Day 16

Weighed in today at 217.8lbs! its nice to see some kind of drop now. I went to Trader Joes today to get some stuff for my mom and i, and i have to say it was fun! I have never shopped there with the intention of getting really healthy foods, so it was a breath of fresh air. Great produce and so many other things that i can't eat, yet, but will be able too once i reintroduce starches and sugars and carbs into my diet.
My mom is having some gas/colon problems as of late and she's trying to change her diet to be healthier and by eating gluten and dairy free. She obviously won't only eat gluten and dairy free since thats very difficult but i'm proud of her for wanting to make a change. I think that maybe God gave her these unbearable gas problems (that seriously last all day and hurt her immensely) so that she could finally get the gumption to finally change her lifestyle.
Still feeling good and going strong. Even wanting to exercise now! I'm excited to exercise in the future because the more i work out, the more i can eat and let's face it, i love LOVE food!
Miss A gave me some "Miracle Noodles" to try, i haven't tried them yet but they seem cool! They're 0 calories, gluten and dairy free, made of a japanese plant. I've heard the consistency is kind of weird but i think by the time i finish this diet, the lack of real noodles in my life will make me forget the difference.
I went to Miss A's party last night and really didn't have a problem not drinking. I had a lot of fun conversing and hanging out with good friends and i didn't feel left out or weird sitting there sipping on my coffee and eating strawberries and an apple. It was hard watching people eat delicious snacks but it wasn't anything i couldn't handle. I even got a red cup and filled it with water to drink instead of alcohol so i blended a little more. LOL :) My friend Sarah told me i looked happy, content and practically glowing! I definitely feel happier as a whole and i'm much more content and optimistic. I look at it as, i took the time to get to know myself and work on my interior, now that i feel confident and content in that aspect, i'm working on my exterior to match!
Bought some filet beef to try for the first time in weeks so i'll give you a report of how it goes when i make/eat it in a few days. I'm a little nervous i might gain but i'm going to make sure to cut all the fat off and eat the right amount. It will be nice to eat red meat for the first time in a while! Plus, Trader Joe's meat selection is way cheaper than Safeway so i felt better buying it there. Trader Joe's is definitely becoming a new favorite!

Till Tomorrow..
Lady C

Day 15

woke up to being 218.4 lbs :) going to party tonight and gonna try my best to not eat or drink anything i'm not supposed too. i'm about to go to the supermarket to get food because i don't have much left, i'm so lazy though! ugh haha i keep running out of ideas for recipes.. i need to find out how to make my own taco seasoning so i dont have to buy the packets, since i don't know if i can have them or not. not much else to report, just very busy and working along. i'll have more insight and stuff to talk about tomorrow!

Lady C

Day 14

woke up. same weight. found this new app on android called Noom where you calculate calories, record workouts and more! it's a really advanced app compared to the other ones that i've tried. it even records driving as a workout which kind of boggled my mind. I also got my kettlebell in the mail, i apparently got a 10lb, i thought i got 5lbs but 10 is better! i tried it out a little bit and so far so good! its fun and and i can feel it working.
Tomorrow is a party at Miss A's and i'm a little nervous about eating enough and staying away from temptations and cravings. i think ill bring an apple and strawberries and eat one of my meals beforehand. since i'm staying sober i can easily drive home when it gets late but i only have one meal left to eat of left overs so i'd need to cook at some point tomorrow which totally sucks. this is when i miss going out for food.. lol
oh well, i'll make it through!

Till the morning..
Lady C

Day 13

Today i weighed in at 219.6lbs! nice to finally break the 220's barrier. maybe my plateau is finally going away..
Today is my mother's birthday and we were supposed to go out to dinner to celebrate, but now she's claiming she's in pain and doesn't want too. Maybe tomorrow will be better. I'm a little relieved as i wasn't sure what i was going to eat at the restaurant. I could have had a lean steak and some green beans, but lets face it, no restaurant makes good green beans. hahah Plus i would have had to watch everyone eat their amazing salads and potatoes and ugh i'd def want. But no worries because i know i'm strong enough to say no :)
I realized last night as i was obsessing over my frustration with the drops not lasting the amount of time they say, that i was really obsessing over the desire to have lost enough weight to have been under 200lbs. I need to realize that losing weight fast isn't normal and even after this is over i still have a lot to lose with diet and exercise. What i'm hoping is that doing hcg will help these good eating habits of cooking and eating lean meat and good veggies and such will actually become habits. They say it takes 1 month to create a new habit and a month to break one. By the end of hcg it will have been over 60 days, so i'm hoping the habit will be ingrained enough for me to be able to handle controlling cravings on a daily basis and eating right.
I think when it comes to exercise and eating right, i tend to do better when i have an objective. Like with this diet, i dont wanna screw it up and gain weight so that mentality keeps me on track, but what about when im not on it anymore? i'm going to be reintroducing starches and sugars back into my diet and that can be scary. I need to stick to my daily calories, work out 5 days a week with some kind of program that has a start and an end date like the 30 day shred, and learn to choose healthier options. like sugar free frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, or healthier coffee beverages. I think the exercise program with a "30 day" type of deal will definitely help me because it has a deadline. once that program is up i start another one, but in the beginning i need a target objective, or i just get bored and stop.
What i'm most nervous about right now is messing up this cycle of hcg. I know i'm doing everything right on the first phase, but the 2nd phase makes me nervous. I plan on exercising in the second phase, but that is the phase we are supposed to stabilize our new weight to train our bodies to maintain healthy weights. The problem is that i can only eat meat and veggies and fruit and not starches or sugars. How am i supposed to eat 2000cal + to maintain my weight plus some that i'll exercising off by only eating super healthy foods? i'm going to be eating 24/7! I dont see that happening. I'm not going to worry if i continue to lose weight in the second phase, because i'm still remaining healthy. It's not like i wont still lose weight once hcg is completely over with! I still need to lose a good 70+lbs. I need to learn to exercise, and i want to do it now while i still have the momentum going off this new healthy eating lifestyle.

I hope i'm doing the right thing!

xo
Lady C

Day 12

I am so frustrated right now because checking the scale confirms i havent lost any weight. in fact it keeps fluctuating between 221-222lbs.. i suppose my TOM could be coming and that could be why but its so frustrating following this diet exactly and seeing no results. since the pdf says you could lose more inches than pounds i took to the measuring tape.


my measurements today vs when i started:

July 16 2011

arms: L- 15in  R- 15in

neck: 14in

bust: 37in

waist: 36 3/4in

hips: 45in

butt: 50 1/4in

thighs: L- 30 1/2in  R- 30 1/2in

calves: L- 17.9in  R- 17.9in

Today: July 27 2011

arms: 14in

neck: 14in

bust: 36in

waist: 35 1/2in

hips: 45in

butt: 48in

thighs: 30in

calves: 17 1/4in

its nice to see some kind of real results happening, even if its not on the scale. 

Last night i bought a 5lb kettlebell and jillian michaels 30 day shred on amazon. Hopefully the use of the two will help catapult me into a healthier state in phase 2 :)

wish me luck!

Lady C

Day 11

Didn't sleep much last night as i had to get up early for a shoot today. The shoot went great! I was able to take my drops all day and munched on strawberries until dinner time when i had some time to eat. I'm currently figuring out the rest of my night.. i think i'm going to sleep earlier than usual and reorganize my to do list in the morning. I'm concerned cause my drops are about half gone already, which really really sucks.  i suppose i have about 10-15 days left of it and i wanted to do this vlcd phase for the full 40 days. I suppose i'll see when the drops run out what my weight is at. If i'm not down below 200 maybe i'll try and buy Miss A's drops if she decides not to continue or i'll just move on and try and lose more on my own after this cycle. The weights not coming off ass quickly as i anticipated but i suppose thats for the better. I dont know, i'll see what happens.

I'll keep you updated on my progress tomorrow :)
Lady C

Day 10 Dinner

Here are some step by step instructions with pictures on how to make my latest favorite dish, Baked Lemon Chicken with Yellow Onions and Tomatoes!

Ingredients:
3 med yellow onions
5 vine tomatoes
1 large pack of chicken breast (cut all fat off and cut into bite sized pieces)
lemon juice
lawry's salt
garlic salt
lemon pepper

Cut all onions and spread across pan.

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and spread on top of onions.
Season with spices and cover in lemon juice.

Add 1/4 cut tomatoes on top of chicken and onions face down.

All cooked after 18 minutes in the oven at 375 degrees!

Finished and ready to eat!

Check out my Personal Recipes Post for more details :)

Happy Cooking!
Lady C

Day 10

The days seem to be flying by almost! My body is finally adjusting to the diet and it is much easier to follow at this point. My weigh in today was 221.2lbs down 1lb since yesterday and finally breaking free from the weird water retaining of the past few days. Hopefully its all good from here on. Tonight i'm going to make another batch of the delicious lemon chicken with yellow onions and tomato, it was such a nice treat from broccoli, i think i'm totally sick of it. I don't often need much variety in my food but after a week or less of the same thing i do need something new.

Today i thought i'd share the vitamins i'm taking everyday along with this diet to ensure i'm not losing any nutrition and i'm staying healthy. Not sure if i should take these after this diet is over, i know its often just "expensive urine" as Sheldon Cooper calls it, but i feel like they've helped me thus far!

Anyways, not much else to report. I'll keep you updated!

Lady C

Day 9

So i finally got some sleep.. a lot of sleep! Now i feel energized to take on all my projects! Which i'm excited about since i have some stuff to sew and a limited edition accessory line i'm working on. Weighed on the scale today and i'm back down to 222.2lbs which is a definite drop from yesterdays random gain of 224lbs.. still not sure why i'm registering to have gained from the previous days when i've had no deviation from the program at all, but i'm sticking to my initial theory of water weight. Hopefully it subsides by tomorrow. i'm not entirely worried as i feel smaller, so perhaps i'll see the most loss in inches, but i'm still hoping to be under 200 by end of this phase 1.

Not much news otherwise. I'm hoping that my determination in acquiring a healthier lifestyle will inspire my mom and other people who need help. She's oddly losing weight despite eating flamming hot cheetos and junk most of the time but her body and stomach always hurt, so hopefully she'll latch on to my healthier eating habits.

i'll keep you updated..
Lady C

Day 8 Dinner

Changing it up tonight with a nice stew of a meal. Lemon chicken baked with yellow onions and tomatoes! My grandmas idea :) delish!

My Personal Recipes

My Personal Recipes all calculated out for future reference! Cook all recipes in mass amounts for family or leftovers. Calories are calculated in servings.


Lemon Chicken with Broccoli - 279 cal
Mexican Chicken with Homemade Guacamole - 546 cal
Filet Mignon with Baked Potato - 375 cal
Baked Lemon Chicken with Roasted Onions and Tomatoes - 268 cal
Barbeque Chicken with Brown Rice - 470 cal
Albacore Tuna with Heirloom Tomato and Avocado - 485 cal
Tomatoes baked with Parmesan Cheese - 132 cal

Day 8 cont.

Weighed myself at around 12pm and it told me i was 224lbs. if that's true i'm up 2lbs from yesterday. I'm not taking it seriously though because i didn't stray from my diet at all and i haven't slept so i haven't had those 8-10 hours of no eating or drinking to rest on. I kind of feel like i'm retaining water as well and after reading the "Pounds to inches" PDF again, it said after 4-5 days water retention and fluctuation in women is going to happen but should flush with a few days and return to normal.
I just finished a nice shower and did some research on MSM.. i'm going to go hunt down some today and implement it into my daily vitamins. I'm going to get some for my mom as well because it has sooo many different benefits to your body and among the many physical benefits i'm hoping for it also is supposed to help carpal tunnel and arthritis which my mom needs. If you don't know about msm i suggest you google it and check out the benefits! Hair growth, better skin, better longer nails, skin elasticity, scar tissue healing, etc.. Let's see if it lives up to the hype.. :)

xo
Lady C

Day 7 & Day 8

So my sleeping schedule is worse than ever. It's currently about 9am and i still haven't slept because i didn't wake up until 5pm yesterday. I'm considering starting my day and making the best out of staying up. I really need a semi-normal sleeping schedule, or at least one where i fall asleep while it's still dark.

Yesterday i weighed in at 222lbs even. That gives a total loss of 6.8lbs in 5 days. I'm feeling more positive and optimistic about things and i'm not sure if that's the effect of me taking over my diet or the food itself. 

I ended up not going to the family party as my mom had a back spasm and couldn't pull it together to go. I was somewhat relieved only because i didn't have to be confronted with my cake cravings! haha 

I'm a little nervous about staying up all day because i'm not sure if the food i'm eating will give me the right amount of nutrition to have an active day. I personally think that's what Miss A has been dealing with, as she has encountered dizzy spells and such while at work. She is much more active on a daily basis than i and i don't think the calories were enough for her to function being as active as she is. I know from experience that on days where I get up early and work a full day even if its just on the computer, being up for so many hours makes you extremely hungry. If i sleep in to about 12, i don't notice the hunger near as much throughout the day or night. Is it something about morning? hmm..

I decided to get up today and look up healthy recipes to try on and off this diet. i posted them in the previous post. So far there are some GREAT websites out there with good ideas. A lot of them are making me realize that if i sub certain things or eleminate certain elements from meals or just eat smaller portions of my favorite meals, than the meals i love making aren't bad at all. I personally prefer fresh ingredients over canned stuff so i'm going to try and sub those out when i attempt these recipes. Still on the lookout for some healthy pizza recipes! 

I'm excited for the future and optimistic. I realize now that i'm going to have to cook a LOT in my future in order to eat well and thrive in my daily diet. i wish more restaurants and fast food places would make legitimate healthy meals for reasonable calories because i LOVE going out! I just don't love eating 1,500 cal fajitas at Chevy's when i could eat 300-500cal ones at home that taste better! Sure there are some limited healthy choices at Applebees and Chipotle and even some sushi places aren't bad if you get the right things but you have to hunt for those options.

Once i finish HCG completely i'm going to start a 1,500 cal a day eating plan and a daily exercise regime to keep things going. I know i can lose the rest of this weight on my own and i want to lose it the healthy way so i don't have a ton of excess skin or anything going on! haha 

Not sure if i'll stay up all day like i hope, we'll see how my body feels. Hopefully i can hold off until noon or so to weigh so i can get a somewhat accurate daily weight. Either way.. i'll keep you posted on my progress..

Positive Vibes!

Lady C

Healthy Recipes To Try

Here are some healthy recipes i really want to try! :)
Great Recipe Sites to note: 
http://www.readyseteat.com/
http://www.eatingwell.com/
http://www.cookinglight.com/
http://www.sparkrecipes.com/


Sugar Free Lemon Sorbet
Sugar Free Strawberry Sorbet
Summer Tomato Vegetable Soup - 2 cups for 119 cal
Easy Chicken Fajitas - 2 fajitas for 402 cal
Spaghetti with Chunky Tomato Meat Sauce - 1 &1/2 cups for 457cal
Cheesy Ravioli - 1 & 1/4 cup for 323cal

Day 6 cont.

Just finished a delicious meal and even made more chicken for the next two days. I finally understand why so many skinny people think food is so delicious even when its just something small! Everything tastes soo good when you can't have much of it. Strawberries are like sugary drops of heaven and lemon chicken is to die for. It's really crazy how over the past week i've gone from not appreciating the food i had to stuff my face with on the loading days, to thinking everything i'm eating is so delicious i actually have to say it out loud after i finish eating! I FINALLY understand why my aunt Eileen and other family members love family meals so much.
Tomorrow is a family birthday party and since i don't want to go off track, i'm bringing my own food. Hopefully that doesn't offend anyone, which i don't think it will, but i am dreading having to talk to them about this diet. I'm considering just saying i'm on a diet and wanted to be careful instead of explaining HCG and everything. I know they're gonna chime in with the "500cal is too low" thing. To be honest, i'm so stoked to do this 500cal thing because it's showing me that i have more willpower than i ever thought i could! I feel empowered by taking control of my diet and learning to appreciate the other things in life i can indulge in that aren't food.
Anyways, back to today..
Since i cooked i measured out the raw chicken in a 1/2 cup (which equals 4oz.) and separated the servings in the pan to keep the portions together so i could measure it again once it was cooked and compare. What i found was that 4oz raw = 4oz cooked. Now maybe thats not the same on a weigh scale, but in cups it is. When i have a scale to use i'll see if theres a difference. However, i'm so stoked off this because that means i've been eating the right amount of protein and i don't have to eat less!

Here are images of my chicken measurement experiment:

I originally went to the grocery store today looking for naturally flavored gum but i didn't end up finding it :( what i did find was that some altoids are made with all natural flavoring, so i bought a box to check it out but in the end found out it had sugar in it and i cant have that. bummer. oh well i'll look for Glee gum later on. I did however find great strawberries and asparagus! I've been looking for asparagus for DAYS but didn't think anyone had any since it's out of season but Lunardi's had it! YAY! Well that whole experience lifted my mood a bit. I'm having a hard time staying focused on work but i'm not sure if its because of my mood, diet or shear laziness. Hopefully i can shrug it off after the dinner party tomorrow and get some serious work done for my fabulous clients. 

Wish me luck for tomorrow! I have to resist delicious foods and cake! My biggest craving at the moment is cake! UGH. So send me positive vibes!

xox

Lady C

Day 6

I know Miss A is having a hard time with this VLCD, physically more so than mentally, so i support her no matter what she decides to do. I am a little scared though to be doing this on my own if she decides to quit.

Today i weighed in at 223.4! Thats a loss of 2.59lbs since yesterday. Thats probably the accumulation of two days though considering i think having too much salt the day before yesterday made me retain water. Yesterday i was really really REALLY good.

I find myself searching for some kind of tasty treat every night as i watch tv or a movie before bed. I think i'm going to go on the search for sugar free gum made with natural sweeteners like stevia or whatever. I'm not really supposed to have aspartame which is in almost every sugar free gum/mint, but it can be used in moderation if it doesn't effect the diet. I don't really feel like taking a chance so i'm going on the hunt for Glee gum. 

I'm starting to wish i could fast forward about 25 days or so, so i can be on phase 2 of this thing and eat a regular amount of calories again.. but i do want to get as much out of this as i can.. my goal is to be about 190lbs when i finish this. After this cycle i don't think i should do hcg again. I might take that back eventually but as far as i'm concerned right now, i'm determined to stick to eating healthy and exercising. Eating 1500 calories a day of healthy food with occasional treats allotted in my daily calories and a good exercise plan will work wonders. I personally don't think its safe to really exercise on the VLCD part of this diet.. i'd probably pass out and i'm not willing to take that chance. I'll start exercising again when phase 1 is over and i start phase 2 where i can eat 2000 cal of healthy food a day to maintain my weight. 

A lot of people keep giving me the same old story about how i shouldn't be doing this diet because 500cal a day is too low and hcg isn't fda approved(well it is but not for weight loss).. i totally understand where they're coming from, 500cal is too low! The fda thing i don't really care about, they let so much shit slide and let us put such crap into our bodies that they approve so i don't exactly take their judgement as priority. Most people think i'm doing this to lose weight fast and get fast results without working too hard, but i'm not. To be honest this is extremely hard! I'm doing this crazy diet to jumpstart my weight loss and retrain myself to eat healthy foods. I take vitamins every day, eat my daily amount of protein and even have melba toast each day to get some carbs in my system. Yes, 500cal is ridiculous and practically starving but i don't feel starving. Once the first phase of this diet is over i'll be eating healthier than most people in my family, maybe healthier than my aunt sue! (she is by far the healthiest most athletic person in my family) 

I'm a little off my game today emotion wise.. i'll let you know how the rest of the day goes later on..

Till then..

Lady C

Day 5

Day 3 of the VLCD diet and i'm starting to adjust. Last night my hunger got the best of me and i ended up using way too much salt on my dinner. Woke up this morning and weighed myself and i only lost .4lbs. Oddly enough, i weighed after i took my first drops and i was down another .2lbs! Considering i have been weighing after i take my first drops each day i should weigh after my first drops every day. i'm now 226 lbs even.
Taking my drops 1-1 and a half hours before eating helps the meals feel so SO much more satisfying. I also had some strawberries today and that was quite a treat since i've been eating leftover chicken and broccoli and apples  for the past two days. Once this chicken is finished i'm going to measure it out before and after its cooked to see how much i can eat when having left overs. i forgot to do that before i made my first batch so i'll fix it in a few days when these leftovers are gone.
I figured out 4oz is half a cup, which is the amount of meat i can eat each meal. I dont have a mail scale to weigh my food, and to be honest i cant afford one right now either, so i'm using cups to measure my food since my kitchen scale is TOTALLY off.
I found out through Miss A that the veggies need to be measured raw so i bought some raw broccoli stocks today and cut them up and measured them before cooking. I found out that 2 cups of raw broccoli is equal to one stock and when cooked that makes 1 and a half cups. That helps a lot for when i wanna have leftovers of cooked veggies.

This is my lunch for today. 1 and a half cups of cooked broccoli, 1/2 cup of chicken and strawberries!

Its possible 1/2 cup is too much chicken but i'll correct that when i weigh and measure it out next time i cook a new batch! Until then i have a couple days left of leftovers. I cant believe how long leftovers last when i can only eat 1/2 cup at each meal! 

I'm also cutting back on the salt intake today and drinking more water to flush the excess out of my system so my body will stop retaining so much water. 

My energy level is getting higher, i definitely don't feel as weak as i did the last two days. 

I'm also feeling so much more hopeful for my health in the future. For the first time in any diet or in my life, i feel like i'm taking control of my weight! It's a great feeling. I find myself distracting my mind from food, trying to make it not as big of a role in my life. I keep reminding myself "well i cant have chocolate but i can listen to whatever music i want! i cant have cake but i can wear and buy whatever shoes and clothes i desire.." As long as i don't obtain a shopping addiction after this i think i'll be in full control.

I am nervous, however, that when i am able to reintroduce sugar back into my diet that i wont be able to resist little treats. Sure i can have it if its within my daily calories but i'm nervous that little treats will turn back into bad eating habits. This is definitely going to be a major change for the rest for my life! A mental change more so than physical. 

Send me good vibes! I need them!

xox

Lady C

Day 4

So far I haven't been up that long so this post is more about late Day 3 and early Day 4. I woke up and weighed myself like i'm supposed to every day and i already lost 2.2lbs. i went from 229.2lbs to 226.6lbs in one day! thats nuts! i certainly was not expecting that. if thats what i lose in a day i wonder what i'll be at in a week!
Last night the hunger did kind of get to me. I didn't overeat but i did end up eating my melba toast which i wasn't planning on eating, but after thinking about the lack of carbs in my diet, i figured it was better for my system.
I did find 2 issues though that i need to figure out how to fix. 1. i forgot to weigh the chicken BEFORE i cooked it so i had to eyeball the 4oz (which is the size of about a deck of cards). 2. i wasnt sure if i had to measure the veggies before they were cooked or after! i ended up measuring them after and i feel that even though it looked like a lot, it was a moderate helping. 2 cups can be a lot of veggies! and i kind of doubt that eating one or two more pieces of broccoli is gonna throw off my diet! lol
So i may not find myself being as strict as the plan is, being that i used more lemon than i should and possibly ate a couple pieces more of chicken, but the amount i'm eating is still way less than i had before and i know its hitting 500 cal. hence why i'm not worried.
Anywho, now i'm on day 4 aka day 2 of the VLCD stage of HCG and so far so good. i've taken my drops, taken my vitamins (b-12, vitamin c, calcium) and now i'm ready for my daily coffee and some delicious lemon chicken and broccoli!

i'll keep you posted!
Lady C

Day 3 - Stage 2 of Phase 1

Today was the start of the very low calorie diet (VLCD) stage of phase 1 and so far its gone great! I ended up gaining .4lbs (so i'm now 229.2) from the fatty loading days of the first stage, and let me tell you, i ate SO much! It was hard to eat that much! My problem was never eating a lot of food, it was eating the wrong foods. Smaller portions don't bother me so the food on VLCD part of this diet is going well! At least so far, i don't wanna jinx it!
Unfortunately my sleeping schedule is extremely messed up! i went to bed last night at 5am and woke up on and off between 3 and 5pm.. I have no idea how i can sleep so much but i can! When i got up i took my drops, bagged up all my junk food and took it to my mom telling her to hide it. We had a long talk where i tried convincing her that a secret shopper thing she was gonna do was a scam, once she finally listened to me after i googled and found a ton of info supporting my theory, we finally got to the original issue at hand, the shopping list.
I went grocery shopping by myself and had to shop for everyone, not just me. It was fine, i wasn't tempted when buying bread or cheese or anything but i have a feeling i wont be able to do that in a couple weeks when i'm really into this diet. After buying a crap load of groceries and being disappointed by the lack of asparagus due to the fact that its out of season, i went to starbucks to get my new drink, a venti iced americano. Once i got home my mom graciously made dinner while i took my 2nd drops and put everything away. We ended up making excess broccoli and chicken so i could put it in storage bins and put it in the fridge for later.
Since my schedule is so messed up ive been taking my drops when i wake up, then again around 8 or 9pm and then the last ones around 12am. i'll work on getting my hours back on track so i can make that a little more normal, but so far its working well! I guess the proof will be in a week or 2 when the results should really be showing.

Definitely need to start walking each night with my girl Miss A as well :)

Til Tomorrow,
Lady C

Day 2

Today is my last day to eat whatever i want before i start the 500 cal a day diet tomorrow. I have to practically force feed myself, it's making all food taste mediocre. I'm worried i'm gonna miss this food tomorrow but i'm optimistic that the healthy food will make me feel so much better that i wont miss the fatty foods near as much. I'm more concerned at this point with getting rid of the food. I don't want to throw it away but i don't know if my mom or friends will eat it.
The drops don't tingle under the tongue anymore, and after asking Miss A, she confirmed that hers aren't either so i suppose its normal.
I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow to shop for the week and my Mom is even on board to eat the same types of foods and cook them in advance for a few days. I'm SO happy i can still drink coffee, it helps suppress the appetite and i can still go to Starbucks! I just have to switch from my usual nonfat iced caramel macchiato to a cafe americano or a straight up plain coffee since i cant have dairy or sugar.

Tonight my goal is to finish the food i have and get some sleep.. wish me luck for tomorrow! Time to officially start my journey..

xo
Lady C

Day 1

For the first two days of the HCG program, you need to eat as much fatty foods as you want to store up energy for the month of 500 cal days. I started taking my drops today, as the program states and even bought an HCG app for my phone to keep track of my progress and such. So far so good. The drops don't taste as bad as i thought. You have to hold a 1/4 of a dropper worth under your tongue for 5 minutes 3 times a day and not eat or drink 15 min before and after. The holding it for 5 minutes part is kind of a drag because you have to distract yourself from the build up of saliva and the temptation to swallow before the allotted 5 minutes is up. It tingles a little when you take it but its not bad at all. I bought b-12, vitamin c and calcium vitamins to take after tomorrow and i'm planning my shopping list for the week ahead. I'm a little bummed to think that i wont be able to drink or party with my friends hardly at all anymore, but i'm not a big drinker as it is so i don't have a problem being sober at parties. 
Since i can eat whatever my heart desires, i'm trying to eat whatever i can think of that i love for the last time. Its as if i'm going to be executed tomorrow and this is my last meal! its hilarious! Weird thing is, now that i'm thinking i can eat whatever i want, i don't want near as much! i think the "you cant have this because its fattening" mentality causes a huge amount of rebellion in me that makes the food taste better. Either that or the food companies are changing their recipes and everything tastes SO over processed! I had oreos the other day and it wasn't the same. They must have changed their recipe because its not near as creamy and delicious as it was when i was younger. But hey, now i don't miss oreos! haha
I'm starting to think i wont miss as much fatty foods as i thought. Sure i'll have cravings and miss a bunch of foods, but i like healthy foods! Maybe this wont be as hard as i think..


Till Tomorrow,
Lady C

Starting HCG

My bff Miss A and i have known each other since middle school. We have both struggled with weight our whole lives and now that we are in our 20's, we have decided to take charge and change our lives. Today we're starting the HCG Diet. After years of counting calories and trying numerous diets that i either couldn't stick too OR worked and then i gained it all back, i'm finally ready to take the plunge and change my lifestyle for good! I know why i eat, its usually because i'm bored. I love the taste of food, i'd rather eat than drink, but i need to eat the right foods to FUEL my body instead of just run it. 
For the first 2 days of HCG, Miss A and i can eat whatever we want while taking the drops. Starting Monday we are beginning the rigorous 500 calorie a day diet of veggies, lean meat and fruits. Good thing i love those foods so it shouldn't be too hard taste wise, it'll be the amount that's difficult, but we've both joined a facebook support group and so far the feedback is that the drops take care of the hunger. Hopefully thats the case.. i'll keep you posted. Below are my before pictures and measurements.

Weight: 228.8 lbs

Height: 5'6

BMI: 36.8 (estimated)

Shirt Size: XL

Pants: 18/20

Measurements:

arms: L- 15in  R- 15in

neck: 14in

bust: 37in

waist: 36 3/4in

hips: 45in

butt: 50 1/4in

thighs: L- 30 1/2in  R- 30 1/2in

calves: L- 17.9in  R- 17.9in