Day TwentySix

Today I was able to completely zip up a skirt that I haven’t been able to zip in years.  And, it wasn’t tight!!!  This almost drove me to pull out everything in my closet and try it on.  Whoa there nellie, not just yet.  Have to admit though, the thrill is almost intoxicating.  One of my girlfriends remarked that my pants are hanging off my butt today.  Yaaaaaaaay!  The stress level at work has dialed back to a 5 on a scale of 10 and I don’t have those cravings for chocolate cake with fudge frosting anymore.

I took a look at the amount of weight that I’m losing and realized that I will probably reach my goal weight before hitting day forty.  Deciding whether to stop at the goal weight or continue losing until day forty was easy.  Keep going until day forty to see how much you lose.  Your body automatically stops losing weight when it feels that you have reached it’s optimal weight.  I’d be happy with 135 pounds but lets see what my body wants to weigh.

Since tomatoes are allowed on phase 2 of the protocol I’ve taken to making marinara sauce with tomatoes fresh out of my garden.  The difference in taste is amazing!  I pick as many ripe ones as possible, dice them, add whole fresh garlic cloves to taste, a little basil, thyme and oregano, a dash of sea salt, one packet of stevia and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.  The sauce thickens on its own and, when the garlic gets nice and soft I crush the whole mixture with a potato masher.  Let it simmer for about 20 minutes more and it thickens up a bit more.  MMMM, low calorie, no fat and lots of flavor.  I put this stuff on almost everything- chicken, shrimp, you name it.  Since I’m originally a New York girl, I had been craving Italian sausage with onions and peppers and a little marinara.  But alas, only one vegetable at a time while on protocol.  So, the onions and peppers were omitted.  I spread the home made sauce over turkey Italian sausage and was in heaven.

What food have you been craving that you could make healthier?

Weight: 144

Breakfast: green tea and 2 ounces of chicken breast

Lunch: Turkey Italian sausage with marinara

Snack: an apple

Dinner: Cod fish with snow peas

Day TwentyFive

Hello all you out in HCG land. Last week, a woman by the name of Phyllis Cronbaugh left a couple of comments on my blog.  She also gave some great advice about diet and stalls.  Phyllis writes the HCG4Less blog and has been on several rounds of the HCG protocol for a loss of more than 75 pounds.  Her site is a wealth of information, recipes, sage advice and great humour.  Take a look at http://hcg4less.wordpress.com .

Anyhoo, Phyllis suggested that I increase the amount of protein in my diet in order to get over the plateau I’ve been on.  Good suggestion!  Also, no more cheating!

Today’s stats…

Weight: 145 (only 10 pounds from my goal)

Breakfast: green tea, two small chicken fingers from boneless skinless chicken breast

Snack: strawberries

Lunch: Halibut with asparagus

Snack: an apple

Dinner: scallops with broccoli

Day TwentyFour

I’ve been talking to some other HcGers and the topic of stress came up.  Normally, stress makes us retain and even gain weight by raising the cortisol levels in our body.  Cortisol can add fat deposits to the lower abdomen, slow metabolism and and increase the desire for fatty and sugary foods.  When you are stressed do you reach for a salad or a pint of Haagen Dazs?

The past two and a half weeks have been highly stressful for me at work.  My team is in the throes of delivering a project and the closer we get closer to the delivery date, the higher the stress level goes.  12 to 14 hour days have been common and, to add insult to injury, there have been two deaths in my family.  I attribute my increased craving for carbs to the stress caused by these events.  Bad carbs = belly fat and slow metabolism plain and simple.

I have about one more week to go of this highly stressful environment only to jump into another one.  I’m studying to take the Project Management Professional exam in early August and that exam has one of the highest failure rates of any certification exam in the world.  oh nooooooooo, no stress there!

The best thing to do is increase cardio exercise (be careful to stay away from lifting weights at this point), meditate on a regular basis, and try to keep calm.  As a reward for all this turmoil, I’m going to a quiet cabin in the mountains in August.  Let’s be one with nature.

Weight: 146

Breakfast: green tea and turkeyburger

Lunch: green salad with tomatoes

Dinner: chicken breast with asparagus

Day TwentyThree

I am stalling and I don’t like it.  Since it’s Saturday, I’ll take the opportunity to cleanse by drinking Smooth Move tea which is a light, herbal laxative.  Wanna start the week off squeaky clean ha ha.  I’m also increasing the amount of daily cardio exercise.  That may help jump start my metabolism.

Weight: 147 (not digging this at all!)

Breakfast: none

Lunch: Protein shake

Dinner: Turkey burger and bok choy

Exercise: 15 minutes on a spinner bike

Day TwentyTwo

Maybe it wasn’t the red meat entirely.  I had pork loin and red meat two days in a row and didn’t lose anything.  I think I need to go back to my chicken breasts,  turkey burgers and halibut.  My body has been successful in losing weight on those.

Weight: 147 (I gotta get out of this rut)

Breakfast: green tea and strawberries

Lunch: turkey burger and salad

Dinner: Halibut and bok choy sauteed in half teaspoon of coconut oil and lots of fresh garlic

Day Eleven

Happy 4th of July to everyone! I hope today is a day of celebration, good food, good drink for you. Of course, I’f you’re on the HCG protocol, I also hope that you are able to stay on track with all the delectable eats that are probably coming your way. Just stick to veggies and chicken and take the skin off. You’ll be fine.

Around here there will be BBQ ribs, potato salad, cole slaw, macaroni salad, chicken, cornbread, etc. all the stuff I’m not supposed to eat. But, my resolve is ‘glued to the sticking place’ to mess up a famous Shakespeare line. I will have chicken with no skin and no sauce (lots of sugar) and I won’t drink any alcohol. I’m determined to lose this weight and will not mess up the losses I’ve made so far.  To keep on track I’ll keep a bottle of water on hand at all times to make sure I don’t get hungry and to reduce any cravings.

This morning I weighed in at 147, one pound less than yesterday. I’m only 12 pounds from the goal of 135! If I’m really disciplined today, I can drop another 2 pounds. However, I’m watching Paula Deen and she just made the most incredible symphony brownies with ice cream, chocolate chips and crushed candy bars… It’s time to turn off the TV or go back to watching HGTV instead of the Food Network.

Oh Lord, someone just walked in here with a Red Velvet cake.  Pray for me y’all!

Today’s Stats:

• Weight: 147, loss of 1 pound from yesterday
• Breakfast: strawberries and green tea
• Lunch: grilled chicken breast and salad
• Dinner: grilled tuna steak and asparagus tips with Molly McButter

Day Ten – 25% of program completed

Well, we’ve reached a milestone.  I am 10 days into a 40 day HCG protocol and it feels pretty good.  My first round of 23 days a few months ago, garnered a 13 pound loss.  I am hoping to get down to 135 from 156 this time.  this morning I weighed in at 148.  WOOO HOOO that’s a 3 pound loss from yesterday!  Even with my cheating the last few days I managed to regain control for a loss of 8 pounds in 10 days.  The next 10 days, I plan to do much better.  But, even if I continue to lose at this rate I will reach my weight loss goal by the end of 30 days.  Not bad.  I’ll still continue and complete the 40 days.

My weight loss goal for the next 10 days is 9 pounds.

I am going to incorporate a larger variety of protein and vegetables into my diet.  So far my mainstays have been Turkey burgers, chicken breast and steak on the protein side, and brussels sprouts, spinach, salad and turnip greens for vegetables.  Let’s add tuna steaks, halibut and lobster and green beans and cauliflower.

It’s Sunday and I will grocery shop and plan my meals for the next 10 days.  I will also draw 10 syringes of HCG to have them ready when I get in the morning.  Today’s grocery list looks like this…

• 2 pounds of ground turkey
• 3 tuna steaks
• 2 pounds of halibut
• 1 ribeye steak
• 1 lobster
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 pound of fresh green beans
• 1 bunch of asparagus
• 1 package of frozen brussels spouts

Not all ground turkey is good ground turkey.  I prefer ground breast which is 99% fat free.  Jennie O makes good ground turkey.  Also, try to stay away from canned vegetables.  Very often, canned veggies have additives and additives like sugar and high fructose corn syrup can wreak havoc on your HCG results.  I prefer fresh vegetables, however, frozen will just as well.  No matter what you do make sure you read the label carefully.  I will also weigh my portions and cook today and put everything in labelled baggies.  This convenience measure makes it easy to just grab what you need out of the refrigerator as you walk out the door.  It also helps you stay restricted to approved foods.

Here are today’s stats:

• Weight: 148. lost three pounds since yesterday, 8 pounds since starting the protocol
• Breakfast: apple
• lunch: grilled tuna steak with green beans
• Dinner: diced lobster with Molly McButter (not on the approved list but what is lobster without butter flavor) and asparagus

The next 10 days are going to be Awesome!

Day Nine

I spent a quiet Friday night alone to get re-centered.  After meditating, reading and taking care of myself last night I woke up Saturday morning with a renewed sense of purpose, energy, vitality and optimism.  My situation at work has not been completely resolved but it will be.  The issue with my man has not been resolved but that’s OK too.  Today is about getting back on the plan.  I’ll also go see my HCG Protocol Specialist, Sabrina Lee RN.  I could use a Lipotropic Vitamin B complex shot.

If you’ve never had a Lipotropic Vitamin B Complex shot you might want to try them, even if you’re not on the HCG protocol.  It is a mixture of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, L-Carnitine and other amino acids that really boosts energy.

So, after doing 5 loads of laundry, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, vacuuming most of the house and straightening up the family room I went to go see Ms. Sabrina for my shot.

• Weight: 151 – yeah, I figured that would be the case.  Didn’t lose a pound
• Breakfast: Nectarine
• Lunch: Turkey burger
• Dinner: Steak and turnip greens
• Water: 12 glasses

Yeeeeeaaaaaaaah baby!  I’m back on it.  Rededicated and recommitted (or perhaps I should be committed).  See you tomorrow.

Day Eight

I told you… After yesterday’s debacle I didn’t lose a pound.  In fact I gained a pound and today wasn’t much better.  Still a bad day at work, still the same issue with my man.  OK, today is the last day that I allow myself to fall into this hole.  I have a goal to attain and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let my job or significant other get in the way of losing weight.  I need to regain control of my situation and get back on track.

• Weight: 151 – yep, I gained a pound
• Breakfast: none
• Lunch: none
• Dinner: turkey burger with spinach
• Cheat: 4 chocolate chip cookies……….  Again

As you can see, my emotional eating escape is chocolate chip cookies.  Well, no more… I’m removing them from my presence.

Today is Friday.  I’m glad to get home (didn’t leave the office until 10:00 PM).  Tonight I’ll take the time to meditate, regroup, replan and get back on track.  I am committed to getting down to 135 pounds no matter what!

Day Seven

OK, today was an absolutely terrible day at work.  Everything seemed to go wrong at the same time and I had an issue with my man.    I’m sure my cortisol levels were off the charts so I wasn’t hungry at all.  I didn’t drink enough water, had coffee with too much half and half in it and only ate dinner.  But the most destructive thing I did was have a real glass of dry red wine when I got home.  This was the kiss of death to my weight loss.  I know I’ll be heavier when I weigh in tomorrow morning.

Not a good day, fell completely off the wagon, but I have to tell the truth so you’ll know what to expect. Here goes.

• Weight: 150 – same as it was yesterday
• Breakfast: none
• Lunch: none
• Dinner: a steak with tomatoes
• Cheat: Coffee with too much half and half and sugar (bad, bad, bad)
• Cheat: 4 Chocolate chip cookies (kiss of death)
• Cheat: 1 large glass of dry red wine (are you kidding?)
• And, I didn’t drink nearly enough water today…

I think I’ll go meditate.  It’s been a bad one.