The months and years after HCG

[RedsSkinnyJeans]

We all learn a lot from our time with HCG. We especially learn about carbs, and portion sizes, and discipline! I think most of us have the goal of not falling into doing repeated rounds after we get to goal. And yet, we are human, and MANY of us are lifetime dieters who have not had success elsewhere, despite being painstakingly faithful to Atkins,Weight Watchers, South Beach, or some other plan.

So, in the months and years after HCG, where does that leave us? With the same challenges we have always faced; but in the past we weighed several dozen pounds more.

For me, the problem is keeping that same level of intense focus 6 months or a year later. Failing to do this, the pounds creep back. The plan says the same DAY you are 2 pounds over, do a correction day; get right on it; and stay focused. Easy at first, hard to maintain.

What advice do you have? What lessons have you learned? What mistakes did you make? I'd love to hear experiences of long timers.

Thanks
Red

[Cruzcrzy]

Hi Red,

it's good to see you. I finished my second and last HCG round 14 months ago. My LDW was 151. I went on to lose a little more weight with JUDDD, and just through calorie counting, and exercise(walking 6 days per week). I am in maintenance now at around 128-130(at most). I update my stats daily. I've been in this range since around May. I've read that it takes your body about 6 months to get use to it's maintenance weight. I have chosen to track my calories(1500-1700) daily using an online tracking site. I also have a great group of gals on the Playground that I check in with daily. I think the accountability has been KEY. I find maintenance is just as much work as losing the weight. At least for ME, it takes a conscious effort to maintain. It's worth it though. I still struggle with sugar, but, i just figure it into my calorie count when I indulge. When my calories are gone, I typically quit eating, lol. I love to eat, and feel like most days I am eating constantly.

It's nice to have you back!! I wish you well .

[bevvy5]

I love your posts, RSJ. Hope you are doing well after your last shorter run - that was very interesting and helpful.

I finished my third round on March 26th of this year and am within my two pounds. I've gone up to about six or seven pounds over on vacation and over the summer but I truly absolutely with all my heart believe that HCG has "reset" my body.

I don't do correction days, just ramp up the exercise a bit and eat "clean" P3 for about a week to 10 days and I seem to just kind of drift back to my goal weight. I have never had that experience on Weight Watchers or Atkins, my former "diets" of choice.

HCG has been life changing for me, not only physically but emotionally. Only eating 500 calories a day really made me realize that eating to live, not the other way around is healthier physically and mentally for me. So eating a big plate of nachos is a choice I will make once in a while, but it's a choice, not a reaction to something going on in my life.

I am committed to staying where I am now. It's in my hands and I have the tools to do it.

[RedsSkinnyJeans]

Love that!!!!

My first two rounds left me with a very stable weight. No problems - going for about 6 months at a time with maybe one or two CD's. This last round that I had to shorten messed me up. I've been bouncing all over since then - and that was in April!

Lesson one: NEVER EVER do a short round. It will make your stabilization process a nightmare.

Lesson two: Don't go thinking you can just do another round, so you can go ahead and pig out for a week or two during 'this stressful time.' Life will always have stressful times.

Lesson three: Throwing out all the size 12's was in fact a good thing, because now that I am growing out of all my beautiful size 6 and 8 clothes, I have no choice but to STOP gaining and fix things immediately.

[shelbyla]

Hiya Red!

I've been basically maintaining for about a year and a half now. I finished my third round in April of 2011 at 152 and have been fiddling around with those last ten vanity pounds since this past January. I've done these last rounds to get into a weigh range where I like how my clothes fit and how I look in pictures but to be perfectly honest, I was completely and totally fine, health-wise and appearance-wise at 155 at 5'9". It remains to be seen whether my body will "accept" the weight that I'm at right now because I do think that I have lost some "normal" fat in the course of the last three rounds. Lessons that I have learned...

1 - Weigh daily (or as close to daily as I can manage) and stay on top of the gains. It's when I start to stick my head in the sand repeatedly that I get into trouble. I am ok with not traveling with the scale or skipping a day or so when I'm feeling icky but just because I don't KNOW my weight, doesn't mean that I shouldn't get started on correcting it by eating clean. Weighing daily also gives you better insight into your body's normal fluctuations and really DOES highlight how TOM or ovulation or salt or booze or lack of Bernice impacts the number on the scale. I don't believe that the 2 pound window is gospel. I DO think it's important to understand trends and how your body reacts to certain foods.

2 - Ease into P3. DON'T go whole hog (so to speak! oink oink!) the first day. If you can, gradually transition up your calories. Be conscious of what you are eating, when you are eating, why you are eating, and how your body is reacting. Take it slow and easy. Eat as clean as you can and watch SF goodies and processed foods right out of the gate.

3 - Booze is a HUGE trigger for me. To overeat. To over eat things that I shouldn't. Ditto on lack of sleep. In both cases my resistance to temptation and my blood sugar just goes haywire which sends me into munchie mode. Not to say that I don't drink or even overdrink at times but I just need to keep an eye on how my body is reacting.

4 - Finally, no round, and I really mean NO ROUND, is the same as someone else's or even one of your own that came before. Each round is very different in what your body wants in both P2 and P3 and just because something worked in a previous round doesn't mean it will work in a subsequent round.

[TerriMM]

Originally Posted by shelbyla

but just because I don't KNOW my weight, doesn't mean that I shouldn't get started on correcting it by eating clean.

Perhaps the best rule/quote of all!

[katiesmemaw]

Hi Red,
I agree with everything all have said. My heroes on this site have the same great advice and I thank them for all their help and knowledable support and information. Shelby is amazing and I don't even know whether she is aware of her impact and importance in the lives of so many of us. There is absolutely nothing I can add to what she and Marie have written here. I have had a similar experience to them. I weigh every day and even when I gain I KNOW that if I play ostrich and stick my head in the sand I will do what I have always done in my long life and that is gain back all I've lost plus more. I will not make that choice for and in my life. I'm still staying around the 155 to 160 weight. My WW goal was 165. Hcg and this network did more for me than WW ever did. It's a personal journey and just like Shelby said
"Finally, no round, and I really mean NO ROUND, is the same as someone else's or even one of your own that came before. Each round is very different in what your body wants in both P2 and P3 and just because something worked in a previous round doesn't mean it will work in a subsequent round."
Good luck to you!!!
Betty