My HCG Journal. Looks like I need to start one!

[Cruzcrzy]

Cheryl,

it sounds like you've had a very productive day! I'm tired today. I think I've been getting up too early to run to the scale, lol.

Tomorrow I am getting a facial and a massage which is a real treat. It is not something I often do. I have purchased baby oil for the massage therapist to use since it is mineral oil based.

Goodnight. Sweet dreams all.

[CherylB]

A massage... oh, Lord have mercy! I would love one of those. I won't do it until I feel good enough about my body to want it to be handled. Then I can relax and enjoy it more. I sure could use a massage, though. I think I'll set that as a reward for finishing my second round of hcg. I will certainly have earned it by then! Better start saving my pennies.

Sweet dreams to you too, Marie! Thanks for giving me food for thought. Enjoy yourself tomorrow! We want a complete detailed report as soon as you have fully recovered from all that bliss.

[CherylB]

I'm down 3.0 of the 3.6 I gained on my 2 days of loading! I'm happy about that and hope it continues. Week one is always nice on P2.

Storming a lot this week. Shelby, I tried what you suggested and gave Cisco some Benadryl hidden inside some hot dog. She's visibly calmer so far, but the next wave of boomers will be coming soon. That will be the true test! So far, so good! (She is absolutely normal, laying with her head on the floor and loud thunder happening. It's a miracle! Yes, she's still breathing. Believe me; I've been checking!) She just got up and laid down beside me, but no panting, no shaking! OMG!

My sister Donna announced to me yesterday that she, her daughter and her daughter's friend are going to climb Mount Washington in the beginning of August. This is a small mountain by Rocky Mountain standards, but it's the best New England has to offer. Donna is fit because she does alot of cardio and walking, but she is not up for this. She has Fibromyalgia, Narcolepsy, and lots of other things. I hope to God she's not biting off more than she can chew.

It's in New Hampshire and she would be driving all the way up there by herself. DD and DD's friend will be flying in. So, I asked her how many days she'd be gone and she said she would leave on a Friday and come back on Sunday. So, I told her that I wanted to drive up there with her so she's not alone. I won't do the climb, but I will happily hang out in the hotel and play on the computer. I'll get out and around the hotel for some walking.

If her son decides to participate in the climb, he will be flying into CT and then they will drive up there together. In that case, I'll stay at home so they can have some alone time. But, I have never been to New Hampshire and it would be a great excuse to go.

I hope she actually doesn't go through with this, but knowing her, it's a done deal. There's no sense in trying to "talk her down." She is one determined woman. Stubborn as hell.

Well, that's all for now. Just wanted to make an appearance on my journal thread and wish you all a wonderful day!

[Cruzcrzy]

Hi Cheryl,

that is an awesome loss off your load weight. That is amazing about your sister Donna. When will her son know whether he is coming for the climb?

I woke up with a nice 1.2 loss that will help me stay in my LDW window. My self control really paid off yesterday. Dh and ds were having some yummy food, but, I resisted. Yesterday was day 1, no hcg, 500 calories. Today is day 2 and I am off and running tomorrow. Now that I've had a nice drop I am feeling more confident about moving onto P3.

I really enjoyed my facial and massage. I booked another massage for about a month from now.

Happy Friday! Any plans for the weekend? We are staying home which is typical for us. Ds leaves today until July 10. He will come home, finish his last class Aug 5, graduate, and then relocate to South Carolina and seek employment. His gf starts a job there July 1.

[CherylB]

Great, Marie! Woohoo! Nice way to begin P3. I lost a few more lbs after stopping the pellets, over 3-4 days. That's the weight I put in my Ticker, cause it was MINE. LOL. Enjoy your time with DS. Now you'll have a good excuse to go to S. Carolina every chance you get.

Donna says that her son won't be coming, but I won't know for a while if I need to board my pooch for that weekend and go with her. I don't know what else she's got brewing, but I'll have to wait and see.

I am down another 1.6 today, so all the load weight is gone and it took 0.2 lbs with it! 172.6 today. Looking forward to the 160's!!! Got my Dr appointment today at 2:45 (the one about my labs.) I will ease his mind and get him to order more lab work and let me have them drawn next month, when I'm done with R2P2. Next time I'll have the labs drawn in the early part of P3, before I get into too much fatty food.

Gloomy and wet here again today. I need to buy me one of those sun lamps!

I hope everyone has a lovely day today. I'll check back later on.

[Cruzcrzy]

Woo-Hoo Cheryl, great loss. The 160's are right around the corner for you. How exciting.

Please let us know how your dr. appt. goes. My annual is July 18th. I can't move it up due to insurance, and really can't put it off because I need some refills. My labs should be very interesting since I will be a few weeks into P3.

I hope you get some sun today. I've often thought about investing in one of those sun lamps. Gloomy weather affects me for sure. I need the sun. I could never live in Seattle..seriously.

[CherylB]

Yeah, Seattle looks beautiful but it does look moist. I don't think I could hack that, either. I will give you all a full report of the Dr's visit. My original follow-up appointment was July 24 or so. I will probably keep that, as he will want to keep a close eye on me until the labs improve. We'll see what he says.

[TerriMM]

Originally Posted by CherylB

Yeah, Seattle looks beautiful but it does look moist. I don't think I could hack that, either. I will give you all a full report of the Dr's visit. My original follow-up appointment was July 24 or so. I will probably keep that, as he will want to keep a close eye on me until the labs improve. We'll see what he says.

Congrads Cheryl

You're doing so great!! So are you back to your rogue eating plan about the same as you left off on P2?

[Zbunny]

You are such a studette, Cheryl! Great job on the losses, and I hope all goes well with your doc!

How did the pup handle the rest of the storm? We used to give benadryl to our nervous doggie, too, and it worked great for thunder and on the 4th of July.

[CherylB]

I'm a studette? Okay!

Dr appointment went well, but it was almost like he had something pressing on his mind in a personal way. I didn't ask him what was wrong, but I should have.

He noticed I'd lost weight and he said I looked good, but nothing over-the-top as far as enthusiasm. I know he wanted to see me about the lab work. The nurse wasn't even going to weigh me, but I wasn't going to stand for that! I wanted credit!

He didn't suggest I stop the hcg. I told him that I stopped drinking 5 months ago, and told him that when I got the lab results, I stopped the Motrin. He thinks the liver enzymes are up from Lamictal, which I take daily. But I think that's odd because it never caused my enzymes to spike before and I've been taking it for a long time.

So, more blood work in 6 weeks or more, and a follow-up appointment in 4 months. I told him in 4 months I'd be at goal! How cool is that?

My blood pressure was a nice 120/72! I haven't taken my Lisinopril since I started R1 in March. Looks like I won't be needing that anymore, now that I'm losing weight.

So that's all the news here, for now. I hope everyone has an excellent night and weekend! I'll be around, as always.

[Cruzcrzy]

Cheryl,

I would have insisted on being weighed too. Good for you! Great blood pressure.

I'm tired today so I will be in bed early. I'll be around this weekend also, as usual.

[CherylB]

Get some rest, Marie. Maybe a cat nap is in order. TTYL.

[CherylB]

No change on the scale today, but that's okay (as long as it doesn't turn into two or more days!) I will see the results in time. Not much in the mood to talk this morning so I'll check back later.

[Cruzcrzy]

I'm up a smidge, but, still in my window. Of course, this is only my first day of P3 so I should be in my window. I had a yummy breakfast. I am planning a taco salad for lunch, minus the taco shell of course. Hope your day improves, Cheryl. I am blah too. I really miss the energy the hcg gave me.

[CherylB]

Good luck with P3, Marie! There is a bit of a let-down feeling when you have to put on the brakes and not lose anymore weight for weeks at a time. I felt like a race horse in the starting gate, just waiting for the bell. Let me go!!! Enjoy the food and remember that things are going on behind the scenes that can't be measured on the scale. I lost a little more inches and fat % during P3, which shocked me. If you haven't taken your measurements lately, I would do that tomorrow morning before you eat or drink anything.

[Cruzcrzy]

Hi Cheryl,

I posted this on the June Playground thread that I post on daily, so thought I would share it with you to. I hope you've had a good Saturday.

Well, I made it through day 1 of P3. I logged my foods and ****** says I am at about 1431 calories, 59% fat, 38% protein, and 3% carbs. It will be interesting to see what the scale says tomorrow. My fat may be too high, but, I had 3 slices of bacon as part of my breakfast, and pork roast for dinner. I don't plan to have that much fat on a daily basis. I should be "happy" today to be able to expand my foods, but, honestly, I feel depressed. The same black cloud and no energy has returned. I felt so good on hcg. I am also having cravings for sugar and carbs. I have no intention on giving in until P4. I am not sure if it is because I've had some artificial sweetner these past few days, which I did not have much of on P2.

[CherylB]

Hang in there, sister! It gets better the longer you do it. I think my "pie chart" on ****** usually looked like 50% fat, and the other 50% was split almost evenly between carbs and protein. It took days to get up over 1000 cals! I just didn't feel hungry, just as if I was still taking the pellets.

Was it good pork roast? Sounds yummy! I have some pork tenderloin in the freezer. It's going to stay froze until I can really enjoy it! I'll have to wait until animal flesh starts appealing to me again. I'm on a total cottage cheese kick, still. This makes 9 days in a row since I ate any meat. I had chicken a few times and one meal of a ribeye steak during P3, and a couple egg meals but mainly it's been Jalapeno poppers (in P3), cheese sticks, and cottage cheese.

I'm so happy that I can still eat the cottage cheese and lose on P2! I hope it keeps on going well for me, otherwise I'll have to alter the food plan. Must get maximum mileage during these 36 days of VLCD.

[dazygyrl]

hi cheryl! just wondering what type of cottage cheese you are eating on p2...1/%, 2% milkfat? how are you eating it? i have discovered the joy that is dannon greek plain yogurt (fat free) with some vanilla extract, xyiltol & ezsweets, and 100-150g fresh strawberries!! yuuuummmmo!

[CherylB]

That sounds great too! I have yet to taste GY in my life.

I'm eating 1% Cottage cheese. I buy the big containers and then measure out 226 grams for each meal (gives me 3 "doses" per container.) I add 12 grams of crushed up walnuts, 12 grams of unsweetened coconut flakes and about 6-7 drops of Ez Sweetz. I'm addicted!

Tonight I had my first salad with WF dressing. At first I wasn't thrilled but the heat from the Chipotle (Chipotle Ranch) was actually very nice. Considering it was calorie-free and free of everything, I'd eat it again. I need to increase the natural fiber in my diet.

I found the cutest little heads of lettuce recently! They were wrapped up 4 in a package and they were like tiny little heads of Iceburg. One head made just the perfect sized salad tonight. And I used one of the Grissinis I have as croutons.

I hope we all have a great day on the scale tomorrow! I'm ready for the next one... Sweet dreams!

[dazygyrl]

except for the , ahem...nasty coconut , that sounds yummy! walnuts sound divine! and you're eating this in p2?? hmmm.....

will definitely consider this.

good night, cheryl.

[CherylB]

Yeah! I am! I decided to take a chance and when I compared the stats on ******, there was no more fat in the cottage cheese meal than in the one I used to eat all the time on R1P2 (ground beef and Rotel.)

I'm glad I am rogue! I have really been thinking about what the possibilities are on a rogue plan. Obviously protein needs to be as high as it can be, but other than protein, within the boundaries of the calorie restriction, your body still have to get the balance of its daily calories from your fat cells. So, does it really matter what we are eating as long as we get enough protein?

We can't eat high-fat things because we'd run out of calories before we got our protein in. (Fat being 9 cals/gram vs 7 for protein and carbs. I think that's right...) So we can get creative with what we eat!

One thing I've noticed this round from the first one is I don't enjoy the popcorn anymore! All I taste is the salt from the zero cal butter spray and the popcorn cheese powder. I can't imagine eating more than one bag and it became a binge-trigger for me last round. I'm going to stick to other grains this time.

I had some frozen raspberries the other day. I had run out of fresh strawberries and I remembered they were in there, so I defrosted enough for one serving. I added the ez sweetz and it was very nice! I also made diet jello the other day, but I think it's made with Aspertame and it was sort of icky. I'll limit that to just a few times a week, but I think gelatin is good for you in some ways (the food dye, not so much). (I just read up on how they make it!) How do they come up with these wretched ideas in the first place???

Is this my first post of the day? I guess I should tell you what's going on! Down 1.2 today, so moving right along. The WF dressing I had on my salad last night didn't hurt me any, and the roughage helped in the other department. I've gotten completely out of the habit of doing 2 hours of cleaning in preparation for packing and moving. I will refocus tomorrow and make the commitment for just M-F so I can be uber lazy on the weekends as a reward.

[Cruzcrzy]

That is a great loss Cheryl.


Not much new with me, samething thing, different day,

[dazygyrl]

yeah, i think about how to have as much variety as possible, but maintaining the boundaries. i picked up a loaf of sara lee 45 cal/slice bread. that's 2 pieces i can have ( i allow 100 cal for my grain portion) or i'll eat the pepperidge farm deli flats, whole wheat. very yummy. another good thing i have found is Thomas brand 100 cal english muffins.....very yummy too! my main protein sources are egg whites, up to 10 a day! chicken breast and 96/4 ground beef....and now eating the fat free GY too.

i eat 3 meals a day. breakfast is always my "french toast" eggs. however many egg whites i decide to have, then flavored with ezsweets, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. yum! and i'll have me grain portion here too. this week sometime, i'm going to make a burger with 96/4 gr beef, one of the deli flats, tomoato, lettuce, maybe onion. mmmm....

congrats on your 1.2!

[CherylB]

Hi, Marie. Thanks! Hope your day is going well.

Dazy, what do you do with all those yokes? I hate to waste things so, when I have eggs (the rare occasion), I just use those eggs that come in a carton, already scrambled (low fat, etc.)

I like your idea of using Low cal bread for the daily grain. Once I used a LC tortilla but I didn't like it much. I'd rather do the bread. I'm really over the popcorn. That French Toast sounds delicious! I'll have to try that sometime.

I just got back from running over some P3 food to my sister who is moving. I am so upset by her 16 year-old-acting son who is in his 30's. He's such a jerk! He came home for all of 3 minutes and caused a complete ruckus with dogs (brought his "protective" dog down from the room where she was being held in, while I was there for a brief visit with my dog.) His dog was clearly going to attack my dog if he let go of her collar. "Oh, she's fine with other dogs." I had to go put my dog outside on a lead that was tied to a tree. As I'm doing that, he walks out the house, says "How you doin," gets in his car and leaves again!!!

I'm so glad they are moving into that one-bedroom apartment and getting out from under that whole situation with him moving back home and totally taking advantage of them IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. I almost said something to him, so when he returned I just grabbed my stuff and said, "I'm out'a here. I can't make small talk with him." I said nothing to him, he said nothing to me and I left. I didn't even look at him.

Sometimes I am very grateful that I wasn't able to have children. When I see what some kids do to their parents, it just makes me want to scream.

This was a couple of hours ago and I'm still Pissed!

[dazygyrl]

Another good thing for your grain choices are joseph's pitas. The whole pita is only 60 cal and you can pack them pretty full of goodness.

I either give the yolks to the cats or dh has been eating them with his brekky lately. I abate not eating them too, but can for a time. .

[CherylB]

So, you lose weight and he gets heart disease? (Just kidding!) The kitties must love those! Do you have to give them a mushy wash afterward? I give my dog a mushy wash with a wet paper towel after she had a very messy meal or if her hair is full of water after drinking. (When her hair isn't groomed short, like it is now.)

The pita idea is a great one! I've never had a pita, to my knowledge. What do you use to moisten it up? WF dressings? I guess that would work.

I'm down another 0.4 today and I should be happy but I really thought I would rapidly get into the 160's after resetting in P3. Must be at yet another set point. Oh, well. I'm doing well. If I counted the load weight, I'd be down more than 6 lbs. So, that's a lb a day and no one can weep over that!

I had more grain than I planned on yesterday. I forgot I had used on Grissini style bread stick as croutons in my salad. Later on, I tried some very hard, dry, thin crackers that were 120 cals for 5 (they come 5 connected together.) I spread them with 2 T of Strawberry Jelly (uses Splenda and has 10 cals per T). At first it wasn't thrilling, but it was rather good. But with the bread stick cals added to the crackers, it was 140 of grain. I'm used to 100 cals max per day.

I'm eating the salads lately more for "Bernice" than for fun. I am trying to keep my bowels regular and healthy without taking supplements like the Oxygen Cleanse caps I was taking (6 a day!). Trying to give my liver some rest. (I have become "bowel fixated" and have become too reliant on MOM and stuff. Must go natural and get over it.)

Speaking of the liver, I had stopped taking 4 Ibuprofen at bedtime every night for the same reason. But then I read online that, if you take a daily aspirin or Ibuprofen and then suddenly stop taking them, you are more prone to a heart attack or stroke! (Higer risk than if you hadn't been taking them at all!) I have both in my family genes, so I started taking just 2 Ibuprofen again at night. (They aren't a "blood thinner" like Aspirin, but they affect Platelets so also play a roll in clotting.)

I'm dog-sitting tomorrow at sister Donna's house while they go and get a nerve block in her hubby's back. They are watching their daughter's dog while they are in Utah for 2 weeks, so double trouble. I'll be bringing my doggy with me, so they will be a happy little pack of canines. I'm taking my food and drink with me.

Looks like it's going to be a warm, sunny one today! Yippee! I filled all the bird feeders yesterday. I haven't done that since late winter/early spring. They are still in shock and wary about coming to eat. But soon, it will be a free-for-all!

Have a lovely Monday, ladies! Be well.

[TerriMM]

Good Morning Cheryl,
Glad the scale is at least moving the proper direction. Waiting for that next decade is such torture. In the same place myself. Have a great day!

[Cruzcrzy]

Hi Cheryl,

I bet your whoosh will come next week! Hang in there. It will be worth the wait. You are doing great .

All is well here, up a bit, still in my window, and no cheats. I would like to try some sugar free cheesecake, but, I am going to at least wait until week 2.

I wish I was there to go dog sit with you tomorrow. Have a great day!

[dazygyrl]

lol...no, no heart attack for dh...he eats low carb too.

my cats are outdoor farm cats, so no, no bathing from me! only from their mama if they need it.

fr the pita....yes, the WF dressings. the bacon ranch is really quite good as well. i like to make taco pitas with seasoned lean ground beef, lettuce, pace picante sauce...20 cal for 1/4c. and the chipotle ranch. very yummy and filling.

i am contemplating doing some up p3 days like terri is since i had an incredible scale response after my anniversary interrupt meal on friday.

hope you have a great monday as well!

[CherylB]

I hope so, Marie! I was just posting on the weekly Alternative HCG thread and I made a prediction that I'll be at 167 by the end of this weeks' thread. I think that is reasonable. Just to be in the 160's will be INCREDIBLE! Then I'll only be 20-something lbs from goal! Considering when I started I was nearly 100 lbs from goal, that seems like just a drop in the bucket!

That pita sandwich sounds yummy! I'm going to have to hunt for some next time I go shopping. I bought a bunch of WF dressings in the beginning of R1, but only tasted the Chipotle Ranch so far. That stuff makes my whole mouth feel like it's burning!

Good luck with your experimenting! I enjoy testing things out to see how I will respond to them, too.

Marie, I will think of you while the doggies are mauling me and each other!