Today I am starting the HCG diet and decided the best way to keep track of my success was to blog about it. I have never done a blog before so here goes!
So, I tried the hcg diet 2 years ago and was successful with it, only I didn't finish the whole process but still lost a lot of weight (from my recollection it was like 14 pounds in 2 weeks and I wasn't even completely faithful to the vlcd). I ended up starting culinary school and was not able to adhere to the VLCD, therefore, ending my diet. Prior to starting the diet back then, I had already lost, like, 30-40 pounds just by using smaller plates for my meals and cutting back on carbs. I had stalled out and couldn't lose anymore so that was when I opted for the hcg. When I started culinary school (August, 2011) I was down to 170 pounds. By the new year 2012, I was up to 234 pounds. So, I had gained over 60 pounds in a short period of 4 months. I graduated culinary school in May, 2012 and have been struggling to lose weight ever since. I have been able to lose 12 pounds on my own but have been stuck there for about 3 or 4 months now. It's time to employ some help!!!!!! So I opted for the hcg plan again.
So, I got up this morning and weighted myself at 224 pounds (which is up 2 pounds from my 12 pound weight loss that I did on my own). My waist - 44", my hips - 45-1/2", my right thigh - 27". My goal is to get down to 150. This means I have 74 pounds to lose. Which translates to doing 3 rounds of the diet. I am still confused about how long a "round" is suppose to last. 2 years ago when I did it, it was 30 days for the second phase (for this amount of weight) (of course, the first phase is the "loading" days, 2 of them) but now I am confused because I have read that the second phase is 40 days. Anyway, I'll figure it out before that time comes either way. I am also confused about the formula of the hcg drops. I bought them from the same doctor as I bought them from 2 years ago but they taste like pure water this time, whereas, last time I could hardly stand the taste of them. As a matter of fact, they kind of burned under my tongue. Well, I have been reading about this and have read that it is illegal to sell or buy pure hcg so all of the formulas have gone homeopathic which means there is little to none of the real hcg in it. Of course, I have found many sites that claim that they are REAL hcg but are they really? I have also found variations of this FDA thing that says it's illegal to sell or buy real hcg. So, since my bottle of drops that I bought tastes like water, I am thinking that it is the homeopathic, NOT what I thought I was paying for. They say that you actually have to have enough hcg in your drops to give a pregnancy test a positive reading, otherwise you will only burn muscle (which I have none to burn, LOL) because it is the hcg hormone (the pregnancy hormone) that actually turns fat to energy therefore, burning fat instead of muscle. I was pleased to find out, though, that all I have to do is test my urine for ketones. I already have the test sticks from a prior time that I needed them for medical use and that if the results are abnormal on the test, then that means that I am burning fat (it's the whole thing where ketones in the urine means that you are passing fat in your urine scenario/scientific stuff which is used for diabetics because they should NOT be passing fat in their urine or some medical stuff like that). I will be doing more research on the formula of hcg drops (oh! and the injections too) and the sale and laws of the sale of hcg.
I am thinking that in this blog that there is some way to post pics, so, beware! I will be posting a pic, if possible. I didn't take one this morning before I started but I am going to take one tomorrow. Trust me! It won't make any difference, especially since these 2 days are "loading" days, I won't be losing any weight before I take my pic, and it won't be pretty, LOL. I don't look forward to putting my fat body out there for the world to see but it will be well worth it when I post my new skinny me at the end of this all.
O.k. so, as for day 1.... this loading day is making me feel tired and yucky! I was excited when I woke up to get started eating as much fatty foods as possible but it hasn't been as fun as I thought. This was the 2 most difficult days the last time I did it. I found that I couldn't eat enough, as I was working 2 jobs at the time and I couldn't find the time or the means to eat a lot of fatty foods. This time is totally different!!! I think that maybe I might be eating to much. I feel bleh! Still gotta do this one more day, though. Hopefully, I will just be so sick from eating all of this CRAP (I am a fairly healthy eater to begin with) after these 2 days that I just won't have any cravings for it for the next couple of months! So, until we meet again tomorrow at this same place (not sure about the time though ;) ).
*****May 20, 2013
I cannot wait until tomorrow and I can stop eating!!!! This gorging has made me so sick! But it's for the best! They say that without this gorging than the diet won't work. The day is almost over and I only have to eat one more time, YAYEEEEE!
So, I weighed in at 226-1/2 this morning. I didn't do measurements again as I have decided to only measure 1 x per week. So, yesterday's gorging gained me 2-1/2 pounds. I wonder how much today has cost me in added poundage. Oh well! It's suppose to come right back off in the first couple of days.
Today I tested my drops. They failed the pregnancy test :( . I called the doctor that I got them from and they insisted that they are real hcg. I explained to this girl, who obviously had no clue what she was talking about, that it is a homeopathic composition and they have little to no real hcg in them. Anyway, she told me that they are the same drops (same formulation) that I purchased from them 2 years ago and they worked for me then, so I have to believe that they will work for me this time, also. As for the taste, or should I say the lack thereof, she said that they did remove the "sweeteners" which apparently gave it the nasty taste, therefore, leaving it with nothing more the the flavor of water.
I have done a lot more research, today, on how to get REAL drops or possibly doing the injections and I think I have found a connection to get them. An online doctor who gives you a prescription and since you have a prescription then the production is made here in the good ol' USA, in Florida and it's perfectly legal. I still have more research to do on this though just to verify what I read today. I sent the representative of that company an email and hopefully she will get back to me fairly quickly. This would be a compound of soluble powdered hcg that you mix with special water and stuff to make the drops yourself, which is the way REAL hcg is suppose to be done from what I understand. We will see how it goes and if it is all good and legit then I will order them for my next round.
That's all I have for today. Good night!
PHASE 2 - DAY 1
WOW!!!! After gorging yesterday, I put on another 3-1/2 pounds. That puts me up by 6 pounds in 2 days bringing my total weight to 230 pounds! That is really depressing! Only 4 pounds more and I'll be back up to my original weight that I was before I lost 12 pounds on my own. Oh well! That shouldn't last long.
This is my first day on the VLCD (very low calorie diet). I am so happy to not have to pig out anymore. I woke up feeling like I wanted to throw up. So far, the ketone test strips do not show that any fat is being burned but I suppose that is because I couldn't burn any fat while I was "replenishing my fat supply" to be able to go on the VLCD. Hopefully it will show a big difference in the next day or so.
It's only 12:00 and all I have had is water for breakfast and then I decided to only have my shrimp and cucumber for lunch and that way, later on, I can have my breadstick and strawberries for a snack. I'm planning to have very lean ground beef for dinner along with breadstick and then I will have more cucumber and an orange for snacks later. But then again, I have a couple of lobster tails in the fridge that I need to eat before they go bad so I might change my mind by dinner time. The "sell by" date on them is 5/24/2013 and today is only the 21st so I am thinking that they should still be good for another couple of days but, I figure, the fresher, the better.
I got my "before" pics taken this morning so if there is a way to post them, then I will figure it out by the end of the day. I am still trying to figure out how all of this blogging stuff works :) That's all for now. Be back later in the day for an update on day 1 - VLCD - progress. Have a great day~!
Well, I made it through the first day. I have been pretty hungry several times throughout the day. I ate 1 extra grissini stick and a gluten free, wheat free, low sugar cookie. Other than that I did pretty good. I guess we'll find out tomorrow, what happens when I weigh myself. Good night.
PHASE 2 - DAY2
Yayeeeee! I'm down 4 pounds from yesterday, back to 226 pounds. That takes care of most of the weight that I gained from my loading days. My ketones still don't show that I am burning any fat which, from what I understand, means that I would be losing muscle???? I am not so sure about that. Maybe I am just not burning enough fat yet for it to be showing in my urine. That's what I am hoping, anyway.
I am having cucumbers, strawberries, lean ground beef burger, white asparagus and a chicken meatloaf recipe that I am going to do a chicken burger out of it instead and put it on the grill, plus I will also have my grissini sticks. Keep in mind that my grissini sticks, I don't think are hcg approved and they also have sesame seeds on them so I am not sure if I am suppose to actually be eating these but they are the only kind that my store carries and they don't have the carbs or sugars or any of that stuff that I am not suppose to have.
Also, I ordered the hcg drops, that I mentioned in my earlier post, today. I know that I had mentioned that they were made in Florida and a script comes from a doctor there but there were 2 options on that sight of places to order from (and she has since added a 3rd place but is relatively more expensive) and the one in Florida was more expensive than the one in India, where I ended up ordering from. It ends up only costing about $50 per bottle for the injections. That includes the actual hcg, the bac water, mixing syringes and the whole kit, which is a hell of a lot less expensive than the $95 that I paid for this bottle of ("fake")/homeopathic hcg sublingual drops. From the ton of research that I did, it seems as though it is a legit pharmacy and the hcg is also real. I guess we'll find out once I do the "pregnancy test" on it and then also, once I start doing the injections, if my ketones start showing that I am burning fat and not muscle. My only concern is, is that I am not sure if it is going to hurt for me to switch from the homeopathic sublingual drops to the real hcg injections in the middle of my round or if I should just wait until my next round to start the injections. If the latter is the case than I plan on only doing a 21 day round this time around. That is as long as I get the injection kit in, in time because it takes at least 2 weeks for delivery and that is as long as it doesn't get hung up in customs.
I seemed to want food constantly yesterday and that is kind of how I am feeling today but I am not sure if it isn't just a subconscious thing because I KNOW that I can't graze all day so it is making me think about it constantly, not because I am hungry because I don't think I have really been hungry. As far as energy level.... it's about the same as usual.
Well, that's all for this afternoon. Maybe more on my 2nd day later tonight! Have a great day!
PHASE 2 - DAY 3
I'm down 3 more pounds to 223. I'm still not showing in my ketosis tests that I'm burning fat. I am a little concerned about that. Yesterday I ate a half of a grissini stick more than allowed and I ate about an ounce more protein than allowed. But the really bad thing is, is that I ate 2 of those gluten free/wheat free/low sugar/low fat/ low calorie cookies. I guess it could have been worse and I could have eaten that chocolate cake that I was obsessing over, but no matter, I am not allowed to even eat those kind of cookies. I wonder, though, if it hindered my loss for yesterday? I mean 3 pounds is a pretty good loss, even though its a pound less than the previous day, nonetheless, I am below my starting weight already.
I made a great recipe that I got from "hcgchica"(one of the sites that I am using for support, she's awesome!). You take a pint of strawberries in a zip bag and add a couple droppers or so of chocolate/raspberry flavored liquid stevia and freeze... DELISHHH! Tastes like your cheating.
I can't stop thinking about food and its not because I'm being overly hungry. Only because I'm bored and still I believe that it's a mental thing too. Just knowing that I CAN'T have it is making me want it and I am obsessing over it. If I just can find something to keep me busy and take my mind off of it then I would be fine. I just woke up, though, and I am having what I think are hunger pangs. I just keep drinking water to make it go away but it's not working very well. I keep thinking about fried eggs and toast :(. It'll get better at lunch time especially since I think I am going to have lobster for lunch along with a salad or cherry tomatoes. I'm having pork tenderloin for dinner along with white asparagus. Then, of course, I will have my fruit and grissini sticks.
Well, it's time for me to get off my butt and do something with my day. Have a great and blessed day. Prayers with victims, family and friends in Oklahoma.
My before pics.... I finally figured out how to do it and got up the nerve to post it.
I look pregnant don't I?! Don't worry that is not baby !
PHASE 2 - DAY 4
A bit disappointed this morning. I, once again ate 2 of my "guilt free" cookies (mind you, fhese are not allowed on fhe diet) AND I ate twice as much protein than allowed yesterday. My loss on the scale... 1-1/2 pounds bringing me down to 221-1-2 pounds. I guess if I would quit cheating then I would have bigger losses but I AM down 4-1/2 pounds in 5 days which is pretty damned good. My ketosis tests are still not showing any FAT loss though. I have a hard time believing that this loss is muscle???? I don't know.
Well, hopefully I will start staying on track with the vlcd and stop cheating before I have a major set back. I am going to start back on my topirimate today. It's my medication to stop binge eating even though I'm not actually binging at this point but it may stop my obsessive thoughts about food.
That's all for now. Have a great day, ya'll!!!
PHASE 2 - DAY 5
Down 1 pound to 220-1/2 pounds this morning. I really did bad yesterday. Lots of guilt today. I couldn't stop grazing all day yesterday. No will power!!! I just kept thinking.... what can I eat?? I want to eat?? Isn't it time to eat?? ... Some of the times I was hungry and some of the times I wasn't. I at 1 and half extra servings of fruit and.... oh....probably about 3-4 extra grissini sticks. I also had some gluten free, adzuki bean chips (about 6 of them) and some home made pico ( 3 teaspoons ). The worst part was that my husband grilled some new bratwurst that he found. They were bacon and cheddar flavored. So, of course, I just had to try some. I ate half of one. That is about 200 calories, at least, and a TON of fat, plus the cheese, which is dairy that is also not allowed.
I am thinking that had it not been for all of this cheating that I have done then I would probably had a 2 pound loss, at least, per day instead of the 1 to 1-1/2 pound per day. I have 2 more components: 1) I have postural psoriasis and my prescription is an ointment, which, of course, has oils (and lotions and oils are not allowed on the diet) in it but what choice do I have? I HAVE to use it! 2) I have been having allergic reaction to SOMETHING for the last couple of months and can't figure out what it is but it causes severe itching, burning and intense swelling of areas of my skin or extremities of my body and it also causes hives. So, yesterday when my forehead swelled up and expanded to my eyes and cheeks, I finally had to take Benadryl, where, once again, over the counter medications are not allowed on the diet and this may have caused me to have the "munchies" all day.
I have also thought that maybe my dosage is not right or, possibly, it is the "homeopathic" formula is just not worthy of this diet. I have the prescription ordered and it has been shipped but it will be a minimum of another week before it arrives so I will need to find the will power to make this work until then. I still haven't decided if I am going to just switch over to the real stuff with the injections when they arrive or if I am going to finish out the 3 weeks on this and then start the next round fresh with the injections. I may just not even finish a full round of 3 weeks on these homeos.... I have been thinking that I would just stop the drops, take 3 days of vlcd without drops and then a week of healthy eating and then start with injections and 2 loading days again and start over with phase 2. This is the most preferable method to me. Does anybody have an opinion???
............... I have been a VERY good girl today!!!! It is almost 8 p.m. and so far I have stayed COMPLETELY on track! I have ONLY eaten what I am SUPPOSE to eat and I still have half of my strawberries left for later because I always want something sweet later in the night so I thought I would save them. Now, I have definitely been hungry A LOT today. But! I have stuck it out and not snacked. I just keep drinking water every time I feel hungry (not that it's helping much) Yayeee for me :) Hopefully I can keep up the willpower from here on out. I am already hungry again. I'm thinking that I need to just go to sleep and forget about the hunger. It's a bit too early for that but my hives are itching sooooo bad that I could take some Benadryl and it could knock me out so I could sleep through the night and then I would wake up REALLY hungry ... LOL. Anyway, either way. Good night.
PHASE 2 - DAY 6
I did not cheat AT ALL yesterday - pat on back. I am down another 1-1/2 pounds to 219. So glad to be under the 220 mark! At the beginning of the year I was at 234 pounds so technically I am down 15 pounds now but since I started the diet almost a week ago, I'm down 7 pounds. Not bad :) Not much else to say this morning. Have a great day!
PHASE 3 - DAY 7
No loss today :( I had 2 squares of a dark chocolate chocolate bar last night (oops!) but other than that I stayed on the diet. I think that, on top of the chocolate that I had last night, the rest of the days that I haven't stuck to the diet are catching up to me. Maybe the Benadryl that I am not suppose to have is also having an affect along with my psoriasis ointment. I seem to be hungry A LOT! Having a lot of cravings! Maybe once I get the real hcg, this will stop.
I just got done doing research about "how to switch from homeopathic to real hcg" and got some good information. First of all, homeopathic may be the reason that I am starving constantly and craving foods. Secondly, it may the reason that I my ketosis tests are still not showing any ketones in my urine meaning that I am not burning fat but losing muscle and bone instead according to ALL of the articles that I just read. All of the sites that I read (except one) also said that I need to stop taking the homeopathic NOW and start on phase 3 diet for a week or 2 then start the injections with Phase 1 on the loading days..... OH NO!!!! not the loading days again! So I guess that is what I am going to do. I will keep you updated still as my journey goes along with this transition phase in phase 3 into the injections with the real hcg.
PHASE 2 - DAY 8
I am down a half a pound this morning to 218-1/2 pounds. Despite the fact that I am stopping the homeopathIc hcg, I still did not cheat at all yesterday. As a matter of fact, I came in under my calories by somewhere around 150.
The instructions on how to switch from homeo to real hcg say that to do it after 10 days on the homeo... And today would be my 10th day so I will stop them after today and start the phase 3 diet tomorrow. There are also instructions on how to switch if your on days 1-9 but I opted to do it this way.
I have checked on my order for my real hcg and as far as I can tell, it is in the states so I guess I should get it in another week and that is when I should be ready for it. Have a great day!!!
****This would be DAY 10 - So after 2 days of stopping the drops, I have gained 2-1/2 pounds. But! I have, by no means, been sticking to any kind of diet. Today, though, after seeing this gain, I am committed to getting back to the healthy eating until my injections arrive.
*******THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN DAY 11 - I was back to 219-1/2 pounds this morning. I am back on track except, I am having a hard time getting in the calories that I need to be eating without indulging in unhealthy food. I, also am afraid of putting back on the pounds that I already lost, that I am afraid to increase my calories. I can't wait til my injections get here.
******JUNE 3RD - not quite sure which day I would have been on (I started phase 1 a little over 2 weeks ago) but I have been holding steady around 221 pounds. I probably would not have gained that much except I'm not sticking to the phase 3 diet. I am, though, being very conscious of my food decisions (which doesn't mean that all of the decisions have been healthy, only that I have been CONSCIOUS).
My order for my hcg has been held up in customs so God only knows how long it will take to receive it now. The pharmacy that I ordered from claims that less than 1% of their shipments get rejected by customs and I'm hoping that mine is not in the less than 1% category but would be just my luck.
So, that's about all for now. Once I get my hcg in, I will start a new/different blog to keep track of my weight loss. Ya'll have a great week!
*******JUNE 5TH - Still nothing different to say about my weight or eating habits. Still the same as the other day. But now I am getting excited to continue my hcg journey even more so because U.S. Customs has finally released my medicine. I got the rest of the kit/supplies the other day so now I only have to wait a few more days for my package to get from New York to here! Thank God! I have really been up in the air about what to eat and trying to make decisions about it every day has been stressing me out. Like I said before... I am scared to death to gain back what I have already lost.
I spoke to my doctor (endocrinologist) yesterday, about the hcg diet. The only bad thing she could say about it is that she has only seen the people who got off of the diet and gained back not only what they lost but twice as much as they lost so they come to her thinking they a thyroid issue. But this is what happens, she said. I asked her if those patients followed to the end of the diet and stayed on the maintenance program or did they just go back to eating like they did before???? She said she did not know. All she knows is that they gained back twice as much as they lost. She did, though, recommend it for short term weight loss, like if you're getting married or have a special event that you want to look good for. So, what I take from her opinion is.... the diet is not dangerous but the danger falls into after the diet and gaining too much weight. So, if you do Phase 3 correctly and then stick to the maintenance program and eat healthy or "eat to live" instead of "living to eat" then you should be fine. I can tell just from how much I have feared putting the weight back on in the transition period, that after I go through the whole program and lose a BUNCH of weight that I am not going to want to eat anything from fear of gaining it all back. So.... I guess we will see. Only time will tell.
******JUNE 6 - this will be my last entry in this blog. I received my hcg today so I will be starting a new blog, "My HCG Journey". Continue to follow me there. I will try to figure out how to put a link to that blog here. I will start my injections on Saturday, June 8, 2013 when I will be on day 1 of phase 1, the first of 2 loading days. So, that's Ll for this blog. Wish me luck for the rest of my journey. Thank you for reading.
If you would like to continue reading about my hcg diet (with the REAL hcg), you can follow it here: http://michellehcgjourney.blogspot.com/
