DAY 27

I didn’t write a post yesterday, so it’s been two days since I’ve journaled.

I wanted to ‘schmack’ Lanny today, as he was down another 3 pounds. MEN! They seem to be able to drop the weight so easily. While I really am happy for him, I also want to punch him in the arm! I was down ½ pound.

We are heading into the Memorial Day weekend. We are going up to the trailer and all the kids are coming with their families. Dad and Betty are coming, and so is my sister and her girls. All in all there will be 29 of us. It will be an interesting challenge since everyone typically brings all kinds of snacks, treats, and tasty foods.








I told everyone that Lane and I will be doing our own meals. They know we are dieting, so they were okay with that. We usually plan our meals together and have at least a few meals as a group. We can still do that, but Lane and I will be eating ‘our way’. I take my food scales and my weight scales with me when we go for the weekend. They don’t take up much room, and we can continue to stay ‘legal’.


There will be plenty of opportunities for exercise this weekend. Badminton, bolo toss, walking, hiking, etc. but I am also looking forward to sitting, reading, and visiting.


In chatting with a friend yesterday, she was telling me about what she had read about the restrictions concerning HCG. I had never heard of some of those restrictions, so I called SIL and asked him about it. He said that one version of the diet is VERY restrictive, including no make-up [which would be a deal breaker for me], no lotions or creams on the skin, etc. He said the oils from those products can be absorbed into the skin and cause the body not to lose weight. He said that a few people choose to do that protocol because they say they are more focused on it, but that most people just use their normal skin care and lotions. He said it might make a difference in the end, but only by a pound or two at most. I could NOT live without my facial care and lotion, and I definitely would not leave the house without makeup on. I even wear it when we’re camping, although other SIL says that Camelot is NOT camping. [Hot water, flush toilets, TV, all the amenities of home, etc.]


I’ll post when I get back in town next Tuesday. Wish me luck, and I hope everyone has a great weekend!

DAY 25


I find myself watching the calendar and counting the days left on this protocol. I’m a little nervous about going off the diet. I know that when I’m focused, I can resist foods I shouldn’t eat. I want to keep that same discipline when the shots stop.


What have I learned during these past 3 ½ weeks? I’ve learned that temptations are only temptations when I am not steadfast in my goals. I don’t drink coffee, so coffee is not a temptation. I don’t drink, so alcohol is not a temptation. During the past few weeks I haven’t stressed over the ‘can’t haves’ and only focused on the ‘can haves’.


I do have to say that I miss salmon. I never thought I’d say that. I grew up not being a fish person at all. I could do tuna fish if it was mixed with mayo and relish, but beyond that, I didn’t like it. What I’ve discovered is that I don’t like strong, ‘fishy’ tasting fish. Mild fish is great.


Lanny first got me to eat salmon by cooking it in Tahitian Noni Premium Reserve. It was fabulous. The Premium Reserve is no longer available, but I learned to like the taste, and then Arlene Olsen told me about the salmon patties at Costco. I cover them in lime juice and pan fry them. YUM. Okay, I’m obsessing about a food I can’t have right now.


I didn’t have a loss today, and Lanny was up 1 pound. That doesn’t freak me out as much as it did in the beginning. It’s easier if I look at it as an overall average. He loses on average 1 pound per day, and I lose ½ pound per day.


I noticed some things as I was walking around work today; I feel better. I walk better. My clothes fit better. I'm happier. I go to the bathroom a lot. I go to the drinking fountain a lot. I'm happier. [yes, I said that before, but I needed to say it again.] I'M HAPPIER.

DAY 24

I have an apology to make. Last week in one of my posts I made a comment on the fact that a fellow blogger ate steak all the time. I said she couldn’t possibly lose weight eating steak! WRONG! I did it 3 days in a row over the weekend and lost weight every day. I stand corrected.

Friday: Department Lunch. I grilled a steak and totally enjoyed it.
Saturday: It was so good on Friday, we decided to grill some again Saturday night.
Sunday: Due to poor planning and a busy day, I didn’t get anything out to thaw, and since I had another package of the petite steaks, we ended up grilling them, again.

I experienced a loss every day. In fact, I think I lost better on those days than I had been doing. Go figure! We also cut up a couple of peppers and an onion and grilled them in tin foil. They were delicious. I quartered the peppers and the onion. We both had ½ pepper and ¼ of an onion. Next time I will cut the onion smaller. I had to put it in a pan to finish cooking it.

DAY 23


There are two great truths I want to share today:




1. There is great joy in breaking through a really tough barrier
2. There is great satisfaction in doing the journey together


BREAKING THROUGH
Lanny asked me this morning if I was down today. I told him it was strange that he couldn’t see me jumping in the air, turning cartwheels, and yelling insanely. I finally broke through the dreaded ‘zero’. Wow – it is such a good feeling. [that makes 11 pounds total for me. Lane’s is at a much more impressive ‘24’!] We have both been trying to break through a stubborn ‘zero’. There are 100 pounds separating us, but we are still fighting the same battle.

I went shopping yesterday for several reasons; It was the day after payday, I needed to walk around to put some miles on my pedometer, and I was curious if I would be able to tell a difference in trying on clothes. 1) I did spend some money, but only super sale items. 2) I racked up over 11,000 steps yesterday. 3) And YES, I could tell a difference. It was a pleasant experience to fit into things more comfortably. It will be exciting as this journey progresses to see how even this experience will change and get better.



THE JOURNEY TOGETHER
It is no secret that Lanny initially did not want to come on this journey with me. He was really against it in the beginning when I first brought it up. The 500 calories was too daunting for him, and he has never handled calorie restricted diets very well. He plays too many mind games with himself to be successful. I finally gave up trying to get him to do this with me, and asked simply that he go and talk to SIL [son-in-law] about it. My plan worked perfectly, and he signed up that day at SIL’s office.



I'm so glad we are doing this together. The food prep is easier because we are both eating the same foods, we help and encourage each other along the way, and the support system that I feel is so crucial is in place. His weight loss is so super that he is really excited to be doing it now that the hunger pangs have pretty much gone away and he can get through the day much easier than at the beginning.


He is now at the weight he was a year ago. He lost 70 pounds last year and was looking fabulous. Little by little, as we humans do, he allowed old habits to overtake him again. To achieve his initial loss, he had been eating every two hours, eating smaller meals, and not snacking at night. He had gone back to 3 large meals, and was snacking at night again. He was also consuming a lot of pop [at least this time it was diet pop]. He had put 20 pounds back on and it was a shock to him that it came back so easily. This program has been a great way to get that control back. He made a salad this past week that he couldn’t even get through. Afternoon snacks may or may not be eaten. Lanny said he thinks the real value of this program is that it’s long enough to really affect some lifestyle changes.


So - - - here’s two thumbs up for persisting and breaking through those stubborn zeros, and for doing it TOGETHER!


STAY TUNED AS WE CONTINUE THIS ON-GOING JOURNEY.

DAY 21

Yesterday was the 1st official day of the Global Corporate Challenge. Companies from 70 different countries are taking the challenge to walk more steps every day. They encourage 10,000. My total steps yesterday were 9,240. I don’t plan to get crazy about this [like the employee who is putting his pedometer on a machine that shakes, to push up his numbers], but I do think it raises my awareness of being more active. I actually parked further away from the store yesterday so that is a good thing.

There was a kickoff event in the auditorium this morning. They served a light ‘breakfast’ that did not appeal to me at all! I watched everyone filling up on bagels and muffins and was glad I was not munching on any of it. I thought they might have had some fruit, but they didn’t. It is so empowering not to even be tempted by non-protocol foods. I’m surprised, but pleased, that I have been able to resist all the food that’s offered nearly on a daily basis.

I had a wonderful conversation with a co-worker today. She is feeling the same frustration I have felt. She also has had the same feelings about the HCG protocol, but is ready to try it if it will give her the opportunity to make all her hard work count for something. I told her I was doing it and we talked about it for a while. It was nice to be able to share similar feelings with another woman. We shared knowledge of others who have done HCG, and it actually helps me accept why they look so amazing while the rest of us are struggling.

I don’t go around announcing to everyone that I am doing HCG. Some people know, but most don’t. My family knows, and I’m grateful they are so supportive. We did the department lunch today and no one questioned why I didn’t have all the additional ‘stuff’. I brought chips but didn’t eat them, and was able to send them home with another person in the department. The dessert did look good, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I had my freshly grilled steak and the tossed green salad, and it was satisfying and enough.

I did not lose much today, but it doesn’t concern me. My ‘system’ just did not kick in today, and that has to be worth at least a pound! [ha, ha]

DAY 20

Lanny was down 2 pounds today – I was up .3 of a pound. [my leg is improving,so I think I can start exercising again soon.]

I discovered some HCG blogs today, and obviously they are not new to the scene. Those blogs were written in 2008. They were using words I was not familiar with like ‘Protocol’ and ‘LIW’. They were talking about phase 1, and phase 2, and phase 3. I have read about the phases, so I think I am in phase 2 [the weight loss phase].

One thing I noticed in the blogs was that they ate nearly the same thing every day, day after day, over and over. One gal ate a steak every day at noon, and chicken every night. She ate two green apples every day. Her daily weight losses were nothing to write home to Mother about, and I wonder if she could have made some different choices. Perhaps she just doesn’t like fish or seafood.

When I have been ‘stuck’ on a number for a few days, I know I need to do something to shake things up a bit. I try to eat the fish choices more often, and avoid the heavier veggies.

One blogger made a tomato soup and added shredded chicken, which sounded good. I was searching online for some new recipes when I found the blogs. I wanted to see if I could find some different ways of fixing ‘chicken’ and ‘fish’.

I have a department BBQ tomorrow, and I think I will bring a small steak to grill. If I do that and eat some green salad, no one has to know that I am ‘doing a Protocol’ right now.

My snack today is a bowl of strawberries. I’m really looking forward to that, and I’m watching the clock. [2 hours and counting!] I do wish there were more fruit choices. Shopping at Costco yesterday, my eyes were glued to the fresh blueberries and raspberries. ‘Drool’.

MY HCG JOURNEY – DAY 19

To take a phrase from 2nd daughter’s vocabulary - - WOOT, WOOT!! I was down another ½ pound today, making it only one pound away from my nemesis ‘ZERO’. Lanny and I are both trying to get UNDER our respective zeros.


He managed to catch my bad cold, and he has felt really lousy for the last few days. He hasn’t been walking in the mornings, and has been feeling really drained. He said the diet is making him really tired, but what he doesn’t realize is that it’s not the diet. His illness is the culprit. Plus, not exercising when your body is used to doing it every day, will also make you tired.


We found some salad dressings at the Health Food Store that have no calories, no carbs, no preservatives, no ‘anything’, but they are very flavorful and tasty. We have tried the Bacon Ranch, the Honey Mustard, and the Balsamic Vinaigrette. We love the Balsamic on asparagus, and as a dip for different meats. The brand name is WALDEN FARMS.


The ingredients in the Balsamic are: Purified Triple Filtered Water, Balsamic Vinegar, White Vinegar, Sea Salt, Cellulose gel, Dijon Mustard, Lemon Juice, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, White Pepper, Natural Flavors, Natural Spices, Caramel Color, Xantham Gum, Propylene Gukol Algnate, Sucralose.


To clarify what some of the ingredients are:

Xantham Gum: 100% natural and safe and is a polysaccharide used as a food additive to help thicken and suspend nutrients and prevent settling. Made from sugar cane or corn.

Propylene Gukol Algnate: is an emulsifier, stabilizer, and thickener used in food products. It is derived from Kelp.

Sucralose: Sucralose has been approved by more than 80 countries. It has the approval of the World Health Organization, the U.N., and the E.U. It is typically linked with Aspartame, but is chemically very different. No peer review studies have given it a disapproval rating.

I'm excited to find a salad dressing that is a 'NO GUILT' dressing. Pour it on, flavor up your salads, veggies and meats with no guilt! How great is that????

MY HCG JOURNEY – DAY 18

I was completely immobile yesterday [using crutches to get around at home, hobbling at work] and still lost a pound. I was surprised by that. I came home from work and went straight to the bedroom and laid on the bed all evening, so I was very pleasantly surprised at the pound loss. [Lanny is down another 2 lbs, total of 20 for him]

We chose to eat shrimp last night because it is such a low calorie food. I didn’t want anything heavy. Lanny fixed dinner, and although it tasted like he had dumped the whole bottle of pepper into the dish and left it on the stove a little too long, I was so grateful that he was willing to do the cooking.

He was getting really discouraged with the food yesterday. I think he is bored with it. We often do a stir fry because we can get ‘more volume’ and it looks like we’re eating normal portions. I need to switch it up a notch and come up with some different menus. I want to try a shrimp kabob, grilled outside. We will go by calorie count, not weight on the shrimp. Tonight we are planning fish, cabbage, and asparagus.

Lanny’s wedding ring is so loose it is falling off, mine is loose. I’ll be happy when I can’t wear mine. It is a substitute ring I bought because my real one didn’t fit anymore.

Today was department pictures. I'm certainly not where I want to be with my weight, but I'm so glad I didn't have to take a picture of those extra pounds I have lost.

MY HCG JOURNEY – DAY 17

Here we are after a long, very busy weekend. Camelot, shopping, teaching a lesson, and family visits all combined into a long, but wonderful 2 ½ days.

One of the main things I noticed this weekend was how easy it was to pass up foods that are not on the plan. They were not even a temptation. I watched family members who were not on the plan eating in the normal way, and it was a diet ephipany. I do have the strength to say ‘no’ to foods I shouldn’t eat. I didn’t feel deprived, I felt empowered.

As I totaled my food calories on Sunday, it was an almost perfect diet day. Some days are better than others, depending on the food choices. I’m going to list my daily menu so I can look back and know what the best choices were.

I’m getting more comfortable talking about that fact that I’m doing the diet. My weight loss is still pretty slow, but I know I’m better off than I would be if I were not doing this. I haven’t broken the magic ‘zero’ yet, but I’m a lot closer to it. [Lanny and I both dropped another 2 pounds over the weekend]

I woke up with a badly injured hip today [no idea why], so I’m wondering how this will affect my loss this week. I can barely hobble, so there will be no ‘2 mile walks’ in the near future.

Here is my Sunday menu. The total calorie count is 506.

SUNDAY MENU
BREAKFAST
1 ORANGE (68)
2 MELBA TOAST ROUNDS (18)

LUNCH
3.5 OZ GRILLED CHICKEN (168)
1/2 CUCUMBER - SLICED (7)
4 SPEARS ASPARAGUS (12)

SNACK
1 C STRAWBERRIES (48)
2 MELBA ROUNDS (18)

DINNER
3.5 OZ ORANGE ROUGHY (80)
VEGGIE STIR FRY USING:
1/2 YELLOW PEPPER (25)
2 STALKS CELERY (20)
1 ROMA TOMATO (18)
1/8 ONION (15)
3 ASPARAGUS SPEARS (9)

THE JOURNEY – DAY 14

I’ve heard that when two people have been married for a long time, they start to look alike. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that when I lose, Lanny loses. When I’m up, Lanny is up. We didn’t even eat the same things yesterday but the pattern remains the same. [yep, both up]

Weighing every day can play with your mind. It’s natural for the body to be up some days and down others. That’s why many diets suggest only weighing once a week, so you can get a more accurate feel for the direction you’re going.

We are going back to the trailer today because Lanny is meeting someone to cut down a couple of dead trees tomorrow. This time I'll take enough food. Too much is better than not enough. We ran out of fruits last time because one was spoiled.

I am hoping we can get there early enough to walk for 30 minutes before it gets dark. The deer are still wandering around, and it would be a good time to see them. Last week there was a herd of 8 to 10 and a duo of two. They are not afraid of us, and just watch curiously when we walk by.

I think we’ll take the Orange Roughy and wrap it in foil for a BBQ dinner. [Camryn, it’s okay, take a deep breath and move on. Fish is good for you!]

So-o-o-o grateful for my Tahitian Noni EXTRA. I drank it all day yesterday and took a big cupful before going to bed. Today is so much better. I only have a little nasal congestion, and all the other symptoms are G-O-N-E.

MY HCG JOURNEY – DAY 13

Starting the diet on the 1st of the month was actually a very cool thing to do, so I don’t have to ‘do the math’ about how long we’ve been doing this. May 13th = 13 days on the diet!

Lanny is down 2 more pounds [total of 17] and I’m down another pound [total of 7].

Lanny cooked orange roughy for dinner last night, and it was very good. I have never been a fish fan, but am learning to like really mild fish choices. I did a side of mixed veggies in a stir fry. I was feeling pretty lousy, so we opted for easy, peasy.

I haven’t been hungry today because I’m still not feeling well. I had to force myself to eat the afternoon snack. I laid on the bed and ate a bowl of fresh strawberries and 2 allessi bread sticks. Lanny will have to do his own dinner tonight since he is working late.

This is all I can do today. Here’s hoping for a better, healthier tomorrow.

MY HCG JOURNEY – DAY 12

Today was a better day – weight wise. Lanny is down 3 and I am down 1. His total weight loss is now just over 15 pounds. I’m hovering just above the 6 pound mark.

Sometimes digital scales mess with your mind. On a regular scale, I would definitely be down 6 pounds, but because the digital scale is so accurate, I’m wigged out over a .02 of a pound difference. In my head I know it’s silly, but, there it is nevertheless.

We went way over our calories yesterday. I didn’t total them during the day, but put in the numbers today, and we were over. In trying to figure out where we went astray, I have made these conclusions. 1) Apples add more calories than strawberries 2) We went over on our dinner veggies.

I fixed boiled cabbage and Lanny wanted frozen green beans. Now, green beans are not actually on the diet, but he really wanted them, so I caved. I had about a ½ C of beans and ¼ cabbage. The total calories for those two items was 68, pushing our total over 640.

Lanny had a busy day yesterday and I walked 2 ½ miles after work. We were both down this morning, so I definitely think the exercise helped.

I came home from work early today because I’m not feeling well. Oldest daughter was here on Monday and was sick. [Thank you, honey!] I have taken everything I can think of to fight this off, including a nap. I really don’t feel like drinking water today with a sore throat, but I know I need to stay hydrated. I’m taking a couple of oz of EXTRA every couple of hours, Airbourne and Claritin. That should kick it’s butt, don’t you think?

I have to teach a lesson on Sunday, and I don’t want to have to hand it off to the counselor [who had to teach the last two weeks].

MY HCG JOURNEY - DAY 11
SIL [son-in-law] came over on Sunday and gave us a B12 shot. I guess we’re supposed to have them occasionally to help keep up our immune systems. He sure is good at giving shots. You never feel a thing!

SIL also gave us some interesting information. He said that if you occasionally plateau, you can do a one day kick-start regimen. An entire day of eating a lot of apples OR a regular eating day with a huge steak at the end of the day. I think Lanny really perked up when he heard the ‘big steak’ part. :)

Truthfully, I am feeling very discouraged today. Lanny and I were both UP today. Not by much, but come on!! I am down only 5 pounds since starting a week and a half ago. Where is the 1 pound a day they talk about?

I want so much to get excited about this and really see a difference, but I could lose this much in a 3 day cleanse! I was so hopeful that this would be [I know, I shouldn’t even think it] a miracle way to take off these pounds. As of today - - - I’m still waiting.

MY HCG JOURNEY – DAY 10

WEIGHT UPDATE: LANNY - 13, ME - 5

We spent a lovely 2 days opening the trailer, cleaning the yard of fall and winter debris, and attending the wonderful Fruitland Branch. Friday night was really cold [30°] but Saturday was a beautiful day.

I didn’t take as much fruit with us as I should have. I calculated how many days we’d be there and planned exactly, but one of the oranges was bad, so that left us short. I needed to over-plan a bit. We had plenty of veggies and meat, so that was good.

Lanny likes me to fix stir-frys quite often because it looks like there is more on the plate. I don’t mind because they are tasty, and it makes him feel fuller. We did a stir-fry with Chicken, leeks, peppers, celery, asparagus, and tomatoes. If you wait until the last second to put in the tomatoes, they remain firm, but are heated through. They add a nice bright color to the dish and are surprisingly good in the stir-fry. I do not add any oil to the dish, I just cook in a non-stick pan and add a touch of water if it gets too dry. I also add a lot of spices and a few dashes of teriyaki sauce for flavoring. I use several different kinds of veggies because I’m using 500 calories as the measurement, not 3.5 oz. I am weighing the meat, but calculating the calories on the veggies. I use ‘myfooddiary.com’ for my calculations.

We took a head of cabbage with us and I cooked it for Saturday’s dinner meal. We hadn’t eaten cabbage for a long time, and it was really delicious with a little salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar. I need to add this as a veggie more often. It only takes a few minutes to boil, and is an easy additional to any meal.

The Fruitland Branch gave all the mothers a plate of chocolate covered strawberries for Mother’s Day. I accepted the plate and we brought it home and let the kids eat it. I really wasn’t even tempted to try one. [It was kind of driving Lanny crazy, though]

Favorite son and his wife [I only have one son], came over and cooked dinner for us after we got home. They know we are on a restricted diet, so they planned around what we could eat. We cooked some asparagus and Wellie made a salad. Son-son BBQed ribs and chicken. We were able to have a nice ‘legal’ meal that I didn’t have to cook. Happy Mother’s Day to me!

CALORIE COUNT FOR VEGGIES:

ASPARAGUS 4 SPEARS 12
LETTUCE 2 CUPS 15
CABBAGE 1 C BOILED 32
PEPPERS 1/2 PEPPER 25
CELERY 2 STALKS 20
CUCUMBERS 1 CUP 14
RADISHES 1 RADISH 1
TOMATOES 1 ROMA 35
ONIONS 1/4 MED 15
SPINACH 1 CUP 6

MY HCG JOURNEY – DAY 7

Okay, I actually DO NOT get it! How in the world can the scale possibly be UP when I’m not eating anything?????

Lanny was up too, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to ‘potty’ yet. He’ll weigh again when he gets home from walking and chances are he’ll be fine. He’s not worried.

Me on the other hand - - - - - in my head I know that weighing every day is risky business. There are many factors that contribute to daily totals, but to be UP????

We are going to leave this afternoon to go open our Camelot property for the summer [even though it’s a freezing 32 degrees outside this morning]. The weekend is supposed to be very nice, so we are going to try it. We are a month late getting it open, but it has just been too cold and too stormy. If I have to stay inside, I’d just as soon be home.

We’ll be taking our scale and all our ‘program’ food. Dad and Betty are coming too, and Betty wanted to know what we wanted to do for meals but I told her that Lanny and I would be doing our own thing this time.

There is always so much clean up to do the first weekend. Leaves need to be raked, the deck cleaned off and vacuumed, the trailer cleaned and stocked, the dead limbs from the winter burned, etc. It is usually a very physical weekend. THAT should burn off some ‘UP’!

MY HCG JOURNEY – DAY 6

My, how time flies! It was a week ago today that I made the decision to take this journey. I had finally had enough of certain aspects of my body that I couldn’t seem to get the upper hand on. The ‘shelf’ that gets in the way when I bend over or slouch in a chair. The double chin I would love to pretend doesn't exist [but manages to show up in every photograph]. The extra stress I’m putting on my bad ankle and the ‘good’ ankle that has to pick up the slack for the other one. The extra stress on my hips because of the extra weight.

What I think this is doing for me is giving me the strength to be in control. Because I’ve made this commitment, I can pass up the department lunch, or the free tacos given out for cinco de mayo. My will-power increases when I have a focus, and I needed a focus.

Lanny dropped another 4 pounds today, making 12 for him since Monday. He was hoping for maybe 10 this week, but he is going to blow that number out of the water. My numbers didn’t change today, but that is not too surprising since I dropped 3 yesterday. I know that he will lose faster. That’s just the natural difference between men and women. We ate the same thing, but he probably had a much more physical day than I did.

Exercise: right now it’s a dilemma. Should I do it? I want to do it, but eating so little, if I burn off 2 or 3 hundred calories, that leaves me with - - - - - -? I may try it tonight and just see how I feel.

MY HCG JOURNEY - DAY 5

Wahoo! Lanny was down another 4 pounds today [total of 8], and I was down another 3 [total of 4]. He is so skeptical about this working; however he says “Of course it’s working! They are starving me!”

I will actually get excited when I see my numbers falling below my ‘do not cross’ zone. I have been trying to get past a certain number for over a year, and although I get close, I can’t seem to break that zero.

The worst time of the day for me is between 10:00 a.m. to noon. Today I used some noni leaf tea and it really did help. Between 10 – 12 has always been when I would eat some almonds. I do miss my almonds. [I special order them from Amazon; Blue Diamond Vanilla Bean oven baked almonds]

Lanny has been threatening to get me a box of chocolates for Mother’s Day. If you see his obituary on Monday, that means he followed through with the threat. He thinks it would be cool for me to store them on a shelf until I can eat them. WRONG. From experience I know that after going awhile without sugar, my body does not take kindly to it when I start eating it again. I want this to be a real lifestyle change, not just a 6 week diversion.

It’s decent weather today, so I plan to go walking after work. Lanny has to work late, so I’ll have to go by myself.

MY HCG JOURNEY - DAY 4

RATIONALIZATION.

Wow – I think we are all so good at doing this. If they handed out diplomas, most of us would have a Master’s Degree. Dieting is the perfect example of when this skill really surfaces.
i.e. [one of my siblings during her Weight Watchers journey] “I’ve decided that I can have a bowl of ice cream in the evenings because I forgo my daily milk intake and use the ice cream as my dairy!” Yeah, that decision, along with other rationalizations did not make for a successful trip down weight loss lane.

Lanny struggled with being hungry all day yesterday. However - - this morning he had a change of attitude. He said, “I have decided that I can do this if I just think of it as a 6 week fast.” He always plays mind games with himself when dieting, so if this helps him get ‘down the road’, then I’m all for it.

8:37 a.m. and I have been able to S-T-R-E-T-C-H my orange and melba toast for over ½ hour! Nibble, nibble, nibble

8:41 a.m. – finally finished my breakfast

12:30 p.m. – 3.5 oz grilled chicken / tomatoes and cucumber slices marinated in lime juice.

I am not concerned about the exact weight portions on my veggies. I am using myfooddiary.com to calculate all the calories, and as long as I am within the allotted amount, I think it is sufficient. Last night I couldn’t even get to 500 using all the veggies in the fridge for a salad, but the weight was more than 3.5 oz. [it takes a ton of spinach and lettuce to make a dent in the calorie count]

Afternoon snack was cut up strawberries and a melba toast. Yum.

Dinner was a chicken stir fry. Grilled Chicken (3.5), leeks, orange pepper, asparagus, celery, tomatoe. Seasoned with a dash of teriaki sauce, onion powder, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and a dash of Italian seasoning.

DAY 3

8:00 a.m.: I’m sitting at my desk, having just finished my orange and Melba toast. I’m wondering how so little will sustain me until noon. My usual breakfast has been a protein shake. It was not your run-of –the-mill protein shakes. Skim milk, protein powder, fiber, 1 C frozen berries and 1 TLB peanut butter. SIL said the HCG will help control the appetite. I’m crossing my fingers.

I decided this morning that as long as I am starting a body transformation, it would also be a good time to begin a spiritual transformation as well. I am not very good at reading my scriptures every day. [that means I really stink at it] I received a blessing from the Bishop yesterday pertaining to my new calling, and he mentioned that I needed to be reading my scriptures daily. I know the Lord knows I am pathetically weak in that area, so He wants me to ‘step it up’ a notch. Okay. I committed in my morning prayers to doing just that. When you work full time, it’s so easy to make excuses about not having time, or being too tired. Well, excuses aside - - I am going to do better!

12:00 p.m. - HUNGRY! I thought the shot was supposed to curb appetite. Physically I am really ready for food. The department is buying lunch today, but I brought my own.

12:30 p.m. – 3.5 oz chicken breast tenders
Roma tomato marinated in lime juice,
½ yellow pepper.

5:00 p.m. – busy day, not too much time this afternoon to think about food. Scratch that; I was thinking about it all the time, just didn’t have time to do anything about it. I finally cut up an apple around 4:00, but between phone calls it was after 5:00 before I finished it.

7:00 p.m. - Hubby and I prepared a salad for dinner, with a small side of cooked asparagus.
3.5 oz grilled chicken breast
lettuce
cucumber
orange pepper
spinach
We found some dressings at the health food store that have no calories, no fats, no carbs, but taste surprisingly good. We put some on our salads. He was still hungry after finishing, but I was full.

8:30 p.m. - Time for my fiber. 12 oz. water mixed with 1 scoop Tahitian Noni juicy orange fiber. Only 10 calories and a good scrub brush for the system. [not on the official diet, but I’m unwilling to give up this important part of my day]

9:00 p.m. - A hot cup of Tahitian Noni Founder’s tea sweetened with stevia hit the spot. AHHHHHHHH.

MY HCG JOURNEY - DAY 2

MY HCG JOURNEY – MAY 2, 2010 [day 2]

Today I’m being more moderate. Son-in law said to use the extreme food choices to jumpstart the body into accepting the weight loss better once I start on the 500 cal diet. I’m having family over to dinner today [getting rid of things I won’t be using for the next 6 weeks]. Son-in law’s family is bringing the dessert, and I plan to have some, but after yesterday’s experience, I won’t be going overboard.

I was up two pounds today, but SIL [Son-in-law] said to expect that. I’m not freaking out over it, since I knew what to expect. It does tell me that I really need to re-set my metabolism so that it won’t kick me in the pants any time I eat something out of the ordinary.

My Journey with HGC - day 1

I am not grossly obese, but I am definitely overweight. Having been a thin person most of my life, this excess weight has been a difficult thing to deal with. Looking at myself in the mirror, trying to decide what to wear to work every day is sometimes painful. I have my ‘safe’ clothes, my ‘fat’ clothes, and my ‘I’ll keep this one in case I ever fit into it again’ clothes. I have one complete closet designated to the clothes I really like, which don’t fit anymore.

It was a gradual process – this weight gain. It really started 10 years ago after a car accident that permanently injured my right ankle. I can’t be the active person I was before. I can’t run, I can’t dance, but I CAN walk! I thank the Lord every day that I can do all the things I do. However – that decrease in mobility did not decrease my appetite. I still ate the way I had always eaten; and the pounds started to multiply.

I always want to be the one taking the pictures now, not being in them. I have a vast collection of family pictures, but there are only a few that managed to ‘capture’ me in them. I’ve decided that FAT = CAMERA SHY.

When this HCG diet first came on the scene, I was very distrustful of it. I couldn’t imagine how a 500 calorie daily intake could be healthy, let alone safe. I am an ex-Weight Watchers employee, a constant dieter, and a believer in good nutrition. I lost 15 pounds last year, but have not been able to get beyond that mark. I take full responsibility for not trying hard enough. I love dark chocolate, and indulge on occasion. A snack in the evening seems to ‘call to me’. Over the past year I have really cleaned up my nutritional habits, but I still enjoy an occasional treat. My son-in-law has a clinic and he sees a lot of clients who are doing HCG. I finally talked to him about it and he explained how it re-sets the metabolism.

Well – I started my shots today. I got up early because I had agreed to babysit my daughter’s children all morning. I was nervous about that first shot. Son-in law had shown me how to do it and had gone through all the instructions. It went fine and was no big deal. [I can definitely do this every day as part of my morning routine]

Son-in law said to take the first two days and eat anything and everything I want. I did that, and I felt horrible by day’s end. I haven’t eaten ‘junk’ like that in a long time. Interesting first day. [I’m actually looking forward to the 500 calorie days!]