

2010-08-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

The difference between natural sugar and added sugar is key to your success. In Phase 2 or Phase 3 you will have natural sugar that is in your fruits and other items. Be careful and make sure none are additives and are all natural. Fruits and nuts have natural sugar which is fine, what you want to avoid is candy coated hidden sugar.

There are so many names for sugar creatively hidden in those labels.. so here is a list to get you started in identifying sugars and help avoid “unintentional” cheating.

Brown sugar
Carob syrup
Corn syrup / Sweetener
Caramel
Date sugar
Demerara Sugar
Dextrin
Dextran
Dextrose
Fructose
Fruit juice
Galactose
Glucose
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Honey
Lactose
Maltodextrin
Maltose
Maple syrup
Molasses
Muscovado or Barbados Sugar
Panocha
Powdered or confectioner’s sugar
Raw sugar
Rice Syrup
Saccharose
Sorbitol
Sorghum or sorghum syrup
Sucrose
Sugar (granulated)
Syrup
Treacle
Turbinado Sugar
Xylose

Muscular Fatigue

2010-08-14T19:56:00.001-07:00

Info on this weakness, for reference.

Muscular Fatigue

Have you experienced any weakness on or after hCG? I can remember a few instances where I could not believe how weak my legs were when walking up stairs or even holding my arms up for a period of time. Now that I am in P4 and its been over 2 months since I completed my last dose I am happy to say I walked 3 miles last night with no ill side effects or fatigue. Dr. Simeons explains this weakness in Pounds and Inches.

“Towards the end-of a full course when a good deal of fat has been rapidly lost, some patients complain that lifting a weight or climbing stairs requires a greater muscular effort than before. They feel neither breathlessness nor exhaustion but simply that their muscles have to work harder. This phenomenon, which disappears soon after the end of the treatment, is caused by the removal of abnormal fat deposited between, in and around the muscles. The removal of this fat makes the muscles too long, and so in order to achieve a certain skeletal movement – say the bending of an arm – the muscles have to perform greater con traction than before. Within a short while the muscle adjusts itself perfectly to the new situation, but under HCG the loss of fat is so rapid that this adjustment cannot keep up with it. Patients often have to be reassured that this does not mean that they are “getting weak”. This phenomenon does not occur in patients who regularly take vigorous exercise and continue to do so during treatment.”

HCG Tips

2010-08-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Tip #1

Be committed to at least a clean, by the book, first Round on P2 protocol. Commit to 23 days maximum, even if you feel like you need to do a longer 40 day round.

Committing to just 3 weeks instead of 6 makes this protocol much easier to stick with. Mark it off on your calendar. 3 weeks. After your initial 3 weeks, take it day by day and really check in with how you feel. It is okay to only do 25 days or 33 days or anything in between 23 days and 40 days.

It is the first 3 weeks that are critical to your long-term success. Everyday after is just icing on the cake.

Do not concern yourself with what others are doing. This isn't a contest. This is solely about YOU.

Tip #2

Plan out your menu on a weekly basis.

Prior to starting go to the store and buy your food supplies, just like you would any other supplies that you use on this protocol. Come up with a weekly menu.

Precut and precook as much of your menu items as you possibly can. I have cooked for an entire round at once. By that I mean, I make 4-6 servings of a particular dish and freeze most of it and put the rest in the fridge so that I can grab and go.

This will save you during those moments when you are too tired to cook or just in too much of a hurry.

Even if you can't cook everything, portion it out and freeze it so you can pull it out and thaw relatively easily and without much effort.

Be PREPARED.

Tip #3

Set small goals that you can easily achieve so that you get a sense of achievement everyday or every couple of days.

It is motivating to be able to reach and or exceed your goals and expectations. Set your ticker to reflect just the pounds you want to lose in this Round. Sometimes looking at your progress for 20-30 pounds is much easier on the brain than looking at 70,80,100 pounds. In other words bite off small chunks.

Average loss in 23 days is about 15 pounds. Make your goal 13. Average loss in 40 days is 34 or so pounds. Make your goal 25-30 pounds.

Tip #4

Set up rewards for yourself.

If you have not deviated all day, then allow yourself to have a fruit slushie or a fruit crumble or whatever.

a strawberry slushie or smoothie really is just frozen strawberries water your milk portion and sweetener to taste maybe a little vanilla extract and all blended up yum! can be put back in the freezer to make a frozen dessert

a crumble is your apple cut up sweetener and cinnamon or allspice sprinkled on and microwaved put your grissini or melba crumbles up on top and microwave a little more like a mini apple pie!

If you haven't deviated for 5 or 6 or 7 days, reward yourself with a massage. A gentle one. The kind they called lymphatic or something similar. Or a pedicure. Or some other treat.

The lymphatic ones and the ones called myofacial release ones are not deep at all. Just ask that it not be done with oils. Bring in your own lotion with no oils.

Swedish, deep tissue, sports, shiatsu, etc. are the deep deep ones. The do the lymphatic and myofacial ones on pregnant women. As you can imagine, they can't be deep or they would be having OBs calling and yelling at them. Lots of therapist do "pregnancy" type of massages.

These are particularly useful if you are very toxic.

Dr. S was talking about the massages where they beat you to death. We have all seen them in gangster movies where the boss is in an all male "club" and Bruno is beating them to death. Avoid these.

After a full 3 weeks on protocol, set up a hair appointment or a day at the spa. A really special treat.

Tip #5

If you recognize a time of day that is particularly hard for you, like late at night or mid-afternoon, set up a new routine. Instead of being home and doing that mindless drone thing, plan to be out. Do your grocery shopping at that time. Or go to the gym and steam and sauna at that time. Or take a late evening walk. Or anything that gets you out of your area of weakness in location and time of day.

If you come home and veg out and realize that is the time of day when you are on auto pilot in mind and body, choose to do something else. Be proactive in getting out of your zone of danger. No matter how tired or lazy you feel.

Tip # 6

Expect days of no loss, small loss and slight gains. This is a very normal part of this protocol. In the hundreds of journeys of other people that I have read, NOT ONE person experienced huge losses EVERYDAY while on protocol.

YOU will be NO different. It is NORMAL. DO NOT FREAK OUT!!!!! Stay true to protocol and you will clock good losses as soon as your body has either recovered from working so hard and shedding HUGE losses or your cells release the water with which your body fills up empty fat cells.

The cycle seems to be about every 7-10 days, your body will need a period of rest to reset and get ready to work hard again releasing unwanted fat and pounds and inches.

Once again, DO NOT FREAK OUT!!!!! It is normal. You are normal. The protocol is STILL working.

Tip #7

Do not begin an exercise program while on P2. If you have already been doing something, it is okay to continue to do it. But do not start something new.

Your muscles retain water every time you exercise. This is normal as your body tries to repair your muscles. This water retention will lead to less than satisfactory weight loss. If you are not able to handle days of no loss or gains, don not begin an exercise program.

If you are willing to experience no loss and gains, then you can go ahead and begin something new. It is all about what you are mentally prepared to accept. In the end, you will have toner muscles but maybe not as large of a loss as you would have had you not started an exercise regime during P2.

In addition, starting an exercise program will increase the energy requirements of your body. One that you body was not prepared for by prior conditioning. This might leave you weak and/or more hungry.

Start an exercise program before you begin P2 or after you are finished with P2. Leisurely walks, light stretching, etc. are okay. But anything other than the lightest of movements, might show no loss or even a gain.

Tip #8

Take photos before you begin your first round and at the end. Take pictures at the end of each subsequent round.

You will be happy that you did. Do this for you. Even if you do not want to share them on this forum.

The metamorphosis is nothing short of miraculous.

If you do not take pictures, you WILL regret it.

As you go into each round, those pictures will help motivate you.

TAKE THE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!

Tip # 9

Drink the Stevia Lemonade, Dandelion tea, Milk Thistle tea, Yerba Mate teas or the Oolong teas to help hydrate and cut hunger. Many times, we are so dehydrated and out of touch with our hunger signals, that thirst signals are misinterpreted as hunger signals. Drinking lots of liquids, you make your brain think you are fuller or help your body function better.

Also flavored drinks are satisfying mentally a little more than plain water is. Go into the recipe section and make some of the yummy drinks to help take the edge off of your hunger until the appetite suppression portion of the protocol kicks in.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!!!

Tip #10

If you are experiencing detox symptoms and feel flu-like, take Epsom Salt baths. Everyone has their favorite formula and if you google it, you will find all sorts of different suggestions. Here is mine.

I use a full 4lb bag. I make my bath water as hot as I can stand without melting off my skin. LOL. I add the entire bag to the water, stir to incorporate. Get a BIG cold glass of water. Get in the bath and submerge. If this is your first bath, stay in about 5 minutes. You will begin to feel beads of sweat on your upper lip and in your hairline. This is good, your pores have opened up and your skin, the largest organ with the most surface area, is moving toxins out. Drink your water as needed.

When you get out of the bath, do not vigorously towel off. Rather lightly pat dry. Some of the epsom salt crystals will remain on your skin. Get in warm sleeping clothes and go to bed. The salt crystals will continue to draw out toxins as you sleep. When you wake up in the morning, take a shower to remove any residue.

If you experience headaches, take a pain reliever. There is no reason to suffer needlessly. If the headaches are due to detox, the baths should help. If the headaches are due to your body switching over from burning glycogen/carbohydrates to ketones/fats, they will go away on their own in about 3 days or so.

Tip # 11

Take measurements. Dr. Simeons called this protocol Pounds AND INCHES. On those days where you do not have the loss you want, or egads! a small gain, you will be pleasantly surprised if you took measurements to see that you have lost some inches somewhere. The loss in inches will help tide you over until the scale begins to move in the direction and/or as fast as you would like.

Tip # 12

Don't start the protocol until you can have 21 clean by the book days at home. I know you are all excited about losing weight and want it off yesterday. However, in order to increase your chances for success, you REALLY need 21 uninterrupted days at home to make the protocol work properly.

Birthdays, trips and other complications need to evaluated PRIOR to beginning your protocol. We want you to have success and the LARGEST losses possible. If you have to go to parties or go out of town or in some other are going to be pressured to deviate or not follow protocol correctly, you are setting yourself up for failure. Parties and trips can be the perfect LOAD days. Incorporate them into your protocol for the APPROPRIATE time.

Tip # 13

If you are a sexually active woman, test yourself for pregnancy PRIOR to starting hCG. IF you are pregnant, you should not follow this protocol but rather your doctor's advice.

Buy those test kits that have more than one in them. If you aren't pregnant, the extra test can be used at a later date to test your hCG for potency.

AGAIN, TEST YOURSELF FOR PREGNANCY PRIOR to starting the protocol.

And I don't care if you think you can't get pregnant. If you are having sex, even if it is only once a year, stranger things have happened. I don't care if you think your birth control method is full proof. I don't care if you use titanium birth control. Google impossible pregnancy stories and you will see that women get pregnant ALL the time in really weird or impossible ways.

Tip #14

Unless you are stalled for 4 days or more, DO NOT do a correction day to break the stall.

If you are using correction days to try and get better losses, what are you going to do when you have a true stall and the correction days don't work anymore? What if your body gets used to the correction days and sees THEM as regular eating days and doesn't release any weight for days or weeks on end?

Keep those correction days in your back pocket, to shake your body up and break a true stall.

And remember, apple days are meant to be psychological only. In other words, they don't really do anything physical, they only make you feel better mentally. The protocol will break any stall you have. Eat clean. Eat by the book. Your body loses what it is suppose to lose. Not what you want it to lose. What you want doesn't direct your body's fat loss

These tips are all thanks to a poster named Articshark. So appreciative of her hard work.

But WHY are these things important?

2010-08-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

Here is an article a friend posted on a WL site I belong to and I thought I would share it here, for myself and anyone who might read this in the future. Lots of great information.

We all know that the following things are important to success on the protocol:

# sticking to the food plan for the minimum consecutive days in VLCD and in P3

# drinking 2+ liters of water

# using oil-free personal care products

# getting good sleep

# planning ahead

# not stressing over each day's weight

# taking weekly measurements

The question is...do you know WHY these things are so important to your success??? If not, that's about to change.

1) Sticking to the food plan for the minimum consecutive days in VLCD and in P3– on page 6 of Linda Prinster's book, HCG Weight Loss Cure Guide, Linda lists three goals people are trying to achieve by using the HCG protocol. They are:

# lose weight

# reset/fix/increase basal metabolism

# maintain weight loss

Let's talk more specifically about the middle item – reset/fix/increase basal metabolism. Can that really be done and if so HOW? In order to do this one MUST adhere strictly to the protocol as outlined in Pounds and Inches: A New Approach to Obesity and that includes eating ONLY the foods found on the original food list provided by Dr. Simeons. There have been a number of studies where doctors have allowed other food items. While the results the participants experienced were similar to those achieved using the foods on the original list, the results were not exactly the same. If an HCG user wants the best results then he/she must eat only the items found on the original food list found in the original version of Dr. Simeons book.

One must also do this for a minimum of 23 consecutive HCG days. An effective HCG day is defined as a day when you are using HCG and eating the VLCD without cheating. It is important to note that this is not the same as resetting the hypothalamus as this occurs during the 21 days of P3 when you are not using HCG. So, if you'd like the added benefit of resetting/fixing/increasing basal metabolism there can be NO CHEATING! If you are okay with not losing as much as you can and simply resetting your hypothalamus then cheat but you know what they say, “Cheaters never win and winners never cheat.” You ARE a WINNER so don't cheat – it's simply not worth it.

2) Drinking 2+ liters of water – I'm well aware that Dr. Simeons says to drink “about 2 liters” of water daily. We now have more information. 2 liters of water is 67.62 ounces of water. This is great if you weigh 136 pounds but not everyone weighs 136 pounds. If you weigh 400 pounds 67.62 ounces of water simply is not enough. Instead strive to take in no less than half your current weight in ounces of water daily. Many may find this difficult to do. Some tell me they simply aren't thirsty but it's important to understand that the old saying, “ignore it and it will go away” works with the body as well. If you ignore the thirst signal your body will find some other way to get you to respond. For most it will show up in an increase in hunger. This is because there is water in every thing you eat you will drink when eating

Once you start to give your body the water it needs the switch will get turned back on and your body will begin to send thirst signals correctly. Once this occurs, drink to thirst (choosing water first) and you will always give your body the amount it needs.

3) Using oil-free personal care products – this one can be very simple. I have learned that many will spend a lot of money on this item when it may not be necessary to do so. Before purchasing special oil-free personal care products, first check the personal care products you already own. We live in a more chemically based society so you may be surprised by the lack of oil in your current personal care products. If you do find oil, please make a change or understand that your weight loss will be slower because of the oil. Especially if the oil is found in a product you apply directly to the skin. The skin is the largest organ of the body and it absorbs everything. I do understand that some live in dry climates....use products consciously....knowing that the scale may not reflect what you want it to reflect....then find peace with it.

4) Getting good sleep – in recent months I've had a number of people ask about adding Human Growth Hormone (HGH) to their routine in hopes that it will “enhance” the effects of the HCG. My only question is....Why is ½ to 1 pound daily not fast enough? Why use “one more thing”? Why make this more difficult than it needs to be?

You may be wondering what getting good sleep has to do with human growth hormone. “Human Growth Hormone peaks several times while we sleep. The largest and most predictable of these Growth Hormone (GH) peaks occurs about an hour after onset of sleep. Otherwise there is wide variation between days and individuals. Nearly fifty percent of HGH secretion occurs during the third and fourth REM sleep stages.” For more information check out Growth hormone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

It's also important to note that the benefits of supplemental HGH are only seen in those who are deficient. There are some ill side-effects associated with taking supplemental HGH as well.

Getting plenty of restful sleep can help your body produce its own HGH so get in bed at a decent hour. We've all heard the old adage, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Pay attention to the first of the three benefits – HEALTHY – and get in bed early.

5) Planning ahead – don't leave anything to chance. I've had far too many clients decide to take the trip or vacation and “do the best” they can only to return home to find they've gained weight back. They make excuses thinking that it doesn't matter. It DOES matter regardless of what part of the phase you are experiencing. In Linda Prinster's book, HCG Weight Loss Cure Guide, she talks about “being intentional”. I'd like to echo her in that regard. Know what you are doing. Plan every step of the journey so you don't find yourself far off track. When using HCG for weight loss it doesn't take much to end up way off track. I highly recommend not only keeping a food journal but turning it into a food plan. I personally use the MemoryMinder DietMinder journal for myself and my clients. I know that many simply use a spiral bound notebook and that works as well. It doesn't really matter what you choose to use – perhaps an excel spreadsheet if you'd like to also create graphs of your progress – just use something. Plan for each day and don't deviate from it if at all possible. It is time for you to get serious about getting this abnormal fat off of your body. Its harmful in more ways than you may know – so get rid of it. You've found the best tool there is – HCG – so plan the journey and stay on the path. Use your resources when necessary – there are a lot of people here to cheer you on!

6) Not stressing over each day's weight – it's very important to understand what the body is doing and that the scale will not always show a loss. There may be times when a gain is shown but most times the scale will simply show no movement. Does this mean that nothing is happening? Absolutely not! The body is very complex and the hardest thing for us, the human being, is to trust that it knows what it's doing. Believe me – IT DOES know what it's doing.

When the scale shows no movement please go back to Pounds and Inches: A New Approach to Obesity and read the section about The Emaciated Lady. It tells us that after a 6 week treatment she left the clinic weighing to the ounce exactly what she weighed when she first arrived but her shape had changed – she had her figure back. How is that possible?

HCG gives the body access to abnormal fat stores so it can move the fat to where it is needed. If the fat is not needed then the body will use it solely as fuel, which will show up on the scale. Sometimes the body does both – using it as fuel and moving it where it's needed – which may either show up as a small loss or as no loss at all. If there is a slight gain, this may simply be water retention necessary for the body to process the fat that is being used.

When there is no loss, stressing about it can actually make things worse. Your body is a wonderful machine but there's only so much it can do at one time. If you are experiencing a stressful day then you will be confusing the body because it will be producing cortisol at the same time that you are taking HCG. Why is this a problem?

Cortisol is usually referred to as the "stress hormone" as it is involved in response to stress and anxiety. Cortisol increases blood pressure and blood sugar, and reduces immune responses. It encourages the body to store fat in abnormal storage areas of the mid-section. When taking HCG, your body is also being told to release abnormal fat from these same areas. This basically means that cortisol and HCG cancel each other out, which will result in more stress when the scale once again shows no loss or perhaps worse....a gain.

If you are taking hydrocortisone then you are probably experiencing slow weight loss. Hydrocortisone is a synthetic form of cortisol used to treat a variety of different illnesses. Instead try using some licorice root extract because it acts much like the body's own corticosteroids.

7) Taking weekly measurements – This is what will help you stay sane when the scale isn't moving. Make sure that you measure the following areas when you begin using HCG for weight loss:

# Upper Chest – at under arm level
# Midriff – directly under the bust line
# Waist – smallest part of the midsection
# Thigh – at largest part
# Knee – 2 inches above the top of the knee cap
# Calf – at the largest part
# Other (ex. Roll 1 and ex. Roll 2) – If there is a significant roll above the belly button and/or below the belly button, you should note the measurements as these will change drastically and neither the waist nor hip measurement will indicate the degree that these rolls change. Other areas that may be noted are the love handles area, an extremely wide area at the top of the leg/hip area, etc.

Pay close attention to these measurements especially when you are experiencing slow weight loss or no weight loss. NEVER assume that the HCG is not working. There are very few circumstances when HCG will not work. If you don't have much to lose, these measurements will mean more to you than the pounds. As you get closer to your ideal weight you will see the scale move less. Keeping track of the inches will help you know how well the HCG is working.

I hope this clears up the reasons why these things are so important to the HCG journey. As always, never hesitate to ask for help.

Angie Taylor, LCI

VLCD's 8-12

2010-08-14T01:30:00.000-07:00

Uh oh.

I've been missing in action this past week.
Normally that would be a sign that I've fallen off the wagon and want to ignore things but that's not the case this time. I've just been busy with work and focusing on this protocol and to be honest, feeling a little "blah" so not up to writing.

Let's see.
I've pretty much eaten the same things all week that I ate last week.
Been drinking the same or more amount of water 96-144oz.
I did struggle for the first 3 days of the week with eating all of my calories but I also worked Mon-Wed and wasn't as prepared or hungry as a result.

Here are some stats:
Day 8: -0.6
Day 9: -0.4
Day 10: - 0.4
Day 11: -0.8
Day 12: No Change

Total of -12.6 since starting this protocol.

I have made a few mistakes. For 2 days I used garlic salt in my soups and then last night I checked the label and found out there's sugar in it. I was pretty mad but I've moved on and won't use it in the future. I've had to make a real effort to be sure I'm eating as close to the 500 calories as I can. I need to figure out the right amount of water, without drinking too much. I am onto my 2nd bottle of hHCG now. For about a week now, I've just been eye-balling my dose and thinking it was about 13-14 drops - well, I think it was more like 15-16. I need to adjust that as well. I think I'm going to stick to 14 drops. Today I did 13 and my stomach as been pretty vocal about it.

I've added in 2 Potassium pills a day because the leg/toe/side cramps have started. I also take 1 Woman's One-A-Day each afternoon. I just started taking Magnesium as well in hopes of moving things along that haven't been moving along in a few days.

I have been experimenting in the kitchen and liking what I've come up with. I made a delicious grilled chicken and tomato soup - I also made a really yummy steak and tomato soup. I've been on a soup kick because it seems to fill me up more. I introduced ground beef into my diet yesterday for the first time since hHCG and made a spicy beef and celery soup. It was just "ok". Didn't fill me up and I didn't see a loss on the scale this morning so I'm not sure. I did make a BOMB hamburger tonight so let's see if I have a loss tomorrow morning or not.

My blood sugar numbers are coming down. I think the apple, orange and maybe the grissini are not helping but I'm not going to elminate them because that would only leave me with strawberries and although they are in season now - that won't be the case in the fall or winter. I'm not testing every day because I need to go get some new testing strips but I tested 2 days ago and my number was down to 147. I know I can get it lower especially once I move to P3.

Alright, that's a basic (long) recap of the past week. I'm feeling great and looking forward to seeing some more losses in the near future.

Happy Releasing!

-Diana

53 pounds later..

2010-08-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

I still remember this moment.
I'm sure I always will.

It's my weightloss testimony, if you will.
It was the spring of 2007.
We were driving to my brother's house about an hour away.
My chest wasn't feeling right. Little flutterings that I had never felt before. I didn't like it but we had big plans for the day and I didn't want to change things. So I kept my mouth shut except to say I wasn't feeling that good. Inside, I was worried it was my heart. I was so overweight but in my head, not enough to do anything about it. Looking back, I wonder what would have been "enough" to make me get serious.

The following day, I was still not feeling right so I spent the day laying down. Sometime in the next couple of days I made an appointment to see my doctor and I also started eating low carb. I already had a history with doing Atkins (and failing) so I knew what I needed to do. I started to feel better but I kept my appointment.

That day at the doctors was the most embarrassing moment in my life, in my opinion.
When the nurse took me in to weigh me, I was too heavy for the scale so she had to walk me down to the heavy duty scale in the nurses station on the ground floor. That walk was the most embarrassing thing I can remember experiencing. When we finally got to the scale .. staring back at me was the number: 376.

How did I allow this to happen?

That same day I had a EKG done but everything came back ok. Then the blood work, not so good. My blood sugars were too high and I would need to come back for another blood test. 2nd test came back high - confirming I did in fact have Diabetes II. I felt like my world was crushed. I knew nothing about Diabetes. I cried pretty hard that night. I had to go back to pick up my supplies and learn how to do my blood testings. I was so scared.

Fast forward to the fall of 2008. I had started and stopped low carb dieting several times over that year and a half. I did not have a scale at home so I didn't stay on top of my weight, I just went by how my clothes fit and what my blood sugar numbers said. When I was being good, my numbers were great and I was able to keep them in a normal range, just by eating right. When I was being bad, I didn't test. Out of sight, out of mind.

I decided I wanted to get back on the wagon but I was out of testing supplies so I made an appointment at a new doctors office to get supplies. The whole time I was in the waiting room, I kept thinking about the scale and I was full of fear and anxiety. I prayed. Please let me be under 350 so they wouldn't tell me that I was too heavy for their scale.. Please. I stepped on the scale. 323. What? I was 53 pounds less. OMGosh. I was thrilled.

Fast forward to early July of this year (2010). Again, off and on the wagon. After much research, decided I was going to give hHCG a shot. Bought a new, heavy duty scale. No clue what I weigh. Haven't been on the wagon in a very long time. Stepped on. 340. Wow. I had really let myself go and had gained back 27 pounds in almost 2 years.

Then 2 weeks later I started hHCG and my first day I stepped on the scale and I was 333. So in 2 weeks, I had somehow lost 7 lbs. I'm not complaining.

This morning, the scale said 323 and all I could think about was the journey that lead me to that weight in the past and then the future came into view and I knew, it's all downhill from here. I'm not going back. I'm going forward. I do not want to see 323 on my scale again. It may pop back again in the next few weeks but if I have my way, I'll say goodbye to it tomorrow and never see it again.

In 3 years, I've lost 53 pounds and I feel amazing. I hope next year, I can say I've lost another 53 and then the following year, another 53.. until I'm at a healthy weight for the first time in my life.

Please keep me in your prayers and thanks for reading.

VLCD's 6 & 7 ... Yay!

2010-08-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday and I'm feeling so good!

Yesterday I woke up to a 0.8 lb loss.
Great way to start my day.

We decided to go to the Harvest Crusade on Saturday with my son and his friends but it was a last minute decision and I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to have been. It was a tough day for me - stressful for my mind and body.

I ate before we left: Grilled chicken breast, radishes and a grissini plus about 2 cups of water. We stood in line forever then walked a ton once we got inside. It was chaotic trying to find seats and I was in bad shape physically from laying around and being lazy for the past 2 weeks so at two points I felt sick and dizzy and like I was going to pass out. I also forgot my potassium, which I had started taking the day before, and my muscles were cramping up in my legs and side. I did pack food but once we got seated (at the VERY top of Angel Stadium... eeek!), I wasn't hungry at all. We got out of there at 10pm and went to Johnny Rockets with our group. I was good and ordered just a bowl of plain lettuce and then added my grilled chicken on top and ate that with a glass of unsweetened tea with a packet of Equal (not my preferred choice of sweetner but all they had). Throughout the day, I probably drank 2 more cups of water and that's it.. which was bad. We finally got home, took a shower and called it a day. Only ate 390 calories yesterday.

Only twice yesterday was I tempted but both times only for a moment. As we were leaving the stadium, I got a whiff of funnel cakes and I wanted one so bad but that quickly went away as we kept walking. Then at Johnny Rockets, the smell of all those burgers almost did me in but I stayed focused and strong.

Woke up to a 1.2 lb loss! I hope it sticks.

I feel amazing today. It just keeps getting better. No headaches, no hunger, no cravings. I feel a lot stronger today too.

I've started talking a multi-vitamin today and continuing my potassium daily.

I'm just chilling today :)
Ate lunch - same as yesterday.
Dinner will be steak that my husband grilled this afternoon.

Back to work tomorrow.. bleh.
Hoping for some great releases this week.

Total lost since starting this protocol = 10.4 lbs!
I'm thrilled.

Until next time..

-Diana

VLCD #5

2010-08-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!

Down 0.2 today.
I think I messed up last night.

I made a delicious steak & cabbage soup but I overdid it with the seasoning/salt so I think I'm retaining water today BUT I feel awesome. Best I've felt all week.

No hunger. No cravings. No headache. Not as tired today as I have been earlier this week. Just a good day all around.

The soup was just thinly sliced steak, water, cabbage and seasoning.

I've been adding a couple of drops of Tapatio Hot Sauce to my food (its just spices and vinegar) so I hope that's ok. Next time I make the soup, I'm not going to put any salt/seasoning and just a few drops of the hot sauce instead. It was soo good and really filling. I didn't end up eating my fruit last night.

Today I had steak, cucumber & grissini for lunch.
Snack will be an apple.
Dinner will be a chicken and tomato soup + grissini.
Dessert will be strawberries.

I need to plan out my meals for next week so we can go shopping and cook tomorrow. Sunday we are heading to the Harvest Crusade so I need to figure out my food for that whole day too.

Until next time.. Happy Releasing!

-Diana

VLCD #4

2010-08-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Bleh.

Feeling kinda meh today. My body feels ok, tired easily, but otherwise ok. My brain is just in a mood so my son and husband better stay clear.

I went to bed way too late last night, old habits die hard.
Woke up at 9am and weighed myself.
+0.2
Drank a glass of water and went back to bed for 3 more hours.
Weighed myself and I had a loss of 1 pound.

I didn't take my first dose until 2:45.
Didn't start drinking water until 3pm.
It's now almost 4pm and I need to eat something.

Late start for everything.

I need to try better for tomorrow.

Until next time..

-Diana

VLCD #3

2010-08-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

I wish I could wake up every day feeling like I do today.

First of all, the scale is now my friend:

Down 4.8 lbs this morning from my loading weight
and 4.2 from my preloading weight.
So that's a total of 7.2 lbs in just 2 days!

I couldn't be happier. Let's hope it keeps up for awhile
(or until I lose all this weight!).

Let's see...

Today's meals will be pretty much like the last 2 days. I wanted to keep things really simple for my first week. Grilled Chicken/Steak, Cucumber/Lettuce/Radishes or Celery (2 and never the same) and Orange/Apple or Strawberries (2 and never the same). Plus my 2 Grissini a day. No suppliments yet but I have been taking 1 Aleeve a day for headaches. I am following protocol but have not changed my deodorant, facial moisturizer, shampoo/conditioner, make-up or bodywash. I did change my toothpaste to Tom's - the kids strawberry one - and I hate it. It makes me want to gag and doesn't make my mouth feel clean so I need to find a cinnamon version.

I made the Orange Smoothie last night and it was SO good. Tasted like an Orange Julius. I was skeptical, I'm really picky about how my food tastes. I wouldn't recommend it if it didn't really taste good :)

Orange Smoothie
1 Orange (peeled and cubed) - I only used 1/2
1/4 cup of Water
1 Tbsp. 2% Milk
1 cup of crushed Ice
1 tsp vanilla extract
Sweetener to taste

Blend it all with a hand wand mixer and enjoy!

I'm silly and like for my treats to feel special so I drank mine from a champange flute and I refilled it TWICE with just a 1/2 of an orange. The original recipe says to use a whole orange though. I plan on using Sugar Free Torani's Vanilla Syrup, in place of the vanilla extract and sweetener, the next time I make this. I will take pictures next time too.. I was just too excited to drink it that I forgot!

I'm focused on drinking at least 96oz of water per day but ended up drinking 128oz yesterday!

I need to go eat lunch now.

Until next time ..

-Diana

Very Low Calorie Day #2

2010-08-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

Wow.

Woke up to a 3 lb loss staring back at me from my worst enemy.. the scale.

Thrilled!

Last night was hard. I've spent the last 25 years as a night time snacker so my stomach was pretty pissed off last night when 10:30pm hit and I wasn't stuffing some sugar laced carb inducing junk into my mouth. I had my apple "dessert" at about 9pm. It was delicious. Then from 10:30pm until I put myself to bed, my stomach was yelling at me. Normally I'm up until 2-3am unless I have to work early in the morning (which I did not have to do today) but last night I went to bed at midnight because the voices in my head did not have my best interest in mind.

I thought I would wake up shaking (low blood sugar) and starving. I woke up to neither. I also woke up at 8:30am which is rare for a non-working day. Did my morning routine (brush teeth with Tom's strawberry toothpaste.. which I hate by the way, potty, scale, water). Then I did my first hHCG for the day at 9am (13 drops).

I'm working on my water right now and will eat lunch at about 1pm. I'm going to eat the same lunch as yesterday (grilled chicken breast, cucumbers, grissini). I'll have an orange smoothie for snack later today (I will post the recipe when I find it). Dinner will basically be the same as yesterday (steak, lettuce, lime juice) and my "dessert" will be strawberries with 1/4 tsp of Splenda.

I did manage to drink 96oz of water yesterday and I spent a good portion of my day going to the bathroom as a result.

My blood sugars were 260 last night and 216 this morning. Still WAY too high but I'm working on bringing them down.

I'm still in shock that I lost 3 lbs. I better not get used to this or I'll be so disappointed when the scale stalls for a few days - which I know WILL happen at some point.

Thanks for reading..and Happy Releasing!

-Diana

My FitDay Log

And so the journey begins...

2010-08-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

I'm going to apologize now for this VERY long post. I'm putting 3 days worth into one entry. Future entries should be shorter. But I can't promise because I tend to be long winded.

Today is VLCD1 (Very Low Calorie Day #1). I spent the weekend loading up on junk but not as much junk as I was supposed to.. oh well, live and learn. Hopefully it doesn't come back to bite me this week. I will do better on my next round.

Rewind.

Saturday was Loading Day #1.
Dosed at about 11am.
Breakfast at 11:30am:
Bacon & mayo on a butter croissant + water.

Headed out with my husband, son and his girlfriend for a day "out" enjoying some of the foods I'm going to be giving up for a very long time. Headed to Victoria Gardens, which is a nice outdoor shopping center. My mission: to eat at Lucille's BBQ, my FAVORITE restaurant. I wanted biscuits with honey butter and tri tip.

As we were being seated (it was about 3pm by this time), I headed to the bathroom to take my next dose. It's very weird to go into a public bathroom and stand in front of a mirror, putting drugs under your tongue, while strangers come and go while staring at you. I rushed and went back to the table with the hHCG still under my tongue. Of course, this was when the waiter decides to come and take our drink order and I'm shaking my head like a mute when he gets to me. You'd think my family would have figured out and ordered me a water, but apparently they are slow.

Ate a delicious meal at about 3:45pm:
Tri Tip with mop sauce
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Mac-n-cheese
3 Biscuits with honey butter
Water

I ended up taking half of my meal home, which was surprising because I normally would have finished it off and had room for dessert.

We walked around the shopping center for awhile and ended up at The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I got some divinity and walnut fudge plus a glass of fruit punch icy. It was soo good. Then we went to the movies to see "Salt" and you can't go to the movies without having buttered popcorn with a Coke Zero - which I shared with my husband.

By Sunday morning, I was up .2 of a pound. w00t! First time in my life where I'm happy to gain. Go figure.

Hubby and I had planned to stop for a treat of donuts and milk for breakfast on the way to church so I dosed at about 8:00am then we hit up the donut shop. I grabbed a maple bar and a devils food with nuts plus a large milk. Hubby is the health freak in the family and of course skipped the sweet stuff and got a ham and cheese croissant with coffee. Then we went to church. It was a great service, by the way..but then I'm blessed to attend Greg Laurie's church and he is the best pastor EVER.

Got home at about 1pm. Made homemade guacamole to enjoy with our favorite tortilla chips (we call them crack chips). Hubby fired up the grill for some carne asada and to cook my food for the week. Dosed at 3pm. Ate lunch/dinner at 3:45pm:
Carne asada
2 spoons of refried beans
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Mexican Cheese
3 corn tortillas
Water

I was so tired that I took a nap, until 7:50pm! Woke up just in time for Big Brother :) On the way home from church, we stopped at The Cheesecake Factory to pick up dessert and while watching BB, we enjoyed our treat. Mine was Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake and it was the BOMB with heavy whipped cream on the side.

I dosed again at 11pm and at 11:30pm I had my last "free" meal - a plate with chopped up steak, guacamole and a small cup of rice pudding.

Woke up this morning to a gain of .4 of a pound so total gained from my loading days was .6 of a pound. Not exactly something to brag about when others are gaining whole pounds.

So we're back to today VLCD #1.

Dosed at 11:00am (13 drops)
Ate lunch at 12noon:
3.7 oz of grilled chicken breast strips with Sugar Free Monterrey Chicken Seasoning and Red Pepper Flakes. 4 oz of cucumber and 1 garlic grissini.
I dosed again at 3pm. (13 drops)
Ate my snack: 4oz of strawberries with 1/4 teaspoon Splenda
I've been drinking my water like crazy and had 64oz down by 5pm.

I will dose again later tonight and will probably eat dinner in about an hour at 6:30pm.

Dinner will be:
2.5 oz of cooked sirloin steak with SF (sugar free) steak seasoning.
2 cups of iceberg lettuce
1/4 a lime squeezed on top

Dessert later will be:
1 apple sliced with cinnamon and splenda and crumbled up grissini then nuked.

I have not been hungry today but my stomach has been growling. I really hope tomorrow is a good day. One great thing is - I've been dealing with a headache for a couple of weeks and today it was gone :)

I'm not going to post my starting weight and goal weights, etc. on here for now. I will just state how much I've lost or gained. That may change in time.

Until tomorrow.. Happy Releasing!

-Diana