Long Weekend

It's Friday January 27th and I have a 3 day weekend. Yay for me. I have lots to do. I'm up early and ready to go. The one thing I vow NOT to do is obsess over this HCG diet. I haven't gotten on the scale this morning. After yesterdays gain, I'm not real anxious about it.

My favorite little Blue Jay, who I've name "Blue", (I know, not very creative for the creative type like me), is sitting outside my bedroom window. As he does every morning. Sometimes he stares right in at me. Other times he shows off on the branch and turns to see if I'm watching. My little guardian bird. He gives me inspiration every day to keep moving along.

I need to run to the store, do a little housework and get some work done on the e-stores. I have been neglecting them horribly.

Now, as afar as the diet goes, I need to do some ab-work. Seems the only place that I am not losing is my waist (or lack of it). I also need to take in some jeans.

I can honestly say that the one thing that I don't like about the HCG Diet Protocol is the fact that you CAN"T work out. I know this seems odd. This would appear to be the perfect diet. Lose alot of weight and don't work out. But I am frustrated by not being able to work out. It really goes against the grain of years of dieting and research. Can't wait until Phase 4. I want to sweat!

Be back later for the menu and stats for the day.

Snack: apple, protein juice
Lunch: roast beed lettuce leaves, asparagus
Snack:
Dinner:

Why am I slowing down so much?

Day 17 of Phase 2 of the HCG diet and only down .6....grrrrrr. However, I did work out yesterday and historically, I gain the day after I work out. Could that be it? Am I slowing to a snails pace? It's very frustrating to restrict yourself so much that all you get is a .2 loss. I'm beginning to wonder if I will reach my goal. I still have 25 days to go. I'm sure that if I do another round, I will follow the 800cal program. I really think that 500 is too low for my body weight.

Yesterday I was not feeling well. I ended up leaving work early because I had a fever. I feel the same this morning. I may go ahead and take some more pictures of myself today.

I need to break out the sewing machine and take in some pants. I tried on smaller jeans. They fit in the belly, but swallowing me in the butt and legs. Just my body type I guess. I've never had hips. Sort of straight up and down, even when I was thinner.

There are 2 other girls at work that are starting the program today. I enjoy that forums and facebook pages I belong to, but it will be nice to have someone in the flesh to talk to and compare notes with.

I have a follow-up doctors appointment on the 31st. I would really love to be down 25 by then. I'm still obsessing about the diet a bit. I really need to back down and just go about my day.

It's very early so I don't have a clue about todays menu.

Menu for the day:
Snack: apple w/ cinnamon, protein juice
Lunch: Onion Crusted veal cube steak, cabbage
Snack: Orange
Dinner: Crab/shrimp ceviche over micro greens salad

I also decided to do a Detox bath. How? You assk?

Fill the tub with the hottest water you can stand.
1c epsom salt
1c sea salt
2c baking soda

Soak for at least 40 minutes and make sure to drink cool water while you are in the bath. You will sweat alot. I started with the water kind of low and kept addin hot water to keep the temp up.
Felt wonderful afterwards.

On the Right Side of the Hill Again

Good morning. It's day 16 of the HCG Diet, Phase 2 VLCD. I back on the right side of the hill again. After a .4lb gain yesterday, I am down 1.3 today. Total loss so far, 21 pounds.  I'm going to work out again today, so I will pay close attention to the weight loss/gain tomorrow morning. I was feeling a little constipated so I drank the smooth move tea last night before bed. I didn't quite work the way I thought it would.

Yesterday I decided to try on a pair of smaller jeans and they fit! whoohooo. I have clothes in storage that are smaller. I'm heading to the shed today to see what I can find.

I'm also going to try my miracle noodles today at some point. Need to find some recipes. They say there is an art to cooking them.

Not a clue what the menu for the day is. Maybe roast beef and fish. Not sure yet.

Menu for the day:

Snack: apple, protein juice
Lunch: lean turkey burger, mexican style tomatoes with miracle noodles
Snack: Orange
Dinner: Roast beef lettuce wraps (yes I'm addicted to them), sauteed spinach w onions, grissini

The miracle noodles are the bomb. I rinsed them thouroughly, them put them in a dry frypan on high to get the excess water out  and then put them into the tomatoes. Slightly chewy, but not bad. Sure does fool the eye. And I need the fiber. We'll see what the scale says tomorrow.

I also worked out for 20 minutes today. In the past, the next day brings a stall or gain. Keeping track!

Phase 2 Day 15 and Ridin' The Rollercoaster

After a 1.3 lb loss yesterday, I am up .4 this morning. grrrrrrrr.

I did work out yesterday, probably harder than I should have. So I went back to all of my logs, weight, activity, foods. I did find an interesting correlation. On the mornings after the day I worked out, my loss was miniscule or I gained. So I went looking for answers. I found an interesting article on water retention in muscles after working out. Could this be the culprit? I reviewed my foods and everything was the same. I stayed within the calorie range and even left out one of my wasa allowances.

I'm not saying this is the reason, just assumptions is based on my own statistics. We'll see what happens in the morning.

I'm curious to see if I've lost inches, well, I know I've lost some, but how much? I will reserve that for when I go back to the doctors on the 28th of this month, my 3 week check-up.

Back to the store today for some of that yummy roast beef. I need lettuce, spinach, cabbage and lettuce too.

Back later for the menu.

Lunch:Roast beef lettuce wraps w/ horseradish mustard, radish chips, grissini
Snack: Orange, protein juice
Dinner: Curry shrimp and cabbage
Snack: Apple

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

Phase 2 Day 12 and I Gained

I'm not real happy this morning. I woke up this am hoping to be as close to a 20 pound total loss as possible. But when I stepped on the scale, I was UP .4. WHAT? There's just no way. I was POP (Perfectly on Protocol) and even burned some extra calories. I have a sad face on today. But I will not be discouraged. After reading tons of information, I keep seeing this Whoooosh Effect. What is that you say?
Well, apparently, when your body starts to burn the fat, the fat is released from the cells, leaviong them deflated. Until your body realizes that the fat is not coming back, it temporarily fills them with water. Then, when your body has decided that the fat really isn't coming back, it will all of a sudden release the water in the cells....giving you a big release of water, hence, the Whooosh!
This could be it, could be a stall, who knows. I have stayed on protocol and will just wait it out.

No work for me today. Hitting the grocery store for a few things. I have seen that Wasa crackers are allowed along with the melba toast and grissini breadsticks. I'm going to pick up some of them to have some variety. And I'm also going to pick up some boars head roast beef. Lean steak is tough and I have a hard time digesting it. So I figure roast beef is a good option and Boars Head has not msg, sugar, addtitives. There is another brand Dietz and Watson that is the same as Boars Head.

I went shopping and found this scale from Emerson. I already tried it and it's so much easier than the manual one. On the maual scale, you have to eyeball the line so I believe this will be more accurate.

Got the Wasa crasckers, 2 different types and the roast beef. I am in love with Winn-Dixie Brand horseradish brown mustard, O carbs, no oil and yummmmy. I also found a habanero mustard (also legal) very spicy. I bought a few other spices too. With only using 2 ingredients to cook with, I figue that is the best way to change the flavor.

I saw a recipe for roasted radish chips. Sliced thin, spiced and put in a low oven til crispy. Cant wait.

I am also making the apple cinnamon chips, sliced apple, cinnamon and 1 packet truvia. Slow low oven (kind of like dehydrating them)

Menu for the day:

Lunch: Roast beef lettuce wraps with horseradish mustard and radish chips

Snack: apple chips

Dinner: Shrimp, cabbage, wasa

Snack: strawberries  didn't fel like eating them

Thought I would share my lunch.

 I overcooked the radish chips a little, but they are still tasty!

That meal right there is only 175 calories!

Slowing Down



I woke up this morning really hoping to meet my mini goal. But I only lost .6lbs, so I'm .6 short of 14 pounds. But it's still 13.4 pounds lost in a week. How cool is that? I do feel a little "clogged up" this morning. Normal according to everything I've read. I really don't think that I am eating a large enough portion of vegetables. That could be the cause of my slow "movements".
I think there is a lot of confusion as to the vegetables. Even with my own doctors plan, the veggie serving size is not specified. I've seen many different theories on it.
a claw size handful
a cup
4 oz
enough to fill the gap on calories and bring the total to 500.

I must do more research. -------->The majority of the sites I visited  said to eat enough to fill the calorie gap, so that's what I'm going for. 

Alrighty then..moving on

The menu for the day
Lunch: Shrimp, spinach, melba
Snack: Strawberries
Dinner: Chicken, asparagus, breadstick
Snack: 1/2 Grapefruit

Need to hit the grocery store for some more fruits and veggies.