P2 Simeon's Protocol Week of 9/10

[Reddy]

Originally Posted by julieboolie

Yep, the bacteria digesting the lactose theory. I don't know if it's true or not, but it doesn't make me gain like other dairy would - carb for carb that is. I kinda' buy it, but am not itchy to mess w. the protocol.


Beef keeps me full much longer and is more filling. I think my body responds well to the slightly higher fat content too. I don't do turkey, is that an addition to Simeons? Never understood why it's not on the list? I am not a fish person. Tell me more about this tilapia? Dh loves fish and would be uber thrilled if I converted .

Turkey isn't on Simeons protocol but it's on the list I was given by my clinic so I eat it! I am going to try some steak, what kind of steak to you all get?

The Tilapia is simple and really yummy. I like tilapia b/c it's a really mild fish, so basically you season it really well. I use Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Adobo and Dill. Then you take about 3 slices of lemon. Squeeze them over the fish, place them on top and wrap it in foil. Put on the grill for about 7-8 minutes on each side. That's it. SOOOOOO good. The key is to season it well. Drooling as I type this (b/c I'm SOOOOO hungry right now) and I don't even like fish. Seriously. Try it!

[buttah]

I've used 99% FF turkey, per Robin. She says nobody has trouble with it and Simeon's didn't have FF turkey in his day. Since I'm stalled, I'm probably the wrong person to go by, but I don't think it's the turkey.

Julie, interesting about the yogurt! I'll have to check into that.

[buttah]

Originally Posted by Reddy

Ugh Buttah when will we catch a break???

Julie, I did not have any beef in my first round and haven't in this one either I think b/c it's a smaller portion than the other proteins and I was thinking I want to get more food or something.

Wait, what? Smaller portion? What? I thought it was 100 grams no matter what. Unless you're doing that thing I WAS doing where you have food that allow more weight per a certain number of calories (like fish). I stopped doing that. Robin told me beef helps when you're hungry, and have the 100 grams! She also said don't count calories, because they will vary slightly anyway with different proteins (and of course, stop before your full, but I'm never full so far.)

[Reddy]

Buttah, I was given a list from the clinic that is slightly different that Simeons but it's what i followed last time and it worked then. It allows different amounts on different proteins.

This is my list that I use:

You pick two veggies, two fruits and two proteins (always different never same in one day) and it always comes out around or under 500 cals.



So does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not getting most of my water through Tea would make any difference? Last time I drank more plain water but this time I'm really enjoying a lot lot LOT of tea.

[buttah]

Reddy, that's not the traditional way to do it, but I'm sure it's fine. Most people just do 100 grams (3.5 oz uncooked) of their protein, and whatever the calories are, the rest are made up from veggies, fruit, melba/grissini (if you have it).

Here's a couple lists I keep handy.

FRUIT: one fruit per meal; do not mix
Apple: medium = 95
Grapefruit: ½ = 44
Orange: large = 86
Strawberries: 10 medium: = 40

STARCH:
Melba Toast: 1 = 20
Melba Snack: 2 = 24
Grissini Breadstick: 1 = 20

MEAT: 100 grams - 3 ½ ounces; all visible fat removed; weighed raw; cook with no oil or fat:
Chicken Breast: = 110
Ground Beef: 95% lean = 137
Steak: (round/sirloin tip) = 142
Crab: = 84
Halibut: 110
Cod = 110
Flounder: 91
Tilapia: 96
Lobster: = 90
Shrimp: = 106
Veal: = 112

VEGETABLES: measured raw; one vegetable per meal; do not mix; ADJUST the serving sizes to fit your 500 calories per day!
Asparagus: 10 medium spears = 30
Beet-Greens: 3 cups = 24
Cabbage: 1 cup = 22
Celery: 2 cups = 32
Chard: 3 cups = 21
Cucumber: 1 medium = 45
Fennel: 1 cup = 27
Lettuce: 3 cups green = 15
Onion: ½ cup = 32
Red Radishes: 1 cup sliced = 19
Spinach: 3 cups = 21
Tomatoes: 1 medium = 22 1 cup = 27

MILK: 1 Tablespoon whole milk = 9 calories

Calories by the ounce:

Veal - 35 cal/oz
Beef - 55 cal/oz
Chicken - 31 cal/oz
Halibut - 31 cal/oz
Talapia - 27 cal/oz
Haddock - 25 cal/oz
Shrimp - 28 cal/oz
Lobster - 26 cal/oz
Crab - 24 cal/oz
Spinach - 7 cal/oz
Lettuce - 5 cal/oz
Tomato - 5 cal/oz
Celery - 4 cal/oz
Cucumber -4 cal/oz
Asparagus - 6 cal/oz
cabbage - 7 cal/oz
chard - 5 cal/oz
chicory - 7 cal/oz
beet greens - 8 cal/oz
fennel - 9 cal/oz
onions - 12 cal/oz
red radish - 5 cal/oz
apple - 15 cal/oz
orange - 13 cal/oz
grapefruit - 6 cal/oz
strawberry - 9 cal/oz
cracker - 22 cal for plain Grissini & 30 cal for light rye

"Your way" allows you to pick the food with the most bulk, but it might not be the most filling. From what I've seen in my obsessive research, many people don't count calories. They just check off the items, knowing that it's usually going to be around 500, slightly below or slightly above.

I don't know if the tea would make a difference. Simeons was fine with it.

[buttah]

BTW, I am doing better!!! That chicken broth with celery has me still pretty "full!" It's 6:30 and I still haven't had my dinner.

Happy day!

[Reddy]

Yeah I know it's not exact to Simeons protocol but It worked well for me last time and allows for a bit more food and options so I'll take it!

Sadly it's not working at all for me this time. Not losing much weight and very hungry. My last injection will probably be on or around Sept 25th then the 72 hours of VLCD and then P3. I hope I can make it that long.

[Reddy]

Originally Posted by buttah

BTW, I am doing better!!! That chicken broth with celery has me still pretty "full!" It's 6:30 and I still haven't had my dinner.

Happy day!

That's awesome. I'm currently ok. Just had my strawberries and I'm done for the night. If I have to, I'll have a little bit of broth later but I'm thinking of taking a bath and then going to bed. If I can sleep.

[buttah]

I'm just thinking that 100 grams of beef might fill you up better than more grams of something else?

[Reddy]

Originally Posted by buttah

I don't know if the tea would make a difference. Simeons was fine with it.

I know tea is ok but if I'm drinking it in place of my water could that be giving me any trouble I wonder?

I also wonder (and I wondered this last round to) if there is such a thing as too much stevia. Or stevia causing stalls. B/c I have been having SOOO much of it with all the tea I'm drinking. I know when I did atkins that people said that aspartame could cause people stalls so I wonder if Stevia could. Ugh.

[Berta48]

Originally Posted by julieboolie

I've been hungry today. Bummer. Not unmanageable, but more than yesterday. Being home and not busy enough doesn't help.

Here's today's menu:
coffee
apple
chicken lettuce wrap
another apple - couldn't help myself. Strawberries just didn't sound filling.
cucumber marinated in ACV w/ splenda and seasonings
Ital. Beef/cabbage soup in the crock for dinner. A 2nd serving for leftovers too. Smells good!! and looks like more food than it is!!

Tomorrow: I bought 2oz frozen shrimp skewers. If I have 2 of them, assuming they've been weighed w. their tails, that ought to be about right, right? Maybe even light? Gonnna' grill them and eat my roasted/boiled radishes w. them tomorrow.

I am not usually very creative on P2. I have learned I lose better w. beef, so I have it usually every day. I make a few items w/ chicken that I enjoy (mostly asian stir-fries w. cabbage or the lettuce wraps w. ground chicken). For some reason a little burger, steak, soup or chili appeals to me more.

Riss-I recommend protocol too. Esp. if this is your first round (can't remember). There is a rogue thread you can read and see how others are working the plan. I did a few rogue rounds (not crazy, but slightly higher cals, and def higher fat) and didn't lose as well. It was much more enjoyable though .

Berta-you're doing just fine. That 5 new lbs will be gone soon. You'll be on to VWT!! How long do you think you'll go this round? I'm planning on 21/23. I'm not good beyond that. I hope to be to 139 by then, but we'll see. Trying not to have too many expectations so I dont' have too many disappointments .

Reddy-I miss a foreman grill on this plan. It's really ideal for P2. I have to use the outdoor gas grill and for a littel 3.5oz serving it's really not worth it. Sigh.

Buttah-I wonder if Robin's folks buy into the "yogurt exception" theory on the carb count for yogurt? If you do, it's actually lower in carbs than cottage cheese. I love GY!! I will wait patiently until P3 and guess what my first meal always is? Voskos and strawberries, w. cream in my coffee Can't wait! (and I just started!! )

Lara-thanks for the link. I'll be checking that out!! And they're mixing fresh for you. Even if this current stuff is still good, it's such a nice peace of mind to get fresh juice!!

Thinking skinny thoughts for us all, but I feel fat today. Silly, but my belly feels huge for some reason!! Oh well, onward we go!!

Julie
What is VWT ? you gals and all your abbreviations.I can't rememebr them all

I always wondered why turkey and pork loin weren't on the list or green beans and broccoli, zuchinni too. A person could almost actually enjoy PH2 if those were allowed.

My 1st VLCD today and had to sit in the living room tonight with DH eating corn tortilla chips and cheese dip then he got out the vanilla ice cream and the whole 1/2 gallon. GRRRRR I am happt it gone though

My food today

Breakfast...
Tea

Lunch...
Shrimp
spinach
orange

Supper...
Filet mingon(spelling?)
tomato
strawberries

Snack
Tea

I have had to struggle today though not form hunger just from wnating to eat.Like I did on PH4
Hope my reward for sticking to protocol is a 2 lb loss in the a.m.


I am going to try green beans tomorrow and see how they do me? My DD ate them her entire wt. loss journey and she did fine.

[julieboolie]

Reddy-not sure about the tea. Many people say it's a diuretic and dehydrates you making your need for water even higher. I drink water w. a bit of crystal light in it all day long. I have tea and coffee as I like and even throw in a diet soda as I feel . So, don't go by me . I'm a little bit rebellious that way. I don't think zero cal stuff, like A/S not on Simeon's list, are aok. That list in insteresting. I'm following Simeon's, so 3.5-4oz (100g) of protein. I have been known to up the protein a bit (to 4oz) since I'm skipping the melba. I wonder if the higher protein portion could be a staller? Sure would be nice to have more meat!! I just do the same weight regardless of what it is.

Buttah- I'm sure the turkey is fine. I'm pretty sure turkey's had breasts back in Simeon's day . Maybe it wasn't as readily available? I don't think white meat chicken (breast) was as easy to get then either. You're following WLA to the letter? Are you weighing daily? Hope it gets easier for you soon!

So, I was really hungry around 4. Had cucumbers. Then by 6 I wasn't really too hungry yet, but decided to eat my soup since it'd been in the crockpot all day. I'm actually full!! Soup rocks!! I forgot how lovely it is and how big a bowl you get from your little portions!! YUMMY!! Looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow.

Seems 2-4:30 is my roughest time of day. I have coffee first thing, then an apple around 10. Then I try to wait until 12 for lunch. I'll have cucumbers or my second fruit before dinner as needed. Then I try to do dinner 5-6ish. I am rarely hungry after dinner thankfully. I just need to get busy or go somewhere in the afternoon. If it was cooler I'd go for a walk. I guess I could do the gym maybe the treadmill? I always gain when I exercise.

[riss]

Originally Posted by Berta48

P&I says beef 2-3 x a week and not at both meals.

Crap - I don't remember reading that and of course that is what I did yesterday and then had beef again for lunch today. I sure hope I haven't screwed things up

adelinesdream - how cool it must have been to lose while loading!

julie - I'll be checking out the temp stuff in your journal, mine usually runs around 96.x so when I get to 98.6 it's usually only when I'm sick, this is round 1 for me so I'm sticking to protocol (at least I thought I was so hopefully I didn't mess it up eating too much beef already?), beef and cabbage soup sounds yummy

lara - that's good that the clinic is remixing for you and hope that is the fix you need

buttah - it sounds like the chicken broth/celery is helping, glad you're feeling better

reddy - hope the scale moves down tomorrow, I'm sure I'll have to do an all apple day at some point but it sure doesn't sound very appealing, as for the tea I don't remember where from but I know somewhere along the way when I was "dieting" someone told me that tea is not the same as water and that if you have to have a cup of tea to follow it with at least as much water, I've found that if I overdo the stevia instead of it being sweet it gets a little bitter so I try to use the smallest amount possible

I thought it was 100grams for all meats? It looks like on that chart that's the rule for steak but you're allowed more of other meats. I cut my chicken/steak all into portions and tried to get close to 100grams. They ranged from 85-110. Now that I have done that I probably won't weigh them in the future and will just eyeball it. I'm not counting calories at all. I want to follow plan but I feel that if I do then I should be around the 500 mark but I don't want to let myself obsess over every calorie.

I had lemon pepper chicken for dinner. Then I sauteed a little onion and had that. I'm still a little hungry and probably should have had more of the onion. I'm going to drink some more water and make myself go to bed a little early.

I'm still wondering about why some things are on protocol and others aren't. To me greek yogurt seems that it would be fine instead of cottage cheese but I'll just wait until P3 to add it. I finished off the container I had on day 2 of loading. It seems like turkey should be fine but it's not on protocol. When it comes to fish my fave is salmon and that's not allowed so I had that while loading as well. I've never been much of a fan of tilapia but I probably need to try some other seasoning options. I was surprised that onions were allowed b/c I know those are restricted on some other plans. Yet you can't have broccoli, green beans, or peppers which I would really like to include??

[Reddy]

I wonder If a big part of why I'm not losing and perhaps why I'm hungry is that I'm not drinking nearly enough water. Last time I drank soooo much water. Maybe that was keeping me full? Upping water big time tomorrow and less tea and less stevia!

Lara I missed the post where you said they are re-mixing it for you. I'm jealous I have a feeling my stuff isn't good too but I'm Pretty sure I'm stuck with it.

Riss the Lemon Pepper chicken sounds good I should try that!

Well it's 11 here and I'm heading to bed. Hope we all have great numbers tomorrow!!

[riss]

Yep, time for bed here as well. Hope the scale is good to everyone in the morning

[buttah]

I took a chicken curry spinach recipe I'd found and replaced the spinach with fennel for dinner. It was SO GOOD. I prefer recipes where everything gets thrown in one pan - with two cups of veggies, it makes a huge bowl.

Getting ready for bed and still feeling okay. I'm so hopeful.

Riss, just making sure you know you need a basal thermometer to do what julie's doing - not just a regular one. Mine's always around 97.3-5. Not great, but not too bad either, I suppose, right?

Hope everyone has a great night!

[Berta48]

Originally Posted by riss

Crap - I don't remember reading that and of course that is what I did yesterday and then had beef again for lunch today. I sure hope I haven't screwed things up
adelinesdream - how cool it must have been to lose while loading!

julie - I'll be checking out the temp stuff in your journal, mine usually runs around 96.x so when I get to 98.6 it's usually only when I'm sick, this is round 1 for me so I'm sticking to protocol (at least I thought I was so hopefully I didn't mess it up eating too much beef already?), beef and cabbage soup sounds yummy

lara - that's good that the clinic is remixing for you and hope that is the fix you need

buttah - it sounds like the chicken broth/celery is helping, glad you're feeling better

reddy - hope the scale moves down tomorrow, I'm sure I'll have to do an all apple day at some point but it sure doesn't sound very appealing, as for the tea I don't remember where from but I know somewhere along the way when I was "dieting" someone told me that tea is not the same as water and that if you have to have a cup of tea to follow it with at least as much water, I've found that if I overdo the stevia instead of it being sweet it gets a little bitter so I try to use the smallest amount possible

I thought it was 100grams for all meats? It looks like on that chart that's the rule for steak but you're allowed more of other meats. I cut my chicken/steak all into portions and tried to get close to 100grams. They ranged from 85-110. Now that I have done that I probably won't weigh them in the future and will just eyeball it. I'm not counting calories at all. I want to follow plan but I feel that if I do then I should be around the 500 mark but I don't want to let myself obsess over every calorie.

I had lemon pepper chicken for dinner. Then I sauteed a little onion and had that. I'm still a little hungry and probably should have had more of the onion. I'm going to drink some more water and make myself go to bed a little early.

I'm still wondering about why some things are on protocol and others aren't. To me greek yogurt seems that it would be fine instead of cottage cheese but I'll just wait until P3 to add it. I finished off the container I had on day 2 of loading. It seems like turkey should be fine but it's not on protocol. When it comes to fish my fave is salmon and that's not allowed so I had that while loading as well. I've never been much of a fan of tilapia but I probably need to try some other seasoning options. I was surprised that onions were allowed b/c I know those are restricted on some other plans. Yet you can't have broccoli, green beans, or peppers which I would really like to include??

Riss
It will be okay.Julie says she loses better on beef. Everyone is so different. And P&I was written 50 years ago So much has changed since then. I am sure if Dr.S were still living there would be an update on P&I foods list. You have to just keep watching and if you stall cut out the beef for a few days and see if that helps. This is actually a trial and error thing.

Originally Posted by Reddy

I wonder If a big part of why I'm not losing and perhaps why I'm hungry is that I'm not drinking nearly enough water. Last time I drank soooo much water. Maybe that was keeping me full? Upping water big time tomorrow and less tea and less stevia!

Lara I missed the post where you said they are re-mixing it for you. I'm jealous I have a feeling my stuff isn't good too but I'm Pretty sure I'm stuck with it.

Riss the Lemon Pepper chicken sounds good I should try that!

Well it's 11 here and I'm heading to bed. Hope we all have great numbers tomorrow!!

We are to drink 60 ounces of liquids a day. Not necessarily just water,but it is best for you!

I have a 800 cal Pounds and Inches I bought off the Internet... it is a downloadable version.

They have changed it some like you can have 4oz of meat and green beans, broccoli, brussel sprouts,I haven't tried it yet but I plan to next week. It cost me nine dollars so I guess I best try it. Also a new CD is 1/2 cantaloupe with a BIG 8 oz glass of water right before going to be. But on PH3 not PH2.

I like the old one better actually but would like the extra veggies. THis one is called HCG 800 cal Protocol.

[Reddy]

Thanks Berta!

Kind of freaking out right now. Posted another thread so I won't rehash but I'm dying bc I broke out in a crazy itchy rash. Sooo uncomfortable. Wonder If it's from HCG! I'm so close to calling it quits!

[Berta48]

Originally Posted by Reddy

Thanks Berta!

Kind of freaking out right now. Posted another thread so I won't rehash but I'm dying bc I broke out in a crazy itchy rash. Sooo uncomfortable. Wonder If it's from HCG! I'm so close to calling it quits!

Awww just take an interuption before you call it quits. HCG isn't for everyone it is very restrictive. Have you looked into the JUDDD program? There are alot of people that have and are doing well with it. There is a thread on this site all about it.

[Reddy]

Originally Posted by Berta48

Awww just take an interuption before you call it quits. HCG isn't for everyone it is very restrictive. Have you looked into the JUDDD program? There are alot of people that have and are doing well with it. There is a thread on this site all about it.

I dont REALLY want to quit I'm just having a really tough time. My first round was fantastic! I lost well (18lbs in 22 days) had no hunger, never cheated one bit and found it to be easy!

This time I'm starving, not losing and now I have a crazy itchy rash. Just very discouraged. So thankful for this forum for support and encouragement! Thanks Berta!

[LaraSuzz]

I'm down 4.6 lol so it wasnt the hcg it was probably constipation haha. I know tmi... hee hee

Originally Posted by Reddy

I dont REALLY want to quit I'm just having a really tough time. My first round was fantastic! I lost well (18lbs in 22 days) had no hunger, never cheated one bit and found it to be easy!

This time I'm starving, not losing and now I have a crazy itchy rash. Just very discouraged. So thankful for this forum for support and encouragement! Thanks Berta!

I have the rash right now too... I've been getting it when on hcg... I was the area with Johnson and JOhnsons baby shampoo pat dry then vasoline seems to make it stop itching/hurting.

Tea is fine and just as good as water green tea is really good with antioxidants... but some articles say to stay way from caffeine I say I'm giving upi everything else let me have freaking caffeine or I will go nuts lol

Originally Posted by Reddy

I wonder If a big part of why I'm not losing and perhaps why I'm hungry is that I'm not drinking nearly enough water. Last time I drank soooo much water. Maybe that was keeping me full? Upping water big time tomorrow and less tea and less stevia!

Lara I missed the post where you said they are re-mixing it for you. I'm jealous I have a feeling my stuff isn't good too but I'm Pretty sure I'm stuck with it.

Riss the Lemon Pepper chicken sounds good I should try that!

Well it's 11 here and I'm heading to bed. Hope we all have great numbers tomorrow!!

Dont give up, you could be losing inches or you'vre reached a setpoint in your weight where you remained a certain weight for a period of time, I always stall when I get to those set points... remember this is the easy part, p3 is full of struggles to stay where youre at... now all you have to do is follow protocol better than gaining.... right?

[Reddy]

Thanks Lara! I think the biggest struggle for me this round has been the crazy amount of hunger I've been experiencing! Now this rash!

The rash was really bad last night. This morning it's still itchy though not as bad bc I havent really scratched it but I think it has spread to my legs too.

We have my sons one year photoshoot tomorrow and now I don't know if I should cancel it. I'm thinking about trying the apple cider vinegar trick I read about. I don't know but I'm really uncomfortable!

On a positive note, I'm down 2.2 pounds today!!!
I was obviously really backed up and the tea helped. Finally in the 150's!

Going to keep plugging away but I'm still so uncomfortable.

[LaraSuzz]

Originally Posted by Reddy

Thanks Lara! I think the biggest struggle for me this round has been the crazy amount of hunger I've been experiencing! Now this rash!

The rash was really bad last night. This morning it's still itchy though not as bad bc I havent really scratched it but I think it has spread to my legs too.

We have my sons one year photoshoot tomorrow and now I don't know if I should cancel it. I'm thinking about trying the apple cider vinegar trick I read about. I don't know but I'm really uncomfortable!

On a positive note, I'm down 2.2 pounds today!!!
I was obviously really backed up and the tea helped. Finally in the 150's!

Going to keep plugging away but I'm still so uncomfortable.

Even if you cant wash the area vasoline will make it go away I swear. It's so irritating... detox rash is what I call it.
Congrats on your 2.2 see!! WE can do this!!!!
I would jump for joy if I was 150. I think the last time I weighed that I was in the 6th grade lolol my point is, relish your accomplishments!!! Be good to yourself.

[Reddy]

I was about to have my husband go out and pick up the ACV. But decided I'll try the Vaseline per your suggestion!

I really hope it helps bc it's really quite bad today and seems to be getting worse and spreading!

No fun!

At least I'm down on the scale today. That will be the one thing that will help me get through today!

[julieboolie]

Reddy- on the rash!! How annoying!! Glad it's a bit better. Try powder too. and on the loss!! Wtg!! Hang in there!!

Lara-woohoo!! Nice drop chickie!! WTG!! You're in the groove, and have extra hcg now!!

Berta-you always make me w. your posts!! "almost enjoy P2" I agree!! More variety would be nice!! VWT=virgin weight territory!! When you move past previous weights into a whole new world!! You're almost there!!

Buttah- glad that dish worked out well for you. I alwasy forget about fennel. I tend to stick to only a few veggies. One of which is cabbage, which I think may need to go . Hope you lose well overnight!!

Riss-don't sweat it. Beef usually works better for me. I'm doing shrimp today. I always forget about that. I'm not a big fish girl (tuna salad is usually it) and I may branch out and try it. Lower cal seems to work better, go figure!! I also need to get some lemons. Hope you're down today!!

I STS today . VLCD2 and I STS!! I suppose walking+beef cabbage soup= STS. Oh well. Today is a new day. Gonna' stick to plan and ride it out. It's just this first week is the only time I really lose real lbs. KWIM? I was really hoping to be to LDW by week 2. There's still time, but I feel fat and full and I only had coffee. Gonna' take it a day at a time.

On a positive note my temps are holding steady at 97.7 (basal temps, thanks for clarifying that Buttah) which is really good for me!! That's a plus!

[buttah]

Reddy, we ARE twins. SM tea helped me as well. Down 1.2. I just hope I don't "pay" for it by a stall or teency loss tomorrow, as has been the case for me once "cleaned out." I feel like the SM tea has a diuretic effect as well, and then I just hold back the water. But trying to stay positive. Still I am certainly not losing like some of you have your first round!

8/30 - 169.5 LOAD DAY 1
8/31 - ??? LOAD DAY 2
9/01 - VLCD1 172.8 +3.3 after loading
9/02 - VLCD2 169.5 -3.3 (lost all of loading)
9/03 - VLCD3 167.1 -2.4 (-5.7 from load w)
9/04 - VLCD4 165.8 -1.3 (-6 from load w, 3.7 from pre-load)
9/05 - VLCD5 165.1 -0.7 (-4.4 from pre-load)
9/06 - VLCD6 164.1 -1.0 (-5.4 from pre-load)
9/07 - VLCD7 164.0 -.1 (-5.5 from pre-load) REALLY? (injected 125iu)
9/08 - VLCD8 163.0 -1.0 (-6.5 from pre-load) HAPPY scale
9/09 - VLCD9 163.? (can't remember, possibly up .4 or STS)
9/10 - VLCD10 163 (back to 150iu, better day hunger wise)
9/11 - VLCD11 162.8 -.2(may amend at regular weigh-in time, but don't want to forget)
9/12 - VLCD12 161.4 -1.4 (SM tea helped)

Another note that may help some: Robin had told me about Vitamin Water Zero, but I was mostly avoiding it due to the 4 carbs (though 0 calories) per bottle. It's loaded with vitamins, B12 and electrolytes, though, and she's found it's helpful for patients. Well, last night I woke up in the middle of night with a pounding headache, and for some reason, Vitamin Water Zero sounded good (and I had only had one "bread" anyway that day). I drank a tall glass, mixed with water. Voila, woke up this morning with headache GONE! There was something in there that my body needed.

I'm out of injections at 150iu, so I've either got to wait until the clinic opens at 10, or do one 125 syringe + .05 ml from a second 125 syringe. Not even sure that's possible, but I'm going to take a look.

Hope everyone is having a great morning.

Julie - the whoosh fairy is surely knocking at your door in the next day or so. Don't sweat it.

Reddy - try A & D ointment? That always works for rashes for me. Vaseline and a bit of medicine in there.

Oh, I'm having trouble finding ground grass-fed beef less than 93% fat. Do you guys have trouble?

[Reddy]

Yes buttah, Twins indeed. Woo hoo on the loss today! I too hope it sticks!

About the vitamin water, I don't usually care for that stuff but I may try one just to see. So glad it helped your headache!

I did try the vaseline Lara suggested which helped some with the itching but it's still there.

I wonder if drinking "detox" tea yesterday played a role in this?

I don't have A&D but my son just had this crazy diaper rash the other day and I used something on it called Triple Paste and it really helped. Do you all think I could try that? Or should I not?

[buttah]

Reddy, I feel so bad that you are still struggling with hunger, as I know EXACTLY and oh-so-recently how you feel (not really sure I'm a hundred percent out of those woods yet myself). Maybe it's time to try a slightly higher dose again? Or skip a day and see if you feel better, meaning you need a lower dose? What does your clinic say?

Oops. My loss was 1.4, not 2.2. Corrected. I guess I REALLY wanted to be twins.

And YES, try whatever works on your son's rash!

[Reddy]

Originally Posted by buttah

Reddy, I feel so bad that you are still struggling with hunger, as I know EXACTLY and oh-so-recently how you feel (not really sure I'm a hundred percent out of those woods yet myself). Maybe it's time to try a slightly higher dose again? Or skip a day and see if you feel better, meaning you need a lower dose? What does your clinic say?

Oops. My loss was 1.4, not 2.2. Corrected. I guess I REALLY wanted to be twins.

And YES, try whatever works on your son's rash!

My fear about using his rash cream is that we're supposed to avoid oil right? I don't know I have to see the ingredients but I always wear no makeup, lotion, change my hair products, deoderant and everything so I hate to mess it up if I don't have to.

Also, I think I need something that would take away the itch. Not sure if the triple paste is meant to do that ya know? But I may just try it.

Yes I'm still hungry. Starving even. I am experimenting right now with a P2 recipe for "spinach chips" PRaying they come out good and taste ok. I'm sooo soo hungry this morning. Geez.

The girl at the clinic had said to go to 28 for one week and then up to 30 but I think I will contact her about going up to 30 a bit sooner. I've been on the 28 since Sunday and while I thought it could be helping a bit, now I'm not sure. I want to wait until after the photos though b/c I fear upping my dose to 30 could make the rash worse.

Ugh. This is not supposed to be this hard.

[buttah]

Frankly the whole body oil warning thing is just bad, outdated science. When we rub non prescription things onto our skin, we are merely treating the dead skin layer (albeit this helps our skin look plump and refreshed.) Things that absorb past the top skin layer into the bloodstream (or whatever) would be considered drugs and need FDA approval. And when I asked her, the doctor who runs my clinic wholeheartedly agreed with me - EVEN though they advise patients to follow those no-oil rules. As verbqueen put it, if the absorption theory were true, you could feed a man in a coma by rubbing a steak on his skin.

That said, just to be safe, I avoid them unless I need them. And you need something!

I use coconut oil on my face (have for ages), although that is approved by my clinic, as is mineral oil (which I guess it's similar to, and Dr. S approved mineral oil, didn't he?)

Anyway, my two cents. Next time I talk to Robin, I'm going to ask her about the "oil" thing, and I have 100% confidence she'll tell me off record that she doesn't believe it either.