momof2boys

First of all hello and I wish all of you much success in your own journeys. While doing this I always wondered what happens next and never really found answers as most people seem to drop off if they are not doing multiple rounds.

(you can skip my story and go down to what I did and what worked and what did not work far below)

my story: I have always been between 142 and 146 even after kids fast forward to last year when I hit 38 years old. Something happened and I got sick....tired, extreme hair loss, could not function and was mis diagnosed with a thyroid condition. I was put on medication when It ended up being adrenal fatigue and after some serious vitamins, sleep and knowing I'm not superwoman and giving in to myself, the 15 pounds I gained in one month on thyroid meds did not come off. ( I was only on meds for 3 months)

Like many of you I'm sure approaching 40, I would diet and lose a pound a week, go out for a cheat piece of pizza and gain 4 pounds which would take 4 weeks to come off! It was crazy how my body was retaining water and just holding on to it. I know I was gaining real weight too because my stomach looked like I was pregnant. I was getting that horrid thing woman get in their lower abdomen right above pelvic bone.... The hormonal pouch...yuck. What was happening to me?

I saw a neighbor who looked fantastic Nov 2011 who flat out told me she did HCG. I was appalled...what a dangerous stupid fad diet. She was an idiot in my eyes. Intrigued to find out more about this silly fad diet (and honestly a little desperate) decided to do more research on the diet. I started researching in December 2011 and by March 2012 I had enough information under my belt that I decided to give it a try. I was so desperate at this point to get those flipping 15 pounds off.

Loaded March 2012

P1 was fun but surprisingly hard to eat fat like that.

P2 was actually really really easy. Was never never hungry and never had to break a stall (I think). The shots started to get harder towards the end because I kept nicking veins. But amazing my hairless stopped.

P3.. I was ready to eat. What a lesson...sugar is in EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! I just started making things from scratch because it was hard to find things with no sugar. I did not have any issues with allergies to foods and did not have to do a steak day (I think..maybe one) I lost 17 pounds in p2 and dropped another two pounds but stabilized literally at LIW well into p4. Continued to reshape. Also learned about food and how much I should be eating. 1200 calories isn't going to cut it for me..it need to be at least at 1800 on a non workout day. I also introduced probiotics and digestive enzymes...oh I love those

P4 slowly introduced carbs and sugar here and there. (We should now be in June 2012)

Every time I ate nachos or piece of cake at this point I would yes gain a pound or two, but would snap right back to LIW. This went on until August.. Oh no Hairloss...help me, this is really bad. clumps and clumps. Some bald spots up front..yikes. Maybe this was not such a good idea, actually HCG sucks. I can't believe I did this I'm not going to have any hair left. My hair won't style anymore it's so thin. Oh we'll lesson learned.

Fast forward to October, I seemed to have forgotten some golden rules and went below LIW because I would eat 800 calories one day and 3000 the next and was exercising daily. Hairloss stopped and I mean stopped. Holidays 2012 are a blur but I'm still holding on at 1 to 2 pounds over LIW so what do I care? At this point I have forgotten everything I have learned and am pretty much eating like crap everyday around 1000 calories. I'm too busy. There are days that I eat more but generally I eat so little. I also rarely take my probiotics and digestive enzymes. Water? What's that? I only drink coffee alllllll day long....bad bad bad

It's now Jan and Feb 2013 and I'm noticing extreme weight fluctuations and some inches gained back. oh boy.. Need to get my eating in check... Go back to the rules.

We are now in March 2013 and I am 5 pounds over LIW and have gained 1/2 of my inches back. Maybe not bad to some of you, but I have lost sight of everything that this protocol taught me and now I'm having these violent weight fluctuations. So here are my list of do's and dont's
And yes, I will be doing HCG again in the coming months, not really a vanity round (but will be nice) but more to learn how to eat smart again. This protocol taught me so much about food and my body.

1. Read pounds and inches
2. I mean it, read pounds and inches
3. I used all special cosmetic products during P2
4. Use probiotics and digestive enzymes if you need them.
5. Drink water
6. Have a plan if your busy...pre weigh foods and plan meals through all phases.
7. Weigh yourself everyday
8. This diet fixed my violent weight fluctuations.
9. I did strenuous training sessions and nothing dropped weight off me like this.
10. I don't believe I lost muscle...if I did it was minimal (I am muscular and would have noticed)
11. Hairloss...it might happen, it will stop. It's just a matter of when and how much hair you lose. ( I took biotin during all phases and continue to take it.)
12. You will feel amazing because in my opinion nothing ever worked like this... It totally reshaped my body.
13. You must have a support system..the boards here are great.
14. You are going to gain weight and inches if you go back to eating crap. Stop the cycle.
15. Be mentally prepared and take all phases slowly.
16. Coca crack is really some sort of crack and there should be rehab for it. (Go to p3 food **** if you don't know what it is.)

I wish you all the best of luck....you are worth it.