Last Dose Day

I decided to make yesterday my last dose day. I'm 3 days short of the 40-day round I was going for, but I started getting hungry, and I pretty much stopped losing. My goal was to get into the 130s and I'm there. Once I hit 139.8, I stayed there for 3 days, then I lost .2 yesterday.

So I figure, my body is ready to have a break. Of course, with that decision made, I was down .6 this morning. So I now weigh 139.

Now that I know I'm gluten intolerant, and what my other food sensitivities are, this weight is never coming back. I still have some fat to lose, but not enough for another round of HCG. So yesterday was my FINAL last dose day.

Overdue Update

Am I back to blogging? I don't know. But for anyone still out there, here's an update.

Shortly after my last post, I sprained my back. Badly. I was laid up for a month. Borrowed a hospital bed from my mother-in-law. I could only get out of bed to use the bathroom. It was over two months before I could sit in a chair long enough to use my computer. And even then it was essentials, then off. I could use my laptop from my bed, but it has no internet access.

My good eating habits declined--had to rely on my hubby to cook for me. The energy I had regained was gone as a result of lying around for so long. I stopped weighing myself until late this January. My weight skyrocketed beyond my all-time high.

But then...

I decided to give HCG another try, after hearing about the homeopathic version. People who had raging hunger on sub-lingual or injections, had no hunger with the homeopathic version.

So I gave it a try. And it's working beautifully. I had very little hunger--mostly just got hungry before mealtime. My mini-meals were satisfying. Sometimes I even got full on them! I experienced the energy and sense of well-being people boast of while on HCG.

Round one in February I lost 26 pounds. (My post-load weight was 200 pounds. I never thought I'd see that number.)

Round two in May was shortened, just 4 weeks instead of a full 40 days. But I lost 17 pounds.

And right now I'm on day 14 of round three. This morning I weighed in at 146.4. I'm hoping to get into the 130s by the end of this--my final--round. Anything more I have left to lose will have to be done the old fashioned way.

I had to laugh at my Freedom post below. I didn't even read the whole thing, I just know I can't eat what I want. I discovered I'm gluten intolerant and sensitive to a lot of foods. That's why I could never keep the weight off.

Here's my current no-no list:

Gluten
Dairy
Rice
Potato
Tomato
Sugar
Soy

I'm also allergic to mold, so I may never have the energy I should have. As long as I'm living in this house, anyway. But getting those foods out of my diet has helped me to feel so much better. And I know that when I'm done with HCG, the weight will stay off this time. I didn't have any gains between rounds this time.

Bear with me...

... while I find the right look for my blog. If you come around this afternoon, you're likely to see just about anything.

I liked the color of my old look, but I got sick of the ribbons pretty fast.

Freedom

That's what I'm looking for most in my eating, and that's why I like what I'm doing right now.

I can't live for the rest of my life with a list of rules and forbidden foods. That only takes me from one kind of food obsession (I need chocolate, I need ice cream, what's for dessert?) to another (I wonder what they're serving. Will I be able to eat it, or do I have to bring my own food?).

I need the freedom to relax and to put food in it's place. No forbidden foods for life. Yes, I know french fries are unhealthy, but sometime in my life I might want french fries again. Maybe when I get healthy enough the thought of french fries will turn my stomach. That would be nice. But whatever the food, if I want to have some on the rare occasion, some time in my life, it won't serve me to put in on some oh-so-tempting forbidden foods list.

I really enjoy cereal, and for so many years I've named it a forbidden food. And I went for long stretches of time with no cereal. Many, many months. But I've never cut it out completely, I only felt guilty whenever I ate it. No more food guilt!

While this plan says it's best to avoid grains as much as possible, the daily meal plans all include cereal and other grains. I don't follow the menus, I just skimmed them to get an idea. What's important is serving size. I can eat cereal once in a while, especially a high-fiber cereal to slow down the blood sugar reaction, as long as the serving size is small, and I eat it with protein. I don't need a full bowl. A cup, or even a 1/2 cup might do. Or 1/4 cup sprinkled on yogurt.

I don't need much, and I don't need it every day. Mainly, I'm listening to what my body is hungry for. And I'm still focusing more on the mental side of things than the food side. Someone who truly loves their own body won't want to put junk in it. It should become automatic to feed it healthy nutritious things. Then I'll be all set.

New eating plan

The reason I've been counting calories lately is that I found a new eating plan. Six days a week I eat with the caloric deficit needed to lose weight. Then one day a week I'm allowed to "forget all about your diet and eat whatever you want in whatever quantities you want." That's the phrase used, anyway, but it's qualified by some rules.

For health purposes, the plan says to avoid trans fats and high fructose corn syrup. That pretty much guarantees I'm not going to go overboard. No trans fats means no french fries, or anything deep fried at restaurants. And HFCS is in so many things.

This is called an overfeeding day. The typical person is supposed to go 1,000 calories above what they eat on the other days. However, a woman who only needs about 1,300 calories (me) should only go up to 2,000 calories or the difference is too drastic. And the majority of food that day is supposed to come from carbs.

The overfeeding day is for two reasons. 1. The body will know it's not starving, so it will continue to let go of fat (plus mentally I have a break to look forward to). 2. The overfeeding on carbs boosts the amount of leptin the body produces, which is an important hormone for weight loss.

Frankly, I'm a bit skeptical of the overfeeding day. Overfeeding on carbs goes against the grain. However, I suppose these can be good carbs. It's only my internal programing that brings donuts and cake to mind. But I'm willing to give it a shot because the rest of the plan is so sensible, and the calorie deficit is big enough to make up for one day a week of higher calories.

And it's allowing me freedom in my diet every day. I get the variety I'd been craving (nuts, seeds, fruit and some dairy) while staying on a healthy plan that's allowing my body to release weight.

Sunday was my first overfeeding day. We were celebrating my husband's birthday, so my I ate in a way I'm not planning to eat every Sunday. We went to Applebees and I had the quesadia burger. Yum! With fries--ooh, a forbidden food already. Plus we had coupons for 2 free dessert shooters. We got those coupons when we went there on Valentine's Day.

I took half my food home for later, and didn't eat all the fries. So I stayed within my calories for the day. But I gained two pounds because of the type of food I ate. Even though this was an atypical day, I'm changing my weigh-in days from Tuesday to Friday. Tuesday would only give me one day to eat clean before I have my official weigh-in.

Just so you're up to date, last Tuesday I was at 179.8. Sunday morning I weighed 178.4. That low may have been somewhat a water-fluctuation fluke. Monday morning I was up to 180.6, and now this morning 179 even.

I don't expect fast losses on this plan. Especially in the beginning when I'm tweaking it. But mentally I need a day off once in a while. If I feel like a bit of chocolate, this plan allows for that. I'll have to learn as I go what I can't get away with Sundays. I have a feeling this Sunday will be another not-so-good day. My parents are having us over to celebrate my husband's birthday, and my sister-in-law's birthday which is at the end of the month.

But I'm trying to establish something I can live with for the rest of my life. And birthdays happen.

Calories--I eat more when I count them!

I was going to post on this subject today anyway, then reading Tri-Mom's post yesterday gives me even more reason to.

Okay, so weight loss programs tell me I need to count calories. So I figure out how many calories I need in order to lose weight, based on how active I am. The formula tells me I need around 1650. Then I try to plan my meals so that they contain the right amount. Last week on the days I hit the mark I was aiming for, I was pretty full all day. I ate because it was time to eat, not because I was hungry.

For two days I got busy and didn't log my calories into Fitday until after the fact. I simply ate when I felt hungry and stopped when I felt satisfied. My calories on those days were between 1275 and 1350. That doesn't sound like enough, but I was perfectly satisfied all day, and I exercised hard on those days, too.

Everyone is different. It doesn't make much sense to me to use a formula that tells me how many calories I burn at rest based on nothing but my age and weight. Other factors determine how fast we burn calories. Muscle, how much lean meat we eat.

I don't know. I just don't know enough about it. RMR is supposed to be a good formula.

I bought the line that if we don't count calories we probably consume far more than we realize. If we eat out all the time, maybe. But healthy foods at home? The opposite is true for me.

I'll save the reason I've been counting calories for another post. But counting calories was part of what got me into trouble during my first P3 on HCG. I figured out how many calories I needed to maintain my weight, but I always fell short, and I kept gaining weight. Just about every other day was a steak day.

I thought the reason might be because I wasn't eating enough calories. Evening would come and I'd look at my calorie consumption for the day and I'd say, I better eat. What's high in calories that I can have? Most of the time I'd whip some cream and dollop it onto a little fruit.

During my second P3 I didn't count calories. I ate when I was hungry and I avoided some foods I suspected were causing weight gain during a time when my body was searching for new balance--dairy and fruit. I didn't have to do a single steak day that P3. And I did punch in a couple of days' foods just out of curiosity. I was eating far less calories, and I was maintaining beautifully.

Interval training

I was watching some fitness videos on You Tube, trying to find a demonstration of an exercise, when I came across one talking about interval training. I'd forgotten what regular interval training is, and this was a reminder of how different what I'm doing is.

(I'm not trying to sell anyone on doing PACE, I just want you to understand why I'm so enthusiastic about it.)

Say you're on a treadmill. Interval training, or High Intensity Interval Training, consists of running for 20 seconds, then jogging for 40 seconds, taking it back up to a run for 20, and so on. The times vary, but the principal is the same. Run/jog. There are faster and slower exertions, but it's all exertion.

What I'm doing lets me rest completely between exertion periods. I rest until I feel I've caught my breath. I get off my elliptical machine and walk around--even stand still from time to time because I'm not in that good of shape--telling my mind and body to relax until I feel rested. Then I hop back on and and go. But on my second set I'll either turn up the resistance, go at a faster rpm, or both. The second set is harder, but less time. However many sets I do, the last one is where I'm giving it everything I've got. I run as fast as I can for as long as I can (usually not very long).

I just finished my workout. When I do this again Wednesday, I'll try for a slightly faster rpm for each set than I did today. These workouts are supposed to progress each and every time, even if it's only a tiny bit. Of course on days when I don't feel so hot, I ease back and do what feels right that day.

By resting between exertions, I'm teaching my body to recover, and this carries over into recovering from day to day stress, and some people even say recovering from illness. See why I'm so jazzed about it? The basic principle of exertion and rest can be used for any exercise. This summer I'd love to do 50 yard sprints in my backyard.

Okay, tomorrow I'll be onto a different subject. And I'm still feeling that peace. What a difference it makes to focus on a positive attitude and on saying positive things to myself.