day 28 on hhcg, day 25 on vlcd

february 23, 2010: weighed 169.3
february 24, 2010: weighed 168.9
february 25, 2010: weighed 168.7
february 26, 2010: weighed 167.8
february 27, 2010: ???
february 28, 2010: weighed 167.6
total weight lost: 18.7 pounds

moral of the story..............cheating on hcg did not jump start my losing back. i gained 1.8 from eating things that i didn't even enjoy at the time and it took me 5 days to lose 1.8 pounds! how sad!

i started taking adrenal supports and probiotics which hasn't done very much for me either. what i have decided is that my body is done giving up the fat at this point. i have 15 days left to reach my 43 days (3 of that coming off of hcg and still doing the vlcd) and i am going to stick with it. every ounce counts and if i lose 1.8 times every five days then i will have lost 5.4 more pounds. i will take that!

my next round will only be 23 days...........i hope that will be enough!

day 22 on hhcg, day 19 on vlcd

february 22, 2010: weighed 167.6

thats right folks, no lose today! my husband pointed out that i have only lost 3 pds last week! i did not sign up to lose 3 pounds, i can do that on my medifast! so, i called the drs to ask for the miracle cure for why i have stalled so bad this last week. it is now 233 my time, 333 their time and i have yet to hear from them! my friends are feeling the same as i........what is the answer?

i took things into my own hands, whether it be right or not.............i went and ate 2 grilled cheese sandwiches, 3 piece ckn tender w. honey mustard, and a big mac! (can you believe that?).....it didn't taste as good as i remember it to have at one time! really starchy! no, i wasn't hungry.....my hhcg is working in that area. i thought that maybe my system needed a kick in the pants to get moving again! so there it is...............we will see what the out come is in the morning! whats for sure is that my system did not like it very well. the minute i hit the door step, i had to go straight to the bathroom! i have 18 more days til im at my 40 day mark and i can not go by losing a couple of ounces a day! bottom line!



UPDATE:

so now it is 500 here..............i spoke with dr crook about 430................i told him my situation. he first asked if i had a yeast infection, i told him no, he said that sometimes that can slow down your body. he then asked if i was eating oranges or tomato's, i told him no and that i was eating a grissinni bread stick every 3 or so days (all of that can slow down your weight loss). he asked if i was eating all of my foods of which i am. he asked how many drops i was using, i told him 45. he then told me that i should start taking probiotics and drenamin. that is adrenal gland support and will help with absorption. i then told him that i had lost 30 pounds since january 1 and asked if my body might need a break. he said if the drenamin doesn't work then it is time for a break. he said sometimes the body will not let go of stored fat with such high weight loss in a short period of time. i can live with that. i have decided to give it until sunday and re-evaluate where i am and then if no progress has been made i will go into maintenance until april 12, 2010 and pray i can get the remaining weight off by my goal date of june 2.

day 21 on hhcg, day 18 on vlcd

february 21, 2010: weighed 167.6

I AM SO TIRED OF ONLY LOSING .2!!!!! what is the issue? i can not do another 19 days with only losing .2!!!!

total pounds lost to date on hhcg: 18.7 pounds

day 20 on hhcg, day 17 on vlcd

february 20, 2010: weighed 167.8

yesterday i decided to do an apple day to make sure that i had gotten over my plateau........an apple day is where you start at lunch and end right before lunch the next day and all you eat is apples. you can have a max of 6 apples and only water to quench a terrible thirst. so, i had 2 apples yesterday and a couple of sips of water. can i tell you how cranky i was...........talking about anxiety! i felt like my insides were slowly trying to squeeze their way out of my body! i had to lay down and take a nap about 230 because i was so agitated!

the result to my day of agitation: -.9. i will take that! i guess that my plateau is broken. 2 pds in 2 days is pretty good! i am so thirsty...............i just want to drink, drink, drink.

the scary thing is, i stood on my wii scale this morning and it said i gained 3.3 pds! WHAT! i about had a heart attack! when i stood on it again, it was back to normal. joseph changed the batteries and all was well!

moral of the story, don't play with a dieting woman's emotions! that is not good!

day 19 on hhcg, day 16 on vlcd

february 19, 2010: weighed 168.7
total weight lose: 17.6

yes, my friends, it is a small victory in my world...........i lost 1.1! is the plateau broken? not sure yet. my last attempt came at about 11:00 last night (i should have been in bed, i know). i pulled out the "smooth move herbal tea" because i haven't had a bowel movement in about 4 days. the tea worked a bit this morning but getting it down last night was a pure act of congress! IT IS NASTY!!! that is all i have to say about that!

when i weighed myself on the wii, my mii person had a celebration because i went from the overweight category to the normal category with my bmi! i am officially normal with my weight! i think the last time i was in the 160's was when i was pregnant with gracie about 8 1/2 yrs ago! i am happy with that!

today, i have a little extra boost to get me through!

day 18 on hhcg, day 15 on vlcd

february 17, 2010: weighed 170.2
february 18, 2010: weighed 169.8

ok, so here we are........i have lost .6 in the last 3 days! sooooooo discouraging for me! i'll tell you one thing, when the scale doesn't move first thing in the morning, it is hard to stay on track! i started thinking, what can i eat and when can i get to it and eat it the fastest? can we just say that is considered EMOTIONAL EATING my friends? no, i didn't cave but was so very tempted! i have hashed it out with my friends who are doing the diet, i have read and re-read the "bible" of this diet, i have talked with my sister who has friends doing this diet, and i even called the dr's office this morning to see if this is considered a plateau.........i have been reviewing and re-reviewing everything i have done over the past 3 days.............

*the drs office told me that in the middle of the diet that most people do plateau and that that is not uncommon. i was told to up my drops by 5 and if i wanted to try an apple day then i could. i asked if the apple day will re-start the weight lose and they said it would.

*the book says that if you still haven't lost a significant amount of weight by the 4th day then to do the apple day. it also says that the apple day is fully psychological and that your body will re-set itself with or without it.

*i have reviewed everything that i have eaten and touched (product wise) and there is nothing that stands out.

*i am being "INTENTIONAL" as the book states..............if i do not lose in the morning, i will have a stroke and then do my apple day!

so there it is in a nut shell...............i'm barely hanging on. i will not cheat and i will not stop doing this until day 40. that leaves me 22 days to at least lose 9.8 pounds.....no pressure right?

to a better tomorrow................

day 16 on hhcg, day 13 on vlcd.......

february 15: weighed 170.4
february 16: weighed 170.4

yes, those numbers are the same and i am not pleased! i'm trying to figure out why i have stalled today...........i am so close to that next set of 10's i can taste it! it is frustrating not to see the scale move DOWN!

what did i do different? i had an orange yesterday for breakfast.........i have read that oranges are one of those items that slow you down. i had lobster for the second day in a row? i started walking on the the treadmill twice a day, burning about 210 cal each time. i wonder if my body is stalling because it feels like it is starvation mode because i am burning about as much as i am taking in?

the funny thing is, this morning before i even weighed myself, i could tell i hadn't lost anything. i had an apple for breakfast. that is as far as i have gotten.

joseph lost another pound this morning. he is down 20 pounds on hhcg! he was a little disappointed that he only lost a pound. yesterday, we both lost 1.8 and he was not pleased with that either............i'm pleased with anything!!!!

tomorrow is a new day!

14 days on the drops, 11 days on vlcd

february 14, 2010: weighed 172.2

the kicker is this......joseph decided yesterday that he was going to do the diet to the T! he even walked on the treadmill for an hour or so. he said he wanted to at least drop 5 pounds by today............yes, i said 5 POUNDS! that man got on the scale this morning and lost 6.3!!!! i am sick about that! what do i do with him! he lacks .7 from where he was a week ago and will lose that plus some tomorrow morning at weigh in! not me..............i feel like i can barely get a pound a day!

i started my drops back this morning.............

i've decided that i am going to do some moderate walking on my treadmill for 30 min twice a day beginning today. the drs recommend that on the hhcg and say you can lose up to 2 inches more a day if you do it! we will see!

my sister-in-law started last week and is doing really well! my brother starts tomorrow.........my mom and dad have decided to take the plunge as well! my sister is thinking about it, so we will see! i am so excited for my family! no one will recognize us come christmas! lol!

another perk that i read for the hundredth time and it didn't stick out until now is that on the hhcg, you can do maintenance for 3 weeks and get right back on the drops. between the 2nd and 3rd cycle you wait 4 weeks! on regular hcg you have to wait 6 weeks before doing cycle 2 and then between cycle 2 and 3, you have to wait 9 or 12 weeks (i can't remember right now)! i'll take it!

still not feeling good! oh yea, happy valentines day..................

measurements..............

well, i just did my two week measurements a day early and i have lost 20 3/4 inches total! i am pleased with that!

february 13, 2010: weighed 173.5

i am not feeling good at all today! i have had a strawberry slushy and that is it but food is really the furthest thing from my mind with the way i am feeling today.............i even went to bed at 8:30 pm last night because this menstrual thing does me in the first couple of days.

not much to report, other than that.

uggggg!

this morning i woke up and weighed myself and only lost .2.............yes, i said .2!!! not pleased! i did start my period (may be too much info for some people) yesterday so i am going to just chalk it up to that. i did not take my hcg today and will not take it tomorrow (in the manuscript it says for women to not take it for at least 2 days of their menstrual cycle). i hope i am not starving by sunday!

february 12, 2010: weighed 174.4

today i have eaten an apple and a melba toast............i did take a bit of the pizza hut cheese crust pizza that my husband ordered for the kids and that i have such a hard time resisting. i chewed it and chewed it and chewed it and then i spit it all out!!! that is so sad! i could devour the whole thing right now.........grease and cheese sound good to me! i will make it though! i need to fix some REAL food!

i on the hcg website that i bought the drops from, there is a place where you can ask the drs questions and they will respond to them..........i have really been wondering why i am not registering on the ketostix as burning fat. i called the office yesterday and spoke with a lady and she said that she didn't know very much about the ketostix. i was not satisfied with that answer, so i emailed the drs. just got my answer back:

i asked, "i have friends who are doing hcg injections and who are testing to see if they are burning fat instead of muscle with ketostix. when i have tested, i have always come up negative.....is that normal on hhcg or do i need to be doing something different? i have lost 11.1 pounds in 7 days, so i know that it is working. just wondering.............."

the reply, "not sure why if they are showing positive, you are showing negative. we know that when we've had patients calibrate their body fat percentage and lean body percentage before starting, and measure after, they always lose significant amount of fat percentage, and gain about one percent lean body mass. as long as you are losing and feeling good, keep going, you are burning fat."

so.......................what does all of that mean? i'm still not sure! as long as i am losing i guess i am doing the right things, right?

the results.....so far....

well, i started the hcg protocol on february 1. the first 2 days are referred to as "loading days". you eat anything and everything high in fat like breads, french fries, donuts, etc. while doing the hcg. with the homeopathic drops, i take them 3 times a day, 6 hrs apart, at the same time everyday.

february 1: weighed 181.7

gorging the first 2 days was very hard. any other time i could have stuffed my face and not thought a thing about it but for some reason, it was so difficult to do this. however, i ended up doing a third gorge day prior to starting phase 2 i think because i was so worried that this wouldn't work for me. did i make the right decision?

february 2: weighed 183.2
february 3: weighed 185.0
february 4: weighed 186.3
total gain: 4.6 pounds

phase 2, the very low calorie diet (VLCD)= 500 calories a day. this was kindof refreshing after gorging for 3 days. i had an orange smoothie for breakfast, grilled chicken and grilled asparagus for lunch, and grilled shrimp, steamed cabbage with pepper, and 10 medium size strawberries sliced with 2 packs of stevia. i also had a ton of water! that night the headache set in........i thought i was going to die! i went to bed without taking anything thinking that it would go away while i slept....that didn't happen! the next morning i ended up taking aleve! i am sure that the headache came from the lack of caffeine and junk........it didn't go away until day 5! if you can make it through that...you are home free!

february 5: weighed 184.1
february 6: weighed 181.4
february 7: weighed 178.8
february 8: weighed 178.4
february 9: weighed 177.0
february 10: weighed 176.1
february 11: weighed 174.6
total lose: 11.7 pounds

i would say that isn't too shabby for 7 days! i have found that i am not very hungry at all. if i am not hungry i don't eat as much as i would otherwise. i have found that i have stayed home a lot more than normal. i think it is out of fear that i will cheat!!! there are so many good things out there........."nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" right? i feel good, i have energy, i am going to bed at a decent hour and waking up a lot earlier and EASYIER in the morning. my husband, joseph, is doing it with me. he has a difficult time with managing entertaining clients at work with staying on the vlcd. he has lost 10 pounds so far!


i have decided to do 40 days instead of 23. i skipped my first day of hcg yesterday and was glad that that wasn't to bad! today i uped my drops by 5!

so far this is the best choice i have made for myself! i am more concerned about phase 3 now!!! 40 days isn't very long when i think about the weight i could shed! we will see! this diet my not be for everyone...........everyone may not agree with it.......we all have our own opinions! however, it is working for me and i am excited about it! can't wait to see how much i lose and maybe, just maybe, i will be close to my 140 pound goal weight!!!!

ok, so here it is..........

i thought i would create a blog about my newest "tool" in losing weight! a little history......married for 91/2 yrs, mom of 6 kids ages 15mo to 7 yrs (yes, i had 6 kids in 6 yrs---last 2 were twins!) and i decided to challenge myself to lose all of this baby weight that i gained over the past 7 yrs and get back down close to what i was before all of this...........by my 35 birthday, which is june 2! i am 5'11"! i have been dieting on and off since i started having kids....i have done LA weight lose and most recently medifast. both have worked wonderfully! in the month of january on medifast i lost 16 pounds!!! i was thrilled! anyway............enough about all of that!


so, my sister called one day in january and told me about a couple of her girlfriends who were doing this hcg diet.....one is doing the injections and the other is doing homeopathic oral drops. she gave me a website to look at (http://www.hcgmadesimple.com/) and wanted to know my thoughts. i checked it out and then went back to my old resolve that what i am doing is good and i will keep on the same track. not 2 days later, a couple of my girlfriends told me about another friend who had done this hcg diet and they were going to talk to her and see her photos and see what the diet was all about and invited me to go along............how ironic. so we 3 went to see what this was all about................needless to say, she sparked an interest!



i obsessed over trying to figure out if i should try this or keep going with my medifast. i sat on the computer for hours, reading other peoples blogs, looking at hcg websites, and constant phone calls with my friends and my sister! i made the decision..........i was going to try it........23 days, what can it hurt! thank goodness i made the first decision and now the second one was which form of hcg to try.............injections, sublingual, or topical all raw hcg -or- homeopathic hcg. my girlfriends decided to do the raw hcg and mix it and inject it. i was a little nervous about where the hcg was coming from and how to mix it so i decided to try out the homeopathic version. now for the diet!!

i ordered the recommended books
*hcg weight lose cure guide by linda prinster
(considered the "bible" of this diet)

*my hcg tracker by tiffany prinster
(for me to keep track a little better-- note
there is a daily tracker worksheet in the
weight lose cure guide)

*101-worry free hcg diet recipes
(you can also find recipes on line)

*pocket guide to the hcg protocol
(smaller version of the weight lose cure guide)



i ordered the homeopathic hcg















and i bought the necessary "gear"
*george foreman grill


*a mail scale (to weigh food)


*small cup and syringe


*stevia (all natural suger)


*blender

i went to the grocery and loaded up on all of the food that we will need. i weighed it all out to the right proportions and then bagged it all and put it in the fridge and freezer ready for us to pull out and fix.

next step pictures and measurements..........do i dare show?