P2D12

Well last night we had some family in town and grilled burgers.  Since I ate one at lunch, I just had myself some chicken and grilled asparagus, with homemade applesauce.  It was very good, but the fresh watermelon was staring me in the face and I caved.  I had read that watermelon is an okay cheat, because it is so water dense, so I went ahead.  I ended the evening chugging 3 glasses of water and crossing my fingers, but boy did that watermelon taste SWEET!

To my enjoyment, I was down 1.5 Lbs today!  YEAY ME!

This is the 10 pound marker!  Time for a pedi!

And my best friends these days, hot and cold liquid!  You help keep me full!

 

Starting weight:  206.5
Today's Weight:  196.5
Total weight loss: 10 Lbs!

Woke Up: 6:00am
Breakfast: Coffee
HCG:  13 drops
Snack: Hot Tea

HCG: 13 drops at 12:00

Lunch: Chicken and Apple

Snack:  Root Beer (Stevia and Peligrinno)
HCG: 5:30 13 drops
Dinner: Carl's Jr. lettuce wrap burger

Water: so-so prob only 80oz!

Cheats: I know, I know, to much beef, the patty was to big and I wanted it!  Also, licked some PB of my finger, {SIGH}, and too much Wasa Toast.  I'm not buying those again!

P2D11

Yesterday was a pretty good day!  I went out to lunch for a friends birthday.  Panera was able to  make me a salad with only chicken and strawberries, no dressing.  There was an apple on the side which I saved for later!  I also packed my own dressing and all in all, FANTASTIC!  It felt good to eat out with my friends and not be left out of eating=)  The rest of the day was pretty easy.  It was after dinner that I was really craving a cookie.  Those are the times when I find I really need to exit the kitchen and just go somewhere else.  It's to much!

I'm finding some good support sites that I would like to share!  

• This site is called Weight loss Forum and they have discussion boards that are really helpful.  I'm still having an issue with signing up, but just reading what people are saying is good!
• HCG Recipe Club has also been good for giving me ideas about what I'm going to eat!

Luckily, all my will power paid off again.  Down another 1 Lbs this morning!  Not to shabby! 

Starting weight:  206.5
Today's Weight:  198.00
Total weight loss: 8.5Lbs!

Woke Up: 6:00am
Breakfast: Coffee
HCG:  13 drops
Snack:  ice tea
HCG:  13 drop around 12:30
Lunch:  bunless burger
Snack:  warm strawberries with stevia
HCG: FORGOT!
Dinner: Chicken, asparagus, apples
Water: Lots!

Cheats: Watermelon


I wanted to post this picture of my and one of my besties!  This was my wedding day and she and I are on a quest to get back to this point in our lives.  She is starting her own blog about losing weight.  I will share it with you when she gets up and going so you can meet her and see what her story is.

P2D10

I was mortified yesterday when I got on the internet and realized that I wasn't supposed to eat Salmon, so I made sure that I was following protocol yesterday!  I wanted to see those pounds drop off today!
It paid off.  I got on the scale this morning and lost 1 lbs!  

I'M UNDER 200 FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 4 YEARS!

Starting weight:  206.5
Today's Weight:  199.0
Total weight loss: 7.5Lbs!

Woke Up: 6:00am
Breakfast: Coffee
HCG:  13 drops
Snack: Hot Tea
HCG: 11:30 - 13 drops
Lunch: YUMMY Chicken Strawberry Salad with homemade Honey Mustard Dressing
Snack: Root Beer
HCG: 5:30- 13 drops
Dinner:  Lean Beef and roasted Broccoli
Water: Oh Yeah!

Cheats:  Stared to long at another cookie...I think it went into my skin I stared so long.

P2D9

Well, I made a HUGE error on my shopping trip yesteday!  I bought some Salmon for dinner, and it's not an apporved fish right now!!!!  Whayyyyyyy.....

My loss this morning was only .5lbs because of my mistake!  

Shoot shoot shoot.  I knew it tasted to good to be true!  At least it was a loss.  I will stick to protocol today and drink extra water, that should give me a better result tomorrow!

I'm also back on the drops today as TOM has decided to Exit the Building!=)

That's all I have to say for now=( 

Oh, and we ordered a little motivation last week!

Going to see Miranda Lambert in August!  I can't wait!  My goal will be some new boot cut jeans and a good dose of FUN!!!  LOVE THIS GIRL!

P2D8

Starting Weight:  206.5
Today's Weight:  200.5
Total Loss: 6 LBS

Lost another 1.5 lbs!!!!!!  Yahoo.

Dear Lord, I'm inching on seeing below 200 for the first time in 4 years!  That feels wonderful!  I'm already feeling a difference in my clothes.  Not that they are hanging loose yet, but they just fit better and I don't feel like a sausage when I"m in them.  I'ts a great feeling and I'm so encouraged.  I also read a great article today that made me think about this grumbling feeling I have in my stomach.  We usually think it means we are hungry, but I'm looking at it in a whole new way now.  Mine grumbles after I eat, you know why?  I'm metabolizng my food faster!  And that means that the rest of the day, till I eat again, my body is buring my STORED FAT!  So grumble away tummy, I have lots of fat for you to chew on!=)

Woke Up: 7am and ran to the scale
Breakfast: Coffee
HCG:  none
Snack: Wasa cracker and lemon water 
HCG:  none
Lunch:  Asparagus and chicken
Snack: Apple
HCG: none
Dinner: salmon, salad with homemade honey mustard dressing and strawberries!!!!
Water: Lots
Cheats: A couple pieces of extra chicken.

P2D7

Feeling pretty good this morning.  The fact I dropped so many inches yesterday really helped my mental state.  Ok, this thing is working.  I'm looking forward in seeing if my weight loss speeds up when TOM is done.

Lost another 3.5 lbs on the scale this morning!!!

Starting weight:  206.5
Today's Weight:  201.5
Total weight loss: 5 lbs!

Woke Up: 6:30am
Breakfast: Coffee
HCG:  none
Snack:  Lots of Tea
HCG:  none
Lunch:  broccoli and chicken
Snack:  apple and tea
HCG: none
Dinner: protein burger with grilled onions
Water:  LOT'S 
Cheats:  I licked a cookie.  So stupid!
I'm feeling pretty good today.  I was dreading the weekend a little, but it's working out.  I just keep making something to drink when  I can't handle it.  I'm staying out of the kitchen too.  That seems to help!  Hopefully tomorrow brings some movement on the scale.

P2D6

So this is really day 4 of VCLD, just a reminder that the first two days were Loading Days!  Yesterday was my best day of eating.  I had lots and lots of tea, leftover chicken and chili for lunch, an apple, more tea tea tea, and a small lean steak, roasted broccoli and strawberries.  I also bought some Wasa bread at Henery's.  I tried comparing it to the Grissini stick or Melba toast and I think it's pretty much a swap.  40 calories and ZERO fat or sugar.  So, I had one of those as well, very satisfying. 

I got on the scale this morning and.............Down 1 lbs!

Starting Weight: 206.5

Today's Weight:  204

Weight Loss: -2.5lbs

However, since I'm in the fun days of TOM, I'm still wishing I saw better numbers, so the thought occurred to me, measure yourself!

I took my measurements on Monday night, the last night of my load.  I won't divulge all the numbers just yet, BUT, I've lost the following inches:

3, 1/4 inches of the smallest part of my waist!

1, 3/4 inches of the biggest part of my stomach

2 inches from under my bra line
1, 1/4 inches from my right calf
2 inches off my bottom
1, 1/4 off my right thigh

That's a total of 12 1/2 inches!  I haven't measured everything, just some convenient ones!  I'd say I'm pretty pleased with that!  That's only 3 days of VCLD folks!

Woke Up: 6am
Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Tea
HCG:  10 drops at 9:00AM
Snack:  Coffee with Milk and a Wasa Cracker
HCG:  12:00
Lunch:  1:00, took my Mom out to eat=)  We has a protein burger at In-n-Out, it was FANTASTIC!
Snack:  Coffee and Green Tea
HCG: Forgot!
Dinner: Chicken, Strawberry Salad.  YUMMO!
Water: Lost track, but I peed alot!
Cheats:  extra bites of chicken at dinner=(

I felt better today than I have all week.  My HCG buddy, Kelly came by to see me and brought me a green tea.  We talked about diet stuff and it helped keep my mind in it yesterday!  I still find myself needing something around 3:00, I think I'm going to start saving my lunch fruit for that time of the day.  It should help!

P2D5

So yesterday I was feeling very down.  However, today my spirits are lifted and I'm feeling stronger about lasting on this journey, because I SO BADLY want to be at the other end of it!

I got on the scale this morning, and despite my fits with TOM for the past few days, and cheating on (this is so weird), extra veggies and meat yesterday, I didn't have a gain!  Hallelujah!!!!!!! No loss either, but no gain!  Who would have thought that I would be saying cheat and veggie in the same sentence=)  It's a mystery this HCG!

I did get some advice from a fellow dieter that has lost 70lbs on this diet.  She mentioned that when I'm feeling week, just give myself a few more drops!  So I might try that next time.

I'm going to try and experiment with salad dressings this weekend.  I have a few idea's to start with!  Cilantro has a lot of flavor, so we are going to play with that first!

Things I enjoy right now are:

• Good Earth Tea (original)
• Celestial Seasonings Country Peach and Cinnamon Apple Tea
• Coffee with my Tlbs of milk!
• Sparkling water with lemon
• The above mentioned Country Peach Tea is AWESOME iced!
• Smooth Move Tea.  Eventually it should help me have a smooth move, but haven't had one since Monday!

I drink a lot of these as they fill my belly instead of treats!

I thought I would post this picture of me on Father Day.  I HATE how I look.  So it's my reminder to stay FOCUSED!

P2D4

Wow, this is going to be a tough one!  I hope the week gets better!!!!  I'm spotting, so between the cheats yesterday and the obvious TOM, I think it might explain my low loss for yesterday!

Starting Weight: 206
Today's Weight:  205
Total Daily Loss: -.5
Total Overall Loss:  -1 lbs

Woke Up: 6am
Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Tea
HCG:  10 drops at 7:30
Snack:  Peach Tea
HCG:  12:00
Lunch:   Salad from Potluck
Snack:  Gluten Free Cookie
HCG: 5:00
Dinner: Beef tips
Water: 90 oz and counting
Cheats: OH MY GOODNESS, THE WHOLE DAY WAS DISASTERIOUS! 
How I'm Feeling: Today was really frustrating.  I was so hungry yesteday, and I was totally focused on that agian today, and feeling really bad that I couldn't shake it!  It's a terrible feeling to be so consumed with somthing!  Then, tonight, something changed.  I started TOM!  Could this be why the day was so hard.  Does anyone else have these problems?  This diet can make you feel so alone, but I don't want to fail it.  Tomorrow is a new day and I will have more WILL POWER!  TOM will be gone soon, and I'm going to try and find things to ignore my temptations with.  Any thought on that one?   I"m not looking forward to the scale.  It will very well show a gain, and I must except that and move on.  I havne't even begun yet.  Get it together Missie! 

Here We Are - P2D3, First Day VCLD

Okay, so today is my first day on VCLD.  The past two days I loaded, which means I ate high Fat Foods to bulk up my fat stores and not make my body hungry.  I ate such things as Fries, Burgers, lots of Butter, Ice Cream, Chocolate Cake, Artichoke Dip and a big juicy Rib Eye!

I started the Load at 206 lbs


After Day 1 on the Load I was 206.5 lbs
After Day 2 on the Load (aka this morning) I was 205.5 lbs

That means I was -1lbs from the Load but only -.5 from my starting point!

Last night I cooked up my beef and chicken, and I sectioned it off into baggies.  I'm going to try and meal plan for the week so I can just grab and go!  Braggs Amino Acids are the BOMB!  So Yummy!  It's like soy sauce on steroids, but good for you.  So here is where were at....

6-21-11  
P1D3~First Day VCLD!

Starting Weight: 206
Today's Weight:  205.5
Total Loss: -.5

Woke Up: 6am

Breakfast: Coffee with Vanilla Cream Stevia and 1Tbls milk

HCG:  Took 10 drops while driving the girls to preschool

Snack:  16oz peach ice tea.
HCG:  10 drops at 11:40

Lunch: Beef and Asparagus and an orange

Snack:  Smooth Move Tea
HCG:  5:30PM

Dinner:  Stewed Tomato Chili, Chicken and an Apple

Water Consumed:  I know I had 96 oz plus 5 cups of tea, so I THINK I made my gallon, but I'm going to keep better track today!

Cheats?:  Okay, I was freaking hungry today!  I don't think I ate enough on my load days or what, but I has a piece of a protein bar and a bite of bread.  I couldn't handle it.  I'm not feeling positive about my loss tomorrow. 
How I'm Feeling: At 8:23AM I was feeling a little hungry, but I'm drinking my coffee and tea to keep my belly full of liquid.  My lunch today is ground beef and asparagus with an orange.  I'll take a pic, I brought a pretty plate=)

Getting a littel closer

On day two of the load.  I realized my scale is a little tricky.  I need to make sure it resets to zero before I weigh myself, that COULD be totally misleading!

This morning I was up .5Ilbs after loading.  Today, I'm going to have some McDonald's for lunch and something that my girls and Mom will enjoy for dinner.  I think a common misconception about this part of the diet is that loading = eating every carb under the sun!  What it actually means is to eat a lot of Fat since your body won't have it for a long time.  Things like butter, avocados, bacon, oils, anything with a high fat content, not a high carb content.

The other part of this diet that is confusing seems to be the amount of time spent on Phase 2, doing the 500 calories a day.

Here is what I've learned about that.  HCG was originally done using an actual Hormone Injection.  This injection could only be given a certain number of time before you needed to stop taking it and give your body a break, as to not become immune to the effects.  Sometimes this was even done if you lost a certain amount of weight.  Losing TOO MUCH in one round of Phase 2 could also make you immune.  Now with the Homeopathic drops available,  you can basically go as long as you can handle it.  However, it seems that the longest I've seen written, or posted has been 40 days.  This is where the diet can get subjective to anyone looking at starting it.  There is a lot of trial and error.  I will follow Dr. Seimons protocol to the ninth degree, as best I can.

Here are some of the recipes I look forward to eating from a blog that I'm following, Julie has lost 50 Lbs and has lots of great advice.

1. The Buffalo Onion stuff looked good!
2. Buffalo Asparagus looks yummy and so does the Chicken Chili on the same day!
3. Buffalo Cabbage Saute look very good!
4. Chicken cabbage salad.
5. Chicken and Tomatoes.
6. Chicken Tomato Bake 
7. Strawberry and Spinach Salad with Homemade dressing.
8. Strawberry Slushy!

Tonight is shopping at Henry's before I pick up the girls.  It will be some power shopping, but enough to get me through this first week and weekend!

My sweet husband also told me yesterday to think about a reward I'd want to give myself after all is said and done and I know I'm keeping it off....  What to do?  I know what he's thinking, it's something I've wanted for a long time, but we'll see when the time comes.  For now, short term rewards like LOSING FAT and BUYING SMALLER JEANS will work for me!

I feel Gross

Okay, so I knew I'd be starting this diet in a few days, so last night we went out for Pizza.  Can I just say that I feel GROSS!  My stomach and body just felt Yucky all night!  I'm posting this because I want to remind myself of how bad I feel when I eat bad food.

Friday night we had grilled chicken, corn on the cob and roasted veggies.  Not at all the same feeling!

I took my drops this morning and already screwed up!  I ate a piece of toast and I should have waited longer to take the drops, OPPS!  I'll be more careful for the rest of the day.  Maybe I should do an extra round of drops?

The drops were tingly under my tongue, but didn't have much of a taste.  Sweet if anything.  one mystery down...they don't taste half bad!

Today is Fathers Day, so we will have lots of BAD food around, this should be an easy load day!

Getting Ready

My HCG Drops came in the mail yesterday, so I'm getting ready!  I'm excited to get this going.  My plan is to start the drops on Monday, which means that Monday and Tuesday I will be loading.

I'm getting alot of mixed feeling about the load days.  I read time and time again that the load is vital, but I'm considering not going totally overboard.  There are things like pizza and french fries that I will eat, but I'm not sure about downing a chocolate milk with a donut.  We'll see....

I got a great comment from another blogger whom I started following.  She seems so down to earth and friendly.  She also turned me to her best friend Julie that has been a complete rock star on this diet.  You can find her HERE.  She has alot of great recipes that I can't wait to try.  I love how she takes pictures of her food, it actually looks good.

My shopping list still includes:
Bathroom Scale (will borrow sisters)
Food Scale (will borrow sister)
TOMS Toothpaste
Mineral Oil
Food pep gloves
And All My FOOD! 

Henery's here I come!

Things I'm looking forward too:
-Fitting into some size 14 jeans that I bought at GAP.
-My face not looking so ROUND!
-Feeling comfortable with my arms in something sleeveless
-Wearing a dress
-Getting below 200 for the first time in four years
-Wearing some boot cut jeans and my cowgirl boots and feeling sexy!
-My back not hurting all the time

What's this all about?

So I've been thinking A LOT lately.  A lot about how I feel physically and mentally.  I've always struggled with my weight, ever since I was a little kid.  I was teased in school from an early early age.  What I know is that it doesn't feel good and I don't want myself, nor my children to feel this way EVER!  


I've done it all.  Diets that is.  I've been successful with diet drugs.  What I learned while taking them was my problem was ALL ABOUT what I was putting in my mouth.  The tricky part about that is, what I put in my mouth is directly related to how I FEEL about myself.  Typically, when your heavy, you don't feel good about yourself, so you eat to feel better in the moment, and so the cycle begins.  


I've also learned that I can keep weight off!  So getting there is the bigger battle for me!  Before I married my wonderful husband, I got to my lowest weight ever!  Being a former Fat Girl in High school, this was a triumphant thing, and I no longer identified with my former self.  Everything was great, I kept the weight off and enjoyed my life.  That doesn't mean that I still wasn't hard on myself, what girl isn't?  But then, babies came, big life events happened and poof, there I was at my heavy point again.  MAN!!!  It sucked big time.


My babies are now 3 & 4, not babies anymore!  I've dropped about 30 lbs since having my last, and it felt good for awhile, but I'm ready to finish this thing off and start a new chapter in my life.  I've done it before, I can do it again.  I just know that once I get into the groove, there will be no stopping me.


SO, after lots of 'trying' things this last year, I've finally decided to give the HCG diet a try.  Here is what I know about the diet;

• It has worked very well for people I work with and see almost every day.
• You take sub lingual homeopathic HCG drops to aide you in the process! 
• HCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, which is a naturally occurring hormone found in both men and women, but is produced in large amounts in pregnant females. The “pregnancy” hormone feeds and nourishes the fetus by releasing the fat stores until the placenta is fully developed.
• There are 4 phases to the diet.  
• Phase 1 - Pre-load.  You eat normal fatty foods for 2 days, while taking the drops.
• Phase 2 - VCLD (Very low Calorie Diet).  This is 500 calories a day and very limiting in the foods your allowed to eat.  This phase will last 21-40 days, depending on how much time you want!
• Phase 3 - This in a maintenance phase.  For 3 weeks, you eat a normal 1500-2000 calorie diet and maintain your new weight to set your metabolism again.
• At this point you can repeat P1-P3 until your desired weight is reached.  This could take up to a year depending on how much you have to loose.
• Phase 4 - You would 'live' with your new body! 

• Typically, you will loose an average of a pound a day!

There are definitely a lot of naysayers, and I swear, if I wasn't around people doing the diet, I would have thought it wasn't ligit myself!   So I'm just going to give it an honest go and see!  


The whole part about the HCG being a hormone found in pregnant women is pretty weird.  I read the information about it, and while in theory it makes sense, I'm wondering if there is real truth to it.


I think doing the injections of the actual Hormone sounds kinda scary, so I'm more comfortable with the homeopathic drops.  It can't be any worse for me then Metabolife or any of those other 'over the counter' diet pills!


There are a few things I need to get in order to be ready!
Good Bathroom Scale
Food Scale
Take my measurements
Go Grocery Shopping


Phew, this is a lot of stuff...but I know I can do it.

I'll be starting next week.  I'll post pics and measurements and just give a day to day run down on what I'm doing, eating, feeling, and LOSING!