VQ's Big hcg Adventure!

[Speck333]

Wow, it has gone by fast!

And that's typical Seattle, isn't it? LOL

[verbqueen]

Oh, and I forgot to add that I made myself the BEST dinner last night! It was a Waldorf style chicken salad with celery, chopped apple and chopped chicken, plus a very tangy dressing of Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, sweetener and plenty of salt and pepper. Dang, it was good. So good that the first thing I did when I got up today was mix up another batch to have later for lunch!

I made chicken and dumplings for the boys (my son's request--he's learning to cook and he helped) but I thought my dinner actually looked FAR better!

And now it's time for me to go get packed!

[bacon bit]

I'm eager to hear what tomorrow brings!

[SoHappy]

Donna, I think you are doing a fantastic job with your resolve and your choices and your foods on this plan.

And I can hardly wait for your return home to the *house scale* to see what your loss was for this time in Seattle. I know you're looking forward to that first morning weigh-in, and I'm pretty excited about it too!

Love your apples and chicken and celery salad idea. I might have to fix that to take to work with me for tomorrow. It sounds like a good chilled lunch, and we're still going to be hot tomorrow. Maybe rain too, so that just means it will be extra humid!

[dbunny]

*snooping around..."what's going on?"* I am anxiously awaiting your weigh in!

[verbqueen]

Home safely! Terrified to weigh in the morning after making such a big deal about it If I slink sadly in the back door and don't have much to say, you'll know it was disappointing...

SH, it dawned on me that I have so many great ideas for JUDDD now. I've become a PRO at 500 calorie days. That Waldorf salad is less than 200 calories!

[verbqueen]

OK, so it was kind of underwhelming, after all that. I weighed in this morning at a pound less than I weighed yesterday in Seattle, for a total Week 2 (plus one day, but I don't know how else to count it except to include it in Week 2) loss of 3.2. Not as dazzling as my 10.6 Week 1 loss, but I guess I will take it and see what else Week 3 has to bring me!

For now, I'm just happy to be enjoying my coffee with a kitty on my lap on a beautiful, sunny So Cal morning.

[OceanDreaming]

Hi Jessica! I just found your journal! You and I started around the same time so I wanted to follow your progress and never knew you were over here!

Funny, I also lost my taste for coffee last week. I really missed the cream in it but after two days of not having it and having a raging headache (I knew it was from coffee withdrawals) I started drinking it black and was fine with it. But now I'd much prefer to drink iced tea too. Weird.

I haven't been terribly hungry but believe me, I have my moments. And I did very low carb/high fat so long that I miss the fat terribly! I don't do any of the fruit or melba toast, I'm eating mainly meat for my 500 calories. I never could eat apples. They would always make me hungry afterwards. And melba is carbs...I just can't do it! Though this dang HCG thing is working like a charm so far! I'm down a total of 12.3 pounds at the end of week 2 (NOT including my load weight)! It's actually 16.5 if I counted the load weight. And I agree, it HAS to be fat. I did not carb up on my load days and I had been eating very low carb previously so I know it wasn't water weight! The scale hadn't budged for me in at least 3 months so needless to say, I'm so thrilled I could spit.

I'll be watching you! You are doing fantastic and I'm super impressed on how you handled your week away. Can't wait to see your overall results at the end of P2!

Angie

[bacon bit]

I wonder if any of it has to do with you flying? My mom has horrible water weight when she flies. Or maybe that's normal for this part? Anyway, it's a great loss!

[verbqueen]

Hi, Angie and Heidi! Heidi, yes, I too wonder about the flying. I also couldn't eat dinner until 9:00 last night.

At any rate, I'm not going to whine. How often does anyone go on a week's vacation and come home without a gain, right? I feel like there wasn't a single thing I could've done better, so I'm just going to have to move forward.

And my daughter just reminded me on the phone, "Mom, you've lost 14 pounds in 2 WEEKS! What on earth are you complaining about?!!" She has a point.

Angie, we did start at the same time, and our weights are very, very close, too. (I don't like to post mine because I use this same user name on other non-diet-related websites, and I kinda hate to put that out there for any old person to find...) I was the same as you--totally unable to budge the scale at ALL on Atkins, so I'm just pathetically grateful to have found something that works.

I have to confess--I was hungry quite a bit last week, and light-headed on occasion during all the gadding about and sight-seeing. I wonder if I need to adjust the timing and amount of my pellets? I'm going to kind of watch that this week. Now that I'm back in my regular routine, it should be easier.

Really so glad you ladies came by to visit!

[OceanDreaming]

Originally Posted by verbqueen

And my daughter just reminded me on the phone, "Mom, you've lost 14 pounds in 2 WEEKS! What on earth are you complaining about?!!" She has a point.

Funny, I was going to come back to add that the amount of weight you have lost in a mere two weeks is quite phenomenal. Heck, I'm just thrilled that the scale is moving again. You're doing awesome! We need to keep in mind where we were a month or two ago...

[Speck333]

Jessica, I'm with your daughter on this one! It took me 3 months to lose that when I first started Atkins again in Jan. 2010. I'm really excited for you! And glad you are home in your routine.

[verbqueen]

OMG, I made the best soup for lunch--shrimp, fireroasted tomatoes, chicken broth, spinach, and spiced up with rice vinegar, sriracha hot sauce and cilantro. Let's just say that my sinuses are cleared for the day!

[verbqueen]

And another great meal. Gonna jot down my "recipes" so I can remember what I did for future reference:

Thai Shrimp Soup

7 oz shrimp, tail removed before weighing
1 clove garlic
large handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup (app. 1/2 14 oz can) fire roasted tomatoes
1 T. (unseasoned) rice vinegar
1 t. Sriracha hot chili sauce
large handful of raw spinach, finely slivered

Heat saucepan over medium high heat. Add shrimp and garlic and allow to sizzle a few minutes. Add cilantro and cook until wilted. Add broth, tomatoes, vinegar and hot sauce. Simmer several minutes until heated through. Throw in spinach, and heat until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Yields 2 servings. Serve with additional Sriracha!



Taco Cabbage Skillet

200 gr. extra lean ground sirloin
200 gr. cabbage, thinly sliced
1 T. chili powder
1 T. ground cumin
garlic powder to taste
chicken broth

Heat pan over medium high heat. Add ground sirloin and stir and break up until browned. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add cumin, chili powder and cabbage. Turn heat to high and add chicken broth to moisten, adding more as needed, until cabbage is wilted and well mixed with seasoned beef mixture. Divide into two portions--one for now and one for tomorrow!


Mocktail Sauce

1/4 c. tomato sauce (no sugar added)
1-2 drops Sweetzfree, or sweetener to taste
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
salt to taste--app. 1/4 teaspoon

Mix well, serve with chilled shrimp. (Made this for tomorrow. Tasted great--should be even better after sitting in the fridge overnight. 5 calories for a tablespoon.)

[verbqueen]

A thought: I don't think food has ever tasted better to me than it has for these last two weeks. I don't know if it's the old adage, "hunger is the best sauce," or if it's somehow being caused by the hcg, but I am savoring seasonings and textures so very much.

I was confident when I started that I would be able to do this. I have a pretty iron will when I set my mind to something. I was dubious about the lack of hunger touted by hcg fans, but I figured that hungry or not, I could power through it.

But I didn't expect to ENJOY the foods, limited though they are, so very much. That is an unexpected bonus from this plan!

(And if I go back to JUDDD, boy do I know a lot of ways to have an under 500 calorie day now!)

[jnaakins]

Hi Jess! I wanted to check out your journal, hope you dont mind
I wanted to ask if you could post your waldorf chicken salad recipe and also, if you wouldnt mind posting the brand of your pellets? According to the forum rules, you can post the brand but not where you bought them or how much you paid. I want to look into ordering another brand for when I get close to running out of the intermountain ones Im taking, and after reading your journal it looks like yours are much better at controlling hunger. Thanks so much!

Im with the others, 14 lbs in 2 weeks is amazing!! On the Tips for P2 sticky, she says that median weight loss in 21 days is 15 lbs and to aim for 13. You're going to blow that out of the water!

[verbqueen]

Hey, girlfriend! Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the internet! I have sent you a private message, so check yer messages!

As for the chicken salad, I mixed in a tupperware tub:

1 cup of chopped celery
1 chopped apple
3.5 oz chopped cooked chicken

For a dressing, I mixed

approximately 1 T. cider vinegar
1 heaping teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 packet of sweetener
plenty of salt and pepper

I poured this over the salad mixture, popped the lid on and shook it up to mix, and then let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours. The second time I made it, I put in even more Dijon. I loved the mild and delicious zip it gave the salad!

And regarding hunger, I commented over on your thread that I most DEFINITELY had some hunger last week in Seattle, but it's gone today. I actually adjusted my pellet dose down today, so I wonder if it's that? Or some mysterious hormone thing, or just being less stressed by being home, or who knows?

[OceanDreaming]

Everything tastes better when you're
A) Camping
and
B) STARVING

[verbqueen]

Originally Posted by OceanDreaming

Everything tastes better when you're
A) Camping
and
B) STARVING

Hahahaha!

[verbqueen]

Mysteriously up .4 pounds today. Not sure why, but they told me this would happen sometimes. I went and recorded it in ****** and am about to make note of it in my signature. And after that, I'll just get on with my day and not worry about it. I will NOT freak out.

My plans for today include driving over to a nearby town to visit Ulta, because I have a really good coupon and i'm going to stock up on some Bare Minerals. They don't usually allow coupons for that brand, so it's a good opportunity.

Also thinking about a pedicure today. I haven't had one since before Mexico, and since I keep painting over the chips, my toes are about an inch thick these days!

[privatediva]

Originally Posted by verbqueen

A thought: I don't think food has ever tasted better to me than it has for these last two weeks. I don't know if it's the old adage, "hunger is the best sauce," or if it's somehow being caused by the hcg, but I am savoring seasonings and textures so very much.

I was confident when I started that I would be able to do this. I have a pretty iron will when I set my mind to something. I was dubious about the lack of hunger touted by hcg fans, but I figured that hungry or not, I could power through it.

But I didn't expect to ENJOY the foods, limited though they are, so very much. That is an unexpected bonus from this plan!

(And if I go back to JUDDD, boy do I know a lot of ways to have an under 500 calorie day now!)

this is me in spades! I even ate a tomato, sliced...with a little salt and pepper...and LOVED it. I have never been a raw tomato lover, but I'm actually kinda craving the things right now. It is rather amazing how sweet sweet is as well. I sense the sweetness of my veggies a whole lot more than is normal for me.

[verbqueen]

Same here, Diva! Vegetables have all kinds of nuances I hadn't noticed before.

Btw, meant to tell you that I am a singer, too. I direct the children's choir ministry at my church--graded program with three choirs, 4 years old through high school that I am SUPER proud of--and sing in a bunch of community groups. I've taken many years of lessons, but I'm looking for a new teacher now. Wish we lived closer!

[verbqueen]

Originally Posted by verbqueen

Thai Shrimp Soup

7 oz shrimp, tail removed before weighing
1 clove garlic
large handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup (app. 1/2 14 oz can) fire roasted tomatoes
1 T. (unseasoned) rice vinegar
1 t. Sriracha hot chili sauce
large handful of raw spinach, finely slivered

Heat saucepan over medium high heat. Add shrimp and garlic and allow to sizzle a few minutes. Add cilantro and cook until wilted. Add broth, tomatoes, vinegar and hot sauce. Simmer several minutes until heated through. Throw in spinach, and heat until just wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Yields 2 servings. Serve with additional Sriracha!

Oops! I left out the drop of Sweetzfree that should be in this recipe (or packet of sweetener.) Gotta have that sweet/hot/vinegar/cilantro thing going on to taste like Thai!

[dbunny]

Originally Posted by verbqueen

Oops! I left out the drop of Sweetzfree that should be in this recipe (or packet of sweetener.) Gotta have that sweet/hot/vinegar/cilantro thing going on to taste like Thai!

Ooh~ when you are in P3 (More like P4), stop by Thai Swan on Katella.. between Chapman & Batavia.. their food is YUMMY! They have these chicken wontons that are amazing.. and their crying tiger...OMG... Beef served with a wicked lime sauce. Gosh, I miss that place

[verbqueen]

Oh! That's right in the zone where I could take my daughter (who works at Chapman) to lunch there some week! Putting that on my list...

You must have moved? Last time I looked at your profile, it said Orange!

[privatediva]

Originally Posted by verbqueen

Same here, Diva! Vegetables have all kinds of nuances I hadn't noticed before.

Btw, meant to tell you that I am a singer, too. I direct the children's choir ministry at my church--graded program with three choirs, 4 years old through high school that I am SUPER proud of--and sing in a bunch of community groups. I've taken many years of lessons, but I'm looking for a new teacher now. Wish we lived closer!

Me too! That would be so fun! My career has been in opera, but I'm comfortable teaching all types of voices and styles of singing. I also play a lot of piano for ballet companies and accompany, direct and conduct musicals. My life is pretty much music 24/7. It is absolutely *wonderful* that you have built that sort of program at your church! Excellent, excellent, excellent! Thanks for letting me know about your singing. I love shop talk

[jnaakins]

Oooh the salad sounds heavenly, I will have to try that in the next couple of days.
Just wanted to drop in quick and wish you luck for a nice weight loss in the morning! Lets both have a nice weight loss!

[verbqueen]

Originally Posted by privatediva

Me too! That would be so fun! My career has been in opera, but I'm comfortable teaching all types of voices and styles of singing. I also play a lot of piano for ballet companies and accompany, direct and conduct musicals. My life is pretty much music 24/7. It is absolutely *wonderful* that you have built that sort of program at your church! Excellent, excellent, excellent! Thanks for letting me know about your singing. I love shop talk

What a wonderful life--all that glorious music! I am envious! I don't have that kind of talent, but I do have a deep, deep love for music, and especially for getting children excited about it. I love that children, when you start them young, have no anxiety or fear about their voices. They just enjoy exploring all the kinds of sounds they can make. We have almost no vocal music in our public schools here, at least not until secondary school electives, so I'm really on a mission to teach singing to kids.

[privatediva]

Originally Posted by verbqueen

What a wonderful life--all that glorious music! I am envious! I don't have that kind of talent, but I do have a deep, deep love for music, and especially for getting children excited about it. I love that children, when you start them young, have no anxiety or fear about their voices. They just enjoy exploring all the kinds of sounds they can make. We have almost no vocal music in our public schools here, at least not until secondary school electives, so I'm really on a mission to teach singing to kids.

This is brilliant and consider yourself LOVED (by me and all those kids) for your "mission". You are right about the unaffected nature of kid's views on vocalism. When I was just married I had children's choirs in a church where my husband and I were singing. (he is a tenor, we met at conservatory) It was my goal to get every kid to understand how to match pitch and be part of the sound. When I was little, there were kids who were told to mouth the words because they were "tone deaf" and I always felt so bad for them. There is *no such thing* as being "tone deaf" and if a person hears anything at all, I can teach them to match pitch. It is extremely simple when they are young...still in the language learning period of their lives. It just needs to be treated as an important life skill, like stringing together a sentence or counting to one hundred. What you are doing is immensely valuable...not just to the kids you are working with. SO THANK YOU

[pooticus]

Hi Jess! I'm so happy for you!!! 14pounds in 2 weeks is AMAZING!!!! You are doing so great. Love to read and hear the happiness in your voice!!! You are doing so great!!!!!

How much more do you want to lose?

sweetie!