Tuesday, November 23, 2010



PHASE 4 - NOV 23
2 WEEKS IN


We started Phase 4 two weeks ago, but it feels longer. I handled Phase 3 better because the rules were very defined and I knew exactly what I COULD have and what I COULDN’T have.


Phase 4 has been much harder for me. I know I can add back sugar and starch, but I’m hesitant to do so. There was a company activity on Friday where they served lunch. Sandwiches, chips, cookies [you get the idea]. I nearly panicked. I found a sandwich on whole wheat, and I did eat most of it. I had a few chips, and of course I ate the cookie! No weight gain.


We went to dinner last night for our anniversary, and I ate fried coconut shrimp, and ate one piece of bread, and enjoyed the sweet potato. Up a couple of ounces. [however, I ate some peanuts and some pudding before going to bed, so it could have been that!]


I guess the point I’m trying to make is that I need to relax and allow myself to eat normally. I don’t mean I'd go crazy with sugar, but I shouldn’t be so squirrely about eating it sometimes. Thanksgiving is coming up this week and I will be making several pies. There will be rolls, potatoes, etc, etc. I plan to enjoy the day and not stress over ‘food’. I can always hit a few Zumba classes to get rid of Turkey Day blues.

Even with the weight loss, my cholesterol is still over 200 [203], so I am taking the fiber twice a day, the omega’s 3 times a day, the vitamins twice a day, and upping my noni. I need to get that number under 200! I probably also need to cut down on the peanuts and whipping cream!

Monday, November 8, 2010



PHASE 4 - -
HERE WE GO AGAIN


Today begins the first day of Phase 4. Phase 4 is the 'back to normal' phase, where we can begin introducing sugar and starch back into our daily routine.

We had company for dinner yesterday and it was the first time in several months that I have cooked for a crowd. It went well. I cooked a turkey breast, had 3 veggies, and a quinoa salad. Lori brought mashed potatoes [because I do not have them at the house any more], and they also brought dessert.

Lane and I ate the turkey and the green beans, and I had some of the quinoa salad. We chose to make our own dessert instead of eating the brownies. We made some chocolate pudding and covered it in whipped cream. Yum.

We are still maintaining well.

I ended up in a video that was posted on a national website this week. I may not have been totally happy with being filmed, but at least I was not stressing about my weight!

I LOVE HCG.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010



PHASE 3 - WK 3


I haven't written anything for a while, and actually there are some fun things to share. In Phase 3, we can eat whatever we want, with the exception of sugars and starches. Fats are fine, and we don't count calories.

All three of us have stabilized really well. We are all staying within a pound or two of our 'last injection day' weight. This phase is the most critical because it sets and stabilizes your metabolism.


'Mr. HCG' in my office recently shared some of his favorite things about Phase 3 with me, and wouldn't you know it, they have become some of my favorite things too! He asked me what desserts I was eating. DESSERTS????? I told him I couldn't have dessert, and he said, "Of course you can!"

The most exciting thing he shared with me was that we could have banana cream pudding, whipping cream and all! [recipe to follow] We LOVE it! He showed me a 'cream charger' and I decided to go right out and buy one. We love that too! You put a cup of cream in the container, attach a CO2 charger, and in literally 3 seconds you have fully whipped cream that does not separate. These little machines are AWESOME!
I add 1 dropper of Vanilla Cream Stevia before whipping and it flavors the whipping cream perfectly! I buy the stevia at the health food store. [and yes, you can use the heavy whipping cream]









Here are more fun things you can do on Phase 3:


Carl's Jr. - Low Carb Burger or Gilled chicken [wrapped in lettuce]
In&Out Burger - Protein Style burger [wrapped in lettuce]
Costco Chicken Salad
Rotissery Chicken - Make your own chicken salad!
Sugar Free Ice Cream - YUM [can't believe it's legal!]
Any fruit, coverd with whipped cream!
AND I ALMOST FORGOT - - Italian Place, Steak and Everything SALAD!!


And now (Drum Roll) - - - Banana [or chocolate, or butterscotch] Pudding:
1 pkg. sugar free pudding mix
1 banana
Whipped cream
cinnamon

Whisk pudding into 2 cups cold milk for 2 minutes. Set in fridge [5 min].
Slice 1/2 banana into bottom of cereal bowl
Spoon set pudding over sliced bananas
Slice 1/2 banana on top of pudding
Cover with whipped cream
Sprinkle with cinnamon
ENJOY!

Monday, October 18, 2010




PHASE 2 – PART DEUX

LIVES TRANSFORMED


I am finished with my protocol. I took my last injection on Thursday. My 72 hours of letting the HCG leave my system began Friday. Today I get to have my protein shake for breakfast, and I can eat nuts! Yum.

Jill has decided to continue for 1 more week. Because she skipped Sunday’s, she can do an additional 6 days. Jilly wants to see if she can get closer to losing 30 pounds. Lane wanted to get into the LOW 220’s but because his weight stabilized this past week, he ended his protocol on Friday. Today is his last day of his 72 hour cleanse.

Today I’m posting ‘before and after’ pictures. When I went searching for which pics to use, we were all pretty shocked to see some of the ‘befores’. The first pic is one that shows Lane and Jill in 2007 at their heaviest, and me from one year ago. We had all tried to lose weight over the past couple of years, but we were only marginally successful. Lane and I did Nutrisystem, '10 Day', etc, but nothing was ever as successful as HCG.
















My ‘Before’ picture was taken just exactly one year ago. Two people whose accounts I look after visited the corporate office and we had our picture taken together. I cropped out the other two for this posting. I decided to use this one because, at the time, I was really pleased with this picture. A co-worker recently saw the picture and was shocked at how different my face looks now. I must admit, the pic from a year ago definitely shows a ‘fuller face’. I was actually really surprised by my ‘after’ picture. I look good!! You don’t really notice all the small changes as they are happening, but a picture is worth - - - - - -. I didn’t have a lot a photos to choose from because I always make sure I’m the one behind the camera.
















Jill’s ‘Before’ picS were taken in 2007 at her heaviest, and then just this past March in Arizona. The ‘After’ pic was taken this past Wednesday as she was rushing around trying to get the car packed to go back to Moab. Wow. I am so proud of her. She is so excited to see her weight makeover. This is her first experience with HCG, and she is planning on doing a 2nd round in January. She will need a ‘buddy’ to do it with. Any takers??















Lane’s transformation is certainly the most dramatic. When I see what he used to look like, I hardly recognize him. He said he stopped weighing when he hit 350, but these pictures tell me he was well beyond that. His tailor told him that for every 10 pound loss, it is a belt size. His belts have gone from a 56 to a 42. His weight loss journey officially started in 2009. He dropped 70 pounds that year using the ’10-DAY’ diet. After that, he just couldn’t seem to lose more, and the pounds slowly began to creep back on. When I decided to start HCG in May, he was NOT going to do it. He was very leery of the 500 calories, and of being hungry all the time. I finally ‘nagged’ him into it, and we started our journey together. He WAS hungry the first couple of days, then just made up his mind to push forward. By June 15th he had lost 35 pounds, and blew past his 100 pound mark. This time, he has lost another 35 pounds which makes his total weight loss since 2009 around 140 pounds.














Wow, and Wow again!!!!! Doesn’t he look great??????????











This journey officially began May 1st, 2010 and has been one of the best things we’ve ever done together. I do think it is important to do it with a ‘buddy’. Son Mark tried to do it on his own and said it was very difficult not to have a ‘buddy’ support system. I think it would be easy to get distracted by outside forces if you were doing it alone. Jill joined us for our 2nd round, and it was great that she had someone to bounce ideas off, and she could share the journey with people who were going through the same things.

Lane wanted me to mention a couple of things: He said we have learned so much during this journey. We have learned some important details that will remain with us now that we are done.

1) There needs to be a time break between diets. Even if you are doing another program, the body needs a chance to stabilize before continuing. We waited 8 weeks between protocols. Jill will need to wait 8 weeks before she does phase 2 again.

2) Lane feels that the 2 loading days are really important. We didn't do it right. You need to load on fattening foods like lasange, pastas with cream sauces, ets. We loaded on sweets and sugars, but we should have loaded on high fat foods. It helps to make you less hungry the first 3 days. [Go get the tastiest, high fat foods you can find during that time. Also, you have to eat all the time during those 2 days, not enough to be ill, but enough so that you are full all the time.

3) You need to make sure you have a really good supplement while dieting. It helps with energy, and not being hungry. Tahitian Noni NatureBorn vitamins were wonderful. They are all natural, no synthetics.

4) Drink a LOT of water, and take fiber. Not stupid fiber like metamusil, but an all natural fiber complex. Talk to Annette if you want a really good one.

5) Don't drink diet soda while dieting. It still triggers an insulin response in the body, and you can gain weight by drinking it.

6) Phase 3 is very important. It allows the body to stabilize and set a stable weight. Adding sugars and starches too soon after dieting will not allow the body to re-set the metabolism.

7) Exercise!!! It does make a difference. It burns calories.



I begin my 2nd round of Phase 3 today. BRING ON THE PEANUTS!! [and the string cheese, and the milk, and the watermelon, and the almonds, and the salmon, and the parmesan crusted tilapia, etc, etc, etc]

Monday, October 11, 2010





PHASE 2 – PART DEUX
DAY 36


THE GOAL IS IN SIGHT!!!!!!


What a weekend!! Busy, busy, busy. Jill and the girls are in town for Lizzy’s baby blessing yesterday, and Kaden’s B-day party last night. She came in on Friday, and thank goodness we are all doing the same eating protocols. It made the chaos more manageable.


SATURDAY: Lane and I were both down. He is now is the 220’s. Lane and Jill went walking at the mall at 7:00 a.m. I had a song rehearsal at 8:30. I made a strawberry / fiber shake and grabbed it as I bolted out the door at 8:20. I got home at 10:00 a.m. and by 10:30 was ready for a ‘snack’. We were all pretty hungry at noon so I made a stir-fry and used up the last of the cooked chicken and steak. Jill and I then took off for an afternoon of shopping.


When we got home, Lori and family were there. I told them I could make enough cabbage chili for everyone, but they didn’t think that sounded very good. SIL went to the store and bought fixins’ for sandwiches, so they all did that. I made a big pot of cabbage chili and Jill thought I was making too much. Nope. Between the 3 of us, we managed to eat it all.


SUNDAY: Crazy day. 7 of us were out the door before 8:30 a.m. for the baby blessing. I made Jill and I a strawberry / fiber shake and cut up and apple for Lane to eat in the car. After the meeting, we all went back to Mark’s home for brunch. Among the foods served were rolled deli meats and a green salad, so we were able to do our snack there and fit in with the crowd.


Lunch was leftover steak and an apple. We skipped our afternoon snack. Then in the afternoon we were off to Kaden’s birthday party dinner. Jill and I had Lane grill us a steak before we left so we could take it with us, and we brought a large green salad to share. Everyone else indulged in a baked potato bar while we ate our steak and salad.


MONDAY: Lane and I were both down again today. I’m almost to the point where I want to stop. Another pound and I think I’m good to go this time. Lane actually bought a new pair of levis on Saturday because Jill made such a big deal about how baggy his pants were. He bought a size 40. That’s down from a tight 54 in 2009!


I’ve been able to pass my good jeans to Jill, and boy did she need them! Her pants were looking hobo-ville loose. She was shocked that she could get into my 12’s. She looks great! We both bought a couple of shirts on Saturday and I’m so excited to fit into a Medium. I tried on a large just to make sure, and it was TOO BIG!! That felt good.


I’m going to take my last shot on Thursday. That will give me 72 hours over the weekend to stay on phase 2, then on Monday morning I will begin phase 3. [I’m excited to do my breakfast shakes again]

Monday, October 4, 2010





PHASE 2 – PART DEUX
DAY 29

OKAY - - IT’S OFFICIAL; I’M NOT ON A PLATEAU! I’m down three pounds over the weekend. That feels remarkably good!

I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary this weekend, in fact I was rather sedentary. I did a lot of painting and listening to conference. We did eat a lot of steak and apples, and that is always good for the waistline. We had the cabbage chili for lunch instead of dinner and maybe that helped as well.

Lane is down into the 230’s. He weighed in at 231.5 after walking, but he put 232 as the real weight today, so he’s almost into the 220’s!! His face looked so thin this morning. He is doing great!

Update on Jill: she had an ‘oops’ today because she played conference bingo with the kids yesterday and she said ‘I cheated bad!’. She was up a pound today. Her total so far is 18 pounds down. She said she’ll have that naughty pound off today.

This is our last two weeks on phase 2. One thing that has really helped me lately is the small protein snack at 10:00 a.m. I was getting physically ill around 10:00 each day, but just pushed through it. SIL said it’s okay to eat 1 oz. of protein to help me make it to lunch. I’ve lost 1 pound per day since I started doing that. Lane puts his protein on a piece of melba toast.

Stay tuned for more good news to come.


DAY 29 - P.S. Jill called today to say she is down 2 pounds thanks to a steak and apple day yesterday. She said she doesn't think cheating was worth it!

Friday, October 1, 2010




PHASE 2 – PART DEUX
DAY 26 [closing out week 4]


UGGGGGGGG - - - up and down, up and down, up and down. I think the pattern is supposed to be down, down, down! Lane and I are both fluctuating a lot. I’m beginning to wonder if I have plateaued.


I had just begun to trust the cabbage chili again, when, BAM! Up ½ pound today. I actually ate less of it last night than I usually do.


I need to go back and look at my history to see what I was doing on the 4th week before. I know I went up and down a lot, but when you’re working at it every day, it seems like it should just come off!


We had our department lunch today, and I told them I would just bring my own, but they wouldn’t have it, so because I was talking with one of my co-workers yesterday and he mentioned that he was going on a business trip but was not worried because they had lots of In-N-Out Burgers in California. [he’s doing phase 2 also] I knew I could have the ‘protein’ style burger with tomato, onion and mustard. SO - - that’s what I ordered for today’s lunch. It was VERY tasty! [and I usually hate raw onions on burgers]


Lane is down into the 230’s. [I’m so proud of him] He started this journey over a year and a half ago at around 350. Now, THAT is an accomplishment!!


We have a rather thin mattress on our bed at the trailer. We used to hate it because we both would wake up with sore hips and backs. Lane put another mattress on top of that one this year, and even though we were both sleeping better, I hated it because it was so tall in the room and the ceiling is low. Making the bed was a nightmare because Lane would push the mattress and bedding down every time he would get up during the night. By morning I would have to make the bed from the mattress up and it was such a pain. I finally had him haul it out and we went back to the thin mattress. Amazingly we both slept fine. It has to be that we are putting less weight on our hips and backs now.


Okay - - - - I CAN find some positive things to say today. I need to focus on the positive, and not the ½ pound gain. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can - - - - - - -