Day 7 of VLCD DONE!

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -17.2 9.5%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 164.8
Today: 164.8 +/- 0
R2 7.6 Total 4.4%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 244.8
Today: 245.1 +.3
R2 11.2 Total 4.4%

Yesterday's menu:
B: (Monica) coffee with 1T 1/2 & 1/2
L: Mixed greens(kale, spinach, mustard and collard greens) made with homemade chicken broth & garlic, steamed chicken with Italian seasonings. Apple slices
D: (Monica) shrimp creole & natural applesauce, (Nakia) steamed shrimp & broccoli with an orange

Oops. I think it was the mixed greens. I had them left over from P3 and I thought we could get away with it because they were all dark leafy greens, but I guess not! ok... won't do that again.

Nakia did what he calls a light workout yesterday. He's been exhausted for the last 2 days and has been going to bed very early so he has decided not to workout for at least today. I, however did all my meal prep last night so I had time to do a workout this morning. It felt great. I missed you so much FIRM! I hope the FIRM and HCG get along. I guess I'll find out today. I'm taking both of my fruits with me just in case.

I was able to watch the Morning Show that Ed and Jenn were on when I got home from work last night. Wow... what can I say about that? The disapproving doctor that they had on there was obviously just pulled in from somewhere and didn't do much research on the protocol itself. Of course a doctor would say that a 500 calorie diet is bad for the body. But anyway... Ed & Jenn represented! Woo Hoo... And they look amazing!

Mary - We're still hanging in there. I feel bad about my choice to give him the greens yesterday. He was so disappointed this morning, but I'm sure that .3 will come right off tomorrow. Today is a fish and beef day.

B - Ya know... I haven't worked out during this P2 until today & Nakia has worked out everyday. Our weight loss percentages are almost identical. I don't know what that means, but it sure is an interesting finding. I'll keep paying attention though.

Becca - Awww... thanks becca! He really does need the encouragement, and I'm going to forward that message to him :)

Day 6 of VLCD DONE!

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -17.2 9.5%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 165.5
Today: 164.8 -.7
R2 7.6 Total 4.4%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 246.9
Today: 244.8 -2.1
R2 11.5 Total 4.5% (correction)

Yesterday's menu:
L: (Monica) chili, apple, coffee with 1/2 and 1/2
(Nakia) chili, orange
S: (Nakia) Strawberries
D: steamed chicken and broccoli with mrs dash (Monica) Trader Joe's chunky applesauce

Well... look at that. Nakia worked out yesterday and lost over 2 lbs! I'm so proud of him & he said this morning that he can't believe this is happening so fast. We're still neck and neck on the percentages even though he's working out and I haven't. I've meant to, but I've been using my workout time in the morning to prepare our food for the day. So I think I'll just be doing my Hip Hop class a bally's on thursday nights and a FIRM workout on saturday and sunday when I have time.

Yesterday I sent him to work with both of his fruits for the day just in case he needed one of them after his workout. That worked out well. I gave him the choice to have a 3rd fruit in the evening, but he didn't need it. The gum is doing the trick as well.

I feel a little better over my weight than I did yesterday. I'm just so impatient! But this hcg is some amazing stuff... There's no way I could do this any other way & I need to remember what a miracle this is and how lucky I am to have found it at this stage of the game... before it's on the news! I'm all stocked up for 3 more rounds. Today is the day! Ed and Jen will be on TV! I am so excited for them! They are a terrific example of what this protocol can do.

Mary - Oh you know you will! I give it 2 days tops. I can't wait for you to post today...I'll bet it's gone already!

Lili - You are so right lili... Your comment really made me think about the situation. Thank you so much. I also remember that you warned me about this :) I guess I had to learn the hard way. I'm so hard headed sometimes. Fresh fresh fresh foods on my next P3!

Day 5 of VLCD DONE!

Monica - R2P2
R1 LIW 161.7
Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 166.6
Today: 165.5 -1.1
6.9 Total 4%

Nakia - R1P2
Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 248
Today: 246.9 -1.1
9.4 Total 3.7%

Yesterday's menu
B: Monica: Grapefruit, grissini
Nakia: 8 oz natural applesauce, grissini
L: steak & caramelized onions, strawberry sorbet with splenda
D: catfish creole & grissini

First of all... Yaaaay Ed & Jenn! Everyone, please watch The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet tomorrow morning. My dear buddy's Ed and Jenn will be on talking about this wonderful protocol we've all found. Biz can tell you all about it on her blog (click here).

I can see both of us starting to slow down. Well it's either that or the steak and onion lunch we had yesterday. I always lost a little less when I had that on the last round, but it's soooo good & allowed so I just had to have some after we came back from a matinee yesterday. We went to see Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Funny, but way over the top for some.

Well, I'm not at my LIW from last round yet & I'm kicking myself for that. I will NOT let that happen on my next P3. I had originally planned to only do 2 rounds, but since I gained back almost 10 during my P3 and P4 break, I feel like I'm wasting hcg until I lose it again. I know there are others in the same boat with me, but I still feel crappy about it. I'm still 3.8 lbs over that LIW and I'm a week into my VLCD! Well it's keeping me from cheating & that's a good thing. I want to lose every ounce possible. I'm hoping to be back to my LIW in the next 3 days or so... keeping my fingers crossed. We'll see.

To commentor's:

Mary - Thanks a bunch for the encouragement. I know you're gonna do great. You'll be losing all new weight and I wish I were where YOU are right now!

Biz - Ok girl... it's all taken care of. This is going to be fun. I'm just sad I have wait until I get home from work to see it on my DVR.

B - I'm doing my best to make it back to my LIW. I thought I would have been there by now, but oh well. I'll get there. You'll do fine on your break with working out. That's a great idea.

Becca - Well happy early birthday! Can't wait to see how you did with that salad. I thought he should get a steak, but a salad is a good idea too... probably better because they can't sneak butter on it :)

Day 4 of VLCD DONE!

Monica - R2P2
R1 LIW 161.7
Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 167.9
Today: 166.6 -1.3
3.4%

Nakia - R1P2
Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 249.6
Today: 248 -1.6
3.2%

Yesterday's menu:
Monica
B: hot cocoa made with water,splenda and 1 T milk & 1/2 grapefruit
L: chili with natural salsa and 1 grissini
D: chicken with cucumber slices & 4 oz natural motts applesauce and 1 grissini

Nakia
B: orange & cucumbers
L: chicken & grissini
D: chili & 4 oz natural motts applesauce

Ha... I just love the first week of P2! These losses are addicting.

Nakia has an upcoming work outing at dave & busters on friday that he's concerned about. I told him to get an 8 oz steak and only eat half with some steamed or grilled vegetables instead of the mashed potatoes & one drink for the night. He's definately going to do his workout that day as well. I hope that'll be okay. I avoided going out during my P2 so I didn't really have to find things on menus that I could have.

Mary - Thanks and you've done great on P2 with the gum. I'm just not a big gum chewer so it wasn't an issue for me.

B - Hi... I've been seeing you post on other blogs for a while so I decided to pay a visit. You're doing great as well.

Amie - Hey amie! so nice to have you stop by! I've been following your blogs since you started your last P2 so I do know about you and Ed. It's great to see you blogging again. We were all worried about you. We started out at the same weight, but I hadn't started yet at the time. It'll be nice doing P2 with you & Brandi this time.

Becca - Yeah... that's what I thought too. he sure was miserable those first 2 days of VLCD. He's no longer being snippy though... I wouldn't have been able to stand 21 days of that.

Day 3 of VLCD DONE!

Monica - R2P2
R1 LIW 161.7
Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 169.4
Today: 167.9 -1.5
2.6%

Nakia - R1P2
Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 251.3
Today: 249.6 -1.7
2.6%

Just a quick update today. I gotta run in a few. Nakia is feeling better because he didn't workout yesterday. Thanks for the suggestions. He's also going to start chewing his sugar free gum again. Becca - I might try ordering the zappgum, but he's gonna stay with regular gum for now.

To everyone that commented... thanks so much for all the support. It really helps so much. Love you guys.

Day 2 of VLCD DONE!

Monica - R2P2
R1 LIW 161.7
Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 170.8
Today: 169.4 -1.4
1.74%

Nakia - R1P2
Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 253.9
Today: 251.3 -2.6
1.01%

Yesterday's menu:
B: (Monica) coffee with 1T 1/2 & 1/2 with stevia
L: cabbage & 4% fat hamburger with garlic and minced onion, 1 grissini
(Monica) apple, (Nakia) orange
D: Biz's catfish creole, orange, 1 grissini

Today's stats are really good, but Nakia is struggling a lot with the VLCD (see last night's post). He really wants to chew some sugar free gum. He normally has about 2 1/2 sticks a day, chewing a 1/2 stick at a time. He says it really helps him to not think about food. I think I read somewhere that we couldn't chew sugar free gum on P2, but if he really can't stand it today I think it would be better for him to have some gum than quit P2 all together. I've also decided to raise his dose to 175 if his hunger doesn't go away by the end of weekend. He does a 30-45 min on the elliptical machine every day as well. I wonder if that has something to do with his hunger?

I'm doing pretty well though. I'm having that empty feeling, but it's bearable. I have discovered ziploc steamer bags and they're great! I can steam veggies without any dishes. How great is that?! I can even have fresh steamed vegetables at work & I'm really into easy these days... I wonder if I could do the catfish creole in there? I'll try it and report back.

While looking over my round 1, I realized that when I went onto P3, my weight went back up to what it was right before my 3 day break during P2 pretty easily and then I seemed to stop there. I think I might have set my weight there when I took that break. Well... there will be no breaks this time. I'm going straight through for at least 30 days. Wish me luck folks, but I guess I don't need it because this plan REALLY works.

Happy losing in protocoland! :)

Day 1 VLCD Done - WOO HOO!

Monica - R2P2
R1 LIW 161.7
Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 172.4
Today: 170.8 -1.6

Nakia - R1P2
Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 256.3
Today: 253.9 -2.4

---- I had some internet connection problems this morning so I couldn't post, but here's what I was going to post:

Ok so he starts beating me right out of the gate! LOL. We both had a little hunger yesterday. Nakia was surprised at the small amount of food I gave him to eat, so he tried not to eat much of it all day. It took him all day to eat his first meal! I've found that I get hungry earlier in the day on VLCD & he did too so when he tried to wait until 12 to eat lunch, he had gotten pretty hungry by then so he tried to ration the rest of the day. Well this was yesterday's meals for both of us:
Lunch: Grilled chicken, cucumber, 1/2 orange, (Nakia) grissini
Dinner: Grilled chicken, broccoli, 1/2 orange, grissini
I also had coffee with 1T of Half&Half with stevia in the morning.

I've decided to add broccoli this time. I used it at the end of my last round after seeing Biz do so well with it. (Even though she was doing well with EVERYTHING). We LOVE broccoli so this will be a real treat.

We will be taking pictures and measurements to post tonight & I'm hoping to get everything posted by the end of the week. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Nakia does on VLCD. He doesn't have any biased opinions of how it's "supposed" to work because he hasn't been on the hcg boards or blogs. He's only going by my progress. I gave him Dr. S's manual to read, but he just skipped to the diet part... yup... he's such a GUY that way :) He never reads directions! LOL. So basically, I'm his coach & chef on this one. It's fun... so far. It's much easier making 2 or 4 servings of meals anyway. Gotta go... happy losing :)

----- Now it's evening & I'm a little concerned about Nakia. He had some real hunger today and he complained of lightheadedness. I don't know what that means, but if it continues tomorrow, I will be raising his dosage from 150iu to 175iu on saturday & see what happens. He has always gotten very irritable when he's hungry, and I've always had a suspicion that he suffers from low blood sugar from time to time. If anyone reading has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks

Mary - Girl, I am so glad to be back on P2. I'm so sorry I haven't been to your blog lately to know, but when will you be starting P2 again?

Becca - Honey... I need gas money! It's just a little temporary side gig that I thought would be fun and easy. They're paying almost $400 for both races plus tips & it's only 2 saturday's out of my life, so me and my girlfriend from work figured "Why not?" Well... I've been able to buy gas, but my wardrobe budget has diminished because of it and that totally bites!

Lili - Hi Lil! Yup... I feel great and I love seeing the scale go down. DH on the other hand is having a rough time. I've had to eat on the fly all week due to training for the races, but I have fallen in love with ziploc steamer bags. They are wonderful! Just throw in a vegetable with some mrs dash and I'm done. I think I can do fish in there too, but I haven't tried yet.

lindasayloo - Hi! Nice to meet you & welcome to P2! I see you have a blog.... I'll have to check it out. My DH is having a tough time too. Hang in there... it doesn't last forever and the rewards are so worth it.

Done with loading - Off with the weight!

Monica - R2P2
R1 LIW 161.7
Yesterday: 171.8
Today: 172.4 +.6

Nakia - R1P2
Yesterday: 255.5
Today: 256.3 +.8

Oh my goodness... I'm in such a rush this morning, so just a quick update. We shared an awesome bacon cheese burger and fries last & that's that. Today it's cucumbers and grilled chicken. I'm glad I was able to get that together because I didn't have time to make any preparations last night. I normally like to make my P2 meals really special, but I only had time to toss some chicken into the forman grill and cut up some cucumbers and oranges before hubby had to get off to work.

I started training last night to take bets at Pimlico race track for the kentucky derby this weekend and the Preakness in 2 weeks. The training went until 9:30 last night so I just picked up the burger from a little bar that makes fantastic food on the way home. I've got another training tonight so I'll be eating on the go today... I guess I'll go cut up another cuke :)

Happy losing today folks :)

Day 2 Load day - So ready for VLCD

Monica
Yesterday: 169.3
Today: 171.8
2.5 Gain

Nakia - R1P2
Yesterday: 252.2
Today: 255.5
3.3 Gain

Neither one of us was very hungry yesterday. I didn't really do much snacking or anything. It almost felt like I could feel the hcg in my system already. I did a little shopping last night and tonight I'll be making some preparations for the start of our VLCD tomorrow. I miss being on HCG. I miss the energy and it seemed to be easier for me to get out of bed in the morning. I don't know if that was the excitment of seeing the scale numbers every day or the hcg just getting me out of bed.

I haven't done a workout yet this week. I've been going to bed late and haven't been getting up in time to start. I'll have to change that tomorrow because I really do like the results I get from that. Nakia was finally able to lift a few weights yesterday though. This is the first time he's done that since his hernia surgery a few months ago, so it was a big deal... oh and he got a promotion at work yesterday too! This week is starting out great!

To commentor's & readers: I'll be getting around to reading posts really soon. I missed you guys!

Mary - Thanks. It feels good to get back to this routine.

Becca - Hi.... yup, back up and running & so excited to get back on this ride with you.

R2P2D1 - I'm Back

Monica
R1 LIW: 161.7
Starting weight: 169.3

Nakia
Starting weight: 252.2

OK... I'm back! Totally re-energized. First of all... thanks to everyone that stopped by while I was MIA. I just had a looong moment.

My wonderful DH Nakia and I took our first shot today and we are on our way. I am sooo glad to be back on P2! I'm about 8 lbs over my LIW so I'm not really doing a load. I'm just eating a few things that I normally don't. I told Nakia to go for it though.

We have enough HCG to do 30 days. He has committed to 23 days, but I'm going to do the whole 30. I've already ordered enough hcg for us to do 2 more rounds after this one. If I get that order in by the end of this round, I might add on a few days. I'm hoping to get into the low 150s and he wants to break into the 230s by the end of this round. I think that's pretty realistic. My back is feeling much better so my plan is to continue working out (now that I've started), but to cut it down to 2-3 times a week.

Oh yeah... we went to see Steve Harvey & Monique on saturday night in Philly and stayed at this little bed andbreakfast on the Temple campus. I got to take a picture with Monique afterwards. We had soooo much fun at that show. Funny funny funny! I thought we were going to go out to eat so I waited until after we got back to start P2, but I hardly ate all weekend! Our meals were straight from the 7eleven on campus. Ahhh... college food :) I don't miss that. So Nakia and I are going to Famous Dave's for ribs tonight. Oops... sorry other P2'rs... There won't be any more of that for a little while. For some reason 30 days doesn't seem that long this time.

Anyway... I gotta run. Must get to work.

R1P4D22 - Doin Ok. just over worked

LIW 2/26/08 161.7
Today: 171.6
9.9 OVER LIW

Here I am. I know I've been away for a while. Almost 2 weeks. WOW! I may have mentioned before that I'm a programmer. Well work has been a BEAST lately and the last thing I wanted to do was turn on my computer when I got home. That... and I was still mourning my uncle's death and didn't want all that to come across in my blog anymore. It just brought back alot of the feelings I had when my dad passed away and I was not in a good place. I'm feeling much better now though & I've really missed my blogging community.

I've got about a week left of P4 and I'll be back on P2. I can't wait! I've been holding steady at 170-171 for the last week & I feel very comfortable. I'm eating well with mostly fresh foods. I have been eating alot of carbs though, even though I haven't been able to workout for about a week because I hurt my back on tuesday. I've been keeping ice on it, but it's still soar. I just twisted the wrong way during an unfamiliar move on one of my new DVDs. On top of that... TOM started today! Thank goodness I didn't gain anything from it though.

I'm really geared up for my next round. I'm hoping to get rid of this 10 pounds during my first week & then it's all gravy after that. I'm so happy that I can even THINK about releasing 10 lbs in a week. That's awesome. I love this protocol! Even though I'm almost 10 lbs over my LIW, my body feels different and I actually do feel like my metabolism has changed. I had pizza and chocolate cake in the same day once this week and didn't gain an ounce. I was floored! Most days I've been eating oatmeal or eggs for breakfastoatmeal or eggs for breakfast, apples or strawberries for snacks, big salads with chicken or shrimp at lunch, and I normally have a meat and half a plate of veggies for dinner. When I want chocolate, I eat it. I haven't been depriving myself of anything that I really want & I just balance it out with eating right for the rest of the day. I can get used to this :)

Ed & Jenn, Shelly, Becca - Thanks guys. I'm hoping to getting back to working out by next week & I'm going to continue to do light workouts on my P2 like KT suggests. Jenn... those weights sound really cool. You're always finding interesting stuff like that. Take care guys.

R1P4D10 - Tired tired tired today.

LIW 2/26/08 161.7
Today: 170.3
8.6 OVER LIW

I'm sure that little gain is left over from the weekend. Hovering around 170... it could be much worse. I haven't had a good workout yet this week. This morning's workout was kind of blah. I bought the new FIRM set with the weights and the 3 lb set that comes with it is way too light for me. Since I was trying it out for the first time, I used my own 5 lb weights, but they were still too light for the workout. I think I need to use at least an 8 lb pair of weights. I hardly broke a sweat, so tomorrow's workout will have to be way more intense. I would have done another workout tonight, but I am totally wiped out for some reason even after 3 cups of coffee today, so I'm just taking it easy for this evening. I'm getting ready to watch the premier of Hell's Kitchen so I'll catch up with blogs later.

Mary - I'm doing really well today, thanks. I'm pretty glad I moved away from White Castles too. I used to live on those little things! Now they're just treat when I go back home.

Becca - I am truly amazed at how little food it takes to give me that full feeling & it happens in like 1 or 2 bites. All of a sudden, I'm just FULL!

Biz - Yup... that's what I'm trying to do. One day at a time... ya know. Thanks for the encouragement.

Shelly - It sure is. I've learned so much about my body and what I can accomplish. This is a great journey that we're all on & even though it's accelerated for us, the change can't happen over night. Isn't it great to have this community to lean on?

Thanks for checking up on me guys. Happy losing!