16th 500cal day Results - Up 0.5 lbs

Well, crap. I'm having a feeling I may be hovering around this weight for a few days. It was a weight I stayed at for a couple years, so it may be a set point my body needs to get past.

I was a bit hungry last night, and ended up eating something late (around 10pm). I made french onion soup, Simeons style - it did have a high sodium content in it, and I normally don't add salt to anything, so that may have something to do with my weight this morning. Can you tell I'm trying to make excuses? It was pretty good, but probably not good to eat so late. I have normally stopped eating for the day by about 7-7:30, so that may have something to do with it. Plus I'm weighing myself about 2.5 hrs earlier this morning - think I can lose a pound in the next 2 hrs???? :)

I decided to mix up a new batch of hcg this morning, since I have started getting a little hungrier the last couple of days and am thinking maybe my old batch was losing its potency.

15th 500cal day Results - down 0.5 lbs

I've now broken 2 milestones - 250 and 240. Weighed 239.5 this morning. I haven't seen that in awhile, that's for sure.

Actually, I was kind of expecting it to be even this morning. Had another family function last night, and we went to a Mexican restaurant. I had a ceasar salad w/ grilled shrimp and used pico de gallo (sp?) for my dressing. It was pretty good, but everyone else's dishes smothered w/ cheese sure looked good! I totalled my cals for yesterday, and I was over. Total was 645 actually, so that's why I didn't expect any loss. Maybe I would have lost a little more if I had stayed below 500, but I'm definitely happy with it!

One of my cousins mentioned that he could see I'm losing weight last night. That was nice to hear! I don't really see it myself when I look in the mirror yet. However, I took a Day 1 pic of myself and took another pic yesterday and looked at them side-by-side. In the pics it is actually amazing the difference you can see - in just 2 weeks! Still a LONG way to go, but seeing the pics next to one another does give me more motivation...

14th 500cal day Results - down 3.5 lbs

Well, this is starting out as a good morning. Love my scale today...

I must have had to get up to go to the bathroom 5 times last night - I guess I must have been 'holding water' for awhile as Simeons mentions will happen occasionally, and then WHOOSH! Out it went!

So that makes a total 20 lbs lost in 14 days of VLCD, with a new average of 1.43 lbs/day. Gotta love this...

13th 500cal day Results

Up 1 lb today, but I think I know what the problem is. As a matter of fact, I KNOW what the problem is ... so I went to Wild Oats this morning and bought some 'Smooth Move' tea that I will try this evening - gotta love that name! :)

I forgot to mention before that I decreased my daily dosage a few days ago from 200IU to 160IU. Not sure if that will make a difference in weight loss, but from reading I thought it would be better to do this in order to avoid developing immunity to the hcg too soon.

I'm still VERY happy with my results so far on this program. I've had up days and down days, but as of this morning after 13 days on the VLCD I have lost 16.5 pounds from my weight after loading (during which I gained 5) - an average of 1.27 lbs per day!

12th 500cal day Results - Down 2 lbs. :)

I guess I'm lucky! After my day where in a weak moment I went off the diet, I expected I would stall for awhile as everyone warned. But this morning, after being back on it 1 day I was down 2 lbs!

I don't know why this is, but here are a couple of ideas:

1) Maybe I didn't gain enough on my load days and still had a pound of structural fat I needed to gain (was up 1 lb after my 'cheat'). I do notice that after my 'cheat' day I was not hungry at all yesterday and am still not hungry this morning like I was before, so this is just a guess.

2) Maybe because I didn't go overboard (I only had a grilled chicken sandwich, fries and 1 beer) it didn't have a lasting effect of more than 1 day (my next morning weight was up 1 lb).

Here is what it says in Pounds and Inches where Dr. Simeons is talking about 'politicians,' etc. who have to attend party functions from time to time:

"...They should take dainty servings of everything, bide what they can under the cutlery and book the gain which may take three days to get rid of as one of the sacrifices which their profession entails.

Allowing three days for their correction, such incidents do not jeopardize the treatment, provided they do not occur all too frequently in which case treatment should be postponed to a socially more peaceful season."

Anyways, I feel fortunate. So, I guess the moral of the story is: If you do slip up, make sure to limit yourself and don't go crazy eating everything in sight. And don't get discouraged with yourself. Don't give up and tell yourself that you have 'failed' again on yet another diet. Get right back on the protocol and stick to it. Whether it takes you 1 day or 4 to get back on track, it will happen and you will be on your way to success again. This program really does work...

11th 500cal day Results

I blew it last night... I went to a Reds game, and had the full intention of just drinking water and that's it. I ended up having 1 Miller Lite (wow, who knew you could get so buzzed from drinking just 1 beer??? I also ended up getting a grilled chicken sandwich, bbq sauce, bun and all - and waffle fries.

Now I know if I wasn't taking hcg, that would not be a big deal really, because I didn't eat much at all throughout the rest of the day, but I know w/ hcg it can cause you to gain. And guess what? Up 1 lb this morning.

Oh well. I'm not going to beat myself up over it. It was nice having a somewhat 'normal' evening (actually not really normal, because I normally would have gotten something even more fattening, and more of it I'm sure).

Even with the 1 lb gain, I'm still well over the stated average of 1 lb loss per day. So, I'm starting over today. I enjoyed my 'cheat' day and am ready to move forward (or downward) again!

10th 500cal day Results

Down another 0.5, so that makes it 243.5. hcg is working - and I'm not hungry like I was the first couple of days. I do get hungry right before I would normally eat, but that's about it...

I decided to lower my daily dose of hcg from 200IU to about 166IU. People seem to be having just as much success at lower dosages, and I figure it may help keep me from developing any immunity to it sooner.

Going to a Reds game tonight, will try to be good!

9th 500cal day Results

Ok, things are back on track. I was down 2.5 lbs from yesterday when I weighed myself this morning - 244. Looking back and analyzing the days I gained, I'm thinking 2 things happened. When I gained the 0.5 lbs, it was the morning after I ate out. I had grilled red snapper, but I thought that maybe they put some oil or butter on it before they grilled it, because it was more moist than I would have thought it would be just grilled. Should have specified no oil, etc. when I ordered.

The night before I gained 1.5 lbs, I had bison. I don't think it was the bison that made me gain, because I have lost 1.5 lbs the morning after eating beef. I think it was water retention probably - I added Montreal Steak seasoning to the bison burger, which contains course salt in it. I never add salt to anything, so this probably made me hold more water.

Live and learn....

8th 500cal day Results

AAAARRRGGGHHH!!! Today I am at 246.5 - up 1.5 lbs. This is frustrating. I've been good, I swear. Well, maybe I've been SLIGHTLY over 500cal (I'm talking maybe 10cals) for a few days - I'm going to have to really pay attention to what I'm eating and make sure my weighing of the food is right on. I may drop the cals a little today - I seemed to lose better when my daily total was under 500cals. Plus, yesterday was my skip day for hcg, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

Hope tomorrow morning is better...

7th 500cal day Results

No change today. Still at 245. Damn! I know that the weight loss comes in a 'stair-step' fashion and the average is a pound per day during the course of treatment, but I really got spoiled my first few days.

I went to a party for awhile last night. There was all kinds of tempting junk food. Chips, dips, cookies, chili dogs, beer, beer and beer.

I had water w/ lime. Surprisingly, I wasn't very tempted - even though friends kept trying to tempt me (not to be mean, just the typical, "you can have a couple of beers, it won't hurt anything.") I think part of it was that I had my dinner before going so I was not hungry at all. I felt really good about myself and my ability to have will power after I left. I did 'cheat' a little when I got home, though. But by cheating I mean that I had some celery and some salad - so if that is my new 'cheating' then I guess it's not so bad! I don't know why I had it - I actually wasn't hungry at all, but just kind of wanted to taste SOMETHING. In the old days, I would have pigged out and drank at the party and then probably gotten some fast food from Taco Bell or some such place (enough for 2 or 3 people, most likely) to eat when I got home - so I think this was a definite improvement.

I have a family get-together to go to this afternoon, where the temptations will likely be similar - so this will be my third day to prove to myself that i can have a good time w/out it being centered around food and alcohol. No problem...

Today I am skipping my hcg (I'll skip Sundays) to prevent building immunity.

6th 500cal day Results

I was up 1/2 pound this morning. I'm not too concerned about it though. I've had a good run and I'm sure my body needs to balance out a bit. I'm probably holding some water (and food!) a bit too.

Tomorrow is another day!

6th 500cal day

Well, I went out for 'Happy Hour' with some friends from work this evening. I drank iced tea and water with lemon (that was tough). There was an order of wings sitting on our table, and I only had a little of the celery. Man, I wanted some wings!

For dinner I ordered a ceasar salad with grilled red snapper. I had them hold the dressing, and the croutons and used some habanero mustard hot sauce on the salad instead (no fat - checked the ingredients). I think the fish might have been grilled w/ a little olive oil, but I'm not sure - hopefully not too much though. I probably had more than 3.5 oz. of fish - maybe even double that. But still when I entered everything into fitday.com I came up with 510 cals for the day, even with 7 oz of red snapper (didn't count any oil, since I can't be sure there was any). We'll see how tomorrow's weight comes out. I weighed myself when I got home and it said 251 which kind of concerns me, but I figure I drank a lot of water and tea that hasn't worked it's way out yet.

5th 500cal day Results - 1.5 lbs lost - 244.5

I was sure that I wasn't going to see any weight loss this morning. I had prepared myself for it, and was ready to chock it up to holding water weight. I drank a lot of water last night before going to bed just to help it along a bit.

Well, this morning I had lost another 1.5 pounds, so I am down to 244.5. That's 15.5 lbs in 5 days!

I'm not feeling quite as hungry this morning either, so hopefully that part of it is finally subsiding. I will have a bit of a test tonight - 'happy hour' after work. I'm determined not to sabotage myself though...

Day 7, 4th 500cal day results - Down 1 more - 246

I was kind of hoping to have a big loss when I got up this morning, but I lost 1-lb. I am happy with that I guess. It's a little different to get disappointed when you lose 1-lb per day! I was really hungry last night for some reason...so much so that I nearly cheated. But I just kept drinking water instead.

Today was pretty good. I was a little hungry, but not horribly so - I think it's getting better. Even if not, it's worth it if you can lose a pound a day on average!

So far since I started the 500cal days, I have lost:
Day 1: 8 lbs
Day 2: 2 lbs
Day 3: 3 lbs
Day 4: 1 lb

I'm done with my eating for today, which is my 5th 500cal day (actually it ended up being 511cals today - I ate a whole grapefruit instead of a half, and I also had sirloin instead of chicken for the first time). We'll see what tomorrow's weigh-in brings... I'm a little nervous about tomorrow, because I weighed myself this evening and the scale shows 249. Hopefully it is all water and will be gone by morning!

Day 6, 3rd 500cal day results - 3 more pounds

Good Morning! Down another 3 today. That's 13 lbs in 3 days. Woo hoo!I don't seem to feel or look like I've lost though, so I have a feeling this is fat that has been packed around my heart and other internal organs - so this is probably a very good thing!

Day 5, Lost 2 more pounds - 250

How sad is it that I am disappointed with losing only 2 pounds in a day. That's definitely something I should be excited about! I guess I was hoping to drop below that magic number this morning, not be back at it. Oh well, tomorrow will be the day instead, I guess...

Day 4, Part 2

Today has been a little harder so far as the hunger goes. I kind of hoped that I wouldn't have any since I ate so much on my 2 loading days, but oh well. Nothing I can't handle. I've been drinking a lot of water to keep my stomach full - but it has definitely been growling - or to more accurately describe it, roaring!

I can barely wait until tomorrow morning so that I can weigh myself again. I feel pretty sure I'm going to be below 250, since I weighed myself this evening and it still said around 252 - and that's even with all this water sloshing in my stomach... and you usually weigh more during the day than in the morning. I swear I've been gaining and losing the same 5 pounds over and over again for the last year, so if I dip below 250 that will be a real milestone for me.

Here's what I ate today:
Morning:
Coffee w/ Stevia
Mid-Morning:
1/2 Grapefruit
Lunch:
100 grams chicken breast
Mid-Afternoon:
1 tomato w/ fresh basil
Dinner:
HUGE salad (lettuce wise)
1 tomato w/ fresh basil
w/ 100grams chicken breast
Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
Pepper
Mid-Evening:
Coffee w/ Stevia
1 cup slices strawberries w/ stevia

According to fitday.com, that's 482 calories.

Day 4 - Lost 8 lbs! - 252

When I got up this morning, I was hoping to have a loss of 5 lbs, which would be what I gained during the loading phase. Well, the scale says I lost 8! I got off and on a couple of times, shifted my weight on it in different ways, and same thing. 8 pounds - in 1 day! Damn thing must be broken. :)

So, that makes me 252 today.

Day 3, First 500cal Day, Part 2

Here's what I ate today. I shouldn't have added the spinach to my salad - the protocol is very specific that you are supposed to only have 2 of the vegetable choices on any given day, I assume because of how the react w/ one another. But it was only a very little, so it shouldn't be a problem.

According to fitday.com, I've only had 410 calories. I've been a little hungry today, but nothing terrible. If I get hungry later this evening, it's going to be just water, water, water. I had my dinner at 7pm, and don't want to eat past 8pm.

Morning:
Coffee w/ Stevia
Mid Morning:
1/2 grapefruit
Lunch:
100 grams chicken breast
13 med. spears asparagus
Mid Afternoon:3/4 cup sliced strawberries
Dinner:
Salad w/ 100grams chicken breast
7-8 cups lettuce
1/2 cup raw spinach
3T Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
pepper on salad
Mid-Evening:
Coffee w/ Stevia

Day 3, 1st 500cal Day

Well, today is day 3 of my shots, and will be the first 500cal day for me. I didn't gain anything on day 2 of loading, but gained 5 lbs on day one - so I am starting today off at 260. Everything I've read seems to say that most people lose all of their loading day gains within the first 48 hours of being on the 500cals, so we'll see...

Woke up with a bit of a headache this morning, but nothing so bad that my morning coffee shouldn't take care of it. If it doesn't get better with that then I'll probably take some tylenol later.

Last night before going to bed I threw out pretty much everything that would tempt me to cheat during the 500cals, and will be going to Wild Oats later this morning to stock up on what I will need for this part of the diet. I'll probably prepare most of my meals for the entire week today just to make it easier.

Day 2 Loading - YIKES!

I gained 5 pounds - in one day! Yikes. Now I start day 2 of loading. This makes me nervous... I hope day 3 goes the other direction! :)

I had trouble getting everything down yesterday - but i did eat A LOT. Tonight before I go to bed I think I'm going to throw out or freeze everything that won't be allowed on the 500 cal days so I won't be tempted.

First Day of HCG and 1st Day Loading

I started my first injection this morning - SQ the stomach (lots of fat there to work with, ya know). It was easy, didn't hurt - but area is a little sore now. Oh well, small price to pay!

I wanted 200IU per injection, with each injection being 0.5ml. So, I took 12.5ML of bac water into syringe, then put about 1ml into the amp of 5000IU pregnyl. Put the rest of the water into the empty glass vial, then added the pregnyl mixture to that. I figure that would give me 25 injections of 0.5ml, each containing 200IU of hcg. Does that sound right? Hope so, 'cause that's what's coursing through me right now! :)

My HCG is here - 10 Days Exactly!

Well, I got home this evening and there was a slip in my mailbox that my hcg package is waiting for me to pick up at the Post Office tomorrow morning. I ordered from drugdeliver.ca on July 1, and was notified it shipped on July 2 - not too bad! I'm very excited to get started.

So, starting tomorrow I will be eating like a madman for 2 days, then the dreaded 500cal days will start. I am so ready to get this going!

Why I'm doing this

It's kind of funny. My mother recently came across some old photos of me from when I was in high school and we went on a trip to the Bahamas. Thinking back, I always considered myself fat - but looking at those pictures I was amazed that I was actually quite thin.

Maybe my thinking I was fat ended up being a self-fulfilling prophesy in a way. By the time I got married (at 24 - I'm divorced now) I weighed about 210-215 and in the pics from my honeymoon in Hawaii I definitely look fat. Now at 255 it's amazing. When I look in the mirror, which is rarely these days, I don't really see how big I am usually...but if I see a picture of myself I am shocked. That's not me! At least that's not how I feel inside.

I love the tropics - I don't care how hot it is, if I can see palm trees I am happy and don't feel the least bit hot. But it has literally been years since I have been willing to go to a pool party or anywhere where I would have to take my shirt off in front of someone. Being this fat has had such a detrimental effect on my ability to do the things and go to the places that I enjoy most.

Sometimes I will even make excuses and stay home rather than go out with friends because I am embarassed by the way I look. This time I am determined that I am going to lose the weight and finally KEEP IT OFF. Life is too short to waste it feeling and looking unhealthy. I'm so excited to get started on the hcg, and I really hope it works as well as everyone seems to say it does.

I'm at the point now, where I not only want to look and feel better, but I don't want to be one of those young people who end up having a heart attack or stroke - how embarrassing! (and scary, too, but mostly I would be embarrassed - how sad is that!) I definitely look forward to starting a new and active life again.

What do I tell family and friends?

I'm going to be starting the hcg protocol as soon as my supply arrives from drugdelivery.ca (hopefully in a week or so) and am very excited!

I'm kind of struggling with what to say to family and friends when they ask me 'how are you doing it?' (Of course, I'm assuming this will work and I will lose fat quickly and people will notice) There is a part of me that is still a little leary about this, and that's after researching and finding virtually no reports of negative side effects.

I can only imagine the reaction I would get if I told anyone I was taking hcg injections to lose weight. They would probably think I had lost my mind, was putting my health at risk, and needed counseling or something...

I placed my order today

I ordered 3 x 5000IU of Pregnyl from drugdelivery.ca last week, and it should be here soon I hope!

I have seen in doing searches that some say inject intra-muscular, and some say subcutaneous. The Pregnyl literature saysit can be done either way, and I have read that it is recommended that intramuscular injections only be done by a physician/nurse due to the potential complications if you don't know what you are doing. I think I feel more comfortable doing subcutaneous.

The syringes and other supplies (BA water, empty vials, alcohol swabs) I ordered from hcgsupplies.com The needles are 29 gage 1/2 inch, the same as used for insulin injections, so I'll be doing my injections the stomach fat (which I obviously have plenty of)!

I'm tempted to place another order from NHW just in case my orderfrom drugdelivery.ca doesn't come or is delayed. Much more expensive though...

So just what is HCG?

You can do a search on the Internet using 'hcg weight loss' and find lots of information there. One site that I found quite helpful is http://www.hcgdietinfo.com/ .

I would highly suggest you read the short book Pounds & Inches: A New Approach to Obesity by Dr. A.T.W. Simeons. It explains the entire program and the science behind it. It is quite fascinating - amazing really - and explains exactly why standard methods of losing weight always fail in the end, and how the use of hcg and a very low calorie diet overcomes this - and it really seems to ring true, at least for me. You can read it online for free here:

http://www.hcgdietinfo.com/HCG_Diet_Dr_Simeons_Manuscript.htm

I have done A LOT of online research about this protocol, and have come across absolutely zero severe side effects to using hcg in the very small amount that it is used in this program. I have come across many who doubt its effectiveness, and some studies that suggest that it is no more effective than a VLCD (very low calorie diet) on its own, but I have also come across studies saying just the opposite - so, the jury is still out. However the success stories I have heard about both from online searching and from newsgroups of people who are acutally using this method have been tremendously inspiring!

I have decided I am going to give this a try. I have tried so many different things to lose weight, (yes, even diet and exercise) and have had only limited, very slow success and always have gained back the weight, felt tired, hungry and 'out of sorts' while losing weight and have generally ended up discouraged and giving up.

Most physicians and dieticians recommend that you only lose up to 2 lbs. per week, saying that you are likely losing lean muscle mass if you try to lose more than that. What is so great about hcg, is that it 'mobilizes' abnormal fat so that it is used almost exclusively for your daily caloric requirements - this means NO MUSCLE LOSS and an average FAT loss of approximately 1 lb PER DAY during the course of treatment.