Thread: First time cycling to lose p4 weight-am i doing it right????

Originally Posted by flower

is this how one would use it?

No. Cycling is not meant to be a quick fix for weight gain. Yo-yoing back and forth is never a good idea.

Originally Posted by flower

i wanted to lose the 7.6 i put on and figured that 13 days of vlcd and hhcg would about do it.

Please read through this section thoroughly. The one thing that most are certain of is needing to do a minimum of 23 days (my personal belief is 30 days) to finish the weight loss journey and cycling. The whole concept of resetting ....

Originally Posted by flower

i know i will get posts telling me that i need to find out what i am sensitive to and to add back foods slowly. i plan on doing that. but honestly has anyone stabilised great in that they do not gain again? it seems kind of impossible.

I have. I am actually down a pound from my LIW and have never done a steak day but I did change foods around very slowly. If you think it is impossible then is the plan to do 13 days of shots every 3 months? Please say no because that is not a good plan. You need to figure out what the problem is and I don't think 13 days of HCG is going to be helpful to you in any way for long term success. If anything - you may find the opposite true.

Originally Posted by flower

i was eating eggs every am and i will try not doing that - also i was eating full fat homemade yogurt daily to keep up my probiotics.(i cant swallow pills)
i think also portion control was part of the problem. I wasnt eating many starches in p4, if i did it was gluten free and whole grain and i dont eat sugar.
i have read that one doesnt do cycling as a way to lose gained weight after one is done with the protocol but it is used as a protocol itself.
but since i didnt lose well on correction days and kept going up - what other strategy would have worked?
thanks for any input

The strategy always has to be to figure out what is making you gain. No matter what weight loss method works for you, you have to find a way to maintain. I suspect if you think the issue portion control then you likely know how to move forward to some degree. I would strongly urge you to read the bulk of the cycling threads and see that everyone here is of the mind set that when finishing with cycling it is imperative to do a minimum of a 23 day round and preferably a 30 day round to ensure that resetting process - especially if that has been a problem before. I have been on break since the beginning of the year and have not bounced up and down on the scale at all so it is very doable. I eat carbs, starches, sugars .... the things I can. There a few things I can't have like HFCS so I don't have that. You need to find out what makes your body work or you will be right back here in 3 months doing the same thing again. Keep a food journal and GO SLOW - slower than you think you need.

Good Luck

No. Cycling is not meant to be a quick fix for weight gain. Yo-yoing back and forth is never a good idea.


( I dont know how to do the quote thingy!)

I dont look at cycling as a quick fix , but how does one deal with a 8 lb weight gain? it is too little for a 23 day round, isnt it?
I dont want to end up back there again , beleive me! but I just had to find a way to put on the brakes. I did 2 rounds and lost 38 lbs and that was where I wanted to stay.

btw i do hhcg not shots

You need to go back and read pounds and inches where it talks about how to finish a round even if you have already reached your goal. I believe you up the calories to maybe 800 and continue on p2 for a minimum of 23 days - 30 would be better. People seem to be noticing more stability with the 30 days over just 23. I would again encourage you to read some other threads pertaining to this. No one anywhere on this board is going to encourage, condone, recommend ....(whatever terminology you choose) to go on HCG for just 13 days. It very well could cause you to gain all you lose back and then some - very quickly. I would do some serious reading about this before you choose this path. What you are doing isn't cycling - you are basically doing another round and you need to figure out how to get to your desired outcome so you don't end up here again in a few months. I eat out, I eat bread, dessert, appetizers .... I don't have many things I can't have - except HFCS and MSG. You need to find out what it is that you can't have and figure out how to live without it.

Good Luck

You need to go back and read pounds and inches where it talks about how to finish a round even if you have already reached your goal. I believe you up the calories to maybe 800 and continue on p2 for a minimum of 23 days - 30 would be better. People seem to be noticing more stability with the 30 days over just 23. I would again encourage you to read some other threads pertaining to this. No one anywhere on this board is going to encourage, condone, recommend ....(whatever terminology you choose) to go on HCG for just 13 days. It very well could cause you to gain all you lose back and then some - very quickly. I would do some serious reading about this before you choose this path. What you are doing isn't cycling - you are basically doing another round and you need to figure out how to get to your desired outcome so you don't end up here again in a few months. I eat out, I eat bread, dessert, appetizers .... I don't have many things I can't have - except HFCS and MSG. You need to find out what it is that you can't have and figure out how to live without it.

Good Luck

thanks for the info- i will do the reading- but i do dread doing more time in p2-because i lost a LOT of hair after my 2nd round. Each hhcg round was about 52 days which i understood was not going to cause immunity like the shots.
i think the hcg hormone effects are part of the reason that hair goes into a resting phase. I do realize there is an infinitesimal amount of hcg in there but it alerts the brain just like the real thing. that is how homeopathy works.
so i am afraid of being on it more time for that reason-although i do understand what you are saying.
i am taking biotin and hair nutrients and herbs but the hair loss was non stop and a lot for 3 straight months.
i have thin hair to begin with and i ended up burin Joan Rivers Great Hair day to cover the scalp that was showing through.

Originally Posted by flower

thanks for the info- i will do the reading- but i do dread doing more time in p2-because i lost a LOT of hair after my 2nd round. Each hhcg round was about 52 days which i understood was not going to cause immunity like the shots.
i think the hcg hormone effects are part of the reason that hair goes into a resting phase. I do realize there is an infinitesimal amount of hcg in there but it alerts the brain just like the real thing. that is how homeopathy works.
so i am afraid of being on it more time for that reason-although i do understand what you are saying.
i am taking biotin and hair nutrients and herbs but the hair loss was non stop and a lot for 3 straight months.
i have thin hair to begin with and i ended up burin Joan Rivers Great Hair day to cover the scalp that was showing through.

I guess you will have to weigh the risks but there are lots of people that have gained back all the weight they lose and then some from not staying on the minimum of 23 days. I guess you have to pick your own poison.

Originally Posted by flower

i have read that one doesnt do cycling as a way to lose gained weight after one is done with the protocol but it is used as a protocol itself. but since i didnt lose well on correction days and kept going up - what other strategy would have worked?
thanks for any input

For another idea, consider the Leptin Reset (here in the Leptin forum/category), which many people are finding helps tremendously with stabilization in P3/4.

a leptin reset....yes i have read about it and i have done some reading on it and it fits me---i have been so guilty, beating myself up about the gains while trying very hard not to eat starches and dairy to a great extent. I will have to reintroduce them more slowly next time, i do now realize.
many years ago i did atkins which eliminated a lot of vegs, carbs in the beginning and i got a whopping case of gout. so i need to balance all of this. i also have an autoimmune disease which is adressed by the leptin information-so i may try doing this. i feel there is a peice missing in why i am gaining (albeit very slowly) and i do feel it may have to do with another hormonal issue.
thanks for that idea.
not all of us fit into tidy boxes --do we?? LOL