Yikes!
A 2.5 pound gain in one day, that’s eye opening. Contributing factors are a combination of items I ate/drank, workout soreness from Sunday catching up with me, lack of water and lack of sleep equals a 2.5 pound gain.
I definitely feel bloated, too, so I’m hoping lots of water and getting enough sleep tonight will help even things out. Gotta get to work early today, so no workout.
Well, I pushed the envelope, and not in a good way.
I started adding back carbs, especially sugar…specifically candy at work!…a week early. And I’m paying for it.
In the last week I’ve gained back 3-4 pounds, and my belly feels bloated. It’s certainly not the same shape it was 2 weeks ago! Once you start eating more food, that’s going to happen, but this is different, and I actually don’t feel right.
So, I need to do some real protein days and extend the low carb phase out another week. I’m not sure exactly how that’s going to work, but that’s what I’m going to do.
I’ve been holding pretty steady at 153.5 for the past few days. Some days I’ve been up to 155, but I’ve been able to come right back down to 153. Now I seem to have attracted that .5 pounds!
I was asked the following question today so thought you might enjoy reading my response below:
Did you decide to stop because you reached your body's stopping point like (some) people have been talking about? OR did you just decide this is where you wanted to stop for some other reason?
I stopped because I've been working the hcg diet for about a year and a half, on and off, for a total of 55 pounds. I've had rounds end up a bust because I gained back almost everything and had to re-lose weight; luckily that was within the 10-12 pound range. I learned a lot about myself during this year and a half, and I don't think I'm done in this area.
One of those realizations, and I still struggle with this, is that my body isn't, and won't be, perfect, no matter how much fat I lose. During this round, and even the last one, I got hungry near this weight even though I still have fat on my abdomen. So, either I accept the fact that I will still have fat on my tummy no matter what, or maybe realize I didn't have enough determination to get past this point. Maybe both. Now I have to learn to be OK with that!
Ultimately, I decided that I'm tired of the restriction and the intense focus. I'm ready to move on to the next phase of eating normally, while still maintaining healthy habits. I'm now much healthier than I was and that was my main goal. Fitting into size 12/14 doesn't hurt, either! I've had a ton of support from my hubby and he thinks it's time to stop and I have to listen to that, too.
After this next year's efforts (roughly) I'll make another assessment and see if I need or want to do another round after that. The year has a host of possibilities! I'm very determined to maintain my weight!
Well, I’ve been busy with my husband’s surgery and the holidays and just neglected to write anything about the last days of the diet. Suffice it to say that I wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t ever get below 151 pounds, which I’m OK with if I don’t gain it back! My goal for a max weight is 155 because I don’t feel good at more than that.
Now I’m in P3, the carb-only phase, for the next 3 weeks. Make that the next 2 weeks, since this week has already gone by!
This past week I’ve fluctuated a bit, back and forth between 153 and 155. Part of the fluctuation can be attributed to eating some carbs when I’m not supposed to, but it really depends on what type of carbs they are. Fruit, specifically oranges and apples, have been OK, but brownies are not. Hmm, go figure, right? 
I’ve done protein days, with lots of water, when I’ve gotten to 155 and has worked to get me back to 153. I also seem to be having problems eating blue cheese dressing, but that’s not terribly surprising with all of the food sensitivities I have.
It would have been nice to get into the high 140’s, but I was hungrier the last couple of weeks and ate more calories; maybe I not as determined as I needed to be to push through that. It’s been a long journey and I’m tired of dieting. I want to move to a more normal life of eating and exercising because it’s healthy for me to do so. Now I feel good about myself and don’t have the extra stress on my body with all of that extra weight. That doesn’t mean I don’t still have work to do, mentally, emotionally or physically, or can lower my guard. These new habits and feelings of self worth are fragile and need reinforcement.
I still have fat on my belly, which I detest, and it’s still round. Some of that comes from powerlifting, where I pushed against the belt and trained the muscles to have a concave shape, and some of it is hereditary. I’m hoping that exercise, Pilates specifically, will help re-shape my abdomen so it doesn’t stick out so much. I’m also hoping that my body will adjust and re-distribute some of the weight as time goes on, but I can’t imagine where else it would go! I’ve got measurements to check against, so that will be interesting to see in the next 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.
One change I made on this last round is that I ate more calories at the end, and my weight pretty much stabilized in the low 150’s during that time. I’m hoping that by doing this I will help my body stabilize at this weight permanently; it’s where I am now. This approach is not what is prescribed in the protocol, though, so it will be interesting to see how this differs from the other rounds.
In total, I’ve lost 55 pounds since I started getting rid of the extra weight. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But in this Year of Eleven, my special year, I’m taking this as the start of something great.
No, I didn’t follow protocol yesterday. More than likely, I won’t lose any more on this round. I’m really ready to stop, all I keep seeing, everywhere I look, are CARBS!
And this started before my friend brought dinner over!
I decided yesterday, that I should return the pan to my friend with something in it, so I made brownies, with added chocolate chips. Yes, I licked the bowl and ate some of the chips…and even included some peanut butter from the snack I’d made my hubby.
For our dinner, my hubby wanted to make oven baked chicken breasts. He uses soy flour for the coating, so it’s low carb, but not protocol. After I ate my fish and veggies, I decided I wanted one of those, too, so that was extra fat and protein; I removed the skin and the breading, of course, but it was pretty oily.
I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get into the 140’s. I’m OK with that, as long as I stay in the low 150’s, and since I have experience with gaining back up to 155, I’m nervous.
I’m hoping my maintenance plan comes through for me!
I knew I’d be up, but I couldn’t resist.
My friend texted me that she was bringing dinner over for us, as the neighborly thing to do since my hubby was recovering from surgery. She brought beef stroganoff, apple crisp and yeast rolls. I didn’t have any of the rolls, but I had plenty of everything else!
There was a lot of love in that food.
Finally back to my lowest weight!
All it took was following protocol…duh!
With everything that’s gone on, I’ve considered stopping early. But then, I’ve only got a few days of injections left and I’m only a couple pounds away from being in the 140’s, which will give me the buffer zone I’ve been looking for. I’ll have achieved my goal.
That’s sort of scary. No excuses anymore.
My body isn’t perfect, either. I do not look like any of the Bond Girls. There’s still fat there I wish wasn’t. Maybe that will change shape, which is probably, or actually disappear, when I start working out, which I’m not counting on it.
But it’s all about me now, no covering up, nothing to protect me.
I think I’m OK with that.
