~p3-p4-simeons-protocol-week-06-24~

[LaraSuzz]

New thread for the week =)

[TiffanyM]

Good Morning! Marking my place.

[suzi7]

checking out the new space. Looks nice and roomy. lol..... ttyl. got to run to the second interview today. I HATE INTERVIEWING but ... I need the job. lol

[julieboolie]

Suzi-hope hte interview goes well. It'll be over soon .

Mini-it's really hard to even imagine 500 cal days at this point. I admire you for trying!! Hope it rewards you eventually!!

Marie-I admire you too. How do you find the motivation? You're doing great!!

I'm still off the scale and working on only eating when hungry!! Man, it's really hard!! I have dd's bday and we'll be eating out a lot today and it's hard not to eat b/c you're belly isn't growling yet . I am not very hungry these days, which is odd and a bit annoying!

Then, my a/c went out on my car!! Really? 111 today, running around to celebrate dd's bday and my softball tournament tonight? Really? I guess in AZ there's no GOOD time to have the a/c go out, and I'm glad it's my car not my house, but man!! A/C isn't an option or luxury out here, it's necessary!! It could always be worse. At least I have an appt tomorrow morning. I hope it's something simple and not too expensive to fix. Sigh.

Still off the scale, but after 3 rolls at Tx Roadhouse yesterday I know it won't be good anyway. I'll weigh Wed.

[dbunny]

Up again today... so it is a CD day for me again! Half GY, half Steak day. Maybe it is that I know that I am going back into P2 after just 3 weeks of P3. In some ways, the 5th of July can't come soon enough, and in other ways, I am dreading it...

[Bitsky]

Hello everyone! I've been on HCG drops since May 26th, I will be done the drops this Wednesday and then doing 2 days without drops while still doing the VLCD. Saturday will be my BAB!!! I'm excited to eat but also very scared to eat. I'm reading similar fears and lots of positive feedback on these threads so thank you to all you contribute. I'm 4.6 lbs away from goal so hopefully I get to that by Wednesday
After reading plenty of posts, meal plans, recipes, etc. I have to say I still feel a little unprepared. There are quite a few different ways to go about P3 (maintenance) and of course everyone is different so what works for one may not for another. But would someone be able to give a basic 1 or 2 week outline of what to do in certain situations? I know that if you gain more than 2lbs over your LDW(or LIW) you should do a steak day but in some older posts I read about people doing a steak day like every other day (just for fun??), or doing things called CD's (??)... I'm still trying to learn all the acronyms.
I'm not doing a Leptin Reset or taking anything else once my drops are done, I was just hoping I could eat the foods I'm supposed to when I'm supposed to and hope for good results. I work out at least twice a week doing hot yoga and I walk at a good pace a couple times a week. I haven't found that working out makes me gain; if anything, it helps with a loss. I have cheated a few times, this past weekend was a real bummer. I'm so close to the end so I think I'm becomming careless! This is the time I need to be most diligent, I find that reading these threads and recording everything I eat helps so thank you again to all of you! and I just love all these smilie faces!!! lol You could pretty much have a full conversation using just the smilies

[C'Marie]

@Bitsky, WELCOME! and am I reading that right, you are less than 5 pounds to goal? Wowsa. Good for you! I am a long way yet.

There are some threads about P3, in the stickies I think. I'm not good at that stuff, finding threads and posting links in response to questions but some others are and I'm sure they'll be along shortly. Just wanted to welcome you. My main advice would be to continue to drink all your water, double your protein in lunch and dinner from P2 amounts, add eggs for breakfast, and have a little healthy fat - do that for at least a few days to get your P3 legs under you. If you add too much at one time you may end up with a jump up that might freak you out and you may end up with tummy troubles. JMHO. I stay away from dairy and nuts as much as I can and just use pretty much the same P2 list of foods but eat the fattier version and mix proteins for awhile. I've done 7 rounds and each round is different and each stabilization P3 is different but that's what has worked best for me when I've been willing to bite the bullet and do it and not indulge too quickly.

CD's are just another way to say correction days, of course the gold standard and the one Dr. S speaks about is the steak day. But there are other correction days that work for some people and there are threads about that too.

[C'Marie]

P3 started Friday and I am under my LIW at this point. I am doing JUDDD for P3/P4 this time around and mainly for the anti-inflammation effects. Nothing on that front yet, I guess it takes at least 2 weeks to help that, if it does, some say 8 weeks. I have done up day friday/sunday and dd saturday and today. I ate really late last night and the scale didn't budge. Weird is all I have to say. Maybe it's working already. I know I am at a weight that should be rock-steady for me, as it was a long ago setpoint and also I maintained at this weight about 8 months last year. So hopefully I can do it again and possibly do another round late summer. Hubs is doing it with me, bless his heart.

[C'Marie]

@julie arg no a/c! Really!? yikes. I like my a/c in Oregon for cripes sake! Hope you have fun with dd birthday plans regardless. You're a trooper. what a good momma you are. Learning to eat to hunger is tough. I never really had signals like hunger or full my whole life. I had them after my first round, I think hcg protocol gave them back to me, fixing something anyway. But I sure can override them if I want ! LOL ha ha ha!

Dbunny, good luck on your CD!
suzi, good luck on your interview!

[Bitsky]

thanks a bunch! and yes when you put it like that, it IS exciting. I'm under 5lbs away from goal! lol Much better than thinking, "ugh, I still have more weight to lose"

[LaraSuzz]

Omg Julie no a/c I would die. Hope you can fix it soon. Drink lots of water!

I'm up today but I had ice cream yesterday so I expected it. This is only 1 lb over from the day before so its not too bad. The problem is that during the week I'm by mylself so I control things but the weekend comes and I want to go out with my mom and friends and it all goes to hell in a handbasket.
I think I will try to skip dinner today and I will do low carb and see what happens. That usually gets me back down. I'm only 3.5 up I dont want to get scared yet.

I'm considering getting on the ellyptical machine thats sitting in my livingroom but what will happen? Will I gain? Will I actually lose inches?
My feeling is that the only way to lose more inches is to do another round in August. Do you guys think that being on P4 and introducing excersize will truly get me smaller? Some say you gain with activity? I dunno what I should do. Seems like the rounds get tougher and I'm only 30 lbs away from goal. But heck that could be 30 days away or less. Any advice?

PS I really hate excersize.

[C'Marie]

No advice for you, I am still 30+/- myself at this point, I think anyway. Too hard to tell. If I didn't have all this baggy skin on me I think I'd look pretty good - and losing more will make more bags, but whattayagonnado? LOL

I say if the exercise makes you feel good, do it. If it makes the scale go up slightly, deal with it. It's more important you do what makes you feel good and stay in control.

[dawnyama]

Bitsky

Here is that P3 thread for you:

Phase 3 information for HCG diet

It is a lot of information to look at, but the most important part is the first few pages. It will help you out a lot!!!

[dawnyama]

Ok, just had to share---my load meal tonight was amazing!! I had baked chicken thighs with homemade alfredo sauce!! Broccoli on the side. OMG!!!! Awesome. The most perfect loading meal. The sauce is a stick of butter with a cup of heavy whipping cream and 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese. I add some cream cheese to it too. Talk about fat!! I can eat this with a spoon it is so good!!! I want this to be my first P3 meal when I am done with this round. I will miss it terribly and we have leftovers It will be hard to pass this up when my family has it again. Better stop eating as my tummy is not happy right now. Too full I won't be saying that for a while My knees hurt too, hard to bend them Looking forward to tomorrow.

[julieboolie]

Originally Posted by dbunny

Up again today... so it is a CD day for me again! Half GY, half Steak day. Maybe it is that I know that I am going back into P2 after just 3 weeks of P3. In some ways, the 5th of July can't come soon enough, and in other ways, I am dreading it...

I'll probably be doing another round then too. Unless this IE miraculously helps me lose. I doubt it will as the food I am eating isn't LC!! Hang in there.

Originally Posted by C'Marie

@julie arg no a/c! Really!? yikes. I like my a/c in Oregon for cripes sake! Hope you have fun with dd birthday plans regardless. You're a trooper. what a good momma you are. Learning to eat to hunger is tough. I never really had signals like hunger or full my whole life. I had them after my first round, I think hcg protocol gave them back to me, fixing something anyway. But I sure can override them if I want ! LOL ha ha ha!

Dbunny, good luck on your CD!
suzi, good luck on your interview!

Yep, silly car. Could be worse. At least I have an appt tomorrow morning at the dealer, and dh will drive us to softball tonight. Certainly does make you appreciate things. 109deg Whew!! Glad you're under!! WTG!! Hope that's a trend to reward you for your self control and sacrifice!!

Dawn- that sounds good. May convince me back to LC afterall!! Hope you do well this round and your body adjusts and is happy down there!!

Lara-You can sympathize!! Not sure what to tell you on the elliptical. I gained 2 lbs when I added back in exercise, but it's worth it. You'll probably not see a bit diff in your clothes (right away at least) but you'll feel better in shorts and your bathing suit .

So far I've eaten eggs, bacon, 3 bites of waffle, bag of popcorn, bite of cupcake, apple, granola bar, nectarine. Not the healthiest food choices, but trying to wait until you're hungry to eat can be tricky. Esp when you're out!! Hope our softball tournament is cancelled tonight. Most of our team is out of town and I can't imagine we'll have enough players show up (109deg!!) to make it worth a shot. I guess, truth be told, I don't really want to play. Sigh.

[minimonkey]

Well, I am genuinely dreading the 500 calorie down day -- I'll do it though. At least today I kept close to my prescribed up day calories, and that wasn't bad. I'm up at 4 am...insomnia -- so maybe I can just sleep thru the down day! I can't much imagine living this way forever, unless some real magic kicks in soon.

[LaraSuzz]

I'm currently being punished by the 2 day rule. I'm now up 6. Time to freak out lol, steak day be good to me.... pretty please with sugar on top?
I feel like a failure today. I even thought of doing another round soon too. But I think July would be too soon. I need to get thru to August if I need the full 9 week break... but who even does that anymore? Why do I feel like being skinny will solve all my problems? UGH! Well at least I will look good, haha.

I'm thinking about throwing caution to the wind and going to costco to get some filet mignon for dinner just to make myself feel better. I even have steaks in the fridge but I need a treat and I dont want to thaw it out.
That would be like 25-30$ bucks eeick. Maybe.

didn't even glance at the ellyptical machine. It would have been funny if I'd gotten on it and then had the 3lb increase. That would have realy scared me off of it for good.

It was supposed to rain yesterday but it didnt. It's so hot here, but not as hot as where Julie is right? I tossed and turned last night too... and a couple of other coworkers mentioned they didnt sleep well either. Interesting.
I want to go home (after my 10 hour workday) eat my filet and get under the covers and hide until tomorrow.

[julieboolie]

Originally Posted by LaraSuzz

I'm currently being punished by the 2 day rule. I'm now up 6. Time to freak out lol, steak day be good to me.... pretty please with sugar on top?
I feel like a failure today. I even thought of doing another round soon too. But I think July would be too soon. I need to get thru to August if I need the full 9 week break... but who even does that anymore? Why do I feel like being skinny will solve all my problems? UGH! Well at least I will look good, haha.

I'm thinking about throwing caution to the wind and going to costco to get some filet mignon for dinner just to make myself feel better. I even have steaks in the fridge but I need a treat and I dont want to thaw it out.
That would be like 25-30$ bucks eeick. Maybe.

didn't even glance at the ellyptical machine. It would have been funny if I'd gotten on it and then had the 3lb increase. That would have realy scared me off of it for good.

It was supposed to rain yesterday but it didnt. It's so hot here, but not as hot as where Julie is right? I tossed and turned last night too... and a couple of other coworkers mentioned they didnt sleep well either. Interesting.
I want to go home (after my 10 hour workday) eat my filet and get under the covers and hide until tomorrow.

Sorry you're having a rough day!! Hang in there. I'd get filet at Sprouts (COstco you have to buy a lot, right?). You can indulge, but not 10 steaks!! Hope the scale is back down. I hate that second day effect!! And yes, as hot as you are, we've got at least 10deg on you . My car has been "in" the dealer for over 2 hours w. no call. That's not a good sign

Mini- are you a week into the "induction" phase? I've toyed w. giving it another whirl b/4 an hcg round. I'm not sure I'd be better off though. Do you buy the "gene" part? I'd be curious to see how your weeks go, and your thoughts. I am still working on IE, and will see what the scale brings tomorrow!!

I'm feeling good. Content, but then again, I'm off the scale until tomorrow . I'm having a DD of sorts today. Planning GY when I'm hungry. We'll see. I'd like to stay in the 150's while I practice IE and eating to hunger. That may not happen w. my carb sensitive body. We'll see I guess. I've been having lots of "treats" but am trying to change the way I view food. Not as "good and bad" but as nutritional or not. I don't want to have "forbidden" foods as they gain power over me if I can't have them. KWIM? I'm still working on it. I'd like to be 10lbs lighter, and will do another round eventually to get there (probably). But I'd like to be able to maintain easier once I'm through that round, which is why I'm working on this now. .

Happy Tuesday. I'll be at a Volleyball Festival here in Phx for the next 4 days w/ dd(almost 12-on Thurs). Dd(9) (now, her bday was yesterday ) will be w. us and bored silly. I'll likely pay the additional $15/day to let her go play in their "Kidzzone". Hope to have enough time to read the Apocalypse book I've started. Sigh.

[C'Marie]

STILL UNDER LIW.

Amazing.

Gotta RUN!

[dawnyama]

Lara--I am so sorry I cannot tell you how many times I have gained in P3/P4 and just jumped on a round. It is very disheartening to have done all the hard work required in P2 and then see your work all go poof! in an instant. Good on ya for not jumping into P2 early. Filet mignon at Costco?? My walmart steaks (ribeye) cost $25 My DH looked at them this weekend and said, "no way"!! We did treat ourselves at Father's Day, but for everyday.....uh, uh.

Julie--Good on ya for working through food issues BEFORE doing another round. My views on food are very skewed. The weight loss IS the easy part. It is the keeping it off that is hard. I know that Dr S makes it seem so simple in his manuscript but I am beginning to learn and see that it just is more complex than ever imagined!!! I have gotten so many magic bullets that don't work that you would think I would be done with them. But NO......I continue on buying this product or that thinking "this is going to do it for me". I wish it were clear cut and foolproof. Ah, our amazing bodies. More like disappointing bodies at this point.

[julieboolie]

Dawn- I hear ya'! I'd love a pill that I could take and poof! I'm skinny . Not gonna' happen!! But, I am trying to undo some of my well intentioned efforts which have likely done more harm than good over the years Yo-yoing is the death of me (and most "dieters"). It really kills your metabolic rate among other things. Sigh. I've done a lot of that over the years. I'm trying to wrap my head and life around "normal". Not sure what that actually is. But I like the idea Robin has of being more childlike. I'd love to be so happy and distracted by life that eating is an inconvenience to only stave off that annoying hunger. Sigh. I hope you have a stellar round!!

Marie- Great job!!

Mini- I hope you're muddling through your DD!! you can do it!!

Off to take dh to the eye/retinal specialist. He's not doing well. Please pray! Thanks!

[cocoapeanut]

Hey all! I'm checking in on you lovely ladies real quick. I've been so pressed for time my first couple days of work, sadly. Which is funny cause the days are actually slow starting out but I work from 9-7 and am trying to solidify my apartment at the same time. I'm up about a pound to 162.6 but not stressing it. I havent worked out in ages and really want to tonight. Sleeping more will help me out I think!

Lara -

Marie - YAY FOR YOU!!

Julie - Best of luck with the car! And I'm with you on trying to eat to hunger. It's definitely a learning process for someone who has spent her life either eating while not thinking about eating, or trying not to eat while ALWAYS thinking about eating..ya know?!

Mini - I gotta give you credit for giving JUDDD an honest to goodness shot so you can best evaluate it before moving on. Many would have quit if in your position. I hope that it either works out or you move onto something that is even better!

Alright, back to work...

[minimonkey]

Julie -- Prayers, coming right up.

Thanks everyone for your support with this -- I'm over a week into the induction period, but less than the "magical" two weeks still. I am trying a higher down day today -- adding 300 calories of coconut oil to my 500 calorie down day number, which a lot of people say is fine -- and even if I count all the calories, I am still within maintenance parameters. We'll see how that treats me -- I am going to get in a weights workout this afternoon.

I am thinking this may well not be the plan for me -- I find I am more obsessive about food than ever -- so I may just go to a regular p3 and try to keep it very clean and make sure I am not over eating past my hunger levels.

At least I know I like eating that way, and I can always do JUDDD again later, after I have had a while on p3 to stabilize and replenish my overall energy and nutrient stores. I am leaning that direction at the moment. JUDDD calls for some pretty hefty caloric restriction, and I do think that works against me when I am working out a lot.

I might be able to hack it at a later date though.

[minimonkey]

Julie -- I want to believe the "gene" part of the plan -- I've read a lot about cycling/IF type of plans -- and I think there may be something to it. I definitely think JUDDD is more promising than just straight-up, daily caloric restriction -- and the followers sure seem to think it works!

I honestly don't know what to believe. I also don't know if it is even a good idea following a p2 -- though I am doing it low carb, so I am technically on p3, there is all that talk of eating high calories on p3 to reset the metabolism and so forth.

I'm going to go pump some iron, and see how I feel once I am done.

[C'Marie]

Ya, MM I hear ya. To go straight into alternative 500-cal days after P2 is not a fun thing. I'm doing it, don't know if I would recommend it at this point. Only because P2 kinda drags on your protein stores. Maybe not a problem for some. I decided to jump into it because of the possibility of the gene getting activated before I go on vacay and because of husband doing it with me willingly.

I guess you and me will be the guinea pigs, huh? You with working out and me with sitting on my fanny hardee-har-har.

[minimonkey]

I'm done with JUDDD -- I officially hate it right now. I think if I weren't involved in heavy workouts I might be willing to stick it out a bit longer, but the more I think about it, the more I don't even want to TRY working out heavily on an average of 1250 calories a day. I'm just asking for trouble doing that, and something inside me knows that.

I'm going straight up low carb/p3. I know this works for me long term -- I don't know if I will have some initial gains from it or not, but if I do, so be it. I want to work out hard, I want to eat to satisfaction, and I want to stop obsessing about food -- JUDDD is a nightmare for me that way!

I am going to stay off the scale, work out hard, enjoy my summer, and find some peace for the moment. I may do another round of hcg in a couple of months -- or try JUDDD again then -- or maybe a few weeks on Atkins induction would be enough to lean me out -- but right now, JUDDD is not getting me off the diet wagon at all --- Atkins will. I love low carb eating, and it is easy for me to stick with... well, indefinitely.

I am going grocery shopping tomorrow, and will make a couple of my old favorite low carb dishes for the week -- and be happy with this decision. I'm not at goal, and this may not get me to goal -- but at least it will get me stable eventually and it will end this crazy turmoil I'm in -- and that is enough for now!

[minimonkey]

Oh, and I got in a killer weights workout this afternoon Bring on the muscles baby -- i am ready to build 'em!

[Arctic_Mama]

This is the end of my loading for round three. I'm doing sublingual rXhCG this round and begin VLCD tomorrow. I'm going to miss P4 soooo much, but it will be excellent and exciting to get my weight down. I am really hopeful, even with massive loading and being a bit up on the scale this week (172, when my LDW was 168), that I can see the 150's after this round.

I'm also switching to my lighter TTap schedule for the duration of P2. My endurance goes way down so shorter workouts are better!

[LaraSuzz]

Okay I'm down 3.4 lbs from my steak day. I did wind up getting filet at Costco Sprouts or Sunflower is what we have here and they dont sell filet mignon. It was really good but I did pay $30 for 4 steaks.
So I'm 3 away from LIW which is okay with me and I will try to keep it under control lol. Maybe I will take July to see if I can do low calorie low carb and see if anything moves downward.
I had this weird dream that I was walking down the street and my legs were super giggly... so today I'm thankful that my thighs and legs are not like that lol.
I dont want to give up and letLIW get away from me but Im not going to be obsessed like last round either. A happy medium I say.

Lara

[suzi7]

so far, P3 has been fairly uneventful. 'course I'm only 6 days into it. Weight nudged up to 151ish and has stayed. (fluctuates by a .2 either way). I am eating.... have to force myself to sometimes; I am so into the P2 mindset, I forget the butter sometimes lol. But cheese and nuts are my new friends and come to my rescue. lol

The rest of my life is same-old. Interview, answer phones, send out resumes... repeat. its getting old; I've got hives from the nerves. I just need a job...sigh.