Thread: August 2018 - Late Summer Slimmers

Leez, I’m feeling super discouraged and frustrated today. Yesterday was my first day of P3 and I was super careful. For the most part I ate P2 foods and added fats. I weighed 142.4 this morning. That’s a 3 lb gain. So with the 1 lb gain from the 72 hours no hcg (eating POP), it’s a total 4 lb gain in 3 days. I was at 142.8 eighteen days ago, so you can see how depressing this is. Reluctantly I did a steak day today. I did eat a grilled chicken breast at lunch though because I was starving. We took kids to Whitewater today and stopped at Zaxbys, I was really hungry and afraid I wouldn’t be able to make it through the day without something to eat. Hopefully that didn’t mess up my steak day too much. Other than that I only had coffee. I ate a huge fatty steak for dinner and just finished an apple.

Here’s what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast- coffee with 2 T grass fed butter, 1/2 T MCT oil, 1 scoop grass fed pure collagen
Lunch- shrimp salad in lettuce cups and avocado (fresh shrimp I cooked myself, onions, celery, spices, homemade mayo made with olive oil)
Snack- more shrimp salad, 1 strawberry
Dinner- P2 chicken chili (chicken, onion, compliant broth, spices) with 1 T of olive oil, 2 T heavy cream, avocado. I also added sliced ploblano pepper I roasted myself to the chili. This is the only non P2 veggie I added for the day.
Snack/dessert- 1 serving cocoa crack made with raw cocoa butter (about 1T per serving), cocoa, vanilla, xylitol, stevia. Also ate about 10 raspberries

I calculated about 1800-1900 calories for the day. I don’t know if you remember Leez, but last round I had big jump after P3D1 and had to do a steak day. Before that, I’d never had a problem. The only thing different I’ve done last round and this one is going into P3 after 72 hours instead of 3 days after last injection day. I used to do that because that was what I thought was protocol. What am I doing wrong?

Lost 4.2 lbs from steak day. Weighed 138.2 which is .2 lbs lower than actual last injection day weight. If you recall, I had planned on using 139.4 as LIW because of the 1 lb gain over the 72 hours. Leez, no intersection between last P3 and this P3 menu. I was much more careful this P3. Normally I have bacon & eggs for my first meal but didn’t this time. I remember last time also having seasame seeds and toasted sesame oil on day 1.

I think I may have figured out the problem- Cytomel. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before but After racking my brain last night it just clicked. I took Cytomel Saturday morning. I had stopped taking While in P2 for a while. Long story here but about 3 weeks into my round I had a consult with a naturopathic doctor Grammy recommended to review blood work I had done in May/June. She confirmed what I already suspected, that I was having issues with my adrenals and she also said my thyroid was off which could also be impacting adrenals so she prescribed a very small dosage of Cytomel (5mcg) and a desiccated adrenal supplement. I took these for the first time about 21 days into my round. The first day I took the Cytomel I felt phenomenal! I had amazing energy in the morning I had never had before and the next day I dropped 1.2 lbds! I was so excited as that was a big drop for me being 21 days in. One of the well known side effects of Cytomel is weight loss so I figured this was going to be an awesome round! Well, the day after that was when I had the 2 lb gain. I continued the Cytomel, and it took almost a week to lose that gain. At some point I quit taking the Cytomel just because I read in a thread on the forum that some recommend discontinuing thyroid medication while on hcg. I don’t know if that was when I lost that weight or not because I made no connection at that time, remember, I actually had a good loss the day after first time taking so I thought it was helping. I took Cytomel on my first day of P3 so that would be the only thing I can think of that would be different. Last night I started researching Cytomel and weight gain and just my luck, while it’s rare, Cytomel has been known to cause weight gain in 1% of people even though for most it results in weight loss! This has to be it, right?? And probably why I’ve had a slightly worse 2nd half Round than normal! I hope to talk to the doctor today and see what she says.

138.2 today so I definitely think it was the Cytomel that caused the gain on Saturday. I’m also certain it caused some of my problems during the round now, which is real bummer, sigh. Today I will be testing adding in 1 of the desseicated adrenal supplements (doc prescribed two 2 x per day, total of 4). I think they are ok, but I want to be very careful. If weight stays stable I will add in another one in 3 days, etc. until I get back up to 4. Yesterday I ate a few pistachios and cheese as well so far so good with that.

Just wanted to give an update and ask a few questions.

Update: I have lost a total of 28 lbs and am now at 177 (feels good!) – I stalled almost every week on an average or 2-4 days but the stall always broke on its own, except for the first one when I did an apple day to break the stall. When P3 and the 3 weeks is over I am going to do a second short round and see how close I can get to my healthy weight goal.

Questions:

My last dose of HCG will be in 2 days (on the 20th) so for 3 days after that I maintain the 500 calorie diet, correct?

My LDW will probably be locked in at around 177. I used an online calculator to see how many calories I should be consuming to maintain or lose weight. It says 1800 cals to maintain weight and 1440 cals to lose weight. My question is, do I try to hit the maintain calorie intake or the weight loss one. I want to still lose weight but I’m not sure if taking in less calories than the maintenance cals would have a negative effect in this stabilization period. If I had it my way I want to only eat around 1100 cals.

Not sure what to eat on P3. I think I’m going to just increase what I already eat but then add in veggies that I didn’t eat on P2 like broccoli, cauliflower, green peppers, etc. and also add avacados, eggs, coconut oil and some cheese. Does this sound ok or should I be adding more types of food back in? And also, should we be avoiding starchy veggies like peas, carrots, etc?

Sorry for all the questions and thank you!

Originally Posted by justgitterdone

Lost 4.2 lbs from steak day. Weighed 138.2 which is .2 lbs lower than actual last injection day weight. If you recall, I had planned on using 139.4 as LIW because of the 1 lb gain over the 72 hours. Leez, no intersection between last P3 and this P3 menu. I was much more careful this P3. Normally I have bacon & eggs for my first meal but didn’t this time. I remember last time also having seasame seeds and toasted sesame oil on day 1.

I think I may have figured out the problem- Cytomel. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before but After racking my brain last night it just clicked. I took Cytomel Saturday morning. I had stopped taking While in P2 for a while. Long story here but about 3 weeks into my round I had a consult with a naturopathic doctor Grammy recommended to review blood work I had done in May/June. She confirmed what I already suspected, that I was having issues with my adrenals and she also said my thyroid was off which could also be impacting adrenals so she prescribed a very small dosage of Cytomel (5mcg) and a desiccated adrenal supplement. I took these for the first time about 21 days into my round. The first day I took the Cytomel I felt phenomenal! I had amazing energy in the morning I had never had before and the next day I dropped 1.2 lbds! I was so excited as that was a big drop for me being 21 days in. One of the well known side effects of Cytomel is weight loss so I figured this was going to be an awesome round! Well, the day after that was when I had the 2 lb gain. I continued the Cytomel, and it took almost a week to lose that gain. At some point I quit taking the Cytomel just because I read in a thread on the forum that some recommend discontinuing thyroid medication while on hcg. I don’t know if that was when I lost that weight or not because I made no connection at that time, remember, I actually had a good loss the day after first time taking so I thought it was helping. I took Cytomel on my first day of P3 so that would be the only thing I can think of that would be different. Last night I started researching Cytomel and weight gain and just my luck, while it’s rare, Cytomel has been known to cause weight gain in 1% of people even though for most it results in weight loss! This has to be it, right?? And probably why I’ve had a slightly worse 2nd half Round than normal! I hope to talk to the doctor today and see what she says.

Hi justgitterdone,

I am in my 2nd week of P3 and posted quite a bit in this thread from my P2, so I still check in with everyone. Your post caught my attention because I take Cytomel, and am very well versed in treating thyroid issues because I've had to aggressively advocate for myself for about 7 years, due to the fact that most doctors do not know how to treat thyroid disease. Matter of fact, thyroid disease is the most misdiagnosed, and most under treated disease in the US! With that being said, I want to help you.

So first of all, if you have a thyroid issue, hypo/hyper, I'm hypo, you absolutely need to be on meds and be treating your thyroid! Kuddos to your doctor who prescribed natural desiccated treatment and Cytomel! Most doctors will not prescribe anything except Synthroid, which is synthetic Levothyroxine, and the least effective drug in treating thyroid issues. When taking thyroid meds, you also need to address your adrenals (iron is another one), because if your adrenals are shot, or your iron is jacked, you will not tolerate thyroid meds properly. I had to deal with both adrenals and iron myself, so I understand where you are at.

If it were me, I'd try to stabilize, and then absolutely get to working on your thyroid and adrenals. You could be having difficulty stabalizing, because you are in need of thyroid meds. Please don't count out Cytomel though, it is a wonder drug for thyroid and can change your life! Another one to look into is Armour, that is a natural desiccated med, made from pig gland, and if you can take it, it is also wonderful! I think it's important to address your thyroid, because after all of your hard work, you don't want to put weight back on. Trust me, I know the pain of that too. After many runs of trying different combos of thyroid meds, I now take Slow Release T3, Cytomel and a very low dose of bioidentical T4, to treat my thyroid, so I've been there and done all of it!

Some suggestions food wise, try to minimize dairy...it's not good for the thyroid and is inflammatory. Keep it out and then slowly add it back in to see how you do. I would also recommend eliminating all gluten. Gluten also can attack your thyroid and is just not good for us.

A wonderful website to go to is www.stopthethyroidmadness.com I learned most of what I know from them, they are the most wonderful group of people ever, and have literally saved my life through their sharing of knowledge. LOL I have literally read blood work labs, and diagnosed several people close to me because I know my stuff! No joke!

Hang in there and feel free to ask me questions, I'm happy to help. You can PM me too.

Good luck!
Tammy

PS- I took my thyroid meds all throughout P2, and personally, I would never recommend discontinuing thyroid meds, ever. You could have reacted because you started Cytomel while in P2, but going forward, it shouldn't be an issue to continue your thyroid meds while starting another round. You may have to adjust your dose as you lose weight, because your body may not need as much thyroid meds, but that is best tested with the proper bloodwork and evaluating your symptoms. I'm not sure why it's recommended to stop thyroid meds while in P2, i'd have to read more of what is being posted to give an opinion about that.

138.4 today so right at LIW. I took one desiccated adrenal supplement yesterday morning so if weight stays stable for 2 more days I will add another one in. Yesterday I ate a little cheese again, eggs, several different types of nuts, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds (tahini)....so far so good with these foods.

Hi Tammy! Thanks for your post. I spoke to the naturapathic doctor who prescribed the Cytomel and she confirmed although rare, Cytomel can cause weight gain in some. She said it may be because I needed more. Regardless, we came up with a plan. She wants me to stabilize my weight then get blood work for thyroid redone in 6 weeks (she said hcg can sometimes fix problems) and go from there. My iron and ferritin are both good.

137.6, so .8 below LIW. Another good P3 day yesterday! Yay! Really enjoying all the yummy P3 food!

138.8 this morning, so .4 above LIW. I had a feeling I would be up today. I had pork skins last night and think they make me retain water. We’ll see if the scale comes down tmw.