21 Days to a New Habit

I am hoping to hear from people who have done the diet for different lengths of time. How long can round 1 be? I read 21-40 days. I think in part 21 days is the number I always heard it took to create a new habit. Do something for 21 days, and you have a new habit, good or bad. :) I think that is part of the protocol. I am curious as to whether or not you stop losing or the hCG loses effectiveness at different times for different people.
I am so excited to be on the diet!

7 Days VLCD

I am happy to report that I am on day 7 of the VLCD. I cannot believe it! 7 days down and 5.4 pounds net loss... that is 8.4 because I gained 3 during loading.
Today I ate steak, melba toast, cucumber, and an apple for lunch. I have not had dinner. I am amazed by not being hungry. I believe it is because I am "off" sugar. That is such a good place to be.
I have questions/comments about exercising. I am going to the gym today, the 2nd time in these 7 days. I want to train for a half-marathon I am going to run. It will be my first, so I will run/walk it. But I need to have more intense exercise. I am going to try it out and see what strength I have. Before VLCD, I exercised regularly, so I am hoping this will not interfere with the diet, if I am able.

Round 1, Phase 2, Day 6

I love love love this diet! I exagerrate, but really, today I lost 1.4 pounds! Yea! I feel great. Occasionally, I am grouchy, but not too bad.

Today I ate steak, cucumber, grapefruit and melba toast for lunch. I split up my dinner. Earlier I ate an orange and melba toast, and later more melba toast, steak and cucumber. I drank coffee with stevia, green tea with stevia, and water. Probably 200 ounces. I drink a lot!
I have a grocery questions: Where is the best place to get fresh produce?  Can you eat frozen fruit and veggies on hCG? If so, which ones? I read some people are eating broccoli, however, I have not seen that on the protocol I am using. The protocol did not come with my hCG, which I ordered from Amazon.

Happy Dieting, Happy Living!

Green Tea

Now I am becoming an expert in green tea. Since I used to have a habit out of eating just to eat, I have replaced this with Phase 2 Protocol approved beverages. I think I will look for green tea to "like" on Facebook!
                                                                                                       

Monday...the loss continues!

Today is Monday. It is Round 1, Phase 2, day 5, or R1P2D5.
I was a little worried about weighing today because, well I cannot explain it delicately. For personal reasons that have to do with the bathroom, I was concerned that I would not have a loss. I lost .4, yea! I will take a little loss.
Net loss 3.2, total from end of phase 1, 6.2.

I was concerned about constipation, as that was not normal for me. I kept drinking fluids all day and today too. That has helped.

Saturday I made buffalo chicken. I cooked in a pan that I sprayed with cooking spray. I added chicken, Trappey's Louisiana Hot Sauce, and some pepper. The chicken was great, probably especially because my menus had been pretty bland until then.Sunday I stir fried chicken with low sodium soy sauce for lunch, and shrimp in key lime juice and garlic for dinner. The chicken was good, the shrimp not so much. I also ate strawberries yesterday. Yummy! I have had an apple for a treat, cooked in the microwave with cinnamon and stevia. So good, especially if cooked to the right texture. Yesterday it tasted just like apple pie, but of course, I may have been halucinating. My husband looked at it and said no thanks!

I have only had the occasional hunger, at 10:30 am and 4 p.m. on workdays. I believe the key is mindset, so stay connected to people who are supportive and those that are doing this for best success.
Good luck to all of you in your hCG dieting journey!

A Net Loss Today! Yea!

Today I woke up and thought "I wonder what I weigh" Ha ha! I have avoided the scale for weeks, now I look forward to progress.

Today I lost 3 pounds since yesterday.
So, I gained 3 pounds during the gorge/loading days. Sigh, I felt it. Then yesterday, I had a loss of 2, today a loss of three.

I am looking forward to the next few days. If I can lose 2 pounds in less than a week, that is pretty amazing. Last year I worked hard to lose weight to get ready for my wedding. I did not use hCG. However, I was at the gym, keeping a food diary, then eventually went low carbohydrate. I am hoping and expecting better results now.

So far, there have been some big changes for me.

First, I am, correction, was, the biggest Diet Coke addict. I have stopped cold turkey, now almost three days. No headaches, or true cravings. I am blessed! To prepare for no Diet Coke, I prepared green tea the day before the first restricted day. Now I have made green tea and other hot teas about twice a day. I was going to drink diet green tea from the store, and had purchased a couple six packs. Then I read that the only sweetener I can have is Stevia. So, I do not drink my store bought drinks, they have Splenda or aspartame in them.

I start the day with coffee, Stevia, and a little milk. Later, I have drank water. Around lunch time I have green tea. At home in the evening I have had other hot teas, rasberry flavor for me. I also used to drink tons of Crystal Light. I have stopped that, too. I make up the herbal teas, add some Stevia, and put it in the container I used to keep my Crystal Light in. I call it Kool Aid to my students. I think having some healthy/allowed drink choices ready has helped me not to eat from boredom.

So far, preparing has been key: preparing mentally and with food and drinks.

Just Beginning

I am starting the HCG diet. As I write this, I am on Phase 2, Day 2, or R1P2D2. I am really excited about trying the HCG diet after hearing of some great results. So far, it has been from a friend of a friend and on-line that I have heard. Now I have started my own testimonial. I will write about my experiences of the HCG diet.

Before I started, I thought the diet was "to good to be true" and looked very difficult. A friend told me about a client (a bride-to-be) who kept losing weight in a short period of time. My friend had ordered the product herself and was going to start the next week. I asked her to tell me about what happened with her client. The girl with the dress had gone down a size and half in less than a month. She told my friend about HCG. My friend told me. Originally, I though, "Oh I have heard about that. That's too good to be true, plus it would not work for me. It would be too difficult."  I told my friend, "I will wait and see if it works for you." Right? Let's see if it works for someone I know. Plus, I think it would be too hard.

Here is the plan:
Phase 1 -2 Days to eat whatever you want, load up, while taking the drops.
Phase 2- 21-40 days of restricted eating (500 calories a day) while taking the drops, plus other restrictions.
Phase 3- 3 weeks of adding foods slowly, calories up to 1500 a day.
Phase 4-Transition into regular eating, limiting sugar and starches.

I went home and thought about the diet. I decided to go ahead and start myself and find out if it works. Plus, she had ordered HCG from a company offering a money-back guarantee. I I read about HCG online again. I checked out different websites and decided to order the drops and picked a start date.

Round 1, Phase 1, Day 1-2. The first two days of the diet are "gorge days". Wow! I cannot remember the last time I ate with such freedom. I have "watched my weight" since I was a teenager, sometimes with success, other not. So, for the first two days, you can eat whatever you want, and overeating is encouraged. You're kidding, right? No. I did. I ate whatever I could and loved it. At the end of the first day, I could tell I had stuffed myself. However, I read that the gorge days were necessary for a smooth beginning. One website had examples of people who started the diet with gorge days having more success than those who began without gorge days. I sadly watched the the clock turn midnight that last day. It was almost like I was eating my last meal. I love to eat, and probably eat for the wrong reasons.

During the first two days, I took the drops as prescriber, 6 drops, 6 times a day. My drops did not come with an instruction manual, so I looked up information on-line. During the gorge days I gained 3 poundes (+3). :( Ughh, I felt it.

For a little history, before my June wedding, I lost weight, about 25 pounds over 5-6 month period. I lost my weight at the gym doing weight training, walking, running, and some cycling. I started the year and became more rigorous and frequent in my workouts. I lost some weight through working out and tracking my food. Then, right before the wedding, I ate almost no carbs, kept working out, and did my own version of Atkins.

This morning, I was minus 2 (-2) from top recent weight. That make me plus 1 (+1) since starting. So far, I have had some hunger, but not extraordinary. I have prayed my way through a few temptations and the desire to eat out of habit. I almost at the end of Phase 2, Day 2.