Thread: Phase 2: My Journey R1 - daily struggles, successes

Hi Dave & Beth, and greetings from Canada!
I am on VLCD12 and have dropped 16 lbs so far. Isn't this just the greatest?! Loved reading your posts, and you're doing just fine! As for the variances in the cookbooks, I think this protocol has been 'tweaked' over the years, since it's been around since the 1950's, but if you haven't yet, it's always good to read the original protocol by Dr. Simeons called Pounds and Inches, who developed this diet...you just have to google it. I agree that some of us actually save money, myself included, so what I've been doing is being extra good to myself, and eating the best food...organic when I can find it, fresh fish, and grass fed beef. I purchased a beef tenderloin for $100+, which I would never normally had done, and sliced it into 18 100gr filet mignons...they are SO delicious! I think it's also helpful to have a 'reward' at the end to aim for... in my case, I spend part of the winter in warmer climes, leaving mid Dec., so knowing I'll have to wear a swimsuit in a couple of months keeps me motivated.

I've been on a journey to better health for the last 3 months after losing two very close friends in the last couple of years, and have been following a natural health website called mercola.com. It's an amazing resource (by the way, there are many many comments on there from type 2 diabetics who changed their diets/lifestyles, and are no longer on ANY medications)....anyway, it was there that I first heard someone discussing this hcg diet, and that's what brought me here. I am 55 years old, and already feeling much better than I used to! It's up to us to take responsibility for our own health. By the way, kudos to your doctor for encouraging you...most allopathic doctors out there have a hard time thinking 'outside the box' to prevention, and would much rather write prescriptions for our 'ills'. Which kind of hcg are you using? I am using the hhcg pellets...and I know they are working, otherwise this wouldn't be doable on so few calories. Good luck to you and Beth, and I look forward to following your journey!

Day 16: -16.5 lbs, sugar 125.


Reet,

Thanks for the great post. Glad to see it is working so well for you.

When it comes to making changes we are fearful of breaking what is working, so we keep doing what we started with. I emphasize that because I am not saying it is right - perhaps not the "perfect" version of the protocol - but what we understood with the documentation we received.

When you speak of "losing people," this is the time of life we have entered. I am trying to avoid being "one of them," at least as much as it is avoidable at this late date. Seems to be working.

Keep up your encouragement!




Beth is down 16 pounds, just .5 pounds behind me. She struggles with hunger but toughs it out. The problem is that she cannot get herself to eat that 2nd fruit. She really should, and I am nagging her a little (but lovingly ). She is stubborn and will simply do what she has to do.

Today was not a difficult day for us. I still have a little "food in the bank," my 2nd fruit, and did not eat all my dinner. (I have some pan-friend spinach left - fried into a patty and heavily seasoned. Pretty bad, actually. But I will probably eat it. Also a little asparagus.)

Every time I feel the need for gratification, I tell myself that saying, "no" builds character. I admit that I never thought I could actually do this. It has been a confidence builder, frankly. Feeling in control makes me feel like I could accomplish anything.


So, 16 down and a bunch more to go.


Dave

So, today is Day 17. Another day, another 1/2 pound. That was a little bit interesting because it came without the benefit of a, dare I say it? Why not? You ladies speak of your TOM, will... It was without a BM!

There, I said it.

All over this forum I see posts about needing laxatives. Why is that? I mean, we're eating almost all vegetables and we're constipated? I just don't get it. But, alas, it is true.

Usually I am as regular as a clock. First thing, as soon as I wake up, and again just after dinner. But those were the old days. These are the new days and I am far less oriented towards any familiar schedule. There is still one almost every morning, but now "morning" could mean 11am.

On to other things - My blood sugar was only 107 this morning! 107! Why, that is downright normal! Of course, I am still taking two doses per day of my Metformin but two more days of this and I will drop half of that!

If you're readin' this then you must be doin' this. The diet, that is. Stay with it.


Dave & Beth

Day 18 - Woke up to no weight loss this morning, but this was my 6th consecutive day of below diabetic levels! I had been planning to reduce my diabetes medication to 1 pill per day next week but since I forgot to take my 2nd pill yesterday, I decided, now is as good a time as any. So, I'll be anxious to see my sugar in the morning.

This diet has shown Beth & I just how much our world revolves around food. It is only about 99% of our social life!

We both work at home in our online business. We are one of those rare couples who really work well together. I work a very intensive 4.5 day week (M-F) then we have weekends to ourselves. On those weekends, guess what we do? Or, more accurately, used to do? EAT!

Most Fridays have been early lunch out and an afternoon movie. Shopping for the weekend, movie rentals, etc. in the afternoon, then dinner out with friends. Saturday and Sunday, both lunch and dinner out. We live in Reno, the inexpensive food capital of the U.S. Seriously, restaurant costs here are crazy-low compared to EVERYWHERE else.

Of course, what we are famous for here is the great buffets. Forget Las Vegas, where the prices have risen dramatically. Here in Reno, a typical seafood buffet is around $22. Heck, we actually have a buffet here where you can get all-you-can-eat Maine lobster for $26!

Another thing about Reno restaurants are the 2/1 coupons and deals. Both of us can eat lunch at the Peppermill for $16! Our there is Legends Sports Bar where $6 will get you a 1/3 lb burger-fries meal with any drink (including alcohol) on Thursdays.



My point is, that restaurants and especially buffets, WERE a mainstay in our weekly routine. Certainly at the root of the weight problem as well.

This diet has broken us of the eating out habit. I am truly amazed that with the shear quantity of eating I have always done I have handled this diet so (relatively) effortlessly. Do I still THINK of food? Sure. But I do not sit around DREAMING of it. I am assuming that this is part of the impact of the HCG. When I have done diets in the past - like Weight Watchers (which is a very good program, BTW) - there were times when I simply craved a particular meal. Like ribs, or crab, or a thick steak, or... the list would go on and on. I think that ACCEPTING that there are simply things which are off the menu FOR NOW makes it a lot easier.

We have an acquaintance who had a baby about a year ago. She had been a smoker and quit as soon as she found out she was pregnant. (Good for her!) Now, 2 years later, she is back to smoking. I find it appalling that after working so hard to break the smoking habit, she could allow herself to go back!

Part of our re-feeding process will be to institute a system for controlling those crazy almost-binge-eating buffet trips. In other words, unlike our friend with her cigarettes, we WILL NOT allow ourselves to be sucked back into the vortex of calories. We just cannot allow it. We are working too hard at this. (Okay, so it isn't THAT effortless, after all.)

For me, it will be WW's point system, with a serious lifetime restriction on carbs. My days of carbs-carbs-carbs are done forever. I think the WW system will allow me a nice, solid 1,400 calories per day (28 points), while always keeping one eye on the scale. If that turns out to be too many points, then I will reduce them to a level where I can maintain my weight.

Viva Buffets!


Stay encouraged.
Dave & Beth

So, after losing nothing yesterday, I dropped a full pound this morning. Beth did, too and is still a half-pound behind me. She is amazing - just takes it all in stride so easy.

We have not measured since we took our starting measurements but both can see that we've lost. And the great thing is that we're losing it just where we need to! It is very encouraging.

If anyone reading this is (or was ) obese you know what "an apron" is. Well, mine is almost completely gone! This, in less than 3 weeks! I wake up every day excited to see what I have lost overnight.

Today we did a little planning. Our original plan was to commit for 40 days. Now we are not so sure. I want that "34 pounds" that I understand is the maximum we should lose in a round. I started at 282, just 12 pounds below what my absolute high was. If I drop 34 pounds per round and can do two rounds, I will be 214!

Let me tell you a little bit about me. I was an athlete. Always an athlete. As a kid, my typical breakfast was a 4 eggs, a quart of orange juice, and a pound of bacon.

In the military I jumped out of air planes, climbed mountains and broke boards. At age 21 I left the Army and continued exercising. 25-30 hours per week, studying my martial arts. Even then I had an undiagnosed eating problem but I was 195 lbs of solid muscle. All that violent exercise can hide a myriad of eating disorders. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

Then, in my early 30s I got married. My then-wife came with a 9yr old son who was intimidated by me. At the time I was still working out 20 hrs per week and made the worst decision of my life: I decided that the best thing for me to do was to give up martial arts for 6 months. Without all that exercise, I just ballooned! I gained 40 pounds in the first 3-4 months and 70 pounds that year. Martial arts became a thing of the past for me.

Over the next 25 years I gained a few more pounds (as most of us do). I dieted, exercised, lost weight, gained it back. I went vegan for 18 months. Got all the way down to the 220s and let it all slip away when I went back to eating animal protein.

Now, at age 60, I am finally seeing how I can turn back the clock. Not just my body... but my mind as well. This has been a year of "self-renaissance" for me. I have taken charge of my time, my finances, my energy. The only piece missing has been my health.

This has just been a phenomenal year.


Be encouraged! We can do this!

Dave & Beth