P3 Newbie Thread :)

[MemoryKeeper]

Originally Posted by SunnyFL

You count your last LDW

Weighing in at 156.6 today

Sooo I think apples for me are best left in the AM and lunch time and NOT after dinner on P3.

Not sure I'm starting P4 today...if I stay around the 156's tomorrow then I'll start with a piece of whole grain toast in the am...although I'm also wondering if it's best to go up the glycemic index with fruits and veggies first then add the oatmeal and toast? Gahhhhh!!! LOL

I feel safe in P3

Jeanette what are you doing?

I am so happy to be back at my LDW yay!!! That multi protein CD day worked very well for me

I'm like you, I like P3, however, I'm eating refried beans today for lunch! We're going Mexican and I'm going to have fajitas without the tortilla and I want to try the beans with cheese. So excited!

I will let you know how it goes!

[BaileysGirl]

Hey!

Star - I am a HK freak!! I have lots of HK stuff! I'm 34 but I don't care...I will be a HK lover forever!

Sunny - P4 today?!?!? I love Michael Kors! Have you ever used the perfume!? I love love it! I didn't know about the reshaping. I might take measurements tomorrow morning to see if anything has changed. I've not worked out at all. We did a lot of walking yesterday shopping so that's probably the most exercise I've gotten on HCG! I might have to try on some of my other jeans that wouldn't come up over my hips and see what happens!

HELLO to Oneoftowo, MiniMOnkey, Jeanette!! Jeanette - Loving the beans!!! Can't wait to try some...


I'm at my Dad's. Spent the night last night. We had Longhorns for dinner last night so I had 1 small pc of the whole grain bread they bring out, a salad w/ ranch, grilled chicken w/ a mushroom sauce and a cheese stuffed portabella mushroom. We also had the wild west shrimp for app and I ate some of it. Then we went to Gigi's cupcakes...I caved and got 1. My Dad & Stepmom got 4 for them! I ate half of mine last night. The only other meal I ate yesterday was breakfast of bacon/eggs/few pecans. Then around midnight my Dad was like mmm some Krystals sound good! I didn't even look at him! My tummy was growling a bit when I went to bed but I was fine. I guess not eating lunch yesterday had me that way.

Anyway, up this morning and they have the same exact scale I have but I've never trusted it b/c one time before it showed me a few pounds less than my scale at home. So it registered 198.5 so I'll assume I'm safe for today and see what my scale at home says tomorrow morning, might even step on tonight!

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!

[beachagain]

Originally Posted by SunnyFL

So I had heard that your body "shapes" up during P3 and P4...

Well I just had proof that it's SO true. I bought a pair of petite 10 Michael Kors pants that at the end of P2..when I weighed 155 ( night before last injection day but not my LDW) I could barely get up around my thighs.

I went into my guest bedroom where I have all my new pants and clothes that never fit in there and said what the heck, let me see how far away I am. Lo and behold, those babies not only fit around my hips, they buttoned, zipped, and I could breathe in them!!!!!!!!!!

It's totally crazy cuz today I was at 158.2...but it's so true your body keeps reshaping and adjusting! I was upset because my belly seemed bigger, and it is actually, but now I know my "fat" probably was shifting around as I'm a total hourglass figure.

Anyhow, thought I would share...it totally made my night! And mind you I tried these on after eating a big steak

congrats!!

[BaileysGirl]

Oh yea and for those of you thinking about an alternative method of HCG, I used the intermountain drops and really liked the drops. It was my first round so no experience w/ the pellets. I plan on using intermountain drops again on my next round. They were really inexpensive too for a 2 oz bottle.

And for those who have a hard time with boring foods in P2 like I did - P2 Chili is the lifesaver! I ate it once a day my last week in P2 but plan on making it and having it EVERY WEEK in my next round!

[SunnyFL]

Natasha I love HK too and I'm 32 lol

Ok decided to step out of my zone and have a slice of bread with my tuna for lunch....I hope it doesn't make my body go nuts

Have a good day ladies!

[SunnyFL]

Originally Posted by BaileysGirl

Anyway, up this morning and they have the same exact scale I have but I've never trusted it b/c one time before it showed me a few pounds less than my scale at home. So it registered 198.5 so I'll assume I'm safe for today and see what my scale at home says tomorrow morning, might even step on tonight!

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!

You know if you ever doubt the scale reading you can always use a bag of sugar, or a hand weight. I use a 5 lb dumb bell on mine sometimes just to make sure it's reading correctly

So can I just say that piece of bread was divine LOL...it was whole wheat from Whole foods, all organic, natural. I had it with tuna salad and a slice of tomato. My own little open face tuna sandwhich. I got really full quickly though

Thus far I have had GY for breakfast, my sandwhich for lunch, 5 macadamia nuts for snack and for dinner having some roasted drumsticks with avocado salad.

I will add that I am hungry now...which is weird. I don't really get hungry since starting P3...maybe sometimes in the morning. But otherwise I don't experience hunger. Wonder if it was the bread, that and I usually eat a lot more by this time of day. I'm trying to keep the calories down a bit since I had the slice of bread.

Tomorrow I think I am having a bit of oatmeal for breakfast! Hoping I don't gain

Hope you ladies are having a good day and hi to all the new ladies!!!

[star a.d.]

hahaha, I love HK and am 37! we should start a support group! FYI, if either of you guys are fans of jane's addiction, dave navarro LOVES him some hello kitty, and he's older than all of us. so it's ok.

still at 216!!!! I can't believe it! gonna TRY for 2300 today. I was feeling so sick last night and this morning, I don't think from the food though. blahhh. so I have to find high calorie concentrations for today anyway.

[SunnyFL]

HK rocks! I am happy I have a little girl chihuahua too (I have two boy chi's) and she sleeps in a HK bed, has 4 HK dresses, and a huge HK rag/patch quilt I bought on eBay.
As for me my office has HK stuff lol...

Way to go Star!!! Isn't it awesome? I love P3...this P4 has me worried, ugh...hubby better get home soon or I'm gonna eat my arm off LOL...lil ole me is HUNGRYYYY!!!

[star a.d.]

I'm not 100% clear on what P4 constitutes, do you bring your calories down? I know you introduce bits of starch, but what else?

I was going to do another p2 in february, but I'm gonna start in january instead. that should give me a week or two of p4. just have to check my calendar and see when the best day to start is.

[SunnyFL]

Slowly adding in complex carbs, starchy veggies and sugars.
I'm aiming to lower my calories from 2000 to 1700 and lower the fats a bit to compensate for the carbs.
I'm doing 3 full weeks before loading on Dec 30 and 31 for round 2 and hopefully my last round

[MemoryKeeper]

Originally Posted by BaileysGirl

Oh yea and for those of you thinking about an alternative method of HCG, I used the intermountain drops and really liked the drops. It was my first round so no experience w/ the pellets. I plan on using intermountain drops again on my next round. They were really inexpensive too for a 2 oz bottle.

And for those who have a hard time with boring foods in P2 like I did - P2 Chili is the lifesaver! I ate it once a day my last week in P2 but plan on making it and having it EVERY WEEK in my next round!

After Sunny's experience, I may get these for my daughter. She wants to try it....she has PMS really bad!

Originally Posted by SunnyFL

Natasha I love HK too and I'm 32 lol

Ok decided to step out of my zone and have a slice of bread with my tuna for lunch....I hope it doesn't make my body go nuts

Have a good day ladies!

When my daughter went to Japan in May, HK was her number one request, she brought back quite a few! LOL!

Originally Posted by SunnyFL

You know if you ever doubt the scale reading you can always use a bag of sugar, or a hand weight. I use a 5 lb dumb bell on mine sometimes just to make sure it's reading correctly

So can I just say that piece of bread was divine LOL...it was whole wheat from Whole foods, all organic, natural. I had it with tuna salad and a slice of tomato. My own little open face tuna sandwhich. I got really full quickly though

Thus far I have had GY for breakfast, my sandwhich for lunch, 5 macadamia nuts for snack and for dinner having some roasted drumsticks with avocado salad.

I will add that I am hungry now...which is weird. I don't really get hungry since starting P3...maybe sometimes in the morning. But otherwise I don't experience hunger. Wonder if it was the bread, that and I usually eat a lot more by this time of day. I'm trying to keep the calories down a bit since I had the slice of bread.

Tomorrow I think I am having a bit of oatmeal for breakfast! Hoping I don't gain

Hope you ladies are having a good day and hi to all the new ladies!!!

Sunnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, I love your new photo! You are gorgeous girl! Wow!

Originally Posted by star a.d.

hahaha, I love HK and am 37! we should start a support group! FYI, if either of you guys are fans of jane's addiction, dave navarro LOVES him some hello kitty, and he's older than all of us. so it's ok.

still at 216!!!! I can't believe it! gonna TRY for 2300 today. I was feeling so sick last night and this morning, I don't think from the food though. blahhh. so I have to find high calorie concentrations for today anyway.

It's easy to add extra oil (at 100+ calories per tablespoon) to most anything. Good luck!

Originally Posted by SunnyFL

HK rocks! I am happy I have a little girl chihuahua too (I have two boy chi's) and she sleeps in a HK bed, has 4 HK dresses, and a huge HK rag/patch quilt I bought on eBay.
As for me my office has HK stuff lol...

Way to go Star!!! Isn't it awesome? I love P3...this P4 has me worried, ugh...hubby better get home soon or I'm gonna eat my arm off LOL...lil ole me is HUNGRYYYY!!!

HK fanatic! You ladies are cracking me up!

Originally Posted by star a.d.

I'm not 100% clear on what P4 constitutes, do you bring your calories down? I know you introduce bits of starch, but what else?

I was going to do another p2 in february, but I'm gonna start in january instead. that should give me a week or two of p4. just have to check my calendar and see when the best day to start is.

I'm going through my local doctor, and they won't allow me to skip ahead. I have to do 6 full weeks of P3/P4. After my next round, I have to wait 8 full weeks. For me this is really good because I'm terrible at maintenance, but I AM learning!

Welcome Beachgirl!

Originally Posted by SunnyFL

Slowly adding in complex carbs, starchy veggies and sugars.
I'm aiming to lower my calories from 2000 to 1700 and lower the fats a bit to compensate for the carbs.
I'm doing 3 full weeks before loading on Dec 30 and 31 for round 2 and hopefully my last round

I'm planning on keeping my calories up as long as I'm not gaining. Your body gets used to whatever you give it.

I ended up not adding anything new today because we went out to eat for lunch, and I was worried about the cheese I added to the salad (I think it was processed). I had two salads with eggs, ham, peppers, cheese, and oil and vinegar. I also had cooked cabbage with bacon in it, and a hunk of roast, turkey and a chicken thigh.

I enjoyed a Dunkin Donuts coffee today. It had cream, 3 splendas with toasted almond and coconut flavors (those are sugar free).

I'm getting ready to make the P3 Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins right now. I even have a deep muffin tin....

[SunnyFL]

How was the coconut flavor? I am curious to try it!

My treat is a Breve latte, double shot from Starbucks, OMG love it! It's something that you literally hear me going MMmm MMmm!! From LOL...

I had chicken wings and some blue cheese, avocados for dinner...weird mix but I love me some avocado

Hubby bought me some blackberries so I am having those with some GY for Breakfast. I'm sticking to bread again as my carb tomorrow...see how that goes

Enjoy the muffins! I make them at least once a week now LOL

And thanks Jeanette You are beautiful yourself lady! I need to post a before pic. I tend to have a round face as it is but when I weighed in at 177 I looked like a round cupcake LOL

[MemoryKeeper]

You would love it! It is super delicious!

[star a.d.]

jeanette, did your doctor give you any tips about what constitutes p4? I may end up doing a full 3 weeks of it, but most likely less. I'm impatient!

[MemoryKeeper]

I will type EXACTLY what it says:

Maintenance Phase: Weeks 4-6 (P4)

During weeks 4-6 of the Maintenance Phase, continue to eat proteins, vegetables, and fruit. Also, carbohydrates are slowly added back into your diet. During this 3-week period, follow these tips:

1. WEIGH YOURSELF EVERY MORNING
Why? You must remain +2 pounds of your target weight. Adding carbohydrates to your diet may cause fluctuations in your weight. So careful monitoring is necessary.
Remember: If you gain more thatn 2 pounds (even a few ounces), you must on that very same day do a "steak day," where you skip breakfast and lunch and eat a large steak with tomatoes (or an apple for dinner).

I eat a day full of chicken thighs-there are lots of choices for correction days.

Important: If you do not do a "steak day" on the same day you gain 2 pounds, it may take a week of strict dieting to return to your target weight.

2. Introduce healthy, low-glycemic carbs one at a time
Why? For the first few days, eat lean proteins, fruit and vegetables. Then, slowly add carbs back into your diet. Add new carbs one-by-one to see how your body responds to them.

Tip: After a few days introduce low-glycemic carbs (that means foods low in starch), such as oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and brown rice.

Below is a partial list of foods low in starch: artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, low-fat yogurt, soy milk, apples, pears, whole wheat spaghetti, tomato soup, all-bran, lentil soup, long-grain rice, banana bread, baked beans, oat bran bread, low-fat ice cream, sweet potatoes

3. Exercise
What kind? During the hCG phase, you were encouraged to take it easy; a brisk 20-minute walk every day was all that was recommended. During the Maintenance Phase, you are encouraged to continue exercising. Don't be afraid to step it up a notch or two. Cycling, jogging, hiking, swimming - really any sport - is permissible during this stage.

Side Note: I personally will continue to watch my sugar, and there's no way I plan to eat banana bread or ice-cream (unless they were low carb)...

[star a.d.]

hahaha, oh, christmas day will be a sugar-related writeoff for me. but I also intend to eat very little the day before and the day after, hopefully won't gain *too* much. then right back at it, and start p2 again in january...just not quite sure when.

[star a.d.]

or, I'll eat lightly (and high fat) on xmas eve, and then a CD on boxing day.

[star a.d.]

also: I had fruit today, the one day I've managed to pretty much get up to my caloric limit. sheesh. hope the scale isn't too mean to me tomorrow.

[SunnyFL]

156.4 today ladies!!!!!!!

Yea yea yea!!!! Trying the bread with dinner tonight, hope no gain
Might have a burger with the whole grain toast and celery for dinner!
Breakfast is GY with blackberries
Lunch is three leftover wings with a bit of blue cheese dressing and celery...
Snacks: macadamia nuts

Forgot to add, I had wine last night, a 3oz just in case it affected me with the bread.

Have a good day ladies!!!

[BaileysGirl]

Sunny - We finally get to see your face! Gorgeous girl and the "chef" hubby! Cute of you guys!

Well glad to know there are tons of HK freaks in the world including Dave Navarro! Wierd but Cool! I remember in high school I had all the school stuff from the Sanrio store...pencil boxes, erasers, paper clips, the whole nine! Hoping I find it in the attic someday!

Well after my friends birthday outing Friday night and a weekend with my Dad & StepMom the scale was up to 201.5 which is the max of my window. Clean P3 eating today and we'll see what happens in the AM. WED is P4 for me! Trauma at my Dad's: I ate 1 pc of ww bread at longhorn, 1 Gigi's cupcake, a sandwich from schlotzky's and everything else I ate was LC. They had candy everywhere down there and snack cakes, etc but I resisted...the cupcake was awesome though.

B - 2 sausage patties & 2 scrambled eggs in butter
L - ham, cabbage & will find some more veggies in cafe at work
D - tuna salad w/ hb egg & side salad
S - almonds & peaches n cream

[SunnyFL]

YUmmm!! Cupcake!!!!
Maybe some day...definitely before round 2...I will have cake! Did you gain? They had red velvet cupcakes at work and cookies but I was fine...I had my macadamia nuts and coffee and really, honestly, and truly...I felt no desire to have it....they looked amazing...but I suffered to get here on P2 and honestly it's changed my mind set completely. I suppose I had to go through that horrible stage to gain this mindset. To me, nothing is worth me gaining a pound. Now, if I gain from having a bit of whole grains, I can live with that...but I'm really freaked out on starting sugars. Ever since I gave up sugars and those white carbs I haven't had a headache or joint pain. I used to have migraines and headaches almost daily in addition to awful joint pain. My husband just mentioned to me that he can't even remember the last time I said I had either of those things.
Ok so for dinner I did have a gorgonzola burger on whole wheat bread...couldn't find an organic 100% whole wheat bun so I used my toast

Anyhow, I only ate half...I got full quickly...saving the other half for lunch tomorrow...but man...was it GOOD! Wow how I missed bread...

Has anyone started exercising? I got on the elliptical for 20 min today...all I could do before I hyperventilated...lol...quite literally, I have asthma...LOL!!!! I forgot to use my inhaler prior to getting on that beast...oopss!

[MemoryKeeper]

so I just ate a spoon of "natural" peanut butter, and it had sugar! Darn it! Well, I also had a baked pork chop, and about 4 oz of havarti dill cheese. I had a big salad with chicken and bleu cheese dressing for lunch. I have a bad case of the munchies, but see nothing that makes me want to cheat, and yet, everything makes me want to cheat.....so weird!

Enjoy everyone, and keep on the journey!

[SunnyFL]

Jeanette are you close to a Whole Foods? I just use that machine that grinds your own nut butters.
Very yummy!

[SunnyFL]

R1P4D2....157 today, up 4 oz but within my LDW
Curious to see how my body reacts to oatmeal. I usually make it with milk so I suppose I can make it with water then add a splash of cream. I think oatmeal will be for the weekend. Definitely doing some whole grain pasta sometime this week, just a bit

Have a great day ladies!

[BaileysGirl]

P3 Day 21 Still at 201.5 - 2 pounds above my LDW. Same as yesterday. Another day of clean P3 and we'll see what the scale says tomorrow. This entire time I've hoverd OVER my LDW and NEVER BELOW it. So, guess my body likes me at around 200ish? Fine with me! Much better than 218! UGH!!!

The cupcake was delish but to be honest I really don't miss the sugar BUT it looked amazing and my middle name should be CUPCAKE so I had to try! I will probably never escape the carb lover in me! However, I'm really not missing potatoes, pasta, sugar, etc. I could go for a small bag of sour cream & onion chips though! Chips are my weakness! Well, there's always Loading days for those things we miss! I am really impressed with myself that I've stuck it out this long and have not cheated more than I have!

Here's my menu for today:

B - 2 fried eggs sunny side, 1 sausage patty, 2 strips of bacon, mocha capp w/ hwc
L - keilbasa & broccoli w/ cheese
D - taco salad (surprised I've waited this long to make one)
S - apple, peaches n creme

[MemoryKeeper]

Sunny, no Whole Foods close, but our Kroger has a machine, and we have a Fresh Market about 15 minutes away. Pasta sounds good,but I plan on having a Low carb tortilla with those refried beans I never got...

Natasha, you're doing great! I miss chips too and crackers! I had grits with cheese and butter last night and had a .5 increase to 200.0 this morning. I ate a lot so I was happy about the scale. I'm right on the number so I will be careful today.

I went to the doctor, and she encouraged me to really add the starches, so that's why I added the grits last night (not the best choice but I enjoyed it, and it didn't have any sugar). I told her I was scared, but she wanted me to follow the protocol.

I had oatmeal this morning, and it was delicious. I used 100% rolled oats (quick kind) and 2 T of flax meal with 2 T of Ideal brown sugar, and 2-3 T of coconut butter and 1 cup of water. Oh yeah, a touch of salt. It was FANTASTIC!

So, I guess I will see what tomorrow holds.

[BaileysGirl]

Memory - So you're at your 2 lb max window as well? I guess it's not a bad thing. We're not LUCKY like SUNNY and go below our LDW! LOL

Guess I need to go back and read the P4 stuff that was posted.

Star - You mentioned Boxing Day - you must be in Canada, Puerto Rico or the UK/Ireland?? I took a trip to the UK in Dec 2009 - it was so cold and snowing there.

[SunnyFL]

Hey hey....I'm .4 oz above my LDW today!

If you must know it's not luck...I'm just taking is SLOWLY, adding just a bit here and there of carbs which I think is making a huge difference. I haven't even attempted to add sugar yet
I haven't eaten a normal amount of anything yet...just a slice of bread and tonight about 4 tablespoons on mashed potatoes.

I'm sure I will be up more tomorrow as I am having that bit of potatoes with the short ribs my honey is making for dinner. I also had the rest of my hamburger for lunch.

I am also eating less calories because all I have read stresses slow introductions and lowering calories a bit...balancing it all out basically. But I was never one with a huge appetite so the way I am eating now is how I always eat...when you think about it, it does make sense, slow introductions isn't a shock to the body. I would think the body sensing a slam attack amount of carbs literally goes AHHHHHHHH and stores it hence the weight gain lol....I'm averaging around 1750-1800 vs the 2000 - 2500 I was eating on P3.

Tomorrow I will try pasta I think...I literally say a prayer every time I eat a carb LOL

[MemoryKeeper]

Hi ladies! I know what you mean Sunny! I am very afraid of carbs. One of my student's mom gave me some grapes today, and I ate one!

We are doing great, we have to keep hanging in there!

[star a.d.]

BaileysGirl, I'm in canada.

I was up to 218 or so this morning...then TOM showed up. gah. guess I'll see how I do tomorrow morning before I plan a CD!