HCG Day 16 - 1/20/12

Well...I did it.  I hit the 100's 3 days ago despite my hiccups. I've had a couple of peanut butter and banana sandwiches during late night weak moments.  Mmmm, peanut butter.  I need to get back on track 100%
Today I had taco salad!  It was really yummy.  Here is the recipe.  I didn't do the lettuce shell, instead I just served the meat on top of lettuce.
I need to get the flavor drops so I can conquer my cravings.

Today 199.8
Yesterday 199.6
Starting 219.6

HCG Day 12 - 1/16/12

Scale went down 0.8!!  Went to a neighbor's house last night for our neighbor gathering (about 5 households get-together) and there was a spread of food!  Lemon pound cake, 3 types of cookies, bbq meatballs, 2 types of cracker dip and hotdogs in honey cornbread (made by me).  And of course lots of alcohol.  I did not take one bite or one sip of anything.  It was hard and a little easy at the same time.  Keep your eye on the prize...keep your eye on the prize.  I want to look like my neighbors, not eat like them (for now).  Thankfully since I was able to refrain, the scale moved again!  This is the longest I've stuck to something for quite some time.  I've had a couple of hiccups but overall I'm actually proud of myself.  It's a good feeling.  But I still want Taco Bell!  lol
Today 200.2
Yesterday 201
Starting 219.6
btw, I might wake up in the 100's tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  If not tomorrow then at least this week.  Think I might celebrate with a new box of hot tea...lol.

HCG Day 11 - 1/15/12

Down to an even 201 this morning.  I've found out that my weakness is peanut butter.  I had some on celery last night and savored every bite.  I have to make sure this is not a normal thing because that's how I fall back into bad habits.  I just came up from the basement with some clothes from my "not quite yet" bin.  That is a great feeling!!!  I have a couple shirts that are a little snug but hopefully by next week I can wear them.  I can tell a lot of my weight is in my belly (like most women).  After two kids my body is storing most of my weight above my belly button.  But I can tell it's going down!!  :)
Today 201
Yesterday 201.3
Starting 219.6

HCG Day 10 - 1/14/12

Down a little more today.  I broke down last night and had half of my daughter's peanut butter and banana sandwich on wheat...it was soooo yummy.  At least the few times I do slip, it's still on the healthy side.  I'm not running to McDonald's and downing a #2 with no onions....mmmm, cheeseburger.  lol.  I bought some multivitamins yesterday to fill in what my diet is not able to.  My eyes have been hurting like I've been up for 3 days straight but then again I haven't been getting enough sleep.  So maybe a little of both is the culprit.  Sorry if my spelling is off, my spell check is not popping up.
Today 201.3
Yesterday 201.6
Starting 219.6

HCG Day 9 - 1/13/12

Another big drop today...I have a feeling this weekend the scale will barely budge.  I feel like I'm on the Biggest Loser but without the sweat.  I am really looking forward to eating normal, healthy, correct portion sized meals (and an occasional piece of chocolate...yum)   Lunch today I had baked cod with a southwest chipotle spice and some baked veggies.  It was pretty good.  Before this I rarely ate fish because I didn't really know how to cook or what to put on it.  It is a little more expensive than chicken but cheaper and healthier than hamburger.  The family will definitely be eating more fish!

Today 201.6
Yesterday 203.5
Starting 219.6

HCG Day 8 - 1/12/12

Down 2.1 lbs from yesterday!  I've read that this is pretty typical after a couple of slow days.  I really don't have a lot to add.  Just trying to watch what I eat and I'm doing a good job.  Now if I could just work on going to bed on time, my eyes are KILLING me!!
Today 203.5
Yesterday 205.6
Starting 219.6
If this is the first post you are reading, I had the stomach flu on day 1 of VLCD so that dropped my weight almost 5 lbs.  My starting weight was taken on day 2 of load right before bed, and before I got sick.

HCG Day 7 - 1/11/12

Well, I did it, I cheated last night.  I ate half a banana...I know, I know, I'm weak!  lol  Are you kidding me, cheating is eating half a banana...this is crazy. But when I got on the scale I was down 0.6 lbs from yesterday.

I had chili last night, it was pretty good and I made it spicy!  I browned some lean hamburger, added a can of diced tomatoes and spices.  I found another blogger who's been doing this awhile and she has some really good recipes! Click HERE to check out Beth's blog.

Today 205.6

Yesterday 206.2

Starting 219.6

What HCG Taught Me

1.  When your sweet tooth is screaming at you, have a cup of tea or put an apple in a skillet of water and add cinnamon.
2.  You can make your own tasty salad dressings with lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and stevia...yum!
3.  I was over-eating before, even when counting calories.
4.  I'm not hungry, just craving really, really, REALLY hard!
5.  My will power is weak but getting stronger every day.
6.  TBD...

HCG Day 6 - 1/10/12

Not sure how this happened but I gained 0.2 pounds.  Nothing major, but with just starting it's kind of odd.  From other bloggers it will happen again, sometimes even two days in a row, but then they get a big drop.  I can see how much harder it would be to gain two days in a row, I'm already questioning if I can last.  This is really hard, but I'm sticking to it.  I have not tasted anything that I should not and I'm keeping to the correct diet (for the most part).  I learned thru my cousin who has the book and already done HCG, that if I have a veggie I can have only one veggie.  Ex: no tomatoes on a salad.  Until I found this out, I have been putting tomatoes, red onions and mushrooms on my salads.  Just when I thought this diet couldn't be blander...it is.  I bought some apple cider vinegar (it's in a lot of HCG recipes) so hopefully that will expand my options a bit.  I've already learned a lot in less than a week.  I'm going to post a "What I learned while on HCG" list and add on to it.  Gotta stick thru this and hopefully the scale will move tomorrow morning.

HCG Day 5 - 1/9/12

Down another pound from yesterday!  At this rate I'll be in the 100's a week from today!
Last night I was looking thru my latest Cooking Light magazine and the cravings hit...hard.  I made a cup of tea with stevia and had a cooked apple with cinnamon and hung in there.  Like I've said before, I'm not hungry, just craving.  Some time today I'm going to get more recipes for the HCG diet because the salad I had last night was horrible!!  I found a dressing with no sugar, cals...and I did not like the taste on the salad I made.  Maybe paired with a different protein it would be better (had some petite shrimp).  Today I'm having a small sirloin, maybe I'll try to make soup out of it....hmmm.

HCG Day 4 - 1/8/12

I'm down 1 pound from yesterday!!  I can't believe how close I am to the 100's...wow, that's so hard to fathom. I'm super glad the 500 calorie thing is not a permanent solution, I can really tell my body is adjusting to the lack of food.  At the same time I think it's good to "shock" my body to eating correctly.  I'm not eating any processed food, except for maybe the Melba toast but I'm thinking that's not really "processed".  I've learned that the only added sweetner I'm allowed to have is stevia, so no Crystal Light.  I've always been a fan of fruits and veggies, but I definitely was not eating enough before.  Still could eat an entire pizza though...but then I would be sick with guilt as well as gluttony

HCG Day 3 - 1/7/12

10am(ish) - So you would think eating only 500 calories a day would leave you HUNGRY, well you're almost right.  I could easily down a pizza and a diet coke right now, but that's my cravings talking, not my stomach.  Your brain is very powerful, it tells you to eat the things you should not...it can also tell you to be strong and don't give in.  Day 3 and I'm already having an inner struggle...this is going to be a loooong journey.  Once I get the hang of it and utilize my food better, I'll be ok.  Not sure how long it takes for your stomach to be satisfied with a "just enough" amount of food, but I hope it gets here soon.  For today, my motivation comes to me by what the scale said this morning...208!!  But, Mmmm...pizza. ;)

8pm(ish) - I'm sitting in the McDonald's play area feeding my kids chicken nuggets and apples while I eat my Melba toast I just bought from WalMart and drinking my water.  I haven't even licked my fingers during this whole process, almost did a couple of times.  It's going to be hard to break habits.  I can smell the cheeseburger..."I hear you call my name, and it feels like home"  LOL

HCG Day 2 - 1/6/12

As I do research about HCG (I bought the drops from livethin.net and no information was included...I hope I didn't get one pulled over on me) I find many people have youtube'd their journey, others have blogged.  This blog is initially intended for tracing my steps for me to look back and either laugh at how naive I am, or celebrate my accomplishments!

I didn't start very well on Day 1 of the VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) due to a stomach virus that landed on me out of my family of 4.  Ironically it came at a good time because it made eating very little A LOT easier.
The evening of Load Day 2 I hit 219.6 (I know, don't weigh at night)...but then the sickness came.  This morning I weighed in at 213.9.  I'll weigh tomorrow morning and use that as my true starting weight.  Yesterday I had 1.5 apples and 1/2 a piece of wheat toast (still need to get my Melba).

My highest weight in recent years was 236.2 in January of 2011.  I had a baby in Nov 2010 so a lot of that was "left overs".  I was able to get myself down to 208.9 by Oct 2011, but my bad habits and normal lifestyle got me back up to 214 by the new year.

After one day of being on the VLCD it is a HUGE eye opener to how much I was eating on a day to day basis.  I'm excited to be at my goal weight of 180, but scared I'll creep out of this diet.  The only resources I have are by my own searches.  I might or might not post every day, but that is to be determined.  If you "fall" upon this blog, let me know.  Maybe we can get thru this together :)