Simeons Protocol -- P3/P4 Week of 7/4/11

[RedsSkinnyJeans]

Happy Saturday all!!

Well, I had something pretty cool happen yesterday. We got a new scale. An accurate one. And guess what? This whole time that I have thought I weighed 148, I have weighed 146!! The new travel scale said I did, but the old scale kept wigging out- so I researched and bought a really good one. I actually weigh 146!! WaaaHoooo!!!!!

Weight is still stable after my "million calorie march" a couple of days ago.

I am re-thinking the decision to do another round in August. I think I need to postpone that.

Inquiring minds want to know, who was it that coined the term "Bernice" anyway? The first time I heard that term was reading this forum. In a similar vein, I think we should have a thread called: "Potty Talk"

[kimberlybimberly]

Originally Posted by RedL.I.

Inquiring minds want to know, who was it that coined the term "Bernice" anyway? The first time I heard that term was reading this forum.

A man called Thundarr. It was years ago.

[porkfatrules]

Morning, all!

I'm on Day 21 of P3 here . . . getting ready for vacation and P4, starting tomorrow! I've been a bundle of nerves, racing around getting stuff ready to go, last night couldn't face food so only ate 1400 calories, and today I'm down another pound!

OK, on one hand, I know I need to stay in my window, and I'm below it. Gotta fix that. On the other hand, this so illustrates the metabolic reset of this program! I ate 1200 calories/day for MONTHS on Jenny Craig, and lost a pound a week! Yesterday, I ate 1400 calories when my body is used to 2200 calories, and lost a pound in a day! Wow!

Have a great day everybody!

[RedsSkinnyJeans]

HAVE A LOT OF FUN!!!!

When do you get back? I will miss you!!! (Cauz, ya know, I have no life right now) :-)

[dazygyrl]

hmmm, i think i shouldn't eat a couple ounces of cheese later in the evening. i was up 0.6 from yesterday and i feel poofy on my face. BUT, tom did start yesterday afternoon, too....soooo....i dunno which it was. i don't *normally* gain much with tom, so could just be the cheese. still in my window by 0.6. i'd prefer to be much closer to my LDW, though. so will keep it clean and lighter for a couple days.

[1moretry]

Originally Posted by Dreamchaser

Pardon me, I am a P2 lurker

1moretry - I know you said before that you weren't sure if your hcg had been ineffective the whole time. Have you now come to the conclusion that it was OK since your reshaping is coming along better now?

I honestly don't know WHAT to think! Nothing has gone the way I expected it would and I still feel like I am walking a road without the actual road matching what the guide book says. I KNOW I lost "normal fat" and I see it coming back now. I lost nearly everywhere except my belly at first, and that is the biggest store of this "abnormal" fat that Simeons talks about.

Then there is the issue of my overreactive immune system clouding the issue even more. I know I had something called "leptin resistance" because no matter how much I gorged on load, I never felt full. I just felt ill from eating all of that food, especially fat, after injecting the HCG. According to what little I have read on that subject, it results from inflammation in the body, and that would tie in with my immune system overreacting to everything, as well as it being a common condition in obese people.

It does seem that my body has settled on a new set point, both for my weight (up 0.2 today, but still within the window) and my blood sugar (oscillating between 138 and 146, 20-28 points below where it was when I was tested in March -- around 1 point for each pound lost). The whole thing has me scratching my head.

I do not feel full after a meal, just barely satisfied. However, I also don't get hungry and am burning fat well instead of carbs, based on what ketones are showing. I got frustrated yesterday and ate more broccoli than usual and felt quite full, but had a shock when I tried some cottage cheese for the first time -- I wanted to eat the whole container (!) and had to struggle to make myself stop before I did. It was the first real "trigger" that I have experienced so far and I don't know why.

After I had lasered the 4 foods I was eating that I was allergic to, my weight loss settled down to a steady burn that was totally in keeping with the restriction in calories, so was the hormone doing anything or not? I really don't know. I WAS burning fat, but it sure looked like most of it was "normal" fat, not the "abnormal fat" inside my belly. By the end of P2, my upper arms and face had sunken places, and the whole last week of P2, my skin felt dry for the first time in the round. It just got back to feeling naturally moist yesterday, P3D9.

This whole thing has my head spinning trying to figure things out. I am working with the lasering to treat my allergies and that seems to be helping some so far. I intend to get help in determining what still needs to be treated after I complete the basic kit. That has to be a priority for me, both short-term and long term.

I am reading the first of two new books I got, "Living Low Carb" (Revised Edition) by Jonny Bowden. Since he said to read the book in any order we wanted, I went directly to the section where he compares 36 different low carb plans (HCG is not mentioned in the book at all). I checked his comments on the Schwarzbein Plan (that's what I was following for 8 years before trying HCG) and he characterizes it as a plan for healing one's metabolism, but not for losing weight. Well, that's what it was for me! I healed my adrenals but my weight rose to 164 and stayed there.

The plans are listed in alphabetic order and I think I found what I was looking for when I got to the Ds and found The Diabetes Diet (and the Diabetes Soultion) by Richard Bernstein, MD. From the many reviews of the books on Amazon.com, people were reporting the exact same kinds of results I want regarding my diabetes -- to get my blood sugar down to normal and keep it there without medications. However, the plan is extremely strict and there are no "phases." (The only negative reviews were from people who decided it was just too hard to eat that way and give up certain foods permanently.) One just stays at very low carbs for the rest of one's life. This was not something I welcomed hearing, but it may very well be true for what I have to do.

I'd like to quote what Bowden says about this, because I think it relates to some of the discussions we've been having here on the P3/P4 threads:

We've seen lots of studies over the years where people lose weight at a nice clip on the early stages of carb restriction, only to gain quite a bit of it back. Talk to a lot of the docs and researchers off the record and you start to hear the same story — people keep eating the higher-fat, higher-protein diet they lost weight on, but add back the foods that caused the problem in the first place. They figure that bacon and eggs are fine — why not add a little toast and potatoes, since they've already lost the weight? This defeats the whole purpose and causes the regain so commonly seen in low-carb studies. ...

On the other side of this argument are those who feel that judiciously and carefully adding small amounts of carbs back while monitoring your weight and health is perfectly fine to do. The problem may be that some people just can't do it. It's an open question that has no "right" answer other than "it depends on the person, the situation, and the individual metabolism."

Regarding "The Diabetes Diet/The Diabetes Solution," Bowden concludes, "Without a doubt, this is the program I'd use if I were diabetic."

I have ordered both books and will see what they have to say. Bernstein's plan has worked for others with diabetes and for me (and many) the fat that I am carrying is intimately tied to my insulin levels and my insulin resistance. Apparently this is SO COMMON (and is at the core of what Taubes' books have to say about why we get fat), there is a new term called "diabesity.." I have the classic deposit of visceral fat symptomatic of "metabolic syndrome," and really want to do something about this long term while I still can.

I am currently still planning on doing a second round of HCG, beginning in mid-August, but will make that decision after I have read these books and have met with my doctor again on Aug. 1. I want to heal my hypothalamus, not just take a piecemeal approach, and am willing to do whatever it takes to regain as much health as I can along the way. I HAVE healed my adrenal exhaustion, my blood tests indicate I reversed the fatty liver condition (part of metabolic syndrome), and my blood sugar has come down some (not enough, though) after the first round on HCG.

Since my body tends to attack and destroy many of my own hormones and neurotransmitters (an auto-immune condition), my front-line priority right now is getting that treated and dealt with, because it affects everything else, including how I might deal with yet another hormone in my body — HCG. I intuitively felt that I should NOT laser the HCG because it works precisely because one's body perceives of it as coming from an outside source (usually a fetus commanding its mother to feed it) and if I got my body to look at it as coming from me (that was the explanation offered for the homeopathic effect by an administrator on another forum -- that it caused OUR bodies to make HCG, which is anatomically impossible), it probably would not have any effect on mobilizing my fat, but that's a guess, not fact.

I am following Simeons' protocol and have lost 20 lbs of fat that I was unable to touch any other way. Atkins did not work for me the second time around because my body converted that extra protein to sugar and then to fat. However, there are gaps in the information available regarding HCG, even after reading Trudeau and looking at some of the information being put out by those who think that they have a newer, better way to do this, so we are part of an experiment without a lot to guide us except the wisdom gained from others who have made the same journey.

I think that if I can get my allergies dealt with before I do my next round of HCG, that will give me a clearer picture of what HCG does and doesn't do in MY body. Just looking at the differences between myself and my husband is enough to show me that we are all very individual and there is nothing that applies to everyone uniformly. There is strong agreement that refined carbohydrates are harmful to many people and that — for those people — they should be avoided. The degree that one can eat "healthy" carbs (low-glycemic ones, packed with nutrition) I think depends on what Bowden said: "it depends on the person, the situation, and the individual metabolism."

As porkfatrules said so eloquently, many of us are good at being in denial, so we need structure to keep us heading in the right direction. I chose the screen name 1moretry because I feel this IS my last "try" and because I HAVE tried so many other things and they ultimately failed when it came to my regaining my former slimness and treating my worsening diabetes (the two are very intertwined), I am willing to do whatever it takes to reach THOSE twin goals of being slim again and having my diabetes under control without meds. If it doesn't work, it won't be because I didn't give it everything I had. It will be because I am 70 years old, age has taken its toll, and I will have to accept the limits my body has and live with them the best I can. I am not afraid of dying, but don't intend to make it happen sooner through my own actions.

[shelbyla]

Up a little from wine last night but all in all not too bad. Just a bit over LDW which may be as much from eating food out later than normal or taking aspirin for a killer headache yesterday than from the booze. Exercise will fix that right up... Have a great weekend, all.

[dawnyama]

1moretry--I have to say I am so thrilled you have decided to join our little hcg community!!! You are a wealth of information. I have enjoyed reading your posts immensely. Thank you for sharing all your thought and insights. Very interesting!!! Really makes me think about how I will do my next round, which is coming up pretty shortly.

[snaggle]

Hi all, I am also doing p3, although kind of rogue, however, because I am also doing it JUDDD style. (alternating calorie levels) Since I only lost 6 lbs in my short (17days) p2, I am not too worried about stabilizing and actually hope to drop a couple lbs, then just stay on juddd. I have managed to stay at my ldw for a week now and will see what happens this next week, when I hope to be more strict. The holiday weekend ended up not being the smartest time to go from p2 to p3..........

I really appreciate all your wisdom, research and thoughtful posts 1moretry and especially related to what you quoted about mixing carbs with the fat. It is a very slippery slope and, I agree, the reason why many gain back weight lost on low carb diets.
I love this p3/4 group and hope I can participate although I am not doing things very "protocol".

[jabbok]

Originally Posted by catkin

143.4 this morning.
Bernice spent the night last night, can you say holy s#%t?
Have a great weekend!

hopefully she doens't come back tonight.

[dazygyrl]

sigh...best smoothie/protein shake ever....

about 150g frozen strawberries
1, 5.3oz fat free dannon plain greek yogurt
1 scoop protein powder (i used NNM 100% healthy whey, vanilla caramel cream, 108 cal/scoop)
1 cup sf almond milk, vanilla
1T MCT oil
sweetener to taste

406 cal -- 19.2 g fat -- 38.6g protein.


sooooo, yummy. just wanted to share the goodness.

[1moretry]

Originally Posted by snaggle

Hi all, I am also doing p3, although kind of rogue, however, because I am also doing it JUDDD style. (alternating calorie levels) Since I only lost 6 lbs in my short (17days) p2, I am not too worried about stabilizing and actually hope to drop a couple lbs, then just stay on juddd. I have managed to stay at my ldw for a week now and will see what happens this next week, when I hope to be more strict. The holiday weekend ended up not being the smartest time to go from p2 to p3..........

I really appreciate all your wisdom, research and thoughtful posts 1moretry and especially related to what you quoted about mixing carbs with the fat. It is a very slippery slope and, I agree, the reason why many gain back weight lost on low carb diets.
I love this p3/4 group and hope I can participate although I am not doing things very "protocol".

Snaggle (I love your screen name, BTW!),

May I ask what led to such a short P2 for you? Also, what type of HCG did you use?

I am just beginning to work my way through Bowden's book and while he has made it clear that carbs per se aren't "bad" he does say that eating refined carbs and mixing fats with HIGH carbs is lethal for most people, the same thing that one of the HCG veterans has also said about herself.

Ignorance is curable with information (hopefully good information) and IMO we are very fortunate to have so much information coming out about low carb as a lifestyle. However, there are still a lot of alternatives to sort through and some real honesty cards to be looked at by ourselves. I felt a certain sense of loss at the idea that I may not ever be able to eat fruit of any kind again, but on the other hand I LOVE bok choy (go figure!) and ginger. I just ate a whole bunch of those, cooked in coconut oil (sweet to my taste, anyway) and loved it.

I do feel that there are always tradeoffs in life and have concluded there are consequences to every choice we make. There are consequences to things we DO and consequences to things we DON'T DO. No way around consequences. The question is what consequences do we want? It's also a matter of timing and readiness for making long-term changes. Timing is everything in terms of things clicking or not.

Those who have lost and regained weight several times, regardless of the methods they used, eventually come to the conclusion that there are some things that their body can't handle and if being slim is important enough to give up those things that make them fat or unhealthy, then they are ready to embrace some major changes for the long term. If it isn't enough of a priority, then they give up on making the changes and deal with it that way. I wasn't ready until I had tried everything else and the results weren't what I wanted.

I probably would have stayed stuck and fat if my new doctor hadn't pointed me in the direction of HCG and rekindled hope that there WAS something that might work for me in terms of the goals I wanted to achieve.

Eating low carb also goes against the mainstream and takes some courage to follow if everyone around us is eating the "Standard American Diet" (which my doctor refers to as SAD). Just look at what's considered a "healthy diet" according to the US government -- hi carb, low fat -- and look at the obesity/diabetes epidemic that has occurred since that became the standard. The American Diabetic Association's official diet for diabetics makes their diabetes worse (I saw that in three days of trying it) and paves the way to total dependence on drugs. Gee! Do you think the pharmaceutical industry has anything to do with that thinking?

Let's face it. We are part of a huge, unregulated experiment and lots of concerned pioneers are trying different things to sort it out. There is even a diet plan for diabetes that is high carb and vegan. That plan would be deadly for me and my body's constitution. But it must work for SOME people; I am just not one of them.

Life has been difficult for me in many ways, and long ago, I made a pact with myself to not ever engage in self-pity. I do still occasionally toss a thought skyward, "Why me?" and I do sometimes identify very strongly with the story of Job in the Bible ("How long, oh Lord? How long?), but when all is said and done, I try to live my life with no regrets for my choices and sleep much better when I do. I often feel that someone else is driving the bus I am on, anyway.

[snaggle]

1moretry- I posted a thread a couple of weeks ago expressing my frustration with hcg, mainly very slow losses, and was convinced to stick with it another week. I finally threw in the towel because I was not experiencing any faster losses than I usually do with my juddd plan, and for me, that was the whole point. Anyway, it obviously works well for many, but it just did not for me. At least, not enough to make me stick to 500 cal per day. My thread was called "In need of a good reason to continue", and I explained my reasoning for quitting.
Oh, and my screen name is short for snagglepuss, which is one of the many nicknames we had for our old dearly departed dog.
I feel the same about this board. Over the years I have learned so much here and know for sure that I would still have at least the 35 lbs that I have managed to keep off, and probably more.

[MaryMouse49]

Dang it if I didn't put back on 2 pounds after eating clean, chicken correction day today, I am going crazy here. 9 more days till p2 thank god.

[michelles]

nmbnancy....You asked about P3 sweets and SF instant jello....
..I use sugar free instant pudding mix (cheesecake or chocolate) and mix it with cottage cheese and stevia in m ninja..its thicker than pudding, but tastes great..I often add bluberries and have it for breakfast, great protein!
I like it better mixed with sourcream, but I feel like its too many calories for me.

If you like cheesecake here is a sweet recipe P3
2Tcreamcheese
2Tsour cream
1THeavy Whipping Cream
(i think I accidently switched up the measure on creamcheese and whipping cream one time, and it was gooood)

I just made homeade icecream p3-these are the ingredients I used:
2C Organic 2%Lactose free milk
2C Organic Heavywhipping cream
vanilla to taste
1/2CSugar ( just added stevia to taste)
Mix in blender for 2 minutes..pour into tupperware and freeze overnight

And, my favorite sweet on p3 is to make chocolate delight and when I eat a piece, I put some organic crunchy peanut butter on top....its addicting.

[dazygyrl]

whew...back down to a little (0.2) below LDW. so down 1.6 from yesterday. that was a little too close to top end of window for comfort...thinking (hoping) it was just a combo of TOM and that cheese i ate late friday night.

i have a sweet recipe i keep in the fridge. can be eaten as is or be a "frosting" for my minute chocolate cake or is great on my cinnamon eggs (tastes like french toast).

8oz cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sour cream
vanilla extract to taste
sweetener blend of choice to taste.

warm cc and butter to room temp and beat till smooth. add sour cream, vanilla, sweeteners and blend till smooth. store in fridge.

here is my chocolate recipe

1/2 cup coconut oil (virgin or expeller pressed....depends if you like the coconut taste.)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup protein powder
1/4-1/2 cup sweetener blend of choice (i use xylitol, powdered in a coffee grinder, and ezsweets)
2-3 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

melt oil. stir in all ingredients. pour into saran wrap lined container. chill till solid. cut into desired sized pieces.

this totally satisfies a chocolate attack. and is great with a dollop of natural peanut butter on top!

[1moretry]

Sigh. Checking in with a 0.8 gain and going to do a steak day today. I already knew by the way my body was feeling during the night that this was what was going on.

Yesterday, I started the day on the wrong foot by not getting away from the computer soon enough and eating breakfast at 11:30 am. I ate again at 3:30, 5:30 (snack of just sour cream) and 8:30 pm. I ate the sour cream because I was not feeling satisfied by the end of the meals. I also ate just before going to bed. I did not do anything that was not P3 but it added up to 1878 calories. They were made up of 65% fat, 10% carbs (51g, which is not any more than I have been doing all along), 25% protein (112 g, which was about 20 g higher than usual).

Well, now I get to see if a steak day does what it's supposed to do. I had a big T-bone in the freezer that I was reserving just in case, and now I can see what this does.

I have to say that this upset me a lot. Lots of frustration about having to watch every detail so minutely, a tad of rebellion because I finally didn't feel hungry and felt I shouldn't have to BE hungry, and discouragement over having this body and its limitations.

My diabetic diet books are supposed to arrive next week. At the moment, I am planning on going on that plan (it's totally in keeping with Simeons' general directions for P3) between now and when I see my doctor on Aug. 1 and perhaps not make my decision about whether to do another HCG round or stay with the diabetic program for another week or even two. I will have to order my HCG at least 3 days before I want to start using it, and will see how I do on the diabetic plan in the meantime. The only part of that program that wouldn't be between-rounds protocol is that one loses weight on the program and one isn't supposed to be losing weight between HCG rounds.

I am not sure what direction to go in. It's like on one shoulder, there sits HCG and its promises to reset my hypothalamus and correct my metabolism for the long term. On the other shoulder is my diabetes, the fact that my blood sugar is too high to be safe for the long term, and the reviews of the diabetes program that list exactly the outcomes that I want to achieve with regard to that. The P2 protocol is not compatible with the diabetes program, so I am going to have to choose which road to walk on and follow that.

If any of you have any thoughts on this, I would love to hear from you.

[1moretry]

Originally Posted by snaggle

1moretry- I posted a thread a couple of weeks ago expressing my frustration with hcg, mainly very slow losses, and was convinced to stick with it another week. I finally threw in the towel because I was not experiencing any faster losses than I usually do with my juddd plan, and for me, that was the whole point. Anyway, it obviously works well for many, but it just did not for me. At least, not enough to make me stick to 500 cal per day. My thread was called "In need of a good reason to continue", and I explained my reasoning for quitting.
Oh, and my screen name is short for snagglepuss, which is one of the many nicknames we had for our old dearly departed dog.
I feel the same about this board. Over the years I have learned so much here and know for sure that I would still have at least the 35 lbs that I have managed to keep off, and probably more.

Snaggle,

I found and read through that entire thread, which answers many of my questions. I am struggling with a similar question as to what method to use, as my post today shows. I want to reset my hypothalamus (and it was that part of Simeons' description of the problem that grabbed my attention) and I know how it got damaged in the first place (long story).

My body was behaving relatively reasonably and predictably until I went through menopause and had an ovarian cyst removed shortly after that. Simeons' comments about how the hypothalamus works (and when it doesn't) explained all of that to me, so it all made sense. I was totally skeptical about the diet otherwise, in part because of having worked with Schwarzbein and her comments about damaging our metabolism through yo-yo dieting. It was the potential to heal my hypothalamus that motivated me to overcome all of that and give it a fair trial.

Having to go through years of the Schwarzbein program and therapy for my PTSD just to heal my burned out adrenals was difficult, but I did it and am glad I did it. I still have a huge challenge with my immune system being out of whack and the accompanying allergies to nearly everything, inside and outside of my body, but have found something I hope will address those issues. So far, the early results are promising, but it's the long haul question that needs to be answered for me to know with any kind of certainty.

This whole discussion reminds me of something a fitness trainer said to me about the best form of exercise: It's the one that we will do. Exercise is still not something I can get myself to do. I know I SHOULD, I know all about how good it is for many things (not weight loss, though, according to Taubes), and I still can't bring myself to do it more than three days in a row. I do know that when I have been slim, I had more natural energy and WANTED TO MOVE, but when I am heavy (which I have been consistently since 1993), my inclination is to just do what I need to do for daily maintenance. My paid work requires me to sit a lot at the computer and because of my environmental allergies, I have to work at home, so that is what I do. I do feel that if I can get the weight off and keep it off, I will want to dance again. (It's the only form of exercise I enjoy because it isn't boring.)

FWIW, my losses were also accounted for totally by the math in the second half of my first round. My average for the entire round (I went almost 7 weeks, strictly following the protocol for the injections) was 0.4 lbs. a day, including larger losses the first weeks and a week-plus stall when I hit a prior set point. I still lost 20 pounds, which was better than I could on anything else I tried and my blood sugar came down around 1 point for each pound lost.

Now I am at a crossroads as to which road to follow from here on in. That resetting of the hypothalamus alone would be worth it to me if it's true, because I understand how the hypothalamus regulates everything else. HCG has also provided an improvement in my blood sugar, although I need to go further with that, so I am not tossing out another round as a strong possibility right now.

From what you wrote in your thread, it seems you were not totally on program, even for the 17 days you had tried it. Simeons says that a minimum of 21 days is needed, even for people who only have a small amount of weight to lose, so I would say that your experiment with HCG was incomplete. However, like my exercise analogy, the WOE that is right for you is the one you will follow.

I am going through my own challenges today in making that choice and I think it's a lot like I said to someone way back in my first marriage: You don't just get married on one day and that's it. You make the choice to be married EVERY DAY, over and over again. Some days it's easier and some days are harder with regard to that question.

It's the same here. One doesn't choose a WOE one day and that's it. One has to choose just what one is going to do and CONTINUE TO CHOOSE every day after that. I think all of us here can relate to emotional reasons for eating that can take us off track. The stories never stop on that one, and none of us are exempt from them. I ate sour cream twice yesterday because I just got so fed up with various shades of being hungry all of the time and wanted to feel satisfied for one whole day. It's a good thing I like steak, because it's the only thing I am going to be able to eat today (plus a tomato, of course).

If JUDDD works best for you and you feel motivated to stay on it, do what works for you and what you feel good about doing. You are the one you have to live with, after all. I wish you success in meeting your goals, however you choose to get there.

[porkfatrules]

Signing off for a bit . . . Good losses to everybody, and I'll expect everybody to be a size smaller when I next check in!

[shelbyla]

Morning all. Up just a smidge today but still well within my window. Happy that after all the eating and drinking yesterday I was only up 0.2 today. Exercising off a little more of this booze and food. Made Dawn's fudgey coconut peanut squares. I just need to keep my fingers out of them today! Those things are hard to eat just one!

[jabbok]

I am up .2 and it puts me out of my window, I have slowly gone up over the last 6 days, I will do a correction day today to see if I can get back into my window. This is the same thing that happened last time when I was on P3, I am not sure why this is happening my calorie range has been between 1200 and 2000 calories so it can't be that I am eating too much or too little.

Any suggestions?

Sample menu:
B 2 eggs fried in butter/coffee with cream
S greek yogurt/raspberries
L hamburger mixed with tomatoes, cheese,mushrooms
D eggs fried in butter
S raspberries/cream

I would have an orange sometimes as the night snack instead of raspberries and cream.

[1moretry]

Originally Posted by jabbok

I am up .2 and it puts me out of my window, I have slowly gone up over the last 6 days, I will do a correction day today to see if I can get back into my window. This is the same thing that happened last time when I was on P3, I am not sure why this is happening my calorie range has been between 1200 and 2000 calories so it can't be that I am eating too much or too little.

Any suggestions?

Sample menu:
B 2 eggs fried in butter/coffee with cream
S greek yogurt/raspberries
L hamburger mixed with tomatoes, cheese,mushrooms
D eggs fried in butter
S raspberries/cream

I would have an orange sometimes as the night snack instead of raspberries and cream.

I am doing a correction day today, also. My weight has been creeping up slowly, too. Raspberries are low-glycemic fruit; oranges are not. Maybe (just maybe) you are very sugar-sensitive (I know I am!) and could try leaving out all fruit for P3 and then experimenting with small amounts in P4. One of the HCG veterans who has been very successful with this program eliminates all fruit in P3 and adds it back slowly in P4.

One thing that is clear from the reading I have done so far is that calories really aren't equal in the way they affect our bodies. 1200 calories worth of Oreos aren't going to act the same way in our bodies that 1200 calories of steak and bok choy will (I got that from reading Bowden on the history of low carb eating). I think that's why Taubes called his first book (which I haven't read yet) "Good Calories, Bad Calories."

One thing that seems true across the board is that insulin is the hormone that stores fat in our bodies and eating sugars and starches affects the amounts of insulin in our blood. Our genetics seem to affect our response to the insulin and whether we become resistant to it over time. I am sure there are other factors and will learn about them with more reading, but this seems to be a consensus so far.

Just a thought for you to consider.

I turn excess protein into sugar, and that's a major issue for me because underneath the fat, I am really quite small (5 feet tall with small bones and muscles). Insulin resistance is something I have to reverse, also, because in me it's quite advanced. Exercise is supposed to help with insulin resistance, but I'm not ready to go there just yet.

[Angel In TN]

Day three on vacation and Hmmmmmm my scale is reading sooooo differently in AL than in TN. I am down two whole pounds since I left. I am eating P3 as I was at home. My friend's mom has been kind enough to understand and I have been doing well. I am not sure if the huge change in being here or if I am actually that weight. I was down three pounds for yesterday and went back up the one by this morning. Hmmmmm I just don't know. Tuesday we head for Mexico Beach

[Sunny7]

Originally Posted by porkfatrules

You know, I love a good Bernice visit as much as anyone . . . but a sleepover? No thanks!

went to the grocery store this afternoon, and when i was checking out i happened to notice the checkout lady's name ---it was Bernice-----had to chuckle a little to myself

[jabbok]

Originally Posted by 1moretry

I am doing a correction day today, also. My weight has been creeping up slowly, too. Raspberries are low-glycemic fruit; oranges are not. Maybe (just maybe) you are very sugar-sensitive (I know I am!) and could try leaving out all fruit for P3 and then experimenting with small amounts in P4. One of the HCG veterans who has been very successful with this program eliminates all fruit in P3 and adds it back slowly in P4.

One thing that is clear from the reading I have done so far is that calories really aren't equal in the way they affect our bodies. 1200 calories worth of Oreos aren't going to act the same way in our bodies that 1200 calories of steak and bok choy will (I got that from reading Bowden on the history of low carb eating). I think that's why Taubes called his first book (which I haven't read yet) "Good Calories, Bad Calories."

One thing that seems true across the board is that insulin is the hormone that stores fat in our bodies and eating sugars and starches affects the amounts of insulin in our blood. Our genetics seem to affect our response to the insulin and whether we become resistant to it over time. I am sure there are other factors and will learn about them with more reading, but this seems to be a consensus so far.

Just a thought for you to consider.

I turn excess protein into sugar, and that's a major issue for me because underneath the fat, I am really quite small (5 feet tall with small bones and muscles). Insulin resistance is something I have to reverse, also, because in me it's quite advanced. Exercise is supposed to help with insulin resistance, but I'm not ready to go there just yet.

Thanks for the things to consider, I will cut the oranges to see if that helps at all, I am going to cut back on the hamburger and try eating more chicken and maybe steak although it doesn't appeal to me right now. I am also going to cut out the greek yogurt for a couple of days to see what happens.

[1moretry]

Here is the link to this week's new thread:

Simeons Protocol -- P3/P4 Week of 7/11/11

[1moretry]

Originally Posted by jabbok

Thanks for the things to consider, I will cut the oranges to see if that helps at all, I am going to cut back on the hamburger and try eating more chicken and maybe steak although it doesn't appeal to me right now. I am also going to cut out the greek yogurt for a couple of days to see what happens.

I have also been wondering if dairy is a problem for me. If so, it is treatable. I had that strong reaction to cottage cheese earlier this week, which totally surprised me. I also ate cheese at one meal and it seems it was that sour cream two days ago that sent me past the window.

The steak day seems to have worked its magic -- somewhat, anyway. I am just at the upper edge of my window, exactly 2 pounds above LIW, and wondering what I should so now. Interestingly, eating just steak and tomatoes was one of my favorite meals when I was growing up. Maybe I naturally preferred the things that were best for me?

My blood sugar surprised me, too. Down to 126. Now I am REALLY scratching my head! I wish there was someone I could ask what to do about all of this. I am not sure WHAT to eat at this point!