It's really simple

It's a simple, but difficult, realization: we can eat all we want or look how we want.  We just cannot have both (at the same time, at least).  We have to choose. 

Dammit...

HCG Day 3

Going fine so far.  (Thanks to those who posted or e-mailed to ask.)

Yesterday was the first day I really got serious about drinking enough water.  Treated myself to some Aquafina (I like the taste) and Fiji Water (supposed to be so pollutant-free).  Down 1.5 lbs from yesterday and I'm sure the water is partly responsible -- that and 800 calories yesterday. Not feeling hungry, just a little waterlogged.  Does anyone else slosh when they walk? :)

I have been a little headachy toward day's end, but not sure what to attribute that to.  Could be caffeine withdrawal as I'm trying to cut down on the morning java.

I know it's early yet, and the HCG is just really kicking in about today (they said Day 3), but things are moving in the right direction and I'm encouraged!

Browsed thru the weight loss forums on medhelp.org yesterday.  http://www.medhelp.org/forums/WeightLoss/wwwboard.html

Some interesting things I noted.

1) Boy, Kevin Trudeau and this Simeons HCG protocol have sure stirred up debate!  There are very definite "camps", pro and con. Lots of conflicting posts about HCG being "banned" by the FDA.  If that were true, no one could even prescribe it. Really FDA's guidance is just that HCG is not FDA approved for weight loss (read "fully researched and the data submitted to FDA" and/or "recognized by insurance companies for reimbursement").  There is data, but evidently it has either not been submitted to FDA or fully examined.  I don't know the status. One would think if this were "the magic bullet", someone would commercialize it.

In the meantime, HCG is being prescribed "off label" (read "not isted as an approved indication or being used in an approved dosage according to the FDA-scrutinized package insert").  Many, many drugs are used off label, so this does not concern me at all.  (I work in medical research and am very familiar with this.) But it is really a hornet's nest! 

2) There are lots of "ewwww" comments about HCG coming from the urine of pregnant women.  HCG is actually isolated from the urine, refined, dried into a powder and reconstituted with sterile water (or saline).  It's not like injecting pee!  And for that matter, Premarin -- used for many uses as hormone therapy post-menopause -- was isolated from the urine of pregnant mares.

3) TONS of people asked about where and how to get HCG.  There are sources in many cities for medically-supervised treatment (Google "hcg weight loss Houston" -- inserting your city's name.)  Important to include "weight loss" in the search to separate out the docs using HCG as an infertility treatment.  There are online sources as well. 

4) Speaking of doses, the HCG prescribed for weight loss is 125-200 units/day; HCG for infertility treatment is 5,000-10,000 units and at peak during pregnancy, the circulating blood level of HCG is 288 units per 1 cc of blood!  Several people expressed concern about he safety of HCG, and there were  chiding replies about pregnant women being a danger to themselves with concentrations that high!

5) One post mentioned research that  the naturally occurring hormone adiponectin is reduced in obese people.  I had never heard of this one, but adiponectin apparently helps with glucose regulation and fat breakdown.  Its levels can be increased with HCG.  Wikipedia has the simplest description of adiponectin:

Adiponectin (also referred to as Acrp30, apM1) is a protein hormone that modulates a number of metabolic processes, including glucose regulation and fatty acid catabolism. Adiponectin is exclusively secreted from adipose tissue into the bloodstream and is very abundant in plasma relative to many hormones. Levels of the hormone are inversely correlated with body mass index (BMI). The hormone plays a role in the suppression of the metabolic derangements that may result in type 2 diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Now, don't get me wrong!!  I am NOT advocating HCG for anyone, particularly for those who are doing well on other programs.  And the jury is still out on how this will work for me, so I am optimistic but still open-minded.  Just trying to bring a little clarity to the debate (at least as I see it), and to share my personal experiences.

I'll try to post daily. 

HCG Day 2

I knew I would be going to Miami over the weekend, so just kind of fell of the wagon -- up 4 lbs from Fri to Tues.  However, this morning I am down 3 again after a very careful day yesterday, so looks like no permanent harm done.  Is is always this volatile?

So (re)starting the HCG. Really only did one injection last week before leaving, so no real test there. Today is Day 2 - too early for HCG to be kicking in  (the clinic said 3 days, and Trudeau's book says to "gorge" on Days 1 & 2 to make sure your metabolism is high at the beginning.  His protocol does not include appetite suppressants and thermogenics which the weight loss clinic's does.)  So I've just been really watchful on Day 1 & 2.  500 calories yesterday (just wasn't hungry) and about 800 today.  That's what's recommended.

Still can't exercise with this bad knee.  Even though exercise was never on my to-do list, I'd like to be doing some now to move things along.  The Miami doc I've been seeing for alternative treatment is still hopeful that I'll recover some good pain-free function without having to have the whole knee replaced. I'm just trying to keep the faith.

Hawaii --10 weeks from today!  Just gotta keep looking at that swimsuit on the closet door. Still 2-3 sizes away, and haven't dared to try it on yet.

Does someone edit or censor these blogs?

Just noticed that my last post was truncated and there was a "%" sign at the bottom. I didn't think I ran on so long, but maybe it was something in the next paragraph that got it axed.  (I was talking about a new book I'd read and quoting the source.  Didn't think that was verbotten here.)

HCG Injections

If you've been following my blogs, you know I have been researching HCG injections for weight loss.  Went today to my first appt here in Orlando.

Interesting concept.  HCG is a hormone women produce when pregnant.  As a protective mechanism for the baby, if the mom is not  eating enough, this hormone releases fat from the mom's fat cells as a food source. (Now personally, I never met anyone who LOST fat during pregnancy, but this is one of the body's remnant safety nets in case of famine.) 

HCG is also part of the infertility regimen, so anyone still in child-bearing years would have to be sure to use birth control.  Guys can use this HCG protocol, too, in case you were wondering.

Anyway, the injections are 125 units (1/2 cc in a diabetic syringe with a tiny needle) which you give yourself daily, 5 days out of 7.  The diet is 800 calories per day using an exchange system.  It heavily restricts fat because you want the HCG to work on the stored fat, not on the daily ingested fat.  (She suggested I even stop taking my supplemental vitamin E because it's the oil form.)  

You can couple the diet/injections with prescribed appetite suppressant and/or thermogenic pills to get more rapid results.%

The China Syndrome

Watched Alton Brown make macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi the other night.  I just happened to have all the ingredients in my cupboard (except panko bread crumbs -- what ARE those anyway?).  Made it last night and it was very good. 

Problem was I had two servings instead of one.  Good part was it was healthy, bad part was I wasn't really hungry, it was just THERE.  And my old Catholic school mantra of "finish your food, there are starving children in China" kicked in.

Well, China is now an economic powerhouse (thanks to WalMart and all of us), and there are probably no children starving there now. So I just have to rid myself of that old saying (without replacing it with the "Save the Children" images of African and Latin American children who ARE still starving). 

The scale has not budged today, but thankfully is only .2 lbs higher (well within the "artifact" range). 

Portions, portions, portions!  Also I need to eat more slowly and earlier in the evening...

This shirt is too big for me. Do you want it?

Well, I wish I'd been the one to say that, but it was my hubbie saying it to me.  He bought one of those breathable tennis shirts thinking it would shrink, but it didn't.

He offered it to me, God bless him, completely without malice (and he has been very gentle with me about my weight), so I'll accept it in that vein.  It's a nice Nike swoosh shirt, I have boobs and he doesn't, so it may actually fit. Temporarily, of course.

But still...ouch!  I remember when it was the other way around and he offered me his shirts that DID shrink and were too small for him.  Self-realization is a harsh but necessary part of this, I guess.

Has anyone else noticed that the mirror can lie to you, but that photographs are a real bucket of cold water in the face?

Almost dunked by donuts

The good thing about teenaged kids who drive is that they drive themselves. The bad thing is they drive to "the forbidden food zone" and bring home terrible stuff (for them as well as for me).  This morning there is a half dozen Dunkin' Donuts in the kitchen.  AARRGGHH!

Previously, I would have helped myself to one or two (or three!).  But now I realize that that will get me farther from my goal rather than closer, and the agony of dieting and deprivation (yes, I'm still looking on it that way) will be prolonged.  Haven't yet made the shift in my head from "avoiding pain" to "seeking pleasure" in this process. 

Whatever keeps me from getting dunked by donuts at this point...

HCG anyone?

Just read Kevin Trudeau's new book, "The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You to Know About", ("they" being the food industry and the weight loss industry).

He says food companies deliberately add ingredients to keep you fat and/or get you addicted, the same way the cigarette manufacturers knew for years that nicotine was addictive. The weight loss companies really want you to buy one miracle pill or diet after another, knowing that you won;t be successful on one and WILL keep buying stuff. 

The goal is to sell more products and what better way than to get you hooked on the food taste and reinforce it with subliminal advertising?  Who can't taste the Oreos after that "I can beat you eating an Oreo" comercial?  And the underlying message is not just to eat them, but to eat them FAST!!

The next commercials sell you the dream of being thin with another pill.  Intuitively, all this makes perfect sense!  (I have been the #1 "fish" they've reeled in!  I can't even COUNT the Cortislim, hoodia, TrimSpa, FatBurner pills I STILL have in my bathroom.) 

The book is only available through his infomercials now, but Amazon.com say you can pre-order for April 30 delivery (for half the infomercial price). Worth a read to convince you that processed food is addictive and that home prepared foods are healthier. (Intellectually, I know we all KNOW that, but this book will spur you to rethink food choices, especially "diet" foods.)

Anyway, the "cure" (meaning a permanent solution that takes you out of the snack food and SlimFast aisle) is a regimen that has supposedly been supressed for many years.  It's a radical diet change (fresh stuff, organic when possible), plus HCG injections and there are dozens of testimonials about it.  The most compelling ones are those that say HCG promotes weight loss from the "problem" areas that diet and exercise don't really resolve, plus improves skin tone. 

I did find a place in Orlando that uses this HCG program, so am thinking about it. Wondering if anyone has experience with HCG. 

Sell it to yourself

Just read one of my morning e-mail subscriptions -- yeartosuccess.com  (Recommend this as a morning motivation/inspiration to all.  It's free.)

Today's topic is "sell it to yourself first", meaning convincing yourself of the benefits first before you try to sell it to someone else.  When you sell something you don't believe in, you're just acting.

Here's how I see this relating:  How many times have I said (to myself or to others), "I need to lose weight, after the holdidays I'll start, I wish I could lose weight, I'm on a diet", etc, etc.  I wasn't serious about it.  It was like acting.  I wasn't "sold".

This time, I have "sold" myself and I can say with conviction (to myself and others), that I am going to be thinner and healthier.  I have created a "compelling future"  --  a firm goal, an end date and a gorgeous Tommy Bahama swimsuit and pareo hanging on my closet door that I want to wear in 3 months.  And yes, I paid full price for it so I am fully invested...

Does this mean anything to anyone else?