Question about dosing

[sugarplum_sassie]

I'm on day 1 VLCD, and I'm feeling hungry, probably alot of psychological hunger but some physical hunger. When I take my pellets the hunger dissappears and I could easily wait an 1hr for my meal prior to the pellets I want to eat NOW! so can I change the dosage?
I got up at 7am had a glass of water
8am really hungry so took my HCG and waited till 8.30am to have 1 apple.
I then had to walk my DD to preschool (25min walk each way) I was really hungry this morning, and my DH had bought me val day chocs (I only told him about the diet yesterday) I thought that's fine I'll have them in p4, but the cravings and hunger got the better of me and I ate half the box (about 8 chocs?) I can't believe I screwed up so quickly, but having read the advice on here, I won't beat myself up over it and just carried on with my day according to plan. So lunch was chilli, then in the afternoon I was getting hungry again (bit of both mind and body) so had a coffee, I don't drink tea or coffee and if I did I would need more milk than allowed on protocol to enjoy it, so it didn't taste great and didn't help the "hunger" so I then had 1/2 an orange, felt a bit better but still psychologically hungry, wanting to binge/have food in my mouth. At 5pm I decided I'd start cooking tea and took my HCG, and the hunger dissappears. Dinner will be Oregano Chicken and cabbage (still cooking at the mo) I didn't realise I'd find it so hard so soon, I mean I know I have issues (emotional eating/eating not out of physical hunger) but jeez, I've had to pep talk myself so many times today. Think I'll need to post here alot for support. So anyway the question out of all that is can I dose my pellets more frequently or if hunger hits? how would you do that?
Thanks
Sandie

[halebop]

I'm on my 1st VLCD too so I won't be much help...but I think I've read here that a lot of people find the first 3-4 days on VLCD the hardest (?)

I'm curious whether the hunger improves after more days taking the HCG or not. Hopefully we'll hear back from the wonderfully helpful experiences HCGers.

Hang in there!

[emel]

The hunger will ease up after a couple of on-plan days.
I could barely eat 400 calories by the end of week 1.

I don't think I'd tweak the dose amount just yet, but you can play around with the times of the 3 doses. I did mine at 10 am, 3 pm, and 8 pm. Others do early morning, just after lunch, and before dinner.

Get some of the lowest-calorie chicken broth you can find. I use college inn, 5 cal per cup. That's good to sip when you're hungry, and also teas, especially yerba mate, green, and some herbal teas.

[shelbyla]

I agree with emel. You can definitely change the frequency of your doses if it helps. If the hunger doesn't go away in a couple of days, then you can tinker with your amount.

You may be having more trouble because of the sugar cravings from your morning candy and the amount of carbs and sugar you had when you loaded. Also, it may matter if you normally eat a lot of sugar/starch. Changing your body from burning simple carbs to burning stored fat can cause cravings because your body is really used to having that quick energy supply. It takes a couple of days for the junk to get out of your system which is why some recommend a low carb/high fat load so that you don't have to detox carbs in your first few days of VLC.

Stay strong! Within a couple of days you'll feel fantastic--but in the meantime, stay away from the sugar! lol

[jabbok]

I changed the times that I took my dose, I would take it at 6:30 am, approx. 2pm and approx. 8pm I found that when I spaced them out further I didn't get hungry until mealtime. Also keep busy so you don't think about food all the time.

I found that if I drank tea in the morning it helped control the hunger I would drink room tempature water, I also took potassium, vitamin B and biotin for vitamins.

[minimonkey]

RE: Sugarplum....Good advice, all -- I totally agree about staying away from the sugar! The only way to kick a sugar addiction is cold turkey -- give them away, or hide them in the freezer for much later, but only if you can forget about them.... sugar will kick up hunger and cravings like crazy.

Good luck with your journey. It isn't exactly easy, but it IS worth it

[sugarplum_sassie]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
I didn't realise I could change the dosing times, I thought I had to take them before mealtimes. So I could take them between mealtimes when I feel the hunger creeping in then?
Sugar is the bain of my life, I once managed 38 days without chocolate/sugar on the Potatoes not Prozac plan, but then I caved and eventually went off track again:blush: The cravings are so strong and powerful and totally overwhelming, I tried to distract myself but it's all I can think about.

emel: thanks for tip about the broth, that's definately something I can do, I've never been a tea or coffee person, although I have tried it the past 2 days to see if it's something that would help, and it's urgh! I've made my own broth from the Tammy Skye book and have loads of it, so will give it a go.

[sugarplum_sassie]

Forgot to mention I'm down 2lbs today, I'd usually think that was water loss, but yesterday I drank at least 2.5 litres. Having read the threads about cheats and losses I'll expect a stall or a regain though.

[emel]

Originally Posted by sugarplum_sassie

Thanks everyone for your replies.
I didn't realise I could change the dosing times, I thought I had to take them before mealtimes. So I could take them between mealtimes when I feel the hunger creeping in then?
=.

You want to get on a regular schedule of your own choosing with the hcg.
Identify your hunger times and dose accordingly.
I think you'll set yourself up for trouble if each day you just take it at random times when you feel hungry.

I'm bossy. So I wrote out a little plan for you.

You said you were hungry around 8 am, then there was the issue with the valentine gift, then hungry in afternoon, and then were ready for dinner.
You dosed at 8 am, around lunch, and 5 pm.

As a guess, if I were you, I'd try this:
Dose at 7 or 8 am.
Chicken broth and/or Fruit or half fruit in morning if desired.
Dose at 10:30 or 11 am.
Lunch.
Chicken broth and/or Fruit or half fruit in afternoon if desired
Dose at 5 pm
Dinner.
Chicken broth or tea afterwards.

I encourage you to experiment with herbal teas, but if you truly don't like them, try a cup of hot water with a lemon slice. It is oddly satisfying, especially with splenda or stevia.

It's cool that you make your own broth. You might try experimenting with a veggie broth for variety.

[sugarplum_sassie]

Thankyou, that's really helpful. I've just had half a mug of broth at 10.30am it was lovely, much nicer than tea and coffee, will give the hot water and lemon a try though.
This morning I took my HCG at 8am but didn't have breakfast till 9.15am as my DD had me running around after her! by which time I was really hungry, I had half an apple and the other half chopped,sprinkled with cinnamon and heated (yummy!) I've drunk about a litre of water already. It's 11am now so time to dose again.

[shelbyla]

Sassie - I really like the Yogi herbal teas. The Throat Comfort and the Blues Away are naturally sweet and very tasty. I don't know if you can get Good Earth teas over there but they are also very tasty. Just another option.

eta: I know the Yogi is available in the UK because I used to live in London and that's where I first found them.