From Centuries, to Decades and on to Goal--2009 part 2

[vee716]

Good news, Raven! I can't wait to hear all about it.

[Coconutty]

Originally Posted by RavenG

Hi Ladies, just checking in and saying hi. My surgery went awesome...two hours and twenty minutes. No vertical incision. I should be taking out the pain pump tomorrow. I've had to take very little pain medication so far. I'm swollen but ......damn, I look Good Drainage isn't too bad but damn, my ass is numb from sitting on the bed all day. I've been getting up and walking around about every 2 hours.

That's great news! The best part is always looking good. It sure sounds like it was worth it.

[Teresa123]

Originally Posted by RavenG

Hi Ladies, just checking in and saying hi. My surgery went awesome...two hours and twenty minutes. No vertical incision. I should be taking out the pain pump tomorrow. I've had to take very little pain medication so far. I'm swollen but ......damn, I look Good Drainage isn't too bad but damn, my ass is numb from sitting on the bed all day. I've been getting up and walking around about every 2 hours.

Awesome! Glad everything went so smooth and that you are already looking great! I'm sure you will be amazed by how much better it will look over the next few weeks--you will be smokin hot.

[realityjunkee]

Very cool! That's the words I'd love to hear sometime...smokin' hot!

Bought some of the Bigelow holiday teas tonight. Had the Eggnoggy tea. It was wonderful! Loved it much better than the Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie tea.

Food wise, not so good today. I don't understand myself and vacations...sigh.

[RavenG]

Good Morning Ladies. Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday. I'm doing good. Took a short walk last night and enjoyed being outside and off the couch. Wish I could sleep in more than 3 or 4 hour increments though. Might try to sleep in our real bed upstairs instead of the futon and see how that goes. I'm taking a shower today and removing the pain pump. My hubby has been giving me glute massages to try and combat the numbness.

[Teresa123]

Morning!

Lisa/R woohoo--shower day! So, did you get pictures of what they removed and did you find out how much they removed?

Lisa/lcq---thinking of you today.

Kim--I kind of like the Eggnoggy tea too. I was surprised by that because I don't like Eggnog at all. So here's the deal---no more vacations for you until you figure out the post vacation "binge" thing you have going on.

[RavenG]

I'm not sure exactly how much was removed as they didn't weigh it....but I measured myself before going in and even with the swelling I'm down 3" ...can't complain about that. Hubby and I have been walking outside this morning and this afternoon....neighbors are probably giggling at my pajamas

[Coconutty]

Originally Posted by realityjunkee

Very cool! That's the words I'd love to hear sometime...smokin' hot!

Bought some of the Bigelow holiday teas tonight. Had the Eggnoggy tea. It was wonderful! Loved it much better than the Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie tea.

Food wise, not so good today. I don't understand myself and vacations...sigh.

mmmmm, egg nog tea. I never heard of it, although I love egg nog. I need to look for it.

Do you usually have problems getting back on plan after being off, or is it just after vacation?

Originally Posted by RavenG

I'm not sure exactly how much was removed as they didn't weigh it....but I measured myself before going in and even with the swelling I'm down 3" ...can't complain about that. Hubby and I have been walking outside this morning and this afternoon....neighbors are probably giggling at my pajamas

Soon they will be in total awe of how hawt you look!!

Teresa, how is the healing going?

Lisa,

[Teresa123]

Lisa/R---3 inches just a few days out is incredible! You are going to be smokin!!

Alisa--healing sucks. On a brighter note--you have lost 19lbs in 20 some days??? OK, I really think I will be joining you next round....although I am still a little scared ....when will you start again? How many more days for this round and how are you feeling? I can't remember where you were at weight wise last year, have you hit 'virgin' territory? Regardless, you are doing awesome!!

[Coconutty]

Teresa, I sorry that healing sucks, but I sure you are getting better every day. I will be begin my next round the 2nd weekend in January, which is the 8th or the 9th. I kind of want to start during the 1st weekend, but that would be shorting my p4 by about 5 days. I don't know how much of a difference that will make, so I'll make my final decision then. Last year I got down to the mid-220's and stalled, and the lowest I've gotten down to in the last few years is 223-225, so I think that is a set point. I have 14 days lefts on the juice and then 3 low calories days without it. I don't know whether I will make it to the 220's in this round, because my losses have slowed down. I would love to get as close to my set point as possible this round, so they would be the first easier pounds to go the next round. Set points can be difficult even on hCG. Physically, I feel good. I have a lot of energy and actually want to exercise! But since I wasn't exercising before I started the protocol, I can't start now. But I have been taking some long walks. The hunger is still manageable, I usually get hungry before my meals. If I get hungry at other times, a hot drink usually squashes it. The hardest part is still mental, wanting to eat things that aren't on protocol. I was at a farmers market and I was actually lusting after the beautiful veggies, which is too weird even for me! I even wanted the beets and I don't even like beets. I've also been craving MEAT and cheeseburgers on oopsies. However the end is in sight, so I am focusing on that and the fact that I can start satisfying my cravings on Nov. 25. The good thing is that I am not craving carby stuff that I would not be able to have.

[Teresa123]

I have a feeling at the rate you are going you will be in the 20's. If not you will be very close so I bet you will blow that set point away early on next round. I'm sure I would be craving everything but especially fat. Anytime I have cut my fat intake I crave it---not sure if I would crave veggies! I like them and all but I think I would be missing peanut butter and cream cheese. Yes, some things never change.

So, the big draw for me is 'where' the weight comes off from. Do you feel like it is coming off in different places or more evenly or more inches than it does with lc or any other type of weight loss? The claims I have heard about that are what really intrigue me.....

[Teresa123]

And I have to say again I love your avi! Everytime I see it I have to watch it for a minute, it's sooo cute.

[Coconutty]

I wish I could say that hCG takes away cravings. It seems that a lot of people cope by looking at food online and watching the Food Channel. I've been staying far, far away from the Food Channel, but I find myself reading recipes and copying the ones I want to try.

I'm losing inches fairy evenly. I carry most of my weight around my belly, and usually lose inches faster there on LC. The funny thing is, I lost from my arms, which I have never done on LC. No matter how much weight I lost, I never lost from my arms. I am also losing from from my hips and butt, and I never had much there to begin with. My poor butt is getting so flat. Have you ever heard of a Brazilian Butt Lift? I think I'm gonna need one when this is all over.

I took my measurements today and this is some of what I've lost:
Neck: -1"
L & R arm: -1" each
chest: -2"
bust: -2.75" (this is a good thing! )
waist: -1.5"
lower abs: -2.5"
hips: -2.75"
L thigh: -1.75", R thigh: -2.5" (my R thigh was .75" bigger, but now they're even! )

Now that I think about it, I may lose faster in my belly through the 230's, because that's when I had more dramatic inch loss on LC. Looking my totals I think I'm on the low side of inch loss. I've read others post about more dramatic inch loss. But I am happy with my progress anyway.

[Teresa123]

Morning all!

Wow Alisa--you have every right to be happy with that....almost 18 inches!!! And, your legs are now even! Seriously though, it looks like it's coming off really proportionately. On the butt thing, you may be surprised as you continue shrinking. My butt goes through stages of looking broad and flat down to about 160, then it seems a little large proportionately until about 150 and then just right for my size at about 145 so I think for me anyway how it looks really depends on the rest of my bod--especially my mid section. Since the tuck however, it now is very small....so I'm going to have to lose a lot for it to look like it fits my body.

So, you are done with this round in time for Thanksgiving--good planning there! Have any big plans for T-Day?

[Coconutty]

Teresa, I wouldn't worry about the relatively big butt. Where I come from there ain't nothing wrong with a big butt! In fact the bigger, the better!!! LOL I always wanted a bubble butt, but I seriously don't think that's in the cards for me (unless I get that butt lift!!). However, I'll see how everything shapes up when I'm through with the hCG. They say there is a lot of reshaping and redistribution of body fat that comes with it, so maybe there's hope for me yet!

We usually have dinner at my brother's house on T-day. I will not be able to eat any starches or sugars, so I'm thinking of bringing spinach pie and loaded cauli so there will be some sides I can eat. I am required to make at least 2 trays of my mac and cheese, as that is always a favorite. Last year four SKINNY teenage girls scarfed down an ENTIRE tray by themselves and this was AFTER they had already eaten. We couldn't believe it! I knew it was good, but geez not that good. Do you have plans for T-day?

[Teresa123]

Yeah, if my butt were more bubble shaped I'd be OK with a bigger booty, but it's not that curvy. The lift basically just got rid of the wrinkled saggy skin that was hanging off of it. But we'll see, when I get the rest of me back down to a smaller size perhaps it will look different. It definitely is tighter now. If HCG can help re-shape that, I'd be very happy.

I think you would keep re-shaping after the HCG, really I think after any large weight loss things keep shifting around. At about 220 my collar bones stuck out like I was emaciated or something, now they are just normal. At about 190 my tail bone stuck out so bad that I had my Dr look at it as I thought something was wrong, but now no problem. At 140 my spine and ribs really stuck out--it was hard to sit on a hard chair because of my spine. Well, I didn't stay there long enough to see if things would resettle after that but I'm sure they would have. So anyway, I would think with the large quick losses from HCG there would be some redistributing after as well. But, if it would give you a bubble butt--well that would be pretty amazing! If not, you can always get implants.

Are you taking photos and measurements weekly?

T-day is going to be weird. I'll be with my mom and family but we have a very small family--my mom has 1 sibling. (Dad passed and had no siblings so no famiy there...). Anyway, my mom's sister and her husband are in the process of divorce, after over 50 years of marriage. It's a mess and it's tore up the family--their kids have taken sides so where everyone will go and what we'll do is kind of up in the air....Christmas will be even worse. So it's going to be sad, and awkward and weird. I can't imagine being in your mid 70's and divorcing the person you have been with since childhood.....gosh, I just feel so bad for them. Then to have your kids take sides--and of course the kids are all married and have kids so it's really a mess. But, I will be there and try to help my aunt to have as good a day as possible.

[Teresa123]

Oh yeah, the skinny ones that can eat it all---just want to punch them. Have a lot of those in my family. I have a feeling we will end up eating in a resturant. It won't be the same but it will be very easy for me to eat healthy that way as there won't be my mom's homemade cinnamon rolls, my aunt's homemade candies, my cousins chicken and noodles and all those other childhood favorites taunting me.

[Coconutty]

Sorry there is so family drama going on, and the holidays usually makes it worse, not better. It's unfortunate that your cousins are taking sides. I guess no matter how old you are, you still get shaken by your parents divorce.

I didn't take any new before pictures, but I have some from before at the same weight, so I'll just use those. I also have some pictures that were taken over the summer. Not good at all. I'm also measuring weekly. It's interesting how your body was reshaping as you were losing. I seems like you got to know bones you never knew you had!

[Teresa123]

Make sure you take pics after this round cause you will want to show them off! And I want to see the before/durings/afters.

Yes--it's amazing that there were bones under all the fat--who knew?! Let me tell ya, the day I discovered I had ribs in the back, I seriously almost had a heart attack cause I though I had some kind of growth .....until I discovered it was on both sides ...and they connected to my ribs in the front.

Well, it's my favorite time of the weekend....cooking/baking for the week. I so wish I were rich and could afford some gormet lc chef to come and do this for me. And then someone to clean it all up as well.

So I'm guessing food prep with HCG would be pretty minimal hmmmm, well that's one more selling point for me!

[Coconutty]

Discovering your back ribs! That's so funny. One of the girls on the hCG thread said that after a big loss she felt something in her hip so she went to the doc. The doc was like "ummm.....that's your hip bone." I can't wait until I start discovering some bones of my own.

Believe it or not, the food prep actually is somewhat time consuming. It's because you have to weigh your protein raw and cook individual servings. Some people just put the whole lot in the oven and bake it, but when I thought about how baked chicken breast or fish tastes baked w/o fat I was like . I prefer soups, chili, and "stir fry." Seems more filling. I do a lot of prep work ahead of time, but it's still work.

[RavenG]

Good Morning Ladies,

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Hubby went back to work this morning so I'm on my own. Recovery continues to go well....no pain meds yesterday....really no pain yesterday so I think I'm doing pretty good. We even went for three short (two houses up, back to the house, all flat ground) walks yesterday. Today I'm just planning on hanging out with the dogs, reading and watching tv.

[Teresa123]

Morning!

Lisa/R--sounds like things are going great! Enjoy your day....I would love to be home right now.

Alisa--oh yeah, forgot about all the weighing and stuff.....bummer. Oh well, small price to pay I guess.

I cannot believe there are less than 2 months of this year left--yikes!

[lcq]

Will be back in a few days............need to take a time out.....love you all

[vee716]

(((Lisa))) Take care of yourself.

[Teresa123]

Lisa come back very soon. I miss you.

Val--what have you been up to?

[Coconutty]

Lisa, See you when you get back.

Teresa, I don't find the weighing to be a bother. But cutting out body oils/lotions, etc is hard. My poor feet are suffering, Lucky it isn't summer and I can hide my dogs in boots.

[Teresa123]

You know, I've seen all the complaints about no lotions, etc. but I honestly rarely ever use any kind of lotion so I don't know how that would impact me. I'm guessing because I eat so much fat that it really isn't necessary---so I don't have any idea what my skin would be like with basically no dietary fat.....hmmmm. Years ago I did low fat dieting a lot but I don't really remember if I needed lotion or not. Of course I was also much younger then and everything is much more 'forgiving' when you're young.

Now see---since I never let my 'dogs' see the light of day (at least not in public) I wouldn't have to worry about that!

So, this weekend I went to Target and never even thought to look for a battery for my scale. Today I went to WalMart and thought about a battery but didn't bring mine with me so had no clue what to buy. Seems to me I'm at least subconsciously trying to avoid the scale.

[Coconutty]

You're lucky. My skin is dryyyyyy! Especially when the weather gets cold and the air is dry. It doesn't matter how much fat I eat or water I drink. We're allowed to use mineral oil and vaseline, but I hate using them because they are not healthy for your skin. Right now I use them sparingly. But last night I had to seriously lube up with baby oil, b/c my skin was like the sahara and itchy too. I miss my coconut oil and shea butter.

I can't stand wearing shoes in the summer and I barely tolerate them at other times. I live in flip flops in the summer! I have all different kinds. I must have a ton and if wore a smaller size I'd probably have several tons!

[realityjunkee]

Hello! Sorry I've been MIA, we signed on a new (old) house Friday and I worked there all weekend, had a football game tonight.

Still working on getting my head straight, but something happened today that put things in perspective for me. Tomorrow's a new day on the straight and narrow and I may fill you all in on the details tomorrow night if I know anything.

Lisa (lcq) I'm thinking and praying for you right now. I love ya girl!

Teresa--hope you are starting to feel more human again!

Lisa (Raven) glad your surgery went so smoothly.

Hey Val, how have you been?

Alisa--you are doing great, KUTGW!

Nica--

[RavenG]

Originally Posted by Teresa123

So, this weekend I went to Target and never even thought to look for a battery for my scale. Today I went to WalMart and thought about a battery but didn't bring mine with me so had no clue what to buy. Seems to me I'm at least subconsciously trying to avoid the scale.

Or perhaps the Universe is trying to tell you not to weigh yet! After DH told me they put 9 liters of fluid in me after the surgery I decided there is no way in heck I'm getting on the scale anytime soon. 9 liters is the equivalent of 2.4 gallons.....or about 20.5 pounds (didn't you say you were 20 pounds heavier after surgery?)

I'm sitting here binder-less waiting for my binder to dry....I should have bought a second one but the doc only wants me in this one for a couple of weeks and then said it was entirely up to me whether I wanted to move to a Stage 2 compression garment. Are you in a compression garment at all? DH had to put up with me bursting into tears last night when we went to bed because I couldn't get comfortable and the binder was riding up and pinching in places....finally figured out I was MUCH more comfortable without so many pillows under me....the Darvocet I took to help me sleep didn't hurt either Slept through the night so that's a good thing.