Here I Go... starting my hhcg while breastfeeding experiment

[Trishagrrl]

Thanks!

Another 0.8 pound drop today! Not sure if my refeed helped jump start things, or if they would have just started back on their own. Either way, I'm happy with the losses! 2.8 pounds so far this week.

[jennia8181]

well, i am hovering around 140. I was going down slightly (.2 or .4), then today for the first time on this protocol i was up .4. Can't really think of anything I did that could have messed me up. I am not sure if I should stick it out and see if this plateau stays, or do a refeed. I don't think and apple or steak day is an option because of the nursing. It just won't give me enough calories. I noticed when I am significantly below 800 calories, I don't do as well. UH.. it's a little frustrating because this diet seems like it makes you over analyze EVERYTHING> I am going to a party tonight. I may refeed like crazy... it's all really good food. Will see what happens.

[jennia8181]

ok. i decided (after looking up some info on the refeed) that what's it really going to hurt? so i might gain a few pounds. As of right now I am down 14 from my starting weight, and I am sure that breastfeeding and doing this is a whole different story, so maybe we NEED a refeed. I have been on this protocol for almost 2 weeks with great loss, until these past few days. I am going to do this refeed and see if it works. If it doesn't then I suppose I may just set myself back a week, but I am in no real hurry to get off of the protocol, and I don't have that much more weight to lose, so I think this should be interesting. Thanks for the idea!!

[Trishagrrl]

I think you're still do amazing even with a .4 pound gain. I know you've probably already done your refeed, but if not I might reconsider in your case. I did it after being essentially stalled for over a week (I had just been gaining and losing the same weight). Also, you should consider that I was just about 3 weeks and had only lost 7 pounds which is a much slower rate of loss than what you've experienced. Your loss has been awesome especially considering you've got much less to lose than I do and you're SO close to goal! Your body might just need a day or two or three to "rest" before dropping more weight. I've read that sometimes our body fills up where the fat cells were with water and that can cause weight gain... but when that water weight flushes out you'll weigh less than before! Just some food for thought.

Anyhow, I don't think it will hurt you to experiment and try a refeed. Like you said, whats the worst that can happen? Sets you back a week, if that. If you do the refeed be sure to let me know how it goes! Good luck

[jennia8181]

well i did the refeed last night and am going to do it again today. I did hover for a few days, and then gained. I know I could've rode it out to see what would happen. But I have noticed the last 3 nights that Madison has been waking up more and I feel like she hasn't been getting as much milk from me lately. So i figured I probably need to refeed myself for her sake as well. Strangely enough I didn't feel like completely gorging myself. I did enjoy the food but I ate slower and not as much. I am assuming that is how "normal" people eat all the time. I used to eat like a human trash can..lol.... But the big thing was, that I DID refill my milk because last night I could tell she was getting more by how much she was gulping, and she slept better last night so for that reason, I am going to eat somewhat sensible today and then tonight I have a party to go to and I wil indulge on some goodies, but not pig out, and resume my 800 calorie protocol on sunday. I did gain 3 pounds over night, so I am a little nervous as to what my total gain is, but I figure It's worth it if it keeps my milk supply up for a couple more weeks. If I can lose another 10 before I have to refeed again I would still feel awesome (I feel awesome already!!). Wish me luck

[Trishagrrl]

Diet deffinitely isn't worth losing your milk supply! Hope it goes well, you enjoy eating a little more, and that the weight comes right off!

I'm holding steady today. No loss, no gain. Hoping to see that number go down tomorrow though!

[Trishagrrl]

Eeked out 0.2/pound today. That makes 3 for the week. Tomorrow will be my official weekly weigh in... hope I can lose a little more before then to up my total loss!

Have a headache today and I'm HUNGRY! I've been dreaming of P3 foods

[Trishagrrl]

SO frustrated.... up 1 pound yesterday and down just .2 today. Yesterday was a rough day. Not food wise, I actually didn't even get to eat my first (only) meal until 7pm. I had a ton of things going on and was hardly home. I only got in about 375 calories.

[paulabob]

Originally Posted by Trishagrrl

SO frustrated.... up 1 pound yesterday and down just .2 today. Yesterday was a rough day. Not food wise, I actually didn't even get to eat my first (only) meal until 7pm. I had a ton of things going on and was hardly home. I only got in about 375 calories.

Sorry for the frustration!

The one time I missed lunch and only got in dinner - 350 calories worth, I did not lose. Seems crazy, but I think lots of folks don't lose if the calories get too low.

[jennia8181]

hopefully if you eat enough today you will have a double loss.

[Trishagrrl]

Paula- that is odd. I try not to miss meals, but it was just inevitable.

So, today I was down .6 and it was .2 yesterday... so I still have another .2 to lose the pound that I mysteriously gained a couple days ago. Week 4 I was at 10 pounds lost. So far no loss for this week. ARGH!

[jennia8181]

how many calories are you eating these days? I find that if I eat in the 650 - 750 range i really don't lose, but if I eat 800-875 I do pretty well. Just thinking that maybe you aren't eating enough and since you are nursing your body is being double depleted, that maybe you need to eat more so your body doesn't think it's starving. Just a thought, based on my little bit of experience doing this.

[Trishagrrl]

I've actually just been trying to stick to as close to 500 calories as I can, hoping that will help the weight come off. Maybe I would be better off to up my calories some.

I did drop 1.8 pounds today. Was glad to see that. I just hope I can drop some more this week. It might be my last week. Getting too frustrated for having done this for 31 days and only seeing 11.6 pounds loss. I'm just afraid the weight is going to come back on during P3. I have had trouble stabilizing in the past.

[Trishagrrl]

Up .4 today.

[Trishagrrl]

Down a pound today. Hoping I can eek out another pound and a half in the next few days before I complete this round. A 14 pound loss would leave me at a nice even number.

[Trishagrrl]

Down another pound today... wow, I can't hardly believe it! Two days in a row . My body is finally cooperating at the end of this round.

[paulabob]

Congrats Trish! It's excellent when the scale rewards your hard work!

[jennia8181]

Trish. I did a macademia nut day (fat fast). I ate only mac nuts for the past three days. I did 1200 calories which is 6 1 ounce servings. I wasn't hungry because I was eating more calories then normal and I had TREMENDOUS losses. Look up "mac nut fast" on youtube and there is a great video explaining why this fast works so well with the body. To sum it up, it floods your body with healthy fats causing your body to release more body fat. IT WORKED!! I lost 4.6 pounds in the three days. Just wanted to share since you are at the end of your round, I figured you might want to give it a try and try to blast away a few more pounds to get your total loss up!! Hope you feel like giving this a try, it really worked for me. Good luck, and great job on your recent losses.

[Trishagrrl]

I'm still around. I had a flub up a few nights ago and it resulted in a 4 pound (yikes!) gain! I could just kick myself for doing that so close to the end of this round. I'm down 3 of the pounds... hopefully the last of it will be gone tomorrow. About to go into P3 and I can't wait. I've gotten hungry the last few days and just want to eat. Not sure if it's a true hunger or just complete boredom with the foods I"m eating. I actually have been writing down a list of foods and recipes I'm going to make in P3 and have started my grocery list.

In other news... I have had 2 sick babies. Making it more difficult to get my meals around (in addition to the families) and I haven't been getting much sleep at all. I don't think the sleep deprivation is helping me with this diet either.

Jennia- I'll keep the mac nut day in mind for another time. I'll have to look it up and check it out! I've heard about doing fat fasts while LC'ing. Maybe I could even do it after I've done P3 for a while and stabilized at this weight? I've got plenty more to lose, thats for sure!

[Trishagrrl]

39VLCD and I lost 14 pounds which comes out to .35/pound a day. I guess that's not too bad! Especially considering that I could have been gaining weight the entire 39 days instead of losing.

Now comes the hard task of maintaining that loss through the holidays. After my first day of P3, I'm up exactly 2 pounds. Makes me nervous! I'm not ready to have to do my first correction day tomorrow... but I'm afraid that's what it will come to!

[paulabob]

Great job! 14 pounds is a lot!

Good luck with your CD (assuming it happens). Best to correct right away rather than wait...

[Trishagrrl]

THanks Paula, I appreciate your encouragement!

I am happy to report that I don't need to do a CD today! I am down .6/pound from where I was yesterday, so just up 1.4 from LDW. I'm really very surprised after my big dinner. I've been planning this dinner in my head for the last couple of weeks and it sure was good! It was very low carb, but I'm sure a TON of calories.

[Trishagrrl]

The first few days of stabilization are going remarkably well! I'm back to my LDW today. I read through the thread regarding the Leptin topic and wondered if some of those concepts might help me stabilize this time. In the past I was doing correction days ALL THE TIME it seemed like and wasn't ever able to stabilize at my LDW. Usually I ended up 5-8 pounds over it. I've been eating a really big high protein breakfast every morning and trying not to snack between meals (which seems like the essence of the leptin diet). Not sure if that has anything to do with how well I'm stabilizing, but either way I'm glad it's going well so far!

My goal is to maintain my weight through the holidays and then do another round of HCG. I think I'll just do a series of short 21 day rounds though. These longer rounds make me a little crazy!

[Trishagrrl]

Day 7 of P3 and I have to do a correction day . I totally didn't even see it coming either because the last couple of days I've been right at LDW. Yesterday I ate just the same as I've been eating. Up 4 pounds today. What's up with that?!

[Trishagrrl]

I did a chicken day today... I'm so sick and tired of chicken thighs. I'm still hungry, but I refuse to eat any more chicken thighs. I snuck on the scale tonight, I was just up .3 pounds from this morning. I'm hoping that I see a nice drop tomorrow and it puts me back in my window!

[Trishagrrl]

Happy to report that I saw a 3 pound drop from the chicken day! SO, I'm just a little more than 1 lb over LDW.

[paulabob]

Originally Posted by Trishagrrl

Happy to report that I saw a 3 pound drop from the chicken day! SO, I'm just a little more than 1 lb over LDW.

Congrats on the CD drop (that's a huge drop from a CD!)

And also, totally in love with your new avi.

[Trishagrrl]

Thanks Paula! My babies are sweeties. Happiest babies I've ever had. They are always smiling and coo'ing and laughing!

Stabilization is going so-so. I didn't have to do my first CD until day 7, but since then I've had a CD every other day because I can't seem to get back into my window. It's a little frustrating.

Another issue I'm having, which is probably totally unrelated is that over the past week my babies have both started spitting up... a LOT. It's really bizzare. They have rarely spit up until now and when they did it wasn't that much. It has been happening probably 2-4 times a day. Only thing I wonder is if me eating a lot more has caused my milk supply to sky rocket and they're getting a lot more and they're bellies can't handle it? Maybe thats not the case though because I know milk supply is a lot supply & demand. Anyhow... if anyone has any ideas whether they're related to my diet or not I'd love some insight!

[paulabob]

Originally Posted by Trishagrrl

Stabilization is going so-so. I didn't have to do my first CD until day 7, but since then I've had a CD every other day because I can't seem to get back into my window. It's a little frustrating.

Another issue I'm having, which is probably totally unrelated is that over the past week my babies have both started spitting up... a LOT. It's really bizzare. They have rarely spit up until now and when they did it wasn't that much. It has been happening probably 2-4 times a day. Only thing I wonder is if me eating a lot more has caused my milk supply to sky rocket and they're getting a lot more and they're bellies can't handle it? Maybe thats not the case though because I know milk supply is a lot supply & demand. Anyhow... if anyone has any ideas whether they're related to my diet or not I'd love some insight!

Hmmm...did you start dairy? Could they be sensitive? Not much ideas, only my first was a spitter upper. Seemed to be worst around 7-9 months, then disappeared with no rhyme or reason. Never actually seemed to bother him, so no big deal really. Just a mess to clean!

And going a whole week without a CD was great! Sorry you are having trouble getting back to your window. It once took me almost a week of every other day CDs before I finally dropped.

[Thai-Thai]

It is so refreshing to finally meet up with a group of people who are committed to treating weight loss with HCG while breast feeding. I am a new mom and started the protocol two days ago at 288lbs. After 2 days of gorging I am weighing 290.6lbs. I followed the protocol two years ago and loss over 35lbs. However, when I became pregnant in 2011 with my first child I gained so much weigh during my pregnancy and while breastfeeding. I tried weight watchers and exercise but could not seem to get rid of the pounds while nursing. I had some extra HCG I purchased in 2011 left over, since it was sealed and properly stored during my whole pregnancy I decided to inquire about doing the protocol while breastfeeding. My doctor gave me the ok before and reassured me that I can still follow the protocol while breastfeeding with a little tweeking. Then he referred me to a specialist . But I did my own research on the computer and kept finding very poor support. I delayed the weight-loss treatment do to doctor affiliated website that spoke against the protocol while nursing an infant; until I stumbled upon Low Carb Friends.

I just want to say Thanks! for having the courage and bravery to speak up about your personal experiences. I could not find the support needed but now I am ready to get rid of this weight so that I can have a healthy heart and care for my newborn who is pushing 3 months now. I only wish I started earlier because my 40 day supply will expire April 2012. which means I can only use half of it and throw the remaining away in April then I have to purchase more if I decide to do 40 days. Actually in retrospect I am glad I waited, because it gave me time to observe my newborns eating patterns, and breastfeeding behaviors in its entirety before starting the protocol. Better not to have started the protocol sooner than 3 MONTHS- not knowing my newborns feeding cues would have left me nervous and worried in addition it gave me time to get my brst-milk supply up .
***
My short term goal is to loose 38 pounds
My long term goal:165lbs
During phase 3, after my hypothalamus is reset, I plan to resume back to my strenuous exercise routine helping me to regain body tone .
My Best Wishes to You All!