Jen’s Hcg Diet Journal – Week 2 Journey & Experience

Welcome to my Hcg Diet journal, week 2. So, as a recap, I’m now on week 2 of my “baby weight be gone” Hcg Diet Journey.  I had an interesting week 1, and as usual, it was different than any other round I have done in the past. No surprise there since all rounds are different.

Read about my week 1 journey on the Hcg Diet here.

My week 1 results:  I lost 7 pounds in week 1, and 5 inches from my waistline.

My Hcg Diet Journal for Week 2 of Phase 2

June 5, Day 8 on Phase 2

I was so excited to measure and see what my total losses were for the full 7 days… and woke up to an early menstrual cycle and all the water retention that comes with it.  Oh the timing!  I measured anyway, and in that first week on phase 2, I lost 5 inches on my waistline, and just over 7 pounds. I am really pleased, because I can tell this was “flab” & stubborn water-weight going bye-bye.

I also had a revelation…. that “icky feeling” I was having during week 1… well, I have to apologize to the Diet Doc coaches for blaming it on their overly-potent Lipo shots and ultimately reducing my dosage.  I now know it was actually the coffee I was drinking that was making me feel “off.”  I don’t know if it was the brand, or if I have just developed a sensitivity to coffee (As I mentioned last week, I only drink coffee on the protocol really) but man oh man, it sure made me feel awful now.  So as of today, I am taking Dr. Rao’s recommended dosage for my lipo again (50 units) and I feel great.  I’m did increase my Hcg yesterday, just to test and see if it would make me hungry (a lot of people feel hunger on Hcg if their dosage is too high) but I actually feel LESS hungry at 175iu than I did at 150.  I will see if there is any change with the added lipo today, and adjust my Hcg dosage (back to 150) if I feel hunger.  Just as a side-note, I’ve been using vitamin injectables (HGH peptides, Lipotropics, and B12) for quite some time, and like any veteran, you will see that it kind of becomes instinctive to know if/when to adjust your dosage.  I do however, appreciate having access Dr. Rao (at DietDoc) or another supervising physician in case I have any questions or concerns. I also appreciate having Grammy and Leez, along with the other Hcg Diet veterans in the Hcg Diet Forums to ask for input there as well and highly recommend this if you are new to the diet.

So, warning to the boys… girl talk coming up!

Since my menstrual cycle decided to come early, I’m a little bummed I don’t have “accurate” weight loss (scale or measurements) for my first week.  I mean, I tend to gain quite a few pounds at the start of my cycle (up to 8 pounds) so I have no idea if my scale and measuring tape would have shown better results.  Oh well, no bigs.

A little more about the foods I’ve been eating…

So I’ve been pretty good about sticking to the original Hcg diet foods list, but a few days, I definitely went over my 500 calories.  Most of the additional calories were with vegetables, and while this is more carbs, I didn’t see any issues with my losses.  I even had avocado one night, when I was feeling awful and busy blaming lipo instead of the coffee that turned out to be the real culprit!

I’ve definitely removed cottage cheese from my protein options (I’ll leave that one to the vegetarian Hcg Dieters) and oranges from my Hcg diet fruits.  While they don’t stall me exactly, I have a feeling they really slow my losses.  On the other hand, I found that a quick squirt of coconut oil cooking spray, didn’t hurt my losses at all. Again though, this was a VERY quick squirt.

I tried St. Croix flavored mineral water… I love their watermelon! Again, I didn’t see an issue with my losses and it was nice to have something other than regular water, tea, or that dreadful coffee that made me feel wretched.

June 6, Day 9 on Phase 2

Exercising on my Hcg Diet…

I’ve had some interesting revelations about exercising on the protocol.  First, let me say that I had a very successful round at the end of last year, where I lost 26 pounds overall.  (You can read about this here: Jen’s Hcg Diet Plan.) In that round, I exercised pretty consistently.  This time however, I took it really easy during my first week for a few reasons: 1. I wanted to see what a normal POP (perfectly on protocol) week would do this time.  and 2. because I wasn’t feeling well from that daily coffee.  and 3. because I was fixing my forums and sitting at my computer for 19 hours a day (kind of rough to make it to yoga class on 3 hours of sleep, ya know?)  So, I was pleased to see that even without the diligent workout routine, my first week’s losses were still good.

For anyone new, I would recommend chilling during the first week anyway, while your body adjusts to the 500 calorie VLCD menu, and the Hcg hormone.  I still believe in being active on the diet; meaning, going for daily walks and anything that encourages circulation. Not only does this help with your weight loss and metabolism, but it’s a great habit to start NOW  (you know that saying, “when would NOW be a good time?” 😉 ).  I am also a huge believer in yoga and highly recommend starting your phase 2 with a few simple poses.  This always does wonders for me; physically, mentally, and then some.

June 8th, Day 11 – week 2, P2

I’ve tried 2 days with diet coke (aspartame-city) since I am asked about this often.  I was not too surprised to see that I was stalled.  This was with 1 diet dr pepper one day, and 2 diet cokes the next.  Aspartame-city = stall city.  While I didn’t gain, the stall cost me an estimated 1 lb of lost fat, which is quite irking.

June 9th, Day 12 on P2

I had an interesting few days, including my first real cheat.  I had intended to keep it as a “smart cheat” and test the effects (how I felt, how long it took to recover, etc)… well, it turned out to be a not-so-smart cheat, followed by a “surprise eating out event.”  So, my cheat: I had carefully monitored sushi, including rice and about 4 pieces.  I followed this with strawberries and lite whipped cream… that turned out not to be so lite. It seems hubby bought fat free instead of sugar free (pffft boys) and I cannot believe I didn’t check the ingredients. Normally, I’m quite the diligent label checker but this time, I just didn’t catch it.  So, my smart-cheat, turned out to be an, “omg I just had how much sugar???”

Today, I was traveling to see my uncle, and for the first time in 10 years, I got a flat tire! AND I was stuck waiting for AAA at McDonalds, instead of closer to my Uncle’s where I had a well-planned POP (perfectly on protocol) lunch waiting.  Well, after carefully reading through the options at the kiosk, I chose a breakfast bowl with egg whites and turkey sausage.  I ditched the cheese, and asked for extra spinach. Then gave my son the turkey sausage.  I’m always suspicious of fast food, so I can’t be 100% sure there were no fillers, sugar on my spinach, or even if my egg white was real, but I like to think I made the best choices possible.  We will see how tomorrow’s weigh-in goes.

As of today, I am down just over 8 pounds.  I’m pleased with this, considering there were 2 days with no losses because of the cheat and sugar debacle.

By the way- the results from my cheat?  2 days of no real loss, but the worst part was the psychological aspects.  It wasn’t depression over the losses, but instead, there were 2 days of temptation to cheat again, and it was constant.  I could see very easily how a simple, one time stray, could lead to falling off the Hcg Diet wagon.  The other thing I noticed… after I was about 3 bites into the cheat, there was really no satisfaction and it was pretty easy to slow it down, and put it down (on the plate.)  Honestly, in hind-sight, the cheat wasn’t worth it- it wasn’t satisfying overall, and the snowball effect of feeling the carb and sugar cravings again, along with that tiny little voice in the back of my head saying, “just one more cheat bite.”  I can honestly say it is far more satisfying and easier to NOT CHEAT on the protocol.

With that said… I’m still planning another off-protocol experiment and that’s alcohol.  I’ll be trying that in the next few days, once I see my body is losing again.

Day 13, P2, Week 2

My adorable little 2 pound yorkie passed away this morning.  This was heartbreaking for my entire family, and especially my big bad Marine dad, who has bonded with “Tiger” since shortly after reaching stage 2 of alzheimers.  It’s a sad day… but looking on the bright side, my mother had recently adopted a fluffy little shihtzu named Gracie Lu… Dad has already taken to her and I’m so grateful she is a comfort to him.

See Week 1 of my Hcg Diet Journal here.

Read my blog here: Jen’s Hcg Diet Blog