Day 41

133.5 lbs. I even had an extra melba toast yesterday! That's the extent of my cheating.

Started researching phase 2 and 3. Phase 2 seems pretty straight forward with just the 500 calories and no injections.

I read in phase 3 that I should keep a journal of what I eat and how it effects me. If I gain, I should determine which food was the culprit. Conceivably, I should be able to eat pretty much what I want, with exceptions. But, I think it is important to figure out how different foods effect you and avoid the ones that make you gain easily. You can find low calorie ways to fix your favorite foods and be conscious of portion sizes while still enjoying the things you like. So much for digging into those jars of peanuts I have.

Also, I need to explore more about which foods have starch. I'm finding things like nuts have a lot of starch. There was even mention of broccoli having starch. Apparently, broccoli is omitted on Kevin Trudeau's version of the hCG diet because of the starch factor. I've had plenty of the broccoli since being on this diet, but I will pay attention to whether or not I lose anything on a day after broccoli from here on out.

All of these little tidbits are useful to note. I really don't want to gain this weight back. I intend to go another round with the hope that I can get to 115 lbs. That would be pretty thin for me, but I think I would like it immensely. I also intend to be better about my relationship with food. This diet has taught me that I can spice up nearly everything and it will taste great. Eating whole and natural foods instead of processed foods with preservatives makes a lot of sense. It wasn't news to me. I just didn't realize how easy it was to incorporate into my daily life. If I could only get my daughter to buy into this notion. She is the opposite of me and struggles not to lose weight!

I'm guessing that I have 3 days of injections left. Maybe I'll be surprised and stretch it out. Or, maybe I'll take smaller doses to make it last these last five days, not counting the no-injection day. The end is in sight!!

Day 37 ~ I'm struggling

135.5 lbs. Last night I really wanted to cheat! I had a whole celery stick with salt instead. My daughter wanted two mini bags of popcorn and I was dying to have some (of my own, a whole big bag like the olden days). I fought it and won.

Tonight however, I have slightly cheated. I had a big lettuce salad (minimal calories, really) and I threw in a small tomato. I had the usual basalmic vinegar and spices galore. Then I had an extra melba toast! OK, so it's not a big cheat, but I feel terrible. I'm going to drink a whole bunch more water and just watch a movie in bed. I have really been very good up until lately. 

Just pulled a pizza out of the oven for the kid and had thoughts of eating the whole thing! What is happening to me? I know this is normal. I should re-read the book to glean any new info. I'll be heading into phase 2 in a few days and I should refresh my memory on what that means. When I run out of hCG that will be the end of phase one for me, regardless of how many days are left.

I messed up counting the number of days left. One column on my sheet had the number of injections and the skip days. Another column had the number of days on the diet. Still another column I put in the date. When I mixed the last batch I counted the number of injection days left (I think) and not the number of days left to equal 40 days of "injections." The diet is actually longer because they don't count the non-injection days in the 40 days. Next time I will be more of  pro at this. Obviously, there is a learning curve.

I am looking forward to all phases of this diet. I hope I don't blow it right off the bat with all the crazy thoughts I've been having. I am also looking forward to the load days on the next round where I can cram in everything I want and missed. That's weird, right?

Day 18 - February 22

144 lbs. Only gained a half lb. from dinner out last night. I tried really hard to be good. I had a salad with grilled chicken on top and basalmic vinegar on the side. There were little pieces of carrot and cabbage sprinkled on the salad that I picked out. I also had two slices of cucumber and one slice of tomato (neither are actually allowed). I saved half of the salad for today. One half lb. gained was not too bad.

There's a little constipation going on (sorry for the too much info here) but nothing that is uncomfortable. Since this diet requires you to drink so much water, that issue should resolve itself.

Day 12

145 lbs. Well, that makes up for yesterday and brings the total loss thus far to 13 lbs. ! This has been a tremendous start to a diet that is not hard to follow. It really makes it easy to stick to the diet when the weight comes off this fast. I would feel so guilty if I cheated at this point. I do have my eyes fixed on the end of the diet when I can eat anything I want (within reason) with the exception of starches and sugars for 3 weeks.

I was reading in the book last night about taking off the abnormal fat of the "disorder." Once this is off is where your body resets its metabolism and you should be able to eat what you want. My new plan of action at that time with regards to food will be a grazing through the day approach. Nutri-System does this also. Yo just eat something light every few hours and then you're not inclined to binge on any one meal. Apparently, the three meals a day plan is something established by modern civilization. Our ancestors ate on the run and only when they were hungry. I'm wrapping my head around this concept and will try to live my life in this vein.

Today was tough. I didn't get to eat dinner until after 7:30 pm. I stuck to the calories, but my day was hectic and long and I'm sure I wasn't able to drink enough water.