VQ's Big hcg Adventure!

[CherylB]

Iron will! Very impressive, Deb.

[verbqueen]

Originally Posted by privatediva

Two more days of drops, three days of no drops VLCD and back to P3...which I could pretty much live in happily ever after. The only things I really grew attached to in P4 that I couldn't have in P3 were low carb tortillas for wraps and sweet potatoes. I thought it would be oatmeal but that turned out to be not nearly as thrilling as I remembered I pretty much replaced it with my GY with nuts, coconut and SF chocolate chips...which I can have in P3 (and can't wait for!)

Not gonna name any names here, but I think SOMEBODY is counting down the days!

[privatediva]

yep...can't wait to be "done done"...once and for all. There are no lingering possibilities of finding my weight not to be ideal. Anything I don't like about my bod from this weight would have to be addressed via exercise, surgery or getting right over it I'm 53 years old for Pete's sake...I look pretty good for that and none of us can expect to diet ourselves back into our 20s

Had a nice 0 fat GY with lemon extract, vanilla and splenda for dinner. It was awesome!

[CherylB]

YUMMY!!!

[verbqueen]

Howdy, friends. Still going gung-ho with my new round. Weighed today--down 2.5. I'll take it.

I'm going to treat myself to a little nap this afternoon. I'm having a sleepy day.

[misslatte]

Yay -2.5!!!

I'm still following (stalking?) your posts because I always hope you're doing well but rarely have time to post and say hi. So, for all the future times I silently lurk and check in on you I'll just say hello now!

[CherylB]

Nice first-day losses, Jess! I hope you had or are still having a great nap. Have a lovely evening, k? K!

[privatediva]

Hey yo. Calling this a round as of this morning. 128 is LDW. That's 3 lbs more than I weighed on my wedding day...one for each kid. Heh. I will move to P3 on Sunday morning. Yay for breakfast.

[CherylB]

Yay for you! So how much did end up losing this round?

Jessica, where you at?

[verbqueen]

Hey, kids. I'm scurrying around getting ready for choir day.

I only lost .2 today. Better luck tomorrow...

(P.S. Cheryl, I LOVE the pics you posted on your journal. And Deb, you ROCK!)

[privatediva]

8.5 lbs is all...lost it, decided a BMI of 20 even was low enough and maintained it by adding protein until I finished the 23rd dosing day. I haven't been hungry because I've been trying not to lose more. So now I'm just looking forward to a good P3

[CherylB]

Thanks, Jessica! I posted more and I'm going to post even more than those. I went to scan some old ones and save them to a CD but didn't realize you have to bring the CD with you. Next time!

Deb, you turn on and off the weight loss using hcg as if it was a water faucet! We're all very jazzed by your success and happy that you can slide into P3 soon.

Jessica, sorry for the tiny little drop, but better days are coming. I promise! And they are in MEXICO!!

[verbqueen]

Feeling a little mystified by my bod this morning--once again, only down .2. I feel like it should be going faster for me, but I suppose that if I lost .2 a day, I'd still lose 7 pounds in two weeks, so I guess it's not so bad. Still a bit puzzling, though. I'd wonder if maybe my pellets are bad, but I'm not hungry at all, so it would seem that they are doing their thing. Who knows?

I'm doing something fun today--meeting one of my very BFFs from high school, Rob, and his wife and kids at Downtown Disney for lunch. I haven't seen him since our 20th high school reunion, 17 years ago!

Dave's coming in for the weekend tonight, and this has always present a big eating challenge for me when I was just doing P3/P4, but hopefully the more rigid parameters of P2 will keep it from being too much trouble for me. I just have to keep telling myself "Mexico in 3 weeks....swimsuit in 3 weeks..."

Talk to youse guys later!

[CherylB]

I LOVE YOUR NEW AVI!!! What a great cut and color for you. You must love it too. How attractive you are, Jessica!

I'm sorry you had another disappointing scale day. That sucks. No two ways about it. But I'm glad you are keeping your head in the game and see the big-picture. Seven pounds by Mexico will make a very big difference in how you feel about yourself.

Maybe the pellets are indeed no good anymore. Do you have places who sell the hhcg locally? I think you can buy them in the drug store and at places like Walmart now. Just be careful that it says that "3x6x12.." stuff on the bottle. They are very deceptive with their marketing.

I'm glad Dave is coming in! And that's so cool that you are meeting up with your long-time friend! Have a wonderful weekend and just do your very best. I know you will. I have always admired your strength in those social settings. You rock!!!

Never forget that.

[verbqueen]

Thanks, Cheryl. I do have a really good hairdresser, at last, and she's good with both color and cuts.

I had an absolutely marvelous time with my old friend, and enjoyed meeting his family. He has two boys, 15 and 9, so charming and polite and cute. THey were very interested in hearing me "tattle" on all the goofy things their dad used to do. (He is the same age as me--just turned 55 last week, so he got started pretty late with the kids thing!)

Dave and I stopped at a local "gastropub" on the way home from the airport, and I had a martini--NOT on my VLC plan at all. But what are you gonna do? Guess I'll skip tomorrow's weigh-in and try to offset it with extra-good eating for the rest of the weekend.

[privatediva]

Hi Miss Jess. You look to be in your early 30s in that avi. I start P3 again in the AM...looking forward to it. I was pretty rogue this time and did great. Still no fat, but there are some awesome options that are high protein, zero to low carb, and even less fat than chicken that aren't on "protocol" and fit my needs/wants a lot more than that stuff. So far so good. There are particularly fab fat free cheddar and pepper jack cheeses at whole foods...only 40 cals an ounce, so I could have a gigantic hunk with my apple and felt oh so satisfied with that. I pretty much decided that life without cheese is just not worth living. I also couldn't find any good reason not to have my zero fat Greek Yogurts...they are low carb, low cal, high protein and non-fat. So...yeah...I had at LEAST one every day. One day my tummy was upset and that is all I ate (I had five since they're 100 cal a piece).

Last night was the first time I've felt hungry in a very long time, so today may be a challenge. But if I get hungry, I'll just have more protein until in the AM when I can have a real breakfast. It will be fun to eat again.

A martini sounds great.

[verbqueen]

Ah, the joys of P3, you lucky girl! I think maybe I'll try zero fat greek yogurt and ff cheese--maybe I'll have an easier time with a wee bit more variety!

Have a great Saturday!

(P.S. True to my word, I did NOT weigh this morning!)

[privatediva]

I tell you what...that cheese/yogurt thing is serious P2 decadence. I did not notice any difference in losses. You have a great one also. I sew until I teach, then sew again. Whew. This is a lot of work.

[CherylB]

Hi, ladies!! I had an "on-the-edge-of-your-seat" kind of day! Come to my journal and read how it all went.

Jess, so glad you had such a great time with your friend. I'm glad you had that Martini! Life is for the living! And I agree with Deb. You really do look younger in that new Avi of yours. And so pretty!

Deb, happy for you to be starting P3! Have a wonderful night, girls. I have many threads and posts to try and get caught up on.

[verbqueen]

Happy Monday, friends. I had a very rocky weekend, food and drink-wise, but I'm back on the straight and narrow today.

Cheryl, just read your journal--so much excitement!

Deb, love the new avi!

Gotta run--more later.

[CherylB]

I love Deb's new Avi, too.

Thanks, Jessica. Yes! My life is anything but dull now. Did more barn time this morning but just to fill-in while the girl is on vacation. She's coming back tomorrow and I won't be doing mornings again for a long time (unless they actually do hire me to do the barn stuff as a fill-in person. Stranger things have happened.)

[privatediva]

Hi there! Thanks, I had fun in my new dress at the Symphony.

Today has been kind of a lost cause so far. My blood draw from last week got screwed up at the lab so I had to go back in and have it redrawn. It's a long trip to that place so I pretty much wasted 3/4 of the day getting there and back. Going to have some GY and head to the basement to sew. The weather is glorious here today. I'm pretty much going to miss out on the good weather days, I think. Swan Lake is May 12...it is likely to be really warm when I finish the costumes. That's ok. I'm going to get this season done and then look into a gym with an indoor pool. See...I love to swim but my skin is super fair and I don't have any business being out in the sun. Also...here's the genius part...if I hit the indoor pool when it's nice outside, THERE WON'T BE ANYBODY ELSE THERE I'm just a wee bit anti-social when I'm working out. (can't stand other people around then!)

[CherylB]

I hear that, Deb. I'm in my own little world when I'm in a gym. LA Fitness has an indoor pool. I don't like the set-up at the one near me, though. It's all too "open". I like more private areas to sweat in or swim in. I'm fair-skinned and sensitive to sun, too. Sounds like a good plan! Hope you find a good place.

[verbqueen]

Good morning, friends! For the first time in quite sometime, it's blindingly clear and sunny out there and it just does amazing things for my spirits. Coupled with the fact that I have a wide open day with no errands, no meetings, no rehearsals, it puts me in a glorious frame of mind!

I've been eating well the last couple of days, and dosing, and not weighing. My rate of loss was stressing me out, and I got to thinking that no matter how fast or slow I lose, I'm still going to do this round before my vacation, so why both with the daily weighing. We'll see how it goes, but that's how I'm feeling now, at least.

Cheryl, on my way over to your journal now to catch up on you! Deb, you sound busy and happy, as always.

[CherylB]

Hey, Jessica! I just now posted the update from the meeting with the woman regarding the apartment so you'll have to go back and read that one, too!

I like your attitude about weighing and just doing what you know gets the weight off. Enjoy the journey! And YEA for the California weather!

[verbqueen]

Morning, Cheryl. I read it, and it looks encouraging!

Today is my choir day, and the kids and I will be working on Palm Sunday's palm processional and their anthem, titled (shockingly, I know, haha) "Palm Branches." They memorized it and presented it as their solo anthem at the festival week before last, so they shouldn't need much work on it!

I had a really good eating day yesterday, and am aiming for a FLAWLESS one today. The "Mexico clock" is counting down, and I'll have so much more fun if I feel like I really prepared well for the trip and at my very best.

I'm just wishing that I could've had my varicose veins fixed before this, but I haven't heard from my doctor in quite some time, and feel pretty sure this is because my insurance is hoping I'll just let my request drown in bureaucracy. Nothing doing, though. I'm gonna go call them RIGHT NOW.

I did a really stupid thing and spilled water on my gas range top this morning, and had to unplug it because one of the igniters got wet, causing all five burners to continually "fire" very loudly. I Googled it and learned that if I unplug it and give things a day or two to dry out, there's a good chance it will resolve itself. Crossing my fingers, because if it doesn't, I'll have to pay for new igniters and a repairman. What on earth did we do before there was the Internet and Google? It's amazing that the answer to any question is now right there at our fingertips, ya know?

That's all I've got. Have a good one, friends!

[CherylB]

Thank God for Google! I use it all the time when I have to figure something new out. It sounds like what you did with your range was the right move. It will be just fine.

I wish you could have had the varicose vein thing done by now, too. Be the "squeeky wheel" and you won't fall through the cracks. If your dang insurance covers the procedure then by golly, let's get-er-done!

Did you have fun with your little choir group today? Sounds like a lot of fun!

[CherylB]

IT'S MINE!!!! She could hardly contain herself. She called so early and it never even entered her mind that I might be sound asleep, or maybe she likes waking people up with good news or being the first to call on someones birthday. But I'm so happy. Coffee is brewing and as soon as I'm awake, it's going to sink it all the way.

I brought up going through the apartment and deciding what furniture I want to keep where it is, for my use. She said this week is shot (which it is) but that "sometime next week or the week after" we can do a walk-through. I hope she doesn't make me wait a week for everything throughout my relationship with her. I need to measure and plan to see what I'm keeping and what will fit where, etc.

I only have April to get this all sorted out so I have to MOVE and list things for sale.

Happy Friday!!! Thanks to all of you who have been praying and hoping that I get this place. It is so freaking perfect. The only thing it doesn't have is a garage and maybe a garbage disposal.

Time for the next chapter of my life to begin, and I know where that is going to be!!! Thank you, Lord! Thank you!

[verbqueen]

HOORAY!!!!!! Having this knowledge is going to be SO liberating and empowering for you. Now your future isn't some nebulous question mark and you know exactly where you will be and what you need to do to get there! I'm just so, SO pleased for you!

My kids had a great day yesterday. We practiced processing down the aisle, waving our "palms" (we used our ribbon dance wands as pretend palm branches.) They still remember their memorized anthem perfectly, so we just ran through that quickly and started a new anthem, "Celebrate God's Gift of Music," for our upcoming Music Ministry celebration Sunday.

Good news--I plugged my gas cooktop in this morning, and the igniters are no long continually firing and everything works just fine. Whew!

I have book club today--the fun one where we just take in what we've read that month and pass it around and we all trade books. There's always tons of food, so I plan to eat before I go and then pick at whatever raw veggies and salad are available. Feeling like I need to cobble together a meal at these things stresses me out--it's easier on me mentally to say "I've already eaten, I don't need to worry about this."

After book club I am going to run to Newport Beach (so I will at least get a glimpse of the ocean!) and pick up Maurice, my grandcat. Hallie is going to San Diego to spend the weekend with her high school BFF, so I'm cat-sitting. Alas, with Friday traffic, I don't dare take time to park and walk on the beach or something, or I'll get stuck in a nightmare trying to drive home.

I've been hitting my "kitchen gym" hard, eating well, and am feeling great. Hope everyone else is, too!

[CherylB]

Oh, yeah! The kitchen gym! Thanks for the congrats, Jessica! It's a very good day. Praise the Lord! There is much to be said for "knowing."

Enjoy your glimpse of the ocean and your time with grand-kitty! Be safe and hopefully avoid all that crazy commuting traffic. It's Friday, too. Gotta be worse on Friday.

You are involved in so many things, little woman! It's a wonder you ever get to sit still.