P3/P4 Simeons Protocol Week of 02/13/12

[Arctic_Mama]

Originally Posted by KarenOhio

Hello (I posted this on the other thread and thought I'd try this one too...)

I'm in my second cycle and started P3 today. I need advice On saturday (my last drop day) I weighed 168. I was pretty happy. That made my window easy... any time I would see 170 or above, would be a correction day. Well, on Sunday I weighed 169. I didn't cheat at all, but thought that maybe I didn't have enough water. Drank lots of water on sunday. Monday morning, I weighed 169.4. I was even more upset. I was really hoping that I'd be 167 (or less) before starting P3. Monday, I drank 180 oz of water. I skipped the melba. I had very little salt and no tomatoes for veggies. (I had a half of a cucumber for lunch and celery for dinner). This morning, one time I stepped on the scale, I actually saw 170???!! I weighed a few more times and settled on 169.4. My question... should I still use 168 as my last weight and 170 as my "window"? Should I use the 169.4?? What is going on??? As I said, today is my first day of P3, and I'm kind of afraid to eat

Thanks for any advice!!!

Karen

Sometimes our weights hang out in the higher half of our ranges for no reason, it can just be hormones or even our cells just sucking up all the nutrients we're giving them to make up for deficiencies in P2. If you're getting enough fat and protein and NOT overdoing it on calories then I wouldn't worry and just do a correction day as needed. But if you cheated in P2, especially, be aware you might not stabilize as easily this round. Eliminating that possibility, I'd say it's just your body.

[brenski]

Hi all, Can I join you? Today is my first day pf P3, thank goodness. I think if I had to eat another meal with cabbage I'd go crazy. My P2 was 33 days and on my LDD I had lost 22 lbs. I lost another 1.5 lbs. on my 2 VLC no dose days. So would I use my LDD weight or the weight from my no dose days? I'm pretty sure it's the LDD weight, but I want to make sure I've got it right. I'm so worried I'm not going to be able to maintaine. Right now I'm not hungry, but I want to eat everything I haven't had for 33 days in one day.

Brenda

[shelbyla]

Originally Posted by KarenOhio

Hello (I posted this on the other thread and thought I'd try this one too...)

I'm in my second cycle and started P3 today. I need advice On saturday (my last drop day) I weighed 168. I was pretty happy. That made my window easy... any time I would see 170 or above, would be a correction day. Well, on Sunday I weighed 169. I didn't cheat at all, but thought that maybe I didn't have enough water. Drank lots of water on sunday. Monday morning, I weighed 169.4. I was even more upset. I was really hoping that I'd be 167 (or less) before starting P3. Monday, I drank 180 oz of water. I skipped the melba. I had very little salt and no tomatoes for veggies. (I had a half of a cucumber for lunch and celery for dinner). This morning, one time I stepped on the scale, I actually saw 170???!! I weighed a few more times and settled on 169.4. My question... should I still use 168 as my last weight and 170 as my "window"? Should I use the 169.4?? What is going on??? As I said, today is my first day of P3, and I'm kind of afraid to eat

Thanks for any advice!!!

Karen

Honey, I had a completely protocol round. 100%. No cheating, 25 days long, switched out my beauty products, dropped steadily my whole round, etc., etc. I even saw the 130's for one day before my first P3 day at EXACTLY 140 (LDW 141.4). After day 1 of P3, I bounced up to 145 and I haven't seen anything lower than 142.5 since that first day. I have been bouncing between 143 and 145 with most of my weights on the higher end of that. Forget about it if I have a drop of alcohol or some nuts or some GY! I am really really struggling here but I think I am coming to the conclusion that my body may be trying to get back to a setpoint of 147 where I was for couple of years. I thought getting to 140 (and really being under 145 for over a week) would prevent it but maybe not. I am trying not to freak out but I am seriously annoyed at this, especially since I struggled through this round. The only thing I can say is that Arctic Mama has a point down there vvvvv. Sometimes it just happens. I say roll with it and see where it goes. Oh and , seriously. I so feel ya...

Originally Posted by Arctic_Mama

Sometimes our weights hang out in the higher half of our ranges for no reason, it can just be hormones or even our cells just sucking up all the nutrients we're giving them to make up for deficiencies in P2. If you're getting enough fat and protein and NOT overdoing it on calories then I wouldn't worry and just do a correction day as needed. But if you cheated in P2, especially, be aware you might not stabilize as easily this round. Eliminating that possibility, I'd say it's just your body.

Yep. This ^^^^^.

Originally Posted by brenski

Hi all, Can I join you? Today is my first day pf P3, thank goodness. I think if I had to eat another meal with cabbage I'd go crazy. My P2 was 33 days and on my LDD I had lost 22 lbs. I lost another 1.5 lbs. on my 2 VLC no dose days. So would I use my LDD weight or the weight from my no dose days? I'm pretty sure it's the LDD weight, but I want to make sure I've got it right. I'm so worried I'm not going to be able to maintaine. Right now I'm not hungry, but I want to eat everything I haven't had for 33 days in one day.

Brenda

LDD--believe me, take the extra wiggle room and run with it! And go SLOOOOW into P3. Trust me, you'll be glad you did, on many fronts. Welcome to P3!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for me, still fighting this dang bounce weight. Down a little from yesterday (0.5 maybe?) but still right at the very tippy top (and even a little over) of my adjusted LDW window. Discouraging but I am going to keep tracking calories and macronutrient ratios and just see if I can spot any patterns. Got in 45 minutes of cardio yesterday too. If anyone has any thoughts, I would sure love to hear them--other than the whole setpoint thing or the "it's just your body" thing. Menu for yesterday...

Protein shake (coconut milk, egg white protein powder) - 300 calories
Coffee with cream/HNH - 200 calories
Salad (avocado, chicken thigh--110g, blue cheese dressing), medium apple - 700 calories
Chicken breast (100g) and cabbage (300g), strawberries - 700 calories

~1900 calories

[KarenOhio]

Thanks for the responses! My reason for being nervous was that I hadn't cheated, and my weight went up before I even had 1 bite of P3. I wasn't sure if I should use my true last dose weight or should I use the new weight (because I was worried that I'd need the correction day after 1 day on p3.. which I guess could happen).

I appreciate the help,

Karen

[Arctic_Mama]

Originally Posted by brenski

Hi all, Can I join you? Today is my first day pf P3, thank goodness. I think if I had to eat another meal with cabbage I'd go crazy. My P2 was 33 days and on my LDD I had lost 22 lbs. I lost another 1.5 lbs. on my 2 VLC no dose days. So would I use my LDD weight or the weight from my no dose days? I'm pretty sure it's the LDD weight, but I want to make sure I've got it right. I'm so worried I'm not going to be able to maintaine. Right now I'm not hungry, but I want to eat everything I haven't had for 33 days in one day.

Brenda

Welcome to the land of respite from VLCD craziness, where atkins induction-style eating suddenly seems like a food party . More seriously, congratulations on your losses! Don't use your non-hCG weights as LDW, just consider it a cushion that you will likely regain as you refeed in P3 and a bonus if you don't. Count your last morning's weight when you dosed with hCG and keep it simple.

Do try to take is slowly on reintroducing foods. The fat from some things like bacon can um... grease the intestinal skids, so to speak? Some foods like nuts and dairy are also inflammation triggers for people and can make stabilizing a challenge, so start slow on those and see what the scale does.

Again, welcome to P3!

[Arctic_Mama]

Well I started my TTap and my weight did indeed go up a bit with muscle inflammation, but it's all good! I'm going to enjoy losing those extra inches even if it means a few pounds of lean gains on the scale. Corrections days for the remainder of this round will only be done if I KNOW I overdid it on food, since I refuse to correct every time I work out hard, even when my food is stellar. That's just crazymaking!

[brenski]

Thanks Shelbyla and artic mama!
I'm trying to take it slow. I don't plan on adding cheese or dairy(except for HWC in my coffee) for at least a week. Right now I'm concentrating on fats, protein and different veggies. Your right about Atkins induction foods. I'm having baked chicken thighs tonight and it feels decadent. And lets not forget about the green beans with butter.

Brenda

[shelbyla]

Originally Posted by brenski

Thanks Shelbyla and artic mama!
I'm trying to take it slow. I don't plan on adding cheese or dairy(except for HWC in my coffee) for at least a week. Right now I'm concentrating on fats, protein and different veggies. Your right about Atkins induction foods. I'm having baked chicken thighs tonight and it feels decadent. And lets not forget about the green beans with butter.

Brenda

A woman completely after my own heart! This exactly is always my first P3 meal and my last loading meal. I don't know how I ever lived without having a fridge full of roasted chicken thighs...

[shelbyla]

Originally Posted by KarenOhio

Thanks for the responses! My reason for being nervous was that I hadn't cheated, and my weight went up before I even had 1 bite of P3. I wasn't sure if I should use my true last dose weight or should I use the new weight (because I was worried that I'd need the correction day after 1 day on p3.. which I guess could happen).

I appreciate the help,

Karen

I see what you mean. I WOULD continue to use your official LDW but if you are up on your first P3 day, I wouldn't correct that day but wait until the 3rd day for your system to regulate (so not day 1 of P3 or day 2, but day 3). Frequently, if you don't have the...er...intestinal distress...that A-M mentions, you have the opposite issue--you are "filling up" again after being long empty which can take a little time for your body to sort through. That's my thought anyway although if you read the above, it may be biting me on the butt this round...

[KarenOhio]

Thank you I'm feeling better. It was just so frustrating. I'm excited to be in P3 today. I feel so full!!! For valentines day (and for the first day in P3), hubby (who's been on plan too) and I are going to have 'cauliflower crust pizza' tonight. We had it last time, and it is AWESOME! We are going to go light on the cheese... I agree, P3 seems so easy (relatively) after p2. You can finally go out to eat again (and actually eat something).

Karen

[ThinLisy]

Originally Posted by brenski

Hi all, Can I join you? Today is my first day pf P3, thank goodness. I think if I had to eat another meal with cabbage I'd go crazy. My P2 was 33 days and on my LDD I had lost 22 lbs. I lost another 1.5 lbs. on my 2 VLC no dose days. So would I use my LDD weight or the weight from my no dose days? I'm pretty sure it's the LDD weight, but I want to make sure I've got it right. I'm so worried I'm not going to be able to maintaine. Right now I'm not hungry, but I want to eat everything I haven't had for 33 days in one day.

Brenda

Hi!

Today is my first p3 day as well. I lost 22 pounds as well!! but my round was longer (42).

My first day has been different from what I had anticipated, I'm hungry!!! I thought I was gonna feel just like during loading, but today has been totally different.

You all have a great dinner

[garnet10]

Tomorrow I start my interruption!! I cannot wait to open my Fage Total full fat Greek yogurt, add some frozen strawberries, and enjoy this delicious, luscious treat; and my DH went out tonight to pick up heavy cream for me (because he'd been using it himself!) and I'll need it for my coffee tomorrow morning.

I know I will be having a chef's salad for lunch, I just have to plan out what dinner will be. My plan is to enjoy as many vegetables as possible during this interruption--my best P3's & P4's involved lots of veggies and not just all protein and fat.

See all of you on P3 tomorrow! Enjoy!

[ThinLisy]

Good morning all
I really want to today!!!

I started P3 yesterday, being my first p3 I was nervous, but because I did everything as protocol advised I trusted I was gonna be ok... well, NO! Yesterday I ate salmon, tuna, egg white shake and vegetables (lettuces) (garlic, onion, pepper for flavor) (avocado) and chayote.

My LDW was 167.4 last VLCD day I was down to 166.6 and today morning I'm up to 169 ... I did everything I was supposed to do, so now what?

I hope you guys had a better morning

[brenski]

Originally Posted by ThinLisy

Good morning all
I really want to today!!!

I started P3 yesterday, being my first p3 I was nervous, but because I did everything as protocol advised I trusted I was gonna be ok... well, NO! Yesterday I ate salmon, tuna, egg white shake and vegetables (lettuces) (garlic, onion, pepper for flavor) (avocado) and chayote.

My LDW was 167.4 last VLCD day I was down to 166.6 and today morning I'm up to 169 ... I did everything I was supposed to do, so now what?

I hope you guys had a better morning

Good morning! I was up 1.4 lbs. this morning. I'm still within my range, but it is making me nervous. Being it was our first day I don't think I would freak out just yet. It could be your body just saying what the heck is all this food. I'm going drink lots of water today (I didn't yesterday) and really monitor what is going in my mouth. My dh didn't help much last night when he was trying to push a third chicken thigh at me. I didn't eat it, but I did eat the skin. I save the rest for my lunch today.

Hang in there I'm sure you didn't eat enough calories to gain 2.4 lbs.

[BaileysGirl]

Morning Ladies! Day 1 of P4 for me and weighed in at 191 so only 1 pound above LDW. I was so nervous b/c I was up to 192 yesterday.

Brenda - If that's your dog, he's a cutie esp with the snow on his face! Darling!

Lisy - I've went up like that one day and the next day was back down 2 pounds just eating regular P3. Doesn't look you ate too much based on your weight to gain that much. You never know what it can be with this diet. You could do a CD today, if not the longer you wait the worse it could get and be able to get control of. Good luck I know it's hard.

[LaraSuzz]

I'm all over the place. Doing another freaking CD.
Stupid steak day. and I havent had any starch or sugar which is even more annoying.

[shelbyla]

Originally Posted by shelbyla

Honey, I had a completely protocol round. 100%. No cheating, 25 days long, switched out my beauty products, dropped steadily my whole round, etc., etc. I even saw the 130's for one day before my first P3 day at EXACTLY 140 (LDW 141.4). After day 1 of P3, I bounced up to 145 and I haven't seen anything lower than 142.5 since that first day.

Originally Posted by ThinLisy

I really want to today!!!

My LDW was 167.4 last VLCD day I was down to 166.6 and today morning I'm up to 169 ... I did everything I was supposed to do, so now what?

Originally Posted by brenski

Good morning! I was up 1.4 lbs. this morning. I'm still within my range, but it is making me nervous. Hang in there I'm sure you didn't eat enough calories to gain 2.4 lbs.

Guys...see above! I gained 4.8 pounds my first day of P3. Hang in there! You are still within range. Your insides are empty and they are filling back up again. It happens! Hold on!

[brenski]

[QUOTE=BaileysGirl;15418258]Morning Ladies!

Brenda - If that's your dog, he's a cutie esp with the snow on his face! Darling!


Natasha- Yes that's my Chase. He just turned 9 months on Monday. That was the first time he had seen snow and let me tell you he loved it.

Shelby- Thanks! I figured it was just my body reacting to all the extra food. I'll see how it goes tomorrow. I'm glad I had the extra cushion from my no dose days.

[ThinLisy]

Originally Posted by BaileysGirl

Morning Ladies! Day 1 of P4 for me and weighed in at 191 so only 1 pound above LDW. I was so nervous b/c I was up to 192 yesterday.

Brenda - If that's your dog, he's a cutie esp with the snow on his face! Darling!

Lisy - I've went up like that one day and the next day was back down 2 pounds just eating regular P3. Doesn't look you ate too much based on your weight to gain that much. You never know what it can be with this diet. You could do a CD today, if not the longer you wait the worse it could get and be able to get control of. Good luck I know it's hard.

Originally Posted by shelbyla

Guys...see above! I gained 4.8 pounds my first day of P3. Hang in there! You are still within range. Your insides are empty and they are filling back up again. It happens! Hold on!

Thank you ladies! I know I have to be patient, but I'm so scared to gain this weight back. I'll keep my chin up and eat what I have to eat.

Natasha you are doing great!

[garnet10]

Really weird, that me, of all people, was down another pound today to 123.0. I haven't been this weight since before I met my husband, over 22 years ago! Oddly enough, this has been my most successful round at weight loss, coming right after a really terrible part of the round, where I stalled for 10 whole days and felt totally demoralized by how slow things were going.

I'm not sure if the Contouring Gel is contributing to the weight loss, but I know that now that I started my P3/interruption today I will go right back up, because that is historically what happens.

Enjoyed my Fage yogurt this morning with frozen raspberries, and heavy cream in my coffee. So nice to enjoy coffee again!

Originally Posted by ThinLisy

Good morning all
I really want to today!!!

I started P3 yesterday, being my first p3 I was nervous, but because I did everything as protocol advised I trusted I was gonna be ok... well, NO! Yesterday I ate salmon, tuna, egg white shake and vegetables (lettuces) (garlic, onion, pepper for flavor) (avocado) and chayote.

My LDW was 167.4 last VLCD day I was down to 166.6 and today morning I'm up to 169 ... I did everything I was supposed to do, so now what?

I hope you guys had a better morning

Oh, I have been there!!! All I can say is that it all somehow works out in the end. Hang in there, start checking calorie content and drink lots of fluids. After one round I was "the incredible gaining woman". I could not stabilize to save my life, despite doing the same things with each round. I wish I had cut that P3 short, because it was just a disaster. But then I had another round where I noticed I stabilized about 4 pounds over my LDW.

Take it one day at a time. I know the frustration.

Originally Posted by LaraSuzz

I'm all over the place. Doing another freaking CD.
Stupid steak day. and I havent had any starch or sugar which is even more annoying.

I had a round (described above) where I think every other day was a CD, and I started to feel unwell because I wasn't eating many veggies. I hope things work out for you soon. It is so darn frustrating to do everything right and not have the scale comply.


To be honest, I wish, on that round, when I was correcting over and over, that I had cut P3/P4 short and restarted the VLCD. I lost a lot of ground because I stubbornly felt I had to complete the 3 weeks of P3, when I could not stop gaining.

But, we all ultimately learn what works for our bodies--I am much less rigid now about following protocol once I learned that despite what Simeons wrote I could not "eat whatever I liked" (within reason of course, it was still not possible), and I did not experience the reshaping he described.

I wasted an entire round doing CD's two days in a row, every 2 days, etc. It was a nightmare. I'll never do that again!

[LaraSuzz]

Thanks Garnet, it's just so scary I dont want to ket it get out of control.

I was thinking steak day but might be able to do an egg day, who has had good losses on an egg day? Anyone?

[dbunny]

to all of us that are struggling today! Just remember the rule. If you are more than 2 pounds over LDW, do a correction day. I am exactly at 2 pounds over, so eating simple today and hoping it brings me back down. I drank a large portion of a bottle of wine last night, so I think I can pinpoint the culprit .
I have been eating this wonderful shake every morning, which consists of 1 + cups of frozen strawberries, a half a bag of spinach, 1 1/2 cup of Fage (0%) heavy cream, water, and stevia. The mister and I have it for breakfast - I am secretly making him eat lower carb/sugar/starch, and it is actually helping his acid reflux.
I used to drink egg creams all the time, but the raw eggs make my stomach hurt sometimes. Great way to get protein in without cooking.

[Spesh2012]

Originally Posted by shelbyla

We are increasing his protein to 3x per day, not measuring veggies, and replacing the grissini with 1/4 to 1/2c of brown rice. Probably closer to OWL than Simeons but anyone who works out as much as he does is going to hit the wall on 500 calories...

Shelby, do you do these changes only on the days he works out or is this everyday?

I ask because I workout with a trainer 3x a week and it's a pretty intense workout (for me). I'm huffing and puffing and covered in sweat by the time I'm done. I'm starting my 4th round on Saturday (it's been about a year since my last round) and I'm super nervous about doing P2 WITH exercise.

Stopping my sessions isn't an option because they are prepaid and I share the trainer with a co-worker so if I stop, then she has to stop and that's just not fair to her so I will continue, but I'm totally freaked out! LOL

I was thinking of doubling my protein on workout days and instead of the grissini, eating like a 1/2 c, sweet potato after my workouts. I'm so scared though!

[garnet10]

What the heck is going on today! I thought I would be nice and full, eating 8 oz full fat Fage and heavy cream in my coffee this morning, and yet by 11:30 I was really starting to feel like I needed to have lunch!

I'll try to eat a bigger breakfast tomorrow. I just had my chef's salad for lunch, and now I'm hoping I can make it through work until I can eat dinner!


[QUOTE=dbunny;15418835I have been eating this wonderful shake every morning, which consists of 1 + cups of frozen strawberries, a half a bag of spinach, 1 1/2 cup of Fage (0%) heavy cream, water, and stevia. The mister and I have it for breakfast - I am secretly making him eat lower carb/sugar/starch, and it is actually helping his acid reflux.
I used to drink egg creams all the time, but the raw eggs make my stomach hurt sometimes. Great way to get protein in without cooking.[/QUOTE]

That's a great idea for the shake! I had been having for dinner every day during the VLCD something similar using the non-fat cottage cheese in place of the Fage and heavy cream. It's a great way to get spinach in. I'm glad you posted this, because I didn't even think of this for P3. I will probably throw in 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa with Truvia to get a bit of a chocolatey flavor.

Has your husband been tested for Celiac? Mine had acid reflux which completely resolved when he was diagnosed and switched to eating gluten-free. I only ask because if eating low carb helps, it might be because he is eating less gluten.

[shelbyla]

He exercises everyday or almost every day so he increases it every day. I worked out throughout my rounds but not super hard. You MIGHT be able to do it on the VLC--give it a try. If you do decide to increase protein on your workout days, I would only increase your protein at the meal AFTER your workout. I would also eat the carbs BEFORE your workout to give yourself the best available energy.

[Spesh2012]

Thank you, Shelby! That is great advice!!!

I will eat the sweet potato BEFORE my workout and will double up my protein with dinner. That makes much more sense!

[C'Marie]

STEAK DAY for me
Oh well. Up 1.2 from yesterday's 1.6 from LIW so I am 2.8 above -----

Hnh in my coffee and I'm getting ready for clients. I have some pre-cooked steak (grilled myself) so if I am starving I may have a little for "lunch" and then a bigger serving for dinner.

[LaraSuzz]

C'Marie, how many pounds do you usually loose on a steak day with hnh in your coffee? Coffee really sounds good right now....

[moonriver]

Originally Posted by LaraSuzz

Thanks Garnet, it's just so scary I dont want to ket it get out of control.

I was thinking steak day but might be able to do an egg day, who has had good losses on an egg day? Anyone?

Me! I have lost 2 to 2.5 lbs the last few times I've done egg days.

[LaraSuzz]

Hmm not bad Moon~... I wish I'd thought of egg day for breakfast. I can always do that when I get home or tomorrow. Thanks.