Finish Strong

[Potaty]

Gracie~I hear ya! Our food ingredients have totally screwed us, all of the GMOs, pesticides and crap! Very scary indeed!

[AsmallerME]

I remember when my sister went gluten free, she discovered that it was in almost every single thing she ate. It's even in soy sauce, some icecreams, some processed meats, etc. Craziness.

You are paying for the rice krispy treats, but not by much. You'll likely be at this weight after your load, and be ready for some nice, new weight loss.

[Potaty]

I am trying to figure out some childcare so I can get my steak dinner this weekend! I guess we could unbury our grill from the snow and DH could grill here too. Hmmmm.....

[Potaty]

Today's menu:
5 or 6 almond flour pancakes
4 ozs cheese
3 coffees with hwc
jambalaya (I did have some rice with this, tsk tsk)

Being snowed in sucks!!!! I am so used to "going bye bye" as I like to call it, LOL. We are pretty much out of food so I scrounged around today. The kids had PB&J for lunch and dinner, poor things. We will be getting out tomorrow though.

DH told me he is going to start Atkins to lose 30 or so for an April 20th wedding his is in, and of course because he's a MAN, he'll lose it fast. Turd.

[Potaty]

We are getting hit with another record setting snow/blizzard...another 12-16 inches here with 50-60 mph winds. School has already been cancelled tomorrow and the snow hasn't even started yet. Despite the storm, I am ready to start my round tomorrow, I have plenty of P2 friendly foods, I am all out of the things that might tempt me (coffee and hwc mostly!) and I am expecting to be homebound tomorrow and Tuesday for sure, possibly Wednesday too.

My load started with LC but ended up as a regular load. I will weigh tomorrow and then I might weigh around day 11 and then again at the end of the round. I am excited and motivated!

[AsmallerME]

Yay Katy!!!!!!! I'm super excited for you. I've been thinking about you loading all weekend. Jambalaya may be one of my favorite foods. Good choice!!

[Potaty]

Well, here's an interesting development. Since I've been loading, hence taking hcg, my inflammation is down even though I was loading on less than healthy foods. I think this is definitely a hormonal imbalance! Which makes sense since I still don't have my period back yet I can tell my body keeps trying to ovulate. I would say on a scale of 1-10, today I am at a 6 pain-wise and last week, while eating LC, I was at about an 8. Hmmmm.....

Anways, I weighed this morning at 199.0 and then I put the scale away. I do think I am going to just focus on the aspect of this being a hormonal therapy and the weight will fall of as fast as it's supposed to so there's no reason to obsess or weigh every day. I will weigh on my last dose day in March. Freedom from the scale and obsession, woo hoo! I am still waiting on my workbook to arrive.

[AsmallerME]

Good for you, Katy! I kept starting and restarting LC the past few months and quiting partially because I was frustrated that the weight loss wasn't instant. When in all honesty, I felt better and was losing weight instantly. So I agree, sometimes the scale can sabatoge our best efforts.

If you already feel better, and it's just a few days, it means it's working. Pick a pair of pants that are tight now and try them every week instead of watching the scale.

[AsmallerME]

Good morning, Katy. I hope you are keeping your sanity whilst being snowed in with three kiddos. You are a super mom!!

[AsmallerME]

How's it going? I'm officially worried I need to send a snow plow to your house to get you out.

[Potaty]

Hey girl, I sent you an email last night, did you get it?

I am in a funk. I have a terrible head cold and hcg did not happen. I might take a journal hiatus for a week or so but I'm sure I'll be back!

[AsmallerME]

Bumping up your journal because you are awesome and funk or not, you'll do great when you're ready!!

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by AsmallerME

Bumping up your journal because you are awesome and funk or not, you'll do great when you're ready!!

I'm in a funk too My DD Gracie is sick and I feel beat up from all of the bullying crap we had to deal with. Gracie isn't eating and hasn't gotten out of bed today. Doctor said it's not strep but probably a virus. I personally think it's the flu.

So, Katy, me and you need to get out this FUNK we're in

[Potaty]

Thank you Amber and Gracie!

I *am indeed* getting started on P2 tomorrow. I finally got my workbook and it was so helpful to read through it! I plan to check in on my weight around day 11 and then again at the end of the round. I would love to be in the low 180s at the end!

[Potaty]

3pm and my resolve is weak. huge sigh. I'm going to go make another coffee and hope and pray it passes. I haven't had such a hard time getting going on something in a while. I have already been bargaining in my head....trying to tell myself to just LC for a while or do JUDDD or whatever....anything *but* hcg. It's so hard, yet I know how effective and fast it is.

[AsmallerME]

How's it going? Did you hang on? Try to stay strong. I know you can do it! I have full faith in you!!

I know this is totally not helpful, but I think I may try stillmans again. It's so fast and restrictive. I can't seem to restrict the stinking dairy from my LC life and it's not helping me any. So if you stick to hcg, and I do stillmans, we'll both suffer together!

[Potaty]

I am hanging in there so far! If it weren't for a wedding on April 20th I wouldn't even be doing hcg right now. Remind me again what Stillman's is, it's been almost 10 yrs since I tried it and don't remember

[Potaty]

Today has sucked so bad! I felt like I loaded properly so I don't understand why today was so hard. It was mental *and* physical hunger. I stayed OP, I'm freezing, and I've been working on my workbook. I might watch some WLA youtubes after Biggest Loser to keep my mind in the game.

[AsmallerME]

Good job, Katy.

Stillmans is super LC and low fat. No veggies, dairy, nuts, etc. Pretty much meat and meat and more meat - the leaner the better.

I have some soup (creamy southwestern), some cheese and cream, and some cream cheese muffins to eat first. I figure I'll start Stillmans on Sunday prob.

[Potaty]

I was thinking Stillmans was 500 calories but maybe that is Scarsdale I'm thinking of?

I woke up to my worst inflammation in a couple of weeks. WTH? What on earth is going on? You would think eating LC with limited cals would make me feel better than the week of off plan eating I did. All I can attribute it to is maybe candida die off symptoms? I don't understand physiologically how I can feel worse. This is frustrating.

I have a busy day with dance lessons for Chloe and piano lessons for Tucker so I think that will help the hunger issue I had yesterday. I need to get of the computer now and get our lunches packed so I'm not caught unprepared!

[AsmallerME]

Maybe it is the die off symptoms? Otherwise it makes absolutely no sense. When I get serious, I swear I get a head cold and start TOM. It's like my body fights me in every way possible. Maybe yours is doing the same thing?

[Potaty]

I think I might have a CBC blood test and have them do some thyroid testing too. I need to figure this out, I am not supposed to feel this bad all the time! I literally ache from the shoulders down, even my foot bones hurt. Wah, wah, wah. I am tired of my own whining!

Today seems to be easier so far and I am so thankful! Yesterday was beyond hard and I ended up needing to eat an extra protein last night. I caught a terrible glance of myself in the mirror at dance class. You know how you can think you look pretty decent in your clothes at home and then you are out in public in front of a mirror that doesn't lie and suddenly you are like, OMG, I look terrible! Yeah. That was me today. I want to burn the outfit I am wearing but it's the fat, not the clothes so that was a nice little motivation to stay on track today. I might go in the bathroom there every week just to see it get better, LOL.

[Potaty]

OMG, I think I might be getting the flu. I'm hitting the vitamin D3 hard and taking homeopathics, my whole body aches. Please, no!!!!! Both of our moms are out of town so I would have no help with the 3 kids! Going to bed right now!

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by Potaty

OMG, I think I might be getting the flu. I'm hitting the vitamin D3 hard and taking homeopathics, my whole body aches. Please, no!!!!! Both of our moms are out of town so I would have no help with the 3 kids! Going to bed right now!

Praying you don't have it! It is simply awful. My poor Gracie is starting week #2 and still feels so weak. Sending good thoughts your way!

[Potaty]

Thanks Gracie! I feel much better today! Maybe it was just a case of "this aching is gonna get worse before it gets better" because there is about half as much as yesterday! Woo Hoo!

I have not been enjoying my food *at all* this time around because I bought chicken. I don't really like chicken but was trying to choose the lower cal/fat options. Well, screw that! If I can only eat a little bit, I am going to enjoy every bite! Ground beef from here on out! LOL

[Potaty]

Update on me if anyone is still with me :

I stopped hcg and switched to regular JUDDD for a couple of weeks. This week I had very intense pain in my ovary/uterus and I am suspecting I had a cyst that ruptured.
I have a doctor's appointment (with my OB/Gyn) this week. I am going to request a blood panel to check all of my hormone levels. In the meantime, and for the near future, I will be eating vlc to try to balance my insulin (in case that made me form the cyst). *sigh* I am dreading the doctor but I know it's time to go.

Sam~If you are still out there, any recommendations on tests? I want to make sure I cover my bases in trying to figure this out (the inflammation mostly). Even considering doing a scan to check my pituitary tumor.

[AsmallerME]

I got all excited when I saw this journal bump up on page 1.

I have no advice, just I've never considered that my cysts could be related to insulin or anything like that. But it makes sense - I haven't had many painful ones while on LC. And I feel better overall on LC, so why wouldn't that aspect of my health improve too?

[Potaty]

Hey there Amber! I was never diagnosed with PCOS but I do have a few of the symptoms and I can usually tell I have been eating badly when I get achey ovaries or hip pain. When I eat LC, the symptoms go away so even though I was liking the freedom of JUDDD, I am just not someone who can have carbs. I just need to accept that and move on, LOL.

[Potaty]

Well, I have been begging AF to come back for several months now and I do believe she is finally on her way. My ovulation predictor tests were positive yesterday and today and my left ovary is killing me. DH has been ordered to stay far, far away from me and I should see AF in the next 2 weeks or so! I am hoping this will help me stay on track, my hormones were going nuts all the time and I was eating like crap on a regular basis, never able to stick to it.

Atkins '72 for me from here on out! No more plan jumping, just focusing on getting into deep ketosis and exercising on a regular basis. The weight will come off as it should, no more stressing, no more obsessing, no more worrying. Auto-pilot, here we go!

[Samantha42]

Katy! Where are you? Would love to hear how you're doing!