Day 16 209.5 lbs and holding...for now

I weighed this morning at work and the scales didn't budge at all. I have been sticking to the diet religiously. I wasn't expecting a plateau this early on. The only thing I can think that may have affected a loss is that when I give my children a bath I have been shampooing their hair and when I wash my hands at work I use their soap. I'm not sure if this would affect a loss or not. I am considering doing an apple day tomorrow; if I don't lose when I weigh, in the morning. I'm starting to get bored with the diet of chicken, cabbage, spinach. I had shrimp, spinach, and strawberries for dinner tonight to try to change things up a bit. I try to have food on hand that I've already prepared to make it easier for dinner. With four children, I have to be able to prepare something quick. They are keeping me so busy with homework. I still fix the food that they like. I cook their food as I am eating my dinner so as to try to eat as early as possible. I do have them make their own plates so I won't be tempted to take a bite. It hasn't been too hard to stick with this diet so far. I'm not really hungry most of the time. My kids always want to eat the food that I'm eating so I've been buying extra and when I prepare my food I will make a little extra for them too. It's amazing how kids follow the habits of their parents.......bad and good. Don't get me wrong I'm not putting my kids on a diet. I still fix a normal meal but they want to eat what they see me eating. I think this will be a great way to teach them about healthier eating. We have cut out all of the soft drinks in the house. They were screaming about it at first. But after a visit to the dentist; I realized that my bad habits were affecting my children. I guess we just don't realize because they are young; that they need to eat right too. They had pop again; after a few weeks and all of them thought there was something wrong with it. They kept wanting me to taste it to see if I thought it was too sweet. I said no; of course.....and just smiled. It makes me feel good to make small changes that will hopefully affect my children's health and future eating habits. I heard on the news that this generation's life expectancy will be younger than their parents! All because of our lifestyle. When I heard that...my heart ached. I knew I had to make some changes and have been doing it ever since. I used to buy them candy for a treat and now I let them pick out any kind of fruit they would like to try. I do buy the sugar free flavorings for water for them (which I know is not the healthiest thing) but that's a major step in my family. I also try to keep healthy snacks on hand; for when they are famished after school. Just trying to start creating healthy habits. Well I better go for now....I've got my apples on hand for tomorrow just in case......Pam

Day 14 209.5 No loss :(

Just as expected I lose any weight yesterday but at least I didn't gain :). This just shows me that any deviation from the protocol can cause a stall. I hope to get back on track this weekend and show a loss by Monday. I can't wait to get below the 200 mark (that's my main goal for this round.) Well I hope everyone having success in this challenge! Have a great weekend.....Pam

Day 12 209.5 lbs -2.7 (in 2 days)

I'm still steadily losing. This has been a stressful week. My daughter broke her foot yesterday and I spent the evening at the urgent care with her. She's doing a lot better today. I have been so busy that I didn't even eat dinner last night. I just had an orange. Strangely enough, I haven't even been hungry. I spent this afternoon at the orthopedic Dr's office. I didn't have time to eat lunch. I ate a grilled chicken salad from a fast-food restaurant tonight. Even though it was the healthiest thing I could find at the time; I still feel it was a cheat. I had a small amount of vinaigrette dressing on the side. I have stuck with this diet so well so far and am disappointed that I didn't this evening. From Dr S's protocol; even the slightest deviation will cause no loss or even a gain. I guess we'll see in the morning when I weigh. I'm not expecting a loss. I'm still loving this diet! It has been the easiest one I have ever tried (even with the injections). The average of a lb a day loss is very motivating! Looking forward to getting into the 100's this round! We'll see. Until next time, Pam.

Day 10 212lbs -.2

I was a little disappointed when I weighed this morning. This is the least amount I have lost in my daily weigh-ins since I started the VLCD. (but at least it's in the right direction!) I have stuck with the diet religiously; the only change in the past few days is that I have been eating oranges for my fruit; instead of my usual apples. I'm not sure if the oranges had any impact on the loss. (I guess we'll see tomorrow) I'm aware that stalls do occur when losing weight. I just can't wait to get into the 100's! I have been stressed out so far this week but one thing that I am sticking to is this diet. My friend said she thinks I'm stressed because my husband is away. She says he keeps me grounded...and I think she may be right. I am really proud at the commitment I have to the HCG diet! I know it's only been 10 days but other people are even noticing how committed I am. We were celebrating a birthday today at work. Any other time; when I have been dieting; I would take a piece and scrape the icing off and eat it anyway. Today I just passed my cake over to my cube mate's desk. She was impressed. I remember the times when I would start a diet on Monday; only to give up by Wednesday and vow to start again the next Monday and so on. I purposely didn't start this diet on a Monday. I know the difference is the HCG. I'm not hungry and wasn't the least bit tempted by the cake. I'm also in the right place to succeed. I am so tired of feeling bad, being ashamed of my weight, and being tired that I can't go back. Only down from here....down 9.9 lbs in 10 days......pretty good!

212.2 -3.3 over the weekend

I weighed this morning and was happy with a loss of 3.2lbs since Friday morning. This diet is amazing! I am starting to notice a difference already. My pants are already starting to get loose in the waist. I just hope to keep up the momentum. My husband is working out of town (6 hours away) working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. It will probably be awhile before we see each other. I'm really starting to miss him. I would like to lose a lot in the meantime. It would be great to see his reaction. Oh well, to look at the bright side; at least it's a lot easier to stay on this diet when he's not around. He's one of those people who can eat whatever he wants and not worry about his weight at all. Life is so unfair...

Thanks Hcgsupplies.com, Drugdelivery.ca, and Cindy Cook

I just wanted to say THANK YOU so much! I am still amazed to be a part of this challenge! I am just tickled to death! I received my vials of HCG from drugdelivery just as promised. (Like always :) I have always received excellent service) I picked up my packages today at the post office from hcgsupplies.com. I have everything I need to continue my injections: bacterostatic water, syringes w/needles, alcohol pads, vials, etc. I have found Cindy Cook's book Guide to Implementing the Weight Loss Cure invaluable the past couple of weeks. I keep referring to it every time I have a question or need to look something up. So again a big thanks to you all! You have provided me with everything I need to succeed on the HCG Challenge.......the rest is up to me and I don't intend on letting any of us down!

Day 6 215.5lbs -1.7

Still losing... so I guess it was a good idea to still take the injections while having my TOM. I haven't been hungry and am amazed at how easy it has been so far to stay on this diet! I only feel the urge to cheat at night if I'm watching TV or bored. I haven't cheated though. I think it's more out of habit than anything. Like my brain is telling me ....shouldn't you be snacking on something right about now. I can tell a difference in the way that I feel...just can't wait to see the fat melting away! I won't be weighing until I go back to work on Monday. I hope I get a good loss over the weekend. Have a great weekend everyone!

Day 5 217.2 lbs -1.0

I lost what I had expected 1 lb. I look forward to weighing each morning. I don't have any scales so I weigh in at work. I hope I continue to lose at this rate. It gives me motivation not to cheat. Surprisingly, I haven't even been hungry and I have to remind myself when it's time to eat.

NEGATIVITY
I have confided in a few co-workers, friends and (of course) family about doing the HCG Challenge. I expected them to support me....instead I was disappointed by some people's negative comments.My husband and kids are supportive (which is great, they can keep me on track) I've decided not to talk about it at work anymore. I will just let the results speak for themselves. I can't expect people to understand unless they read the protocol or experience this for themselves. I have to admit; I thought it was crazy at first; about a year ago, when I first learned about the HCG diet....you give yourself shots?!...are you crazy?! but then I saw the results... I have several in-laws who have seen amazing results. I just wish I would have started back then. It could be, that I am sensitive about my weight problem and just take their comments to heart. What do they have to lose, if I lose weight, feel better about myself, and become a healthier person? I've heard comments like: Are you sure this is FDA approved? Shouldn't you be getting this treatment from a physician? Won't you hurt yourself with the shots? What if you die? How long have you been this big? Can you eat (fill in the blank)?...what about (blank)...and on and on. (it's easier to tell them what I can eat than to go through a laundry list of what I can't have) Are you hungry?...Are you sure?...How can you not be hungry on that small amount of food? Do you want some chocolate?....oh come on 1 small piece won't hurt. ....etc....
I am only going to surround myself with positive people from now on! It's so tiresome trying to defend the diet or explain the diet that I'm going to try not to discuss it (except with my fellow HCG Challengers or if I ever go to the yahoo boards I keep hearing about). I don't have to prove anything to anyone... I know HCG works! I have seen the results. I have struggled to lose weight on so many different diets and I know this is the cure!............and I won't give them the pleasure to see me fail or cheat.......

Day 4 VLCD 218.2 lbs -3.7

I was happy with my weight loss when I weighed this morning. I'm actually feeling really good even on the very low calorie diet. I have been only slightly hungry in the morning and I just eat my apple for breakfast. I was surprised when I got my monthly visitor today:( It was earlier than I had calculated by a few days. I had thought about waiting until it was over to start the injections but was so anxious to start losing weight that I went ahead and started. I have decided to continue the injections. (hope it doesn't cause me to stop losing) I have decided to do the long round of injections taking 150 IU for 40 injections. Preparing my food in advance helped out a lot today. I didn't have to rush this morning. Just get my lunch out of the fridge and go. The only problem was when I came home; my chicken I had planned on having for dinner was gone. My son fed it to his puppy. I told him that was my dinner and he said since it was such a small piece of chicken that it would make a good treat for the dog! So I just steamed some shrimp instead. We'll see what the scales say tomorrow....

Breakfast: coffee w 1tbs milk, apple

Lunch: Chicken breast and spinach w/ vinegar

Snack: apple

Dinner: Shrimp and Cucumbers w/vinegar

Day 3 221.9 lbs

When I weighed this morning I had gained around 2.5lbs from the 2 load days. I was hungry 1st thing this morning so I ate my apple for breakfast. After that I felt surprisingly full all day. I drank plenty of water and had to remind myself to eat. I guess the combination of loading and the HCG helped curb the hunger. I had anticipated getting up early this morning to prepare my chicken breast for lunch but I had so much to do and was running late that I decided to buy lunch at the cafe at work. I bought a chicken breast and some steamed broccoli for lunch. I split the small chicken breast in 1/2. I checked online and found out broccoli is not one of the veggies on the list and then I started thinking about now knowing if they used oil to cook the chicken and also eye-balling the portion instead of weighing it raw. I hope it doesn't hinder any loss. I am now committed to be more prepared. I like the fact that Dr Simeons protocol tells you exactly what you can eat. It makes it easier for me. In the past, I've tried diets where you had more of a choice and it was always hard for me to decide what to eat and read labels. I know when I get used to eating the very low calorie (vlc) diet; it will be a breeze to prepare. I made sure I packed lunch for the next 2 days when I made dinner tonight. PREPARATION..... That's the key thing for me not to cheat or make any mistakes. For the first time in years, I am looking forward to stepping on the scales.



I've been watching The Biggest Loser on TV tonight. It's awesome to see what they look like now. It gives me motivation to see how much they have changed their bodies. I can't wait to see what we can achieve in this challenge!



Breakfast

coffee w 1 Tbs milk
apple



Lunch

chicken breast
broccoli (oops)



Dinner

Chicken breast
spinach w/ ac vinegar
apple


Injection

I'm still getting used to the daily injection but thankfully it's getting easier everyday. I have noticed after I inject the HCG, when I pull the needle out; some of the HCG starts to leak out of the injection site. I immediately put pressure with the alcohol pad to stop the leaking. Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions? Thanks for reading. Goodbye for now.

Day 2 Load

I didn't really feel hungry today but I continued to load up with heavy cream, steak, eggs. I didn't feel hungry but tried to eat as much as I could in order to benefit from loading. I hope it helps curb the hunger when I start the VLC diet tomorrow. I will weigh in the morning. I hope I haven't gained to much! I received a card in the mail to pick up the package of supplies tomorrow. Well I have to go for now. I want to get a good night's sleep so I can be ready to start the diet tomorrow.

Day 1 Load

I was so anxious to get started so I rounded up some needles and syringes left over from my first round and mixed up the HCG I received last week from drugdelivery. (Thanks again dd!) I was pretty nervous about the IM shot in the thigh. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be and alot easier for me than previously when I tried in the hip. It went so well that I decided to take a B-12 shot also. I got up first thing this morning and decided to go for it. I think it helped that I didn't have a long time to think about it. So I didn't lose any sleep the night before worrying about the injection. Today I loaded with: bacon and eggs, Starbucks fat latte (no skinny for me this time lol), creme puffs, pork chops and red potatoes. I know it may not be the healthiest way to load but it had lots of fat and protein. It's amazing that when you have "permission" to eat whatever you want and however much you want that you can't eat as much as you thought you could. Eating all this made me feel really full and even fatter. I realized that on average I'm not a big eater (although I do have my moments with comfort food on occasion). In fact some days I get so busy that I go all day only having a cup of coffee and then I eat a big dinner. Which I know hasn't helped my metabolism at all. I'm looking forward to feeling better! and losing this weight!

Tonight, my daughter, Hope told me that no matter how fat I get I am still beautiful on the inside. (she whispered the word "FAT" like she was saying a bad word) I know she was trying to make me feel better but you know when a 5 year-old tells you you're fat.....It's because you really are.

Cleanse

I have been spending my time preparing for Phase 2. I want to have everything ready...being prepared makes it easier on me to concentrate on weight loss. I am going to get a candida yeast cleanse product today; to help with the sweet tooth.