Short a day's dose

After VLCD 28
overnight: -0.4
total: -16
weight: 139

Consistent. I can't complain too much--I'm still losing. But I may have another explanation.

I posted this question to the HCG Dieter's board a while ago, so you may have seen it already. I'm short on HCG by more than a day's doses. 1.3 ml short. Where did they go? I can see losing a drop here and there in the process of administering my sub-lingual dose twice a day. But adding up to 1.3 ml? Not likely.

The only explanation I can come up with is that it evaporated. And I don't half believe that, either. But I know I was painstakingly cautious when I measured for my mixture, and when I measured my doses. I use an open amber bottle, not a sealed one. I used 3 ml vodka as a preservative in my solution. Could that cause so much evaporation? I'm shaking my head. It doesn't seem possible. I hope someone on HCG Dieters has an answer for me.

But say it has been slowly evaporating. That might explain both my slow down in weight and inch loss, and my return of hunger 3 days ago. Because with less liquid, my dose has been getting stronger each day. Overall, with 28 doses instead of 30, my average dose has been close to 180 IU. And if it started out as it should have--166--there's no telling how strong my last several doses have been.

It's been one thing after another with me, hasn't it? Surprisingly, I'm upbeat about this. I just want to know how to prevent it from happening again.

Creeping, creeping down

After VLCD 27
overnight: -0.4
total: -15.6
weight: 139.4

I trust my body. I trust my body.

New perspective

After VLCD 26
overnight: -0.4
total: -15.2
weight: 139.8

WooHoo! Made it into the 130s!

As I was thinking this over last night, an idea occurred to me that gave me a new perspective. So my positive attitude came before this morning's journey into the 130s. I've been releasing a lot of toxins--thus the detox rash I've had almost from the beginning, which has gotten better in the past few days. I'll bet I'm slowing down because my body can't handle any more toxic load.

And my hunger was much worse yesterday, so it seems evident that I wasn't burning as much fat. This morning my measurements were better than yesterday, but not the losses I've seen in the last two weeks.

So I have to trust my body. After all, I'm doing everything right. I haven't cheated once, or even come close. All I can do is try to help my body get rid of more toxins (saunas, salt baths, water intake) so that it can handle letting more into my system when the fat burns.

By the way, I drank 96 ounces of water yesterday. That's 3 quarts. Plus a 12 oz mug of green tea. I didn't intend to drink that much more water. But I was simply obeying my thirst. And this morning I woke up parched. Tongue almost sticking to the roof of my mouth. Strange. Today I'll continue listening to my thirst, as I have been all along. There must be a reason it needs more water now.

Trust my body. Listen to my body.

And on I go.

One day at a time

After VLCD 25
overnight: -0.2
total: -14.8
weight: 140.2

I went to my niece's choir concert last night--no drinks allowed in the theater. I had to leave home shortly after 6:30 and by the time I got back, it was close to my bedtime and I didn't think of drinking water. In any case, it would have been a little late to guzzle the 16 ounces of water I was short for the day.

I woke up this morning obviously retaining water. Serious pillow face. Red grooves on my arms and stomach. I still drank 64 ounces of water yesterday--a pretty good amount. It's just that I normally drink 80 ounces. That satisfies my thirst. Plus, 6:30 was too early for me to quit drinking water. I usually keep sipping until about 8:30. So that's my explanation for only .2.

It's starting to feel like crunch time. Sure, I only have about 10 pounds to lose, but I'll run out of HCG on Nov. 16. (Even if I had more, I'd want to be done around that time. I need to be on P3 for Thanksgiving.) 20 days from now. Half a pound a day--that's doable. But at my current streak of zero and .2, it's starting to look like an unattainable goal. I'm trying to stay positive.

What I really need to lose is the inches. I don't care so much what the scale ends up reading, but my body fat % is still much too high. I measure once a week, and today was the day. I lost tiny amounts on arms, thighs, hips, but nothing in my midsection, where it really needs to come off. But I'm bloated today, so I'm going to drink lots of water and measure again tomorrow.

People on this diet are always reassured that when the weight loss slows down, the inch loss speeds up. I hope that's the case for me and my water retention is simply disguising it. One day at a time. My new mantra.

Whew!

After VLCD 24
overnight: -0.6
total: -14.6
weight: 140.4

A loss of .6 never looked so good. I truly do need to see losses to keep going on this thing. If my weight had still been 141, I would have been begging you guys for some encouragement not to quit. But now, with a loss I can go on. I'm so close to the 130s. Another .6 tomorrow and I'm there. One day at a time. That's all I can look at. Just make it through today's limited food.

Still there

After VLCD 23
overnight: 0
total: -14
weight: 141

Maybe it wasn't the onions after all. (Although, how will I dare try them again?) Maybe I'm just heading into a stall. Yikes! I hope it doesn't last too long.

A PS to the post below

I did do something different with my diet yesterday. I made onion soup and put my meat in that. And I had that for two meals. So maybe onions make me stall. Cabbage soup makes me gain. Onion soup makes me stall. *Sigh* Looks like I'm doomed to be soup-less through this protocol.

What really has me discouraged right now is that my body doesn't seem to make up for gains and stalls. When I gained before, I went on losing as normal. I didn't have a big loss to make up for it. So I'm afraid this truly was just a wasted day.

No loss

After VLCD 22
overnight: 0
total: -14
weight: 141

I'm so close to the 130s, which is where I really want to be. So a day without a loss is really frustrating. From the beginning I didn't except to lose every single day. I think if I made it into the 130s, I could be more patient with small losses or no loss. Hopefully things will improve when my TOM is over.

Enlita

After VLCD 21
overnight: -0.6
total: -14
weight: 141

I want to tell you about the program on which I lost those first 27 pounds, because I owe them a lot. It's Enlita.com. Dr. Kendra Pearsall, a naturopath, founded the site. If you know who Dr. Mercola is, you might know that she used to be in practice with him, and co-authored, I think, 3 books with him. I've subscribed to Dr. Mercola for years, so I immediately trusted Dr. Pearsall.

The weight loss program is based on good nutrition--eating whole foods and avoiding processed foods. But there's a lot more to it. It covers food allergies that might be keeping the weight on, hormones, emotions, and other factors. It's really a holistic approach.

This isn't a commercial. I'm not trying to get anyone to join. I'm simply expressing my gratitude.

Dr. Pearsall is the one who made me aware of HCG, through her newsletter. She held an informational teleseminar that explained the science of HCG. I was hooked. And here I am.

I had to drop my membership, but I learned so much. As you know, I averaged a pound of weight loss per week for 5 months. The prinicples I learned on Enlita will be with me for life, and I'm so grateful.

Detox rash

After VLCD 20
overnight: -0.4
total: -13.4
weight: 141.6

A loss of .4 two days in a row makes me realize I'm going to be terribly disappointed if I hit a stall. No matter how I try to prepare myself mentally, I like to see bigger losses. It's not easy to be so limited in foods.

Also, I've had a detox rash all over my torso since VLCD 4. It'll just start to dry up and go away, then fresh red spots come back. I love that it means I'm releasing fat, but it itches! It bothers me especially at night when I'm trying to sleep. So all in all, I want this protocol over as soon as possible. And that means bigger losses. Please!

I've tried applying bentonite clay to the rash, on two occasions. I took an epsom salt bath. I take an infrared sauna about 5 days a week. Nothing has helped clear up the rash. Man, I should have done a full detox before starting.

Any ideas for me?

Halfway there!

After VLCD 19
overnight: -0.4
total: -13.0
weight: 142

I met a milestone and I didn't even notice. As of yesterday, I'm halfway to my goal weight. Starting HCG, I wanted to lose 25 pounds. Yesterday's weight put me at 12.6 pounds lost and only 12.4 to go. (12 today.) Hurray!

I'm not sure how accurate 130 is for my ideal weight. I only know that when I lost weight back in 2001, I got down to 136 and still had quite a bit of flab. That's the least I've weighed as an adult. Now, on HCG I might lose more fat than before and look just fine at 136. Then again, I might lose so much fat it'll put me lower than 130. I have a small frame, so it's possible.

Bottom line is, I'll know it when I see it. And that's the great thing about HCG--it's self limiting. When I have no more abnormal fat to lose, the hunger will come back. I hope that happens before I run out of HCG, so I'll know for sure my abnormal fat is gone.

And that's another reason I hope my remaining hunger continues to diminish day by day. Then I'll know for sure when it comes back full force. Anyway, I'm so excited to be only 12 pounds from my goal weight.

TOM

After VLCD 18
overnight: -0.8
total: -12.6
weight: 142.4

My TOM started in earnest yesterday afternoon. (Another reason for only a .2 loss.) My original plan was always to stop dosing for the first 3 days of my period. But since my upped dose is so new, and I didn't dose on Sunday (cuz I thought my TOM had already started), I'm going to dose right through.

Even though the HCG isn't as effective during a period, keeping this hunger under control is my priority. I have enough HCG that even if I have to use it all up it'll be a total of 46-47 days of dosing. I might not need it all anyway.

The new dose is doing the trick. I've had hunger around mealtimes, and a bit at bedtime, but that's all. Sunday, when I didn't take HCG, the constant hunger came back. So, even though I'd like to follow the original protocol more closely, this is what I need to do for me.

Dreams

After VLCD 17
overnight: -0.2
total: -11.8
weight: 143.2

I'm disappointed, but under the circumstances--my period (sort of) and no doses yesterday--I suppose it's understandable. I'm back to dosing today, and I'll see what happens with my period.

Dreams. It seems like every night I dream of food. Most of the time in my dream I've forgotten I'm on phase 2. So halfway through a big plate of forbidden food, I remember. Then I feel awful for having cheated. I've always had vivid dreams, so the remorse is very real. I wake up so relieved that my diet is still clean.

Other nights, I'm not on HCG in my dreams, so I can enjoy all kinds of food guilt-free. Since my dreams are so realistic, it's actually not a bad way to sample delicious foods. But it's strange that the dreams come almost every night. It's like I'm obsessed with food.

Naw, that couldn't be!

Unusual

Late post, but I found time to squeeze it in.

After VLCD 16
overnight: -0.6
total: -11.6
weight: 143.4

The .8, .6 pattern is broken by two .6 in a row. But I'm pleased with any loss during my TOM. At least I think it's my TOM. It seemed to start a few times in the last two days, but then goes back to spotting right away. I didn't take my HCG today, but if I'm like this tomorrow, there's no reason not to dose.

Consistent

After VLCD 15
overnight: -0.6
total: -11
weight: 144

In the future, it would be nice to see another whole pound loss in one day. But there's definitely something to be said for consistency and predictability. Today my TOM came, right on schedule, and I still lost my .6 right on schedule. On this protocol, the losses can change quickly, but I'll enjoy this while it lasts.

It's too early to say whether or not the 166 IU dose will do the trick. But I think I feel an improvement, both in hunger and in a general sense of well-being.

The mind

After VLCD 14
overnight: -0.8
total: -10.4
weight: 144.6

Just over 10 pounds gone so far. Yippee!!

I haven't been talking about it. I was so optimistic Sunday evening when my hunger went away for several hours. But I was hungry by Monday morning, and I've been hungry ever since. I passed the 10 days that Dr. Simeons says is needed to make up for improper loading. So it can only be my dose.

I had to mix a new batch last night, so today I'm trying a 166 IU dose. That's what works for most SL users, twice a day. I'll keep you updated on how that goes.

If this hunger doesn't go away, I'll do a 23 dose round and take a break. The hunger isn't as intense as it was in the first week. It's no longer the painful, drive me crazy hunger. But it's enough to make me realize I can't do this for much longer. Sheer willpower is keeping me going--keeping me from cheating.

On another note, how big of a role does the mind play in weight loss? At some point I charted out my weight and found that an average of .7 per day would get me to my goal weight in 40 days. Since my scale doesn't register .1 increments, I thought, "Well, I'll just have to lose .8 and .6 every other day." Look at my pattern since Monday. .8, .6, .8, .6.

Weird, huh?

Simple report

After VLCD 13
overnight: -0.6
total: -9.6
weight: 145.4

Food rotation

After VLCD 12
overnight: -0.8
total: -9.0
weight: 146

I don't have anything else to say in today's post, so I'll mention what I'm doing that's probably different from most people. I'm incorporating a rotation diet.

I've tried a rotation diet in the past, but it was much too restrictive and I couldn't stick with it. But the HCG protocol is restrictive anyway and rotating my foods gives me more variety than I might otherwise give myself.

I do a 4-day rotation. I have one type of meat each of the 4 days, and generally one type of vegetable per day. Although sometimes there's more than one vegetable listed in a particular food grouping, so I may have a different vegetable for supper. I have only 1 type of fruit on days I have fruit. The foods are listed according to taxonomy. Which I don't understand, but it has something to do with the foods being similar.

I'm rotating foods for more weight loss (and by that, I mean additional weight loss on top of the HCG protocol--because I don't think that's possible), I'm doing it because it's a good way to avoid developing food allergies and sensitivities . It's also good for detoxifying the digestive system because your body is only exposed to a particular food source once every four days.

I know, everyone on HCG says to mix up the proteins--don't have the same meat for lunch and supper. But a lot of them probably have chicken for lunch and beef for supper every single day. So they're eating the same food day after day. Maybe I'm wrong about that. But anyway, I think what I'm doing is mixing up the proteins, as well as everything else.

Good average

After VLCD 11
overnight: -0.6
total: 8.2
weight: 146.8

Steady as she goes. Pre-load weight and 11 days of dieting makes my average loss .75 per day. Very pleased with that.

Hunger gone!

After VLCD 10
overnight: -0.8
total: -7.6
weight: 147.4

I was hoping to lose more to make up for the gain, but I don't really care all that much. My losses up through Saturday were more than I was expecting, so I'll take it as it comes. Besides, the weight pales in comparison to the fact that my hunger went away yesterday!

The morning and afternoon were normal hunger levels. I went to an anniversary party where I got to watch people eat for 3 hours. I was hungry the whole time. Just sipped my water. I kept thinking of the portion of roast I could reheat as soon as I got home. Then when I did get home, I stopped in my tracks on the way to the fridge. I wasn't hungry, I was only empty.

When did that happen?

I waited a while before warming my roast, just to be sure the feeling was sticking. I ate my supper and I was satisfied. Three hours after supper, I still wasn't hungry. Day 10 was the magic number for me, after all. The hunger is gone!

(By the way, I only did 5 doses of 150 IU--2.5 days. I thought if my dose was the problem that amount of time should have fixed it. I've been back to 125 IU since then.)

Arrrgh! Was it the salt or the fruit?

After VLCD 9
overnight: +0.8
total: -6.8
weight: 148.2

I honestly didn't think I'd have any gains on this protocol. At least apart from my TOM--which is due in about 6 days. I couldn't believe my eyes when I stepped on the scale this morning. I weighed 3 times just to be sure.

My 2 biggest suspects are salt and fruit. I made cabbage soup with chicken yesterday. Cabbage is so bland that it sucks in flavor like a black hole--they're never heard from again. So the soup took a lot of salt. I haven't been eating salt to that extent, so maybe it's water retention. I hope it's water retention. It's quickest to get rid of.

Or it could be the fruit. If you've ever heard of nutritional typing, or metabolic typing, I'm a protein type. (The basic principle is that some people do better on more protein and fat, and others do better on more carbs.) As a protein type, I should take it easy on fruit. And that was my intention all along. Being I'm allowed so little protein, I planned to avoid fruit altogether.

Then whammo! this hunger hits me from the start, and I'm eating everything I'm allowed. Well, not everything. I've generally only had one serving of fruit, not the 2 I could have. I had two days of less hunger, and I ate no fruit on those days. But yesterday I was hungry, so I got my strawberries out of the freezer and made strawberry puree. 1/2 cup strawberries, a little water, stevia to taste--comes out almost like sorbet.

And it was so good, I had to have it again after supper. Two servings of fruit, which I knew was a little too sweet for my system when I'm taking in so little else.

But look at the other culprits I came up with when I reviewed my day:

• 64 oz water, when I've been drinking more than that
• I forgot to put my rubber gloves on when I washed out my crockpot, and my dishsoap contains oil
• no BM for 2 days--I've had one every day previous to this
• PMS? even though I normally don't gain until the day before, or first day of TOM

However, judging by how thirsty I am this morning, I'm sticking with the more salt/less water equation as my top suspect.

Long post! But I feel better for my detective work, and getting the frustration out of my system. Excuse me while I go guzzle some water, to get the excess water out of my system, too.

Drinking lots of water

After VLCD 8
overnight: -0.6
total: -7.6
weight: 147.4

Counting down the days. I'm trusting that after 10 days of low calories, I won't be so hungry anymore. Sorry to keep posting about my hunger, but it's hard to think about anything else. At any rate, two more days to go.

An interesting side note: my water consumption keeps going up slightly each day. I'm not trying to drink more water, but my thirst levels keep going up. I must have been dehydrated for a long time before this. Also I'm eating so much less food that I'm not getting the water content from food that I used to.

The first few days I drank 64 ounces per day. Then it was 72, 76, and now 80. My mouth feels dry most of the time. Oh, well. I'll listen to my thirst signals and give my body what it needs.

One week

After VLCD 7
overnight: -0.8
total: -7.0
weight: 148

I almost forgot to check in today. Probably because I don't have much to say. Nothing new to report.

More improvement

After VLCD 6
overnight: -1.2
total: -6.2
weight: 148.8

I'm doing the Snoopy dance to be in the 140s again. Those 27 pounds I lost? Well, for 27 weeks, I lost an average of 1 pound a week. I had my ups and downs, but always came back to that average. Then about May, I got off track and couldn't get back on. From May-September my weight bounced back and forth between 154 and 159. After losing pretty much steadily for 5 months, I was stuck in the 150s for 5 months.

So that's why it means so much for me to FINALLY be in the 140s.

Now for the improvement I mentioned. I still have hunger, but it's much less intense. It's "Yeah, I'm hungry." Not, "Must eat or PERISH!!" I went back to two meals yesterday and each one was almost satisfying. I see some rays of hope.

Slight improvement in hunger

After VLCD 5
overnight: -1.4
total: -5.0
weight: 150

So very, very happy with my release overnight. I know this will slow down soon, but the rapid loss in the beginning is so heartening. I can keep going because of big losses like this.

Yesterday's hunger level was slightly better than Sunday and Monday. I have no idea if increasing the dose was the right thing to do or not. I'm starting to think that I didn't load enough. As unbelievable as that seems to me. But there were times I could have stuffed more in. Wish I could go back and redo it. Beginners, learn from this. Eat as much as you can possibly hold.

One mistake I made was I forgot about coconut oil until the last day. That would have been a good fat without bulk. On the third day I did make "chocolate bark" out of coconut oil and ate 4 Tbsp that way.

So anyway, just hanging on. Since it's likely my load days that caused this, I might ease back on my HCG dose once this hunger is more under control. I don't know. Too many variables.

Time for a change

After VLCD 4
overnight: -1.0
total: -3.6
weight: 151.4

Yesterday I tried spreading my meals out further. Eating the same amount, but 4 meals instead of 2. It didn't really help. Momentarily it did because while I'm actually eating the hunger is tolerable. But I was extrememly weak all day, and every time I stood up, I got lightheaded. Felt like I was going to pass out a couple of times.

I figure there are two possibilities: 1) My HCG wasn't potent, or 2) My dose isn't high enough. So this morning I took a 150 IU dose, then went and bought a pregnancy test. I figure I may as well take a higher dose because if my HCG is useless, it doesn't hurt to take more of it. On the other hand, if my HCG was good, I'd want to increase the dose anyway. The preg test was positive, which is good. It means I don't have to throw that batch away and waste over 12 ml of my mixture. Even at my new dose, I've got 10 day's worth left.

I know I said I'd wait a week and see, but my level of starvation left me non-functional. I couldn't take it any more. I'm surprised I could make it to the store and back. But mornings are best for me. The experiment part of this is holding true. I have to keep experimenting until I find what's right for me.

VLCD 3 and still hungry

After VLCD 3
overnight: -1.4
total: -2.6
current weight: 152.4

Wow. I was not expecting such a big loss. It makes the hunger worth it.

Yesterday's hunger was worse than I've experienced yet. Maybe because I had to leave home and be around people all morning and was under slightly stressful conditions. When I got home, I still had to cook my lunch. During the process I felt weak and a bit faint.

That afternoon, I drank some Yerba Mate tea. It's the first time I've had tea on this protocol, because I don't like tea. But this stuff wasn't bad, and while I was sipping it, the hunger went away. It came back shortly afterward, but the respite was nice. From now on, I intend to have tea every morning.

It's too early in the day to say what my hunger levels will be today. For now I feel fine. I know I ate to capacity on my loading days, so the hunger should go away today, or in the next couple of days. If it doesn't go away within a week, I may have to increase my dose. I'm currently taking 125 IU sublingually twice a day. I could easily increase this to 150 if I have to.

Maybe my perceptions are wrong and I didn't eat to capacity on the load days. In that case, Dr. Simeons says the hunger should go away about a week from now. So I'll wait and see--even though another week at yesterday's level sounds torturous.

I will not cheat on this protocol. My resolve on that issue is absolutely iron. But I can now relate better to those who have cheated. I went to Wal-Mart and as I drove past restaurants, I kept thinking, ooh, Applebee's sounds heavenly. DQ--I could go for a chicken strip basket. Better yet, a double cheeseburger. And the candy bars in the check out lane looked so good. I don't even eat that kind of food very often. But my hunger was so intense everything sounded good.

So I'm really hoping the hunger won't last much longer.

VLCD 2 results

After VLCD 2
overnight change: -0.4
net change: -1.2
current weight: 153.8

Okay, four tenths of a pounds isn't terrific for this early in the game. But looking at the total loss, I'm happy. I've lost 2.6 pounds in 2 days. Yes, some of that is load weight, but even so, my results are good. A big loss is balanced out with a smaller loss. I didn't think things would balance so soon. However, looking at the overall, I'm happy.

My expectations are to lose an average of half a pound a day. Two days and I'm 1.2 pounds down from my starting weight. Not bad.

VLCD 1 results

After VLCD 1
overnight change: -2.2
net change: -0.8
current weight: 154.2

I'm happy with my first 500 calorie day results. I had hunger on and off all day yesterday. And this morning so far I've been a little hungry. But nothing I can't handle.

Loading Day 3 results

After Load Day 3
overnight change: -0.6
net change: +1.4
current weight: 156.4

Yesterday I ate enough to keep myself full all day, but I didn't eat as much as the day before. I felt nauseous in the afternoon and evening, so I didn't want to push it and end up eating until I threw up. At first I thought it might be a stomach bug, but I think it was either from eating so much for 3 days, or my body getting used to the HCG.

At any rate, I was pretty sure I wouldn't gain more weight. After all, I was eating healthy foods for the most part--just lots of them. But I didn't expect to lose. For 3 load days, I only gained 1.4 pounds. Not bad. And I'm so happy to be done loading and on to VLCD (very low calorie days).

Three days of gorging seemed just right for me. This morning I wasn't hungry when I woke up, unlike the last two ravenous mornings. I got up at 6:30 and my stomach didn't growl until around 8:00. I had hunger on and off through the morning. The rest of the time I felt empty but not necessarily hungry. I was hoping to feel no hunger at all, but alas, I'm not one of the lucky ones. The hunger I experienced wasn't bad, though.

So far, so good.

Loading Day 2 results

After Load Day 2
overnight change: +1.0
net change: +2.0
current weight: 157

I ate so much yesterday, by midday I felt like I weighed 50 pounds more than I really do. When I exercised, I couldn't do as much as normal. Being that full weighed me down and made me so tired.

Today will be my third loading day. The protocol only calls for two days, but I want to make sure the HCG is thoroughly in my system. And I've heard people do better, as far as hunger is concerned, on three load days.

Funny thing is, after eating so much, I've woken up ravenous the last two mornings. You'd think I couldn't stand the thought of food, but no, there's my stomach, growling away and making food an urgent need. Once I start eating, however, that's another story. I didn't want more than a few bites of my breakfast, but I'm pressing on (eating as I type this).

Loading Day 1 results

After Load Day 1
Overnight change: +1.0
Current weight: 156

I stole this format for recording my stats from Jules. Her results are always so easy to read. Thanks, Jules! And if you're looking for information on HCG, go to her site. She's got tons of links.

Surprise, surprise. Eat to keep yourself uncomfortably full all day, and you'll gain weight. And even at uncomfortable, I feel like I should have eaten a little more yesterday. I went for a couple of longer stretches without eating. I didn't want to eat, but I probably could have stuffed in a little something.

After supper, I made homemade ice cream sweetened with stevia. Heavy on the raw organic cream. So today I've got a good fat source I can keep returning to.