No loss today!

I am sad to say that my weight was the same today as it was yesterday morning. I realize that I had a huge (2.6 pound) loss yesterday and that this may be my body playing catch-up. I am not sure. The weekend was busy and yesterday we put a bushel of sweet corn in the freezer. I was going fine for a while, but wham-o I hit a wall and had to stop and eat diner and rest. I was drained and weak and felt really bad. THe feeling finally passed, but it took about 2 hours. I am not sure if I was just out of reserve enrgy or what, but it was not a good feeling.
I am still hungry off and on. It isn't constant, thankfully. I fill up on lots of different teas and water, either plain, or with stevia flavors. I am thinking that the hunger is from not loading correctly, so it should go away this week, if that is the case.
I am happy to have lost 9.4 pounds in 7 days, but it has not been easy, at all. I do want to report on some other positive things I have noticed, besides the weight loss.
My skin, which has always been acne prone, is clearing and is much, much less oily!
My eye wrinkles seem to be less noticable and I am not using any eye cream, like I have used for years.
My skin overall feels smoother.
I have stopped taking my HRT medicine and am NOT experiencing any symptoms. (Had complete hysterectomy, no ovaries, terriable menopause symptomes)
So, what I am finding, is that as well as the wonderfull weight loss, there is a lot more that is going on with my body while using hhcg. I figure that some of this is from how clean and healthy the food options are too.
Yesterday's Food:
apple
chicken, romaine lettuce, tomato
Melba
Flank Steak, tomato, mixed spring greens, spices
Truvia rootbeer drink
sparkling water
tea, tea and more tea and lots of water

Looking at this, I see that I probably should not have had 2 tomatoes yesterday. I wonder if that would be why I did not have a loss? Not sure, but will keep that in mind going forward.

OMG! 2.6 Pounds Yesterday! Praise God!

Wow! Wow! Wow! I am really not sure what to say, but when I weighed this morning, I was down another 2.6 pounds!!! Yeah! I am not saying that hhcg is easy, but I am saying that if you stick to it, and follow the protocol as written in Pounds and Inches, you will lose weight, and lose it fast.
I have been hungry, and sometimes exteremly hungry, but hot tea and water help push through until it is time to eat something. I am hoping the hunger dtarts fading this week because at times it is a real challenge.
Yesterday was my family Birthday Breakfast at Cracker Barrel... I had 3 grilled chicken strips and tea... yep, that was it. I sat at the end of the table and kind of piled things in front of my plate so the family couldn't see how little I was eating. I did order "warm apples" but they were actually what I call fried apples, and could not eat them. I pushed them around on the plate after I finished with my chicken (which I ate in tiny bites) and no one said anything.
I am not ready to share my hhcg experience with some people, just yet. THere is so much negativity about it, that I just want to keep this to myself as I see how it works for myself. If someone asks, then I will talk to them, but I am not offering information at this point.
Yesterday and Friday, I felt a little tired and weak at times, and I was wondering if I could stick with this, but I pushed through and now in 6 days, I am down over 9 pounds. Yep, that's right, over 9 pounds. On any "convential" diet and exercise program, it would take a month of deprivation, hunger, and serious exercising to lose this amount. So, what this program does, is incredible. The sacrifices I am making right now are worth it so far, I feel healthy, my skin is clearing and other than hunger and some crankieness (which you have on all diets) I feel good. I am actully less tired, than before hhcg. Weird, I know...
We went to Hubber's Orchard yesterday, me, Chris and my MIL, Nancy. So, there was some willpower taken there too... THe breads, UHHH!! I LOVE their breads! But, I ate my fresh picked Gala apple and enjoyed every bite of it! There will be more bread for me the next time we go and when I got on the scale this morning, it was totally worth it! YEah ME!

Down another .8 pounds

But, I am so---- hungry... I just hope the hunger fades soon, because I am not sure how long I can do this. I have figured out that I did not load correctly, so anyone reading this, that is thinking about doing a round of hCG, load- load- load! And don't just eat junk food, but BE INTENTIONAL, eat healthy fats and lots of them. Nuts, cheese, cream, olive oil, butter, eggs, etc..
My food for yesterday was:
apple
Melba
chicken breast
coleslaw
steak
romaine lettuce
orange
Melba
And did I mention that I am hungry? I am going to increase my drops to 15, 3 times today and see if that helps. I will also pick up some bubbly water to drink, since I have read it helps hunger.
But, I am losing weight and that is what I want, so I will try to remain strong.
Today we go to Cracker Barrel for a Birthday Breakfast for myself and my Father-in-law. I am worried about what I will be able to eat, so that makes me a little anxious. Wish me luck!

5th VLCD day, Friday Aug. 28, 2009

I only lost .2 when I weighed this morning, but I am happy with any loss and didn't expect to see a large number since I lost 1.8 pounds the previous day. I was a little less hungry yesterday, but the hunger is still there although it is tolerable. Yesterday's Food was:
1 tbs 2% milk
apple
cole slaw made with 1/4 head cabbage, ACV, Bragg's and spices
chicken
Melba
Orange Julius, made with 1 peeled orange, water, ice and vanilla cream stevia mixed in the blender. (Really was good)
lean steak, with all fat removed, cooked in pan with one diced tomato and garlic and spices, including cinnamon. (Hot, spicy, filling and yummy.)
Lots of tea and water
exercise on bike= 15 minuts, took walk in neighborhood before diner.

Hhcg, Activate!

Just found out that you are suppose to activate all homeopathic remedy's... To do this, you smack the bottle on the palm of your hand 10 times. Sure would be nice if something like that was included in the instructions.
Maybe that is why I have been so hungry, or could be because I didn't load properly.
Hunger has been better today. I didn't eat my apple until 11:30!

Willpower Pays Off!

Well, this morning I was down 1.8 pounds more!!! In one day!! Seriously!!! Can you believe it? I am feeling really happy that I didn't eat the cake yesterday. LOL. My food for the day was:
apple
cabbage cooked with Bragg's and ACV
Chicken on GF Grill
Melba
Protocol Friendly Chili made with lean ground beef, one onion, and one tomato with lots of spices
Melba
Tons of water and teas

I was hungry off and on, but I held my ground and made it through the day and was so happy this morning. I also had about 8 1/2 hours of sleep last night, so that may have been part of my success...

Willpower! Oh Yeah!

Today at work, we had our monthly Birthday celebrations, and since my birthday is in August, I am one of the people that decides what we will have. I chose Oreo Ice Cream Cake (Yeah, I know, Yum!)One of my coworkers actually made the cake herself and I was so worried about how I would handle this afternoon, without eating or hurting her feelings. So, I waited until people had been gathered for about 5 minutes before going into the kitchen, then I stood back and talked to someone else that was not eating, and when asked if I was going to eat some, I would say, sure, in a minute... So, I just kept hanging out and talking and eventually people finished eating and started heading back to their desks. Whew--- I just waited until most everyone had left the room, and then went back to my own desk without having any and ruining my diet!!! But, let me tell you... I sure did want some... ooooey... gooey... ice cream and chocolate...

A Skeptic trys homeopathic hCG

So, a few months ago I picked up a copy of "Natural Weight Loss Cures, They don't want you to know about" by Kevin Trudeau. I am a 44 year old female that has been on every diet know to mankind, and even attended weight watchers with my mom when I was 12... Anyway, I had heard of this book, years ago and blew it off because of the rumors that Trudeau was a nut job and the book only referred you to his website that cost money to join... so, I flipped through the book and went straight past the mumbo-jumbo and right to what the diet is. This is where I first heard of Dr. Simeon's Protocol and Pounds and Inches. I must say I was intrigued.
I was still a skeptic, but decided that maybe there was something to this and wouldn't it be awesome to be able to re-set your metabolism, so you could eat whatever you want and not gain weight.
I went straight to my favorite research tool and googled hCG diet. I found tons of information and spent the next 3 months researching the diet and reading anything I could find on the topic. I joined yahoo message boards, Low Carb Friends and Sparks People groups, to read what "real" people were saying about this protocol.
I eventually talked to my husband about this program and lets just say, he was not into me doing it. Normally, he is very supportive and encouraging about anything, diet or otherwise, that I want to do, but this was beyond wacko, in his opinion. Considering that the hCG is made from the urine of pregnant women, I understood his concern. he was also worried about me being on a 500 calorie a day diet. I too had some concerns and was skeptical, but had read so much about others dropping a pound a day on hcg (without hunger)that I wanted to try it myself.
I eventually came across people selling the homeopathic version of hcg, called hhcg and focused my research on that. Once again, I found that many were losing and astounding amount of weight, without hunger, sagging skin, or tons of exercise.
After about 3 months of research...
I decided to order the hhcg and commit to a 23 day round to see if this was as amazing as it sounded. I bought my drops from Donna at:
ChangesForLife & HCG Homeopathic Weight Loss Method at http://shop.changesforlife.net
I set a start date for Monday, Aug. 24th, 2009.
I shopped for all the food I would need (lean meat, chicken breast, Melba toast, apples, salad, AC vinegar, etc...) and weighed and cooked all my meat, on my George Foreman grill.
2 days before you start the VLCD (very low calorie diet), you must load by stuffing yourself fill all the fatty foods you can for 2 days. This sounds like fun until you do it, and then you just end up feeling, sick and bloated and ready to go to 500 calories.
I planned on telling my husband that I was doing this diet, over the weekend, before I started, but he worked a lot and then his back was hurting, and I just couldn't seem to find the "right" time. So, I sent him an email on Monday morning, telling him what I was doing, giving him the explanation of the homeopathic version and asking him for his blessing, which I received.
So, on Monday, I hungry..... very hungry... according to the research I have done, this is normal and is usually the result of not "loading" enough...
What I ate:
apple
chili made with 3.5 oz lean ground beef, 1 onion, garlic, 1 tomato and spices, 1 Melba toast
salad made with bagged salad, 3.5 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast with dressing of AC Vinegar, spices and Bragg's Amino Acids and spices, 1 Melba toast
lots of coffee, tea, & water.
The next morning when I weighed... I had lost 3.6 pounds!!! In one day!!! In 24 hours!!! Trust me when I say, that helps a lot when dealing with hunger pains...
So, then comes Day2, here is what I ate:
Apple
Baby Spinach with dressing as listed above and 3.5 oz. lean steak
1 Melba toast
1/4 grapefruit (yuck, could not do it)
1/4 head of cabbage shredded and pan cooked with ACV and Bragg's and spices, with 1 small tomato and 3.5 oz. lean ground beef. (Very Filling For a While)
1 Melba toast
coffee, tea and water
So I get up the next morning and jump on the scale to see a .4 weight loss. Now, this was disappointing after the 3.6 the day before, but when you put it into perspective, it really is great. .4 is almost a 1/2 a pound and I have been on other restrictive diets where I was hungry and only lost .4 for a whole 7 days of dieting, so looking at it like that, I am happy with the point 4 loss.
So, that's all for now, I will start posting daily to keep up with my progress, I just hope this hunger goes away soon...