Days 66, 67,68, and 69: Down and Up and Down Again

I'm bouncing up and down again, but it's because of the foods I've been eating this week.  Friday night, I had my first fast food cheeseburger since the dreaded load days.  Again, we hit Carl's Jr. and tried their new Six Dollar Cheeseburger (which really should be called the $2.59 cheeseburger, but whatever....)  Not surprisingly, it was easy to get down, and then I felt bloated afterwards.  The fact that I skipped the usual fries and shake likely saved me from overdoing it, and I was down another pound Saturday morning (putting me two pounds BELOW my last injection weight)!


Then Saturday came.  Saturday had long been planned as a Girls' Night Out and coincided with the end of Phase 3 so that it could be a slightly indulgent evening.  I probably should have worked my way up to those indulgences instead of partaking in all of them at the same time, but Saturday ended up marking the return of a lot of long-lost foods to my diet: pizza, garlic bread, dessert, and my beloved Moscato.  I had one slice of a take & bake pizza that was "meh," but I had several slice of cheesy garlic bread that was in no way whole grain.  For the dessert, I had a couple mini-pies, but I don't think I went overboard on those.  I was afraid to drink Moscato, as my tolerance is probably next to nil these days, but I had about two glasses (small glasses...not the large beverage glasses I used to drink it from!!) and felt a little happy, but not buzzed.  Throw into the mix some Swedish meatballs, a few slices of cheese, and a cream cheese/brown sugar fruit dip, and it seems pretty obvious that I had a bunch of calories Saturday night.  So...not surprised to wake up Sunday morning two pounds ABOVE my last injection weight.  Gulp.  A four-pound gain overnight.  Realistically, I should have done a "steak day" on Sunday, but I knew that getting my diet back in check would do the trick, so I made better choices throughout the day, and I was already down a pound this morning.  Whew!  We have Thanksgiving coming up this week, of course, and we'll be heading into the holiday season of parties, goodies, and lots of calories, but I'm trying to keep my head on straight.  I'm VERY anxious to get back to injections, but we're waiting on our shipment of HCG now.


I talked to the doc today and got my lab results back, and everything looked good.  Cholesterol, blood sugar, and thyroid were all normal.  She didn't have my previous results available to compare, but she's going to get those for me so I can see what the difference is.  I'll post those results when I see them.


One more quick point tonight.  I've been asked about some of the recipes I use for cooking, but I honestly don't use recipes unless I'm baking (which I rarely do....).  I tend to dump things in until it tastes good.  The best I can do is give a rough guideline of how I made a dish.  


One night last week, I tried something new: Spaghetti Squash.  We'd never even tasted it, much less cooked with it, but I decided to try to mimic a pasta dish we like and made Faux-ghetti Pomodoro.  I cut the squash in half, drizzled it with olive oil, and stuck a couple cloves of garlic under each half and baked it for about 45 minutes.  While that was going, I sauteed several more cloves of garlic, about half of a minced onion, and a few chopped roma tomatoes along with a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds (because I didn't have any pine nuts).  When the Squash was tender, I removed it from the oven and scraped the "meat" of the squash out (it resembles angel hair pasta when you do that) and tossed it with the tomato mixture, some fresh chopped basil, and feta cheese.  Everybody eyed is skeptically--especially HS--but it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS.  Definitely going to be making it into the rotation!  


I've never cooked with winter squash before...do you have any recipes that don't call for brown sugar, maple syrup, or marshmallows?  Please post if you do!

Two Week Obsession

Wow, this place is still here?!

First and foremost my apologizes for not posting in such a long time.  I have no excuse but my short attention span.  I tend to become obsessed with "things" for about 2 weeks and once the shots were done I moved on the other "things".  But I honestly feel bad for not posting so I'm back.  Sporadically back, but none-the-less back.

All of the weight has stayed off.  Admittedly I've fluctuated a little here and there but after my most recent doctors visit I'm a little lower than I was on the day of my last shot.  I've been eating healthier still; I've only gone out to lunch once and after spending $10 on a dozen wings and an iced tea I realized how dumb it was to be spending so much for so little.  Granted, while bringing my lunch does take me away from being socially active I'm guaranteed to eat food I like and save some cash.  Also, there has been no alcohol consumption since Halloween.  A cocktail has sounded good from time to time, but I haven't felt a true urge to have one.

Days 63, 64, and 65: Where's SS?

Yikes!  I guess I haven't done so well with blogging lately, have I?  Just another thing I got lazy about, I suppose.      


I returned to the doc on Tuesday, and I was not at all surprised to learn that I am exactly where I was three weeks ago.  No fractions of inches lost, no pounds lost.  Of course, I'd LOVE to have lost more, but it's actually good that I've managed to maintain my loss--especially since I haven't been watching calories or fat.  I've realistically been eating pretty much whatever I want (it just so happens that I haven't WANTED many starches or sugars...except some ice cream, but I'll get to that in a minute).  Doc gave the go-ahead for me to slowly re-introduce foods to my diet.  She suggested beginning with "gentle" carbs like brown rice or oatmeal and only having a small serving with one meal a day while I get used to them.  I didn't break it to her that I'd already snagged some crackers (and Snapea Crisps!)  over the past couple of weeks...or a couple bites of ice cream here and there.  


Oh, yes.  The ice cream.  I tried some the other night while the Littles ate dessert.  I had two bites the next day.  I had two more bites the day after that.  Yesterday, I took a bite.  And another.  And another.  Then I started reading something while I had the spoon in my hand.  Before I knew it, I had A LOT of ice cream.  I didn't eat ALL of it, but I had a lot of it.  Mindless eating AGAIN.  Sure, it tasted good, but two bites would have been enough.  I immediately began to beat myself up over it...I DON'T want to fall back into old habits like that.  I told HS what I did and that I felt yucky.  His response?  "Guilt tastes bad."  Thanks, dear!  I also coveted the Littles' pizza last night, but he pointed out that it was only frozen pizza and not worth it.  *sigh*  I guess he's a better support system than I thought he was.  Needless to say, I was quite surprised to step on the scale this morning and find myself DOWN a pound this morning.  I'm relieved that I can stray from the healthier choices and still maintain my weight loss.  That gives me hope that I"ll be able to keep the weight off permanently. 

Day 62: New Plan

Round 2 is not going to begin on January 4th...it's now going to start on December 31st!  A dear friend wants to join me for the next cycle and that timing works out better for her schedule, PLUS New Year's seems to be perfect timing for "loading."  LittleGirl has been planning a New Year's Brunch for the past six months, so it seems appropriate to make that my last hurrah!  So if you want to join us (for Brunch or Round 2) let me know soon...we're going to be ordering our materials at the beginning of December.  


Confession time:  I had two bites of ice cream tonight.  It was REALLY good, but I was OK with only having two bites.  I feel a little bloated now, but hopefully that's just a coincidence.  Off to see the doc in the morning.  I hope I can report more inches lost tomorrow!!

Day 61: Good News!

For all my whining lately, I actually have some good news to report!  I haven't just been lazy about cooking lately; I've also been slacking with the laundry.  I was on the verge of declaring that I didn't have anything to wear today when I spied a pair of jeans on the top shelf of the closet.  You know...the jeans that I moved out of the way because I didn't expect to fit into them again.  I was relieved and very pleasantly surprised to find that they DO fit!  I fit into jeans two sizes smaller than the jeans I was wearing 61 days ago.  That's a motivator!  


LittleGirl and I had a girls' day out running errands today when she got hungry far from home.  The closest quick meal was a pizza joint that smelled absolutely divine, so I grabbed a slice for LG.  I thought about grabbing one for myself, but decided that high fat + high carb probably wasn't a great idea, so I watched her eat a super cheesy slice and for the first time in about two months I was insanely jealous of what she was eating.  HS asked me why I didn't just have a slice, and I don't really know.  I guess I'm just trying to prove to myself that I have will-power.  

Days 59 and 60: Bored and Lazy

I just realized I've turned into a big whiner on Phase 3.  I should probably be thankful of all of my added food choices, but instead I'm wishing I could go back to my short Phase 2 list.  I should be reveling in the fact that the whole family can eat together again (without the bread, rice, and pasta), but I'm still struggling to find meals that will satisfy everyone.  I guess the biggest problem is that I just haven't felt like cooking lately.  Instead of elaborate meals, I've been tending to make one big batch of something that lasts for several days (and until everybody is completely sick of it!).  On a positive note, we're not wasting much food these days.  On the other hand, nobody (including me) seems excited about my cooking these days.  On a positive note, nobody's overeating anymore.  LittleGirl is STILL convinced that I've put her on the diet, but she's really just been  eating better.  There haven't been any Kid Cuisine or Lunchables for awhile, the salami is down to once or twice a week, and desserts have been drastically reduced.  I was very pleased when she told me her PB&J was good yesterday...it was whole wheat bread, natural peanut butter, and 100% fruit blueberry spread!  The Littles are huge fans of fruit, and now that HS and I have been eating nuts, they've both latched onto those, too.  They're definitely eating more protein and have drastically reduced their intake of processed foods.  They're not wearing Birkenstocks yet, but they're getting more and more natural.  


I've been talking to several friends lately who are interested in joining me when I start Round 2 on January 4th, and I'm thrilled!  I think we may even do some support meetings or something to help keep each other on track.  It's definitely easier to go through something as drastic as the HCG Protocol with somebody, and I think it will be great to get a bunch of different people together to bounce ideas, provide inspiration, swap recipes, and get skinny together.  If you're interested in joining us, drop me a line!

Day 58: Darn It!

Surprisingly enough, I lost weight this morning, and I'm only 0.1 pounds above LIW now.  What's wrong with that?  Why, now I'm convinced I can do little cheats without repercussions!  The munchies have not yet subsided, so I snagged a couple more Snapea Crisps today AND a couple crackers.  Again, a couple were enough, so that's good, right?  Hopefully that doesn't catch up to me tomorrow!


I've still been struggling with meal preparation in Phase 3.  I got tired of cooking and I ran out of ideas, so I've gotten pretty lazy with the cooking again.  I had a package of ground beef out yesterday, but I wasn't really in the mood for burgers, so I decided to try to make what my family calls S.O.S. (I've heard others call it Hamburger Stroganoff)--you know, the gloppy concoction of ground beef and a can of mushroom soup over a pile of your favorite carbs.  The canned soup is on my own personal BANNED list now, so I started with chopped onion, garlic, fresh onions, ground beef, and a bunch of stuff from the spice cabinet.  I rounded it out with a bit of vegetable broth, heavy cream, and sour cream, and it tasted pretty much like the "canned" variety!  The plan was to make the Littles some rice and for HS and me to just eat the meat, but at the last minute I decided we really should have it ON something, so I threw a bag of broccoli in the microwave.  HS and I both approached the dish with a skeptical eye, but I've gotta say...it was delicious!  Even when I CAN return to carbs (not that I'm sure I will), I think I'd still chose broccoli over egg noodles because I didn't feel tired and bloated after dinner.  


Tonight I threw about 5 pounds of chicken breasts into the pressure cooker and we had them unadorned for dinner.  I have enough chicken left over for several meals, so dinner should be easy for the next couple nights. Tomorrow will likely be stuffed chiles again--YUM!--and then we'll still have plenty of shredded chicken for salad, chicken nachos for the kids, and maybe even some stir fry.  Music to my lazy ears!

Day 57: Stupid Stupid Stupid Cheater

Without question, I have been grumpy for the past three days.  I feel bloated again, and I've been surprised that the scale hasn't shown that yet.  I've had the munchies, but I've avoided the forbidden foods...until tonight.  I had plenty to eat for dinner, yet I munched on some cashews, some swiss cheese, and some more cashews, but they just weren't satisfying my desire for CRUNCH.  And then I spied them...lonely on the pantry shelf, an unopened bag of Snapea Crisps that I picked up at the grocery store without reading the label carefully enough.  See, I noticed that they only had 1 g of Sugar ('Duh,' I thought.  'They're PEAS.')  and I checked to make sure that they had no hydrogenated oils.  I knew they weren't going to be the healthiest option on the planet, but I was pleased to have figured out a new snack to mix it up a bit.  What I didn't notice at the time was that the third ingredient listed on the label was rice and that they had 14 g of carbs per serving.  Doh!  So tonight, although I was aware that I had at least another week before I would be able to add some starch to my diet, the PMS won out, and I had some Snapea Crisps.  Sadly, they were not as good as I remember.  Even more sadly, I ate the entire serving I had prepared for myself anyway.  Happily, I did not refill my bowl (or eat any out of the bag!).  I don't know if I'll see the cheat on the scale tomorrow, but I feel heavy with the weight of my stupidity.  Ugh.  All I can do now is move on and not let it happen again!

Days 55 and 56: Boing! Boing! Boing!

That's what I feel like right now...a ping pong ball going up and down and up and down.  I guess I really AM stabilized now (somebody pointed out to me that bouncing up and down in a two-point range isn't bad at all), but I'd be happy to just comfortably stay at my Last Injection Weight.  That would just be too easy, though, wouldn't it?  Today I sit 0.1 pounds below LIW.


I'm almost two weeks into Phase 3 now, which means a week until I CAN start adding starches and sugars back (or, as LittleGirl says, "start eating food again.")  I told her I'm not sure that I will add those things back to my diet and she was aghast.  Every time I tell her no to something unhealthy that she wants to eat (Lunchables, Kid Cuisine, Cheetos, the scary neon pink drink that sells for $1/gallon, for example), she accuses me of putting her on the diet.  I've tried to explain that I'm trying to keep her from being unhealthy as she grows up, but she's not loving it yet.  She still gets plenty of "junk" food anyway, so don't feel too bad for her.  

Day 54: Yep, Still Unstable

I'm back up 0.8 pounds this morning...still 0.2 pounds below Last Injection Weight.  I'm expecting my monthly bloat to settle in pretty soon, but I'm sick of the up and down.  I really don't want to have to do a steak day!  


I've started to find some interesting recipes for Thanksgiving.  I'll post some of them when I narrow down our choices.  A great resource: EatingWell.com.  I'm already leaning toward this Pumpkin Mousse Pie.  My absolute favorite part of Thanksgiving has always been the stuffing, but I think I'm going to try to do something primarily meat-based this year.  


One more point before I'm off to the store to replenish the refrigerator: Momma and I are going to purchase our HCG in a few weeks in order to begin a round at the beginning of January.  If you're interested in joining us for that round, let me know!  We can save on shipping by ordering together...and offer moral support by HCGing together.  :-)

Days 52 and 53: Unstable!

So much for being stabilized!  Two days ago, I was back to my Last Injection Weight and thought that my fluctuations were a thing of the past.  Apparently I was wrong.  I woke up yesterday a half pound above my Last Injection Weight, and while I didn't eat terribly yesterday, I felt yucky and bloated by the end of the night and was sure that I would be looking at a Steak Day today.  Much to my surprise, this morning I lost that 0.5 pounds PLUS another 1.5 pounds!  I don't get it at all!  Believe me, I'm not complaining about the unexpected two-pound loss, but I don't like not feeling "in touch" with my body anymore like I did during Phase 2.  I'm honestly not sure how my food choices are going to translate to the number on the scale from day to day, and that truly stinks.  I'm surprised to actually be longing for Phase 2 again...just so I know what to expect.  


I'm also finding that I don't stray a whole lot from my Phase 2 diet.  I eat much more chicken than beef now.  I'm not drinking anything except water.  I have basically the same vegetables.  I'm still eating two apples a day.  OK, I'm currently having a not-so-secret love affair with Baby Swiss, Feta, pistachios, and butter, but I'd gladly give all of them up to return to the ease and certainty of Phase 2.  


I passed another test with flying colors today.  I had to attend a class today, and the instructor's parents brought in homemade lasagna and garlic bread for all of the students.  It smelled good, but I never even considered having any.  Admittedly, I felt odd NOT having any because I was in a group of complete strangers who didn't know about my diet.  I waved off a plate a few times before I said, "I'm not having wheat this week."  I got raised eyebrows, but nobody else pressured me until they passed dessert around.  Again, I wasn't even tempted.  I've resisted Halloween candy, pasta and garlic bread, and cocktails.  Thanksgiving is coming, and I'm not looking forward to it.  By then, I'll be allowed sugars and starches, but I still can't wrap my head around actually having them.  I feel so much better now that I've cleaned my diet up, I just don't want to go back to that--even for a day!  I've even thought about a low-starch, low-sugar Turkey Day, but I think our dinner guests would be bothered by the lack of tradition, so I have less than three weeks to figure out some compromises.

Day 51: Where's HS?

I don't know...maybe he thinks he's too good for our little blog now that he's within a few pounds of his goal weight.  It's a little lonely, but I suppose it was bound to happen.  I miss you, dear!  (Although I haven't had a bad-grammar-induced panic attack this week.  Hmmmm....I wonder if there could be a connection....)


As for me, I'm here for the long haul--whether I have readers or not.  I've not done well with keeping a food diary, so writing here everyday makes me somewhat accountable.  It's working so far, I guess.  I was down another 0.1 pounds this morning, which puts me back to my Last Injection Weight!  Not many "forbidden" foods have sounded good to me, but I absolutely enjoyed a BIG mushroom & swiss (no bun, of course) burger for dinner tonight.  I'm still not interested in pizza or pasta--which together made up about 75% of my pre-HCG diet, but I admit to swiping a couple of LittleBoy's crackers the past few days.  Tasty, but I was proud that I didn't keep going back for more.  Still no sweets or alcohol either, but I have plans to attend a get-together in a couple weeks in which many "goodies" will be available.  I hope I don't self-destruct!

Day 50: Stabilizing

I'm so happy to report that I was down another 0.1 pounds this morning, which puts me just 0.1 pound above my Last Injection Weight.  Frankly, I was surprised because it seemed like I had quite a bit to eat yesterday--including a boatload of cheese.  I'm so happy I haven't had to do a steak day...I hope I can stay at this point until Round 2 in January.  There are a few holidays to get through, but none of the traditional foods are sounding good to me right now.  In my past life, I really loved stuffing--in fact, I could easily skip the turkey and pile a plate full of cranberries, mashed potatoes, and a mountain of stuffing and be in heaven.  I managed to keep away from candy for Halloween, but the impending carb fests will be my true test.  


I think I've decided how I'm going to do my second round in January.  I had been debating continuing to do the program with the doc, but now that I know what to do and my blood pressure meds are out of the picture, I know I could handle the Protocol on my own.  I have been leery of purchasing my HCG online because most of it comes from out of the country.  I've been following many threads on hcgdietinfo.com that discuss where to purchase HCG for less money and hassle, and I found a woman who got frustrated with ordering troubles with the overseas HCG providers and started her own online business.  I appreciate her coming up with a solution to the problem by starting her own site, and I'm super-impressed with all of the resources on the site.  She has an HCG Diet Manual that has actual information about how to do Phase 3!  I even saw Phase 2 information that would have been nice to have!  And her pricing is only slightly higher than I've seen the overseas and Canadian sites charging, and well worth the peace of mind of knowing that the HCG will arrive in a few days and not get hung up in Customs.  I'm very excited to order my next round from Fran!  Check out all of the fabulous info at YourHCGDiet.com

Day 49: That's Better!

Whew!  I was worried, but I'm back down to 0.2 pounds over my Last Injection Weight, so hopefully I'll start to stabilize now.  I had hoped to lose a little in between cycles, but I'll honestly be happy to stay where I am right now.  HS heard that it takes about a week to stabilize in Phase 3, so hopefully we're getting there.  Phase 3 is harder mentally because I don't have the instant gratification of watching the scale go down, but I got a little boost today when somebody commented on my weight loss.  She doesn't know that I've been taking HCG and I see her nearly every day, but this morning she said, "OK, it's really obvious you're losing weight.  I saw you in that shirt a couple weeks ago and it didn't hang on you like that!"  I smiled and said thanks, but I was jumping up and down inside.  I love those moments!


I found a weight- and calorie-tracking website that I like better than SparkPeople.com.  FitDay.com seems to have all of the tools (and I think there may even be more!) that SparkPeople does, but it's much neater, cleaner, and easier to navigate.  It does not have all of the articles and forums of SparkPeople, but I avoided those anyway because there was just too much happening on each page of the site that I'd end up getting distracted and forget to log my food or my weight.  I think I'm going to transition all of my historical data to FitDay so I can really see the charts moving down!  


It was nice tonight to have some pre-HCG food that fits in with Phase 3.  The Littles don't eat it, but HS and I love Anaheim Chiles stuffed with Chicken and Cheese.  I also dressed them up with spinach for the first time, and they tasted really good that way.  We were, of course, without rice tonight, but I didn't miss it.  The chile tasted so good, I was about to get up and get another when HS said, "I want another one because they taste good, but I'm really not hungry anymore so I guess I shouldn't."  Oh, yeah.  We're supposed to be breaking that habit, aren't we?  I'm trying!

Day 48: Still Gaining

Quite frustrating.  I'm now 1.1 pounds over my Last Injection Weight.  One more pound and I have to do a "steak day."  This sucks.

Day 47: The Day After

Just a couple issues with HS's post...
First of all...there was no losing "in a very rapid fashion."  I heard him "losing it" for about two hours.  
Secondly...he DID know he was having too much to drink because he admitted he was drunk after the first two glasses...and then he had three more.
And last...I'm fairly certain drinking 'til you puke everything you had to eat that day (including my delicious dinner) is not appropriate for resetting your hypothalamus!


OK.  So perhaps I'm a little miffed that I haven't had ANY wine or ANY candy (unlike somebody else I know!), and I gained another 0.4 pounds this morning.  I'm still below my Last Injection Weight, but really...the big fat cheater ends up even lower than he was?!?!?  I was very conservative with my meals today--didn't track calories again today--and stuck to mostly veggies.  I finished up last night's leftover broccoli for breakfast, had a tossed salad with chicken salad and feta for lunch, an apple for snack, chicken and veggie (broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, squash, onion, and garlic) stir fry for dinner, and a piece of cheese for another snack.  LittleGirl is convinced that I'm trying to torture her with all the vegetables (although I think she secretly likes them), but I'm seriously craving them lately!  Instead of candy for dessert, the Littles had fresh blackberries that tasted a million times sweeter than I remember them.  I'm convinced that my palette has changed significantly now that it's not poisoned by sugar and artificial sweeteners.  It's funny (and pretty cool) that the foods I crave now are foods that are actually good for me.  

What?

168.6

I have no idea what SS is talking about, unless she means that after 8 weeks of no booze I had half a bottle of wine and proceeded to lose more weight in a very rapid fashion.  I am down 36 pounds now if that's any thing.

And so everyone is aware I didn't plan to drink.  After taking the kids trick or treating we decided to sit out front and hand out candy.  The wine was tasting yummy and I had way more than I should have, not once did I think that it was too much.  Never took into consideration the fact that I hadn't had a cocktail in 8 weeks.

Who's the Tool Now?

I really can't wait for HS to post about his Halloween!