One of the things that annoys me as a manager is when people don't do as I ask. (I know, sounds pretty arrogant.) But there are some rote tasks that just need to be done and I know the most efficient way to do them. It's usually a method I've developed through trial and error. I need people to not get cute, not get creative, just do the darned task in the way I asked.
What has this got to do with weight loss? My HCG diet plan is relatively simple and it's probably been developed through trial and error over time. So what in the heck makes me think that I can get cute or creative and still get the results?
I've been traveling some, so I haven't been drinking enough water, I haven't been following the diet closely, especially for portions, and I haven't been consistent with taking the companion meds. Clearly this has come back to bite me in my still substantial butt...
Down only 16 lbs from the start 4 weeks ago. And the last couple weeks have been a disaster -- gained some, stayed even, lost some. Net was a gain until yesterday when I got religion again.
So, sorry for lack of posts, but I'm back on the beam. I know many of your are interested in this progress. And it's the same as with anything -- it only works when you do it.
Well, about 2 1/2 weeks and down 13 lbs -- yay! Goodbye and good riddance to the 190's. This is the most successful I've been on a diet, and the least I've weighed in over 5 years. (I have an Excel graph for every time I started a diet in that time. I know, a little anal, isn't it?) Each time the starting weight was higher than the last, peaking at 215 late last year. Phentermine helped with the first 15 lbs and the HCG diet with this latest round.
After about the first week I hit what I'll call a "mini plateau", with the weight loss slowing and even gaining for a day or two. But I redoubled my water drinking efforts and starting taking a fiber supplement daily and some senna tea to help get my digestive system working. That seems to have helped.
Little pressed for time this week, so I'll catch up with all my buddies' individual blogs soon. Hope you all are having good success!
190 this morning, down 9.6 in just under 2 weeks on HCG. It's never as fast as we want it to be, but it's in the right direction. Traveling yesterday and didn't keep up with my water, so the scale has not budged much. Recommitting myself to this today!
Even though the scale is not moving much, the closet is getting a little friendlier! The XXLs are looser and I was happier at the fit of some of the XLs. I'm setting a goal of another 5lbs down and then I'll wear them. Still haven't tried on "the" swimsuit (a size 14), but it's on the outside of my closet door where I constantly see it. Under 9 weeks to Hawaii!
Didn't drink all my water yesterday and am up again slightly today. How long after you transgress does it take for the full effects to show up? I though t it would be immediately the next morning. Maybe it's another day later when fully metabolized so my two-nights-ago splurge may be just hitting the scale. Anyone know?
When my DS (17 yo, 6'2" and skinny) announced yesterday he was hungry after school, I said "There's plenty of food in the house". He replied, "That's all that organic stuff you eat, I'm going out for a McFlurry". He must have forgotten about the Lucky Charms and Doritos he himself bought the other day.
AARRGGHH! You want your kids to lead healthy lives their whole lives, and you try to start them out right with eating good food. Then peers and the media destroy their love of broccoli in favor of fast food, gummy worms and Lucky Charms. I am amazed at his sugar intake vs. his weight. The high HGH levels of youth must be his secret. And why should I expect him to get smarter about food any sooner than I have? I just hope he doesn't wait until his 50's to do it.
I have to say, I find I am getting desensitized to sugary stuff. Commercials for sweets, or DS even talking about a McFlurry used to make me "taste" them (very vivid imagination) and begin salivating. I even worked the concession stand at school last night and the Otis Spunkmeyers barely interested me. After a couple weeks of serious restriction, could it be I'm starting to break the sugar cycle? Wouldn't that be a godsend?? I would still enjoy them, but I'm not in the deep craving mode all the time!
Up .2 from yesterday, but actually thought it would be worse. Slipped up last night when friends were over. I did not go crazy even though I was hungry and tempted, but it was still way too much intake, including a few sips of a pomegranate cosmopolitan. (I told myself the antioxidants were worth it...)
The key to HCG being maximally successful is a very low calorie diet and heavy restriction of fats. Once food intake is burned up for fuel, the HCG signals the brain to pull from the deeply stored fat, not the moreeasily accesible subcutaneous fat and muscle. It's supposed to liberate up to 2,000 calories from fat stores each day. Going up in weight shows I obviously got the equation backwards yesterday and "wasted" an HCG day letting it work on ingested fat instead of stored. Also didn't drink as much water as I should. So back on the straight and narrow today!
Down another .8, so that makes 9 lbs total in a week. Trying to do better with drinking water. That is one of the hardest parts for me.
That and the slow GI transit time with less food than usual. :( Started Fiber Sure (hey, it works for the cat, why not for me?). Hint to anyone with pets that have a problem: Fiber Sure in their food. Thought our cat with a megacolon would need surgery, but this fixed her right up. OK, little off topic...
Hectic schedule today, so I'll reply to all my blog buddies tomorrow.
Down only .2 from yesterday (total 8.2 in a week), but that's after 2 days off HCG. (Their plan is 5 days on, 2 off.) So not sure what bearing it has, but just watching. At least it's .2 in the right direction. :)
Well, another day in the plus (meaning lost weight) column. This is Sunday and I'm down a total of 8 lbs since last Tuesday. Really I'm gonna say 5 lbs since the first 3 were on the first day and were after a weekend off program. Still, I am optimistic about this!
Reading Bob Greene and Oprah's book "Make the Connection". It's an autographed copy that's been on my bookshelf unopened for TEN YEARS! (Long story short -- my company hired Bob right out of college and he worked with us about a year before deciding to become a personal trainer, long before they were in vogue. I though he'd starve, but he's clearly done fabulously well. [Hint: never take my career advice!] I bumped into him at a book signing one day and he autographed his book for me.)
Anyway, one basic premise is to stop allowing food to be a security blanket or a band-aid for an emotional hurt. Instead, begin to see it as what it's designed to be -- an object of pratical use (a fuel source) with a pleasurable side (a tasty thing that is interwoven with celebrations and traditions).
Maybe I have to completely convince myself first that I am the master and food is the servant, not the other way around. True for many things in my life, including all the stuff I've pack-ratted over the years "just in case" I'd ever need it or because it had some faint but deep emotional meaning. I've hauled that stuff around in boxes from house to house over many moves the same way I've hauled around this weight over many years.
I am tired of being a servant to all this. Time to release stuff. Sounds like a good closet cleaning (clothing and mementos)and several boxes of Kleenex are called for.
Finished 5th day of HCG yesterday. My program says 5 on, 2 off. The appetite suppressants and thermogenics continue each day, though. Resume injections Monday and continue for another 7 weeks, then 3 weeks off to "reset" things.
May skip weighing today. This low intake diet has my system a little clogged, so want to get stuff moving before I stare the scale gods in the eye. Senna tea, maybe?
Gosh, it's only been 2 weeks since I started my blogging here (first time blogging ever), and I feel I've made a bunch of friends here. Thank you all! And thank you EP for making this so easy and accessible.
Still doing OK. Down another pound and change this morning. This is probably when the HCG is starting to kick in. Did have sausage and peppers last night --ok, not exactly on the low fat part of the diet, but it was all there was in the fridge. I kept the portion REALLY small and stayed under 800 calories for the day.
Need a major shopping trip to Whole Foods this weekend. I have started eating more organic stuff and feel this is definitely the way to go when possible. Why ingest all the growth hormones they feed our "steaks on the hoof"? Just keeps us growing, too!
Gotta go to a funeral in a few minutes. Sad, but motivational. A reminder that life is too short. For me, it's definitely too short to continue being FAT and scared and out of control and, and, and...! Enough already!! Time to get on with a better life.
Thanks to all of you who post and e-mail. I really appreciate the support and even the little "hi" messages.
