HCG Diet Round 4 Phase 2 Day 14

Good morning. 2 weeks in on this round. I notice that I am not so obsessed with the scale. I think this is because I am working out and know that muscle weighs more than fat. I am still very, very sore after Mondays first bootcamp class. My upper body is fine, but my lower body is killing me. I would have thought it would have been opposite since I have been running, riding the bike and climbing stadium stairs.  I even did a epsom salt soak last night and took some anti-inflamatories. It still feels like someone hit me in the thighs with a baseball bat.

It has been storming all night. So bad that the thunder was shaking my house. I don't know if there will be a class today or not. If there is, I will just have to take it easy.

I blew it as far as the diet last night, had some sushi. The rice was the bad part. Oh well, back on the wagon today.

I'm a little afraid of the scale this morning for 2 reasons. The obvious, the sushi, soy sauce and rice. The second, the inflamation in the muscles. When you workout, and your muscles are sore, they retain fluid in order to help repair them. So I may have added water weight from that.

I have to say though, I have always weighed more than I look like I weigh. It's a family genetic thing. My brother and sister are the same way. We are inherently very muscular body types. Yesterday, while getting ready for work, I decided to try on the size 10's I bought. Guesss what. They fit....loosely.

My goal on this journey has been two-fold
1) To look better and feel better about myself. I wanted to lose 100lbs or fit into a size 8. Well. I have lost just over 70lbs, still weigh in the 180's and am wearing a size 10.
2) To reverse my type II diabetes. Which I am proud to say that I have done. I no longer take any medication and my A1C is within normal range.



2

Health Benefits of the HCG Eating Plan

Good morning. Today is Thursday, February 9th, 2012. Day 31 of the VLCD HCG Diet Phase 2.
What will the scale show today? Well I'm going to tell you. Wait for it.......

Down 2lbs today...total loss 31.2

I'm chugging along. Feeling good about staying POP (perfectly on protocol) during my outing to the mall. I found that I am not as obsessed with the diet as I was in the first 3 weeks. I'm not saying that I'm not into it anymore, just saying that I have become more comfortable with it.

I have even decided that after my son leaves, I am going to gather  up all the carbs in the pantry and donate them. O temptation at home. I really want to make this way of eating (notice I didn't say diet) my way of life. I shouldn't be eating wheat products anyway as I was diagnosed with Celiac disease a few years ago.

Celiac (SEE-lee-ak) disease is a digestive condition triggered by consumption of the protein gluten, which is primarily found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and many other foods containing wheat, barley or rye. People with celiac disease who eat foods containing gluten experience an immune reaction in their small intestines, causing damage to the inner surface of the small intestine and an inability to absorb certain nutrients.

For years, I thought I was doing the right things by eating whole wheat everything, bread, pasta, crackers. Little did I know that I was literally killing myself.

So this for life way of eating will help me in more ways than one.

The food plan has already allowed me to cut my TYPE 2 Diabetes medication in half. My blood sugar is within the NON-diabetic normal range every time I check it.
Luckily, I have never had high blood pressure, but I have read testimonials by folks that they are off of their medication and their blood pressure is back within the normal range.

Some people have told of less joint pain, and extremity swelling. Mostly due to less weight, therefore less strain on the joints.

So there are many positive benefits of the HCG mainteance food plan.

Todays Menu

Lunch: roast beef lettuce wraps, apple cabbage slaw (1/2 apple)
Dinner: Asian marinated chicken breast with grilled white onion and cucumber salad

Falling Again

It's day 13 on phase 2 of the HCG Diet. I was nervous about getting on the scale this morning after my .4lb gain yesterday. But I did, and lost 1.4lbs. So got rid of the gain and lost another pound for a total of 18.8 pounds. That's great, but sure would like to see bigger losses. Yes, I know it slows down, and I know that even 1 pound a day is alot. I will keep moving forward.

Here's the graph of my weighloss so far. Looks pretty good from this view.

Because I am so big and have so much to lose, it will take a while for me to see changes in my clothes. Just wish it would go ahead and happen.
I said before, that my morning blood sugar levels have plummeted, which is good for me. Well under 100 in the am. I have decided to cut my diabetes medication in half and see if my sugar still stays low.
I took it after my evening meal, 2 hours and it was still 97. So this diet has definitely had a positive side affect on my health.  Wouldn't it be great if I could get off the medication for good?

I am going to do some walking today and I really do need to do some ab exercises and stretching.

I have to admit that I have been a bit obsessed with the diet, making sure that I do it right. At this point, almost 2 weeks into it, I think I have this down. Now I can get back to my everyday activities. My jewelry designing has taken a bit of a back seat to the diet. I need to jump back into that.

I'll be back once I decide the menu for the day.

I just made myself the most scrumptpus apple crisp.
1 apple cored and chopped (leave the skin on, it's good fiber),
2 tbsp water
1 truvia packet
1 coarsely crushed grissini
quick squeeze of lemon juice in a microwavable bowl covered loosely.
Microwave for 5 min on high, drizzle with a few drops of emglish toffee stevia drops.
OMG carmel apple crisp.
*If I had used wasa, I would have gottn more crisp. And if this were done in the oven, the grissini probably would have been crispier. I probably could have done without the Truvia packet. The english toffee stevia was an afterthought*

Menu
Snack: apple crisp w grissini
Lunch: Fajita seasoned sauteed roast beef and a little onion, on bed of lettuce
Snack:???
Dinner: Fishcake, (tilapia, wasa, celery, spices) spinach

Here's Dinner

Buh-Bye 10 Pounds

I did it! The first 10+ pounds have bitten the dust. 5 full days, 120 hours and I have lost 10.9 pounds. Wowza!

Doing the Happy Dance!

I know it doesn't seem like much in the overall picture, I have 100lbs to lose. BUT, baby steps. Smaller goals are better and easier to achieve. What a great boost and week one isn't even over. I'm going for 14lbs by Monday morning. That only  3.1 lbs, 1.55 per day each of the next 2 days. I CAN DO IT!!!

I am going to experiment today. Leave out one of my fruits, add extra protein. I really don't want to lose any muscle mass. What's a half a grapefruit anyway?

I have also noticed a drop in my fasting blood sugar in the am. It was normal today and has gone down consistently since the onset of the diet.

I did add acidophilous (to maintain a healthy intestinal tract and aid digestion) and biotin (for hair and nails) to my supplements. A friend of mine had gastric bypass and use biotin to thwart hair loss from lack of added fat in the diet.

I didn't sleep very well last night and I have read on several forums that this is an issue. It was just too late to take my sleeping pill because I had to get up early this morning and didn't want to feel groggy.

Not sure what the menu will be today. I'll be back later to update.

Menu for the day

Lunch: shrimp, asparagus, breadstick

Snack: apple

Dinner: chicken, spinach, melba

Snack: protein juice

Difficult day today. Family was going to go out to dinner, I was going to stay home to avoid the torture. Then they decided that they would just rather order pizza. The wafting aromas killed me. But I held firm. Proud of myself for that. Hopefully the scale will reward me in the am. Family is gone and I hope that I can get some decent sleep tonight.

Til' tomorrow~~~~

My Goals

I guess this is a good time to discuss my goals for the 42 day HCG Protocol. I am currently wearing size 22 pants and 22-24 blouse. I am not expecting miracles, but I would love to be able to get down to at least a comfortable size 18. My ultimate goal....a single digit jean size. I know I will lose something. I have vowed that, as soon as a pair of pants or shirt is loose on me, it will go into a bag. When it is all said and done, all of it (except for one pair to use as a reminder) will be burned in a ceremonial fashion. 

Weight loss goal would be 35 pounds.  If I lose more.....that would be awesome.
I really am focused more on size, then weight. I have always weighed more than I looked. In this photo, I was 174 pounds, working out at a grunt gym 5 days a week and wearing a size 12.

So my focus is size, not weight. In fact, I have a pair of size 8 jeans hanging on the outside of my closet door. Just to remind me of where I want to be.

And the most important goal of all is my health. My mother and grandfather both had diabetes. I am a type 2 diabetic currently taking oral medication. Type 2 diabetes is lifestyle related and can almost always be reversed with lifestyle changes.

By reducing stress, eating heathy and moderate exercise will almost certainly reverse this condition. I have already reduced my stress by 1/3. Tomorrow I will begin the weightloss portion and during the maintenance phase, I will get back to exercising, hard.

I have found a great tracker. I have used it in the past. It's free and very easy to use. FitDay.com It tracks your foods, calories, nutrients, carbs, protein, fats, weight goals, everything. It's great. You can print your reports out to put in a binder, show your doctor, etc. check it out.