Monica & Nakia's HCG Protocol Journal

Yaaay cucumbers and celery!

2009-08-31T13:51:00.000-07:00

Monica - R5P2 Day8
R5 Starting weight: 168.9
Yesterday: 161.5
Today: 160.1 -1.4
R5 Total -8.8 5.2%

Nakia - R4P2 Day 15
R5 Starting weight: 229.9
Yesterday: 215.6
Today: 215.3 -0.3
R4 Total 14.6 6.4%

Yesterday's menu:
B: apple
L: cucumbers & grilled mustard chicken with hot sauce
S: strawberries
D: celery & grilled mustard chicken with hot sauce

HA! My celery and cucumber trick worked like a charm. WOO HOO! 1.4 baby! That's what I'm talking about! I wanted to get under 160, but maybe tomorrow.

Nakia has slowed down quite a bit. He normally enjoys a 1 lb a day average, but he's had less than 1 lb losses every day for a week so he's a little bummed. He's still lost 14.6 lbs in 15 days so I think he'll be fine too.

It's monday and I'm ready to get my 2nd week started.

Yikes... too much salt in our food

2009-08-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

Monica - R5P2 Day 7
R5 Starting weight: 168.9
Yesterday: 161.1
Today: 161.5 +0.4
R5 Total -6.8 4.0%

Nakia - R4P2 Day 14
R5 Starting weight: 229.9
Yesterday: 215.8
Today: 215.6 -0.2
R4 Total 14.3 6.2%

Yesterday's menu:
B: apple
L: creole catfish
S: melba toast apple pie
D: teriyaki chicken and cabbage, an apple

I was pretty surprised to see a gain this morning until I realized what I ate for dinner last night. I made some of my teriyaki marinade that has a soy sauce base and instead of using it as a marinade, I used it as a seasoning sauce for my cabbage. I knew it tasted really salty while I was eating it, but since it was late, I was hungry, & I didn't feel like cooking again... I just went ahead and ate it, not thinking how that salt would affect me. Well, at least I know what the cause was. So today I decided to eat cucumbers, celery, coffee (all natural diuretics) & put absolutely no salt on my food as well as get in plenty of water... take THAT water weight!! Hopefully my little plan works...

Until tomorrow then

Yesterday was a good day

2009-08-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

Monica - R5P2 Day 6
R5 Starting weight: 168.9
Yesterday: 161.7
Today: 161.1 -0.6
R5 Total -7.2 4.6%

Nakia - R4P2 Day 13
R5 Starting weight: 229.9
Yesterday: 216.5
Today: 215.9 -0.6
R4 Total 13.4 6.1%

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: coffee with half & half, strawberries
L: Lemon pepper orange roughy, garlic & herb string beans
S: apple
D: steak & caramelized onions

Nakia
B: apple
L: chicken and cucumber
S: apple
D: steak & caramelized onions

I've just been copying my journal from HTA to here cus I like the continuity of reading my blog, but I also missed being involved in HTA when I decided to blog instead. I know...I'm such a confused soul...

First thing's first... My hubby has reached 40.4 lbs lost total for the first time today! He's 215.9 down from 256.3 originally!

I've been looking around the HTA forum today and I'm just blown away by the support that's given there. I really had been away for quite some time! That place has grown exponentially since I last journaled there. There are so many that are willing to help anyone that needs a boost. I was part of another forum before, but it was nothing like this. This really feels like family. I can't help but notice that there are a few people that seem to be more qualified than me, but I guess the admins see something in me... so I'll do my best to use it.

Well, yesterday was pretty good. Work is getting a little better... still very busy, but at least I have my computer back now. I had to have my hard drive wiped because it had a virus. Unfortunately we found out that we never got the right setup discs for the machine so I didn't have any drivers for anything.... that kinda sucks, but I can work on configuring my machine back to the way I like it now. That all cuts down on my stress level & for me stress = hunger = deviations. Somehow I've been able to stay away from the VAT of chocolate candy in my office.... YAAAY!

I think the steak and carmalized onions that I ate last night may have caused me slow down my weight loss today, but I really had a taste for beef yesterday. I probably shouldn't have eaten it for dinner and saved that for lunch today. I'll do that next time.

Love these first week releases!

2009-08-28T04:28:00.000-07:00

Monica - R5P2 Day 5
R5 Starting weight: 168.9
Yesterday: 163.2
Today: 161.7 -1.5
R5 Total -7.2 4.3%

Nakia - R4P2 Day 12
R5 Starting weight: 229.9
Yesterday: 216.9
Today: 216.5 -0.4
R4 Total 13.4 5.8%

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: Strawberries, Coffee with 1T half and half
L: Chicken & garlic string beans
D: Apple, creole catfish
S: Melba toast apple pie (Melba toast with applesauce and cinnamon on top, heated in the microwave)
Tea & 4C Totally Light 2go

Nakia
B: apple
L: chicken & cabbage
D: fire grilled tomatoes with chicken
4C Totally Light 2go

We're just plugging along today. Nakia has started to slow down and he's not used to that happening so soon. He usually has an average of 1 lb releases a day.

The hcg is starting to make me wake up really early again. I always get so much energy when I'm on this. I got up early and made some P2 teriyaki marinade for my beef strips. I love that stuff.

I was appointed to be a moderator over at the happilythinnerafter forum. I'm really happy about that. I've been wanting to get more involved on the forum and pay it forward. I've learned so much from my online family and I really want to give back. It's going to be a challenge for me to remain involved when I'm not on protocol, but I'm going to try alot harder to do that this time. For some reason... maybe I'm not as focused... I just don't get as much time to post when I'm not on P2 or P3. Life seems to get in the way alot too, but I really want to make a commitment to it this time. It's really important to me.

Ok... I'm off to start my day. I think I might have another cup of coffee today with half and half today.

The losses continue.

2009-08-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

Monica - R5P2 Day 4
R5 Starting weight: 168.9
Yesterday: 164.2
Today: 163.2 -1.0
R5 Total -5.7 3.4%

Nakia - R4P2 Day 11
R5 Starting weight: 229.9
Yesterday: 217.3
Today: 216.9 -0.4
R4 Total 13 5.7%

Yesterday's menu
B: strawberries
L: chili, melba toast
D: orange roughy & spinach, an apple with cinnamon & splenda
Tea, 4C Totally Light 2go

Nakia had cabbage instead of spinach. The spinach made my stomach a little bubbly... ugh. He said it happens to him too.

Yesterday I mixed another batch for Nakia and the top of the ampule shattered and some glass got in the bottom so I got rid of it... that was sad. So I cracked open another one and it did the same thing, but I was careful to angle it so the small pieces of glass didn't get inside. That has never happened before but now it's happened twice. Usually the tops come off in one big piece. It's like the glass is too thin or something. I hope it doesn't happen again. Maybe I should buy an ampule opener.

On another note... I had this dream right before I woke up that I was at a party and I was eating all kinds of stuff. Then I realized I was on P2 and felt so horrible that I had cheated so badly! Then I woke up and had a moment where I couldn't remember if it was a dream or not... Then I went and jumped on the scale. Could that dream have caused a gain? LOL... still in my morning grogginess.... Whew 1 lb down. I wonder if that's happened to anyone else. I was so relieved to realize that it was just a dream! LOL

Nakia's doing fantastic... he lost another .4 today for a total of 13 lbs in 11 days. Neither one of us has been eating our 2nd fruit at night, but we both did last night and he couldn't even finish his dinner after that. Whoda ever thunk! Is this the same man that complained of hunger so bad last time that he almost quit?! He's going through this round like an old pro... it's pretty cool to see :)

Here we go... This is it baby... last round!

2009-08-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

Monica - R5P2 VLCD 2
R5 Starting weight: 166.5
Yesterday: 166.5
Today: 166.5 0
R5 Total -0

Nakia - R4P2 Day 7
R5 Starting weight: 229.9
Yesterday: 222.1
Today: 220.6 -1.5
R4 Total 9.3 4%

Well... here I am again, waking up my sleeping blog. I got on my Wii system yesterday morning and my Mii was asleep... LOL. I poked her with an HCG stick... ROFL. I took my first shot yesterday and we're off to the races!

I decided not to load since I gained enough last weekend at a family cookout in NJ to warrant load weight. I actually gained 6 pounds on that weekend. I managed to lose 2 pounds of that over the course of the week, but I was hoping to start this round at what my maintenance weight was all summer.... 161, but no dice. Hopefully that weight comes off quickly cus it's bugging the hell outta me.

Nakia actually took his first shot last weekend & he was loading then. I shared some of his load food with him too. Like this... no wonder I gained 6 pounds!

Well.... at least we each only ate half. In case you were wondering, this AWESOME cheese steak came from Gaetano's in Maple Shade NJ.

Well, I'm out. Getting late and I'm eager to get my 1st VLCD under way.

Missy - Thanks for stopping by. I don't tweet, but I'll certainly go by your blog. I've got some favorite P2 recipes throughout my blog and you can find some more if you join happilythinnerafter.com

Back from Vegas and ready for more HCG!

2009-08-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

So... I got back from the HCG Retreat in Las Vegas earlier this month and I'm just getting around to posting pictures. Nakia wasn't with us this time :( but we had a ball! It was so wonderful meeting everyone & seeing biz, regina & leisa jo again. It was such a great turnout... I did miss the folks that couldn't make it though. Here's my little slideshow. These are ALL HCG losers! Can you believe it?! It was AWESOME!

Wasn't that fun... LOL.

So we're both ready to start another round in about 2 weeks. Nakia's gonna start next week & I'm going to wait until my next cycle is over which will be in about 2 weeks. I've pretty much decided to journal on HTA, but I'd like to also keep up with my blog as well. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do both, but I like aspects of both worlds.

I've been maintaining at 160-163... I actually lost 4 lbs while in vegas, but it came back as soon as I got home. We really didn't eat much while out there. I don't remember eating lunch even once. So anyway... I am considerably over my LIW, but the good news is, I've been maintaining this weight for the last 2 months or so. This will be my lowest starting weight and I'm expecting this to be my last round. I'm going to stay on P2 for as long as it takes me to lose 20 lbs & if that takes me a few days past 43, then I'm willing to do that..... I say that NOW... LOL. Well, that's the plan.

That's all for now.

Monica's R4P4 Day 6 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 34

2009-05-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P4 Day 6
Yesterday: 157.8
Today: 157.9 +.1
7.2 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 34
Yesterday: 223.3
Today: 220.4 -2.9
5.5 Below LIW (225.9)

I forgot to mention yesterday that Nakia was doing an egg day. He lost 2.9 today... Excellent loss! I did a high fat day yesterday and got my desired effect. I was pretty much able to maintain my previous loss. Today I wanted to use my brand new Jack Lalaine power juicer so I did a raw food day starting with a pineapple, apple, strawberry, banana smoothie for breakfast. That thing is fantastic. It's a bitch to clean though. I washed it by hand this morning, but luckily everything but the motor is dish washer safe so I will be throwing the pieces in there tonight. I had carrot, apple, celery juice with my salad this evening and that was quite good too.

This morning I ran hills with my running group. I'm built for speed and not distance.... It felt great to sprint up that hill today. Distance running is a lot more challenging for me though, especially with my asthma. I haven't had to use my inhaler since the 2nd day of training though so I think my lungs have gotten used to the extra work.

I'm not sure how I'm going to eat tomorrow, but I think I may do a protein shake day. I've got a bunch of that in the house and I want to do a correction day that I don't really have to think about. Protein shakes are grab and go and that's gonna work well for me tomorrow... no special reason.... just being lazy :)

Biz - It's so hard not to be obsessed with the scale, but I'm doing my best. I gotta get me that measuring tape! It's got the HTA logo on it and everything! How cool :) Thanks for checking on me too... always nice to see a comment from you.

Gina - Thanks a bunch for that. It helps to hear it from someone else. I know in my mind that muscle is more dense than fat, but that darn scale is glaring at me each morning. I keep putting on my tiniest clothes to see if I notice the slightest difference.... HA the difference is they are looser! I'll take that!

Monica's R4P4 Day 5 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 33

2009-05-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P4 Day 5
Yesterday: 160.3
Today: 157.8 -2.5
7.1 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 33
Yesterday: 223
Today: 222.3 -.7
3.6 Below LIW (225.9)

My egg day yesterday was a success & I'm headed back in the right direction. What's strange is that I tried on a pair of pants that I bought before I went over my LIW and they are looser. The reason I know they are looser is because I can pull them off without unbuttoning them and I couldn't do that on the day after I bought them. I wish I had taken my measurements at the end of my round because then I would have something to compare to, but I'm sure I have lost inches since ending my round even though I've gained weight.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror this morning right before I got in the shower and I was surprised at what I saw. I actually have a WAIST! And I wasn't even holding my stomach in! I truly believe that my workouts are paying off. I'm still going to try to lose this extra 5 lbs by doing a series of correction days this week, but I'm not going to sweat the gain as I have in the past because I know I'm healthier & in the big scheme of things, 5 lbs ain't that bad.... hopefully the gap between my LIW and my current weight will be smaller tomorrow though since I did another correction day today.... We'll see.

The tricky thing is doing correction days and working out too. I don't want to pass out or anything. I still eat something small within my chosen menu about a half hour before my workout, whether it be eggs, protein shake or even a high fat snack. I know I need to fuel my body or the workout will be harder and less effective.

Gina - Thanks... it's difficult right now, but I'm trying to see the silver lining. I also want to show other people that it's possible to pull yourself out of a rutt. Correction days do work if you commit yourself to doing them.

Biz - Yeah.... it's been a minute, but I needed to get back to blogging to keep myself accountable. Thanks for popping in. I did see the Tour announcement, but those cities are nowhere near me and I've got too many travel plans coming up to make another trip so soon. I wish you were visiting nearby, but I'll catch you next time... plus I'll see you in vegas anyway.

Monica's R4P4 Day 4 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 32

2009-05-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P4 Day 4
5/8 153.2 -2.5
5/9 154.5 +1.3
Yesterday: 156.4 +1.9
Today: 160.3 +3.9
9.6 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 32
Yesterday: 223.6
Today: 223 -.6
2.9 Below LIW (225.9)

What a weekend I had! Ok.... I don't really comprehend what's going on with my weight, but I'm attempting to correct it over the next 3 days. My high fat day on Thursday was very successful and I lost 3.1 lbs. I did not continue high fat because lunch was brought in for my team on Friday and I ate a salad which screwed up my high fat day. I figured that wasn't so bad. On Saturday I had a .5 gain, but that wasn't a big deal because I figured I would lose it because of the 7 mile run I was planning to do on Saturday night.

All day Saturday I prepared for this Full Moon Run that I found on active.com (cool site by the way). The run was to start at 9 pm during the full moon and we all would be running with glo sticks. I didn't eat a lot of calories, but I added some carbs in so I had enough energy during the run. I figured, what the hell... I'm in P4 and I'll be running tonight. I had 3 scrambled eggs with sausage and cheese for breakfast... which I couldn't even finish. Then I had a banana mid morning. Nakia and I went to the movies & I ate a medium bag of popcorn with a small amount of butter topping...the machine wasn't working well and I only got a few drops... I took that as a sign.... no other lunch. Dinner was 1/2 cup of white rice, a pork chop & a small salad. I also drank plenty of water all day. All that came to 1800 calories.

I Then proceeded to run 7 miles, only walking about a quarter mile of that distance. It took me an hour and 18 minutes... Not bad for the old girl huh? Mostly I kept running cus it was nearly pitch black, I only had a damn glo stick, and I was too scared to walk! Ok.... so after the run they had snacks & boy did I have the munchies.... I ate 3 strawberries, 2 chocolate chip cookies, a sugar cookie and some cheese crackers... not the best at 10:30 at night I know, but did that warrant a 3.5 lb gain the next day?! I don't think so! Well... I was pretty pissed off at the scale yesterday & extremely tired so I decided to give myself a day of no dieting what-so-ever... hence... another huge assed gain today... bringing me to 9.5 lb over my LIW. Okay, my rant is over now.

I asked nakia if he saw any change in the way I look. He is a brutally honest type of guy (isn't he biz? LOL) so I know I can count on him to give me the truth.... He says that my legs and arms are way more toned than they were right after P2 & that I may have gained some fat around my midsection, but not more than 2 lbs or so.

Water weight? Muscle gain? Maybe, but that can't be all of it. Unfortunately I've been here before. I will be correcting this for at least the rest of this week. Since high fat worked so well for that one day, I'm doing that again, but I'm starting with an egg day today because I didn't have much HF food in the house. I'll be going shopping tonight.

Nakia is going to do some correction days too even though he's still below his LIW because he's gained 5 lbs in the last week. I think he's decided on an egg day for tomorrow so he can eat during the day & still do his workout. He's wants to get back to 218. We both agree that is where he stabilized.

Mo2Lose - You're welcomed. I wasn't exactly flabby after P2, but the fat on my body seems to loosen up when I'm on P2 so I just seem to feel a little squishier if that makes sense. I am a pretty muscular girl regularly & I build muscle very easily so I am trying to tone up right now. That part is working very well. I can see a lot of definition in my legs and arms now from the weight training and running & I'm very happy with that.

Biz - Well, my clothes are still fitting fine which is blowing my mind with almost a 10 lb gain. I'm trying not to let this get out of control. Luckily I have some tricks other than a steak day to fall back on, thanks to you :)

CB - I remember your struggles. I've been reading your blog for a long time! :) I actually did consider that little trick you tried last time with the 2 days of shots. It's still in the back of my mind, but I'll make that my last resort. I think a change in diet is in order and that is what I'm gonna do this week. Thanks so much for the Uuugh! That sums up how I'm feeling right now!

Monica's R4P3 Day 20 - Nakia's R3P4

2009-05-07T04:39:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P3 Day 20
Yesterday: 156.3
Today: 157.2 +.9
6.5 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 19
Yesterday: 221.9
Today: 220.5 -1.4
5.4 Below LIW (225.9)

Hello, my poor neglected blog. Ok... so I'm kinda up, but I'm not as bummed out over it as I should be I guess. I haven't blogged because I've been super busy at work so I wasn't able to do it there... I've been barely taking a lunch. I've also been running, weight training every morning for an hour. I'm taking a break today because I think my body needs a rest and I've been steadily gaining weight for the past 7 days. At first I was sure it was TOM, but that's almost over and the weight is not gone so there is something else going on here. I do think that it's still water weight gain because my smallest pair of dress pants that have absolutely no give, still fit so I'd like to nip this in the bud before it turns into fat. I think my problem was that I added a few more carbs in early because I thought I needed it for all the working out I was doing... which was twice a day in some cases. The carbs I added were int he form of fresh corn and bananas. I read that adding carbs after not eating them for a long time will sometimes make you gain water weight, but I'm still not happy with the gains. I thought that high protein might do the trick so I tried that for 2 days to no avail so I'm going back to what has worked for me before which is high fat (thanks Biz). If anyone has any questions about that, please see Biz over at HTA. I would try raw food, but honestly, I'm just not in the raw kinda mood right now.

My weight hasn't been right since I had that bug the other week. I wonder if that had anything to do with these gains. I don't really think my diet warrants the weight gain, but the scale doesn't lie so there is definitely something going on.

Nakia is maintaining nicely & he has started to workout lightly on a daily basis so I think he'll be back to his normal weight training routine soon. His chest still hurts a little, but he thinks he's recovering well so that's great.

Biz - Still no pics, but he really is doing well. He's just coasting now. I just want to get settled.

Mo2Lose - I thought the running would make me lose weight, but for some odd reason, my body isn't getting the message. I'm certainly not stopping though. It feels great and I feel really good after I do it. An egg day is another one of Biz's ideas. You eat up to 12 eggs all day in any form you like. You can add a small amount of cheese or other additions as well. It works quite well for me & I lost 3.2 lbs on my last one.

Gina - Why can't you run? Maybe try bike riding instead. It's easier on the knees and burns almost as many calories. Thanks for the well wishes.

Monica's R4P3 Day 11 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 19

2009-04-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P3 Day 11
Yesterday: 152.2
Today: 154.1 +1.9
3.4 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 19
Yesterday: 221
Today: 221 0
4.9 Below LIW (225.9)

Well... I am definitely feeling better. My appetite is back and I don't have to be 5 feet away from a bathroom at all times. My weight sure went back up quickly too, but I'm sure it's due to my recovery and the fact that my doctor put me on a gator aide and liquid diet for 2 days. I get the low calorie gator aide, but it still contains sugar so I knew it would cause a gain.... so here I am doing an egg day today. I also had a vanilla protein shake with milk & almond butter after my 2 mile run this morning so I hope my egg day is successful. No more gator aid though. It did the trick and now I need to correct the problem it caused.

Nakia is doing awesome. He's slowly getting back to working out. He stopped a while back because he hurt his chest, but he's healing up now & is eager to get back to lifting weights. We've got 5 weeks until we go to Punta Cana on vacation & about 12 weeks until the HTA retreat. I am soooo excited about both! I'm not sure if Nakia will be able to make it to Vegas cus he might be going there with "the guys" the week before. We'll see...

Any-who... I started my running session at the gym on Monday and to my surprise the only other person in the group that had a faster mile time than me was an 18 year old & it was only by a minute! Hot Damn baby! I still got it at 36! ROFL! My time was 10:47 and I'd like to get that down to 8 minutes in the next 6 weeks. I hope that's a realistic goal. I did 5:30 minute miles when I was on the track team in high school 2 million years ago. I don't expect to do that again, but 8 minutes seems attainable for now. I'd also like to lower my body fat percentage... it's 29 right now... we'll see what it is at the end of 6 weeks. I'm sure it will be lower.

CB - Thanks for the comment about my skin. I get that from my mom. The women in my family don't have cellulite at any weight & I'm so very happy about that... and What?! flat stomach?! I don't think I've ever been accused of having a flat stomach... LOL. Thanks girl. That is actually where I see the biggest difference. I was never able to lose fat on my belly before hcg, but that's where it came from first. Gotta love it!

Blondie -Thanks so much! I can't workout in P2 either and I couldn't wait to get back to it. It's such a thrill and the results are worth all the time and effort.

Biz - Really? I look better? It means alot to hear that from you. Nakia's been saying that too & I believed him, but a 2nd opinion is always nice :) Now about his pictures... I talked to him about that and he has agreed to take some after shots although he refused to take before pictures. I'm going to put some together as soon as he actually takes them.

Mo2Lose - Thanks Mo! I am so excited about those pictures. I didn't really see the difference in the mirror, but I definately see it in the pictures. I'm glad I took them.

Gina - Girl... if you've got pictures that makes all the difference. Like I said, I didn't really see it in the mirror... I guess because I look at myself everyday, but it's unmistakable when you see the side by side comparison & with all that you've lost, there's got to be a big change. We are always looking at our "trouble spots" but step back and look at other things and we usually see subtle differences..... My first subtle difference was I could see my collar bones! And someone else had to point that out to me.

Monica's R4P3 Day 9 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 17

2009-04-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P3 Day 9
Yesterday: 148.1
Today: 151 +2.9
.3 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 17
Yesterday: 220
Today: 220.1 +.1
5.8 Below LIW (225.9)

*****TMI Alert!*****
Ok... just like I thought, I went up a few lbs today. I'm feeling a little better but not 100%. I've still got some extremely loose BMs, but I was still able to get out of the house yesterday. The kentucky derby and preakness are coming up here in Maryland at Pimlico so I started working the races yesterday. I was on a 6 hr shift of just sitting at my terminal and I felt ok. I'm still going to start my running session at my gym tomorrow too so I really hope I don't have any issues.... I just don't feel like my body is digesting food very well. If the loose BMs continue into tomorrow, I'll go see my doctor. My mom suggested that I have IBS(irritable bowl sindrome) because she, my brother and sister both have it, but I'm hoping it's just a virus that'll pass. We'll see.

Ok so, I finally took some after pics today & I realized that I lost the before pics for this round so I'm using some pics that I took right before christmas. I was about the same weight then anyway.

My next set up progress pictures will be after my 6 weeks of training at the gym. I'd like to get more muscle definition in my abs and arms, but I'm very happy with my progress so far.

Blondie - Thanks so much. I think I'm getting better. Hopefully it'll clear up by tomorrow.

Biz - Thanks for checkin on me! I'll be back tomorrow too.

CB - I can't believe the difference in my pictures. This is the first time I've seen such a huge difference. This will be good incentive to keep this weight off.

M02Lose - Drinking plenty... I had a little red wine today too... shhh. LOL

Gina - Thanks sweetie! I really appreciate that!

Monica's R4P3 Day 8 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 16

2009-04-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P3 Day 8
Today: 148.1
2.6 Below LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 16
Today: 219
6.9 Below LIW (225.9)

Sorry I've been gone all week. I started out just being really busy with work & then I contracted a stomach virus that I've been battling for a few days. It's got my weight going all crazy & I lost a ton of fluid yesterday so my weight was unusually low today. It seems to be going away now, but I've been either asleep or in the bathroom for the past 2 days. TMI, but hey... it's my blog! LOL. I spent today drinking like a fish but strangely... hardly going to the bathroom at all, so I guess my body is replenishing it's liquid. I'm expecting my weight to go up by about 2 lbs tomorrow, but that's cool.

I know I promised pictures & they are still coming. I will have more time tomorrow and I know I will feel better so I should be able to upload those.

Thanks to everyone that came to check on me this past week.

Monica's R4P3 Day 3 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 11

2009-04-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P3 Day 3 (Steak day)
Yesterday: 152.9
Today: 151.5 -1.4
.8 Above LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 11
Yesterday: 218.1
Today: 218 -.1
7.9 Below LIW (225.9)

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Wow... what a weekend we had! Our home computer had a virus on it and Nakia was using my laptop alot this weekend so I wasn't able to get on it and post, plus we had lots of out of town guests & we got to see some of Nakia's old friends that he hadn't seen in years. We also went to a hibachi restaurant on Sunday and we were both very good and didn't eat the rice. Nakia is in P4, but he's still really nervous about carbs so he's been avoiding them. Sunday night I made some mini stuffed peppers with some leftover taco seasoned beef that I had in the freezer & some havarti cheese, then I put salsa on top. They were so good that I think I over did it & ate too many, too fast. I was up half the night with a crampy stomach. I felt so bloated the next morning and I gained 2.5 lbs that night, so yesterday was a steak day for me. I knew that it was mostly water retention & I probably could have just eaten normally yesterday, but I didn't even want to look at food because of how my stomach felt the night before so the steak day was easy.

Today I'm going to maintain my steak day loss with a mostly raw day. I had banana custard & sugar free chocolate milk after my workout this morning though so I'll end up with about 75% raw today. YES... I have started working out again and it feels GREAT.... I mean FANTASTIC! I feel so much lighter. It's actually easier to get through a workout now that I've dropped all that extra weight on my abdomen. I find myself jumping around more than I have to because I can :)

That's it for today. I'm off to check on my blogger peeps!

Monica's R4P2 Day 45 LIW - Nakia's R3P4 Day 7

2009-04-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

I started writing this post on friday but never posted it because my day (and weekend) got quite busy with out of town guests & stubborn computer viruses. I didn't want to lose my thoughts from that day so I'm posting them here now. I'll update with today's stats in a bit.

Monica - R4P2 Day 45
Yesterday: 150.9
Today: 149.6 -1.3
1.1 Below LIW (150.7)

Nakia - R3P4 Day 7
Yesterday: 216.6
Today: 217.2 +.6
8.7 Below LIW (225.9)

Yesterday's menu (Monica)
B: coffee with half & half
S: 1/2 allowed strawberries
L: tilapia creole, 1/4 matzo cracker (jewish cracker made with wheat flour & water)
S: 1/2 allowed strawberries
D: steamed tilapia & boiled cabbage with low sodium soy sauce & garlic & herb mrs dash
homemade strawberry sorbet
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Finally! I made it into the 140s :) Ok... so it's after my LIW but so freakin what... that's what the scale says so I'll take it! I am really REALLY going to try to remain the 140s throughout my P3. That means I have to stay below my LIW.... that's fine with me. That's motivation :)

This is my last VLCD day and I am planning a mostly raw day tomorrow but I will be having cooked proteins. I feel a need for a protein boost & there's a piece of wild coho salmon in my fridge that is calling my name :)

Speaking of fridges... we just bought a new one cus our old one kept freezing all our fresh veggies & everything seemed to spoil very quickly in there. That thing caused a lot of wasted food in my house so it had to go. The new one has french doors and a freezer on the bottom. It's huge and oh so awesome!

Biz - Actually I am going to try to focus on more raw on most days, but I'm not going to do a full raw day unless I need to correct. I love the idea of using it to recover from the weekend & the raw food is great and filling so I won't feel deprived at all.

Monica's R4P2 Day 44 LIW - Nakia's R3P4 Day 6

2009-04-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 44 LIW
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 151.7
Today: 150.9 +.2
.2 Above LIW

Nakia - R3P4 Day 6
Yesterday: 217.8
Today: 216.6 -1.2
9.3 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica)
B: coffee with half & half
S: 1/2 an apple
L: lemon pepper orange roughy with spicy steamed spinach
S: 1/2 an apple
D: mustard chicken & salad with P2 orange vinaigrette dressing, 2 small mandarin oranges
1 grissini
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Small gain today, but not sweating it. I had no injection this morning & I'm going to freeze the rest of this batch just in case I want to do another round after the Vegas trip in July. I don't know if it can last in the freezer that long, but I'll just test it then. Right now I'm just looking forward to a summer full of outdoor activities. Nakia and I are going to buy bikes so we can take advantage of some bike trails in our area. Our bikes were stolen years ago and we never replaced them & I think now is a great time to do so. We never used them so we didn't even notice they had been stolen at first. Isn't that pathetic?

Nakia had one of those misleading losses caused by alcohol today... to bad he can't keep it. He'll be back up 2 lbs tomorrow.

Not much else to report today. I'm just trying to get through my last 72 hours of VLCD... 32 hours to go... and counting. LOL

Blondie - It does feel pretty good & I can't wait to get that variety back into my menu this weekend. Nakia made me promise to give up nuts and nut butters for 2 weeks... I told him that I can do a week... we'll see.

Mo2Lose - I believe that too. There are definately some things that no longer agree with me & they are all processed foods... ie. cheetos. I use to pound them away. Now I can't stand them.

Biz - I sure did learn alot... I always seem to pull a few lessons out of my rounds. Maybe that's the real reason why I've had to do more than I originally planned. There's a reason for everything. I am finally beginning to understand the life changes I need to make.

Gina - Thank you so much. I've always been athletic as well. I gained my weight in my 20s, but I always kept muscle tone in my legs and arms thanks to mom and dad's genes. I think that's why I can carry a little more weight than average.... and you're right... I really am living what I dreamt about when I starting this journey. That's a wonderful thing.

Dawn - Thanks so much! You'll get there Dawn. The most important thing is to not give up. This protocol works like nothing else. I didn't get it right the first few times, but I kept trying and each time I would get a little closer to my goal and things would click a little better in my mind. Eventually, everything started feeling more right & a lot easier. I've gained a real appreciation for delicious fresh food without all the additives. I think I actually needed to slip up a few times.

Monica's R4P2 Day 43 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 5

2009-04-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 43
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 151.0
Today: 150.7 -.3
R4 Total -19.6 11.5%

Nakia - R3P4 Day 5
Yesterday: 219.9
Today: 217.8 -2.1
8.1 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica)
B: coffee with half & half
S: 1/2 allowed strawberries
L: steamed chicken with boiled cabbage strips
D: orange roughy creole with cilantro
S: warm melba toast and applesauce with cinnamon, cloves & truvia on top
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Well... 150.7... not exactly what I was hoping for but still, I'm actually very happy with that number. I thought about it and decided that having my LIW be right around 150 would be good incentive to stay below that threshold. In lieu of that, I'm going to make today my LIW. That way my last VLCD day can be Friday and I can have a nice P3 breakfast before going to workout on Saturday morning. I can also get my hair done on that day without worrying about the oil they put in my hair. Yes... I'm definately ready to move on to P3 & get my excercise on!

This has been a really great round for me. Even with my experimenting towards the end, I have still lost more weight than in any other round. I'm about 20 lbs lighter than I was 2 months ago & all my size 8s are too big, which means I'm probably a 4 or 6 right now. I really need to go clothes shopping. That feels really good to say. I'm not sure if I'm going to do another round or not because I'm very content at this weight and if I can tighten up my muscles from here, I think I'll be just fine. I'm a pretty muscular person already and it's always been easy for me to build muscle tone.

To my commentors: Thanks for all of the encouragement! It means so much to me :)

Mary - I'm trying... I'm really just done though. I've been in that situation before on this round and I was able to resist. My willpower is just about gone so that's a good sign to move on to P3.

Biz - You are so right with that one. The big losses coupled with the loss in willpower... plus the wine... all a recipe for sabotage. Oh well... I got upset about it for a minute. Now it's time to move on & get ready for VEGAS BABY!!

Mo2Lose - I know what you mean! Summer is so close! I'm looking forward to all the summer fruits and veggies from our local farmers markets. I sure have changed. That wouldn't have even entered my thoughts before hcg!

Dawn - I feel the same way. I'm so grateful to everyone that comments on my blog. It keeps me accountable & I really feel a part of a group. The support is invaluable and I really appreciate you and everyone else. Thanks again.

CB - Thank you so very much! You helped me to remember how well I've done on this round. Now... on to have my best P3 ever!

Michelle - Hi.. thanks for stopping by :) Nakia was taking 175 ius... all of his stats are to the right. Dr. S states that everyone only needs 125 ius. Because of KTs book I decided to start Nakia off with 150, but we found that was too low for him because he was complaining of a lot of hunger. After I raised it to 175 ius he was ok, but he still needed a little extra protein & he can handle more calories than normal. He continues to lose weight on a 600 calorie diet so I gave him the option of raising his calories with protein when he felt he needed it. He used it at first, but after a while he didn't need it anymore.

Monica's R4P2 Day 42 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 4

2009-04-14T03:44:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 40 R4 Starting weight: 170.6 Yesterday: 150.5 Today: 151.7 +1.2 R4 Total -18.9 11.1%	Nakia - R3P4Day 2 Yesterday: 218.2 Today: 218.4 +.2 7.5 Below LIW Fitday menu

Monica - R4P2 Day 41 R4 Starting weight: 170.6 Yesterday: 151.7 Today: 151.9 +.2 R4 Total -18.7 11%	Nakia - R3P4 Day 3 Yesterday: 218.4 Today: 221.3 +2.9 4.6 Below LIW Fitday menu

Monica - R4P2 Day 42 R4 Starting weight: 170.6 Yesterday: 151.9 Today: 151.0 -.9 R4 Total -19.6 11.5%	Nakia - R3P4 Day 4 Yesterday: 221.3 Today: 219.9 -1.4 6 Below LIW Fitday menu

Yesterday's menu (Monica)
B: coffee with half & half, 1/2 allowed strawberries
L: steamed orange roughy, string beans & 1 melba toast
D: orange roughy creole & 1 melba toast with TJs strawberry spread
Lots of tea with truvia & water

I didn't get around to posting over the weekend, but I really meant to post yesterday, however the internet was down most of the day at work so I couldn't do it on my lunch like I normally do.

I'll bet you were thinking that I'd be under 150 by now right... so did I. My weekend of eating went horrible bad on Saturday night & I am kicking myself for it. I was done eating for the day on Saturday and we had friends over to watch movies and play cards, so of course I had to serve them something to snack on. At first I was determined not to eat anything. I was just going to have 2 glasses of white wine which would have been fine except I haven't had any wine on this round at all and it went to my head pretty quickly. I think that's what started the nibbling. Well... several nibbles later (tortillas, nuts & strawberries) I had completely ruined my losses for the weekend & gained 1.4 total over the next 2 days. CRAP!!! I was supposed to be getting under 150 this week! What the hell was I thinking?!! I am sooo angry at myself this morning & coming to the realization that my LIW in 2 days may not be under 150. ***sigh***

So... on to my new resolve. I will ROCK this P3 and stay 2 lbs below my LIW... I've never done that before, but if I do it this time I'll be in the 140s. Oh how those little digital numbers screw with me!

Nakia's P4 is starting out really well. He started out with a sweet potato the other day. He gained a bit the next day, but I think that was just because he went over his calories. He had another one yesterday and he had a loss today so I think he's handling the carbs very well.

In regards to my friend at work that's on P2... she took her last sublingual dosage last night and I think she has lost another 10 - 12 lbs this round which is awesome! I think she's done. She might do another round to lose a couple more lbs but she's really happy with where she is right now and I think she's content with this weight to get her through the summer. She looks great & I'm so glad that I was able to help her. So at least I can feel good about that this morning.

Biz - Thanks for that :) Those losses were awsome & even though I blew the weekend, I can still claim those :)

Mo2Lose - Magic Juice is my hcg of course! Couldn't lose this quickly without it! I'm going to end up wasting about half my batch, but I have a lot of it so it's cool.

Mary - Thanks girl! I felt great on friday... maybe a little too confident or maybe getting sick of P2???

Gina - I am still close huh & the day I had the best loss, I did have nuts...
We're still working in the starchy veggies. I think he's doing ok. He gained a bit the first day, but not much and he had another sweet potato yesterday and had a loss so that's a really good sign.... And you can hijack anytime ;-)

CB - HEY! So nice to see you again! Thanks for stopping by. Oh yes... I LOVE love love the raw diet. I'm not sure I've mastered it on P2 yet, but the food is fantastic and I will certainly be using it in P3.

Monica's R4P2 Day 39 - Nakia's R3P4 Day 1

2009-04-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 38 R4 Starting weight: 170.6 Yesterday: 151.3 Today: 151.6 +.3 R4 Total -19 11.1%	Monica - R4P2 Day 39 R4 Starting weight: 170.6 Yesterday: 151.6 Today: 150.5 -1.1 R4 Total -20.1 11.8%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 21 Yesterday: 218 Today: 218.6 -.6 7.3 Below LIW	Nakia - R3P4 Day 1 Yesterday: 218.6 Today: 218.2 -.4 7.7 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica)
B: cashews & walnuts
L: romaine salad with mustard balsamic viniagrette
D: romaine salad with mustard balsamic viniagrette
S: strawberry banana smoothie, glass of firefly sweetea vodka with lemon jc, lime jc & truvia... mmm
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

I never got around to posting yesterday. Busy busy day at work, then went shopping last night & was pooped out.

Well, Nakia had a stellar P3 as usual. He seems to be maintaining at 7-8 lbs below his LIW which I would just like to SLAP him for... LOL. He's ready to move on to P4 but he's a little nervous because he still can't workout. his chest still hurts a bit & we found out that he must have strained a muscle in his chest a few weeks ago. Thank god it had nothing to do with his heart. So, either today or tomorrow he'll have a baked sweet potato to start with or maybe some corn or popcorn. I'm starting him out with high carb veggies instead of breads or pasta. I have mastered P3, but I've never done P4 very well so this time I have a plan and I'm using Nakia as my guinea pig ;-)

I am still having great losses and I'm so happy about that. I decided to do another raw day yesterday. Today is day 40 of my round and I've decided to add a few days to see if I can get into the 140s... plus I want to ride out these huge losses I'm having. I will have to mix another batch and I may waste some of the "magic juice" cus I'm only adding 4 or 5 days, but I think it's worth it to get into the 140s before I'm done. I have some 1500 iu vials so I'm able to mix small batches which gives me a little more flexibility.

This is for you Amie & everyone that stopped by to party with me the other day!

Amie - LOL... I just had to go find that :) I'm LOVIN this week! I just want to stretch this out for as long as I can stand it!

Mary - Thanks for coming by to party with me!

Blondie - Hey! Thanks for popping in! I'm looking forward to following your progress & once again... WELCOME to the HCG blogging community!

Biz - Yeah... me too. Thank you for blazing the trail as usual :) Kia is not all that interested in eating much raw... he's a hot food kind of guy, but you know what he eats most in his first week of P3? Cobb salad! He would eat 2 or 3 of those a day and cooked chicken. That salad is all raw & you see how he loses after P2. Something to think about eh?

Monica's R4P2 Day 37 {{30+ lbs lost!!!}} - Nakia's R3P3 Day 20

2009-04-09T03:50:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 37
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 152.4
Today: 151.3 -1.1
R4 Total -19.3 11.3%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 20
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 219.9
Today: 218 -1.9
7.9 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica)
B: coffee with half & half
S: warm TJs chunky applesauce
L: steamed tilapia with string beans
D: steamed tilapia with spinach & strawberry salad w/ strawberry vinaigrette dressing.
S: steamed spinach, melba toast with TJs strawberry spread, 2 chocolate almond meringues
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Wow... I reached my other milestone already! 30 lbs total! PAAARTAAAY!!!!

I'm pretty sure eating raw last week jump started my metabolism because I have NEVER had 1+ lb days on the end of my round before. Right about now I'm usually scrambling for every .2 I can get. This is pretty cool :) That's more than 3 lbs in the last 3 days. I'm beginning to wonder if I really want to add a few more days to my round or not. Saturday was going to be my last day, but I had decided to extend it a few days to get below 150. If I get below 150 by Saturday I may just make that my last day so I don't have to mix another batch of hcg. I guess I'll just decide that morning. Right now I'm just so happy to see this number! I don't think I've seen it since my senior year of high school! Do I dare to get back to my freshman year weight of 140? Ok... I might be talkin' crazy now. LOL.

Month of Zen - Thanks for commenting :) I do I do love it! All of the clothes in the small part of the closet either fit perfectly or are too big. It's nice to find "new" old clothes in your own closet.

Biz - Feelin good... can you tell? :) I think there's something to my raw week don't you?

Dawn - This is unheard of for me this late in a round of P2. I'm just enjoying the ride. I'm still getting pretty anxious to get to P3 though.

Monica's R4P2 Day 36 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 19

2009-04-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 36
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 153.6
Today: 152.4 -1.2
R4 Total -18.2 10.7%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 19
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 219.9
Today: 220.1 +.2
5.8 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica)
B: coffee with half & half
S: 1/2 allowed strawberries
L: chicken with mustard dressing & string beans with Mrs. Dash
S: 1/2 allowed strawberries
D: tilapia breaded with half & half and italian seasoned melba toast crumbs with hot sauce & an apple
S: 2 chocolate almond meringue
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Wow! That's cool... 2 lbs in 2 days :)

I'm going to have to go shopping pretty soon. All my belts are on the last hole or just too big and none of my dress pants fit without a belt... hmmm, an excuse to go shopping! Oh the horror! ROFL. I can't believe that I'm this close to my goal. I would just continue on P2 until I get there, but I have a running session starting at my gym that I don't want to miss out on. I know I won't have enough energy to do it if I'm on a P2 diet. I think the running will work off any extra weight I might have. I know it may not be abnormal fat that I lose and Dr S. most likely wouldn't approve, but I'm cool with it & I've got HCG left so I can do a "redistribution" round in the future if need be.... probably after the summer.

Nakia has been doing ok, but having small gains for the past few days. If he gets above 222 I'm going to have him do a correction day. I know he's nowhere near his LIW, but I think he's an exception to the rule because he losses so much after his last injection without really trying.

My kitty, Cocoa seems to be doing better today. (Funny I pick the name "Cocoa" with TOM around... Coincidence? I think not!) I woke to find that the newly placed litter box was greatly appreciated. She was also much more playful and seems to be adjusting very nicely to our home and our rules... ie "cat's aren't allowed on the sofa". My older cat, BooBoo is still being a pill but that's to be expected for a few more weeks.

Biz - LOL, I've certainly heard that before. Cat's sure do have their tudes, but I was blessed with a very lovable and affectionate cat. Hopefully we can groom the little one to be just as agreeable.
Thanks for the congrats...You know where I came from. I used to have a huge problem with deviating, basically on a daily basis... what happened to that girl?

Amie - Thanks a bunch! Oh good! I miss my Amie when she's gone :) Now get that cheese outta my face! ROFL!!

Mary - Woot is right! I'm on a roll this week!

Gina - Congratulations to you too! Next goal is 30 lbs lost total... maybe tomorrow!

Monica's R4P2 Day 35 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 18

2009-04-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 35
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 154.4
Today: 153.6 -.8
R4 Total -17 10%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 18
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 219.2
Today: 219.9 +.7
6 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica)
S: 1/2 apple with cinnamon & truvia
L: chicken with mustard dressing & broccoli
S: 1/2 apple with cinnamon & truvia
D: creole catfish with fresh basil, strawberry sorbet
S: 1 chocolate almond meringue
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

I almost didn't get to post today... It's been a really busy day for me, plus I've been extra bitch most of the day because of TOM I guess. I was just in a general bad mood for no good reason, but here I am right before bed. We have a new addition to our home... A 6 week old dark calico kitten that we've named Cocoa. She's so cute, but she's having a little difficulty getting the whole litter box thing down. She uses it most of the time, but I think she gets so scared of my other cat that she doesn't want to go find the box. That pissed me off more than it normally would too, but I'm going to put a litter box closer to her comfort zone to see if that helps.

Wow... I lost 10% of my weight this round! That's really REALLY good for me. This has been my best round ever by total weight lost & percentages... here are the numbers
P2R1D35 - 12.9 lbs - 7.09%
P2R2D31 - 11.1 lbs - 6.40% (did a short round)
P2R3D35 - 14.0 lbs - 8.09%
P2R4D35 - 17.0 lbs - 10.0%

I did that with only losing 1 lb this past week! I'm very happy with that. I think I've gotten something right this time around. This round has certainly been much easier than the others. I have a rhythm that's really working for me, meaning when I eat. I've found that eating half my fruit late morning and the other half about 2 hours after lunch really helps my metabolism somehow. I'm hoping to get to 20 lbs lost this round and since I'm adding another 4 or 5 days, I just might make it.

Mary - I think people either love or hate ceviche. I had never thought about it on P2 before trying the raw diet though. It makes a nice addition. As for the eggs, I decided not to do that today because I did have a decent lose, but I actually cook my scrambled eggs in the microwave. They come out nice and fluffy too. I don't like reheating them though. They get rubbery.

Amie - Yup, I'm definitely gonna do another raw day. Maybe saturday when we go out with some friends. That way I can have a salad at dinner without worrying too much. It does give me more flexibility.... and yes TOM is a BIOCH!!!

Dawn - And you know what you need to build muscle right? Protein! Get plenty of that. I'm glad I could help. I've been through that same thing before and it's amazing how your diet can really help you have enough energy and recover quicker. Happy excercising babe!

Biz - You know, for some reason I didn't even make that connection. You're probably right. Maybe being on the raw diet at that particular time gave me an "excuse" to give in. hmmm, something to think about.

Monica's R4P2 Day 34 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 17

2009-04-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 34
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 153.9
Today: 154.4 +.5
R4 Total -16.2 9.5%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 17
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 218.4
Today: 219.2 +.8
6.7 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica)
S: strawberries with truvia
L: shrimp & cod ceviche with salsa & sliced tomatoes
S: spring mix with orange vinaigrette & canned mandarin oranges with splenda
D: shrimp & cod ceviche with salsa, spring mix with orange vinaigrette & canned mandarin oranges with splenda
S: 2 chocolate almond meringues
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

TOM is always coming around and wreckin house! I surely did NOT want to see a gain today, but there it is.... and there's also the bloating and cramps that come along with it. Oh well, such is a woman's life. So, as you see, yesterday was another raw day, except for the meringues (oops)... I just figured I might as well use some of that ceviche that I made. Since it mixes cod and shrimp, I thought it was a good idea to eat the rest of my food raw as well. I'm sure I would have had a loss today if TOM hadn't showed up. I'm back to cooked food today though. I like the idea of alternating.

Mary - Depending on tomorrow's results, I might just do another egg day tomorrow. It'll be a little harder trying to do that at work. I would have to scramble my eggs in the microwave or hard boil them, but I guess that's not so bad. Thanks for checkin on me.

Biz - Wasn't it? The consumtion of meat and sugar seems to coincide with the obesity doesn't it. Not surprising one bit. Makes you think though.
Yes, I figured I needed to make a plan this time cus winging it doesn't seem to work for me.

Monica's R4P2 Day 33 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 16

2009-04-05T05:14:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 33
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 155.9
Today: 153.9 -2.0
R4 Total -16.7 9.8%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 16
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 215.8
Today: 218.4 +2.6
7.5 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
Modified Egg day
L: 1 egg & 2 egg whites scrambled with minced onions and tabasco
S: 1 egg & 2 egg whites scrambled with Mrs Dash, tabasco & salsa
D: 2 eggs & 2 egg whites scrambled with Mrs Dash, tabasco & salsa
S: 2 chocolate almond meringues
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Ok... now that's what I'm talkin about! Back to the grind people... Today I'm working it out on P2, but I guess I will be kinda eating raw today because I have all this ceviche in my fridge to finish. I love that stuff so I can't wait till lunch :) It'll taste a little different without the avocado, but I'll put some fresh herbs and salsa on it though. Yesterday was a modified egg day so I had mostly egg whites with a few yolks. I couldn't get through all of them though and I ended up with about 420 calories worth of eggs.

Food food food... it's such a big part of our lives while we're on this protocol. I had a discussion with Nakia yesterday about how we are REALLY going to maintain when we get to goal... hmph, I'm saying "when" now instead of "if". We've learned alot while on this journey together & we're both so close to our goals that we really need to start thinking about a plan of maintenance. How are we going to maintain this weight for the rest of our lives? P3 isn't scary anymore but that sure is! Well, this is what we came up with. Neither one of us is willing to give up biscuits & gravy or full fat ice cream for the rest of our lives so we made some rules:

Our lifetime maintenance rules

Exercise 5 days a week. (we were doing this already)
Portion out snack food before eating them.
Have beef twice a week at the most, not including our "anything day" (below)
Have fish at least twice a week.
Have a vegetarian meal at least twice a week.
If all of the previous rules have been kept, we get 1 "anything day" where we can eat whatever we want. For example... football Sundays & I just found out that the Giants are gonna be playing thanksgiving day... WOOO HOOO!!!
If the "anything day" causes a gain, the next day will be a correction day.

That's the beginning. We may think of some more "rules" later, but we thought that was a good start.

Biz - Yeah I am... I feel different biz. I have this feeling that my life is about to change in a big way & it must be because I'm so close to my goal. Food, including meat was in abundance at our house, but my mom did make us play outside a lot and participate in a lot of sports, therefore we weren't overweight growing up. I think she was so generous with food for us because her mom had to make food stretch the way you described and she didn't want us to feel deprived like she did growing up.
I just looked at that link. That is fascinating. I was curious to see what an obesity map might look like up against those maps and I found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_of_Male_Obesity,_2008.svg

Amie - HEY! Thanks A! I think we should both use this correction day as a fresh start. Treat the rest of this P2 with the same excitement as when we started the round & we'll both be ok.

Monica's R4P2 Day 32 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 15

2009-04-04T05:48:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 32
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 155.9
Today: 155.9 0
R4 Total -14.7 8.6%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 15
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 218.3
Today: 215.8 -2.5
10.1 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: grapes
L: no rice sushi rolls, coleslaw with homemade mayo
D: carrot, apple & raisin salad with sunflower seeds
S: 3 dates, banana
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

************ Updated ************

Nakia hadn't gotten up when I I first posted... Yup, he had alcohol last night. I have come to the conclusion that the dehydration that the alcohol causes makes it look like he drops alot of weight overnight. It'll be back tomorrow, but he was just sooo excited to see 215 point something on the scale this morning & so was I. He hasn't been this weight since we started dating 11 years ago!

*********************************

No change for me today, but I'm extremely thirsty. I also think TOM is on the way & I'm feeling kind of poofy. The rings are also tight so I'm sure I've got some water retention going on. I've already had 64 ounces of water and it's not even 9:30 in the morning yet. I just can't seem to shake the thirst.

I am so excited about the end of my round. Unlike previous rounds, I'm not nervous at all about P3. Bootcamp has given me all the tools I need. (Thanks Biz & the other veterans at HTA). After all my raw food excitement I'm ready to get back to nice and simple. I'm going to start back today with a modified egg day to give my body a jump start and see how that goes. I will certainly report tomorrow.

Mary - Definately too much too soon, but I'm amazed that I didn't gain more. I think that's why I feel so good about the whole thing. I really needed a break from the P2 norm & that provided it without much damage... certainly damage that I can fix.

Biz - I was just thinking that same thing about cutting down on meat myself!!! You read my mind! I saw something on the news that spoke on our actual protein needs the other day & I realized how much I enjoy eating raw. I started realizing that every meal doesn't have to be centered around a piece of meat! HA...whooda thunk? In my raw food research I also found several vegetarian meals that I want to try... so thank you so much for that link. It really affirms what I was already considering.

Amie - WTF is right! You hit the nail on the head there. I know I went overboard and I totally except that. I hope that doesn't deter anyone else from trying it cus I think it would really work for someone with a little more willpower than me. Mine was wavering so close to the end of my round and hitting my LIW from last round all at the same time. Too much temptation for a girl to handle & those damn nuts were in the house!

Monica's R4P2 Day 31 (Day 4 of my experiment)

2009-04-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 31
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 154.7
Today: 155.9 +1.2
R4 Total -14.7 8.6%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 14
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 220.3
Today: 218 -2.3
7.9 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: 1 apple
L: ceviche with avocado & lime, sliced tomato
D: green smoothie: spinach, mango, P2 coleslaw
S: mixed fruit & nuts, 2 dates
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Yikes... I think that's a hold over from all the food I ate the day before. I was right where I wanted to be with my calories yesterday, but the day before I was WAY over & I think it just came back to bite me... literally in the ass! HA! So I tried this for 4 days and this is the only gain I had. Not too shabby & I did drop a little later in the morning, but I decided to record my first weight instead.

Oh well...that's why this is an experiment. I did decide at the beginning that if I had a significant gain that I was going to go back to normal P2. So today will be my last raw day until I start P3. I just want to give it one more try. I have learned alot about how my body reacts to raw food and I really like the way I feel on this diet. I have had boundless energy this past week and I've slept really well. The thing I couldn't handle was the hunger that I experienced.... some of that was caused by my anxiousness to get into P3 & eating raw was a peek into P3 for me. I think I was a little to close to the end of my round to try to make my body flip a switch... mentally and physically. I am not totally giving up on it though. I want to do a full P2 round eating a raw diet. I think it may work better for me if I start at the beginning.

Believe me... I am NOT bummed out over the gain. I did exactly what I wanted to do and learned a significant amount doing it. This was something I NEVER would have considered before and I'm glad I did it so I have the experience to reflect upon. Now I want to maximize my losses for my last few days on P2. I might even keep going until I get below 150 if that doesn't happen in the next 9 days.

Mo - Thanks... I think it's still a very viable way to do P2 but I need more time to experiment with it. Since it's going to take time to adjust to it, the end of my round is the wrong time to do that. I actually enjoy my protocol food and there are some things like my teriyaki beef and shrimp that I eat when I'm not on protocol. The key is learning how to prepare the limited selection to your liking and I'm going to get back to that tomorrow with some of my favorite P2 recipes. Stay tuned :) I'm gonna close out this round with my favorites!

Biz - The tastes and textures are so great. I was pleasantly surprised. This has given me so many ideas for P3. Who knew I could be so creative with NOT cooking! & nope.. I will not let you become one of "those" people.

Mary - LOL... well... today brought a big fat gain! Am I all crazy over it? Hell NO! I feel good today... and I'm over the gain. Now You are doing fantastic with your 1 pounder yesterday!!! Go Mary!

Monica's R4P2 Day 30 (Day 3 of my experiment)

2009-04-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 30
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 155.8
Today: 154.7 -.1
R4 Total -15.9 9.3%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 10
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 217.3
Today: 220.3 +3
5.6 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: green smoothie: spinach, banana, strawberries, apple pulp
L: shredded carrot, apple & raisin salad with raw sunflower seeds
S: apple with almond butter
D: Spring mix with canned no sugar added mandarin oranges, pomegranate seeds & slivered raw almonds with an orange vinaigrette dressing
S: P2 coleslaw & mixed fruit & nuts
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Sorry no post yesterday. I was not on my normal routine & I kept meaning to write to my blog and then getting side tracked with something else. Well, here I am today & the update is... no change, but I expected that. Actually I expected a huge gain given what I ate yesterday. I had a really hungry day and had more calories than I should have, but I managed to maintain my weight so I'm extremely happy. Today will be a much smaller and simple raw menu.

I have noticed some things about transitioning to raw foods over the past few days. I have a lot more gas... it's not uncomfortable, but it's definitely increased. I was also alot hungrier than I normally am on P2. This indicates to me that my metabolism has been jump started and my body is looking for more fuel. That's a great thing on P2 because the abnormal fat is mobilized to use as fuel. So... that indicates to me to keep my calories as low as is comfortable for me to have the greatest losses. This is what I'm experimenting with today. It's really easy to go overboard without a plan and I came very close to that yesterday, trying all the different tastes and textures of raw vegetables. It wasn't a good feeling to not be sure if I was going to see a gain today.

Nakia's weight is jumping up and down right now, which is normal for P3, but he's still way below his LIW. Since he's remaining this far below, I think I will have him do a correction day if he ever gets back to his LIW because that will mean that he has gained 5 or 6 lbs and I don't think that's good in his case... LIW or not.

M - I'm looking for some more successes to come. I'm sure I will see a nice drop tomorrow.

Biz - Raw as a correction day... I was thinking that as well. I'm definitely going to give it a shot. Hey.... If I can get away with a weekend a month with raw as my correction... I'm game!

Amie - mmm I love sushi... I think I'll have that tomorrow. I was clueless about a raw diet too, but thank goodness for the internet. Like Biz said though, there are some Serious extremists out there. I don't want to get that into it... I'm just happy with the part about not cooking. The first thing I did was to just try eating my protocol veggies raw and see how I liked that.

Mary - Thanks so much!!

Gina - Thanks so much... now I just have to get PAST it! I think I will tomorrow. What I've found in my research is that there are simple raw meals and complicated ones. I'm partial to the simple ones myself. Just chop and eat... I only purchased about 3 items that I don't already buy and that was good enough for me.

Monica's R4P2 Day 28 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 11

2009-03-31T04:19:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 28
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 155.6
Today: 154.7 -.9
R4 Total -15.9 9.3%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 10
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 222
Today: 219.9 -2.1
6 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
S: 1 apple with cinnamon & truvia
L: cod ceviche, 1 tomato
S: dry fruit and nut mix, 3 dates
D: 1 Mango
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

I figured I'd try my hand at a raw food day yesterday so there it is... a .9 loss! Wooowzers!!! Biz is having such a phenomenal round on a raw diet that I figured... what the hell. Well... today I have reached my LIW from my last round faster than I had expected too. I have 11 injection days left & a resolve NOT to EVER gain that much weight between rounds again. I won't let Nakia do so either... although his weight stays alot more stable than mine even though we eat the same food. Now I'm thinking that knowing about raw eating will help me maintain my weight better. I can definately see myself eating raw most of the week. Ever since I went to Cancun... ceviche has been one of my all time favorite foods & druing this protocol, I have developed a better taste for vegetables.

Biz - Can't wait to see that pic. I'm hope you don't mind, I'm using your meal images as a blueprint for my own experimenting. :)

Mo - HA... now I'm not just close... I'm there! Feels great too. I'm really looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

Mary - Mary Mary!!! Hi... I've missed you! Oh I have to get over to your blog to see what you're up to! Welcome back my friend!

Monica's R4P2 Day 27 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 10

2009-03-30T05:45:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 27
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 156.0
Today: 155.6 -.4
R4 Total -15 8.8%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 10
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 220.7
Today: 222 +1.3
3.9 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
L: grilled chicken with mustard dressing & Mrs Dash & romaine lettuce with mustard balsamic vinaigrette
S: strawberries with truvia
D: cod breaded with melba toast crumbs & P2 coleslaw
S: apple with cinnamon & truvia
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Ok... I'm .9 away from my LIW from last round, so I'm almost guaranteed to get below that. I'm hoping to get to 150 by the end of this round. We'll see. I'm looking forward to getting the last part of this P2 behind me. I mixed a new batch last night. I use 2000 iu ampules so I mix about once ever 2 weeks. I've never used 5000s because I like knowing that my hcg has maximum potency all the time.

Here's an update on my neighbor/friend... she's doing great. She's still losing over a lb a day, which is great because she didn't do very well on her last round because of some health issues and stress. She had an infection in her gums that her body was fighting as well as sever candida overgrowth. She took care of both of those on her break and now she's losing like wildfire! She's already lost over 20 lbs on this round and we started on the same day. I'm really happy for her.

My coworker/friend is doing well too. She will probably reach her goal on this round.

Biz - Thanks for taking the time out to fly by :) I'm in the home stretch!

Michelle - You can go ahead and add mag during your P3 and just continue in P2. That's what I did. It's something that I will continue to take because my body just doesn't get enough of if from my food. I could tell in only one week of not taking it that I really need it.

Monica's R4P2 Day 26 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 9

2009-03-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 26
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 156.1
Today: 156.0 +.3
R4 Total -14.6 8.6%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 9
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 223.4
Today: 220.7 +1.2
5.2 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
L: grilled chicken with mustard dressing & Mrs Dash & string beans
S: TJs chunky applesauce, cinnamon apple melba toast
D: baked cod & romaine lettuce with mustard balsamic vinaigrette
S: strawberry sorbet with lemon & truvia
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

I guess my body is just doing this up and down thing right now. I also forgot to take my mag all week so I'm having bathroom issues again. I think it's been about 4 days now & that's not good so I took mag last night and this morning and if nothing moves today I'll drink some smooth move tea before bed. That stuff usually makes me crampy though so I don't like to drink it often.

Nakia's weight is rebounding from his trips to the bar (another one last night) so we expect one more gain tomorrow... par for the course, but he's still 5.2 below his LIW & not eating any non-P3 foods so he'll be just fine. He never has a problem maintaining in P3. It's P4 that gets sticky.

Biz - I actually like being on P2 with Nakia. That way we only have P2 food in the house since we don't have any kids, but when he moves on to P3, since he always does a shorter round than me, he's eating all this P3 stuff right when I need to strengthen my resolve to get through the rest of my round. Every once in a while, it gets to me, but I'm doing good today.
I ordered the chinese food steamed with the sauce on the side. They know to not let any oil touch it when I order it that way & the protein portion is usually perfect for P2... so that (and sushi without rice) is my goto fast food choice on P2.

Monica's R4P2 Day 25 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 8

2009-03-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 25
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 156.1
Today: 155.7 -.4
R4 Total -14.9 8.7%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 8
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 223.4
Today: 219.5 -3.9
6.4 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: 2 chocolate almond meringues
S: 1/2 apple with truvia & cinnamon
L: chinese food: steamed chicken & string beans w/ soy sauce & mrs dash
S: 1/2 apple with truvia & cinnamon
D: chinese food: steamed chicken & string beans w/ soy sauce & mrs dash
S: 2 chocolate almond meringues,
1 melba toast spread with chunky unsweetened applesauce, cinnamon & truvia
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Yeah... you're seeing that right... Nakia lost 3.9 lbs over night on P3... It's kind of a farce though. Every time he goes out drinking, he loses an obscene amount of weight the next day. Then he gains a little of if back the day after... watch. I'm predicting a 1-2.5 lb gain in the morning, so don't be surprised.

Ok.... I need to rant just a little... I went and got him some cajun seasoned swordfish steaks from whole foods & he loved them. He even had one with cheese eggs for breakfast this morning. Of course I was looking at him like "Are you really going to eat that delicious looking meal in front of me?!" But I bought it for him so whatever.... I have decided that I'm going to have swordfish on my first P3 day... so there! I soooo want a P3 meal right now!!! rant over.

Wow... I was sure I was gonna have a gain today. I didn't weigh or measure anything yesterday. I got chinese for lunch and just eyeballed my amounts. I skipped my 2nd fruit just in case I screwed up... except for that melba toast and applesauce... boy that was good. I warmed it in the microwave for 15 seconds and it tasted like a little apple pie. That's a new P2 treat for me :) I just posted it over on HTA as cinnamon apple toast. I had to make myself a comfort snack with comforting flavors because I just had the munchies after dinner last night and had no idea why. Believe me! no smoking or anything... LOL. I just willed myself not to eat a big spoonful of peanut butter. The little apple treat and my meringues helped alot. I just kept thinking... "If I cheat today, I'll never know if the steamed chinese food was safe." So I drank my tea and chewed my sugar free gum & went to bed... still with the munchies, but also with the knowledge that I did not sabotage myself yet again. That feeling is better than the feeling of eating peanut butter right now.

M - Yup... he's great. Of course he's still a guy and we have our differences sometimes, but we hardly every argue & we never go to bed angry. We're a great team.

Mo - Having a good attitude gets me through a lot of things & I'm in the 2nd half of my round & still haven't deviated. It's such a good feeling that I don't want to end it. I've never been able to do it before and I want to say I did it this time.

Biz - I'm grateful for you too! Thanks for being my motivation. You've been my "other" rock for almost a year now. You're always here when I need you & I'm really thankful for that. If there's anything that You need... please let me know, even if I'm MIA. You know how to find me.

Dawn - Thank you so much & thanks for checking in on me. I really appreciate it.

Gina - HA! Isn't it great to be married to your best friend?!
It took a while for me to accept the ups and downs of P2. I just always try to compare my losses on this protocol to all the other weight loss programs I've tried. Nothing compares to this. I say all the time that we (everyone on this protocol) tend to get impatient because our losses are so great. Just think how slowly we would be losing on some other plan. When I think of that, I just take it all in stride, look at the big picture, and wait for that WOOSH... tee hee.

Monica's R4P2 Day 24 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 7

2009-03-27T03:54:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 24
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 155.9
Today: 156.1 +.2
R4 Total -12.7 7.4%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 7
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 223.4
Today: 223.4 0
2.5 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
S: TJs chunky applesauce
L: chicken with low sodium McCormick Grillmates Montreal chicken seasoning & mustard dressing, 1/2 serving romaine lettuce with mustard balsamic vinaigrette dressing
S: 1/2 serving romaine lettuce with mustard balsamic vinaigrette dressing
D: "fried" catfish
Lots of tea with truvia & water, TJs unsweetened green tea w/ truvia added

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

I guess I'm having a little rebound gain today. For me, that usually happens after a few days of good losses. I'm used to that now. When your body losses weight so fast, it will temporarily fill your fat cells with water... then WOOSH! It gets passed out with the rest of the waist.

It's either that or the fact that I didn't get enough calories yesterday. Dr S. mentions not to worry about a .2 gain, so I won't.

Nakia stayed the same & that's good because it means he's stabilizing. He went to see a cardiac specialist yesterday to make sure the pain in his chest has nothing to do with his heart & they haven't found anything. We both think its just a muscle strain, but he just wanted to be safe.

Both of my friends that are on the protocol right now are doing great. 1 has 9 lbs to lose and just started her 2nd 21 day round this past weekend so I'm sure she'll reach her goal this round. That's exciting. My other friend is having 1.5 and 2 lb losses everyday and she's on day 25 too, so she's doing fantastic!

************UPDATE**************

For some reason I am really REALLY happy today. I was just thinking about all the things in my life that I’m grateful for and I really have A LOT to be grateful for! My husband is by far at the top of that list…. I have a man that is so thoughtful and loving. I couldn’t ask for a better partner. I have a stable job that I actually like to do & we are pretty comfortable in an unstable economy. I have also stumbled on the best kept secret on weight loss that I’ve ever known of and my hubby and I are almost to our goals! I am just really happy about all of that... plus we’re about to go on vacation with one of my best friends & we are gonna turn that place out!!! I feel really good today and it’s gonna be a good day.

M - Girl... he'd be lost! but isn't that always the case with husbands? LOL He's my rock too so it all evens itself out cus I'd be sooo lost without him.

Biz - you know it. He's so surprised that I was right about the reasons he gained. I don't think men really think they are affected by water weight gain.

Monica's R4P2 Day 23 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 6

2009-03-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 23
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 156.4
Today: 155.9 -.5
R4 Total -12.9 7.6%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 6
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 225.6
Today: 223.4 -2.2
2.5 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: coffee with 1 T half & half
S: 1/2 serving strawberries with truvia
L: chicken with garlic & herb Mrs Dash, steamed string beans with minced onions
S: 1/2 serving strawberries with truvia, 1 chocolate almond meringue
D: creole catfish, an apple
Lots of tea with truvia & water, TJs unsweetened green tea w/ truvia added

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go
5 chocolate almond meringues

Whew! I had a feeling Nakia was having some water retention issues. He was complaining of "feeling fat" so I told him to drink tons of water and cut down on the salt yesterday & VOILA! 2.2 lbs gone!

I wasn't sure I'd have a loss today because I ate pretty late at around 8:30 & I went and got maintenance done on my locs. I try to only do that once during phase 2 just in case they put oil in my hair. When I go, I take my brilliantine with me which Dr. S allows during P2. Even though I make them use that, I'm always afraid that I'll gain because they use so much. It's always an ordeal though because I have to explain that I'm on a "detox diet plan" & how I can't put any oil on my skin (Then I get the weird looks). I just don't want to go through all that more than once during my round, so I just let my hair go a little further than I normally would. If my locs weren't so new, I'd just have a friend retouch them for me, but I don't want someone inexperienced messing up the pattern of my locs so I just go to the salon. But I am SURE glad I went last night.... my hair feels MUCH better :)

It looks like giving up beef is really paying off. I've had some really great losses this week. This morning I got on the scale again and it said I had lost even more, but I decided to go with the first number. I'll see the rest of that loss tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to be a challenge for me. My boss is buying lunch, and I get to choose where we get lunch from. I'm chosing chinese because that way I can get steamed chicken or shrimp and broccoli without sauce and have lunch with everyone else. I might even get steamed string beans.

Amie - DH=Dear Husband or Dumb husband (however you want to take it at the time... LOL)
I think he'll be fine... I'm pretty sure it was just an over taxed muscle in his chest from breathing heavily on the treadmill, but I KNOW he was showing off... HA!

M - Thanks :) I have just found P2 recipes from various sources and tweak them for my tastes. I also watch food network alot and I adapt things from there. P2 is restrictive, but I can work with it.

Biz - Wasn't that great! I smile everytime I watch it & you know smiling is good for you.

Angela - yeah, fitday is great. I used to use it for P2, but since I'm only eating 500 calories I find it easier to just calculate it on my nutrition scale. Now I use fitday to track my inches & weight lost on P2. I'll be using it more in P3... it gets more complicated to plan out meals for me then.

Monica's R4P2 Day 22 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 5

2009-03-25T03:55:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 22
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 158.2
Today: 156.4 -1.8
R4 Total -12.4 7.3%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 5
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 224.2
Today: 225.6 +1.4
.3 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B:coffee with 1 T half & half, 1 chocolate almond meringue
S: 1/2 serving strawberries with truvia
L: chicken with garlic & herb Mrs Dash, steamed string beans with minced onions
S: 1/2 serving strawberries with truvia
D: baked catfish breaded with 1/2 T 1% milk, essence, italian seasoned crushed melba toast
sprinkled with hot sauce... mmmm
Lots of tea with truvia & water, TJs unsweetened green tea w/ truvia added

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go
15 chocolate almond meringue

The steamed shrimp he had yesterday were steamed at the supermarket with old bay added. I think that's what caused his gain. I warned him, but he thinks he's superman... so I lost 1.8 today and he almost found all of that! I've got him eating a more simplified diet today. I did give him a few slices of deli meat though. I've heard that can cause a problem, but it's all natural and low sodium so I hope it's ok.

Yes 1.8 this late in my round!!! WOOO HOOO! I was doing a naked happy dance on my scale this morning! I am 1.7 away from my LIW from last round too... that's a great feeling.

This past weekend was difficult for alot of my blogging buddies so I want to send this out to all of you... this made me feel so much better when I did it yesterday :)

Don't sweat the small stuff... be grateful that you have a great way to get yourself back on track!

M - Thanks for stopping by! I'm actually still on P2 myself, but my DH is on P3 now... it makes preparing our meals very interesting because I do both. I left you a link... check it out and let me know what you think or if you have questions.

Dawn - Hey! I saw you all over the forum yesterday :) That was articshark that you're referring too. She is one of the most helpful and knowledgeable people at HTA. You'll get the hang of the forum etiquette soon. Once again... welcome to HTA!

Biz - Yeah bizzy, but I'm a little worried. He's starting to obsess over every morsel and I don't think that's necessarily good. He hurt his chest working out last week so he's not working out this week & he's really upset with himself over it... especially since he had that hernia operation this time last year, which caused him to stop working out and put on a bunch of weight. I think he's afraid it'll happen again so he's going over his meals with a fine tooth comb. That could either be good or bad. From my experience, he does better when he doesn't think about it much... we'll see how this pans out.

Amie - Hi! Yup... they look devine! I'm gonna wait for P3 though cus I just gotta have that guacamole! Love the stuff. oooh, but maybe I can do a chicken wrap with biz's mustard dressing instead.... that sounds good too.

I'm off to do my gratitude dance! Have a great day!

Monica's R4P2 Day 21 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 4

2009-03-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 21
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 158.6
Today: 158.2 -.4
R4 Total -12.4 7.3%

Nakia - R3P3 Day 4
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 223.6
Today: 224.2 +.6
1.3 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
S: 1/2 apple with cinnamon & truvia
L: steamed tilapia w/ southwest chipotle Mrs Dash
S: 1/2 apple with cinnamon & truvia
D: shrimp and fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic and fresh basil
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
Fitday menu
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go
1 chocolate almond meringue

Just another beautiful day in hcg world :) We're both doing great. Nakia started using his fitday account because he wants to keep a close eye on his calories... I think it's really because he doesn't believe me when I tell him how much food he can eat... LOL. Big thanks to Amie. She gave me a great idea when she posted about the un-wich at Jimmy John's. Today I sent Nakia to work with lettuce, grilled chicken, 1 slice each of ham and provolone & guacamole to make a chicken cordon bleu un-wich or lunch. Cool idea!

Oooh... & I made more chocolate almond meringues, but this time I folded in 3 chopped sugar free dark chocolate squares from Trader Joe's & only 1/2 T of cocoa powder.... I shouldn't have done that. Now I want to eat the whole batch! They are sooo good. The SF chocolate only adds 3 calories to each cookie. I know I won't get to eat that many though because Nakia will polish them off before I get to them again.

Dawn - Those treats are perfect for any chocolate craving that TOM might bring on. Go for it!
Do you like shrimp or lobster? You could do a whole lot with that too.

Biz - I saw that & I sent you an email... & I did slap him again :)

Amie - You are so very welcomed. Handle with care though... they could get addicting. I'm going to try them with lemon extract next. As far as the weekend goes... it's in the past. Today we start the clock for the rest of this round. Lets get this done girl!

Monica's R4P2 Day 20 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 3

2009-03-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 20
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 159.5
Today: 158.6 -.9
R4 Total -12 7%

Nakia - R3P2 last VLCD
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9 8.7%
Yesterday: 224.3
Today: 223.6 -.7
2.3 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
S: sugar free canned mandarin oranges with splenda sorbet, 2 chocolate almond meringue's (26 cals)
L: creole catfish
D: catfish breaded with 1/2 T half & half and melba toast crumbs seasoned with dry minced onions & italian seasoning
Lots of tea with truvia & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: fried cabbage and bacon
L: romaine salad with crumbled blue cheese, pine nuts & TJs goddess dressing
200 grams of grilled chicken
D: 200 grams of baked salmon, string beans with butter
15 chocolate almond meringue's
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

HA! .9! I knew that was coming. I could feel it! So that's 1 whole pound in 2 days & Nakia had a nice loss today as well. He was really worried that he over did it on his first P3 day and he was going to pay a big price, but he's sitting comfortably below his LIW so now he's happy. I'm happy too cus he's a pain in the butt when he's upset about his weight... worse than me! He kept eating my P2 meringue's cus he was so worried about eating yesterday. Luckily the whole recipe uses only 3 egg whites cus he killed 'em! I'll put the recipe at the bottom of this post.

So this is officially my 21st day... meaning I can now stop whenever I want to, but I really think I can go the entire 40 days. There's nothing pressing going on in the next few weeks and I'm on a really steady pace at .6 lbs per day. I have decided to nix beef for the rest of this round though. I used to do ok with the 4% beef, but I haven't been able to find it & I haven't had a good loss after any of my beef days this round... I think I should take the hint. So it's chicken and seafood from now on.

I was watching food network and one of the chefs was making meringue's and I said... Hey. I can make those P2 friendly. It uses almond extract which is almond oil but a very small amount. YMMV... here's the recipe:

P2 Chocolate Almond Meringue's

3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup sugar substitute equivalent to sugar
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 Tablespoon hershey's cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer and beat until foamy. Add sugar substitute and almond extract beat until meringues hold soft peaks, about 3 minutes. Fold in cocoa powder gently until just incorporated. Using a pastry bag or a sealable plastic bag with the corner snipped off, pipe meringue by the tablespoon onto cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from parchment paper. Transfer to an airtight container.

This makes 30 meringues at 13 calories each

Angela - You know what... start keeping track of your measurements if you haven't already. When I'm not seeing a loss on the scale, I take a look at my measurements. I usually see a drop in that when the scale isn't moving. Remember that the manual is called "Pounds & Inches". When fat is on the move this quickly, it can sometimes take the scale a little while to catch up because your body fills the empty fat cells with water at first.
Veal would be perfect because its low in fat. Beef is fine too, but you really need to keep track of your calories on those days because the calories are higher than chicken or fish. Just try it and see how your body reacts. Beef has the highest concentration of protein and your body may need that.
And yes... drinking water is VERY key to more losses. It helps your body get rid of fat and keeps everything moving smoothly so make sure you get at least 96 ounces of water a day. Tea is great too.

Monica's R4P2 Day 19 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 2

2009-03-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 19
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 159.6
Today: 159.5 -.1
R4 Total -11.1 6.5%

Nakia - R3P2 last VLCD
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9
Yesterday: 222.0
Today: 224.3 +2.3
1.6 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
S: sugar free canned mandarin oranges with splenda
L: chicken & fire roasted tomatoes with southwestern spices
S: 1/2 apple
D: catfish breaded with half & half and melba toast crumbs seasoned with essence & italian seasoning
S: sugar free canned mandarin oranges with splenda
Lots of tea & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: pot roast with onions
L: pot roast with onions
D: fried cabbage and bacon
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

.1... what is that about?! I'm still doing well on average compared to my previous rounds though, so I'm not sweating it, but I know I must be due for a big loss soon... hopefully. It would just be nice to see.

Nakia had a significant gain today, but he's back within the 2 lb threshold so it's no biggie. 1.6 below LIW is really great, but I know he'll probably eat lightly today because of the gain.

Biz - You've inspired me to go through the rest of this round without beef.... just fish and chicken & more on the fish side. I don't think I could do what you're doing, but beef hasn't been my friend on P2 so I can do without it.
I asked this on your blog, but you say you only had 750 cals. How many daily calories are you going for during this round?

Monica's R4P2 Day 18 - Nakia's R3P3 Day 1

2009-03-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 18
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 159.4
Today: 159.6 +.2
R4 Total -11 6.4%

Nakia - R3P2 last VLCD
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9
Yesterday: 222.0
Today: 222.0 -0
3.9 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
S: 1/2 apple
L: chicken, broccoli, & grissini
S: 1/2 apple
D: roast beef & cabbage
Lots of tea & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: 4 boiled eggs
L: chili & cheese, boiled cabbage
D: Bonefish grill Florida Cobb Salad, rum & diet coke
S: chili & cheese
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Small gain for me today... no biggie. I may have caused it because I mixed all kinds of stuff yesterday. I had roast beef over cabbage that was boiled in chicken broth. The roast beef was made in a slow cooker with beef broth and onions... and I ate a few pieces of onion too. I did skip my 2nd fruit and grissini though & didn't go over 500 calories. Oh well... I'll just drinking tons of water today.

Nakia's first P3 day was uneventful :) No loss & no gain so that's good.

Biz - I'm all slapped out! This is just how his body works :) Man oh man... no meat!? I thought that was just for 1 day a week. You go on with your healthy self!

Monica's R4P2 Day 17 - Nakia's first P3 day

2009-03-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 17
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 159.6
Today: 159.2 -.4
R4 Total -11.4 6.7%

Nakia - R3P2 last VLCD
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9
Yesterday: 224.0
Today: 222.0 -2.0
3.9 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
L: catfish creole & 1 grissini
S: TJs chunky applesauce
D: mustard chicken & cabbage
S: strawberry sorbet
Lots of tea & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: TJs chunky applesauce
L: chicken & cabbage
D: 7% fat ground beef chili
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Nakia is starting his P3 out with a great head start! He's almost 4 lbs below his LIW already! I want what he's having... oh... I'm on what he's having... LOL. He's probably going to lose a little more too because he has decided to continue eating the same food I'm cooking for myself, but in larger quantities and mixing veggies. That worried me on his last round because Dr S warns about going more than 2 lbs under LIW, but what the hell... I feel weird about making him eat when he's not hungry.

I looked over our detailed stats for our previous rounds and this is our best round so far. We've both lost more in the same amount of days than we ever have. I know it's due to going back to basics. I don't need to experiment as much. I know what I like and what works for me & I just stick to that. I have absolutely no cravings & I don't feel deprived this time. On my last round I said it was the most stress free, but I have to say that this round is even easier. I have NEVER gone this long without eating something off plan & I think it's showing in my average losses. I haven't even needed to prepare any P2 desserts to appease some craving for chocolate... I just haven't had any... even during TOM! That's amazing to me. My goal for this round is 151, but I may be able to surpass that in 23 more days (Apr 11th).

I just joined a new gym and they offer a 6 week group training session that starts on April 28th. I'll be 15 days into P3 by then. It involves long distance running, which is something I used to do in highschool many moons ago. I know from experience that running is the best way to burn calories (besides hcg of course), & I want to get into the routine of doing it regularly. I think starting out with a group will give me the catalyst I need to get started.

Amie - oooh a bikini! Do we get to see pictures? I'm gonna post some of myself real soon... maybe over on HTA... not in a bikini though, at least not yet, but I just may be bikini ready by the time we go to Punta Cana.

Biz - I wish I knew how that happened cus I would make it happen every day! RE Truvia... you tried TOFU again! Of course you can give Truvia a try! LOL

Dawn - Thank you so much. It does feel good to see it so close. I've actually been closer than this before, but this time feels much different.

Angel - 1 lb days are hard for me to come by this late into P2 so I get so excited when I see them. Inspiration... that is why we're all here for each other. I get just as much inspiration from you as you probably get from me so just keep going. I can't wait to see you reach your goal.

WOO HOO! Love those 1 lbs days!

2009-03-19T03:45:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 16
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 160.6
Today: 159.6 -1.0
R4 Total -11 6.5%

Nakia - R3P2 last VLCD
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
LIW 3/17/2009: 225.9
Yesterday: 225.0
Today: 224.0 -1.0
1.9 Below LIW

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: 1/2 apple
L: catfish creole & 1 grissini
S: 1/2 apple
D: mustard chicken & cabbage
S: small mandarin orange
Lots of tea & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: 1 apple
L: chicken
D: grilled steak and cabbage
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

WOO HOO! 1 lb down! I had a feeling I was going to have a good loss today because I had a burst of energy last night. Whenever that happens I have a good loss the next day. After dinner I made a big batch of cabbage & 4 servings of chili with 7% fat ground beef and canned tomatoes with no salt added. I used to be able to find 4% fat ground beef, but the stores stopped carrying it after the price of meat started rising. I was just buzzing around doing stuff all evening & I woke up with more energy than normal this morning about an hour before I normally get up.... that was strange. So... I'm in the 150s again. I should be back down to my last round's LIW pretty soon now. I have 4.9 lbs to go & 22 days left... That'll be no problem. Anything after that is gravy!

Today is Nakia's last VLCD day. He has done really well this round.... losing 21.4 lbs in 21 days! He's lost over 30 lbs in all 3 of his rounds. He looks great & I'm so proud of him. He is really excited to get back into the gym and start lifting weights seriously on monday. His goal is still 215, but he plans to lose the next 10 lbs in the gym.

Biz - Yup... I couldn't do stevia either. I tried sweetleaf before & hated it, but that's why it's good to go through the protocol with someone new sometimes. My co-worker that just finished her first round of P2 gave me a few packets to try in my tea one day and I was VERY surprised. I think you will be too. My taste buds haven't changed either... I still don't like sweetleaf.
Nakia says "What's up F'er!!" LOL

False alarm.. Nakia's LIW was yesterday

2009-03-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 16
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 161.1
Today: 160.6 -.5
R4 Total -10 5.9%

Nakia - R3P2 VLCD 1
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 225.9 LIW
Today: 225.0 -.9
R3 Total 22.3 9%

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: 1/2 apple with cinnamon & splenda
L: chicken, broccoli, grissini & 1/2 apple with cinnamon & splenda
S: 1 homemade strawberry ice pop (10 cals)
D: steamed lobster tail & broccoli, 1 melba toast with TJs strawberry spread
S: small homemade strawberry sorbet
Lots of tea & water

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: TJs chunky applesauce
L: pot roast & string beans
D: steamed lobster tail & broccoli
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Oh well... false start. When I reminded Nakia that he would have to do 72 hours of VLCD after his last injection he decided to make yesterday his last day because he wants to go to his favorite watering hole on Friday after work... you guessed it... bonefish grille. He has told me that he still wants to eat the same food I've been making on P2, but he'll add more protein. I think he should add some healthy fats too, but he's a little afraid to do that. I'm gonna sneak some olive oil into his food tho... tee hee hee. Oh well, I've still got my friend from work and my neighbor to finish out this round with me.

BTW, My co-worker just joined HTA today. Her screen name is Supasweet. We're going to the Dominican Repulic together in June so we're trying to get our rounds done WAY before then so we can stabilize. I've had trouble with traveling while in the stabilization phase and it never works out for me.

So I finally had a decent loss! I was so happy to see that 1-6-0 something this morning. Now on to the 150s. I think I may have been over thinking my losses so far. After looking over my previous rounds, I am actually doing better than my last P2 by percentages & about on pace with my first P2 which was my best one. I've also gotten this far and haven't eaten anything off protocol once, besides my additions of broccoli, string beans & half & half. I used to get crazy cravings in the evenings that seemed to take over until I just HAD to have whatever it was that I was craving. Peanut butter, chocolate & nuts were my drugs of choice. That just doesn't happen anymore. There is definitely a change in me... now I hope this carries over into my non-hcg life.

Biz - Only the granulated box of splenda measures like sugar. The stuff in the packets concentrated so 1 packet is as sweet as 2 tsp of sugar. I did just find out, through a search that splenda actually has calories. LOOK HERE There are 4 calories in each packet! I had no idea. I've been putting that stuff in my tea like crazy! I'm not going to completely eliminate it, but I'm going start to transition to truvia brand stevia. It tastes much better than other stevias and I think it's better for the body than S&L.

It's nice to have company

2009-03-17T04:04:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 15
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 161.3
Today: 161.1 -.2
R4 Total -9.7 5.7%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 21
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 226.8
Today: 225.9 -.9
R3 Total 21.4 8.7%

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: strawberries
L: pot roast & broccoli
S: 1 homemade strawberry ice pop
D: lemon pepper orange roughy & spinach
Lots of tea, water, & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: TJs chunky applesauce
L: pot roast & string beans
D: chicken & string beans
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

I had to correct yesterday's weight. Nakia only gained .6 not .9... he had an excellent loss today so he's happy about that. This would have been his LIW but he's decided to go until friday. That's unheard of for him. Going past 21 days?! Who IS this guy?!

I will be doing a 40 day round so I've got about 3 weeks to go after he's done. My co-worker is going to start her 2nd round of P2 on friday so I'll still have her and my next door neighbor with me on P2. It's nice to have company. My co-worker wanted to lose 25 lbs total and she lost 14 on her first 21 day round & she's ready to get rid of the last 11 lbs. She had no problem with P3 with absolutely no help from me. I think that's because she just put on her weight over the last year and caught it early. Her body is very comfortable at this weight so it wasn't hard for her to maintain... plus she was already in the habit of healthy eating. Her favorite snack is guacamole and baked tortilla chips... not too shabby.

Biz - I guess... I didn't really look up that particular ingredient, but it's definately off. Some experiments work and some don't & we just move on. I am going to examine my use of splenda though. I personally have been using more of it than I used too & my losses have been very low this week. It's still been going down so I'm not sure if I should change something or not... I guess I could go 2 days without splenda and see what happens, but it looks like Nakia is back to normal today.

Angel - Well, we both had a loss today. That's a very good thing. I just really want to get back into the 150s and it sure is taking it's time.

Two gains? It happens.

2009-03-16T03:50:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 14
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 161.1
Today: 161.3 +.2
R4 Total -9.5 5.6%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 20
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 226.2
Today: 226.8 +.6
R3 Total 20.5 8.3%

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: warm apples with cinnamon, splenda & lemon juice. coffee with half & half
L: 2 egg & 2 egg whites scrambled over spinach
S: 2 homemade strawberry ice pops
D: broiled crab stuffed tomato slices
(crab stuffing: grissini soaked in milk, minced onion, minced garlic, cayenne, paprika, homemade old bay)
Lots of tea, water, & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: warm apples with cinnamon, splenda & lemon juice. coffee with half & half
L: chili
D: broiled crab stuffed tomato slices
(crab stuffing: grissini soaked in half & half, minced onion, minced garlic, cayenne, paprika, homemade old bay)
S: 1 whole fruit brand strawberry ice pop
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Ok... I don't know where Nakia's gain came from. The only thing he ate that was out of the ordinary was some half & half in the crab cake (He's never had any milk on P2) & the store bought fruit bar. The ingredients looked fine to me though. Here they are:
WATER, STRAWBERRIES, SORBITOL, MALTODEXTRIN, NATURAL FLAVOR, GUAR GUM AND CARRAGEENAN, RED BEET JUICE CONCENTRATE, CITRIC ACID, SUCRALOSE, AND ANNATO (FOR COLOR)
Well, I think his body didn't like something that was in the fruit bars so we're going to nix them until P3 & he'll just eat the one's I make from now on.

I had a gain too, but since it's only .2 I'm not gonna sweat it because Dr. S says not to. I did end up having 1/2 tablespoon of extra half & half because of what I put in the crab stuffing, but I didn't eat my 3rd egg white so I see it as a trade off. I'm pretty sure I'm retaining water right now because a few of my muscles are sore from my light workouts over the past few days. I'm not worried about it one bit.

Angel - I will certainly check out your other blog & hey, you should have your significant other check out Ed & Jenn's blog. They're not blogging right now, but Ed started at around 280 and he lost almost 70 lbs I think. They're link is on the right side of my blog.

Biz - Woo Hoo! So today should be on your first VLCD today. Let's do this thing together lady!

My husband is a loser again!

2009-03-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 13
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 161.3
Today: 161.1-.2
R4 Total -9.7 5.7%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 19
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 227.5
Today: 226.2 -1.3
R3 Total 21.1 8.5%

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: 2 homemade strawberry ice pops
L: teriyaki beef and cabbage w 1 melba toast with TJs strawberry spread
D: crab cakes with string beans
Lots of tea, water, & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: TJs chunky applesauce
L: teriyaki beef and cabbage w 1 melba toast with TJs strawberry spread
D: crab cakes with string beans
S: homemade lemon ice pop
water & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Yup... Nakia's back on the losing train. Cool.... he was belly aching about gaining and I gave him a big "WHATEVA!" lol. Just kidding... So, he has sworn off of going to bonefish (his favorite spot for drinks) until P3 cus he lost 2 days over it. Hey, we all have to learn & some of us learn the hard way.

As for me, I'm steadily going down... slowly, but down nontheless.

Amie - Yup... he has bounced right out of it & he's definately losing inches. He already looked pretty young for his age, but now it just looks like I'm TOTALLY robbing the cradle here! He has lost alot in his face & none of his slacks fit.

Biz - LOL... that sugar free dressing is left over from when he freaked out on his last P2 and I was looking for stuff that seemed pretty safe. He actually does ok eating it so I just let him continue.... I'm not touching the stuff though! I meant to mention that in my post yesterday. Thanks for reminding me.

Angel - It's so nice to see my sister in locs drop by! Yup... I have locs too. I got them started in September of last year. I had natural hair in braids until then. Thanks for your words of encouragement. It means alot to us.

Workin out on my Wii Fit

2009-03-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 12
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 161.7
Today: 161.3 -.4
R4 Total -9.5 5.6%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 18
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 227
Today: 227.5 +.5
R3 Total 19.8 8%

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: TJs Chunky applesauce
L: chicken & broccoli, 1 grissini
D: lemon pepper orange roughy & steamed garlic spinach
frozen mocha: 1 C coffee, 1 T half & half, 1 T cocoa powder, splena, & ice
Lots of tea, water, & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: TJs chunky applesauce
S: chicken w/ mustard
L: romaine lettuce salad with sugar free raspberry dressing (use at your own risk)
D: chili
water, & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Hmmm.... another .5 gain for nakia. I hope he has a loss tomorrow. I think he will.

I'm just coasting right now. I did 45 minutes on my Wii Fit this morning & broke some of my records in yoga & aerobics. WOO HOO! I just didn't feel like getting stuff together to go to the gym. The Wii gives me a nice light workout... although that hula hoop thing doesn't seem very light.

I took some measurements too:

	Day 1	Day 12	CHANGE
NECK	14.5	14	-0.50
BUST	39.5	37	-2.50
UNDER BUST	35	34	-1.00
WAIST	36	34	-2.00
HIPS	39	38	-1.00
THIGH	23	22.5	-0.50
KNEE	14.5	14.5	0
CALF	15	15	0
BICEP	13	13	0
INCHES LOST			-7.50

I'm really liking the change in my waist.On to another day of VLCD!

Amie - I read the same thing myself! But you know what... it really IS great to have someone with you that's supportive and totally on board. I'm so glad you have that now too Amie. oooh... and it looks like we will all meet in Vegas in July! I can't wait! Nakia took me to vegas for my birthday in february. This'll be the first time we've ever gone twice in one year & it'll be tough for us to go right after our DR trip, but we just have to be there. I can't miss this!

Biz - Hey sunshine! Isn't that amazin! Remember he had such a hard time last round. I nearly jumped out of my chair when he decided to start all of a sudden. I think he had a moment.... you know that moment. LOL. I'm proud of him too. It's so nice to be back in the swing of things though. Thanks for checkin on us :)

Angel - HI! Thanks for stopping by. We really are a great team & I'm so happy for his weight loss. He does work hard for it. I know how hard this is for him so I just try to be as supportive as I can.

What a difference a round makes

2009-03-13T03:57:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 11
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 162.1
Today: 161.7 -.4
R4 Total -9.1 5.3%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 17
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 226.5
Today: 227 +.5
R3 Total 20.3 8.2%

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: Strawberries
L: catfish creole
S: melba toast with TJs strawberry spread
D: chili, melba toast, strawberry sorbet
Lots of tea, water, & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Yesterday's menu (Nakia)
B: TJs chunky applesauce
S: chicken & melba toast
L: steamed string beans
D: chili
water, & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

I decided to start posting a separate menu for Nakia because since he's putting his own meals together now we rarely eat the same food. I love broccoli so I can eat it every day, but he loves string beans so that's his thing. He did have a rebound .5 gain today which was expected, but he still lost 2.3 lbs over 2 days total so he's right on track. He's only on day 17 and has already dropped over 20 lbs. That's amazing! This is the most he's lost on P2 since he started & he's only 12 lbs away from his goal of 215. He was going to do a 21 day round but now he's thinking about going further since he's so close to his goal.

This is also the most comfortable he's been on P2. He's still working out, but he's not complaining of hunger like he was on his last 2 rounds. The last one was the worst. He almost quit, but my friend biz suggested raising his calories to 700 and that worked to stave his hunger and keep him on P2 for his full 21 days. Now he's thinking of doing about 25 days & he's looking fantastic!

I'm on my snails pace as usual. There is a differnce this time for me as well. I'm not tempted to cheat so maybe I'll lose a few more pounds this time. I also started doing light workouts every other day so maybe that will bring on more losses as well. I'm still going over old weight right now so I'm really motivated to get back to my lowest weight, but the good news is I always seem to end my rounds a little lower than the last so I AM getting there. I'm just taking the scenic route.

A bonefish grille night

2009-03-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 10
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 162.3
Today: 162.1 -.2
R4 Total -8.6 5%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 16
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 229.3
Today: 226.5 -2.8
R3 Total 20.8 8.4%

Yesterday's menu (Monica):
B: Strawberries & coffee w/ half & half
L: chicken & cucumbers, 1 grissini
D: lobster tail & steamed garlic spinach, 1 melba toast with TJs strawberry spread,
2 homemade strawberry ice pops
Lots of tea, water, & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

All Nakia ate yesterday was some chunky applesauce for breakfast & 2 orders of seared tuna from bonefish grill. He also had 4 rum and diet cokes.... for him, that equals a 2.5 lb loss overnight. LOL... There he goes again. Tuna's not on P2, but he seems to have no problems with it. I used to let his big losses bother me, but now I see that most men lose like that so I just let him do his thing. He also seems to lose weight whenever he has alcohol, but there's always a slight rebound the next day so I wouldn't be surprised if he has a small gain tomorrow. We shall see.

I, on the other hand, had a pidily .2 lb loss... so I went to my trusty tape measure just to see... and voila! 2 inches GONE from my waist! I was just doing a quick compare this morning. I'll take the rest of my measurments tonight though.

I did end up doing 30 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym yesterday. Sometimes when I workout on P2, my body retains water so that could be the cuprit of my small loss today. I'm not worried about it. At least I lost something.

Amie - I actually decided to do a 40 day round just yesterday because some friends asked us to go to Punta Cana with them in June. I'm just going to go for it so I should get pretty close to my ultimate goal by then.

Mo - I make my own teriyaki marinade & use artificial sweetner. I'll just copy it from my post in HTA. It's listed under P3 recipes there, but I use it on P2 without issues. Your results may vary.

Teriyaki Marinade

1/2 cup bragg's aminos or kikkoman soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 1/2 tablespoons of artificial sweetener of choice (I use splenda)
1 teaspoon of sugar free maple syrup
1-2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 chopped scallion
1 tsp grated lemon zest

So sick of me

2009-03-11T03:38:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 9
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 162.7
Today: 162.3 -.4
R4 Total -8.4 4.9%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 14
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 230.9
Today: 229.3 -1.6
R3 Total 17.7 7.2%

Yesterday's menu:
B: TJs chunky apple sauce & coffee w/ half & half
L: chicken & broccoli, 1 grissini
D: catfish creole, 1 grissini, 1 strawberry ice pop (12 cal)
Lots of tea, water, & 4C Totally Lite 2 Go

Yesterday was good for both of us. This time change is kickin my tail this morning, but I'm ready to get this day started (an over with). I'm going to try to get in a light workout on the treadmill at the gym today since I was just too tired to do it yesterday.

I guess I weighed myself about an hour earlier than usual because of daylight savings time... I wonder if that hurt my loss today.... oh well, it all evens itself out. I've had several days of over 1 lb losses so I think I was getting pretty spoiled, but I know that doesn't last... I was just hoping since I'm going over repeat weight. This is the time though. I AM NOT going to gain this weight back this time. I've been going over the same damn 10 - 15 lbs for about a year now and I'm pretty sick of it. It's not the protocol that did it... it's all me, but I'm really sick of ME now and I won't let her sabotage herself anymore... did that make sense?

On the road with my 500 cals

2009-03-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 8
R3 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 164.4
Today: 162.7 -1.8
R3 Total -8 4.7%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 14
R2 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 232.9
Today: 230.9 -2.0
R2 Total 16.1 6.5%

Yesterday's menu:
B: apple slices & coffee w/ half & half
L: chicken & romaine lettuce w/ mustard dressing, 1 grissini
D: chicken & string beans, 1 grissini, TJ's organic applesauce with cinnamon

Yesterday I had to drive to NJ (I live in MD) because my mom had to have a procedure done to check if she had any blockages in her arteries that may need attention. She had some chest pains and they needed to check it out. If the doctor found a significant blockage, he was going to schedule her for surgery immediately. No one else in the family could make it to the hospital with her, so I went. I couldn't imagine her getting that done with no one there with her. So I packed a lunch bag with my 500 calories worth of food (I didn't need a very large bag... LOL) and headed out at 6 am.

When I got there she was already in Same Day Surgery getting prepped for the procedure so I waited in the waiting room. I was so relieved when the doctor came and told me that she has no major blockages and can go home. WHEW!!! She didn't get discharged for another 3 hours because they had to put her under anesthesia. I don't get to see my mom that often because we live 3 hours away so we had a long time to chat & eat lunch together before they let her go home... me with my salad and chicken & her with her hospital food. I think I made out better there :) We were both glad that she didn't have to do that alone.

I drove back last night and I'm pretty wiped out today, but I had a fantastic loss this morning so all is good. It seems that my string bean experiment went very well :) I was going to start walking on the treadmill at the gym today since my cold has finally left the building... except for the cough it left behind... but now I feel pretty drained from my long day yesterday so I think I'll skip that until tomorrow.

Angel - Hi... thanks for checking in on my blog. As far as spices go, the sky's the limit. I use alot of garlic powder, dry oregano, dry basil, onion powder, & minced onion, morton's lite salt, & pepper. I also use fresh herbs. With spice blends, make sure they don't contain any sugar or dextrose. MSG is also a problem for me. Therefore, I make my own versions. You can find a lot of seasoning mixes here: http://hcgrecipes.blogspot.com/search/label/seasoning. The store bought spice blends I use most often are Mrs Dash original & garlic herb and Grill Mates 25% Less Sodium Montreal Chicken Seasoning.

Amie - You are so right. Now my rounds are alot less stressful. I know this protocol works so I just do it and watch the scale move. If it doesn't one day, we know from experience that it will in time so we just keep it movin. So... there's a new Bo! :) So nice to here that. It's great to have someone supportive, especially when doing something like this protocol.

Just coasting

2009-03-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 7
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 165.9
Today: 164.4 -1.5
43 Total -6.2 3.63%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 13
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 232.8
Today: 232.2 -.6
R3 Total 14.8 5.9%

Yesterday's menu:
B: strawberries, coffee w/ half & half
S: melba toast w/ Trader Joe's strawberry spread
L: chicken & brussel sprouts
D: chicken & broccoli w/ 1 grissini, 1 strawberry ice pop (12.5 cal)

Yesterday I made these strawberry ice pops because I had made my usual strawberry sorbet with my magic bullet in the morning, but then I didn't feel like eating it so I put it in my little tupperware ice pop molds. They turned out fantastic. 50 calories worth of strawberries made 4 pops. I could have eaten all of them if I wanted to but I only ended up wanting one so nakia and I each had one before bed. That's a new one for me.

I've decided to add string beans into the mix as well. Nakia loves them. I added broccoli on my 2nd round and I added brussel sprouts on my 3rd round, so this round we'll try string beans. I haven't had them yet, but Nakia had them yesterday and the day before (he doesn't like brussel sprouts) and has had good losses, so I'm going to throw them into my diet today.

I am a strong believer that everyone should do the protocol by the book the first time so that you have a benchmark before experimenting with other veggies or fruits, so that's what I did. I added things in slowly. I say that because I wouldn't want anyone just starting with hcg to think they should go ahead and add different veggies right off the break because I'm eating them. Everyone's body reacts differently. Ok... disclaimer over :)

This round feels so different than every other round. I'm not battling with temptations like I have in the past. I just make my food and I eat it. I'm not as tempted by work food or even snack food in my house like I was every other time I've done this. I have my favorite P2 meals and I just stick with those. I did alot of flavor experimenting in my first round. I had alot of time because it was a full 40 days. LOL. Now I have a bunch of go to meals that I can prepare quickly and easily. I did try lobster tails for the first time on P2 last week. That felt like a cheat! They were so good steamed in a zip loc steamer bag. mmm mmm. Wow... I'm getting hungry... going to make dinner now. chicken and string beans tonight.

Mo - Hi... thanks for stopping by :) I'm not using a doctor. I've done all my rounds on my own. I found hcg by reading Kevin Trudeau's book and then I did my own research and just got started with it.... well, to make a long story short :)

The cold is almost gone

2009-03-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

Monica - R4P2 Day 6
R4 Starting weight: 170.6
Yesterday: 165.5
Today: 165.9 +.4
R4 Total -4.7 2.75%

Nakia - R3P2 Day 12
R3 Starting weight: 247.3
Yesterday: 233.8
Today: 232.8 -1.0
R3 Total 14.5 5.8%

Yesterday's menu:
B: apple w/ splenda & cinnamon
L: steak & sauteed onions & 1 grissini
D: Tilapia & romaine salad with mustard dressing & 1 grissini

Nakia started a week before I did. He was excited to start and jumped right in this time. He's taken to this round a lot easier than his last 2 rounds. I had to do a lot to keep him from quitting last time, but I can clearly see his determination to stick to P2 this time. It's just different & I like not having to pull him along or make him eat his apple without coring and peeling it for him.... He's eating the peel and coring it himself!!! WHAT?! Who is this person?! I was worried about being sick the first week because I didn't pack his lunches for him like I did the last round, but he gets everything together himself now. All I need to do is portion out the meats & he's good to go.

I'm doing a little better with my cold today. The cough is nearly gone and I didn't cough as much during the night. I didn't even need my inhaler today either. TOM did start though so I'm sure that's where the gain came from since I didn't even eat my 2nd fruit yesterday.

Reaquainting myself with my blog

2009-03-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

Here I am again. I've been offline for a long time, but I've decided to start another round. I want to document this here because this is where I started & where I feel most comfortable expressing myself. For some reason journaling over at the HTA forum didn't give me the same feeling as blogging here. I like the continuity of thought that I see on my blog & I like being able to go back and read my own thoughts. It's just easier and more comfortable for me... so this is where I'll be. I still love the forum, but for other reasons.

For some reason I keep making poor choices and ending up gaining weight back. I saw myself headed back towards 170 lbs after I had reached 154 and I didn't like what I was seeing on the scale. I certainly didn't feel like I was 168 but that's what the scale said. My clothes still fit though so I'm glad I was getting on the scale to notice at least... so I decided that I'd better do another round of P2 to reach my goal once and for all.

This time there will be no vacationing or big events for a long while after I'm done with this round. I may even do another round when I'm done to finally get to the goal I've been chasing for so long. My husband Nakia & a friend of mine is doing this round with me so I've got good company, plus helping them keeps me on track.

I started this round at an embarrassing 169.7 Today is day 5 of VLCD and I've lost 5.1 lbs from my last load day which is right on track. Unfortunately I picked up a head cold on the first day I started injections and I've been battling that all week. I've had to take NyQuil and use my asthma inhaler just about every night this week because I wake up in the middle of the night coughing. Sometimes my asthma symptoms show up when I have a cold... probably because of all the phlem. Last night was a little better and I was able to forgo the NyQuil so hopefully the cold is on its way out. I'm pretty sure I got it from my friend that's started P2 with me because we went out to dinner and she was blowing her nose for most of the evening. Oh well... at least I know that NyQuil & albuterol don't hurt my loses :)

Been away, but we're doing great! P2 and P3 are over!

2008-11-11T10:23:00.001-08:00

Ok... wow, I haven't posted in quite some time. So sorry for my absence. I've been keeping a journal over at the myhcgjourney.com site and unfortunately I haven't gotten back to this blog. I had thought that no-one else was reading it, but someone (Edalene) left me a message today and that made me realize that I need to clarify where I've been.

Well this is where I am now. I've completed my 3rd P2 round, losing 18.4 lbs in a 40 day round and today is the first day of P4 for me. Nakia is also done. He lost a total of 16.7 lbs in a 21 day round. He continued to lose weight during his P3 and is now about 5 lbs below his LIW & a week into his P4. I'm hovering just over my LIW which is great. I'm usually WAY over my LIW by now so I think I'm getting the hang of this.

I have maintained my losses better than I ever have and I'm so proud of that, but mostly I'm grateful to my friends over the the myhcgjourney forum bootcamp. I couldn't have done it without bootcamp.

Nakia and I leave on saturday for our cruise with the other HCGer's that could make it. I am so excited! I get to meet people that I admire and taught me so much that I can't even put it into words. They have been some of my most encouraging HCG family members and it'll be so nice to actually hang out with them!

Nakia's not sure whether he'll do another round or not, but I have enough HCG for him to do it if he chooses to. I plan on doing one more round but I haven't decided when that will be yet. It'll either be between thanksgiving and christmas or after we go to vegas for my birthday in February. It might be a short round because I only have about 10 lbs to lose & I am going to maintain it this time! That's a promise!

I will probably be gone for a while, but I will update my blog when I start my next phase 2 round.

Hmmm... I think I'll go make rounds to see who's still blogging in our little community :)

R3D20 - Halfway mark!

2008-09-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

Monica - R3D20
Starting Weight 173
09/23 - 162.6 +0.9
09/24 - 162.3 -0.3
09/25 - 161.3 -1.0
09/26 - 161.1 -0.2
Yesterday: 159.5 -1.6
Today: 161.7 +0.5
Total: -13

Nakia - R2D5
Starting Weight 154
09/23 - 254.3 -0.2 LOAD Day 2
09/24 - 254.0 -0.3
09/25 - 252.9 -1.1
09/26 - 251.8 -1.1
Yesterday: 250 -1.8
Today: 247.8 -2.2
Total: -6.2

My body is doing the up/down thing right now. I danced for 3 hours yesterday in a hip hop class at the gym. I knew it might make me gain a bit, but I just had to go because I've missed the last 2 weeks and I absolutely love that class. I also have friends in there that I haven't seen in a while and we have a blast together. So I'm up .5 today... partly because of that and maybe even because I went about 25 calories over 500. I just felt like I needed just a bit more protein with all the calories I burned in class which was close to 1000. I'm sure it will come off tomorrow.

Isn't Nakia doing fabulous?! He has decided that he doesn't want to use the natural soap and TOM's deoderant that I use when on P2. He has also decided to use regular lotion. I think that's a bad idea, but he wants to test it so if anyone is paying attention, I'll keep you posted.

My neighbor has gone from 204 to 191 and she started P2 1 day after I did. She started out taking hcg sublingualy at 100 ius twice a day, but she didn't keep her hcg in the fridge for the first 9 days. When I found out, I was worried that it had lost it's potency so we mixed her a new batch a few days ago & with that new batch she decided to switch to injections because she wanted to take her dosage once a day instead of twice. I think I was right because she has had much better losses this week. Keep in mind that I think it is the fresh batch that she now keeps in the fridge and not that fact that she switched to injections that she is losing at a better rate.

Nakia's first load day

2008-09-22T03:33:00.001-07:00

Monica - R3D14

Starting Weight 173
09/16 - 163.2 0
09/17 - 163.2 0
09/18 - 163.4 +.2
09/19 - 163.4 0
09/20 - 162.9 -.5
Yesterday: 162.4 -.5
Today: 161.7 -0.7
Total: -11.3

Nakia - LOAD Day 1

Starting Weight 154.5

Yesterday's menu was:
B: 1/2 grapefruit & red zinger tea with lemon and splenda
S: coffee with 1 T half & half
L: steamed chicken and broccoli w/ original mrs dash, 2 melba rounds
D: chicken with hunt's fire roasted tomatoes (3/4 can) with garlic, red pepper flakes & fresh basil, 2 melba rounds for dipping. 1 strawberry sorbet with lemon & splenda.

Well... today is Nakia's first day of P2! He is disappointed in his weight gain over the summer and wants to give the protocol another shot. We both went overboard and had a little too much fun over the summer. We both realize that our maintenance skills need more work. Everything is a learning experience and we'll get it right next time.

I'm back home to MD from NY/NJ. Yesterday was an exhausting day. I went to see my little cousin in a production off broadway. He's in a young thespians group and their musical was featured at the Alvin Ailey theater in NY for 3 shows over the weekend so I just HAD to get there to support him. The play was fantastic. It was a modern day version of mid summer nights dream called Midnight Madness. That did a wonderful job. I'm so proud of him!

But here's the kicker. When I got to NJ, my mom had been taken to the emergency room because of light headedness & she was admitted overnight for observation because of low blood pressure and a slow heart rate. She told me she felt fine though & insisted that I still go to the show.

The show was at 8 and ended at around 10:45. I didn't get back to my mom's house until around 12. My sister was there and their upstairs neighbors were having a house party that stayed extremely loud until around 4 AM. She wouldn't call the cops and I got so pissed off at all the extremely loud music, running up and down the stairs, jumping around, and yelling going on that I tried to talk to the neighbor and ended up in an argument & that was only around 1 AM! I'm telling you, they should be glad that I don't live there. So I got almost no sleep and had to get up and get my mom from the hospital and make the 3 hour drive back down to MD. My mom told me that they do that frequently and the Newark police and the landlord won't do anything about it. She wants to take the landlord to court over it. I will Certainly testify if she does!

The good thing is that my mom is fine and she didn't have to deal with those crazy neighbors of hers because she wasn't there. Well... that's my rant about the weekend.

R3D8 - Ha! Take that! fat!

2008-09-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

Starting Weight 173
Yesterday: 165
Today: 163.2 -1.8
Total: -9.8

Woo Hoo! And she smashes right past 164 with almost 2 lbs overnight! That's what I like to see. You were right Mary! Back on track with a vengeance! Wow... This is my best round ever. I don't have any desire to cheat (well, not as much as before) and my releases are better than ever so far. That's probably because this is new fat.

I was reading a post over at the myhcgjourney forum that talked about new and old fat and how the old fat is hard to get rid of, even for a plastic surgeon. Now that is very interesting to me. I certainly do notice that the fat that I recently put on is easier to get rid of that the fat I've had for years. So first in first out I guess... just like work. lol.

My neighbor is doing great too. She hit 197 yesterday. She's so excited that she got out of the 200s in under a week. I'm excited for her too. Its fun watching someone be amazed by this protocol as much as I was the first time (and still am)... and I'm glad I can be here for her because she can't get to the forums online because of her job. It's nice to have someone to share the protocol with and she's so close we can eat dinner together on some nights. She probably doesn't even know that she's helping me as much as I'm helping her. hmmm... I should probably tell her that.

Oh... one more thing. There might be a familiar character coming back to hcg... some certain person who has gained a lot of his weight back and always gets motivated by my releases.... lol. To be continued...

R3D7 - First gain this round

2008-09-15T03:09:00.000-07:00

Starting Weight 173
Yesterday: 164.5
Today: 165 +.5
Total: -8

Hmm... I wonder if it was the white wine & shallots I cooked my catfish in last night? Oh well, I'm still ahead of my last round losses. Hopefully this gain will be followed by a nice release. Yesterday I had
B: apple
L: romaine lettuce, biz's mustard dressing, steamed chicken with spices, grissini
D: catfish fillet cooked in 1/2 shot of chardonnay & water. spinach wilted in water with shallots and garlic. Trader Joe's chunky applesauce.

I found out what nakia weighs now. Unfortunately he's back at 250. It's not quite where he was when he starting P2 but close. He's not willing to go on P2 during football season & I can certainly understand that. I delayed my first P2 until after football season. So he's going to be eating the same dinners as I do & he's going to eat light lunches and dinners. He's back to working out twice a day as well so I think he'll take at least 10 lbs off pretty easily because the hcg set is weight at around 240.

My next neighbor is doing really well. She started at 203 and she hit 199 2 days ago. Yaaaay for her! She wants to lose 30 lbs this round. Unfortunately I found out yesterday that she hasn't been keeping her HCG in the fridge. With so much information flying around, she missed that small detail. She has been keeping it in a cool dark place in her bedroom so I'm hoping that it's still good. I told her she could test it with a pregnancy test & she's keeping it in the fridge now.

R3D3 - Applegate!

2008-09-11T15:43:00.000-07:00

Starting Weight 173
Yesterday: 170.2
Today: 168.9 -1.5
Total: -4.1

Yesterday was a great VLCD day, except I was all ready for my mid afternoon snack and WHAT?! NO APPLE! Someone stole my apple out of the company fridge! Who steals someone else's apple?! So you know I was upset. I took an extra break, drove to the whole foods market, and bought another apple so I wouldn't succumb to donuts and chocolate.

Well, have a friend that I helped get started on hcg and she is ending her first round tomorrow. She lost 22 lbs in her 40 day round and that's only because she deviated alot. She still lost quite a bit and she plans on doing a few more rounds.

My neighbor is doing ok, except she's going through that first ever week of VLCD. She's coming over tonight so I can show her some recipes. Should be fun. I'll get her stats so I can post them tomorrow.

R3D2 - ok ok... Now I'm really starting.

2008-09-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

Starting Weight 173
Yesterday: 173.0
Today: 170.2 -2.8
Total: -2.8

I had a good loss today, but it probably would have been better if I hadn't eaten those cookies yesterday. I baked them for my load days but there was some cookie dough left over. I baked the rest of them last night so I could give them away, and I just couldn't help eating 2 of them. Ok Ok... so NOW I'm starting my VLCD today! I sent the rest to work with Nakia today.

Today is my friend's first VLCD day. It'll be nice having a P2 partner again even though it's not Nakia. I am sooo ready to start seeing losses again. It's so addictive!

On again - R3 Load day 2

2008-09-08T03:30:00.000-07:00

Monica - R3P2
Yesterday: 170.4
Today: 171.2 +.08

I'm finally getting back to it! Today is my 2nd load day & I've been looking forward to starting P2 again for quite some time. I know it looks like I gained all my weight back, but I actually put on 5.5 lbs in the last week. I just knew I was planning to start P2 again so I've been eating alot of things that I know I'll miss during this round. So I'm going to treat that as my load and aside from going out to dinner tonight, I'm not overdoing it on my load days.

I spent the summer about about 6 lbs over LIW and since my last P2 was a short round, I didn't have that much wiggle room between my LIW and my starting weight. I'm pretty sure that most of the 6 lbs I gained was muscle because my measurements didn't change much with the gain.

Nakia won't be doing this round with me. It's football season again :) He's going to eat the same food I'm eating though (for the most part). I'll post his weight tomorrow. I don't think he got on the scale today. This time last year, I was waiting to start my first round because I knew football season was going to be difficult for me. This time I chose opening weekend to start! I know what to expect this time and I know I can handle it.

I will have local company though. My next door neighbor stopped me earlier this summer and insisted that I tell her how I lost weight. I told her and to my surprise, she was very interested. She'll be using hcg sublingually (orally) and I'll still be doing SQ injections. This should be fun. She wants to lose 35 lbs to start and then see where she is at that time. My goal for this round is to get to 145. That's 25 lbs and I think I can do that with a long round and NO CHEATING. I also think the first 5-6 lbs will come off really quickly because I gained it so recently. I lost 23 lbs on my first P2 and I made alot of mistakes then. I think this is THE round for me.

If anybody is still checking on my blog, thanks so much! :) I'll be around alot more now that the summer is over and Mr hcg is getting me up early in the morning again. I already feel the energy burst!

Hi Y'all! We're Livin it up on P4

2008-08-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

Monica- R2P4
LIW: 158.2
Today: 167.1
8.9 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P4
LIW: 237.2
Today: 246.5
9.3 ABOVE LIW

HAAAAY PEEPS!!! OK... how rude of me. I really didn't intend on dropping of the edge of cyberspace. My summer has just been a whirlwind of activity so I've been MIA for a while. As you can see, we are thoroughly enjoying our P4 summer! My normal weight range is actually 164-166, but I go up to around 167 during TOM which started yesterday. No worries. I feel fantastic & I'm loving my size 6's and 8's :).

Just to give an update, we've been traveling alot this summer and eating some great food along the way. I am thoroughly surprised that I've been maintaining at about 6-7 lbs over LIW this entire time. I will say that my tastes have changed so much that I don't want the junk I used to eat. Sugar and carbs are low on my list of desires, but I still get my homemade cookies and mac and cheese in from time to time. Mostly I'm sticking to fresh foods and my taste buds can't tolerate most of the processed food I used to like. For example, I tried a few cheetos the other day and actually spit them out! They used to be a weakness for me, but now I can't stand them!

Nakia is doing ok, but he's been having cravings for fried foods lately which has caused some gain. Under normal circumstances, he would have gained alot more than he has with the amount he's been eating. He was maintaining at about 5 lbs over LIW until about 2 weeks ago.

We are still planning on starting P2 again in September, but I may start sooner.... say the end of August. I want to do a 43 day round this time & I'd love to be at my goal well before the cruise in November.

I don't know if you're still stopping in, but Mary, Vic, Biz, Burcu, Becca, Liz, and Jenn & Ed for checkin on me. So sorry for my absence, but I felt like I was starting to obsess over my food and weight. It started out as just not having time to get online, then I realized that I wanted to see if I could "make it" on my own so to speak. I tend to make better choices when I know I'm going to have to confess my sins on my blog, but I wanted to see what would happen if I just let my appetite guide me. I think it has done well... I've been enjoying ANY food I desire. My only rules have been to stay away from high fructose corn syrup and limit refined carbs. Everything else is fair game.

Biz... I really want to thank you for bootcamp. It was essential for that delicate P3 period. I really think I got a handle on it this time. You are truly a godsend sister friend!

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

2008-06-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-12T03:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-07T03:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

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?!

2008-06-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

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.

We're BOTH LEGAL again!

2008-05-30T03:18:00.000-07:00

Monica- R2P3
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 161.9
Today: 159.1 -2.8
.9 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: ???
Today: 238.1
.9 ABOVE LIW

WOOO HOOO! I love steak days (the day after)... LOL. I think Nakia had a really good loss this morning too because he ate super light yesterday. He did have a hamburger roll on his hamburger & a few bites of potato salad, but he didn't eat many calories. It was some store bought potato salad that a friend brought to our bbq. He siad it was so salty he couldn't eat it. We both have developed an intolerance to both salt and oil. I tried to eat a few Lay potato chips over the weekend and couldn't get past one because of the salt. That is so NOT me! I used to polish off half a bag with no problem! I also made some coconut bark and I got to try some this morning. I couldn't eat more than 1/8 of it because the oil upset my stomach a bit. That's okay though because there are alot of calories in that.

Now today is the day that I see whether or not I can really maintain this weight. **finger's crossed**

Victoria - I'm handling it well? I thought I've been screwing up from the beginning! LOL. My fear of a repeat of last P3 is keeping me honest this time around, but it really doesn't seem as hard. I don't think my body ever really set to my round 1 LIW, but I definately feel a difference this time.
Mary - Well... look at that. His fear of the scale seemed to pay off.. although he confessed this morning that he did get on the scale 2 days ago and he was well into the 240s. Whatever he did to correct it worked though. He sure did eat alot of fruit yesterday!
Jan - He sends a big thanks to you my friend! I had sooo much fun on HIS birthday too!

Happy times in protocol land folks!

Maintenance is much easier this time

2008-05-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

Monica- R2P3
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 161.6
Today: 161.9 +.3
3.7 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: ???
Today: ???

Fogo De Chao was FANTASTIC! I've never had so many delicious meats. There really weren't many carbs to even try to resist. There were mashed potatoes and polenta on the table, but the meats were center stage for the night. I highly recommend this restaurant for any P3'ers. Fabulous meats & fabulous salad bar. They had these broiled bananas on the table that were really good too so I had a few of those because there was no added sugar. They brought Nakia a complimentary flan for dessert, and I had a bit of that so that was my only deviation for the day & well worth it. Only .3 up from the day before is wonderful! Today will be another steak day for me and then I think I'll have everything back under control.

Nakia really enjoyed his birthday. He sends a big thank you to everyone who wished him a happy birthday. He had a great time last night and I bought him a 1/2 shot of Louis XIII de Rémy Martin cognac. He's been eyeing it since his favorite spot started carrying it a few years ago and it's $100 per shot so it made a really good birthday present for him. Yup... he had a great day. He's still not ready to face the scale, but I actually think it won't be that bad. The only time he had any sugar was his flan last night. He's been eating alot of fruit, veggies, and protein so I think he'll be ok.

Ed & Jenn - Jenn, you were right on time girlie girl! Nakia says thanks. That steak day RAWKED! Doin a repeat today... no problem!
Mary - Yeah girl... this weekend looks like it did a number on all of us, but we can get it back together. YOU had a fantastic steak day too sweetie! Great job!
Becca - You are sooo right. That place was perfect for a steak day or any P3 day... just don't eat lunch... LOL. Nakia really is eating sooo much better. I'm so proud of him.
Burcu - Thanks a bunch! We're feeling great and enjoying our P3 very much. This coming week should be easier to navigate because all the festivities are over.
Shelly - Hi! so nice to see you! I'll get over to your blog in a minute. Can you tell that we LOVED Fogo De Chao?! We will definately be back before we start another P2.

Great Steak day!

2008-05-28T05:40:00.000-07:00

Monica- R2P3
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 165.7
Today: 161.6 -4.1
3.4 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 239
Today: ???
1.8 ABOVE LIW

I had a really good steak day yesterday. Now, I think I remember Biz writing somewhere that she thinks you should do a steak day and then try to maintain the next day. Well, that sounds good to me because I just don't want to do 2 steak days in a row. So today is maintenance day. I'm going to eat just enough calories to reach my BMR level & see how that goes. Then I'll do another steak day tomorrow.

Today is Nakia's birthday so he has elected not to do the whole "scale thing" today. He's gonna eat what he wants and let the chips fall where they may.... From the looks of his P3 so far, he can get away with that.... not me though. We're going out to dinner tonight (Fogo De Chao) so I had breakfast and I'll be munching on celery with mustard dressing during the day until dinner since it's a natural diuretic & I'm still retaining some water weight. I just read that the potassium in bananas can help the body to release water as well, but I think the calorie & sugar content in bananas is a bit high for me today. I'll definitely try it another day though. I am such a monkey-head! I love bananas!

Jan - Yup... most of that water weight came off today. I'm hoping to see more of it gone tomorrow. As long as I don't overdo it at dinner tonight, I should be fine.

Vic - Nakia says thanks for the birthday wishes. He sure is enjoying himself. Of course he took the day off from work, so he's having a good 'ol time at home today.
I love my little snack bags of lunch. It keeps me honest and keeps the guilt out of eating them.

Great Memorial Day weekend! Time to regroup!

2008-05-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

Monica- R2P3
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 162.9
Today: 165.7 +2.8
7.5 ABOVE LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 238.5
Today: 239 +.5
1.8 ABOVE LIW

We both had a great Memorial day weekend. We went to a carribean wine festival, and a cookout on saturday. On monday we went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie, then had crabs with friends that evening. We didn't have crabs until yesterday and the old bay and salty crab is making us both retain a lot of water. Today I'm doing a steak day and Nakia is eating light. We both went off protocol yesterday at the crab party, but no sugar, just carbs. I did managed to stay away from nuts until yesterday as well. I think it'll all work itself out this week with some damage control. I'm starting my workouts today and drinking plenty of water. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Tomorrow is Nakia's birthday and we'll be going out to dinner at Fogo De Chao so I'm not going to eat anything until dinner, then I'm only going to have protein. They're known for their roasted meats on skewers that they carve table side. Should be fun!

Burcu - We had loads of fun this weekend. Now it's time to get back into the swing of P3.

Jan - OMG... me too! I've learned about nuts the hard way, but I know I have them under control now. Separating them into serving sizes also keeps me from nibbling on 1 or 2 at a time all day. I don't want to break of the servings so I don't fool with them unless I'm going to have a whole serving. It's working out so far. One bag of nuts every other day seems to keep the nut monster away :)

Day 31 of VLCD DONE! Let's get this P3 party started!

2008-05-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

Monica- R2P2 72 hrs after LIW
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 157.1
Today: 156.9 -.2
1.3 BELOW LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 233.5
Today: 235.8 +2.3
1.4 BELOW LIW

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: 8 oz coffee, 1 T half & half
L: apple, chicken cacciatore, 1 melba toast
D: chicken breast, cabbage, natural applesauce, 10 macadamia nuts & 10 raw almonds

Click here for Nakia's food journal

WOOOO HOOOO! I had a great P2! Now I can get on with the business of maintaining until I start round 3. The biggest thing I need to watch is my love for nuts, so this morning I separated my entire collection of nuts into snack bags with 200 & 300 calories worth of nuts in them. They are surprisingly small which lets me know how much I was probably eating on my first P3 when I didn't measure them. I don't want to cut them out completely cus I'll go nuts (pun intended) so "P3 in moderation" is going to be my mantra. I'll be fine if I follow the advice that I've been giving Nakia.... yeah... sure.... I can do that... LOL. I just had my first P3 meal of canned salmon and eggs with havarti cheese and minced onions with a large mug of coffee with half & half.

We have a full day planned. We're going to a wine tasting with friends and then to a cookout this evening. This is the weekend before Nakia's birthday and we've been treating this memorial day cookout as his birthday party for the past 2 years so I don't think he's going to stick to protocol today, but he's got plenty of wiggle room. It will most likely be carbs and not sugar though. I'm going to stick to my buffalo wings, crabs with butter and veggies with blue cheese dressing from Trader Joes (if they have one with no sugar). If I can't find one without sugar, I'll make one. I found a great recipe in one of my Better Homes and Garden's cookbooks. Here it is if anyone's interested.

Blue Cheese Dressing

In a blender container or food processor bowl combine 1/2 cup plain yogurt or dairy sour cream, 1/4 cup cream-style cottage cheese, 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese. Cover and blend or process till smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese. If necessary, stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons milk to make the dressing of the desired consistency.
Serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. Makes 1 1/4 cups.

Nutrition facts per tablespoon: 45 cal, 4 g total fat (1 g sat fat), 6 mg cholesterol, 101 mg sodium, 1 g carbs, o g fiber, 2 g protein.

Vic - I'm really glad that I can give up making separate food for a while. It creates so many dishes! I am definately going try the coconut bark sometime this week. I don't think I'll need any help making my calories today though. I'll have wine and buffalo wings to help me with that :) Thanks for all your advice and support. Luv ya lady!
Jan - I wish we could too! Say it with me now.... MEN!
Burcu - Thanks B! we'll see how this weekend goes. I'm going to enjoy it!

Enjoy your memorial day weekend everyone! :)

Day 30 of VLCD DONE! Last VLCD

2008-05-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

Monica- R2P2 48 hrs after LIW
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 158
Today: 157.1 -.9
1.1 BELOW LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 235.5
Today: 233.5 2
3.7 BELOW LIW

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: 8 oz coffee, 1 T half & half
L: apple, chicken & broccoli, 1 grissino
D: catish creole, 1 melba toast with strawberry spread, 3 small strawberries, 1 slice of banana walnut friendship bread

Click here for Nakia's food journal

I sure didn't expect a loss today so that's a nice site. I've been making friendship bread for a while now and giving it to my co-workers and friends even while on P2. If you don't know what friendship bread is, here's an article: Amish Friendship Bread. So yesterday it was time to make another loaf. I always make a different variety so I did banana walnut because Nakia hasn't eaten the bananas that I bought a week ago and they were turning brown. I was slicing a piece to give to a friend of mine with her starter & it was warm and gooey and I just had to have some! I know hcg has left the building because I did that same thing twice with no problems on P2 & I was never tempted to have a piece. So I'm surprised and delighted at that loss. It was worth it though. That bread is absolutely delicious!

Ok... Nakia just got up... Um... ok. He lost 2 lbs. All I can say is, he got all his calories in yesterday. I made him an omlet with salmon and havarti cheese yesterday morning and gave him 300 calories worth of peanuts for a snack at work. He was still just a tad low on fats, but over 750 of his calories were from alcohol... There is really something to that. Everytime he drinks he has a huge drop the next day! He always stays away from drinks with any sugar. He either has rum/vodka with diet coke or hennessy with nevan. He's not really a social wine drinker. We normally just have that with dinner. Well... obviously he's happy. He didn't even workout yesterday! Does the protocol work or what?! His birthday is wednesday of next week so it looks like he'll have plenty of wiggle room for his favorite meal of meatloaf & mashed potatoes with gravy.

Hey Biz, I don't even know how concerned I should be right now. I remember how your son was still losing weight after he stopped his injections. How's he doing by the way?
I sent Nakia to work with cheese snacks and I picked up some coconut oil last night. I'm going to make some coconut bark tomorrow so I can try it too. The only nuts he likes are peanuts and cashews so he won't eat the macadamias, but he loves cheese. I think we've figured out the calorie gap...
More Alcohol! LOL

Day 29 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-22T03:32:00.000-07:00

Monica- R2P2 1st 24 hrs after LIW
LIW: 158.2
Yesterday: 158.2
Today: 158 -.2
.2 BELOW LIW

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 236
Today: 235.5 -.5
1.7 BELOW LIW

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: hot mocha drink (2 T cocoa powder, 2 T splenda, dash of cinnamon, 1/4 t vanilla, 12 oz coffee, 1 T half & half)
L: strawberries, chicken cacciatore, 1 grissino
D: salad with romaine, apple slices, chicken with Biz's ginger dressing & 1 grissino

Click here for Nakia's food journal

Well look at that. Releases all around! Ok... looks like Nakia is stabilizing now. He only had just over 1300 calories yesterday & he worked out. I just can't get him to eat! We both tried Dawn's chicken cacciatore yesterday & he only ate one 3.5 oz piece of chicken for lunch! I made it in my slow cooker overnight and it was wonderful! Then he did something that looked delicious for dinner... he sliced some tomatoes, spread on some guacamole and chopped up chicken cacciatore and ate them like little pizza's. My boo is so creative :) I just love watching him eat all this fresh healthy food! This has always been unheard of in our home! Where's the oreos, chips, pizza & chinese? My fridge is full of veggies and fresh meat! WHAT?!

Cooking fresh everyday sure does make alot of dishes though. My ziploc steamer bags help alot with that. I know some folks have issues with cooking in the microwave, but I've given up so much already. I'm just not ready to give that up. I made Biz's catfish creole in one of them at work for lunch one day and it was so good folks were asking me what it was. It came out like tomato catfish soup... YUMMO! I use them to steam my veggies and my chicken or fish. It cooks easily with no oil or butter & it's quick easy cleanup. Plus I get freshly cooked food at work! Ok... the commercial's over :)
I can't wait until the weekend! I get to start my workouts again and I'm going to get my tattoo sometime during this P3-P4 break. I've wanted a dolphin tattoo for years & Nakia took me to get one on my birthday but I was on P2 at the time and didn't want to risk putting the ointment on my skin... well... at least that was my excuse . I'll keep y'all posted.

Also... tomorrow is picture and measurement day for us..... I'll be posting all that tomorrow morning.

Mary - Awww... you know what to do. I'm on day 2 of no deviations... Let's do this girl.
I think Nakia is doing great, but I also think it's good that we're both on the protocol at the same time so we don't even have "bad" food in the house. That helps alot. I'm feeling better about my P3 now. If he can do it, so can I.
Biz - Thanks Biz... you will certainly see me over there. I've been lurking to get prepared and looking at some fitday menus. I'm ready! bring it on!
Liz - Thanks a bunch! I did get hungry, but it went away after lunch. I drank tons of water and tea & I also allowed myself to have 2 pieces of sugar free gum and that helped alot.
I will definately be staying away from sugar. Fruit is going to be my treat.
Burcu - I was sooo happy with that steak day. I didn't think I would have a loss today after that, so I was glad to see the scale move down this morning. I'll take a pic of my tattoo when I get it.

Have a great day & thank for stopping by!

Day 28 of VLCD DONE! Monica's REAL LIW

2008-05-21T03:01:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -23.8 13%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 159.5
Today: 158.2 -1.3
R2 14.2 Total 8.2%

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 235.7
Today: 236 +.3
1.2 BELOW LIW

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: Red zinger tea with lemon & splenda
D: 7 oz steak, sliced tomato

Click here for Nakia's food journal

Ok... that's more like it. I've decided to use today as my LIW instead. That means saturday will be my first P3 day. That steak day really did the trick! I do think it was strange that one extra fruit would cause such a gain, but I guess that's just how my body works. I can usually have extra protein without gains, but I guess I'm more sensitive to fruit.

I have to say that I'm terrified of P3 right now. The last one didn't go so well, but I have a few theories about that now. I took a break on Day 24 which was my 22nd VLCD day & my weight was 168.1. When I came off my break I went another 16 days and lost 6.4 lbs. When I ended my P2, I almost immediately shot up to around 168 and stayed +/- 2 lbs from there for most of my P3 and P4. I believe that my body had a set point at 168.1 when I took my break because I didn't do another 21 days of P2 after that. I never made the connection until analyzing my weight spreadsheet. It's so important to keep good records on this protocol.

Since I didn't realize it at the time, I didn't bother doing steak days anymore once I got that far away from my LIW so I gained 3 more pounds right before starting P2 again. Therefore, I am a true believer now that I must do at least 21 days of VLCD before and after a planned interruption before going into P3. I'm hoping that my theory is correct and I'll have a better experience with P3 this time.

Biz - I try not to worry about the gains, but with him complaining about them and my gains on my last P3, it's difficult to just let him gain without doing something different. I do think he's doing ok though & I'm just making sure he keeps his fitday journal updated so we know what to change if we need to. And that fruit? HA... brain fart! LOL
Mary - He has gained 4 days in a row and he's STILL below his LIW by more than a pound. I guess that's ok. I hope he stabilizes soon. He's got a little over 2 weeks left of P3. I'm sure he'll do fine. He's working out everyday again and he's happy with that. Now you! Miss deviator! I eat one extra fruit and I go haywire, but you lose! What's up with that?! ROFL.
Jan - Hey girl... I guess I had tremendous success as well. It was difficult during the first part of that day, but steak never tasted so good! I do NOT want to do that again.
Burcu - I've been too chicken to do it too. If you lived close we could go get one together. I've had mine picked out for about 3 years and Nakia wanted to get me one for my birthday in feb, but I was on P2 and couldn't put the ointment on my skin so we agreed that I'd get one on my next P3 break... wish me no pain.
Becca - Hey! Well... hopefully this new LIW sticks :) And.. yup, that's a flute and I'm a flutist... flautist... whatever :) Actually I haven't played in years because I can't practice at home living in apartments and townhouses for the past 10 years, but it made a cool looking prop for a picture

Day 27 of VLCD DONE! Monica's LIW

2008-05-20T02:57:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -22.5 12.4%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 159
Today: 159.5 +.5
R2 12.9 Total 7.5%

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 235.4
Today: 235.7 +.3
1.5 BELOW LIW

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: hot mocha drink
(2 T cocoa powder, 1.5 T splenda, dash of salt, 1/4 t vanilla, 8 oz coffee, 1 T half & half)
S: gala apple
L: buffalo chicken strips & cucumbers with italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, & red pepper flakes
S: orange
D: baked catfish filet, sauted spinach with Biz's ginger dressing, strawberry sorbet

Click here for Nakia's food journal

Oops... I had an extra fruit yesterday and totally forgot about it until just now. I had an apple in the morning, an orange in the afternoon & then had a strawberry sorbet after dinner.... I completely forgot about that orange! I was totally baffled by that .5 gain until just now. Bad mistake to make right before LIW day huh? That's what I get fot not planning out my whole day of meals. I'm really not happy with this LIW, but it is what it is. I'm still hoping to maintain in P3 at around 157, so I'm going to do a P2 steak day today.

Nakia had another gain today, but it was much smaller than yesterday and he's still below LIW. I'd like to stop his gains though. I know he had too many carbs yesterday because of too much fruit so today I gave him more veggies & healthy fat and less fruit. He has been eating salmon all week too. He loves the stuff! I actually found some Coho salmon at whole foods and he said it was delicious, but I'm not sure he should be eating half a pound at a time! Oh well.... at least it's not fried chicken... LOL.

Mary - So much for 158... I was so sure I was going to see that. I can't BELIEVE I did thiat. I must have been tired or something.
Jan - Well... this is it. This is my LIW. I'm not happy with it, but it's still below 160 & below my LIW from round 1.
Ed & Jenn - What's up you guys? Thanks for the compliment on the pic. We're doin ok over here. I'm terrified of P3... especially after my screw up yesterday, but I'm going to join Biz's bootcamp first thing friday morning and hope for the best.
Wow 199! Go Ed! Well... he's on his way. He's doing great.
Vic - Hey lady! Funny you should mention evoo. I actually did put vinegar and olive oil in Nakia's cucumbers this morning with some lemon pepper seasoning. I definately need to raise his fats and lower his carbs. Nakia carries alot of muscle too... mostly upper body. I think that once he gets to 220, he'll want to shoot for a lower number, but one step at a time for now.
Burcu - Hey B! Thanks a bunch! Yeah.... I guess we're still doing okay. I'm just all bummed out today over the scale, but I'll get over it.

Day 26 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-19T03:47:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -23 12.6%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 159.3
Today: 159 -.3
R2 13.4 Total 7.8%

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
Yesterday: 234.5
Today: 235.4 +.9
1.8 BELOW LIW

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: 1 melba toast with Trader Joe's strawberry spread, hot chocolate drink
(2 T cocoa powder, 1 T splenda, dash of salt, 1/4 t vanilla, 8 oz water, 1 T half & half)
S: strawberries
L: hamburger topped with TJ's salsa. Tomato slices with italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt & red pepprer flakes.
S: Gala Apple (mmmm)
D: baked catfish filet, sauted spinach with Biz's ginger dressing, 1 melba toast with TJ's strawberry spread

Click here for Nakia's food journal

Alright already! Lets get to 158! 4 days in the 159s. We sure do get impatient with this fast paced weight loss don't we? Well... it'll keep me from deviating... I hope. Nakia made salmon and eggs for dinner last night and I did taste it, but I don't think that counts. I think I found my first P3 meal... that was really good :)

Ok... Nakia is back within his LIW threshold... reluctantly. I made him eat a chicken sausage with cheese last night because he was only at 1400 calories for the day and he needs at least 2200 on his sedentary days. That only took him to 1663 though. He says he was stuffed. Today I gave him salmon salad with TJ's mayonaisse and more chicken sausage with cheese. Hopefully he'll eat it. He doesn't want to stay within the 2 pounds though. He wants to continue to lose so we compromised that he would stay within the threshold this week and next week he could go ahead and lose more weight. We'll see how that works out.

Biz - Yaaay! goodbye TOM. Now you can get down to bizness :)
I'm going to give Nakia a few more fats today, but I don't want him to eat when he's not hungry. That just seems wrong. Hopefully the extra fat will help. Thanks for the suggestion.
Mary - Nope... he's not hungry. He'll eat a very small plate of food and just get full. I think his body really just wants to stay below his LIW, but I just don't want him to be thrown into that starvation mode that Biz mentioned. He doing great though... his P3 is going way better than mine did, that's for sure!
Jan - Thanks so much Jan. Your encouragement means alot. We both really appreciate it.
Becca - Yeah... the girls at work are great... the guys though? HA! They're all jokers, but they all agree that I don't need to get any smaller cus I "look just fine. Here have a brownie." LOL.

Day 24 & 25 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-18T03:59:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -22.7 12.5%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
9/16: 159.8
Yesterday: 159.7 -.1
Today: 159.3 -.4
R2 13.1 Total 7.6%

Nakia - R1P3
LIW: 237.2
9/16: 235.8
Yesterday: 234.2 -1.6
Today: 234.5 +.3
2.7 BELOW LIW

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: coffee with 1/2 & 1/2 and splenda
L: chicken tenders baked with hot sauce & melba toast crumbs
cucumbers with oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and salt
apple slices coated with lemon juice
D: steamed chicken, celery dipped in mustard dressing, strawberry slices
S: spoonful of sugar free vanilla ice cream & a baked chicken leg

Click here for Nakia's food journal

I couldn't post yesterday. My friend and I were working at the Preakness as bet tellers & we had to be there at 7:00 A.M. She stayed over and Nakia drove us to the track and picked us up. It was a long. exhausting day sitting on a hard stool, dealing with a bunch of drunken gamblers. Good times :) One of my co-workers sent her with a bet and actually won over $1200 on a $1 bet! So exciting... so I guess lunch will be on her sometime next week. We were exhausted when we got in. My friend wanted some ice cream so I gave her some of nakia's sugar free ice cream and I had a small taste. Good stuff. I was also a little hungry so I grabbed a chicken leg off of a rotisserie chicken so I'm happy that I had a .4 release today in spite of that. I was probably still under 500 calories because the rest of my meals where only 453 total.

While we were at the track, Nakia went to a wine tasting here in baltimore called "Wine in the Woods" with some of his co-workers & he says he probably had about a bottle of wine... maybe more during the whole tasting which probably accounts for his gain, but he didn't succumb to all the other festival food like hot dogs and funnel cakes. Funny how his co-workers have complimented him so much on is weight loss, but then offer him junk when they go out. My co-workers are actually shielding me from office food. Last week they ordered pizza and made sure no-one asked me. I just happened to see the boxes later... they're so sweet :) But I guess that's rare.

He has continued to lose weight after stopping his injections though so he's still under his LIW. I'm amazed! I'm trying to get him to eat more, but he says he's just not hungry. He's pretty much eating the same type of food that he was eating on P2 in larger quantities with just adding cheese and mixing veggies. He's doing just fine.

I've got 2 shots left after today & I'm hoping to get to 157. I'm not sure I'll make it, but I'm certainly going to try. Maybe with no more deviations and plenty of water, I can get there in 2 days.

Shelly - Hey girlie! so nice to see you! I am sooo happy to see these numbers. I haven't seen a 1 5 anything since Nakia and I went to Jamaica in 2000 before we got married!
Mary - I'm still happy dancing... Another half pound gone! Nakia seems to follow directions way better than I do. He's starting his P3 out perfectly!
Biz - I am so proud of my man! He's looking great and eating what he should be eating... albeit a little less, but we're working on that. And YOU!... you're going to get to the 150s as soon as TOM is gone. He's just making his rounds reeking havoc with all of us in turn.
Vic - I got some really great suggestions on the forum... I think I'm going to try all of them! :) I was actually going to do some measurments and pics today when I get some time. I'll be posting them very soon!
CB - Hey girlie! Thanks a bunch! Nakia's birthday is coming up, then our anniversary is at the end of June, then were having a July 4th cookout so I'll be starting my next P3 with Biz on July 7th, so we'll be off sync unless you want to wait until after the 4th. It would be really fun to have another P2 sister!
Jan - I'm going to get him into bootcamp, but right now it doesn't seem like there's any rush. He's maintaining a great weight right now & has plenty of wiggle room. I'm putting his menus into fitday so we can keep track of all his changes. It's actually kind of fun monitoring someone else's menu. I'm also happy that he can make his own meals now.

Day 23 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-16T02:37:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -22.2 12.2%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 161.3
Today: 159.8 -1.5
R2 12.6 Total 7.3%

Nakia - R1P3
R1 Starting weight: 256.3
R1 LIW 237.2
Total R1 Release: -19.1
Yesterday: 236.6
Today: 235.8 -.8
1.4 BELOW LIW

Yesterday's menu:
Monica
B: Coffee with 1/2 & 1/2 & splenda
S: 1/2 Apple slices with warm cinnamon sauce
L: catfish creole made in a ziploc steamer bag... mmm mmm!
S: 1/2 Apple slices with warm cinnamon sauce
D: 96% lean burger with carmelized onions, strawberry sorbet

Nakia
S: 3.5 oz chicken
L: cucumbers & 3.5 oz chicken, 1 orange, 1 melba toast
S: an Orange
D: 3.5 oz steak & caramelized onions & 1 melba toast with lemon juice, cinnamon & splenda warmed in the microwave

WOOOO! HOOOO! Finally! I got on the scale about 5 times!

I had a feeling I'd have a good release today. My rings almost fell off in the supermarket and I had to take them off to make sure I wouldn't lose them! I am now officially lighter than it says on my drivers licence (160)! LOL.

This is a really good thing too because my girlfriend called last night and reminded me that we have a memorial day cookout to go to next saturday so I need to stop my injections 4 days early. Now I know I'll be under 160 so I'm good to go! I'm just wondering what to do with the extra 4 injections. Should I just take them for the 4 days after the cookout? I'll have to think about that. I don't want to waste them.

I just finished making Nakia his first P3 meal. He can have 2700 calories a day to maintain his weight while working out everyday. I don't know if he'll make it! He had 3 scrambled eggs with cheese & a chicken sausage for breakfast, and he has a romaine salad with tuna fish and tomatoes for lunch with some strawberries and oranges so I think he's all set for the day until dinner. He doesn't think he'll be able to start eating more food today because he's been perfectly fine with the extra serving of protein for the past 2 days, but I explained to him that he does need to eat today because he doesn't have the hcg to help him out anymore. We'll see if he listens because he's also worried that he'll gain it all back as soon as he starts eating more calories.

Ok... 6 days of VLCD to go. I wonder how much I can release? Cheating is not an option!

Biz - I am extremely proud! Thank you so much for your advice and support. I really really appreciate you. BTW... absolutely love the superfoods discussion! I didn't get to post yet, but I'm definitely glued to the screen! Keep 'em comin!
Mary - I really hope he'll do another round. I don't want to see him struggle with the losing and gaining cycle again, but he doesn't REALLY believe yet. He's convinced that he'll gain it back as soon as he eats more calories.
Jan - I nearly fell off the scale this morning! I broke the 160 mark! WOOOO HOOOO! oh...did I say that already?
Burcu - Yeah... I figured I'd add something on each round. I usually go by Biz's research. I might as well put it to good use since she takes all that time to do it! Next time I think I'll try the blueberries & cottage cheese.
Yes... shopping time! Not too much though... I still have 15 lbs to go.

Day 22 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -20.7 11.4%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 161.7
Today: 161.3 -.4
R2 11.1 Total 6.4%

Nakia - R1P2
R1 Starting weight: 256.3
R1 LIW 237.2
Total R1 Release: -19.1
Yesterday: 238.1
Today: 236.6 -1.5
.6 BELOW LIW

Yesterday's menu:
Monica
B: Coffee with 1/2 & 1/2 & splenda
L: chili with TJs salsa & 1 melba toast
S: 1/2 pink grapefruit
D: chicken & celery salad with mustard dressing & spices. Apple slices with warm cinnamon sauce

Nakia
B: apple slices & 1 melba toast
L: 1 8 oz chicken breast
D: catfish creole
S: an orange

Yaaay... We both had decent releases today! I've been up and down over the past few days, but each time I go down, I reach a new low so, I can't call it a stall because it IS going down. Nakia is really happy about his release today. He didn't like how I made his vegetable & he was really hungry so he ate a whole chicken breast from his work cafeteria instead. He said the protein really helped the hunger and he was fine for the rest of the day. It seems to have worked out fine because he had a 1.5 drop today! This is his last VLCD day and of course he has a meal planned already... he's going to bonefish for a cobb salad. It's chock full of P3 friendly stuff... romaine lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, pine nuts, blue cheese, mangoes & either grilled chicken or grilled salmon. That is our favorite salad there. I'm going to stay home because I don't want to be tempted by it.

We did it! His P2 has gone so well! He started out, like many of us, thinking that somehow he would be the one this doesn't work for, but once again, Dr S. proved someone wrong. He followed the protocol almost perfectly and now he's down almost 20 lbs in 22 days! That is simply amazing & he looks fantastic! I didn't really see him as being heavy before, but 20 lbs sure does make a difference. He bought some clothes just before he started the injections and they are all way too big now, so we need to go shopping again... well both of us do because I'm running out of belt holes myself... I'm on the last whole! WOO HOO!

I actually have been telling a few people about the protocol lately because I've been getting questions on how I've lost weight. I'm glad that I can refer them to Biz's website. My sister in NJ is planning on starting her first round with me next time and a co-worker (that forced me to share) is VERY interested in learning more. I'm much more confident about talking about it to people now that I have some real experience with it. I looked back on my old posts, and I predicted that this round would be easier because I'd have more experience with it, and it really has been. I did my first round by the book & I've done some experiments this time. I've found that I have no problem with broccoli or using a few chopped onions as a spice. I may try some brussel sprouts this week too. I do think it's important to do the first round by the book so that there is a round to compare any changes to. My changes seem to work well for Nakia too! LOL. Yup...this is a great round and I'm hoping to end it at 155. So I'm on a mission right now and cheating is not an option.

Mary - oh girl... it doesn't stop there. Someone brought in a sheet cake with chocolate filling yesterday! What is going on?! I'm ok though... I have HCG in my back pocket all day. I'm too close to a new century screw it up now! I haven't even taken some home for my deep freezer this time.
Jan - Thank you sooo much. I need all the encouragement I can get now that Nakia will be eating P3 food. I've got about a week and a half left... wish me luck :)
Biz - It really is nice to be in a zone. I wish my weight loss would catch up with my zone though. My motivation is seeing that 15something on the scale in the morning.
Burcu - Thanks for that b... I know this protocol works so I'm just going to stick too it so I can see that next big drop.
Becca - Hey... you were right. We both had a release today. We seem to be pretty coordinated with that. It's probably because I'm cooking for both of us.
Liz - You know... it's not as hard now that I've decided to not give myself an inch.... I will certainly take a mile if I do. There's so much of it around that I can't afford to cave even a little. It'll be all downhill from there if I do.
CB - Hey you! nice to see ya! We have been doin ok. It's been a trying round for me because of TOM, but I'm coming up on the end of it. Now I gotta get over to your journal missy!

Thanks for all the love guys... I appreciate every one of you. Happy losing today!

Day 21 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-14T03:40:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -20.3 11.2%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 161.4
Today: 161.7 +.3
R2 10.7 Total 6.2%

Nakia - R1P2
R1 Starting weight: 256.3
R1 LIW 237.2
Total R1 Release: 19.1
Yesterday: 237.2
Today: 238.1 +.9
LIW +.9

Yesterday's menu:
B: (Monica) coffee with 1 T 2% milk & splenda
L: (Monica) chicken & broccoli, an apple, 1 melba toast
(Nakia) taco meat, romaine lettuce with mustard dressing
S: (Nakia) an orange
D: (Monica)baked catfish and sauteed spinach with ginger & bragg's amino acids, strawberry sorbet & 1 melba toast with TJs strawberry spread
(Nakia) steak & sauteed onions with 1 melba toast with strawberry spread

OK... not sure what happened there. Nakia did have 2 beef servings yesterday & the last time he did that he had a gain as well, so today will be a chicken and fish day for him.

Yesterday was a good day for me. I resisted brownies and candy that co-workers brought in and I went to bed feeling really good about my diet and my resolve. I'm guessing that I'm still having a little water retention due to TOM still being here so I'm not worried about it. I did have over 2 liters of water yesterday, but I still feel a little puffy. This was the first time in a while that I didn't have any cravings or hunger. If those brownies had been there a few days ago, it wouldn't have been pretty, but I just kept forgetting they were there until someone mentioned them! That is sooo not me.... that's definately HCG talking!

Biz - It was a great day yesterday! I still feel great about it. I feel good and I'm ready to go the next 10 days!
Jan - Thanks! I don't think it'll be that hard. Nakia is just going onto P3 so he won't be eating the stuff he was eating during my first P2. Now THAT was hard. This time will be much better because we'll still be eating much of the same food, but he'll be eating more of it & mixing his veggies.
Ed & Jenn - Yes! He actually did it. He made it & I'm so proud of him. He only really deviated once with the fried chicken incident and he reached his goal... on your alcohol protocol no less... ROFL!
Burcu - I am sooo ready to lose new fat. I was a little dissappointed with today's weight, but I know I stuck to the protocol so all is good. It'll work itself out.

Day 20 of VLCD DONE! Nakia's LIW

2008-05-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -20.6 11.3%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 162.3
Today: 161.4 -.9
R2 11 Total 6.4%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 239.2
Today: 237.2 -2
R2 19.1 Total 7.5%

Yesterday's menu:
B: (Monica) Coffee with half & half and splenda
L: chili with TJs salsa, 1 melba toast, (Nakia) strawberries, (Monica) 1/2 grapefruit
S: 1/2 c TJs chunky natural applesauce with cinnamon
D: (Monica) baked lemon pepper catfish, romaine salad with mustard dressing, 1 melba toast
(Nakia) chili, 2 alcohol beverages

WOO HOO! Just like that... I'm finally below my LIW! What a week it has been. Nakia lost 2 lbs today and this is his LIW. I'll be going for another 11 days. I have 1 shot left and I'll be mixing another batch for another 10 days. Now it gets really interesting. I get to start losing new weight this week. I am so pumped right now! Now the goal is 159 & I should be there by the end of the week.

Nakia is sooo ready to be done. He's really happy with his losses and even more happy that he will be able to workout by the end of the week. He had to work late last night and went to bonefish to get a couple drinks before coming home. The alcohol really seems to help his losses. The only thing he skipped yesterday was 1 melba toast. He had both his fruits & alcohol and STILL lost 2 lbs... although I think 1.5 of that was water retention from not drinking water over the weekend. Either way... he's right where he wants to be and will probably lose a few more over the next 72 hours. I'm going to put him onto Biz's bootcamp on the MyHCGJourney forum because his birthday is in 2 weeks and I know he's going to go off the protocol for at least that day and I think he should have some cushion to work with.

OMG.... gotta run. work is calling

Thanks for all the wonderful comments! You guys really held me up this past week and I truly appreciate all of you.
Two Doves - He has decided to do another round, but not until during the summer. He's going to shoot for september so he can be closer to his goal when we go on the HCG cruise in november. I decided to do my 3rd & final round in july.

Day 19 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-12T03:28:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -19.7 10.8%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 162.7
Today: 162.3 -.4
R2 10.1 Total 5.8%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 237.7
Today: 239.2 +1.5
R2 17.1 Total 6.7%

Yesterday's menu:
B: strawberries (Monica) 1 melba toast with strawberry spread
L: chicken & broccoli
S: (Monica) 1/2 tsp Natural peanut butter & hot cocoa in water with splenda, vanilla & 1 T half & half
D: steak & sauteed onions. 1 melba toast with strawberry spread

Well.... TOM finally decided to show up yesterday afternoon. I still feel like crap, but now I know it'll be over in a few days. I am NOT doing this again. I'm going to make sure he comes before I start another P2. Maybe now I can get over my R1 LIW hump. Well, I've got to be losing some inches right now because I was able to get into a pair of size 7/8 jeans without muffin top and actually wear them in public! I actually noticed a reflection of myself in a glass door and I actually looked thin! Nakia has also started calling me "slim". I thought he was joking or just being encouraging until I slipped on those jeans. I couldn't even wear those at the end of my last round? What's up with that? I'm not even back at that weight yet.

Nakia hasn't had any deviations at all so I think he's retaining some water today. He didn't drink a much water as he normally does. He skipped his second melba toast and fruit yesterday so I know he was under 500 calories. Tomorrow is his LIW so we're hoping it drops off tomorrow. He's had a very good round so he's very happy with his weight right now. His goal was to get into the 230s and he's there. I think he's going to do very well on P3.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day yesterday!

Biz - I didn't really have the same issue on my last round because TOM came right after the short break I took & I continued to lose at about a 1 lb a day rate. I think that's because I was on my break during my Pre-Mens. This is the first time it's come well into my P2. Well, I too am THRILLED that it came. Now I can get on with the business of losing weight! Oh... and I did think about stopping the injections, but I hesitated because I hadn't reached 21 days yet. Now I don't have too. :)
Hey Ms Mary - I'm almost through this little trial. I'm still all crampy and a bit snappy at folks, but I haven't deviated too badly and I'm hanging in there. Nakia is being really great about his successes and not jumping for joy too much in front of me, so it's all good ROFL.
Burcu - I am so happy today & I'm so glad I have a short TOM (normally). This should be over by the end of the week, and I'll be able to report on a great loss soon.
CB - Yeah, we are at about the same weight. I finally found your journal on the forum & congratulations on getting into the 150s! I'll be joining you soon so keep it warm for me :) I'm not sure when I'm going to start my next round, but I'm stopping right before Nakia's birthday at the end of the month, and I may just take a short break, but I haven't decided yet.

Day 17 & 18 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -19.7 10.8%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
5/9: 162.3
Yesterday: 162.3 0
Today: 162.7 +.4
R2 9.7 Total 5.6%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
5/9: 239.9
Yesterday: 238 -1.9
Today: 237.7 -.3
R2 18.6 Total 7.3%

Yesterday's menu:
B: sliced apple
L: 4 oz chili lime chicken burger with tomato and 1 melba toast
D: (Nakia) steak with sauteed onions & 1 melba toast with strawberry spread
(Monica) chicken with broccoli, 2 strawberries, 1 6 oz glass of merlot

Nakia is doing so great. He's really into the 230s now! So now he's excited & he was jumping for joy yesterday because he had almost a 2 lb drop overnight. I can't even believe he's still losing like this, but I'm so happy for him. Maybe some of that will rub off on me this week. He's got 3 days until LIW so that's 5 days of VLCD left including today. I will be going on for another 2 weeks so I've got plenty of time to get out of this rut I'm in. Still no TOM. He's now officially late. Just great. I've been at 162 point something for 5 day's now. Oh well... I'll live through nakia's losses for now. We're eating the same food... what gives?! Well... I did have 2 glasses of wine on friday night & one last night. I'm really stressing right now. My rings are still tight, still getting these stupid cramps & no sign of TOM. Can you tell I'm a little irritable today?

Today is another day. I'm putting myself in "one day at a time" mode.

Biz - I guess wine doesn't work so good for me, well at least not for weight loss, but it sure did make me feel better! Nakia's spirits are great really good and I'm so glad he's losing because it reminds me what it feels like and that my weight will start dropping again soon too.
Becca - Still lurkin & I'm still staying the course. I'll report as soon as I have that big drop. I know it's comin!
Burcu - Thanks for all the encouragement girl. Luvya!
Lili - Thanks. Yeah... I know that in my head, but this it torture!

Day 16 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-09T03:32:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -19.7 10.8%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 162.5
Today: 162.3 -.2
R2 9.9 Total 5.7%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 241.7
Today: 239.9 -1.8
R2 16.4 Total 6.4%

Yesterday's Menu:
B: (Monica) coffee with 1/2 & 1/2 & splenda
L: (Monica) steamed shrimp and broccoli, & an gala apple
(Nakia) seared steak, romaine lettuce with mustard dressing, an orange & grissini
S: (Monica) apple & 1 melba toast spread with natural applesauce and cinnamon warmed
D: Catfish creole, 1 grissini, (Monica)lemonade with splenda
(Nakia) 2 glasses of heavan (hennessy & navan)

WOO HOO! Nakia is in the 230s! He said he'll jump for joy when he's more than .1 away from 240, but he did say WHEN and not IF. That's progress :) He even went out for drinks with his friend last night and he did much better this time. He had 2 drinks and nothing to eat while his friend had bang bang shrimp and bread. I wonder if that is the reason for his really good release today? Navan is a vanilla flavored cognac and it's actually pretty good even though I don't really drink dark liquor.

And my weight is traveling back downward... thank goodness. I thought TOM would be here this morning because he kept waking me up with cramps last night, but nope, not yet. The hcg really seems to stall TOM for me, but I'd really like to get it over with.

To yesterday's commentors

Mary - Hey girl... yeah, looks like it. I certainly had the cravings! I didn't give in, but it was torture! And I gained anyway! Well... whatever. I'll be good today, even though I do have to go to the grocery store.
Biz - Yeah... I had a stall last P2, but I didn't gain. That may be due to my workouts this week. Maybe I should have some drinks today so I can have a loss like Nakia's! He's definately pulling away from me now. I'm so happy for him and he looks great.
Jan - Yeah... I'm sure it will. I would take a break if I were further along, but I'm gonna stick it out.
Becca - HA... so much for stair stepping. He slid down a slope last night with nearly 2 lbs!

Day 15 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-08T03:08:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -19.5 10.7%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 162.1
Today: 162.5 +.4
R2 9.9 Total 5.7%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 241.8
Today: 241.7 -.1
R2 14.5 Total 5.7%

Yesterday's menu:
B: (Monica) coffee with 1/2 & 1/2, melba toast with strawberry spread
L: spinach, strawberries, & grilled chicken salad with strawberry viniagrette dressing, with 1 grissino
S: an orange
D: (Monica) grilled chicken marinated in mustard dressing and broccoli (Nakia) grilled chicken & sliced tomato with salt and pepper with mustard dressing for dipping & 1 grissino

What the?! Ok... I know I'm still retaining water, but another gain? I had nearly 3 liters of water yesterday, but I wasn't in the bathroom as much as I thought I would have been. I wish TOM would just get it over with already, the bastard! My fingers and ankles feel so bloated... very uncomfortable. I almost feel like doing an apple day, but I'll see what happens tomorrow.

I looked in the mirror yesterday and was actually surprised at what I saw. I have been paying so much attention to other things that I hadn't really taken the time to LOOK at myself. My face looks at least 5 years younger! It looks thinner and my normally acne prone skin is more clear and radiant. When did that happen? So I just need to remember that this protocol is more than the number on the scale. If my skin look this good, then just think what must be going on inside my body, so I decided to stop obsessing over the scale for once. It will come off and I will get into the 150s. I just need to follow the plan & watch it happen.... eventually :)

And Nakia... well, any loss is a good loss. He doesn't like it though. He's really gotten used to 1> releases so he's a little spoiled now. I keep reminding him that he couldn't have gotten this far this fast on any other plan & to let his body catch up.... and at least he didn't have a GAIN! LOL

To commentors from yesterday:

Mary - OMG... they sooo do! but I'm hanging in there. My body is acting like I ate a bag of chips though!
Lili - still waiting for that loss, but no biggie. This happened to me on my last round too, so I'm not surprised.
Biz - Yeah.... that look was good :) I printed out part of P&I so he could read about the fluctuations in weight loss.
Yeah... I can't even tell you what was in that granola bar except it was completely UN-NATURAL frankenfood! Don't know what I was thinking. It was full of sugar even though it was so small.
Two Doves - Well... that might just be whats going on, so I'll just have to wait it out.
I went to Blackwing.com to check out the bison. I think I will give that a try. The stores in my area don't carry it so I haven't been able to get it before. Thanks for the info.
Jan - Well... the rings are still tight and the scale is still up. I hope that's a good sign and I'll be seeing that WOOSH soon.
Becca - It really is harder for Nakia. He's got all those first P2 uncertainties, but he's staying the course & he's doing way better than I am with no deviations. I need to follow his lead... no more granola bars!
Burcu - Fingers still crossed. I bet that loss is comin tomorrow! :)

Love you guys! Thanks for stopping by!

Day 14 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-07T03:35:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -19.9 11%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 161.9
Today: 162.1 +.2
R2 10.3 Total 6%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 241.8
Today: 241.8 -0
R2 14.5 Total 5.7%

Yesterday's menu
Monica
B: coffee with 1/2 & 1/2 and splenda
L: chili with salsa & a fried egg with 1 melba toast
S: quaker granola bar
D: spinach, strawberry, grilled chicken salad with strawberry viniagrette

Nakia
B: sliced apples
L: sauteed beef and boiled cabbage
S: an orange
D: steak and onions with 1 grissino
S: 1 hard boiled egg

Ok, now my body is just messing with me. Are you kidding! I was supposed to LOSE .2 today, not gain it! Well, it's just a little water retention, because I also did a short workout late last night to burn any extra calories. My rings fell off my finger yesterday, but today I have to force them off. I did have a quaker granola bar yesterday too, but that was 100 calories and I made my salad smaller to compensate for the calories. That could have done it too. Anyway.... I'm sure it will come off tomorrow. I've had excellent losses so far so I'm not complaining (anymore).

Nakia was a little upset over his 0 loss, but I explained to him that it's going to happen and it probably wasn't the egg he ate yesterday, but I think he's going to try to do without the extra protein.

Today will be high volume foods like raw baby spinach and romaine lettuce because we've both been feeling hungry and I think the high volume foods might help that. Oh yeah... and lots and lots of water!

Amie - Hi! Those percentages are the percentage of total weight lost. The first one is since my original starting weight and the 2nd one is my total percentage of weight lost on this round. They're just to see where Nakia and I stack up together. Men are supposed to lose weight faster on the protocol than women, so I wanted to see how much faster it would be, but it seems that by percentages, we're pretty close, but I think that's because I'm re-losing this weight. He's losing alot faster than I did on my first round. Here's the percentage formula
[total losses] * 100 / [starting weight]
Biz - He is feeling alot better. Now he wants to do another round in September. I can't believe it! He kept saying that he was only doing this so he could see what I was going through and he thought he should lose the rest of his weight with diet and excercise, but I think he's gotten addicted to his losses. You should have seen his face when he told me he had a zero today! Priceless!
Jan -Thanks a bunch. Your encouragement is so important to us :)
Mary - It's coming off, but this water retention is a real nusance & I'm getting cravings for salty food too. Damn TOM!
Victoria - Awww girl. Thanks. He actually does tell me how grateful he is that I'm making all of his meals for him. He sees how much work it is, but actually, I'm really happy that I don't have to cook "normal" food right now. I did that on my first round & then had to watch him eat while I had my small portion. This is much much better & I feel experienced so I don't have to experiment as much. I know which meals I like and I just stick with those.
Ed & Jenn - Yeah, he did great with the double protein & you're right, he wasn't as hungry, so I'll keep giving him the option, but I don't think he'll do it every day.
Becca - Well... I kept talking about Ed & Jennifer so he knew that men could be successful on this diet... plus he was at his highest weight limit so he was ready. Give him time and talk about it alot. Maybe he'll come around... or it'll be when you look smokin hot and he'll want to get in on that!
Shelly - Hey shelly shell! Hmmm.... good to know. I thought I would gain if I did that so I never have 2 beefs in the same day, but maybe I'll try it sometime.

A big thank you to everyone that stops by! Whether you comment or not, I really appreciate you. Have a great Wednesday folks!

Day 13 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-06T04:15:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -20.1 11%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 162.6
Today: 161.9 -.7
R2 10.5 Total 6.1%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 243.3
Today: 241.8 -1.5
R2 14.5 Total 5.7%

Yesterday's menu:
B: (Monica) coffee with 1/2 & 1/2 and splenda, 1 melba toast with strawberry spread
L: chili with salsa, strawberries, (Nakia) a garlic grissino
S: (Nakia) an orange
D: (Monica) marinated grilled mustard chicken, boiled cabbage, an orange, 1 garlic breadstick
(Nakia) chili, fried egg, a garlic grissino

Nakia had some extra protein yesterday and it looks like that is going to be good for him. He's going to start eating almost all beef now.

My weight loss is slowing down a bit, but my percentage looks really good. Hopefully I'll be past my LIW tomorrow.

Mary, Jan, Becca, Biz, Ed & Jenn, thanks for commenting yesterday. And thanks to anyone stopping by. Love you guys :) Have a great day!

Day 12 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -19.4 10.7%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 163.6
Today: 162.6 -1
R2 9.8 Total 5.7%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 245.4
Today: 243.3 -2.1
R2 13 Total 5.1%

Yesterdays menu
B: (Monica) melba toast with strawberry spread, coffee with 1/2 & 1/2 & splenda
(Nakia) an orange & grissino
S: (Monica) sampled a chile lime chicken burger with guacamole & small piece of wheat bread at trader joe's
L: sauteed spinach & Cajun shrimp. Strawberry sorbet.
(Monica) grissino
D: seasoned pan seared steak with onions sauteed with water and bragg's aminos

WOO HOO! We both had great losses today! Most of Nakia's gain is gone already.

I skipped my 2nd fruit because I sampled a chile lime chicken burger at trader joes. I ended up buying them because the only ingredient that is not on the P2 diet is bell peppers, and each patty is 4 oz. I figured that wasn't too bad. I need food in the house that Nakia can make easily if I'm not around. He does know how to cook, but since he hasn't read the manuscript yet, I want him to have something quick AND legal. I've also been keeping steamer bags full of broccoli with mrs dash in the fridge that he can just pop in the microwave. The broccoli has really worked out for us. I'm glad it has because neither of us like asparagus so we were missing a veg anyway.

Mary - Yes... the numbers are going in the right direction. That's a great thing. I also reached my 10% mark yesterday (again), so I'm happy about that. Clothes are starting to get looser too. Nakia's face has slimmed down quite a bit and he's starting to get compliments at work. That's keeping him motivated.
triplejtb - Yup... good losses this week. I'm very happy :) I did make some more strawberry viniagrette too. I thought it was hilarious... he didn't though... ROFL. I showed him how to make one himself :)
Becca - Guys are too much! If they're not chefs, they all seem to miss the little details in the kitchen. Hey...viniagrette tastes like VINEGAR! hint hint. I'm sure tuna flavored cat food kinda resembles tuna, but there's got to be a difference! ROFLSAO!

Yup... good thing he gained a little, but I'm also glad it came off quickly. I don't want him getting too discouraged.
Shelly - Hey girl... I was updating and I almost missed ya...
I'm doing at least 30 days because I want to give myself a little more time to lose more weight since I have to get back to my LIW. I'll stop whenever our last batch is finished.

Day 11 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-04T05:08:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -18.4 10.1% Yaay! reached 10%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 164.2
Today: 163.6 -.6
R2 8.8 Total 5.1%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 243.1 -1.0 I had no words!
Today: 245.4 +2.3
R2 10.9 Total 4.3%

Yesterdays menu
Monica:
B: melba toast with trader joe's strawberry spread, coffee with 1/2 & 1/2
L: spinach, strawberry salad with chicken and Tammy's strawberry vinaigrette
D: chicken and broccoli, an apple & 1 garlic grissino with lemonade sweetened with splenda

Nakia:
L: catfish creole
D: chicken & broccoli then drank the strawberry vinaigrette dressing by accident... ROFL!

Yeah... so I actually have to make some more dressing. I left frozen strawberries in the freezer so he could made a sorbet, but I guess he thought that I left a drink for him in the fridge and he drank that instead. He said it was really vinegarry... well, it was still a serving of fruit. LOL

He actually had a loss yesterday, but the gain showed up today. He did say that all the grease in the fried chicken made him sick to his stomach and it didn't stay down. He probably would have gained more if that hadn't happened. He still felt sick yesterday from it, to which I responded "I could have told you that dummy!" Well... he won't be doing that again.

He responded well to the higher dosage of hcg. He said he wasn't nearly as hungry as normal. It was difficult to change the dose because I fill all the syringes right after I mix and keep them in a coffee mug in the fridge, so I had to take a few of them and empty them into a glass vial and add another cc to each of his syringes. Now we have 2 coffee mugs with syringes sitting in my fridge.

Alright.... enough about him. I'm doing ok. I'm a little bummed out over the slow losses this week, but I knew it was coming. I was just hoping to be below my LIW by now. I worked on the Kentucky Derby yesterday taking bets which was pretty fun when it wasn't boring. It was pretty dead here in baltimore. Next week is the preakness which is hosted here. That is supposed to be very busy, so I'm glad I got the practice in on the derby. I even placed 2 bets and actually won both. I won $12 whole dollars. WOO HOO! :)

triplejtb - Thanks... We are just so proud of our giants!
I thought he caught a break yesterday, but he's really pouty about his gain today & vowing to be good. (guy pouty of course). The mustard dressing is biz's recipe & the strawberry sorbet is adapted from my magic bullet menu book. I slice and freeze fresh strawberries, then put them in the magic bullet with water, the juice of half a lemon & artificial sweetener to taste. It feels like a cheat so I love it.
Mary - Well, that magical number was a 1 lb loss... hmph, but he got the real number this morning. He says that he'll be fine from here on out. He's only got 10 days left.
Ed & Jenn - Hey my Jennay! Oh yeah... this is so reminiscent of Ed. He is really just reading the manuscript?! Oh yeah... of course! You're not doing P2 with him this time, LOL. I'm tricking Nakia into reading it. I print him out something relevant everytime he experiences something protocol related. Before long, he will have read most of it without even knowing!
becca - I'm sure that's what it was too, but he'll still think twice about it next time. I really thought that he was going to get away with it for a minute, but I'm glad he didn't. You're right, he would have been impossible!

Day 10 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -17 9.3%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 165
Today: 164.2 -.8
R2 8.2 Total 4.8%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 244.1
Today: ? ?
R2 12.2 Total 4.7%

Yesterday's Menu:
B: coffee with 1/2 & 1/2
L: cucumbers & chicken dipped in mustard dressing & an apple. 1 garlic grissino
D: Monica: catfish creole, strawberry sorbet & strawberry lemonade with splenda, 1 garlic grissino
Nakia: grilled chicken and string beans at Dave & Busters, drinks and 4 pieces of fried chicken from royal farms.

Well... I'm going back in the right direction. Right now I'm just focusing on getting to my LIW. I've got 2.5 lbs to go & I WILL get there by wednesday of this week. I think that's realistic since my weight loss has slowed down this week.

Nakia hasn't weighed in yet. He's still sleeping after coming in late last night from hanging out with a friend drinking. I don't know how many drinks he had, but I think he was pretty roasted when his friend dropped him off last night. I didn't know about the fried chicken until I saw the evidence this morning. At first I was just mortified, but then I realized... ok, yeah I told him that he would gain if he deviated, but maybe he had to see it for himself. He hasn't read P&I so he only knows what I've told him. I'm going to make him read it today though. We'll just chalk this up as a learning experience. I did wake him up briefly so I could YELL at him though.... I just couldn't resist. I also asked him if he wanted to stay on the protocol and he said yes without even thinking about it so that's a good thing. So... today I'm raising his dosage to 175 by the advice of a friend on the myhcgjourney forum. Hopefully he'll lose some of his cravings after that.

Biz - When I went back over our menu's for thursday, I realized that we probably both had too many calories. I haven't been measuring everything like I did on the last round, just the protein. I think I may have over shot his vegetable servings for the day. I've started meticulously measuring again though. I don't want a repeat of that.
Mary - hey miss mary! luvya back girlie. I'm feeling better today after my weigh in, but I'm really dreading Nakia's weigh in. I'll update if and when he gets on the scale. Whatever happens... I know the hcg will fix it so it's really not all that bad.
Burcu - Yeah... that was a rough one for me. Brownies are one of my all time favorites. Your comment really made me feel better. Thank you my friend.

Day 9 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-02T04:58:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -17 9.3%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 163.9
Today: 165 +1.1
R2 7.4 Total 4.3%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 243.4
Today: 244.1 -.7
R2 12.2 Total 4.7%

Had some snags yesterday, but nothing major, but salty. I'll try to update later, but I'm running late right now. Just wanted to get the numbers up there, even though we both aren't to happy with them today.

Happy losing in protocol land folks :)
===================================
.... Continuing from this morning:
Nakia didn't deviate at all from the menu I gave him, but he didn't drink all his water yesterday. That may be why he gained. He didn't even eat the extra boiled egg so he was totally good.
Nakia's menu:
L: natural applesauce, chicken, romaine lettuce with Biz's mustard dressing (He loved this biz)
D: an orange, chicken, cucumber slices

I, on the other hand ....not so much. I said it was nothing major when I posted this morning, but it kinda was. I had a meltdown!

I was unusually hungry yesterday & my boss took us all out for lunch. I ate a small apple before going over there so I wasn't too hungry, and I ordered my planned order of a 5 oz crab cake & an order of steamed broccoli with an iced tea sweetened with splenda. All was well until the dessert menu came. My skinny co-worker, sitting across from me that can eat ANYTHING, ordered a hot fudge brownie with ice cream. Boy that looked good. I thought I was fine, but all day I had this deprived feeling. I found myself taking little nibbles of things all day, like a piece my friend's cinnamon role & a hershey's kiss. To make a long story short... it came to a bad end with a box of cheezits when I finally got home at around 9:30 at night, tired and still unusually hungry. There were probably about 150-200 cals worth of cheezits. That was a salty dissaster!

I've been feeling alot of hunger since I did a workout earlier in the week & I just caved. I had decided that I'd do 2 workouts a week to keep my muscle tone in tact because Nakia said my body had gotten softer during my first P2 because I didn't workout. He's one of those extremely honest people & I love that about him. I'm going to continue that, but I will be adding some more protein on those days from now on.

Anyway... that's what happened... not pretty, but true

Mary - He's feeling much better now & his hunger has subsided now that he's stopped his workouts. He didn't even eat the extra egg I gave him yesterday, so his body may have already adjusted to the changes.

amie - He has decided that he's going to stick it out. Especially after I told him that he's probably gain all his weight back if he stopped in the middle. Thanks for all the encouragement. I really need it.

becca - Thanks... I think all is well now. He only had the lightheadedness and nausea that one day as well & I went back to P&I and sure enough, that's what it says in there. He never even had to use the sugar solution.

B - Thanks for letting me know about your friend's blog. It's always nice to have an addition to our community. I think we're fine now as far as our injections go so I don't want to rock the boat with changing his injections, but I'll be following her blog.

Ed & Jenn - Thanks! I will definitely tell him that. Believe me... I've told him all about you guys. We can't wait to meet you too!

Day 8 of VLCD DONE!

2008-05-01T03:51:00.000-07:00

Monica - R2P2
Total overall: -18.1 9.9%
R1 LIW 161.7
R2 Starting weight: 172.4
Yesterday: 164.8
Today: 163.9 -.9
R2 8.5 Total 4.9%

Nakia - R1P2
R2 Starting weight: 256.3
Yesterday: 245.1
Today: 243.4 -1.7
R2 12.9 Total 5%

Yesterday's menu:
B: (Monica) coffee with 1/2 & 1/2
L: Cabbage boiled with chicken broth & seasoned chicken w/ fresh strawberries
D: Steak & carmelized onions w/ an orange

This is a great rebound from yesterday. We are both back on track. I'm still trying to stabalize Nakia though. Yesterday he felt nauseous and lightheaded & I've been trying to figure out what to do. Arcticshark over at this forum, http://www.myhcgjourney.com/forums/, reminded me of the low blood sugar section of P&I. These are the symptoms he was explaining to me, so today I sent him to work with a mix of lemon juice and 2 heaping teaspoons of sugar. I also printed out that section of P&I so he knows when to use it. I'm also adding a hard boiled egg to his diet today. We'll see how everything works out. He's pretty much decided that if he doesn't feel better by the weekend that he's going to stop. I really want this to work out for him so I'm trying to get this all figured out. I'm so impressed that he hasn't deviated even once from the food I've prepared for him everyday even though he has felt so crappy all week, so I'll accept it if he decides to stop this weekend. If he does, I'll still have him continue the VLCD for the 72 hr period after his last injection, but hopefully it doesn't come to that.

Mary - Back on track... thanks for checking in on us everyday :)
Amie - Yeah, I would have thought that too, but we both had the stall and gain on the same day, so that made me think it must have been our menu, so no more mixed greens. I'll just do one at a time. We both try to get all of our water in everyday. I didn't yesterday, but I usually get 1.5-2.2 liters.
Shelly - Thanks hon.... will do. Drinking some right now.
B - Thank you. We're struggling by right now, but staying the course. The show didn't produce the winfall of visitors like I was thinking it might, but I have noticed a little more traffic around the forums and blogs that I visit, so that's a good think.

Day 7 of VLCD DONE!

2008-04-30T03:37:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-29T03:47:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-25T03:32:00.000-07:00

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! :)