Five days of VLCD done!

Weight: 154

I can't believe I am down 6.5 lbs since SATURDAY.  It hasn't even been a WEEK.  And the weight is REAL because I can see it and feel how differently my clothes fit.  I have stuck to the protocol pretty closely, although I have used Splenda a couple of times have been chewing sugar free gum.  I also had a manicure.  The protocol says you aren't supposed to use any kind of lotion but, you know what, whatever.  6.5 pounds in 5 days... I'm good with that.

My energy has been surprisingly high.  I have done light thirty minute work outs almost every day so far.  I did a couple three mile runs and yesterday I did a half hour on the elliptical.  I am doing it because it makes me feel good, not to lose weight any faster.  I don't think it really makes a difference in daily losses.

I'm surprised most by how few cravings I have had.  I have watched other people eat food I normally love, but I haven't had any overwhelming desire to eat it.  I have been a little hungry at times, usually at night.  I think it's mostly psychological hunger because I don't wake up hungry in the morning at all.  I mostly miss wine.  I kinda miss drinking.  I am not sure it's the sensation I miss so much as the social aspect.  I think a lot of this is rooted in habit, and I know this is a good habit to break.  But I also just feel a little holed up.  Staying home and barely eating anything is getting a little dull.  I might try an experiment tomorrow... I may exchange one serving of fruit for a vodka and soda. I have read several message boards where people have done this with no problems.  The vodka and serving of fruit have the same caloric value and alcohol and fruit are processed very similarly.  I might chicken out, but if I get really desperate to get out of the house and go somewhere...... well, it will be an interesting experiment to see if it really impacts my weight loss.

But overall, so far so good.  I'm a believer now!

Now I'm motivated

157.5

I have to admit I am a little surprised that yesterday I was 160.5 and today I am 1 lb less than I was before the first two gorging days.  Wow.

I woke up and was a little hungry,  but I haven't had any really intense, physically uncomfortable hunger.  It's more psychological.  I want to eat.  But I keep thinking about the end results.  I had some strawberries for breakfast, a chicken breast with fresh garden tomatoes for lunch and sirloin with salad greens for dinner.  I went to the local health food store and bought calorie blue cheese dressing.  I was skeptical.  It doesn't contain any gluten, dairy, sugar, carbohydrates or calories... which only leads one to wonder what the hell is in it.  It doesn't appear to have a lot of chemicals, so I figure it's safe.  It was pretty damn good with the sirloin.

I was surprised today by how much energy I had.  I know you aren't supposed to work out on the HCG diet, but I don't know if I can really go 40 days without running.  I decided to  go for a short run and to my surprised I ran almost 4 miles and felt great.  I came home and ate lunch, and I haven't felt tired at all.  I've been cleaning most of the afternoon.  I know it's only the second day, but so far I am feeling pretty good.  What I really want is a glass of wine.  I already miss wine.  But I will settle for a cup of tea.

I survived

Weight 160.5 (ouch)

I survived the first day.  It was both easier and harder than I thought it would be.  I started my period today, which always makes me hungrier than I would be normally.  Still, I made it through and didn't feel ravenous.  I had half a grapefruit, 4 oz of chicken with lettuce and a homemade, calorie-free mustard vinaigrette, an apple and 2.5 oz of rare sirloin with broccoli.  I drank a lot of sparkling water with lemon and Stevia, which tasted like sparkling lemonade and was actually really good.

It was depressing getting on the scale and seeing my weight over 160 after gorging.  I haven't been over 160 in years.  I am just trying to remember that in 40 days what I weigh today won't matter.

More gorging

Okay, I am officially sick of eating.  Today I really went for it.  I had an apple fritter and a latte with whole milk for breakfast.  I was out of town for my job today, so work paid for my lunch.  I had a chicken caesar salad with lots of dressing.  I stopped at Dairy Queen and got a blizzard on the way home.  When I got home, my boyfriend picked up Buffalo Wild Wings.  And then, the best part of it all.... I went out to one of the better local restaurants with my friend Robin for drinks.  We ended up ordering and sharing a huge bloody steak with mashed potatoes.  It was amazing.  Amazing.  But I also feel disgusting.  I am not looking forward to weighing myself tomorrow.  I am so ready to start this diet.

Shopping and gorging

Weight 158.5

Yesterday I went to my friend D's and picked up my HCG.  Her friend started the diet and decided not to go through with it, so I was able to buy hers for a good price.  D is about half way through her 40 day round.  She has been averaging about a pound a day and looks amazing.  She's close to my mom's age, which makes it even more amazing to me.   My mother is overweight and always talks about how impossible it is to lose weight because of menopause.  I am hoping she will be convinced to try this diet if I'm successful.

D and I we went to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's together.  I stocked up on meat and the few veggies and fruits that are allowed.  I am trying to follow the original Simeons protocal as closely as I can with one exception... I am eating broccoli.  Broccoli is allowed in most of the newer HCG diets.  I read an article saying that the reason it probably wasn't in Simeons' protocal is that broccoli was not widely available in supermarkets until the 60s.  The diet protocol was written in the 50s.  This is good enough for me.  I love broccoli.  Half the vegetables on the original protocol are things I wouldn't have any idea how to prepare or any desire to eat... like chard.

Today is the first day on my "gorge" days.  I am having a really hard time with this concept.  I don't normally eat a lot of food.  Normally an enormous amount of calculation and consideration goes into everything I eat.  I don't eat "bad stuff."  So my "gorging" this morning started at 11 a.m. when I went to  meet a friend to have coffee.  I ordered a whole wheat bagel with lots of butter and a latte with whole milk instead of skim.  Not really much of a gorge, but it's what I wanted.  Later in the afternoon I went to the store and bought the ingredients to make shrimp scampi... with lots of butter.  And my boyfriend is going to go to Culver's and get concrete mixers.  I normally HATE custard and think it's disgusting (a small concrete mixer - basically a blizzard from Dairy Queen only with custard - is 800 calories!  800 CALORIES), but since today is about loading up on fats, screw it.

First steps

Weight 158.5

Waist 35”

Arms 13”

Thighs 24”

Hips 38”

Body fat percentage 27%

I first heard about the HCG diet last year.  I had two friends who completed it with great success.  At first I was skeptical.  The protocol seemed, as it does to most, pretty stupid.  "Of course if you eat 500 calories a day you are going to lose weight!" I said to myself snarkily.  This is what most people say.  You’ve only to read the message boards.  What ultimately convinced me was the fact that one of my friends who did the diet was a surgeon.  He was able to explain it to me medically.  He had even considered setting up a clinic and prescribing it because he believed in it so much.  My doctor friend was not the kind of person I really expected to stick to a diet, especially one so restrictive.  He liked to drink and eating gluttonously and didn't exercise at all.  All his other previous attempts to lose weight, like hiring a personal trainer, had failed.  But he stuck to the diet and lost over 40 lbs in one round.  I was impressed.  I figured if he could do it, I could do it, too.

I know a lot of the people who do HCG are looking to lose a significant amount of weight.  I am only looking to lose between 20-25 lbs.  People have a hard time understanding why I can't just "diet and exercise" to get it off.  They don't understand that I've done that.  I do it every day.  I exercise regularly and I live my life on a diet.  I have maintained my weight within 5 lbs (except for a few bad months after a break up) for almost 5 years.  The reason I didn't start the HCG diet last year was because I was rowing crew at my university and doing strenuous exercise 5-6  days a week.  Even now that I am no longer rowing, I run between ten and twenty miles a week and still work out on a rowing machine at the gym.  I am in good cardiovascular shape and have great muscle tone.  I’m proud of my muscle.  I just wish I could see it underneath this blanket of chub.  Even when I was eating well and doing the most intense workouts of my life, I still never broke 150.  I am 5’4.  No, I am not big boned.  My current weight is 158 with 27% body fat.  A lot of people struggle with the "last 10" or the "last 20."  I think a big part of why my body is so reluctant to let go of the excess fat I'm carrying is because I have been carrying it for so long.  

When I was a kid, I was always a little chunky.  I can't really blame genetics for this.  I blame years of eating biscuits and gravy, ice cream and sour cream and onion potato chips.  I blame being raised eating out almost every meal.  While my mother certainly never set out to raise a fat kid, looking back the crap I ate on a daily basis growing up, I'm lucky I wasn't seriously obese.  I also blame myself.  I like food.  In high school, I got up to about 195 at 5'4.  My junior year in high school I became bulimic and by the time I was 20, I was down to about 145.  It took me a lot of years of shifting to extremes before my eating habits finally became healthy.  I went from eating anything and everything I wanted to throwing up after meals or eating nothing but a handful of almonds and a head of iceberg lettuce with Grey Poupon.  Eventually, I learned to just eat healthfully and I came to love running.  The combination of these experiences have led to me keeping my weight fairly stable.  But still, no matter what, I have not been able to get rid of the last 20 lbs.  I am now confident in my ability to maintain my weight and live healthfully and believe that HCG will be a tool to helping me achieve that has always alluded me.  I don’t believe this diet is a quick fix.  I believe it requires an enormous amount of discipline.  But I also believe it addresses the long-term issues of dieting. 

HCG research supports the theory that the hypothalamus, which regulates our set weight, can be reset.  I believe that, as a result of carrying extra weight for most of my life, my body does not understand that it is overweight or that the fat I am carrying is unnecessary.  My set point seems to be about 155.  I believe this because for the last few years, any time I have gained weight (at one point, getting up to 170 after the bad break-up), I have been able to lose it simply eating well and exercising.  If I lose weight (go below 155, as I did last year), it is easily gained back with normal eating habits.  However, the gain stops and levels out around 155.  HCG is supposed to change your set point by training your body to accept a new set point.  I really believe this is possible because of the experiences of others, including my friends, who have still kept off almost all of their weight even after a year.  

I'm looking forward to starting HCG and documenting my experience here.  I am a little nervous and not too excited about having to give up alcohol, but if nothing else, I think it will be a good cleansing experience. 

Tomorrow I am going to buy the HCG shots and Thursday and Friday I plan starting Phase I.