Hcg Rogues and Alternatives 2/20/12

[minimonkey]

Well, no shipping confirmation today, though it was supposed to ship -- this happened last time as well, and I got the confirmation a couple days after the ship date -- so not worried yet --

If it turns out that I have a delay I will probably do hhcg during the break, or maybe do a couple of fat fast days.

I'll find a way to manage it, one way or the other -- I just hate the thought of transitioning on and off the hcg if I don't have to. I am pretty sure I can get the full dosing minimum in, in any event.

[minimonkey]

Well -- day 14 complete. I think I came in a little closer to 600 calories than 500, but that's fine.

I also think I am going to do a mostly protein day tomorrow -- my GI tract is hating me for all this fiber and next-to-no fat-- I should probably do okay with protein and a few berries though.

My energy is really low tonight, but I think that is emotional more than physical -- all this thesis nonsense is really starting to hurt on a deep, fundamental level -- I'm pretty devastated by the whole thing.

[ellenalesa]

Hi Mini....

I completed my thesis last fall. It was TOUGH, but totally worth it. And the great thing is, unlike housework, you NEVER have to do it again!

I can totally relate to the stress, tho. I am not a big TV watcher, but when I was doing the thesis, I used to watch 4-6 hours of TV at a clip, just to decompress.

One thing that helps is to remember that the people in charge WANT you to succeed. Think about it; it doesn't make them look good if you don't!

I think the thesis was the hardest thing I have ever done. Running the experiment was fun, but analyzing the data was tough. And experiencing the fear that it wouldn't be good enough was VERY draining.

YOU will be fine. Just look at how successful you have been with other things...

xo

Ellen

[dazygyrl]

well, i'm convinced veggies/salads hate me. ella picked subway to eat instead of mcd's. now you would THINK that a salad would be a better choice than nuggets. well, after several trips to the bathroom after eating my salad last night, i was only down 0.2 today and i *think* i was lower in cals than i was the day before. hard to know as i don't know how much cheese and dressing she put on it. but i didn't eat my all of my high fat yogurt b/c of not knowing how much of the other she put on my salad, so i'm pretty sure i was below 800 cals. and still only down 0.2. huumph....

so will be interesting to see what tomorrow's weight is with no veggies, my 800 cals, and most all protein and fat (i do just a wee bit of grains as granola on my yogurt).

[julieboolie]

Morning girls!!

Carrie-I think my body used to react the same way!! Not sure why, but I seemed to do better w/ fewer veggies! Hope tomorrow is better! How long have you been at it?

Mini- I know how stress and emotions can affect the scale and our choices. you're doing great sticking to plan while under this load!

Thanks Cheryl! My new nephew is adoarable! And my SIL is walking around and feels great - she's truly amazing!! Very fit and works out daily, even up to her due date, which is inspiring!! Hope your doggie made out ok at the vet!

Dh is taking his car in to the mechanic now. He thinks his transmission is going, or something worse!! ARGH!! Only 60K miles on his car!! He's supposed to have the more reliable one (mine has 140K but still runs great). there's always something competing with our "pay down the debt" plan!! Ok, vent over. Part of life, we all have it, just bummed.

I'm down 0.6 today, to 155. Almost back to LDW of last round (154). I'd really like to get down lower this round, and I think I should. I'm trying to workout a few times a week, as time and energy allows, and think that is helping At least it's not hurting. I'm usually down the day after. I've got 9 more VLC days (at least) and hope to lose another few lbs. We'll see. I'm due for a stall I'm sure. I'm not going to stress the scale this round. I'll get where I get and then I'm really excited to work on stabilizing. Trying to look at it like the most important phase and take it more seriously. I need to get past my sense of entitilement I seem to have once I hit P3/P4. I feel like cheating and indulging is my fair due at that point. I need to accept that if I really do this right. I should have an easier life ahead. Pep talks really help. Gotta' keep telling myself this!!

Have a great day all!!

[dazygyrl]

thanks, julie...today is day 3 of taking hcg and 800 cals w/ fat.

[hikergurl]

Originally Posted by minimonkey

My energy is really low tonight, but I think that is emotional more than physical -- all this thesis nonsense is really starting to hurt on a deep, fundamental level -- I'm pretty devastated by the whole thing.

Sorry, Mini. Hang in there! It will be so worth it in the end.

Originally Posted by julieboolie

I'm down 0.6 today, to 155. Almost back to LDW of last round (154). I'd really like to get down lower this round, and I think I should. I'm trying to workout a few times a week, as time and energy allows, and think that is helping At least it's not hurting. I'm usually down the day after. I've got 9 more VLC days (at least) and hope to lose another few lbs. We'll see. I'm due for a stall I'm sure. I'm not going to stress the scale this round. I'll get where I get and then I'm really excited to work on stabilizing. Trying to look at it like the most important phase and take it more seriously. I need to get past my sense of entitilement I seem to have once I hit P3/P4. I feel like cheating and indulging is my fair due at that point. I need to accept that if I really do this right. I should have an easier life ahead. Pep talks really help. Gotta' keep telling myself this!!

Boy, do I hear ya there. I do really well during P3, but once P4 hits, I tend to think I can eat whatever I want especially on the weekends. Then I spend all week doing correction days trying to get back down. That works at first, but then after a few weeks the weight doesn't come off so quickly. I want this to be my final round so I need to figure out a lifetime maintenance plan that works for me.

I stayed the same this morning at 167.4. I'm really hoping to get down to 165 by Sunday. Trying to figure out if there is anything different I can do to accomplish that. I'm feeling really good though. I love the feeling of "lightness" while on P2. My tummy is flat, I'm not bloated or retaining water, I have lots of energy.

Have a great day!

[julieboolie]

Hiker-you can do it! 2 lbs will help w/ maintaining. I always gain to the top of my range my first few days of P3. It's so annoying. Then I wrestle w. a 2lb range instead of enjoying a 4lb range like those luck people who lose below LDW! I'd really like a round where I lose below LDW! Hope that's how you end up!!

I feel lightheaded today . Almost passed out getting up a while ago. This is usually how I feel at the end of a round - getting depleted as I go along. Maybe it's b/c I pushed it too much yesterday exercising - heart rate over 180 . I just had a few strawberries and will have lunch soon. Sigh. I don't like when I start to get weaker . Hope the vits help-been taking them faithfully this round - iron, multi, biotin, mag, cal, potass). Sigh.

[catjrow3]

Originally Posted by hikergurl

I stayed the same this morning at 167.4. I'm really hoping to get down to 165 by Sunday. Trying to figure out if there is anything different I can do to accomplish that. I'm feeling really good though. I love the feeling of "lightness" while on P2. My tummy is flat, I'm not bloated or retaining water, I have lots of energy.

Have a great day!

Hiker, how tall are you? I liked the flat belly feeling in P2 too! Hated the rest though

Originally Posted by julieboolie

I feel lightheaded today . Almost passed out getting up a while ago. This is usually how I feel at the end of a round - getting depleted as I go along. Maybe it's b/c I pushed it too much yesterday exercising - heart rate over 180 . I just had a few strawberries and will have lunch soon. Sigh. I don't like when I start to get weaker . Hope the vits help-been taking them faithfully this round - iron, multi, biotin, mag, cal, potass). Sigh.

Julie, I would get like this too, light headed. are you drinking lots of water? I find that helps a little along with the potassium... maybe put in just a few extra calories in the morning it continues. Maybe a hard boiled egg or something? A little fat free yogurt... just a thought..

[julieboolie]

Cat-thanks! I had some strawberries and felt a bit better. I am glad it took this long to get to this phase. I thind I will be fine. I just can tell I'm getting depleted. I think I'll add some additional potassium and iron and probably dial back my exercise to walking from now on. At least until P3. I like wanting to workout harder and hope that feeling doesn't leave.

I just had lunch. Cabbage and steak - yum!! I'm actually really enjoying my P2 foods this round. Shocking!! I'm making soup now in the crockpot. Chicken sausage and spinach in homemade chicken stock. Hope the soup will fill me up. I think I'm done w/ P2 chili for a while. Kinda' lost interest in it. Finished what I had on hand last night. I'm in a chick lettuce wrap, steak w/ cabbage kinda zone these days!

[minimonkey]

Ellen --

I've written a thesis in psychology before, and that experience was NOTHING like this! I worked with my committee -- wrote the 150 pages, added a few appendices, etc. -- made a few changes along the way according to one reader or another, and I was done. It was hard, but it wasn't torture in any way.

This is a different animal -- I have two people who have radically different ideas of what I should be writing -- and I do mean radically! -- and neither of them is willing to back down. This isn't about me succeeding, it is about competing interests and egos. Yes, ultimately they want me to succeed, but there is no concrete definition of what success means --

This is the problem with interdisciplinary work -- people from different areas/disciplines then not to see eye to eye.


What type of graduate work did you do? It sounds like a science, given that you ran an experiment. Congratulations on finishing it!!!

[tay65]

hi everyone! Move in done and now getting everything unpacked. Lost a couple things & can't find them anywhere! I hate that!
My back and legs hurt like heck so I'm not much help around here unpacking. My dd is a lifesaver!
You all are doing great! KUTGW!

[minimonkey]

Julie --- I am getting drained too -- real hcg notwithstanding. I am doing pretty much protein today and a little bit of fat -- and I may well up the calories to around 750-800. I had my full 500 calories for my first meal. If I can stand to keep it at that, I will -- but if I need some more protein later, I will eat it.

Veggies hate me as well, unless I am eating some fat -- they freak my GI tract out completely (even with enzymes and probiotics and such) --

I got on the scale, and even with TOM in full force, it is down a little -- so that is encouraging. I clearly have some water retention going on at the moment.

I'll definitely be sticking as close to protocol as I can stand through next week, which will be the end of the minimum round -- and then I guess I will play the second leg of it by ear.

I still don't know if the hcg will be here in time to continue seamlessly or not -- if it is, then I will probably just roll with it, but I may well go to an 800 calorie protocol if I have to (at least some days) and see how that treats me.

I think I am shooting for 100 as a goal -- meaning calling LDW around 97 or so -- my body doesn't seem to want to drop much lower than it is now, and I don't want to set myself up for a maintenance nightmare. I think I will be pretty happy at 100, especially after things tighten back up a bit.

Of course, if I get another good round of losses, and another wave of energy, I'll reconsider.

[DisneyPrincess]

Stopping in to say hello while I have 5 out of 6 kids asleep. Me and DS had a rough night. He kept waki up and wanted me in bed with him. Um, he sleeps in a race car bed! I was not going to fit. Then he woke up a bunch of times and wanted me to rock him. He's so distraught without his daddy

Juice cleanse day 1 going well. I have a slight headache and im tired but that could easily be from my lack of sleep. I'm not hungry at all which is good.

[minimonkey]

Lol about the race car bed, Disney! You are little, but not quite *that* tiny!

On a serious note, it makes me so sad to think of you and your son having to manage without your husband -- that has to be one of the toughest things a person could go through.

BTW --your "highest" weight stat isn't that bad at all -- I was at 125 this summer -- and honestly I didn't look terrible at that weight.

I felt chunky by my own standards, but in objective terms, I certainly wasn't fat -- and neither are you, I promise!

[minimonkey]

Tay--- congrats on getting the moving done -- WHEW! That is a ton of work. Thank goodness for your DD!!!!

Julie -- congrats on your success so far this round -- so glad it got you back to where you want to be on the scale! Now, may we both have wonderful success with maintenance this time around -- we both just need to be done with this dieting business once and for all!

[Sasseaux]

Prayers for Hiker's dad and Cheryl's housing!!

Yesterday was my birthday and I had a steak and it was so worth it. I had about 1200 calories yesterday. Scale stayed the same (up to 160 for the time being ugh) I exercised today and am sure it will come off in a few days.

I feel hungry. Think I will eat my leftover 2 oz. of steak now. Yum.

[catjrow3]

Originally Posted by Sasseaux

Prayers for Hiker's dad and Cheryl's housing!!

Yesterday was my birthday and I had a steak and it was so worth it. I had about 1200 calories yesterday. Scale stayed the same (up to 160 for the time being ugh) I exercised today and am sure it will come off in a few days.

I feel hungry. Think I will eat my leftover 2 oz. of steak now. Yum.

Happy Birthday a day late! Hope you had a great day!!

[julieboolie]

Sass!! Glad you enjoyed your steak!! That's doing great for a bday celebration!! you're strong. No way I could do P2 for my bday!!

[hikergurl]

Originally Posted by catjrow3

Hiker, how tall are you? I liked the flat belly feeling in P2 too! Hated the rest though

I'm pretty tall at 5'11". I'm currently sitting at the lowest weight I've been since I had my daughter 21 years ago. I definitely feel like my body doesn't want to go much lower. However, my hips and thighs still have "abnormal" fat on them, so I'm not sure how to deal with that if not with HCG.

Originally Posted by Sasseaux

Prayers for Hiker's dad and Cheryl's housing!!

Yesterday was my birthday and I had a steak and it was so worth it. I had about 1200 calories yesterday. Scale stayed the same (up to 160 for the time being ugh) I exercised today and am sure it will come off in a few days.

Happy birthday (belated)!

[MaryMouse49]

Hey everyone, been loading last 3 days, and man I can't wait to start round 3, wed... I have felt like crap for 3 days. I thought I was going to gag a few times and its weird, I ate a brownie 2 days ago and stopped after 1, not the normal me, I would have eaten the whole pan, the desire is so much less, that tells me hcg is working on some level LOL. I do have a question, not sure if I should go rouge or not this round, I might just do protocol first 2 weeks to get a head start, beside I have to many cukes in the fridge anyways. good luck to everyone this week. Mary

[ellenalesa]

Just poppin in to say hi, wish Sass a Happy Birthday...Cheryl, good luck w/your housing...happy losses to everyone. Finishing loading today...ate lotsa LC cheesecake...sweet Italian sausage, had turkey, cheese and bacon w/mayo on a collard green...sausage and peppers tonite. May try to fit in some hummus...but feeling so full from the high fat!

[julieboolie]

Ellen and Mary-enjoy the last few hours of loading!! Sounds delicious to me!!

[DisneyPrincess]

Originally Posted by minimonkey

Lol about the race car bed, Disney! You are little, but not quite *that* tiny!

On a serious note, it makes me so sad to think of you and your son having to manage without your husband -- that has to be one of the toughest things a person could go through.

BTW --your "highest" weight stat isn't that bad at all -- I was at 125 this summer -- and honestly I didn't look terrible at that weight.

I felt chunky by my own standards, but in objective terms, I certainly wasn't fat -- and neither are you, I promise!

Yes mini it is hard. It was ok last deployment because Ds was only 10 months old when dad left. Now at 2 he knows his daddy is gone and he isn't happy. He's miserable. We'll make it but I hope my son doesn't end up being shy wi his dad when he gets home. We'll see I guess

Well I dunno mini- I'm not working out so I'm sure our 120s look a bit different. My fat jeans are tight and my regular clothes are not fitting right now. I'm wearing fat jeans and larg sweat shirts and t-shirts. I want my wardrobe back! Lol
I'll get there, we all will

[RileyWorm]

Hello girls,
Just popping into say Hi!
I'm just cruising through on a high fat P3, trying to lose a little on my own. It's slowly working, as long as I keep my fat ratios high. Still working on that bump up from Valentine's Day, but it's all good.
I am reading and keeping up with everyone for the most part, but trying to limit my time on here. I was becoming addicted and neglecting everything else!

[hikergurl]

Have any of you lovely ladies done a fat fast while on P2? I'm not really stalling, but I'm just curious to try it. I've got 5 days left of shots and would love to drop another 2-3 pounds. I'm totally sick of P2 foods and the fat fast appeals to me, at least to try for a day or two, and then have a few more VLCD days before moving into P3. What do you guys think? Pros...cons?

[mdolph]

Wanted to stop in and say hi!

Sass- happy belated bday! You totally deserved that steak!

Hiker- sorry to hear about your dad. As for the fat fast in p2 I know mini and someone else did great with it.

Julie- I hate that light headed feel!

Disney and Cathy- I feel your pain right now. I'm not going into details but I can honestly say I have NEVER been this bad. Yes I know I need to get help. I'm getting there.

Mini- wow a loss with TOM? Good for you!

And Cheryl, where are you?

Everyone else I promise I'll be better about personals. I'm just swamped today!

As for me I'm down 1.8 but still up quite a bit (4 since this weekend and 6 over my lowest weight). Today was a bad day, I'll leave it at that, but I'm not fearing the scale. On a good note I got 4.5 miles in on the scale without any leg pain! I could have pushed another half easily but I was trying to be good!

Ok, trying to get a science fair project together!

[CherylB]

Melanie, I fear to ask what you mean by that. Sass, Happy Belated Birthday! You should have blabbed sooner. We love to throw cyber B-day parties!

Melanie, I'm in a very bad way. I have my "daily note" updated. I had surgery set for my dog for Thursday but tonight I called and cancelled it. I want a second opinion. I'm going to call another Vet in my town and see if they can see her tomorrow. I just can't afford to pay over $1K for what essentially is a "tail docking." I have no indication that this growth is cancerous. I was just going to do what I thought would be the best thing for her.

So, I'm in a downward spiral and I am once again in a quandary. I don't understand why I can't get through a single month of saving every penny and let it actually accumulate into something I can do something with (like for moving.) I feel cursed. That is exactly how I feel. I can't accomplish what I am trying to accomplish and no matter how hard I try to get a "leg up", it comes to nothing.

So that is why I'm making myself scarce. I have ZERO to contribute right now. I have no idea what I weigh but I've been drinking wine and eating pizza and Chinese food for days. It can't be pretty. Sad thing is I just don't give a rat's @$$. In the larger scheme of things, if I can't control the money or keep my dog well, what control do I have over ANYTHING????

[shirleychef]

Ok.... big hugs all around. and I just went back after reading and prayed for each of you! So many struggles and sweet victories along the way...

Hope tomorrow is filled with peace, joy, and some special surprise that will put a smile on your faces!

[minimonkey]

Cheryl -- sorry about your dog, and the expense involved! You know you always contribute just by being here -- we miss you when you are gone Lots of prayers for you.

Sorry, too, that you jumped ship on the diet -- but you can always get back to it when things settle down. Big hugs!