Round 2 Phase 2 Day 34 - So very, very close!

Okay girls, I am feeling a little bit of euphoria here. Everything seemed to have turned around for me this round and I am loving it. In this past week alone I have lost 6.8 in the past week, the best week I have had in all of my two rounds. I didn't like who I was becoming this round. In the middle of it when I wasn't losing and TOM was here I became so cynical and negative, but I just had to change my outlook. And I am convinced now that anyone out there who is thinking of starting a round to start it the day after TOM leaves. I think my body goes through so many different phases during the month, that the week after TOM is my best opportunity to lose, or so it seems.

So here I sit, four days away from my final weigh in for phase 2 and here is where I am at with my goals:

To lose a total of 40 lbs: 1 lb away
To be a healthy weight (BMI normal): 2.6 lbs away
Ultimate Goal of 148: 4.4 lbs away

It seems like I will be able to attain at least one of these, the one I really really want is to not be considered overweight on the doctor's charts, I think that would be awesome. So I just need to be strong this weekend and Monday and see what happens!

Here is what I have been doing this week for those of you that are wondering:

I eat about 6 oz. of chicken breast and a tomatoe with walden farms thousand island for lunch
I eat about 6 oz. of steak with an onion and a melba toast for supper with a glass of white wine

I drink coffee, diet coke, yerba mate and water ALL DAY LONG

I have been repeating this everyday for the past seven days and have lost almost seven pounds so I am scared to switch it up, I am just going to do it for the next four days to see what happens.

Its funny with this diet how fast your body changes. I saw my Mom on Sunday and then we went to a music banquet at church last night and she almost didn't reconize me...from 5 days ago!!!! :)

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 32 - Hallelujah

Can I just say again thank you to all of you incredible women!!! I was such a negative Nancy last week (Bad, bad TOM) but you guys really helped me stick it out when all I wanted to do was sit down and cry. During stupid TOM, I lost zero pounds...Thats right, seven straight days of seeing a big 'ol goose egg every morning on my weight tracker. I was definitely on the verge of insanity and despite from being a "my cup is half full person" I was SO down in the dumps. I know you girls know exactly what I felt like. All those old addages of not being good enough or something being innately wrong with me started to creep back in. I am discovering thats a heart thing not so much as a head thing. I am also discovering that we can lose as much weight as we possibly can, and we can still dislike ourselves. Just a reminder that while we are working so hard to correct the outside, we need to work just as hard, if not harder on the inside. Skinny won't fix how we feel about ourselves, WE have to make that change.

I am a full proponent of God using our circumstances to teach us new things, so I think he had me go there last week to learn that about myself. If any of you guys read my blog, I have spent the past three months calculating and setting goals and setting myself up to be dissapointed if I didn't reach those goals, while doing this I was missing each small victory along the way. So I re evaluated, cut myself some slack, and praise GOD from whom all blessings flow this week's weight loss has been AWESOME. Since TOM's horrible reign has ended and I learned to be a little kinder to myself, I have lost 5.2 lbs in the past 5 days! Just goes to show, and I have seen it with all of you, that when the going gets tough if you can stick it out, you will be rewarded. Hope you guys have a great day :)

Total lbs lost this round: -15.8
Total lbs lost to date: -37.4

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 30 - DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD

Sing it high, sing it low, let them know the wicked witch is dead! I had no idea how terrible TOM actually was in this diet until I experienced it myself. Last round, I did not have the pleasure of his company so I didn't know. I am attributing my WEEK LONG stall to him. Just to recap, in case you did not see my irritable posts from last week From Day 22 to Day 27 this round I lost nothing. Once TOM was gone from Day 28 - Day 30 (today) I lost 2.6 lbs. Definitely enough to keep me going. I just had to stick it out as tough as it was, and as much as I wanted to give up. This weekend especially, since my husband got up early Saturday and cooked pancakes and sausage and I was sooooo hungry. I just had to remind myself what I set out to do, and I was strong enough to overcome it. It definitely helped that I went to Target and bought a skirt that fit PERFECTLY that just so happens to be a size 10!!!!!!! My size 10 jeans are still too tight to wear, but I am not ruling them out yet.

Here is my stats thus far: I have only lost a total of 13.2 lbs this round 2 (thanks to a week long stall) But overall, I have lost a total of 34.8 lbs. My goal was to lose 43 lbs. That leaves 8.2 lbs to lose. I can only do the drops (if I even have enough) for another week. I know from this round that losing the entire 8 lbs I need to lose in 8 days is next to impossible, so I am prepping myself for this. Since I have been so goal oriented this whole experience, I need to try being kind to myself by being able to celebrate this journey as a victory, EVEN if I don't make it to 148 lbs by next Tuesday. For this, I have made alternative goals from more possible to least possible:

Most attainable goal: lose another 5.2 lbs making my grand total 40 lbs lost
Little tougher: lose another 6.8 to actually be considered a healthy weight on the bmi scale (I really really want this one)
Ultimate Goal: lose another 8.6 to be at my initial goal of 148 lbs


I will be happy regardless, but if I reach any of these three I will be ecstatic. AND I have to tell myself where ever I end up next Tuesday, is where I am because I did my absolute best and if I have a few pounds to lose after maintenance then I will do that by exercise and healthy eating. I will NOT however, for my own sanity, do another round to lose a few pounds. I guess we shall have to see.....

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 24 - BOO

I am on the verge here...of tears or a very large temper tantrum...I have not lost anything, thats right ANYTHING in the past four days. Yes, I know I ate half a sleeve of saltines on Saturday with peanut butter (my only cheat in two rounds) and TOM came on Monday, but geez, I am working on a schedule here!!!!!! I have at least 10 lbs to go and only 14 days to do it in. I am going nuts!! I have never had a stall this long, and I would understand it, if I haven't been perfect, even more than perfect since saturday....I cut out all melbas, all fruits and have been drinking plenty of water. This sucks. I hate being such a negative nancy but I can't help it. I was supposed to only have a week left and now I have pushed it to 2 because I know I can't reach my goal. Sorry for being a whiny behiny but so FRUSTRATED!!! I have been on this diet for 24 frickin days and have only lost 9.8 lbs, with only one slip up......BOOOOOOOOOO

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 20

I am loving my results from the "alternative protocol". This morning, another pound gone! I feel like I am on a roll now. Twelve more pounds left. Ten left to see the 140's. I always weigh myself a few times and whatever the scale give me twice I roll with. Even though it didn't give it to me twice, I saw the 150's! Hopefully tomorrow I will see them in full force :). Baby steps :) I am excited going out with some friends tonight and I may endulge in a few glasses of wine so I am staying away from the fruit. I hope it won't slow me down.

So as of today:
Todays weight: 160.0
Total lbs loss in Round 2: 9.8
Total lbs loss: 31.4
Lbs to go to goal: 12

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 19 - Women Food and God

So yesterday I watched an Oprah episode that was recorded on my dvr from Monday. I normally just scan through to see if the topic was interesting to decide if it was worth watching. Well the topic was "WHY OPRAH WILL NEVER DIET AGAIN!" So immediately I hit play and began to watch. The whole show was about the new book WOMEN, FOOD, AND GOD. Well, lets just say it hit home so much so that I was bawling half way through. So I went out literally yesterday and bought the book. We have all heard and seen or experienced emotional eating in our lives. In the past when anyone would speak about emotional eating, I would feel bad for them, but never really connected to my life. I am, for the most part, an optimistic happy person. I didn't feel like I ate to cover any emotion pain that I have experienced. More so than anything I ate because I wanted to and because food tasted good to me. But this book is really opening my eyes to something much deeper.
The author and Oprah were discussing how those of us that have been on diets our whole life (me) have made food a bad guy when in reality nourishing food is good because it comes from God. That those people have shamed themselves for so long, they can't even enjoy good food for feeling bad because they are eating it (that's definitely me). This was not God's grand design for us. The author has a theory that all of us eat when we aren't hungry for a deeper reason. This is what I used to say baloney to. Some of us have been so good at covering up that reason that we think it is baloney. The ah ha moment here is that we eat to cover up some sort of pain because we think that actually feeling that pain will kill us. In reality if we are hiding the pain, we are already feeling it and once we allow ourselves to uncover it...which may hurt but not kill us, we can be free of it.
Of course I just started the book so I am not really sure what my issues are, but I have been thinking about it. I don't think its so much the quantity of food that has been my issue, it is the kind of food that I used to eat that was my weight issue. Why would I chose pizza over a salad every time? I think because pizza felt like a comfort food and the thought of a salad just left me wanting some sort of bread to go with it. When I was at work I would get excited about when it was time for me to eat. Why? I guess because it comforted me. The big question is what do I need comfort from? A lifetime of shame about my weight, yes, but deeper than that...I think it may have something to do with never feeling good enough. Always trying so hard but never quite making it. Like I said I am new to all this and I think its going to take me a while to get to where I can identify it. I mean, its a big question, why eat when we aren't hungry?
Anyway, for those of you that didn't see it, they did not spend very much time on the seven principles, or guidelines for finding our freedom from food. The reason is because they are principles not rules of a diet. The principles actually scare me to death because I don't see how I could ever actually get to a point where I can distinguish whether I am truly hungry or not. My switch has always been broken! This 500 calorie diet certainly put me in touch with what feelings of true hunger are, but I am a pretty good master mind at making myself believe I am hungry even if I am not. Anywho, they put the emphasis on healing yourself for the freedom not just following a set of guidelines, but nonetheless, once I have figured out how to heal whatever it is these are the principles to live by (and for dieters out there, they will probably sound nice but also scare the poo out of you)

1. Eat when you are hungry
2. Eat sitting down in a calm environment. This does not include the car.
3. Eat without distractions. Distractions include radio, television, newspapers, books, intense or anxiety producing conversations or music.
4. Eat what your body wants
5. Eat until you are satisfied
6. Eat (with intention of being) in full view of others
7. Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.

My big one is eating without distraction. Food is my supplement to everything. I eat while I work, watch TV, look at magazines, eating with a group of people. I don't know that I would even enjoy eating if it had to be with the TV off. That's pretty bad. Yes, but I am working on it :)

In the meantime...this morning lost another .2 lbs. I figured it would be light since I had lost 1.8 the two days before. Two pounds in the last three days is not bad!

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 18 - 30 lbs gone, never to be seen or heard from again!!!

YAAAAAAY - Huge milestone reached today and I must, must celebrate! As of this morning 30.2 lbs are gone forever! Thirty sounds a whole lot more that 29 :) And forty pounds sounds a whole lot more than 30 :) So my next goal is to see the 150's by the end of the weekend and I think I can do it. I was 161.2 this morning, so with my new protocol I feel pretty good about that , I need at least 2.2 lbs in four days. After that my goal will be 151.4 which would make my total loss 40 lbs, and then the final and ultimate goal to be at least 149.6 (considered a normal weight on the bmi scale). These are my baby steps and I will celebrate each one for the next two and a half weeks that I have left on P2. I think if I am even close to 149.6 I will extend P2 until I get there. I am excited and am feeling good today.

One other cool thing. I had a picture of Whitney Thompson from America's Next Top Model for my goal picture and I am officially completely smaller than her. That makes me feel good because I think she looks great! I have lost a total of 22.5 inches measuring my chest, waist, hips, right thigh, and right arm. Thats 9, yes 9 inches from my waist and 6.5 inches from my hips. LOVE IT!

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 17 - Just call me Renegade

Thats right, and I will shout it from the rooftops! (just not on the yourhcg blog because some women will beat me up) I am a converted renegade. I have altered the almighty protocol and I am loving it! Even though it is the first real day. Woke up this morning to a 1.2 lb loss! I know it may not stay consistent, but who cares! This is why I am so thankful that someone shared this alteration with me. Here is what I ate yesterday:

Coffee with vanilla creme stevia and cinnamon

Yerba Mate Tea

15 cups of water throughout the day



Jay Robb chocolate whey protein shake



150 gram top sirloin with a tomato for lunch



150 gram chicken breast with a cucumber and Walden Farms Ranch dressing.



No Fruits and No melbas!



Again, everybody is different and I know I may not lose anything tomorrow, but the first day results are pretty staggering (well, to me anyway). I know what some of you are thinking...how could you take away the fruit? The only food to look forward to all day? Here is my answer....the 500 calories is so darn tough anyway will it REALLY matter if you don't have an apple and an orange? Well to some of you it might, and I thought it was going to be really hard, but I didn't miss it that much. I think I can do it for another 16 days anyway, hopefully with the same result. If any of you out there reading my post decide to try it, let me know about your results we can start a revolution :) ha ha.

The alteration makes sense really. Being a former Atkins dieter myself I realize that this is basically the "induction phase" of atkins but going two steps further with limiting fat and calories. Thats big for me. I did Atkins before and lost the same 20 lbs that I gained back right after and I SWORE I would never do something so crazy again because it was so hard and I was so tired of meat and vegetables. Well look at me now. Not only am I doing it again but I am doing a stripped down version and I am very proud of myself. I think I have to be careful and make sure I am still getting the 500 calories without the fruit (carbs).

Weight today: 161.8
Loss for the day: -1.2
Total loss: -29.6 (so close to 30 lbs yaaay)
Loss to go to goal: 13.8

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 16

Okey Dokey...So I had a fabulous weekend, and dappled in my new "altered" protocol. I say dappled because I didn't exactly follow it. Saturday, I woke up to 1 lb loss and was super excited. I had gone out to eat my hubby and enjoyed a whole filet of beef with asparagus and onions. It was more than protocol but I didn't have a fruit or melba all day so I also enjoyed two glasses of wine. I was fully prepared for no loss Saturday, but was surprised. So Saturday I was short on time and long on errands so I sucked down two protein shakes and decided it would be my "all protein day". We cooked steaks on the grill and I ate a double portion of steak with Walden Farms Thousand Island (love it) and a glass of wine. So I did an all protein but because of the wine I think, I only lost .4. Sunday I ate at Chili's with the fam after church and got a chicken fajita with tomatoes instead of peppers and ate nearly the whole thing. For supper I just ate some lean beef and I was down .2 this morning. So total for the weekend even with the wine and double protein was 1.6. I will definitely take it! So today I begin my new altered protocol. No fruit or melbas with a protein shake and normal lunch and double portion at supper. I am excited to see the results tomorrow and hoping my protocol bends don't follow me into the week. I will certainly keep everyone posted.

Todays Weight: 163.0
Round 2 starting weight: 169.8
Total loss since beginning: 28.4
Total more to goal: 15 lbs

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 13

Ok so sorry I didn't get a chance to blog in the past couple of days. I hate being whiny so I was letting that phase pass before I checked in again. So I was pretty frustrated for a couple of days there and then yesterday I woke up with a 1.2 lb loss. I was excited, but in doing my research I realize this round is tougher and the results aren't as good. I did set an unreal expectation of losing 22 lbs this round because I will lose a little and then nothing for two days even with following strict protocol. My body is just not liking going under 165 so I am just going to have to beat my metabolism into submission. :)

I am so excited to share this information, although the person who should get the credit will remain anonymous. I received some advice from a seasoned HCGer and I cannot wait to start it. Because it is an alteration of the protocol we won't post it on any of the discussion boards for fear of being booted off and berated by the gung hoe protocolists. This person is in her third round of HCG and is STILL LOSING A LB A DAY OR BETTER!!!!!! This is the hope that I needed! I know every body is different and what works for one doesn't necessarily work for everybody, but it is definitely worth a try.

Here is the alteration:
In the morning: Jay Robb protein shake (make sure it is the one with 1 carbohydrate and 110 calories) this will replace the fruit that you would normally eat at lunch.
Lunch: 100 grams of protocol protein (chicken, steak, etc.) with your veggies. Just no fruit or melbas
Dinner: 200 grams of protocol protein and veggies (again no fruit or melbas)

So in general you are substituting your fruits and melbas with more protein. This basically takes your carbohydrate level down to nothing. Again this is off protocol so you must be very careful every body reacts differently. If you get hungry you can add an apple but then you should skip the double portion of protein at dinner or the protein shake) that way you aren't going over the 500 calories. This lady also does an all protein day with 400 grams of protein, and one day a week she does an apple day.

So I have read over and over again how slow the weight loss is on round 1 and 2 in every blog I have looked at and I was trying to reside to the fact that I would have to stay on it until the end of August and then still not be at my goal until this little tid bit fell into my lap. Needless to say I am chomping at the bit to try it. I don't know if it will be this weekend, but I will definitely start it on Monday and try it for the week. I will post my results so we can all see how it will affect me. Not to get my hopes up (really its too late), but if I was to get back up to 1 lb a day I would reach my goal by August 22, cutting a whole week out of P2. That would be awesome! Okay my hopes really are WAY up, but they gotta go somewhere! Thank you so much anonymous person!

Another reason I am ready to try a little alteration is that I woke up to 0 loss again this morning. They were devastating in Round 1 and especially devastating in Round 2 when you are trying to work with a schedule. The results that I am having just look so darn puny. I am on Day 13 and have only lost 4.8 lbs this round (not counting the six I lost from load days). I have to do something to step it up a little, I have 16 lbs to go!!!

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 11 - Frustration sets in

I don't want to be negative Nancy right now, but I really am, so you will have to excuse my pessimism. I am hungry and I didn't lose weight yet again. Yesterday was a rough day, and I really wanted a glass a wine before bed, but after arguing with myself the entire evening I went to bed staying on protocol, not even eating my piece of fruit. It will all be worth it in the morning, I told myself. Well lo and behold this morning I received no reward for my piety. Any mistakes that I made eating out over the weekend should really have no bearing on me now, I have been eating perfectly, and doing my detox baths. I just don't get it. I have been battling hunger like no body's business this round and as a result, I am obviously becoming irritable.
I am grasping for any encouragement I can get, because the first round was so much easier. The results were the only thing I needed to spur me on. Without the results its HARD. I looked through some of the discussion boards to see if I could relate to any other Round 2 experiences. It seems as though I may have reach my body's prior threshold. I have only been 165 lbs for a few brief periods of time, and have only gone below it my sophomore year of college which would have been 2002. So for eight years I have not been below this number that I am fighting, which I know in and of itself is a great accomplishment. It just presents a road block for me now. Reading blogs and such give me hope that I only need to maintain protocol through this stall and that I will wake up one morning having broken this plateau. Well hopefully that will be tomorrow morning. I had just finished trying to set my expectations, which I thought were conservative, but now I see they are just way too aggressive. I am thinking now I will do awesome to lose 15 lbs this round even going til the end of August. I need a boost and I need that boost to be in the form of lbs lost!

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14 Eyes on the prize Sarah!

Round 2 Phase 2 Day 9

Weekends are always so tough! This round especially. I like my routines, and our routine is normally hanging out and going out to eat to relax. We tried to this weekend and as a result I didn't lose any this morning. Saturday night we took my stepson to get a hair cut at the mall, and while him and my hubby were doing that, I walked down to Dillards to try and find some size 10 jeans that I could use for my goal clothes. I am really feeling like I have to grasp on to any motivation, and last round I used some size 12 jeans that were way too small and tried them on every week to notice they were actually becoming my size. So....I searched for size 10, I could get them buttoned, but they were VERY uncomfortable and I had major muffin top going. I did this on purpose trying to gauge if they would fit when I was down another 18 lbs. One size 10 actually fit, but I knew it was a fluke. I want to be a size 10 that fits into size 10s not just one size 10 :). Walking through the jean racks I found a dress that had been misplaced. It didn't really look like anything I had ever tried before, so I checked out the tag...SIZE 10! So, I tried it on just for laughs and I LOVED it! It was still a bit too tight, so I decided to get it and a pair of size 10 DKNY jeans on sale. I got home and showed my husband, who looked at me like I was a little nuts because they were small, but he liked the dress a lot too. I will have to take a before picture in my too small stuff so we can see at the end if they look good. I know I am sort of grasping for straws, but measuring my weight and measurements and goal clothes size helps me celebrate and keep motivated. It also hold me accountable, especially because I have NEVER worn a size 10, EVER.

Anyway, so after the mall, I was starving. My husband and step son wanted mexican, and if anyone is a parent to teenagers, you know you have to take every opportunity to spend time with them that you can get. I knew eating out would slow my weight loss but it was important. So as soon as we walked in, I was overcome with the smell of hot tortilla chips. I could barely keep from drooling on the table. I ordered a steak fajita with just tomatoes and onions and asked them to not add any seasonings or oil. Well of course it came out and I took one bite and it was so delicious I knew it was cooked in some kind of oil. I was starving so I ate part of it. Then Sunday after church we go out to eat with our family and I got a sirloin with asparagus. It was good also so I am assuming, although I asked for no seasoning, it had some stuff in it too. Both of these at the time and now were worth it. Life is short and time spent with family is important, but I was expecting no loss this morning and I was right. Hopefully this week I will get back on track.

LBS loss on this round: -3 (not including the 6 lbs I had to lose from gaining on load day)
Total lbs lost to date: -25
Lbs left to goal: 18