What!!!??!!!

Weight: 175.2 lbs.
Overnight Loss: 1.8 lbs.
VLCD Day: 39

OK. I was fine with my LIW. I was going out with more of a whimper than a bang, but I can't argue with the fine results. Thanks to Beaker for her continued words of encouragement!

So I get up this morning expecting more of the .2 to .6 stuff I've been seeing and get a number I haven't seen since the first week. I didn't do anything new yesterday except for the fact that I wasn't trying to get any where specifically. I was coasting in to Phase 3. Stress and self-imposed goals probably have something to do with it.

I'll be adjusting the look of this site a little to be more Phase 3 focused over the weekend. I'm really excited to start and see how this goes.

I was talking to a friend about this last night and already planning for my next round next year and she made a great point. "Wait a minute. Slow down and savor this victory. Enjoy this before you start worrying about anything else."

She's so right. I'm taking this a day at a time and enjoying my success for the rest of the year.

LIW

Weight: 177 lbs.
Overnight loss: .4 lbs.
VLCD Day: 38

Any loss is a good loss

Weight: 177.4 lbs.
Overnight loss: .2 lbs
VLCD Day: 37

Yeah, so that fish I was going to eat for lunch yesterday? Couldn't eat it. Took one bite and threw it away. I ran home early and cooked up some chicken I had prepped.

My stomach felt agitated and slightly burny last night and I remember feeling the same way when I ate the cabbage soup and gained weight. I don't think I can skip protein at all on this diet.

I'm getting steak today on the way home and that's how I will finish this round.

One more shot and 3 more days of VLCD.

Weight: 177.6 lbs.
Overnight loss: 1.2 lbs.
VLCD Day: 36

OK. I need to lose 1.4 lbs. in the next two days to hit 30lbs. I can't guarantee it, but it's definitely within reach.

I didn't eat my fish for dinner last night. I just cooked and ate my asparagus. I couldn't handle the thought of the smell or taste. Weird. I brought it for lunch today, so I'm eating it regardless.

Good news - I got the new boots on this morning with less difficulty. I think they will work for my trip in December.

I won't do anymore measurements until my LIW day on Thursday, but I've obviously slimmed the calves down a bit more.

Maybe it's a Monday thing.

Weight: 178.8 lbs.
Overnight loss: .1 lbs.
VLCD day: 35

There are a variety of things that could be involved in this sudden drop in weight loss. I found out yesterday that asparagus is a diuretic. I've eaten asparagus with dinner the previous four days and switched to spinach again yesterday. I don't think I drank enough water yesterday. I did two walking tours of downtown Austin last night back-to-back. That shouldn't have taxed my muscles that much, but who knows? I've been losing a pound or more for most of a week and losses like that can't be maintained, particularly in the last week.

Eh. If I don't drop another ounce on this phase this has still been a smashing success. There is light at the end of this tunnel and its name is Sunday, November 2ND. The beginning of phase 3.

Old pictures - 156lbs in Cancun 2004

I still had a ways to go in these pictures, but I was 50 lbs lighter than I was when I started my first round of HCG. I won't get there this round, but I am on my way. I'll do current pics once I can start wearing make-up again. That's next Sunday. I can't wait.

Weight: 178.9 lbs.
Overnight Loss: 1.2 lbs
VLCD Day: 34

Finally, I'm in the 170's. I've got four more shots, so I'm trying to get to 176.2 - that would be 30 pounds exactly.

I'm going back to fish today.

I bought a pair of knee-high boots for my trip to Amsterdam in December. I've lost an inch off of my calves, but these boots are still very difficult to get zipped up. I need a little more room there if I can manage it this week.

Weight: 180.1 lbs
Overnight loss: 1.0 lbs.
VLCD Day: 33

Tomorrow I should see the 170's for the first time in a long time. That will be a great motivator for this final stretch of this Phase 2.

I know I'm ready to be done. I've started browsing recipes on line and I'm less amenable to going to social outings for very long periods when I can eat or drink nothing.

Don't get over confident, but I feel good about reaching 30 lbs. lost in this round.

Weight: 181.1 lbs.
Overnight loss: 1.3 lbs.
VLCD Day: 32

OMG! This is awesome. I think the cabbage soup only masked the continued changes occurring and now my body is catching up. There is still a possibility of getting to 30 lbs. lost this round.

Regardless, I am enjoying looking and feeling better and wearing things I haven't worn in 3+ years.

I was worried about adding asparagus this late in the game, but apparently it's working fine. I'm back on london broil and find that if I lower the amount to around 80 grams instead of 100 I do better. I don't really notice the difference either.

Weight: 182.4 lbs.
Overnight loss: 1.2 lbs.
VLCD Day: 31

Yeah!!!!! I had chicken and fish again yesterday and cooked myself some asparagus for dinner for the first time. I still didn't really enjoy the fish, but look at the results.

I think I have a friend here who is finally convinced that this is working and she might like to try it as well in the spring. It would be great to have some one local to talk to as well as the great folks I talk to and follow on blogs.

The 170's are in sight!

Weight: 183.6 lbs.
Overnight Loss: .9 lbs.
VLCD Day: 30

Yeah! I'm really behind for the week, but I'm losing again. I just want to get to the 170's this round.

I had a really hard time eating my fish last night. I just didn't want it. I looked like a little kid with a plate of broccoli in front of me. (Except that I always liked broccoli personally.)

I've got a picture that I will add on my last injection day. It's of me in 1998 at about 128 lbs. I will never be there again, but I'd like to look that good again at a more appropriate weight for me now.

Weight: 184.5 lbs.
Overnight Loss: none.
VLCD Day: 29

Needless to say, the cabbage soup is gone. Obviously, this doesn't work for me. I was really craving something different and not made by my own hand on Sunday, so I compromised and made this soup that everyone on the HCG Dieters group were talking about. It tastes great, but it completely destroys my weight loss.

It's not worth it. I'll be doing chicken and fish for a couple of days now.

Weight: 184.5 lbs.
Overnight loss: +.8 lbs.
VLCD Day: 28

I'm sure it's too much of the cabbage soup I made yesterday. I tried to be careful and figure the portion size correctly. Obviously, I made a mistake. I will eat much less of it today and see if that helps. If it doesn't correct quickly, I will make my guy eat it or throw it away.

This is the very first time I haven't lost. I don't want a repeat of this.

Pictures!

I'm still not a thin girl, but I can see a HUGE difference in my arms, waist, and face. Yesterday was tough: a tailgate with fabulous cuban food and a party with lots of drinks, cake and pressure to join in. No one was trying to sabotage me. They were just concerned I wasn't having a good time. The difference in these pics makes it worth not cheating.

Weight: 183.7 lbs.
Overnight Loss: .8 lbs.
VLCD Day: 27

Short post today. I'm tired from the game and party and lack of sleep. I have a little headache as well and am trying to decide whether or not to take something.

I'll have pics to post later today or tomorrow.

Weight: 184.5 lbs.
Overnight loss: .5 lbs.
VLCD day: 26

I'm going to try one piece of fruit per day and more exercise and see if that helps with the loss. At least I've not had a gain day on this protocol, but I'm tired and bored already and now I'm getting impatient.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with the progress, but I use the idea of a pound-a-day to resist temptation. I don't think I'm going to be as successful with .5 a day mentally.

Tailgate, game and party tonight. Pics by Monday in the reunion dress.

Weight: 185 lbs.
Overnight Loss: .6 lbs.
VLCD Day: 25

I started the shots again today. Yesterday was a light day in the TOM so I'm moving on. I really want to drop at least another 10 lbs. in this round. Side note: I was never really hungry on the non-shot days.

Here's an odd note: In May 2005 my guy and I went to New York City and I visited a friend of mine I hadn't seen in a couple of years. I remember being embarrassed at my then highest-weight-ever: 185 lbs. Now, I'm thrilled to be back there. The last three or four years have been a horrible struggle with my weight.

I am so grateful for HCG and the help of my doctor and his staff in getting on and through this protocol. I feel so much better about myself.

Weight 185.6 lbs.
Overnight loss: .4 lbs.
VLCD Day: 24

Meh. Whatever. I'll start shots again tomorrow I think. I may have had too much crab last night since it was cooked and I wasn't totally sure how many grams to remove from cooked crab and be within guidelines.

I feel great in my clothes and am excited to see how far I can get in this round.

There is a party for my boyfriend's birthday on Saturday that I will attend. I have a pretty dress I wore to my high school reunion in June. So, I'll take pics and post a June 08 and an October 08 pic by Monday. I recall weighing something like 193 to 195 at that time. I looked OK in it, but I recall having to wear crazy undergarments and have help zipping it up. Don't think that's gonna be a problem on Saturday. It will totally make up for drinking water and eating nothing all night.

Starting this weekend I'm going to take some time and backtrack to discuss things I did and didn't do in Phase 1. I found Trudeau's book overwhelming in the number of things it suggested, but there were things I did adopt and I think they served me early in Phase 2.

Wow. Very heavy period - heavier than normal.

However, no additional hunger and I feel pretty good about today and taking at least one or two more days off of the shots.

Weight: 186 lbs.
Overnight loss: .7 lbs.
VLCD day: 23

It's here. I started my TOM yesterday. I've read a lot of people's posts on the HCG dieters Yahoo Group and a lot of people take the shots right on through. I'm going to take at least today and tomorrow off and see how it goes.

I'm more tired today than I've been lately and crankier as well. I will try not to take that out on my boyfriend like I did last night. Oops.

I was trending my weight loss so far and projecting a total for this round. I'm shooting for low 170's with a stretch goal of high 160's. Both would be awesome as I haven't seen either since early 2005.

I realize I can only control what I eat and do and my body with the help of HCG has to do the rest.

Weight: 186.7
Overnight Loss: .4
VLCD day: 22

I knew the near-a-pound-a-day weight loss wouldn't last. Oh, well.

It's almost time for my TOM so I'll be very interested to see how that goes.

I noticed that I'm not waking up as refreshed as I did for the first two plus weeks of the shots.

I have lost more off my thighs and hips. Always a good thing as I am a pear-shape person.

Weight: 187.1 lbs.
Overnight loss: .7
VLCD Day: 21

I'm half way through this phase. I'm finding some phase-two-compliant recipes to try to stave off the boredom.

I have to say that continued loss on the scale and clothes that fit much better is good motivation.

Not much else to say except that sometimes I still want a cheese puff or two. Organic, of course.

Weight: 187.8 lbs

Overnight loss: .9 lbs.

VLCD Day: 20

I am getting very tired of this diet. Here is where the will power must see me through the rest of this month. Right now, I just want to be able to go anywhere with my friends and my boyfriend and be able to eat something. I'm still accepting invites to go places because I don't want to be a hermit, but not doing anything but drink water is really frustrating. I'm very tired of my own cooking.

I made pancakes for my boyfriend yesterday, so I handled butter a little bit. And there was oil in the batter. I wonder if even that slight contact might have lowered my overnight loss?

Weight: 188.7 lbs
Overnight loss: .8 lbs
VLCD day: 19

Yeah. I'm more than happy with these results. I figure it's going to slow down again with my TOM coming soon, so be happy with what you've got right now.

I tried eating my second serving of protein right before bed to see if that pushed the weight loss up. It's really hard to say if that made any difference. I didn't like waiting that late to eat though.

I'm going to my gym to have a body age assessment done today at 1PM. Late last December I had one done and found out that due to my weight (202) and inactivity my body age was 47. I was not quite 37 at the time. I'm hoping for better results today.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Weight: 189.5 lbs
Overnight loss: 1.0 lbs
VLCD day: 18

I'm smiling. I love my one pound days. And I'm officially out of the 190's.

It would appear that I am doing things properly and I'll just have to deal with my body stair-stepping the weight loss.

That's OK as long as the inches and pounds continue to drop.

I feel AWESOME today.

Weight: 190.5
Overnight loss: .2
VLCD day: 17

I don't like it, but I'm not surprised. My body has always been very finicky about weight loss - a very familiar frustration for me.

At least my inches lost are great. That will help keep my resolve as I push on through this.

Phase 2 - Day 18

Weight 190.7
Overnight loss: .7

I can deal with this. Obviously, I was hoping for a solid pound per day, but that's not very realistic. I am very close to the 180's now.

Visible success!

I wish I'd been able to take good pics at the beginning. That would make this more obvious to me and others.

However, I saw a business associate today that I haven't seen since mid August. She was visibly surprised by my appearance and told me I looked wonderful.

That's progress. Yeah for me and my willpower. Yeah for hcg.

Phase 2 - Day 17

Weight: 191.4
Overnight loss: .9

.9 lbs is definitely better. I feel fine after only four apples yesterday. I'll definitely have one this morning as I am quite thirsty. Kinda getting sick of apples as well.

Now, if the weight loss drops to a really low level again, I'll have to take a hard look at the meat I'm eating and make sure the fat content isn't too high. Might try shrimp though my guy really hates all seafood and the smell that brings to the house.

Phase 2 - Day 16 - APPLE DAY!!!!

Weight - 192.3

.3 lbs lost is not acceptable. We're going to an apple day. I've been avoiding doing this, but it's time.

I will keep in mind that I did cook for myself yesterday and consequently handled some fat. I don't know if that makes any difference or not.

Dr Simeon wrote:

"The second type of interruption we call a “plateau”. A plateau lasts 4-6 days and frequently occurs during the second half of a full course, particularly in patients that have been doing well and whose overall average of nearly a pound per effective injection has been maintained. Those who are losing more than the average all have a plateau sooner or later. A plateau always corrects, itself, but many patients who have become accustomed to a regular daily loss get unnecessarily worried and begin to fret. No amount of explanation convinces them that a plateau does not mean that they are no longer responding normally to treatment.
In such cases we consider it permissible, for purely psychological reasons, to break up the plateau. This can be done in two ways. One is a so-called “apple day”. An apple-day begins at lunch and continues until just before lunch of the following day. The patients are given six large apples and are told to eat one whenever they feel the desire though six apples is the maximum allowed. During an apple-day no other food or liquids except plain water are allowed and of water they may only drink just enough to quench an uncomfortable thirst if eating an apple still leaves them thirsty. Most patients feel no need for water and are quite happy with their six apples. Needless to say, an apple-day may never be given on the day on which there is no injection. The apple-day produces a gratifying loss of weight on the following day, chiefly due to the elimination of water. This water is not regained when the patients resume their normal 500-Calorie diet at lunch, and on the following days they continue to lose weight satisfactorily."

I think this is happening too early in the phase, but I want to get out of the 190's. Now.

More thoughts for the day

I think maybe it's the salt and the fat in the beef. I'm going to drop my beef by about 10 grams per serving and see if that helps.

Pictures!

I didn't get to take pictures when I started since my camera was out of the country. Here's two weeks into Phase 2 with almost 14 lbs. lost. I can see a difference in the face shot between August and now.

Phase 2 - Day 15

Weight: 192.6

OK. I'm frustrated.
I probably shouldn't be.

Half a pound loss in a day is still good. However, I've been going to social events with tons of food and drink and haven't cheated once. I've been as perfect as I know how to be.

I expected to be out of the 190's by now. I keep thinking about what the issue could be - water retention due to salt from the chicken I brined last week, water retention due the fact that I'm female, handling something with fat in it, negative thoughts, etc.

I just want a pound or more day.

Still thinking about making this one an apple day.

Phase 2 - Day 15

Weight 193.1

Can't really complain about an increase in my rate of weightloss. Even if it is only by .1 lbs.

I have a way of carrying my weight that generally seems to shock people when I tell them how much I do weigh. Consequently, no one has really mentioned noticing I look thinner. I think once I hit the 20 lb. mark, people will notice. I've definitely noticed a change in how clothing is fitting. Jeans are looser, shirts are fitting better, etc.

Thankfully, I've not had any real uncomfortable hunger since Oct. 2nd. That evening, while not unbearable, was not fun.

Phase 2 - Day 14

Weight: 193.9

I was going to make this an apple day if I didn't lose more than .5 lbs. Today was .7 lbs.

I left the house without giving myself the hcg shot. I hadn't gotten that far and turned around and came home immediately. I'm better at giving myself the shots, but I still don't like it.

No excessive hunger today and hopeful for tomorrow.