Oct. 30, 2009 Day 17 phase 2

First time on the scale it showed .4 loss, then .6 loss then .4 loss. I guess I'll go with the .4 loss. Last night I had some cocktail shrimp and spinach for dinner. It was really good. I had a little of the cocktail sauce, probably not allowed. I also popped a pumpkin cookie and 2 pretzel sticks yesterday. I know- dumb. It's hard with this diet because something that seems so small like a tiny cookie or a few chocolate chips can add an extra 100 calories. When you're only allowed 500 in order for the diet to work properly that can be huge. I had made it through about 10 batches of cookies I have made over the past week for Halloween. It finally got the best of me. I hope I do OK at the Fall Festival today. Total weight loss 11.2 pounds.

Oct. 29, 2009 Day 16 phase 2

I was glad to see 1.2 lbs.gone this morning. Apple day seems to pay off and I'm amazed that it isn't that hard. I'm convinced that apples should always be eaten if you are trying to eat less because they really make you feel full and they are so good for you. So today it's back to chicken, celery, spinach, more chicken and an apple and an orange and don't forget the melba toast. Quite tasty actually. I'm excited to eat it with peanut butter on it for a little snack. Guess that will be allowed in phase 3. On phase 3 which lasts for 3 weeks (right up until Thanksgiving!) you can eat anything except starch and sugar. That won't be too hard since that is basically what I was doing before starting HCG. I had already lost about 8lbs. but it took me 8 weeks. So if you add that to the 10.8 that makes 18.8 lbs. lost since August 15th. I'm happy about that. The trick is maintain, maintain, maintain. I have two fall festival's in a row this week; tomorrow and on Halloween. I know there are going to be lots of yummy smells in the air again. I will try to keep myself full on allowable foods. Thanks to my family reading for all your support!! Love y'unns!!!! Total weight loss 10.8 lbs.

Oct. 28, 2009 Day 15 Phase 2

So there is a reason why I waited so late in the day to post. I wasn't that excited. The scales showed a .8 gain this morning so now I'm closer to 10 pounds lost instead of 11. Oh well, don't really know why, but I was planning to do an apple day today anyway. It's 6:00pm and I just had my 3rd apple for the day. I can have 6 but I think I'll just end up eating one more later. Hoping for big numbers in the morning, like a big number like 2. I really want to lose at least 15 pounds during this round and I'm running our of time. Just 9 more days to go. Wish me luck!

Oct. 27, 2009 Day 14 phase 2

Last Tuesday I had 0 weight loss and today was the same. I am planning to do another apple day tomorrow. I think your body goes through cycles when you are on this diet. All I know is ounce by ounce I lost 10 pounds, so I'll continue ounce by ounce.
It was cold and rainy outside today so for lunch I made some yummy chicken soup. I boiled celery with onion flakes and other spices and then added a tiny bit of bouillon and already cooked chicken. It made a big bowl and it was so good I felt like I was cheating! So total weight loss still is 10.4 lbs!!!

Oct. 26, 2009 Day 13 phase 2

Yahoo!!! Over 10 pounds now. I had a .6 loss this morning for a total of 10.4! Cool!! I was really hungry last night- I think I ate dinner too early- it was about 5:30 when we ate and I'm use to eating around 7:00 or 7:30. So anyway, I had a few bites of cottage cheese and a diet root beer at around 9:30. Cottage cheese can be eaten on the diet for a meat substitute so I thought it wouldn't be so bad to have a few bites. Maybe I would have had a greater loss, but ya just gotta do what ya gotta do to get through. Slow progress is OK with me. I'm looking forward to this week. Total weight loss so far 10.4

Oct. 25, 2009 Day 12 phase 2

I'm excited about .8 loss today. Just .2 away from 10 pounds total!! Greg and I were looking at a pound of hamburger yesterday and I was imagining 9 additional pounds on my body. I'm sure they don't equate exactly but 9 pounds is 9 pounds right. I am really excited for the coming week and am planning to eat more eggs and less beef. I am not going to eat steak and beef on the same day, and I am going to try and eat just 1 apple a day. Somehow I need to get the calories down to 500 or below. I am also planning to do an apple day maybe on Wednesday.
Today, on this Sabbath day I am just thankful for a healthy body no matter what. I am so thankful that I feel so well, that I hardly ever get sick, and that I am able to enjoy life. I know that I take my healthy body for granted and I would never want to be perceived as not being thankful for this body that Heavenly Father has given me no matter what it weighs. Our bodies are miracles and they testify that there is a Father in Heaven who created them. For all this I am very thankful. Total weight loss 9.8 lbs.

Oct. 24, 2009 Day 11 phase 2

I had a .2 loss today. I was kind of disappointed, but I got up and started reading different HCG blogs and realized that everything so far is pretty normal. I tried to add up calories taken in yesterday, and it seemed like the meat just puts you over. Brooke- this is for you. Here is what I ate which is suppose to be acceptable.
1/4 cup canned tomatoes- 10
3.5 oz. lean ground beef- 262
That's what's in the chili

1/2 cup canned spinach- 50
3.5 oz. rib-eye steak- 131

2 melba toasts- 40
2 apples- 160

This total is 653 calories. I guess I need to find leaner ground beef or just use chicken exclusively. Brooke, do you have any helpful hints for me? Thanks!!!
Total weight loss in 11 days- 9 pounds. I'm still happy!

Oct. 23, 2009 Day 10 phase 2

No loss this morning, dang!! I was so mad I went downstairs and burned 250 calories on the eliptical!!! Here is what Dr. Simeon says about it:
The weight registered by the scale is determined by two processes not necessarily
synchronized under the influence of hCG. Fat is being extracted from the cells, in
which it is stored in the fatty tissue. When these cells are empty and therefore
serve no purpose, the body breaks down the cellular structure and absorbs it, but
breaking up of useless cells, connective tissue, blood vessels, etc., may lag behind
the process of fat extraction. When this happens the body appears to replace some
of the extracted fat with water which is retained for this purpose. As water is
heavier than fat the scales may show no loss of weight, although sufficient fat has
actually been consumed to make up for the deficit in the 500-Calorie diet. When
such tissue is finally broken down, the water is liberated and there is a sudden flood
of urine and a marked loss of weight. This simple interpretation of what is really an
extremely complex mechanism is the one we give those patients who want to know
why it is that on certain days they do not lose, though they have committed no
dietary error.
So maybe that is what is happening to me today. Maybe my body just needs to catch up. Anyway, I'm not discouraged- just happy for the losses so far. Total loss 8.8 pounds.

Oct. 22, 2009 Day 9 phase 2

2lbs....2lbs...it's your birthday, it's your birthday!!!! That's the song I sang to Greg this morning! I guess the apple day was worth it. I ate 5 apples total. The last one I peeled, cut up, put in a pan with water cinnamon, nutmeg, & stevia and cooked for about 10 minutes. Voila, apple pie. I remember Brooke saying how bad she wanted to put some vanilla ice cream on top of it. Ditto!! I'm feeling like I will do another apple day before my 23 days are over unless I can get big losses without. I'm also feeling like I will eat strawberries and grapefruit today instead of apples!! It was really strange yesterday. In some ways I was less hungry than on other days. The boredom and want for something different was still there, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Total weight loss thus far- 8.8 lbs. I'm almost in a new decade. So exciting.

Oct. 21, 2009 Day 8 phase 2

I had a .6 loss this morning. Total weight loss in 8 days, 6.8 lbs. I'm going to try an apple day today. I bought a whole bag of apples anyway at the Apple Festival. Basically you can eat 6 apples and enough water just to quench your thirst. It is suppose to rev up your weight loss and that's what I want right now. I don't know if I can do it, but I'm gonna try. It's 11 am right now and I just had an apple and feel like I never want to eat another apple in my life. I'm sure as the day goes on and I get hungry I'll be OK. Wish me luck. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, hopefully 6 apples keeps the FAT away!!!!

Oct. 20, 2009 Day 7 phase 2

No weight loss today. Exactly the same as yesterday. Either it's a natural stall or the dreaded popcorn. I'm not discouraged, nevertheless. If I get discouraged I just read a few of the million blogs online and find that my experience is so similar to everyone elses. I had my chili for lunch and an apple around 2:00. It is now 7:00pm and I am ready for some chicken lettuce wraps! I read that you shouldn't eat the same meal for lunch and dinner. I'm not sure why, but I will try to change it up a bit more. I realized today something that I've always known about my snacking habit. Every time a new event in the day is over, especially if it has been something out of the ordinary, I feel like it's time for a snack. I noticed it when I dropped clients off last week after looking for houses. Time for a snack. I noticed it when my car was done getting repaired. Time for a snack. I noticed it after I dropped off the missionaries after going out with them. Time for a snack. Such a bad habit- yet so easy to get a snack with a food establishment on every corner. It is very important after this protocol to always have something healthy in my car so if it's "time for a snack" at least it's half-way healthy!!

Oct. 19, 2009 Day 6 phase 2

It's really exciting to get on the scale in the morning!! .8 today. That makes 6.2 pounds lost as of this morning. I'm skipping my melba toast today, because I had some popcorn. I'm just gonna see how bad that effects everything. I think I'm addicted to popcorn and I just wanted some- I know it's full of fiber so I thought it would be good to get things going. However, it did have butter on it so that might kill me!!! Anyway, I had chicken and cherry tomatoes for lunch and I plan to just eat chili and an apple tonight. So I will give up 1 fruit and the melba toast for the popcorn and see what happens in the morn!!!

Oct. 18, 2009 Day 5 phase 2

This morning was weird. I woke up and weighed with only a .2 loss. Then 45 minutes later it showed 1.2 loss. A few minutes later it showed .6 loss. I'm not sure why my scale fluctuates so much sometimes. Anyway, I'll go with 1 pound loss today because when I came home from church it did show the 1.2 loss.That's cool.....
We had to work after church at the Apple Festival again... oh no, the smells....
I took strawberries and tomatoes to eat and bought some chicken. I had my melba toast and herb tea and that was it except for a few of those temping pecans.
When we came home I was excited to make the "chili" recipe I found on line. It's just lean ground beef and canned tomatoes with alot of spices used in chili. It was so good. I never thought I would be so excited about beanless chili. I'm feeling really good and excited for the coming week. I'm going to try some other new recipes this week that I have found online like chicken soup and lettuce wraps. So that's that!!!

Oct. 17, 2009 Day 4 phase 2

I am prepared for only a .2 loss this morning- it seems to happen to everyone so I am not discouraged. This has been a really hard day though. We did the Cleveland Apple Festival. Thankfully we were really busy all day, but the smells all around me were killing me. Cinnamon pecans, kettle korn, & barbeque. I brought most of my food, (cucumbers, strawberries, melba toast, tea) but bought some chicken that had a little sauce on it. I soaked most of the sauce off with a napkin. Then we traded a funnel cake for some pecans. And yes, I ate about 4 pecans. I also ate an extra serving of meat when I got home. Let's just say we worked really hard and I was really hungry. This is why I didn't want to start the HCG during the fair- too many temptations and too physically draining. I did drink tons of water and herb tea. I'm hoping the little extras don't show up tomorrow. Oh well, I knew it would be hard. Tomorrow we have to go back to the festival, but we will only be their for 6 hours instead of 9.

Oct. 16, 2009 Day 3 phase 2

Wow, go to bed- wake up 2.2 pounds thinner. I like it. I even put on a pair of jeans that I couldn't wear a few months ago (I recently lost about 9 pounds-actually it took 8 weeks on my protein/complex carb combining diet). Anyway, the jeans felt OK and I wore them most of the day. I ate my "8" items today- melba toast, chicken, asparagus, apple, steak, broccoli, melba toast, apple. I also drank a ton of water and herb tea. Boring I know. It is 10:00pm and I feel hungry. I know if I just go take a bath and go to bed I'll be OK until morning though. So that's what I'm gonna do. Total weight loss in 2 days of the diet- 4.2 pounds!

Oct. 15, 2009 Day 2 phase 2

Day 4 already. I was glad to see the 2 pounds completely gone this morning. I began the day with the herb tea again and then got on the road to drive back to Knoxville. I knew that would be hard because I'm used to snacking alot on a road trip. So I started eating my strawberries, then a melba toast and my chicken. I drank 2 bottles of water and was really craving some vegetable by the time I got to Knoxville. I ate half a can of spinach around 4:00. Dinner was 3 ounces of lean beef and some asparagus. Not too fond of that without butter, but it was OK. Another apple and 2 cups of tea and all I'm doing is peeing!!!! Anxious to see what happens in the morning.

Oct. 14, 2009 Day 1 phase 2

I weighed this morning and was up about 2 pounds due to the 2 gorging days. Now the fun part begins. I had herb tea for breakfast and then lettuce, tomato, and 3 ounces of chicken for lunch. A bit later I had a grapefruit and melba toast. For dinner I had same as lunch and then ate another melba toast. Later that night I had the apple and lots of water and herb tea. This was a good day. Baby Asher was born at 9:05 am and everyone is doing fine. I drank another bottle of water before bed because I felt hungry.

Oct. 13, 2009 Day 2 phase 1

Second day of gorging began with cereal and a banana. I have missed cereal with the protein diet that I had been on. I've been eating a lot of eggs and cottage cheese, so cereal was a real treat. I had lasagna for lunch and then headed for Nashville to stay with Dawson and Carter while Christina went into the hospital to have the baby. On the way to Nashville I had a big ice cream cone and mozarella sticks for dinner. Now that's what I call healthy!! I don't know how long I will be in Nashville and it makes me a little nervous I won't want to do the HCG, but I have brought all the right food with me so I'm planning on continuing.

Oct. 12th 2009- Day 1 phase 1

Today I finally started my first injection of HCG. I was a little nervous at first, but after giving the shot I felt fine. I ate cereal for breakfast, cheeseburger, fries, and a shake for lunch, and lasagna for dinner. I think I did OK at gorging today!!! They say you'll be sorry the 4th and 5th day if you don't eat enough fat the first two gorging days.