Lacking in the Math Department

I didn't think I was that bad at math until recently. I've been miscalculating my weight loss numbers, so the other day's 10 pound loss was actually more like 9. I know, I know... it's these 10th's of a pound that are throwing me off, I think. Someone needs to let the scale makers know there are 16 ounces in a pound & they need to make a scale that reflects this new knowledge. I guess reading down to 1/10th of a pound is better than the alternative of 1 pound increments. *GASP!!*

So, here are my new numbers.


As of this morning, I'm on my 8th day of the VLCD & I'm down 11 pounds. (!!!)

Amazingly, I not only made some really yummy looking raspberry cookie bars, as well as some to-die-for white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies for last night's book club I was hosting, but I managed to send off the leftovers with the husband to work today, to share with his co-workers today, without even a teeny morsel crossing my lips.

See that Kit Kat & Twix in the front... yeah, THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Last night my dreams were about food. All night. Cookies, & cakes, & all things that are good (bad). Yesterday, I visited Freed's Bakery just to look around, inhale the sweetness that engulfs you the moment you open the door. Heaven, I tell you! I actually found myself looking (drooling) at the cookies in the glass cases, mentally trying to come up with an excuse for being in there. The girl behind the counter was on the phone, so thankfully I had both time to drool & time to come up with a creative excuse for my presence while not walking out with something (or an order for something) in my hands. Maybe this was the cause of such torturous dreams.

Note to self: Don't visit the best cakery in town when you're on a diet.

We'll Just Call It 10

This morning's weigh in revealed another 2 pounds gone! Forever!! I haven't been at this weight in over 8 years!



So that makes the total now 9.6 pounds, which as you know from a prior confession, I'm a rounder when it comes to the scale. Considering that's only based on 4 days of restraint (& if we're being honest here, I wasn't perfect yesterday... more on that later), I'm very pleased! This time in my last round with hcg I only down 6 pounds.

So yesterday I was out running around with kids & picked up a protein-style double-double (with no cheese, hold the sauce & tomato, with some onion, a teeny bit of ketchup, & some mustard) from In-N-Out Burger for lunch. Can I just say how incredibly YUMMY that was!? We're allowed 3.5 ounces of lean ground beef & that's about right with this burger. My no-no was mixing my veggies. Since it was wrapped in lettuce, I should've skipped on the onion, but who eats a burger without some onion slices on there!? Well, besides the husband, that is...

I'm excited for 8 a.m. tomorrow!! :D

Coconut: How Do I Love Thee?...

This drawing is entitled "Coconut Dreams"... it took me a sec to get it, but gave me a chuckle when I finally did. :)

And miss thee!!

What I wouldn't give for my new favorite night time crunchy snack right about now!? Coconut is so good for you, yet it isn't on protocol. So my recently acquired habit of buying 2 coconuts every few days (& my kids' hysterical laughter at my efforts to find the easiest way to crack one... it's seriously a show they gather to watch around here) must wait for another month or so.

Young coconuts are the bees knees! They aren't found at most grocery stores, but are worth the trek to Whole Foods or (if you're lucky enough to have one in your area) Trader Joes. The juice, of a young coconut is packed FULL of electrolytes & the meat is naturally fat-free & is really delicious.

This ends my (not) paid plug for the consumption of coconuts. :P

P.S. I'm down another 3.4 lbs. as of this morning! :D

Phase 4

I haven't posted in a while mainly because I really haven't had any updates for my wild fan base. ;o) So, though it's not much, here's what I have for you...

I've moved on to phase 4 of the protocol, where I get to slowly add starches & sugars back in to my diet. So far I've been maintaining my weight loss really well. I'm a week in to phase 4 now, & I'm really looking forward to getting back to the weight loss portion of the protocol (phase 2). :)

I'm pretty sure I've said this before but, for a big girl, losing 34 pounds doesn't look like much. I'm just *so* ready to get to a point where I can start noticing a difference. All I see in the mirror right now is a leeetle bit smaller head on a still overly-large frame. I can understand why 34 pounds may not look like much of a difference, but when I think of the difference I'll see when I hit the 60 pound mark... that excites me!

Then maybe I can justify buying some new clothes. Maybe. It's hard to imagine spending a bunch of money on things for myself. I'm the crazy lady at the store who picks out something for herself & winds up putting it back (okay, so most of the time it doesn't actually make it back to its home), having talked myself out of it, if I spend too much time with it in my cart before it's time to pay for my purchases.

Am I the only one?

Enjoyed My First Steak Day!

Okay, so not really. Because who really wants to be forced to drink water until you're floating, then for dinner force down as much steak as you can stomach!? Not me, I learned yesterday. Not me.


During this phase of the protocol, a.k.a. Phase 3 (P3, for all you hcg'ers), if you go more than 2.1 pounds over your last injection weight (LIW), you have to do what's called a "steak day". Drink as much water as you can stand all day, then for dinner you have the largest steak you can find along with an apple or a raw tomato. The next morning, you'll find yourself back where you need to be.



I admit it worked. Really well, actually. I was down 2.8 pounds this morning, which is .4 pounds below my LIW. Now I know my body can't handle the two bowls of broccoli cheese soup I naughtily ate the day before I wound up with a steak day. Good to know. Though I kind of already guessed it might be a problem.

Six days & counting!

I've been on this protocol since January 13th & to date I've lost 29 pounds. The daily losses have slowed down drastically & I'm thinking my body's saying "this is the best you're going to get this round". :o)

I'm planning to stop my injections on Saturday (early than I had originally planned) & the diet part will end on Tuesday. I've decided to be selfish & indulge in the amazingly delish cheese fondue that will be had at this month's Mom's Book Club meeting for our homeschool group. Since I can't do this until I've moved on to Phase 3, Tuesday will be the big day.

In Phase 3, you're allowed to eat anything except sugars (not the naturally occuring kind) & starches. This portion of the protocol only lasts 3 weeks, after which I'm able to slowly reintroduce sugars & starches. I have to say, I cannot wait to eat some CHEESE! I've missed it's deliciousness more than I ever thought I could! And I'm sick to death of chicken.

Though there's still a long way to go, I feel like I've accomplished something big, for me. It makes me feel so good to think about that. :)

As hard as it's been some days, I'm so grateful I did this. No matter how much weight I lost or didn't lose, I showed myself I'm capable of taking control of my desires. I'm stronger than any craving. I'm worth the effort, for effort it has been. I've never been good at self control & often thought it was something I really didn't possess (at least when it came to food), so this experience has taught me a lot & I'm thankful for it. And I'm as eager as a beaver to get to do it again in another 7 weeks! :D

Going to a Recipe Exchange tonight

Normally, this kind of thing would be dicey at best, when I'm on a "diet". There will be samples of deliciousness at every turn, I bet. As long as there are not DOTS candy there, I'm pretty sure I'll leave unscathed.

I'm bringing a yumm-o white chicken chili. Full of all the good (not for me, though) stuff. I'm cool though. I've already prepared myself by making & eating my dinner, so I won't be hungry. Temptations these days are few & far between. I even perused the candy aisle at the dollar store the other day & spotted my one true love, yet didn't feel overly tempted.

Overall, my day has been really good & I'm continuing to make good choices. This mornings weigh in was up a pound, but I'm guessing this is water weight because of the old hag that's visiting. I'm not worried at all.

Now, off to the fun! :)

P.S. I *heart* Sesame Melba Toast! YUM!!

Success & Disappointment

As of this morning's weigh in, I'm down 16+ pounds now. :) That feels really good!

However, I discovered my body has decided to play an ugly joke on me & sent Aunt Flo for a visit a mere 13 days after the last time she was here. GRRRR!!

I'm unable to take the hcg injections while on my period, so this will string things out unnecessarily. GRRRR!

I'm finding myself very frustrated, but not enough to do much more than enjoy some apple slices. That's a blessing, for sure. I pray it stays that way.

Acknowledging the struggle

It's good to want for things, I've decided. It's certainly not easy when it's a seemingly unceasing stream of thoughts about the food in the next room, but it's good to have opposition to struggle with. If not, I'd have nothing to overcome!

I took the advice of one of your comments & took to exercising when my stress level & anxiety over the banana nut bread in the other room (calling my name!) took hold of me. Can I just say I feel so much better!

I'll need these coping techniques in the future when things like yummy banana nut bread are allowed again. I'm glad I tried it out & saw that instead of digging in & making a pig of myself, I can handle these moments differently & come away feeling much better than before.

Overwhelmed with the smells!

My nose seems to be much keener than normal, because the smells of deliciousness that seem to follow me around are driving me batty for the want to shoveling them in like the Cookie Monster with his cookies.

My best defense? I have to picture something really gross to associate with that smell & the desire abates to the point of it being very tolerable.


This seems to do it for me every time! I can hardly look at that image without getting the heebie-jeebies. *shiver*

I've been told a craving only lasts 15 minutes, so if I can hang on that long it'll get better. Well I found a way to shorten the process, because 15 minutes feels like an eternity when you're living it.

So, what works for you? How do you put those cravings in their place?

2 pounds GONE!

I got up this morning , did my thing, & I'm down another .14 ounces! So far, that's a 2 pound loss!!

I struggled a bit yesterday. I was hungry. I stayed out of the kitchen as much as possible. Even washing dishes was difficult (maybe I should mention this to the husband... ). One thing I remember from the last go at this protocol is how much better I felt, physically, while on it. I had more energy & I just felt well.

I spent 20 min. on my glider yesterday, but that was pushing it. After the walk the husband & I took, my lower back is protesting (rather loudly) to nearly everything.

One more thing I noticed is how many stupid food commercials I must endure just to watch a show. Thank goodness for the mute button. It seriously made me want to get up & EAT!

I hate thinking about food...

I prefer to just EAT IT!! Whatever & whenever. Guess that's what got me to this point.

The mind games are in full swing. It's on like Donkey Kong!

Monday-Funday!

After the husband came home from a day of golfing, proclaiming he is *never playing again* (it's frustrating to play poorly), we laced up our shoes, snuck out the other side of the house (the little kids would have wanted to come, but Ty agreed to watch them) through the little garage, & headed off for a brisk walk.

My lower back isn't always cooperative, but we wound up walking 1.8 miles anyway. I hate not knowing distances, so when we got home I loaded up my cranky kids (apparently they noticed we'd left & didn't like it very much) in the car & drove the route we took.

After our short trip around the block (& me realizing how truly spoiled I am... I didn't realize how far that walk felt until I drove it in no time flat) I drove the kids over to McDonald's & bought them each a sundae. It's something we rarely do, but they love it & I felt like showing myself I didn't really want what they were having, or anything else there, & could just as easily do without.

That mission was accomplished! Baby steps...

In all, I walked &/or glided about 2.5 miles yesterday! If it's not at Disneyland (with a stop at every third booth for a caramel apple, or cotton candy, or other things of the like), that's a lot of extra walking for me.

I'm excited to get started with the HCG so I can begin to see some results! Once I get that going I'll start posting my weigh-ins daily. (gah! I'm *so* not looking forward to sharing my actual weight with anyone!!)