~~ Rogue HCG/hHCG plans for week of June 25, 2012 ~~

[minimonkey]

So, on another totally insomniac night, I thought I'd pop over to the Atkins boards just to gear myself up for the possibility of Atkins induction .... man, that place is DEAD now -- as in very, very few people posting in the induction section. That makes me rather sad -- back in the day, the Atkins boards were hoppin' -- but I guess a lot of folks have moved on to other plans, and the ones who found that it worked for them have gone on to live low carb lives with no need to post. Seems like half the known universe has gone on to JUDDD, lol.

Well, so be it -- it isn't as if I don't know the basics of Atkins backwards, forwards, and upside down -- though with all the different versions of Atkins, I am not sure what the current induction plan looks like.... I may need to find a refresher course on that one.

When I decide to do induction, I will probably just stick to the basics ... less than 20 grams of carbs, easy on the dairy, no nuts at first, and no frankenfoods -- if I can get the fat coming off that way, I'll see what I can eat in terms of things like flax, coconut, and so forth....

I really hope that does the trick. Atkins is such a diet refuge for me -- I love a diet where I really, genuinely don't have to be hungry. I am so darn tired of being hungry.

[EmBee]

MiniMonkey did you see the recipe???

Good Morning everyone... down another .6 pounds this AM. I guess that doing a few days away of P2 and just fat and protein made a big difference because once I started back on protocol the scale is moving again...YAY!

Now onto another heat filled day of 102deg. Keeping the blinds close to help !

[keepingcupsfull]

Originally Posted by CherylB

Okay. I know I'm totally not connected with y'all tonight cause I haven't been keeping up with all the talk about blackheads and pimple squeezing, but it's not because I don't love you. But I have one more thing to say before I go to bed.

I tried the curling iron my neighbor loaned me and I can't believe how perfectly it works! I don't even have to do my entire head! Just the top and back and side and the lower parts of the sides and back and my bangs can stay natural. It won't take long at all to look rather attractive.

Will take pics! Please let me know if any of you were able to see that comedy program. It would be great to know for the future.

Glad it worked out with the smaller barrel. My bestie is a stylist so she has taught or at least tried to teach me some of her tricks. Can't wait to see pics.


I know Dr. S said not to use hair dye during P2. Has anyone tried it? I have a hair appointment during p2 for " the works" and I don't want to reschedule as I need the girlfriend time too.


Load pounds are finally gone. So here's to a new low. Tomorrow?? I decided to stop counting vlcd days as it was not helping me to count them as I will continue till my body says no more. It. Won't be more than 40 days I can't take it that long. 10 mile walk in already for the day. I hope the increased miles don't show up on the scale just yet as I really want to see a new low.


I'm no help on the skin care front as I have never had a breakout. But I do have wrinkles by my eyes. Or krinkles as I call them. So i believe it to be true that if you have breakouts or oily skin you have less wrinkles.
Does anyone use an eye cream that they love?

Off to take my daughter driving. Ugh. Not sure I'm cut out to teach her. Good thing she has an instuctor as well. She still needs 60 hours with me too..

Enjoy your weekend everyone
Bee

[verbqueen]

Morning, ladies. Looks like we have some excellent weight loss going on here. Wtg, Bee and EmBee (wow--that's a lot of Bees on one page, ya know! )

Bee, I have "krinkles," too, and they don't bother me a bit. Those are caused by smiling, after all! I use Retin-A, and have for years, and I LOVE it. I have a scrip for it, but I usually pick some up when I am traveling outside the US, because it is SO much cheaper in other countries.

Still haven't weighed in, but I awoke feeling thinner. But as always happens with the rapid losses of hcg, I'm feeling soft and spongey. It's always my upper arms and lower abs that show it--my skin looks like that balloon you were trying to save when you were a little kid, but the next morning when you woke up, it was shriveled and soft, haha.

But I can fix that later, right? (Although I know that at 55, my days of tight, taut skin are probably over...) At any rate, I am continuing my regular routine of upper body dumbbell work while I wait for the coffeemaker or the microwave--my so-called kitchen gym. But I think I'm going to need some heavy lifting after this round is over.

Mini, I feel the same way as you do about Atkins! It's my port in the storm--a way to eat that is as easy and comfortable to me as an old, soft t-shirt and that I know so well I can do without thinking too hard about it. The trouble is, I don't lose that way any more. But still, it's so good to know there's a way to eat that I really enjoy and that won't make me gain.

[EmBee]

Okay guys I now doing PEACH Ice Cream...I am addicted I better stop soon hahahahah. I get so excited when I find a healthy recipe I like...I go crazy hahahaha. If you do the peach make sure you add nutmeg and almond extract...drooools

[EmBee]

I don't know if everyone has tried this or not...but I figured out one of my "stall" points in P2...Tomatoes. I have now figured out how to over come this... If tomato is included in my meal it has to count as my fruit....when I do this...VOILA, stall overcome

[Crazy PreK Teacher]

Originally Posted by EmBee

Okay guys I now doing PEACH Ice Cream...I am addicted I better stop soon hahahahah. I get so excited when I find a healthy recipe I like...I go crazy hahahaha. If you do the peach make sure you add nutmeg and almond extract...drooools

Are you in P2? Or are you P3? All these ice creams sure sound good...but they surely would kill me during P2...LOL I am gonna definitely make 1 (or 2) during P3

[anir]

im new today is my r1 vlcd4
start 169.8
today 166.6
the first two days of loading was great i love it
but my first to days of vlcd was hard
i was hangry headach
today im okay sooo far

[Crazy PreK Teacher]

Originally Posted by anir

im new today is my r1 vlcd4
start 169.8
today 166.6
the first two days of loading was great i love it
but my first to days of vlcd was hard
i was hangry headach
today im okay sooo far

anir

This is a great group...lots of good info

[minimonkey]

Welcome Anir

And a great big whoohoo for all the other relatively new folks on this thread -- it is nice to see it hoppin' and boppin' again

Embee, I did see the recipe, and immediately copied it -- I'll be trying that very soon!

Keepingcups-- you've NEVER had a breakout? I may seriously have to hunt you down and steal your genetic code, lol! Wow, color ME jealous on that front!!

Mine is nearly healed, finally -- a few tiny bumps still trying to emerge, but they are genuinely small and insignificant in the grand scheme -- these aren't cysts, just regular blocked pores that generally heal up quite fast and don't often get inflamed.

The Aveeno calamine lotion has seemed to help the last two weepy patches quite a lot -- they are still red but the skin has healed over almost completely. It's very calming to the skin, and I think its a keeper.

[minimonkey]

Verb: If you think tight, taut skin is out of the question at your age, think again... this woman (one of my fitness idols) is 74 in this video!

Ernestine Shepard footage at Yohnnex 2011 Capital...

[minimonkey]

Verb --

I couldn't have said it better myself -- that is precisely how I feel about Atkins! I'm a bit worried that I won't lose on it either -- I stalled out on it before, for sure -- but I am hoping that with the intensity of my workouts combined with induction, perhaps I will see results.

I know that "deflated balloon" thing with the skin -- I have gotten that really intensely on a couple of my hcg rounds.

I am sore, sore, sore today! This little body got a heck of a workout yesterday.

I think the refeeding is doing me a lot of good -- my energy levels are almost back to normal now, and the systemic inflammation also seems to be going down. TOM should be starting any moment, too, and that usually brings a significant water dump along with it.

Also, I have to take back what I said about my forehead wrinkle .. yes, it is back a little, but it is nowhere near as deep or pronounced as it was -- the skin has cleared up there, and it genuinely does look a lot better than before.

Part of me still thinks this last break out was a purge -- where my skin has cleared, it does look better than it did before the breakout -- I'll keep treating it gently and well, and hope I can go back to using the Nerium again. I don't want to give up on it yet. I'll definitely wait until the breakout is completely cleared up first, though. It is well on its way -- with makeup on, I'd look mostly fine today. Seeing as how I don't need to impress anyone, though, I will go makeup free for the time being.

[leelee3978]

Originally Posted by minimonkey

Verb: If you think tight, taut skin is out of the question at your age, think again... this woman (one of my fitness idols) is 74 in this video!

Ernestine Shepard footage at Yohnnex 2011 Capital Tournament of Champions, Silver Spring, MD - YouTube

When I grow up I want to be like Ernestine! She gives me hope!!!

I'm having a hard time getting back to my LDW. Stalling at 152 (10lbs above my ldw from March) I think I'll do an egg day tomorrow. TOM is a few days away and I'm spotting. That could be the culprit. I'm traveling by air tomorrow so an egg day would just be the easiest to travel with and prepare for. This was week 2 for me and only 2lbs lost. I will bring the calories back down from 800-900 to 500-600 and only increase to 900 on my days working at the nascar track. I've planned tuna, oranges, protein powder and greek yogurt.

I'm not sure what else to do?

[minimonkey]

leelee -- I know, about Ernestine! She is so beautiful, and she has this amazing, radiant energy about her --she completely inspires me Plus, you GOTTA love a woman who does a routine to Brick House at age 74!!

Sorry to hear you are struggling The rebound gains on hcg can be brutal, as I have discovered all too many times.

Are you doing a rogue p2 right now?

PMS is a bear for me -- I'm going through the PMS spotting too -- that tends to be my hungriest time and also when I retain the most water.

[minimonkey]

I think I may be just about done with the refeeding -- I'm actually feeling a bit over-fed today, for the first time since I decided to go straight p3 and just eat. I must say, that's encouraging -- like the huge, bottomless pit of hunger is finally disappearing.

I've also been doing heaps of supplements which I am sure is also helping.

I think I will stick with the low-moderate carbs for the next week or so, and then give a go keeping to induction levels of carbs. I suspect my food intake will drop rather dramatically in the coming week, since my hunger is finally dissipating, too. I'm not much prone to overeating when I don't have that biological hunger drive in place.

With any luck, TOM will also start in earnest and I can get that out of the way as well.

For induction, I may not stick 100% to the induction foods list, but I'm thinking I'll keep carbs under 20 net grams, and keep working out as hard as I can stand.

The last time I was doing induction level eating I stalled out -- but there are a couple of big factors that may work in my favor this time -- 1st off, although I was active then, I wasn't working out at nearly the intensity that I am now. Secondly, and this may be the real kicker -- I was drinking alcohol pretty regularly when I was low-carbing before. I was sticking to clear spirits, so the carbs were low, but I was drinking pretty regularly, and rather a lot, too. I suspect that was a good part of the reason I stalled.

I quit drinking regularly when I started hcg, and now it is only on the rarest of occasions that I drink at all (like maybe 4 times a year!) -- and I bet that will make a big difference to how induction treats me -- or at least I am really hoping so.....

For what its worth, I actually find I prefer life without the alcohol. I still enjoy the very occasional night on the town or what not, but the regular drinking was NOT improving the quality of my life in any way.

I'm still fighting the urge to freak out and go running back to p2 -- but I know that isn't the solution for me at this point -- it had not only become harder and harder to get results from it, but I was having to starve myself in order to maintain the losses, and the rebound gains were brutal. I was feeling low energy and weak all the time, too -- that just isn't right!

I'm currently subscribing to the theory that the current refeeding will stop this cycle, and that so long as I eat sufficient calories and fat from here, that the starvation response won't kick back in. I dearly hope I am right on this -- it is hard to trust that I am not just engaging in another yo-yo swing that will just end up with me needing to cut calories drastically again, and repeat the same ugly cycle.

At the very least, with this experiment, I should have some more muscle at the end of the day, and that is a good thing.

[leelee3978]

Originally Posted by minimonkey

leelee -- I know, about Ernestine! She is so beautiful, and she has this amazing, radiant energy about her --she completely inspires me Plus, you GOTTA love a woman who does a routine to Brick House at age 74!!

Sorry to hear you are struggling The rebound gains on hcg can be brutal, as I have discovered all too many times.

Are you doing a rogue p2 right now?

PMS is a bear for me -- I'm going through the PMS spotting too -- that tends to be my hungriest time and also when I retain the most water.

I love to follow Ernestine. She is such motivation!!!

Yup rogue to keep me in the game otherwise I just cheat and give up.
I eat more protein, tuna in water, eat greek yogurt, protein powder (jay robb) and been experimenting with the 800-900 calories. I think I only need those on busy days otherwise I should stick to the 500-600. I still workout, run, lift etc and I'm fine.

My last "real round" I went 23 days from 151 to 141.8 Feb - Mar. I stalled quite a bit right after I got down to 145 and then I did FFF days to help out and they worked. I'm just scared being this far above LDW. I've been playing with more fat on this round with my meat at 60g fat daily etc but maybe too many?

I plan on going until July 22nd. I know I will have bump from 4th of july weekend at the track working and traveling.

Am I being too rogue?

[manders]

Originally Posted by EmBee

I don't know if everyone has tried this or not...but I figured out one of my "stall" points in P2...Tomatoes. I have now figured out how to over come this... If tomato is included in my meal it has to count as my fruit....when I do this...VOILA, stall overcome

I didn't know tomatoes count as a fruit! Dang!

[minimonkey]

I have no idea how you manage workouts on such low calories, leelee -- I just cannot sustain it. My body totally rebels when I do that.

I have no advice regarding your round, sadly -- I've finally come to the conclusion that I can't make hcg work for me long term. The minute I stop restricting calories and start feeling at all normal again , I get rebound gains that are absolutely nuts ... which is why I am switching gears.

It does seem to work for a lot of people, though, and I hope you find an answer!!

[manders]

Can anyone tell me why my body is desperately craving beef? Like hamburger meat? =(

[minimonkey]

Manders -- lovely to see your smiling avatar

After following up on a few suggestions I found online, my skin has REALLY turned a corner today -- thank goodness! I did the "Acne Free" sulfur mask again, and have continued with the salt water and then the Aveeno Calamine lotion on the sores... and it is worlds better in just the last 24 hours. I think by tomorrow, I'll be healed up, with the exception of the residual red spots where the sores were -- those always last a while after they heal.

Thanks a million for mentioning the sulfa drug -- that is what reminded me that sulfur products have helped me in the past -- I know that sulfur and sulfa aren't the same thing, but they do share some common properties ... and I think that was just what I needed to turn this particular break out around.

[minimonkey]

Originally Posted by manders

Can anyone tell me why my body is desperately craving beef? Like hamburger meat? =(

My first guess would be either iron or protein deficiency, or maybe both. Also possibly from radically reducing the fat in your diet, which is a given with p2....

[Star73]

Manders, are you not eating beef? Have you tried the P2 chili?

[manders]

Originally Posted by minimonkey

Manders -- lovely to see your smiling avatar

After following up on a few suggestions I found online, my skin has REALLY turned a corner today -- thank goodness! I did the "Acne Free" sulfur mask again, and have continued with the salt water and then the Aveeno Calamine lotion on the sores... and it is worlds better in just the last 24 hours. I think by tomorrow, I'll be healed up, with the exception of the residual red spots where the sores were -- those always last a while after they heal.

Thanks a million for mentioning the sulfa drug -- that is what reminded me that sulfur products have helped me in the past -- I know that sulfur and sulfa aren't the same thing, but they do share some common properties ... and I think that was just what I needed to turn this particular break out around.

That's great! I'm glad to hear that. With the exception of people who are allergic to sulfa drugs, sulfur is great for acne. I know when I do a mask with it, my skin will look amazing the next day.

[manders]

Originally Posted by Star73

Manders, are you not eating beef? Have you tried the P2 chili?

I haven't the past week no. Should I make some and have a bit? I do notice I feel a tad weak today and my TOM is starting soon.

[Star73]

Originally Posted by manders

I haven't the past week no. Should I make some and have a bit? I do notice I feel a tad weak today and my TOM is starting soon.

yes! Beef is allowed. Just watch how much you eat. I've only eaten beef and chicken these last couple of days and most of it was beef . I lost 4 pounds overnight. It's my first week though, so that's why it was so much. But, yeah, eat ya some beef

[manders]

Originally Posted by Star73

yes! Beef is allowed. Just watch how much you eat. I've only eaten beef and chicken these last couple of days and most of it was beef . I lost 4 pounds overnight. It's my first week though, so that's why it was so much. But, yeah, eat ya some beef

I think my iron/zinc levels are outta whack. I forgot to take my vitamins and minerals yesterday due to the car accident and then I forgot to take my HCG again all day today. I actually forgot to eat today too. I am a mess! lol

[Star73]

Originally Posted by manders

I think my iron/zinc levels are outta whack. I forgot to take my vitamins and minerals yesterday due to the car accident and then I forgot to take my HCG again all day today. I actually forgot to eat today too. I am a mess! lol

Car accidents can shake you up and then you have to deal with getting the car fixed and insurance companies, etc. You'll get back on track

[manders]

Originally Posted by Star73

Car accidents can shake you up and then you have to deal with getting the car fixed and insurance companies, etc. You'll get back on track

Yes! The whole thing has really thrown me off. My car was the last car hit so it wasn't bad at all, but it really shook me up. I was surprised that I was sore this morning since my car was essentially bumped, but I could also have been sore just from the stress of the situation.

[minimonkey]

A lot of people seem to lose better with beef than without it, actually. Eat some!

Interestingly, I *am* allergic to sulfa antibiotics, but I can use it externally without any issues, as long as I don't go overboard with it.

I discovered that when I was first wearing dreads and had bad scalp irritation after tightening the roots --- a lot of the skin/scalp products that are generally found in the "black hair care" section contain sulfur -- it can be a little harsh on caucasian skin, I gather, but as long as I dilute the hair care products, they work miracles (full strength was too much for me).

My scalp is pretty toughened up now, after being dready for years -- and I had forgotten how healing sulfur can be to the skin. The scalp irritation from braids/dreads is essentially folliculitis combined with dry skin -- and it appears as a series of acne-like bumps at areas of stress on the follicles, which then become inflamed and/or infected.

[minimonkey]

I think I missed the part about a car accident -- I hope you (and your car) are ok!