7-14-2011 Update 195.0

It's been a while so here's what I've been doing. I never was able to handle the cravings for carbs I felt during Round 3 so after trying for a month, I decided to take a break from the HCG and VLCD and have some of the foods I had missed for nearly 8 months. I had the strongest cravings for pancakes so I went to iHop and had some and they were good, sweet but good. I gained 2 pounds. I craved a hamburger on a bun with fries so I went to McD and had them and gained a pound. I craved Chinese buffet foods and take out 3 separate times so I had them and gained 2 more pounds. I ate cookies and cakes now and then which I think added another pound. Altogether I am up 13 pounds.

Round 3 taught me that I need to be fully ready to commit to following the protocol 100% to make the round a success. At the start of that round, I knew I was pushing myself into it and I was trying to ignore the cravings I was having. I think that my body was telling me to take a break. But I feel better now. I'm not craving them any more. I know that carbs cause immediate weight gain. They turn right into fat. In fact I am craving P3 style recipes, with more fat, which do not make me gain. I am looking for low carb alternative recipes for some of my favorite foods so I will be able to incorporate them into my diet more often.

So, in a few more weeks I am going to start on Round 4.

R3P2D23 Sunday - Resume

It's Sunday morning and the scale says 189.1. That is 1.1 pounds over my LDW from Round 2. So here's what happened. I made a huge slip when a cookie bouquet ordered by my best friend came for my daughter's graduation and my daughter said she didn't eat cookies. I walked past it for 3 days until I finally decided it was going to go stale and I should have a taste. That was all she wrote and the bouquet was gone in a week causing a 5 pound gain. Worse than that it caused a massive candida outbreak which I didn't realize until today as I battled three weeks of the worst cravings thinking I could tough it out, but I ended up that I gave in almost every day. Today I put it together with the candida and started on a course of Three Lac. I feel better already. I am back on track with P2 eating and will count these 2 weeks as a break from P2 and will continue P2 for an additional 2 weeks so I can lose at least ten to fifteen pounds this round. Lesson learned is how sensitive I am to sugar. It's like alcohol or crack, once I start it takes control over me. Three Lac is awesome at taking away that control and eliminating the cravings.

Day 21 Saturday 185.9

It's Saturday and the scale says 185.9 pounds. It has been a tough week for me to stay on protocol. I was down to 182 and now back up to 185.9. I have eaten stuff I should not have so I know why the lackluster numbers. I am going to commit to the next 3 weeks and try to lose at least 10 more pounds this round to get into the 170's. Friends have commented on my smaller size this round even though the scale isn't saying much but I feel like this is more of a shaping round. My computer hard drive crashed a few weeks ago and I lost my progress data but was able to recover the weighings from the charts but I lost the inches. I just measured today and compared to the end of Round 1 I have lost 15 more inches. That makes a total of 43 inches lost since I started the HCG protocol! I'll take that!

5/1/2011 188.5 Sunday Yesterday I saw my daughter walk at the FSU graduation ceremony. I am so proud of her!!! It was a whirlwind day and I ate strawberries, chicken, cherry tomatos, steak, tomato slices, a small bite of baguette crust, and a coffee with 1 Tsp half and half. Did a lot of walking and had a great day in all.

R3P2D6 192.0 Thursday

Thursday morning, the scale says 192.0, down 1.5 pounds and 1 pound under my start weight, 3 pounds to go to get to my LDW of 188.0 from Round 2. I had a slight headache on Tuesday as my body is detoxing, but I felt good yesterday. Last night I took my dose and leaned back on my pillow and closed my eyes and almost fell asleep and swallowed my does after only 5 minutes. I hope it doesn't affect my hunger today. I've read that some people only hold it under their tongue for a few minutes, not the 15 minutes that I do, so it should be fine.

R3P2D5 193.5 Wednesday

Well, the scale says 193.5 pounds which is 3.1 pounds loss. Yay!

R3P2D4 196.6 Tuesday

This morning I weigh 196.6 pounds, down 2.9 pounds. I ate strawberries, tea with 1 tsp. half and half, chicken, spinach, burger, onion and a grissini. I feel good, and not hungry.

R3P2D3 199.5 Monday 1st Day VLCD

Started the VLCD today. Weighed in at 199.5 pounds, that's an 11 pound gain from my LDW.

Friday April 22, 2011

Tomorrow is the first day of Round 3. I am nervous about being mentally prepared to be organized about starting another round. That is what made Round 2 harder than Round 1. I wasn't as prepared. So I am making a shopping list and getting everything I need today. My weight has gone up a little at the end of Round 4 as I have been trying out more starches and sugars. My body doesn't like them much and I always show a gain between a few ounces and 2 pounds depending on how much I have in a day. So I have learned that I can have them but only with several days of clean P3 style eating in between. I am looking forward to being 20 pounds lighter in about 6 weeks!

R2P4D17 191.4 Saturday

Phase 4 is having it's ups and downs a bit but back down to within 2 pounds of my LDW so I am happy. Eating pretty much whatever I want, but more protein and veggies and fat and way less sugar and starch than I used to eat before HCG. Don't really miss my skim milk which has too much sugar since I get to have heavy whipping cream in coffee and shakes instead and I drink a lot of water. Love the sugar free bacon and use the bacon fat in cooking proteins and veggies - YUM. I really like all my new foods a lot. Jay Robb shakes are the BEST. Love coconut oil, almond flour and coconut flour too. One day this week I had chocolate mug cake and a vanilla Jay Rob shake for breakfast and lost weight and felt great that day!

R2P4D10 189.3 Saturday

Went to Chili's to help my friend with loading day 1. >:-0

R2P4D9 189.9 Friday

This week I added a few more starches and sugars into my eating. I've had a burger with a half a bun, a couple Thin Mint girl scout cookies (yes I had the box since unopened since January), dark chocolate (my vice), and macadamia nuts (probably too many). My weight has remained stable around my LDW of 189 until the last few days. I had been waiting until TOM left to correct, then I feel a cold coming on (everyone at work has it) so that may be why on Thursday it jumped from 192 to 195. I did a steak day and am happy to say I am back to 189.9 this morning. That's a loss of 5.6 pounds.

R2P4D3 191.5 Saturday

It's Saturday and the scale says 191.5 pounds. I am 2.5 pounds over my LDW of 189.0 pounds. This week is my TOM so I'm not going to try correction days until that's over. I am just going to try to go easy on the sugar and starches. That being said, Thursday was my first P4 day and I have been eating mostly P3. I was confronted with a brownie on Thursday and realized it was P4, so I one bite of it and it was really sweet, but also fudgy and quite nice. Friday I had lunch at Cheesecake Factory, the Boston salad with egg, bacon and ranch dressing was decent, and I shared a coconut fudge cheesecake slice and it also was very sweet and filling and my stomach felt heavy the rest of the day. I think I would rather learn to make my own cheesecake. With those two sugary carbs added, I only gained 0.1 pounds, so I am happy with that.

R2P3D17 189.7 Saturday

It's Saturday morning and the scale says 189.7 pounds. 0.7 pounds over my LDW and that's fine. I've done 3 correction days when I got just over 191 pounds and they all worked. Most days I am eating 1700 calories with about 10-12 ounces of protein with fat and three eggs or a Jay Robb protein shake. 2 to 3 large vegetable servings and fruit every 2 or 3 days for a treat.

R2P3D8 189 Thursday

Loving P3. Had to get some Jay Robb and Artisana coconut butter for P3. Yummy!!! Loving the fattier beef cuts and shrimp with avocado on lettuce. Love scrambled eggs with cheese, cream in coffee and whipped cream on strawberries. Love bacon with everything! All of this plus 1700 calories a day and my weight is fairly stable. I have done a few correction days because of the cheats I did during Phase 2 and at the party. I did 1 steak day, 1 egg day and 1 chicken day and I lost 1 to 2 pounds each time. I seem to be stabilizing now. Phase 3 always is a challenge for me to eat the large amount of food needed to reach 1700 calories.

R2P3D4 189 Sunday in NJ

I went to NJ for my sisters birthday. Had a great time and managed to eat P3 except at the party. In addition to the good P3 foods I ate a piece of cake, bowl of lobster bisque, about 20 almonds, 2 cookies and about 3 triscuits. Next morning was at 191 up 3 pounds (5 by her scale.) I did a steak day Sunday and now at 189 and doing a chicken day today so should be recovered by tomorrow.

R2P2D37 188.5 Sunday

It's Sunday morning and the scale says 188.5 pounds down 0.8 pound from the day before. Yesterday I had coffee with moo and stevia, chicken with taco spices and 1/4 cup of salsa on iceberg lettuce (I know that is 2 veggies), went out to dinner with friends and passed on the wine, calamari and cornbread muffns brought to the table, and had a grilled shrimp caesar (no cheese or croutons) with about 1 teaspoon dressing, afterwards passed on more wine, but ate 1 teaspoon of the yummy Baskin and Robbins mint choc chip ice cream birthday cake and 1 Hersheys kiss, and a black coffee with stevia. I was proud of myself for all the food I avoided and I noticed that I didn't really miss the foods and wine, just missed sharing those experiences with my friends, but I have the greatest friends and they were really supportive of my decisions to stick to my plan and politely didn't comment on my choice to taste the cake and have a kiss.

It's hard to believe how fast the weight comes off and how great I feel. I've lost 19.5 pounds so far in Round 2 added to the 23 pounds in Round 1 is a total loss of 42.5 pounds since October 2010 following the protocol. I've lost 44 inches overall and gone from a size 24 to a 14. I love getting new clothes. Luckily I have found a consignment shop and have been able to trade my clothes for smaller sized ones and I shop at the discount stores so it's not costing me a whole lot to look a lot better. People really notice when I am wearing smaller clothes. I'm going to Phase 3 this week and looking forward to stabilizing and adding fat back into my foods.

R2P2D40 189 Wednesday LDW

I finished Round 2 Phase 2 today and the scale says 189 is my Last Dose Weight. So I have lost 19 pounds total on this round. I did have a harder time on Round 2 than on Round 1 with dealing with more stressers, but I am happy with the results. Round 3 will start in May and until then I will enjoy P3 and P4 and stabilizing at the new smaller me!

R2P2D31 192.4 Valentines Day

It's Monday and the scale says 192.4 pounds up 0.3 pounds. This weekend was tough. I had to work Saturday and I snacked a bit too much off protocol. Yesterday, I had a strawberry slushy, two cups of coffee with moo and stevia, a steakburger with broiled tomatos, pan fried seasoned chicken with cucumber salad, 2 tablespoons of brewers yeast, a handful of Kashi Go Lean cereal, 1 piece of chocolate, an apple sauteed with apple pie spices.

R2P2D29 192.0 Saturday

Whew! This week just FLEW by. It's Saturday morning and the scale reads 192.0 pounds, down 1.1 pounds. That is 2.3 pounds for the week and 16 pounds so far this round. This week I had TOM and had a few days of gains, but that is to be expected. I skipped one dose on 2 days during TOM because my hunger level was up, and lowering dose can compensate for that, and it worked great.

Yesterday, Friday, I had coffee with moo and stevia, strawberries, grilled chicken breast with salad, 3 grissini, 1 melba, coffee with moo and stevia, homemade onion soup, broiled shrimp,  2 tablespoons of brewers yeast. 425 calories.

Saturday through Thursday I ate protocol meals and a couple extra grissinis. Sorry I didn't have the time to post all the days meals.

R2P2D22 194.3 Saturday

It's Saturday morning and the scale says 194.3, down 0.4 pounds. So this week I am down 3.1 pounds and 1.38 inches. Yesterday I had a strawberry slushy, coffee with moo and stevia, chicken and salad, 3 grissini, 1 melba with cinnamon, went to happy hour and had shrimp cocktail, steamed asparagus, club soda with lemon and vanilla cream stevia. 406 calories.

Funny, all week I have been typing 20 whenever I am supposed to type 19 for the first two digits of my weight in my daily journals. Just been in the 200's for so long it's been hard to internalize that my weight really starts with a 1!

R2P2D21 194.7 Friday

It's Friday morning and the scale says 194.7 pounds, a pound dropped yesterday. I had a strawberry slushy, coffee with moo and stevia, a grilled chicken breast with spinach salad, 3 grissini and 1 melba with cinnamon, and a lean rare steakburger, 403 calories.

R2P2D20 195.7 Thursday

It's Thursday morning and the scale says 195.7 pounds, down by 0.3 pounds. Yesterday I had a strawberry slushy (just love them), coffee with moo and stevia, grilled chicken and spinach salad, 2 grissini, 1 melba, 1/2 square of 90% chocloate, and chicken with taco spices. 383 calories.

R2P2D19 196.0 Wednesday

It's Wednesday morning and the scale says 196.0, down 1.1 pounds. Yesterday I had a strawberry slushy, coffee with moo and stevia, 4 grissini, 8 almonds, 2 melbas, a Jay Robb protein shake. Calories 430.

I know the off protocol foods had a lot to do with the gain, but I also think it's bloating and constipation. I've worked very late the last 2 days so I'm eating supper at 9:30 p.m. which can't be good. It does feel better just to have the protein shake which is lighter on my stomach. What I really should do is bring a dinner to work with me.

R2P2D18 197.1 Tuesday

It's Tuesday morning and the scale says 197.1 pounds, a gain of 0.7 pounds. Yesterday I had strawberries, coffee with moo and stevia, grilled chicken with spinach, tea with moo, cocoa, and stevia, 4 grissini, 2 melbas, 10 almonds (stuck late at work with no food), taco seasoned grilled chicken.

Monday morning I weighed 196.4 pounds and Sunday I ate a strawberry slushy, coffee with moo and stevia, beef with tomato, 2 melbas, shrimp with salad.

R2P2D16 196.9 Sunday

It's Sunday morning and the scale says 196.9 pounds, down 0.5 pounds. Yesterday I had a strawberry smoothie, 2 grissini, coffee with moo and stevia, went to Perkins and had the french dip sandwich (ate the meat only) which was maybe about 4 or 5 ounces of very lean sliced roast beef was au jus prepared with no fats, and a side salad (ate the lettuce only), a tsp of ranch dressing, iced tea, then for dinner I had a Jay Robb vanilla shake, no 2nd veggie or 2nd fruit. 418 calories.

R2P2D15 197.4 Saturday

It's Saturday morning and the scale says 197.4, a drop of 0.3 pounds. Yesterday was a bit challenging since I missed my chance to eat lunch at lunch time and didn't have my first protein until 5:30 p.m. I was getting weak by then, having had the day off and went to see a double feature movie with a friend from noon to 4 p.m. Let's say I won't be missing lunch time again and I don't advise it. I ate an orange at noon, then at 5:30 p.m. I had a grilled chicken breast with spinach salad, and around 9 p.m. I ate a lean bunless burger with roasted onion strings. 463 calories.

R2P2D14 Friday 197.7

It's Friday morning and the scale says 197.7 pounds, that's a 1.2 pound loss for the day. I ate strawberries with stevia, coffee with moo and stevia twice, hot cocoa chai tea with moo and stevia, 8 almonds (off protocol), 2 melbas with cinnamon, a Jay Robb vanilla protein shake. 469 calories.

Thursday morning, R2P2D13,  I weighed 198.9 pounds, a 0.7 pound drop. On Wednesday I ate strawberries, coffee with moo and stevia, grilled chicken breast, spinach salad, 2 grissini, 4 ounces tenderloin steak, salad. 425 calories.

R2P2D12 199.6 Wednesday - ONE-derland!!!!!

Woo hoo!!! The scale says 199.6 pounds today!!!! Finally made it to ONE-derland! It's been a while since I have seen that. So I am down 7.2 pounds (11.5 since loading day) and I am feeling really great. Yesterday, Tuesday was my birthday, and I ate an orange for breakfast, coffee with moo and stevia twice during the day, chicken with spinach salad, and 2 grissini, 4 jumbo shrimp cocktail. Skipped my 2nd fruit and veggie, just wasn't hungry. 391 calories.

I want to also go on the record that during Phase 2, my thinking is clear and I have as much if not more energy than I have normally, so I feel no ill effects of eating only 500 calories. I only feel like it's Christmas every morning when I step on the scale!

Tuesday morning, R2P2D11, I weighed 200.1 pounds. On Monday I ate strawberries, coffee with moo and stevia twice, chicken with salad, 3 grissini, and for dinner I ate the leftover asparagus and I was really thinking about birthday cake since the next day was my birthday, so I decided to have a vanilla Jay Robb protein shake for dinner and it really did the trick to fulfill that craving, so creamy and vanilla, tasted just like cake, well close enough. 364 calories.

Monday morning, R2P2D10, I weighed 201.5 pounds. On Sunday I ate strawberries, grilled chicken and spinach, 2 mugs (4 cups) of coffee with moo and stevia, 4 grissini, 1 melba and 1 Atkins bar (140 calories.) 460 calories.

R1P2D9 Sunday 202.0

It's Sunday morning and the scale says 202.0 pounds, down 0.8 from Saturday and 9.1 pounds from load days, 6 pounds from R1 LDW of 208,  and 4.8 pounds from my start weight of 206.8. I love it and I feel great! I also measured and have lost 2.25 inches so far in Round 2. I've had to get some smaller clothes. I'm now wearing size 16 or XL but yesterday I tried on a size 14W suit with a stretch waistband and it just fits snug. From 24W to 14W is amazing! Now I'll try to catch up my posts. (My internet was down for a few days.)

R2P2D8 202.8 Yesterday, Saturday I ate a P2 strawberry smoothie (frozen strawberries, water, stevia and ice), hot coffee with stevia and 1 tsp half and half, a rare lean beef patty and sliced tomato with basil, oregano, garlic and salt, 2 grissini, iced coffee with stevia and 1 tsp half an half, shrimp seasoned with Old Bay, roasted asparagus with garlic and salt, orange slices dipped in chocolate (2 tsp Ghiradelli cocoa mixed with stevia and water.) Very satisfying day. 468 calories.

The hunger I feel the first week is going away now. I struggled with it this time, so even though it is off protocol (and I don't advise this) I had the Atkins bars and the bits of chocolate to get me through. Half way into Round 1 I didn't even want to eat my second meal and some days I skipped the second fruit entirely so I know this is just temporary.

R2P2D7 203.8 Friday I ate fresh strawberries, coffee with moo and stevia, grilled chicken breast with spinach salad with 1 tsp ranch dressing, 4 grissini, a rare lean beef patty and roasted onion strings (thin onion slices baked at 400 for 20-30 mins), 1 square of 70% dark chocolate. 534 calories.

R2P2D6 204.7 Thursday I ate an orange with chocolate, coffee with moo and stevia, grilled chicken breast with spinach salad with 1 tsp ranch dressing, 4 grissini, shrimp with diced tomato. 477 calories.

R2P2D5 206.5 Wednesday I ate an orange with chocolate, coffee with moo and stevia, grilled chicken breast with spinach salad with 1 tsp ranch dressing, 2 melbas, 1 Atkins bar (150 cal), Old Bay seasoned tilapia, radish hash browns. 559 calories.

R2P2D4 Wednesday 206.5

It's Wednesday morning and the scale says 206.5 pounds, so I lost 1.5 pounds yesterday. I ate strawberries, coffee with a moo, chicken and spinach salad, 4 grissinis, 1 Atkins bar (help for week 1-off protocol), another coffee with a moo, fish with onions and orange segments dipped in cocoa with stevia. 573 calories total.

R2P2D4 Tuesday 208.0

It's Tuesday morning and the scale says 208.0 pounds so I lost 3.0 pounds on Day 3. I has the day off and was running around a lot doing some lifting of stuff and putting away all the holiday decorations and I was somewhat hungry but not terribly. Yesterday, on Monday, I ate shrimp and asparagus for lunch, a strawberry slushy for snack, an Atkins bar (off protocol I know) and tilapia and asparagus for dinner. 505 calories total.

Loading was not as fun as it was on Round 1 because I didn't have the same food attachments so I didn't really crave certain foods. On Sunday, Load Day 2, I did settle on an Angus cheeseburger, large fries and hot fudge sundae from McDonalds for one meal and it was satisfying. Other than that and the buffet dinner at Golden Corral, I mostly ate up what I had in the house. Total weight gained for both load days was 3.0 pounds. I did however, gain 2 pounds the couple days before so I was up from 206 to 208 pounds when I started loaded, so I suppose I really gained 5 pounds from loading.

R2P2D2 Sunday - Load Day 2

It's Sunday morning, Load Day 2, and the scale says 211.0, up three pounds from my LDW. Yesterday was Load Day 1 and I ate a lot! I don't think I can recall everything but here goes. I didn't make it out to breakfast but I had a large full fat latte, and for lunch I made a 6 ounce fatty steak pan fried in butter with blue cheese dressing, 1/2 frozen package of baked sweet potato fries also dipped in blue cheese dressing, 1/2 cup of baked beans, 1 cup of brocolli with melted cheddar cheese and butter, about 4 coconut balls made with condensed milk, then I went to dinner at Golden Corral (keeping on my budget) and pigged out on chicken piccata, orange chicken, fajita chicken, meatloaf, steak, taco ground beef, fish, fried shrimp, lasagna, mac cheese, a cheese muffin and all that filled two dinner plates, then from the dessert bar I filled another dinner plate with red velvet cake, carrot cake, chocolate cake, strawberry jello cake, and a bit of soft serve ice cream but I skipped most of the frostings because they were too sweet. Smallish portions but a lot in total. I felt some acid all day so I kept sipping on water and apple cider vinegar and felt good enough. But I was stuffed and my stomach still hurts this morning. Today my plan is just to try to get in more fats.

R2P2D1 Round 2! 208.0

It's Saturday morning and the scale says 208.0 pounds, up 2 pounds. I managed to gain back to my LDW which really is just my OCD wanting to be at that weight, not a protocol requirement. Yesterday, I ate a large spinach omelet, 4 cups of coffee with whipping cream, a large home made chicken flat bread pizza  and snacked on coconut butter, almonds and chocolate, a cheesecake slice and a full-size raspberry protein shake.

I am very excited to do Phase 2 again. I have to get into planning out my load days so I am sure to eat enough. Today I am going out to a big breakfast out, then a burger and fries for lunch, and out to a buffet dinner with my girl friend.

R1P4D21 206.9 Last Day of Round 1!

It's Friday morning and the scale says 206.9 pounds. I have been careful in P4 not to eat foods with a lot of sugar or starch. Yesterday I decided to try some new things and see what happened. I had a strawberry protein shake for breakfast, italian sausage in tomato meat sauce for lunch with raw baby carrots and sugar snap peas and ranch dressing. For dinner I had a 5 ounce steak topped with blue cheese dressing with macaroni and cheese from the Publix deli and a small slice of plain cheesecake that I topped with some warmed up frozen blackberries with stevia and some sliced almonds. It all tasted yummy. I did feel kind of bloated last night I guess from the sugar in the cheesecake and the starch in the elbow macaroni but it was okay. Total price for indulging: a pound. Not bad.

Okay so I am getting really excited to start Round 2 today! I am going to start loading with dinner tonight. I'm on a tighter budget this time around, so I won't be splurging at fancy restaurants. I'm eating up the fatty foods in my fridge, like the salmon, cheeses, and peanut butter and coconut butter. I also don't want to have any leftovers from the load meals so I will be buying small quantities or single servings and eating out at "value" restaurants.

Starting Phase 2, I am so looking forward to dropping another 20 pounds and going down a few sizes and most of all being in Onederland again. I really love Phase 2 for other reasons too. I like the simple list of foods that makes it easy to shop. I like to prepare in bulk on Sundays and freeze so I just have to warm up a meal. I like the balance of foods (protein, veggie and fruit) in a daily meal plan.  I love how good and healthy I feel on Phase 2 and the cleanse it provides to my whole body. I always have enough energy. I like to log my foods for the day and see how much I can eat for under 500 calories. I like getting in touch with my hunger again instead of just eating because its time to eat. I really find it easier to eat 500 calories a day than to eat the 1700 I eat to maintain. I challenge myself to see how creative and "gourmet" I can get with my meals. I love getting to know and use all the spices in my spice cabinet and even get some new ones. And I've got a dozen different teas and coffee flavors so I don't get bored.

R1P4D20 205.9 Thursday

It's Thursday morning and the scale reads 205.9 pounds. Tomorrow is the last day of P4 and I have maintained the 23 pounds I lost in P2 with only one correction steak day. I am really looking forward to doing it again. This time I am excited to see my weight drop into the 100's again! It's been a while.

R1P4D18 Tuesday 204.7

It's Tuesday morning and the scale says 204.7 pounds, down 0.8 from Monday's 205.5 and 1.5 down from Sunday's 206.2. Normally I would start to eat more to get back up to 206 but I am starting Round 2 and will be loading on Saturday and Sunday, so I'm not worried.

R1P4D16 Sunday 206.2 Favorite Foods

It is Sunday morning and the scale says 206.2. Weighing daily is the control method for maintenance on the protocol. I am stable and really looking forward to starting Round 2 next weekend, January 14th.

Since the steak day I have been eating whatever I want and I am no longer logging my foods. My eating style has definately changed from before HCG. I avoid sugar and starch whenever possible and absolutely do not eat foods with additives. I try to get in 400 gm of protein daily, about twice what I had during Phase 1 but I am allowing fattier cuts of beef, Gwaltey Hardwood Smoked bacon (one of few that has no added sugar), salmon, and I eat the skin on the chicken and lots of eggs and Jay Robb protein shakes. One to two cups of vegetables round out each meal and I love the ones from Phase 2 which are staples now but I have added some new ones to keep it interesting - brussel sprouts, eggplant, zuchini, avocados.

I'm eating a little less fruit now just personal preference. Still love strawberries almost every day plus blackberries and an occasional apple baked with apple pie spice. I've added dairy too, any kind of cheese, cheddar, pepper jack, swiss, mozzarella, parmesan, bleu, feta. I only buy in block form and grate it myself to avoid the starch added to pre-grated packaged cheese (except the feta and blue.) I also have only whipping cream with my coffee. I don't drink any milk because of the sugar (skim, whole or any in between.) I am experimenting with coconut milk and almond milk but the jury is still out. I do have sour cream, butter, plain greek yogurt, Dukes mayonnaise (which has no sugar). Other fats I use are coconut oil and olive oil and raw almonds which I keep on hand to nibble at home and at work. I also have an organic chocolate bar in the fridge for when I must have chocolate.

I have had a few cravings, and did indulge in the leftover sugar cookies from Christmas, but I have satisfied them for the most part with healthier substitutes. For the Coldstone craving, I found a frozen treat at Publix called Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Ice Cream. The Vanilla Bean over microwaved blackberries is amazing! For the bread craving which I have only had 3 times in 3 weeks, I toasted a slice of Ezekial bread and slathered it with real butter. Ezekial bread is flourless, organic, a complete protein and made from sprouted whole grain. For a quick nibble I dip a teaspoon in a jar of Artisana coconut butter which is pure heaven and full of healthy MCFA. Last but not least I have bought several kinds of liquid stevia to sweeten and flavor my coffee and desserts. I love the Sweetleaf  brand liquid stevia flavors of Vanilla Cream and English Toffee the best and I bought a cheaper brand of plain in a larger bottle. The 2 ounce bottle contains 300 servings so even at $14.99 its still a bargain. A tips for stevia: it is very concentrated so if you want to sprinkle it on fruit first dilute it with about 4-7 drops to about an ounce or two of water (to your desired sweetness, too much can be bitter) and then sprinkle the water over the fruit. I buy the bread, coconut butter, mayonnaise and stevia at the Whole Foods market.

All of these new healthy products I discovered by reading the posts in the HCGDieters yahoo group which is one of the best sources of information on the HCG diet on the web.

R1P4D11 Tuesday 206.3

So yesterday, Monday, the scale said 210.1 pounds, the result of eating cookie dough while making a batch of chocolate chip cookies on Sunday for my daughter to take back to college with her. I decided to do a steak day. Just a coffee with 1 moo and stevia until lunch, a bunless hamburger with slices of tomato for lunch, and a 5 or 6 ounce sirloin steak pan fried with bacon fat and butter with a whole medium tomato for dinner.

Today, Tuesday morning, the scale says 206.3. Wow! Lost 3.8 pounds!!! I am amazed that it works just like the protocol says. More convinced than ever that I will NEVER be fat again. A million thanks to Dr. Simeons!

R1P4D8 New Years Day 208.1

It's Saturday morning and the scale says 208.1. I have not kept track of my foods for the past week, eating mostly P3, but with more snacking on almonds, some grissini and deli natural peanut butter and coconut butter. I've made a veggie dip from greek yogurt served with sliced zuchini, radishes or celery. I have even had some cookies during the last week. I tried a slice of Ezekial whole grain bread and I didn't like the heavy texture. Maybe I will try it as french toast. Or on top of onion soup.

Breakfast is either eggs and bacon or a protein shake. Lunch and dinner are a protein and veggies, no starch. I try to add in the extra protein shake and eat 5 or 6 ounces of protein per meal and I cook everything with fat. I have not incorporated milk yet, the only dairy I use is cheese (most varieties), heavy cream, sour cream, cream cheese and greek yogurt.

Keeping starch and sugar to a minimum seems to be working. My weight has varied from 205.7 to 208.2 and my last dose weight was 208.0 so I have stabilized and maintained well on Round 1 with no correction days yet. I am ready to start Round 2 on January 14th and lose the next 20 pounds!