Here I am!

So, I'm not really sure where to start, as it's been almost forever since my last blog post. I never intended to leave you guys hanging. I attempted a blog post a few weeks ago, writing it out in hand, to post here, but time escaped again, and things have changed even more so that what I wrote was old news. How can I keep up with myself to keep you guys updated with the trials and errors in my journey to being thin? I guess the answer would be to blog everyday, but I did that once before and I just don't want to do it again. lol. Maybe I will post a short weight/measurement daily, since I keep track of that anyway, and will share anything special that comes my way, including but not limited to recipes for the different phases of the HCG diet.

I have been dreading this post because of the diet I mentioned that I was on last time. I knew that this post would be an extremely long, drawn out and defensive post, trying to explain everything, and I don't want it to be that way. There is SO MUCH info out there (seriously, just google "HCG Diet"), that there is no way that I can site everything, and take you on the same journey that I went on. I did read all of the negative articles as well and just did what I felt was right for me (I started off being very skeptical). So, that being said, if you don't have anything nice to say, I'm sure I have thought it as well. This is my decision, and I know a lot of you won't approve, so if you don't like it, I would appreciate you just not saying anything at all. Thank you in advance :).

Let me start by saying that since my last blog post, I have lost another 16 lbs (down 29.2 lbs total). I am on a second round of the diet that I mentioned (The HCG Diet). I did the first round for 23 days, then did the maintenance phase (aka phase 3--the phase that resets your metabolism) for the same amount of time, and now I am on my second round of phase 2.

People that don't understand this diet or who think they know this diet based on the little info most people get hung up on (the low calorie part) call it a cannibalism diet and/or a starvation diet. Shoot, when I first heard about this diet, I was so extremely close minded to hearing anything about it that I thought the same.

I can't remember what made me read about it, but I'm glad I did. A friend of mine mentioned that she was doing it, and I was very skeptical. I looked it up and it just went from there. I think I first read about MamaClok on youtube, and saw her progress, and just started googling it from there. I then stumbled upon the original protocol written by Dr. Simeons, a British endocrinologist, read what other doctors/clinics were saying, THEN I found out that my hubby's uncle and aunt were both doing the same diet, but through a doctor, and I felt better and was sold. Uncle B has been struggling with his weight for some time and doing this diet, with his doctor, he lost 59 lbs in 6 weeks! His wife, Aunt L, did just as well, averaging about a lb a day. People all around me are doing this diet, and seeing results AND are maintaining (there are peepz that have gained it all back an then some, but it's because they strayed from the protocol on phase 3 and let it get out of control), so I figured it was worth giving it a shot. If I felt bad, or dizzy, or hungry, I would stop. I never felt any of those things, so here I am.

The thing that got me with this diet was reading that it resets your metabolism. I have had a feeling, since right around the middle of last year that there might be something wrong with my metabolism. I worked my butt off in 2009 and it didn't make sense to me that I only lost 30 lbs. Don't get me wrong, that's great, but with all of the work I was putting in, and my weight (I'm obese) I should have lost more. My hubby said that he had never seen anyone work so hard, and lose so little. I have lost that in almost 2 months now and when I am not taking the HCG, I can eat 1500 calories and still lose weight. That's the way it's supposed to be (for my weight). That was HUGE, because it meant to me, that my metabolism had reset. Before this diet, I would eat 1500 calories, and nothing would happen at all.

I figured 23 days wasn't going to kill me, and if it would reset my metabolism, then it was worth it. The side effect of trying to reset my metabolism ended up losing almost 30 lbs. If it were cannibalism or a starvation diet, I would be in a hospital due to electrolyte imbalance/malnutrition (and so would everyone else that has done this for multiple rounds), I would be dizzy/nauseous everyday, my hair would be falling out, I would feel extremely hungry and weak, have no energy and I wouldn't be losing weight. Being in starvation mode makes your body hold on to what you do eat. You wouldn't be losing an average of 1lb a day. Yes, you'd lose weight eventually, but not right away. This diet doesn't eat away at your muscles. It eats away at your adipose fat cells. If it did, my body fat percentage wouldn't be decreasing weekly. I was dreading this post because I don't want to explain everything that I spent months researching and it kind of seems like I'm going in that direction. People also try to account the weight loss due to water weight, like we aren't drinking enough water, but you are supposed to drink like 90 ozs of water daily, so that's not the case.

Anyway I am doing this round for about 40 days, and I hope to be down into the high 150's-160's by the end of Phase 2. Then I will start round 3, which is eating enough food to support your new weight, without the HCG, and stay at that weight within +/- 2 lbs for the same amount of time that you did phase 2 for. If I am happy there, then I will stop. When I am done losing weight, I'm going to screw it all up and have a baby. I just don't want to be obese and have another one. The first time I got pregnant, no one knew I was pregnant because I was so big. This time, you will know. For sure.

One of the other reasons that I like this diet, is that I know what I will be eating everyday. The protocol is very clear in what you can eat and what you cant, and that makes the food part of my life very simple. I also have a different relationship with food. On this diet, food means nothing to me. I don't eat it becuase it makes me happy, and it doesn't represent anything in my life. That is awesome to me. Serving sizes also mean something now. I mean, they did before, but I weigh everything I eat, and at the end of the day, its just so rewarding. I see the benefits the next day which makes being motivated that much easier. Who wouldn't be motivated to lose weight, seeing the number on the scale drop every single day. Sweet!

So to honor what I said at the beginning of this post, here are my stats. I use an iPhone app called hCG app, and it tracks all of this for me.n All of these numbers are for my current round (my 2nd)...I started round 1 at 215.

Day 15 on Phase 2
wt: 189.6/-9.2 lbs (starting wt 198.8--round 2)
bust: 40.0/-2.5" (round 2 start: 42.5)
arm: 11.0/-1" (round 2 start: 12)
waist: 34.8/-4.8" (round 2 start: 39.5)
hips: 43.5/-3" (round 2 start: 46.5)
thigh 21.0/-2.5" (round 2 start: 23.5)

How can I argue with these results. If you have questions, please feel free to ask. I wont comment to anything negative. I know how crazy this diet seems, but 23 days didn't kill me, and 40+ more days wont either. I also plan to go to the doctor when I am done, so that I can prove that all is well.

I hope everyone is well. Sorry for the silence. I think about blogging everyday, but I just didn't know what to say because it has been so long. It's like one of those friends that you talk to every day for a long time, and then just stop, for whatever reason. The longer it goes by, the harder it is to say something, and then what do you say? lol.

I can do this. I am a star.