Ugh – Here We Go Again

How many times have I talked on this blog about losing weight? How many times have I started and then stopped?

Well, last time, I was doing the HCG diet and I did really well on it. I lost over 30 pounds on the 30 days I was on the program. As of this date, I actually gained back almost 20 of those pounds. Why? I think it was a variety of things. One is that I got back to regular eating. For those who don’t remember, the HCG diet involves a very low calorie diet of about 500 calories a day. I would actually adjust mine is needed but stayed within the 500-800 calorie range.

It was a good thing for me to do as it got me to thinking about how I needed to really do the whole mind-body-spirit thing. Everything must be in sync for a program to work. Period. Eating very little isn’t necessarily in sync with world view. Don’t get me wrong, I have enough fat to sustain me for the short haul but over the long term, it probably isn’t a very good thing.

This time, I think it will be different. Again, you may ask why when you look at my history. Well fuck history. No, I’m not talking about history the big picture but history the personal picture. I know that those who disregard history are destined to repeat it. And that’s just it. I’m not disregarding it at all I’m embracing it.

Yes, I’m fat right now. Get over it. Yes, I want to lose weight starting right now. Get on with it. Yes, I’m basically a healthy person. Get on with improving that aspect. I need to do, not talk. I need to embrace that diets don’t really work and work on what works for me. I am a unique individual with unique needs. I know me and my body best. I know what works for me.

And some thing miraculous happened. Recently, I went on a trip to Vienna, Austria with my husband. Vienna works on the premise that most people use public transportation or their feet to get around. So every day I was walking to all my destinations or to the public transportation. Also, every morning, I got up with my husband and went down to the gym to walk 30 minutes on the treadmill.

I ate differently in Europe. For breakfast, I would have scrambled eggs, bacon, a small bowl of cereal and tons of water and juice. For lunch, if I ate it would be soup or a sandwich. When we’d go out to dinner, we’d walk to a resturuant and walk back. The only thing I wanted and didn’t get would be salad. I didn’t get as much as I wanted at all. Otherwise, I ate just until full and no more. I also ate anything and everything I wanted. Desserts were special while I was there. Most of the time I couldn’t finish it at all because the sweet stuff would get to me. But I would also trudge back to the hotel room once we were done.

It was amazing. Because of the change in diet and the added exercise, I lost about ten pounds. Right now, you can’t really tell because a lot of that was transferred into lean muscle mass and my body didn’t shift in how it looks very much. But it feels a heck of a lot better.

So what I’m going to do with this blog daily is include what I ate, estimate how much it was, how much I exercise and when, and maybe a paragraph or two on how I felt. We’ll see as one of my major, and I mean major, problems happen to be is I get bored. I get bored with most things I do, which is why I need to do a lot of things. That way, I can shift from one thing to another.

If I survive a week doing this, I really will have a great chance this time. Here goes:

Monday, March 14, 2011

Breakfast: Bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, 1.5 c of milk, coffee

Lunch: Chips & Dip, Taco Burrito with sauce and sour cream

Snack: Garlic Salsa & 1 serving of tortilla chips

Dinner: 1/3 of a chicken salad, dressing on the side, with avocado, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and olives.

Exercise: Today I walked 46 minutes along the streets of the town I live in. It was brutal in the beginning as it was uphill. Once at the top the rest was flat or downhill until the last block that had a gentle rise. I put on my wrist weights and iPod and off I went. Yeah.

Thoughts: I’ve said all I’m going to say above.

Lynn

Day #3 With HCG

Okay, here I am with day #3 and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. Yes, it’s a very low calorie diet but so far, so good.

I started the day with the drops, a couple of coffee or two and the ever present apple. Again, there is some controversy about what fruits you can and can’t have. I’m sticking to apples because I have a lot of them from an orchard but apparently, you can also do an orange or two handfuls of strawberries. So one has some choices.

Oh, and I stepped on the scale today. Another pound. I really don’t get it but it’s working and I’ll keep going. After all, it is only day three and like I had said at the beginning as well as to my husband, I can do anything for thirty days. It was either the weight or my sanity. Guess what won.

For lunch, I have a salad with my four ounces of chicken. I load it up with onions, broccoli and cumcumbers for a nice large meal. The one thing I can’t do is not to have some flavoring on it. So I do something they will tell you is a strict no-no. I pull out my Newman’s Own Balsamic salad dressing and take the two tablespoon serving, add an equal amount of water on it and bang. I have enough flavor for a huge salad.

I’ve heard of where people get really irritable with this type of diet. So far, so good for me. I seem to be full all the time as I could not find any portion limits on things like lettuce. I know I haven’t been hungry nor grumpy. I’m sure it will come because I have been known to be very grumpy when deprived of my favorite foods. But then again, doesn’t everyone do that? LOL!

Now, for dinner, I basically have the same thing. I won’t mind this for a few days. I think. It will wear off soon as I love meat and potatoes and lots of veggies. Sigh. I’m dreaming of food I can’t have. This isn’t good. LOL!

Talk to you all tomorrow as I move along this journey!

Lynn

Loading Up: Day #2

Today is another loading day as well. Again, I get to eat anything and everything I want. This has its own pitfalls as I ate everything I wanted yesterday. This is the second day on the drops and I just don’t feel hungry at all. If this is what they are supposed to do, then this is truly amazing.

I have my last bowl of cereal for a while, frosted mini-wheats, and savor the milk. I know this is what I’ll miss most. I love milk and cheese and in most cases, I do everything in moderation. In reading an article about obesity, I found something I’ve always known. Overweight people by and large don’t overeat, they under eat in most cases. Some don’t like sweets, that’s me and unless I’m PMSing I don’t like them one bit. I don’t PMS anymore because I’ve done the menopause thing but I do have my moments. Here’s the article and I’d love to know what you think: http://tinyurl.com/ObesityArticle  

In this article, they talk about every way to lose weight, from very low calorie diets to bariatric surgery. They leave nothing out and talk about studies old and new. While those things are pertinent if you are writing a thesis, for the layperson, they are useless. People want facts and figures of what happened to Aunt Jo down the street. This is one reason I’m doing this blog, so people can have a real insight to someone who is living this weight loss plan.

I decide before breakfast, I’m going to weigh and feel yucky about it already. There is no way I could have lost any weight. I didn’t overeat but I most definitely didn’t watch calories either. Pulling out the scale, I put it down in the exact places as yesterday then nearly fall off it when I look down. I step off so I can see it better...nah...that can’t be.

I tap it again so I can get back on it. Yup, I’m really not blind and it did say what it did. I lost a pound and all I did was not eat as much as before. I didn’t even take a walk to day and that’s amazing. Then I try to remember what I was wearing for clothes...I think my nightshirt...whereas today I’m wearing underwear and a tank top. That must be it, the clothes are different.

If I have lost a pound, it’s truly amazing. If I haven’t I’ll find out tomorrow. But today, I’ll eat my heart out. For lunch, I ask the youngest where he wants to go and he decides on Jack. I try to picture what I’ll be eating and couldn’t decide when I got there. I finally got Bacon Cheddar Potato Wedges and their Buffalo Sliders. That should do me.

Yeah, that should do me all right. I bring it all home. Since I want to have the sliders as well, I decide to share the wedges with my youngest. He happily took whatever I gave him. I was practically full after just two and a little of the cheese. Then I could barely choke down just one and a half of the three sliders. This was not like me. I was used to clearing my plate or placing the rest in the fridge. I just wasn’t interested and that in itself is interesting.

Tonight I had critique group so we had our usual, salad and pizza. The pizza we have is called ‘The Works’ and it’s just yummy but one and a half pieces was it along with one plate of salad with minimal dressing. Again, this is not normal but I’m just not hungry. This should be a good thing.

I still haven’t started walking and know I need to take some pictures for you all during this journey. Believe me, I will. I’m still in awe that I’m not hungry and lost a pound.

Lynn

Making A Decision

I know that many people will say that I’m copping out and doing something crazy. I’ve done crazier things will less motivation.

After reading all the documentation, I’ve decided I’m going to try HCG. Along with this comes a very low calorie diet (VLCD), which is the only thing scary about this at all. The HCG product does not stay in your body after 44 days in the form it will be taken. You also are not recommend to take the drops or do the diet for any longer than 26 days with two loading days at the beginning and two weaning off days at the end. I can do anything for 30 days, anything at all.

Sure, the movie Supersize Me shows what can happen to one when eating nothing but fast food. Most fast food is laden with bad fat as well as other questionables. It’s no wonder that you could do horrible damage by eating nothing but fast food for a month. I would probably die doing something like this.

With this VLCD, you are eating good food and I’ve looked the plan over and over again. I will adjust it as needed and will stop immediately if I notice a problem. I will not, nor cannot at my current weight, starve. But my body might rebel because I’m not eating much. But unlike anorexics I will be eating. I love food and I just need to get to a reasonable weight before I can enjoy it again.

This whole program has to be done in steps. Each losing phase is approximately 30 days, though one can do a 15 day increment if they just want to try it out. After those thirty days, you must go on a maintenance plan for 2-6 weeks to stabilize your weight as well as show your body you have no intention of starving it.

I will also be taking a whole regimen of vitamins I’ve taken for years and blogging about my progress every day.

I know my body and I know when too much is too much. But the weight has got to go because I honestly think it will kill me before this diet even has a change. I’ve ordered my drops from the local GNC today instead of going to one of the many clinics who use this weight loss method. The main reason is cost. The clinics are much more than I want to spend right now and with my medical knowledge I feel confident in knowing what I’m doing.

Plus my family is in on this with me. I had to tell them otherwise it would have been a useless journey as I will need their help. I’ll still have to go to family Sunday lunches, I’ll still need to go to parties I’m invited to as well as have holidays roll around like July 4th which will be during my first week.

I don’t think this will be easy but I think it will be enlightening. I'll see how I do this first leg before I make any decisions to move on to another 30 days.

I’ll start blogging daily the moment I start which should be within the next few days.

Lynn

Research On HCG

Okay, I’m not one for fads here nor am I one to do something because everyone is doing it. But this stuff seems to be amazing...too amazing when you think about it. How can anything promise that you might lose a pound a day?

The more I read about this, the more I don’t understand. It is a homeopathic drug. I know and respect homeopathic anything as they should be treated like any other drug a doctor might give you. This has a history attached to it and most fad diets don’t. In 1957, a British endocrinologist, Dr. A.D.W. Simeons started to give his patients human chorionic gonadotrophin. This is the female hormone which the body tosses out in the beginning of pregnancy in the urine. During the pregancy, it is use in various ways.

So, what does it have to do with weight loss? Apparently, this Dr. Simeons used it on some male patients for another disorder entirely and noted they lost weight. Huge amounts of weight. Eventually, the normal medical establishment made him stop defending his claims and using the drug in an unauthorized manner. He was using pure HCG at the time through injections.

Today’s HCG is completely homeopathic and everyone is unsure how it works or why in the weight loss arena. But it does according to a lot of people I’ve talked to and this means I’ve got to do even more research before I just jump in with both feet.

Still, I’m eating right and maintaining my weight even though I’m up there in numbers I don’t care for at this time. I have to do something and I’m not sure what since nothing seems to work.

More on this later....

Lynn

Another Birthday

Today I turn 52 and when one gets to be my age, you tend to reflect a little more than you might have a few years ago.

This year, while it’s been wonderful overall, there have been a few pitfalls. This year, I became a grandmother to two wonderful little boys. They are cut and special and were born premature at about eight months. They arrived in March then stayed in the hospital for almost three weeks after that. It was a special day when they came home and their parents have been spoiling them ever since.

It’s also been a year of some career ups and down but it will come around eventually. Basically, I had lost my spark for writing but it’s been found again and I’m pounding the keys once more.

The final thing would have to be my weight. As all of you know, this has been the year where I said I would commit to losing all this crappy weight which is hanging on my body. But nothing seemed to work and still really hasn’t. I’ve lost one or two or five then gained one or two or five back. That’s not a healthy thing to do but a yo-yo.

But today, I happened to see an old friend of mine in the grocery store. She had been on this same journey as well and even shared it to me. As we stood talking I told her just how good she looked and asked her what she was doing. She told me about this plan which used the homeopathic drops called HCG and then she went on to tell me a little about what it did for her. She lost thirty pounds in about forty-five days and that you could lose a pound a day.

A pound a day?!? Are you kidding? I decided right then and there I would be going home and researching this product.

The best part? She hasn’t been hungry but she hasn’t gone on maintenance yet and plans to soon.

I’ll keep you all posted.

Lynn