Made it to P4! Over LIW limit, but not much.

Monica- R2P4
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 163.4
Today: 162.4 -1.0
4.2 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P4
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 239.8
Today: 239.8
.9 ABOVE LIW

Lookin good all around. Nakia fired up the grill yesterday and we had a small feast! I saw a fabulous turkey burger recipe on oprah the other day that I've been dying to try. There was a tiny bit of sugar in one ingredient (mango chutney), but it was negligible.

I highly recommend these. Here's the recipe on the oprah site: http://www.oprah.com/foodhome/food/recipes/200805/food_20080516_burger.jhtml Absolutely no bread, cheese or condiments needed.

Our other meat was teriyaki beef skewers with grilled pineapple from the food network
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_36826,00.html I never had grilled pineapple before... Boy was I missin out!

We also had yellow, red, orange and green peppers, red onions, cherry tomatoes & baby bok choy... all grilled nice and tender.... And since I wanted to recreate the broiled bananas I had at Fogo De Chao a few weeks ago, we put a halved banana, still in the peel, on the grill as well. It came out great! I put some homemade whipped cream sweetened with splenda & sprinkled cinnamon on top. I'm glad we only did one banana because I would have gone overboard on those if there were more.

It was nice to make something other than burgers and dogs on the grill. I ate sooo much food yesterday, but still stayed around 2000 calories with my 61% fat, 18% carbs and 21% protein which is about what I should have on workout days. I seem to do better with my food when I keep an eye on it, but don't obsess over it. It's a delicate balance.

Nakia and I are playin hooky today and going out of town for the weekend. We're just taking a drive to stay at a resort that my friend recommended. We've been trying to find close places to travel since the gas station wants my first born these days.

Mary - Wow... how did we all get on the same schedule?! Hmmm... cosmic stuff goin on there. Mine's on it's way out... thank goodness! Hey, you're still on a break right? I haven't had a chance to leave you a comment but I skimmed through your blog yesterday. I'll try to stop by soon.

Becca - I know... I can't beleive it myself, but I'm glad it's here, even though I'm not going to add the carbs in yet. I just hope this means that I'm stabilized now. My clothes are fitting great and Nakia says I'm tightening up in the right places :) So I'm happy.

Jan - Yup... I still feel the water retention and soreness so being 4 lbs over LIW isn't really that bad, as long as I can hang out here. My magic steak or egg day number is over 5 lbs over.

Doing great & starting P4

Monica- R2P3
LIW: 158.2
6/6: 163.9
6/7: 161.6 -2.3 LIW +3.4
6/8: 160.5 -1.1 LIW +2.3 TOM Started
6/9: 162.3 +1.8 LIW +4.1
6/10: 163.4 +1.1 LIW +5.2
6/11: 162 -1.2 LIW +3.8
Today: 163.4 +1.2 LIW +5.2

Nakia - R1P4
LIW: 237.2
6/6: 237.6 Started P4
6/7: no scale
6/8: no scale
6/9: 241.8 +4.2 LIW +4.6
6/10: 241.1 -.7 LIW +3.9
6/11: 241.3 +.2 LIW +4.1
Today: 239.8 -1.5 LIW +2.6

Nakia started P4 on friday, but really he's been eating some P4 foods all along anyway. Mostly hamburger buns :). He's really figued out how to get his weight in control. Look at that! He went up over the weekend while he didn't have the scale and now he's getting right back down towards his LIW. He doesn't use fitday, but he's learned how to listen to his body. He's eating alot of lean meats like his dinner last night of a turkey burger with cheese, guacamole and salsa on a roll. He doesn't care for wheat rolls so it was just a regular hamburger roll. He had eggs for breakfast and broccoli and fruit for lunch.

A for me... TOM showed up earlier this week and my weight is fluctuating a lot from that and I'm having a lot of cravings. I'm also working out and experiencing some water retention to go with my soreness. I'm sitting here right now and my whole body is sore so I know my muscles must be holding on to some water so they can heal up. I think my weight will get lower after TOM leaves and my workout soreness goes away. I'll just keep getting plenty of protein and I'll be fine. I've been meaning to take measurements to see where I am, but I haven't had time. I start my P4 tomorrow, but I'm not adding any carb or sugars yet. I'm going to see how my weight regulates after TOM is outta here.

Nakia and I are going to a resort for 3 days this weekend just to get away. Our 5th wedding anniversary is next weekend so we're just starting to celebrate a little early. Next weekend we're going to hang out in Atlantic city & check out a gourmet restaurant there. We haven't decided which one yet though.

That's all for today.

Mary - Yup... egg days are great! I'm so glad Biz started that. It's so much easier than a steak day. I tend to over eat the day after a steak day.

Vic - Yeah gotta love him... He's a keeper! I've eased up on worrying about my weight right now. My body is going through some changes with the workouts so I'm just eating what I know I should and letting things fall where they need too. No worries.

Burcu - Mine freaked out as first, but then she just got over it. She didn't start out being supportive, but she came around. It was difficult to tell her at first, but I sent her pounds & inches and she felt a little better about it.

Becca - I'm busy building that muscle right now, but that weight will come down soon enough. I will certainly tell my mom she's the BOMB :) She'll love that!

Visiting mom today! She's great!

Monica- R2P3
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 163.9
Today: 161.6 -2.3
3.4 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 237.6
Today: ???
.4 ABOVE LIW

That egg day seemed to work great. Now I need to maintain it today even though I'm away from home. I'm visiting my mom this weekend. My mom is really supportive of me. I got here late last night and I had told her I was done eating for the day so she made me a cup of tea with lemon and splenda. That was so sweet of her. She does tell me that she thinks I'm too thin right now, but she never tries to get me to eat something. In fact, last night when I was eyeing her crescents, she promptly said "Don't you eat those!" & put them away, instead of saying "Awww... just one won't hurt". LOL.... I just LOVE her for that!

So today I'm down 2.3 and Nakia doesn't know what he weighs because he let me take the scale with me since I'm working on controlling my weight more than he is. I must admit, he's probably been eating less calories than I have & he's been working out as well. He doesn't eat a lot of dairy & he has nuts every once in a while..., like one should :). He's also been able to eat a few carbs here and there like a hamburger bun or a slice of banana walnut bread. His main focus is protein though, but he's always been like that. I started forcing him to eat a "balanced" meal of a veg, a starch & a meat on one plate like my mother taught me growing up. Wow.... that whole idea has changed now! My plates certainly don't look like that anymore. They consist of mostly protein and a vegetable with no carbs at all. Whooda thunk? I really just need to start eating what Nakia's eating.... WHOA... what a concept :)

Hi Ed & Jenn, It's hard to not worry about my LIW since I just kept gaining on my last P3 after my weight started to go up... no matter what I did. I really do feel a difference now though. My body seems much more responsive so I think taking off the extra few pounds won't be as hard. We'll see what happens tomorrow :) Thanks for checkin on us cruisin buddies!

It's time to step it up Moni!

Monica- R2P3
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 162.5
Today: 163.9 +1.4
5.7 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 237.7
Today: 237.6 -.1
.4 ABOVE LIW

I was attempting to have a high protein day yesterday, but it went off kilter a bit. With too many cashews, my calorie count was too high when I put my food into fitday.... so I'm on an egg day today. I had 3 eggs cooked in butter this morning, a 4 egg salad with mayo, mustard & sugar free relish to eat throughout the day, and I'll have 3 eggs for dinner. I'm hoping most of this weight comes off with that. I wore my skinny jeans today to make sure everything was still in place & they still fit... WOOO HOOO.

I'm so happy for Nakia though... he's sailing right through this P3. An interesting thing to note is that he only deviated once while on P2 and he couldn't even keep that down because it made him sick so it really doesn't count, but I deviated more than I did on my first P2.... interesting fact. We're going to start P2 again in September, so we're done before we go on the HCG cruise. I was going to start in July, but our summer is too full of events for me to do that safely, so I really need to lose this extra 5 lbs and get closer to my LIW. I just looked at the stats of my first P2 and it was right around this time(about 2 weeks in) that I started to gain steadily so now is the time to nip this in the bud so
I have banished all nuts from my house!
I do ok when I separate them into servings immediately, but the loose ones get me every time!

Thank you to everyone that stops by. I appreciate all of you so much, whether you post or not!

Word of the day: Protein!

Monica- R2P3
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 162.2
Today: 162.5 +.3
4.3 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 240.1
Today: 237.7 -2.4
.5 ABOVE LIW

Yup... protein is the key. Wow... how long did it take me to figure that out? I've been thinking that I needed to eat alot of fruit, but that's when I get into trouble. I went back and read P&I once more and saw something I hadn't noticed before.
Here is an excerpt from Pounds & Inches that explains Dr Simeon's treatment for Protein Deficiency.

During treatment the patient has been only just above the verge of protein deficiency and has had the advantage of protein being fed back into his system from the breakdown of fatty tissue. Once the treatment is over there is no more HCG in the body and this process no longer takes place. Unless an adequate amount of protein is eaten as soon as the treatment is over, protein deficiency is bound to develop, and this inevitably causes the marked retention of water known as hunger- edema.

The treatment is very simple. The patient is told to eat two eggs for breakfast and a huge steak for lunch and dinner followed by a large helping of cheese and to phone through the weight the next morning. When these instructions are followed a stunned voice is heard to report that two lbs. have vanished overnight, that the ankles are normal but that sleep was disturbed, owing to an extraordinary need to pass large quantities of water. The patient having learned this lesson usually has no further trouble.

LOL... I just love the fact that steak is the cure for most of the problems on P3. Hmmm.... this gets me to thinking. If you come off of P2 and try to eat mostly veggies, fruits & cheese, even if you get all your calories in, you may also suffer from protein deficiency. This is an interesting thing to note. I'm sure I suffered this on my first round of P3. Re-reading P&I is always an eye opener for me. I always find something new there. He really was a pioneer.

Ed & Jenn - Thanks for checkin on me sis! Yup... it finally clicked. I don't have my stats in front of me, but I'm pretty sure that by the 2nd week of my last P3, I was on a steady upward climb. This time I really feel stabilized and I'm sure I can get back down to my LIW in just a few days. It's a good feeling. I can't wait to get to where you are though! You are really doin the damn thing!

Burcu - I'm not really worried about it, especially since I'm working out and my rings are so tight. I know that comes with about a 4 lb temporary gain for me. As long as I stick to P3 food, I'll be fine. I'm doing another mostly protein day today... although I did have a 1/2 of a leftover banana that was in my fridge this morning, but it was really early.

Becca - Yeah... my time is short with work, exercising, and everything else, but I'm going to try to keep up with my blog as much as I can. During P2 I use my morning workout time to blog, but now that time is filled with the actual workout, so I try to sneak it in during my lunch break. It really is the best record I have of what I've REALLY been doing. The charts and graphs are ok, but journaling is so much more dynamic.

Where have we been?!

Monica- R2P3
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 163.1
Today: 162.2 -.9
4.0 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 237.5
Today: 240.1 +2.6
2.9 ABOVE LIW

Ha... I'm back. We had a great weekend again! Sorry I've been away so long. I had some internet connection problems over the weekend at home, & then I started my workouts on monday so that's been taking up my normal blogging time. I've been trying to keep up the journaling over at www.myhcgjourney.com/forums too so unfortunately time is short for my blog.

Nakia has been holding steady right around his LIW. He said he ate alot of salty food yesterday so he's retaining water. I totally agree... even though he's not updating his fitday menus so I really have no clue! But who am I to talk.... I didn't do mine for 4 days straight! LOL

He was over the 2 pounds once before and he fixed that with a high protein day, so that's what he's doing today. He doesn't want to do a steak day because he knows he would overeat the day after.... Well that's essentially what I did. I gained most of my steak day loss back the next day, so I think either high protein days or egg days will be better for me mentally. I'm trying to keep my protein levels high because that seems to work well for me. I have to cut down on the veggies and fruits until I get back to my LIW. 2-4 cups of veggies a day, depending on the carb count & one fruit serving will be my limit for now. Hopefully I can stick to it. Mind over food!

Thanks Liz, Jan, Burcu & Becca for your kind words. I really need all the encouragement I can get right now. It's so easy to go overboard on P3.