Hello (again) P3!!! I promise to follow protocol this time!

[1BellaDonna]

First day of P3 today and was down to 155.4 (down 30.2 since early March) although my LDW was 157.0. Darn you TOM for making me fluctuate this las t week! Oh well, ShelbyLA has me feeling positive! Starting this thread to help keep me accountable and to continue supporting others, as I get cheered on (and slapped back to reality) by my new pals here. All in P3 are welcome to post here!

First meal: hubby's beloved omlette with jalapeño jack, mushrooms, onions, bacon AND avocado!!! Textures and individual flavors never made my mouth happier!!! Wheeeeee!

[shelbyla]

Can I come over for breakfast? Did you ever think you'd be so happy to have TWO vegetables at a time?

Once again, my body has decided to gift me with 3 extra pounds overnight. Honestly, if I would just go up a half pound once in a while instead of throwing me almost two pounds over LDW, just from a little wine... GY correction day for me today. Plus I gave blood so if these two pounds aren't off tomorrow, I'll be eating roasted chicken!

Hope you're having a great P3 day!

[1BellaDonna]

Oh boo! I'm gonna have to tell your body to leave you alone a d to stop playing with your weight like that bc you DESERVE some wine! I've got over 200 bottles, so I had better give my own body that same lecture! ;-)

Lunch was interesting today. I wasnt really hungry but thought maybe I *should* eat. I had a half an avocado, 2 oz of Dubliner cheese and a small tin of yellowfin tuna (in olive oil) from My Italy stash. My tummy was gurgling a
Little bit but no hanging out in the bathroom like my last P3 start. Then, the boosting began...dinner was zucchini and a bacon cheeseburger with mushrooms...and more boosting and gurgling. My tummy had enough and has been in revolt since. ;-( I started taking acidophilus a few days ago in preparation for P3 this time but it's not working. Sniffle sniffle. Tomorrow I will try a lot less fat! Lol I want the boosting to go away. My tummy finally didn't look preggers! On a good note, I was having to hike up my size 8's so much that I ended up changing. Maybe I should try more of my old 6's?

Good luck with you CD tomorrow. We shall see what the scale says for me. Dinner is supposed to be steak anyway. Lol right now I don't want to eat!

[C'Marie]

I'm on P3. A week now, and I've done one CD, so I consider myself lucky.

If I were you, I would watch those dang Sugar-Free chemicals - I think they have caused me difficulty stabilizing - I think my body treats them as sugar - except xylitol so far appears to be ok for me in very small amounts.

Good luck!

[shelbyla]

Hey Marie. So xylitol is ok? Have you tried erythritol? I generally don't have any sweetener except for stevia so not really sure WTH is going on right now. I doubt food additives--probably the booze but seriously? I should be able to occasionally indulge without a bloody 3 pound gain! Sheesh! Ok. Enough whining. I've finished my CD with minimal deviations (didn't know if I could have coffee and cream today so I just went ahead and had it!) and now I have a DATE! Yes, the guy who put in my kitchen counters asked me out. He's really nice and extra cute. And surely he's at least 30??? Surely...but don't ask, don't tell, that's my motto!

[C'Marie]

Shelby, xylitol in small amounts, like the prepared Nature's Hollow stuff seems to be ok with me, at least I think so. The erythritol, I haven't made anything on my own with it, I have some, but will wait till I'm stable. It's in the sugar-free chocolate I have that makes me gain, but so are other sugars, splenda and malitol I think. I stick to stevia during P2 but only had 3 pieces of SF chocolate and wold gain... so I dunno for sure but it's my biggest suspicious thing for gains - and seems to be consistent.

I know, I gain on booze too... but sometimes it's worth it!

[shelbyla]

Originally Posted by shelbyla

... now I have a DATE! Yes, the guy who put in my kitchen counters asked me out. He's really nice and extra cute. And surely he's at least 30??? Surely...but don't ask, don't tell, that's my motto!

So age DID come up...and he's at least 30. Or should I say JUST 30! And we've established how old *I* am too so now that we both agree that "age is just a number", we'll see where it goes from here... 13 or 14 years difference--if I was a man, there wouldn't even be a question in my mind...

How is our favorite BellaDonna this morning??

[CherylB]

Shelby, that's so cool! I hope he's a really good guy and you have loads of fun with him. (Or whatever you hope to have with him.)

[1BellaDonna]

Hey ladies! sorry to check in so late! 156.4 today. :-( Oh well.

More important stuff...Shelby, go for it!!! I will be 41 on the 30th of this month and my husband will turn 28 on July 9th! We are Soooo happy together despite the
Age difference, race difference and difference in upbringing (he's a Midwest country boy from major dysfunction and I grew up middle class, east coast suburban). As long as u can take some jabs about how he was learning to ride a bike when you were learning to drive a car, you'll be just fine! Lol Yay for cougars!!! ;-)

[1BellaDonna]

Cathy's back! woot woot!!!!

All is going fine over here in my p3-land. Yesterday I was 157.4 and today I'm back down to 155.6. Go figure. I pretty much ate peanutbutter for my meals yesterday and was gearing up for a 1 1/2 lb gain. TOM should end tomorrowish, so I hopefully will stabilize.

For some reason, I am having a hard time figuring out what to eat. I'm not sure why considering I'd done Atkins for a long time before. I am loving my morning eggs but it's figuring out the lunches that's getting me...and I'm not even working right now. :-( What are you guys eating for lunches?

Anyway, how is the scale treating you now that you're back, Cathy? How was the trip? Do tell!!

Shelby- Did you disappear bc of that young cub? Go Cougars!!!

[Millenia98]

Originally Posted by shelbyla

So age DID come up...and he's at least 30. Or should I say JUST 30! And we've established how old *I* am too so now that we both agree that "age is just a number", we'll see where it goes from here... 13 or 14 years difference--if I was a man, there wouldn't even be a question in my mind...

How is our favorite BellaDonna this morning??

haha, that's awesome! This is so cute. Good luck with that cutie!!!

[Millenia98]

Originally Posted by 1BellaDonna

Cathy's back! woot woot!!!!

All is going fine over here in my p3-land. Yesterday I was 157.4 and today I'm back down to 155.6. Go figure. I pretty much ate peanutbutter for my meals yesterday and was gearing up for a 1 1/2 lb gain. TOM should end tomorrowish, so I hopefully will stabilize.

For some reason, I am having a hard time figuring out what to eat. I'm not sure why considering I'd done Atkins for a long time before. I am loving my morning eggs but it's figuring out the lunches that's getting me...and I'm not even working right now. :-( What are you guys eating for lunches?

Anyway, how is the scale treating you now that you're back, Cathy? How was the trip? Do tell!!

Shelby- Did you disappear bc of that young cub? Go Cougars!!!

Hey Donna! Yay for you for being back down to 155.

I too have done Atkins for a long time, so I was pretty ready for P3, although I was terrified due to the change in fat. For lunch, I usually have the buffalo chicken dip with some chicken broth or asparagus or avocados. Or tuna and mayo. Or 2 turkey burger patties with cheese. Some hard boiled eggs with cream cheese and a low carb soup.

If I cooked for the week, I also bring ground beef to work. I make it with seasoning and cheese or I throw some tomato sauce in the pan and have beef without the pasta.

[1BellaDonna]

Hi Millennia98! Thank you for sharing your meal ideas. I forgot about the turkey burgers we have and your mention of tuna made me think of how I finally need to try making LindaSue's tuna muffins. I'm not a big tuna salad fan (I prefer to eat Italian yellowfin tuna in olive oil with sliced tomatoes) but think the patties sound good. Have you tried them? What recipe do you use for your buffalo chicken salad? I made a crockpot version last year but am assuming there's one that you can easily make on the stovetop?

[shelbyla]

Morning ladies! Sorry I've been MIA--it's been a crazy busy week, work-wise, NOT boy-wise, unfortunately! Struggling a bit this week with P3. I'm above my window by about 1.5 pounds so I'm doing ANOTHER correction day today. Grrr...this is the THIRD one this P3. I am supposed to be in P4 as of today but frankly I've been pretty unstable so I'm going to hold off on adding anything drastic until I see some better numbers.

Letitia - I have only made the buffalo chicken thing once as a dip, not as a salad (although I think it would be good as a salad). I used 16oz chopped chicken breast, 1c blue cheese dressing, 1c Franks Hot Sauce, 1c shredded cheese, 2 8oz packages of softened cream cheese. Mix all those together and bake til bubbly (although it would be great just "raw"--maybe with a little less dressing/cream cheese!). Super yummy.

[Millenia98]

Originally Posted by 1BellaDonna

Hi Millennia98! Thank you for sharing your meal ideas. I forgot about the turkey burgers we have and your mention of tuna made me think of how I finally need to try making LindaSue's tuna muffins. I'm not a big tuna salad fan (I prefer to eat Italian yellowfin tuna in olive oil with sliced tomatoes) but think the patties sound good. Have you tried them? What recipe do you use for your buffalo chicken salad? I made a crockpot version last year but am assuming there's one that you can easily make on the stovetop?

Hey! I make the chicken dip just like Shelbyla makes it. I have not tried those tuna muffins, but I will def. look them up. YUM! Thank you!

[1BellaDonna]

Well guess who's back up to 157.6! Back and forth, grrrr. Shelby- are you retaining water perhaps? So sorry this p3 has been such a struggle! I wish you could enjoy p4 right now but I think you're smart to stick with p2 until you can get stabilized.

Thanks for the recipe. I'm going to get my lazy bum into the kitchen...er, I promise. ;-)

[1BellaDonna]

hmmm. went for a gno last night and had THREE sugar-free margaritas...feel like h3ll today but am down to 156.6?? We'll see what the scale says tomorrow morning when i'm NOT dehydrated.

hope the scale is treating you ladies well today!

[shelbyla]

Morning all. Well my correction day netted me -2.7 and I'm down another 1.2 today after a day of clean eating. I am going to go Atkins'ish for a couple of days and see what that brings me but at least I am down a little below LDW for the moment. I REALLY want to see 152-153 as my stabilization weight so I may just extend this P3 until I feel a little more secure. I think a P3 "do-over" could work out very well. I have another couple of weeks 'til my trip to visit my bro so I may not add much until I get a little closer to that. I think nuts are my enemy and probably also dairy and very definitely alcohol. EVERY time I have one or more of those, I gain 2-3 pounds. Peggy Torister has had some good luck using a laser treatment to reduce food sensitivities so I have been lasering the cr@p out of everything the last few days. Almond butter, HWC, GY, red wine, white wine, table sugar. I've got a few more to go but I'll save those for later.

Letitia - you're totally right that you may be experiencing some dehydration from the booze. Fingers crossed for you! On your question of lunches, I am eating a lot of what friend of mine calls "hot meat salads". Basically, lettuce, minimal other stuff, and whatever meat you have in the fridge--chicken, pork, beef, seafood, sausage, bacon, etc. I usually put green onions and avocado in there too and I've been totally digging a dressing of 2T Marie's Blue Cheese Dressing plus 2T salsa. Spicy blue cheese! yum! Today is chicken sausage salad.

[1BellaDonna]

158.6 today. BOO!!. Not a very good past three days: four year old dialed 911 and cops came, same child decided to urinate all over my bathroom floor first thing in the morning in an
attempt to "pee in the hole" (whatever THAT means) and my Mac won't turn on at all and I've not backed up my photos in quite some time. On top of that my weight doesn't seem stable, I look bloated again and all food seems to make me feel guilty. Boo! Boo! Boo! :-(

[catjrow3]

Letitia!!!!

I posted on your other thread when I got back, but did not see any response on there. Then today i found your new thread!! I thought you disappeared with your P3!!!

So how are things going? I just briefly read through this, you enjoying P3?? I went back into P2 when I got back, did okay for a couple days, fell off the wagon again for a few more days and then got back on again on Monday! Still up about 7 lbs from when I left! Maybe you read about my swelling and such, it was horrid!! But all back to normal and trying to get back to where I was so I can go into P3!! I hate P2!!!!!

Well hope you are well!!

[1BellaDonna]

159 today. 'Nuff said. :-( How are things for you guys? Cathy- I thought you had abandoned me!! Waah! So glad you saw my post and are back with us. Smart move on the P2. I am worried about P4 since I feel like I'm up and down (in my window) all the time. I miss my tummy being "flat" but do NOT miss p2. Uggh. It's just around the corner again. I think tomorrow I will do a correction day tomorrow to see what will happen. I dont like hanging out at this high end. Sigh. :-(

Anyway, any plans for the weekend? I took my kids on a playdate yesterday and then had a 2 hour massage (deep tissue, not Relaxing...and I am sore as heck AND have a ton of knots still). Then I went to a local bar that had salsa lessons and Latin music. Great time with my girlfriends! Can't wait to sucker/guilt trip my hubby into going! Lol

[catjrow3]

Hey Letitia,

Nope...not doing good on P2... I keep doing okay for a day or two, jumping ship for a day or two, jump back on! Its horrible! I am going to try to stop this roller coaster and see if I can do ATkins 72 for a couple weeks and then see if I can handle another round of HCG. Currently, I am not doing well with it at all!!!

I miss the flat tummy too, only good part of P2!!! Otherwise, hate it!! No real plans here for the weekend. I think we are doing a BBQ or something for hubby on Sunday, but its also my oldest DD's bday, (22) Oh boy!!

Glad to hear you are still alive and kicking!!

[1BellaDonna]

Shelby- I forgot to ask how the lasering is going.

[shelbyla]

Hey there Letitia! Sorry to hear about the scale. I am trying to make peace with mine--it keeps showing me higher numbers than I'd like, too. Within my window but still... I had that VERY brief period where I saw 151-152 and I was hoping...but my body really likes 153-155. I keep wondering if this was a previous "setpoint"--it's been so dang long since I've been at this weight for any period of time that I can't remember! I called my P3 a "re-do" last week and with a whole hell of a lot of clean eating have been staying within a pound and a half--1 pound below LDW, and 0.5 above--for the whole week. I think I may have a GY sensitivity so I lasered it 3 times and we'll see this weekend when I reintroduce it.

On the massage, I've always thought that a disappointing massage was kind of like disappointing sex. Very frustrating! I had one of those last weekend (after I was blown off by my regular guy!) so I can completely relate. And to be sore on top of it just isn't fair! Which reminds me, I need to call my massage place and see if I can get in to see someone this weekend...

In other news, I have a tentative date with the guy tonight. We'll see how that goes... It won't go as well as it could have if he'd contacted me a little sooner than noon today but hey, his loss, right?

[1BellaDonna]

Hey girlie! How was your date? Was it with the cub? ;-) What did you guys end up doing? My excitement for the day was taking my two sons to get their hair cut off. Woo hoo! Oh wait. My hubby drew me a bath with lavender Epsom salts so my back could feel better. Ahhhh peace and quiet!!

Doing a CD today. 160.2, so that puts me THREE lbs above my LDW. No! No! No! :-( Feeling bloated and gross and was hoping it was due to ovulation but can't risk the continued creeping. I think I'll do 2 or 3 correction days.

[1BellaDonna]

Omg! Cathy- I'm so sorry. I just went back to our old thread in my search for info on the different types of CD's and saw that my reply to you about The new thread never went through!!! no wonder you thought I disappeared. Lol So sorry!! Glad u found us again. Anyway, how's it going? I'm only eating eggs today. Tomorrow I will only eat roasted chicken. I am over my LDW window and want to go back to 155ish. I have been feeling VERY bloated and puffy. I feel every one of these extra pounds and the slowly increasing confidence is starting to wane.

[shelbyla]

Originally Posted by 1BellaDonna

Hey girlie! How was your date? Was it with the cub? ;-) What did you guys end up doing?

Doing a CD today. 160.2, so that puts me THREE lbs above my LDW. No! No! No! :-( Feeling bloated and gross and was hoping it was due to ovulation but can't risk the continued creeping. I think I'll do 2 or 3 correction days.

Yes it WAS with the cub. And I don't know what they've been teaching guys lately...or maybe the men I've been dating have just been too darn old...but can I just say WOW GOLLY? I don't think I can actually post what we ended up doing... :blush: And to make matters even better, I woke up after very little sleep and eating really late, almost 3 pounds down. I can get into a diet and exercise plan like THAT! Oh, I know it won't hold but it sure was nice to see 151 again even if only for a brief moment!

Icing on the cake today for me was an absolutely AMAZING massage by one of my favorite therapists!

Sorry you're up today. Feeling bloated is always so icky. I love the chicken CD. My absolute favorite. Good luck today and tomorrow. It's wise to attack it right away.

[catjrow3]

Here was my post from above, not sure if you saw this either on this post..

Hey Letitia,

Nope...not doing good on P2... I keep doing okay for a day or two, jumping ship for a day or two, jump back on! Its horrible! I am going to try to stop this roller coaster and see if I can do ATkins 72 for a couple weeks and then see if I can handle another round of HCG. Currently, I am not doing well with it at all!!!

I miss the flat tummy too, only good part of P2!!! Otherwise, hate it!! No real plans here for the weekend. I think we are doing a BBQ or something for hubby on Sunday, but its also my oldest DD's bday, (22) Oh boy!!

Glad to hear you are still alive and kicking!!
__________________

[1BellaDonna]

Shelby- You have me cracking up! I've read your post like 3 or 4 times now and still am giggling! Anyhooo, Welcome to Cougartown! ;-) Tis a wonderful place to live, I tell ya! Glad you were able to "reach" your goal(s). --wink, wink

Cathy, my dear- I wanna give you a big old hug! I am feeling your pain. I've not stabilized to my satisfaction (doing my second CD in two days) and I'm supposed to start P4 on the 25th. I want to get back to about 155 (blew up to 160--LDW is 157 but lowest weight was 155ish). I feel bloated and unhappy. :-( I just dropped about 2 lbs on my egg CD yesterday and today I'm doing roasted chicken. I felt my old P2 bitterness come about again today bc my husband wanted to have cheesecake factory for his dinner. I'm glad I wasn't eating plain eggs but I felt that old P2 envy. I need to do another round of this and I am dreading feeling like you do right now. I HATE P2!!! :-( I am starting back around 10 July bc we have a family wedding to attend in Iowa (uggh) and I do not want to be on P2 during the the wedding. I doubt I'd have pretty much anything to eat if I were doing P2 out there. I don't see my hubby's family as really understanding, as their diets are not as "exotic" as mine. lol I don't want to make any fusses bc they already consider me as different (Black, older, "city girl" who is high maintenance). :-( Anyway, keep us posted. Wish me luck. I got Greek yogurt for another CD if necessary but I'm not a fan of it unless it's sweetened with something. The texture is amazing but I've got a wicked sweet tooth. You understand that! ;-)

P.S.- Happy birthday to your DD!

Shelby- Keep up the stories! It's like I'm living my old life again...just vicariously through you! lol

[dazygyrl]

Hijack....where in IA is your wedding, if you don't mind me asking? I'm in I.o.way.