I finished up a round earlier this year as those who follow me know. I also had a really good phase 3 where I finally figured out some things. But I am not quite where I want to be weight loss wise and my wife really wanted to lose a little more. So we are trying something new. We are doing a 2 week round. I really don't have that much more to lose and a 2 week round sounds like a perfect deal for us. I am in now way suggesting this is the way for everybody. I still think if is important for early rounds to be as long as possible (minimum 23 days VLCD, max 40) in order for your body to break free of bad habits. The main question for this experiment is going to be how well I stabilize. My theory is that as long as I behave properly in phase 3 the weight will stabilize. I will do a solid 4 weeks of phase 3 to be sure.
My last dose weight from my previous round was 218. LDD was March 4. On my last day of P3 (April 1) my weight was 216.4. But there was always some fluctuations and my weight was as high as 220.4 earlier in that week. So in reality my average weight was closer to 218 if you map out the entirety of P3. Happy with that.
Saturday, May 1 was my first day of loading. Stepped on the scale to 224.2lbs. A pretty substantial jump up. I travelled on business the week leading up to that weigh in. It was a weird week. A ton of driving. Really off of my schedule. Not enough water. Eating gas station food (nuts, jerky, cracklins) quite a bit. No carbs other than the nuts. Fair amount of wine. Felt bloated.
My wife was out of town with a friend (perfect way to load in my opinion). I made sure she packed her HHCG pellets. She ate well enough to gain 5lbs of load weight over the weekend (but had not had a bm yet). So I had the run of the house and could eat whatever. Since we are going to be on VLCD, we decided to move mothers day meal up to yesterday so we could eat well. Wife would be getting back home mid afternoon so my mom and mother in law planned to come over for the traditional mothers day meal of Veal Osso buco.
Saturday loading food: Breakfast: scrambled eggs and sausage. No tennis because of rain. Went to the grocery store and got everything for sunday's meal and lunches for the week (boiled shrimp). Lunch was fried shrimp and catfish from a local cajun joint. NY strip for dinner. Bottle of red wine. Spent the afternoon par-cooking the osso bucco so Sunday would be easy.
Sunday: fried eggs and sausage for breakfast. Played tennis for 2.5 hours in the morning. Really had to scramble and find some quick loading food for lunch. Picked up a whopper. It was quick and fatty. Not really worried about finding something good, obviously. Got home and reheated the veal for dinner. Probably 1.5 bottles of wine during the afternoon and evening.
Expected to wake up this morning to a huge jump but in 2 days of loading was only at 225 which is a .8 gain. I am thinking that my Saturday morning weight was inflated with my body holding on to a lot of water.
My measurements this morning are up a bit. About a half an inch bigger than my LDD measurents. But I expect those to fall off quickly.
Where am I at mentally? I feel ready to go. I would not be enthused about another 3 week run so 2 weeks sounds perfect for right now. I love the idea of skipping the wine for a couple of weeks. We tend to eat mainly seafood on P3 too so that is a good way to eat too. As far as goals go I would love to get under 210. Looking at results from past rounds. I should be able to duck under 210 in these two weeks or get really close. Wherever I end up I am going to focus strong on locking that weight in. I will continue P3 on this thread. That is the plan at least.
Here we go
I wish you the best of luck and I can’t wait to see how this works out for you. I am thinking of doing a super short round in June, even shorter than yours, for 7-10 days after we get back from vacation. I am at goal now but always gain a few pounds on vacation. We have a family vacation in June so my idea is to do a super short round immediately after to reset and reverse any gains that may have occurred.
Keep us posted, Jeff!
Osso bucco YUM!
Intermountain HHCG
Goal 150
R3
P2 6/28
PI 7/24-8/3
P2 8/4-8/19
P3 8/22
P4 9/13
LDW 149.2
Maintaining well, but at 160
Down 2.2lbs first morning checking in at 222.8. The first week is always fun watching a bunch of meaningless water weight come off. I usually lose between 10-12lbs the first week. Something tells me my losses will be a bit smaller this week because I don't have as much to lose. But I am pretty confident that I will fly down to 216-218 in short order. I would have lost down there quickly on P3 foods too. Beyond 215 will be interesting. I haven't been below 214.5 in over 23 years and that was just briefly. I think my wife lost nearly 4lbs this morning.
One thing I like about P2 is the clean kitchen. The fridge is mostly empty. The sink is clear. It is hard to fill up the dishwasher. Life is so much simpler.
As far as food goes, I made a bunch of boiled shrimp for lunches. Arugula salad with skinny girl dressing. Wife and I are going out for crawfish tonight. I also made a batch of beef jerky on my smoker Sunday. This is a non cured jerky. Not shelf stable. I keep in my fridge. Is a great grab and go protein snack. I usually have a few pieces in my tennis bag as a rescue snack.
And we are off!!
Awesome, WB--I'm following, curious to see how this abbreviated round goes for you. And you prob won't lose quite as much since you have less to lose!. Good luck!
Very exciting to get below that old weight!Originally Posted by wilsonblack
The initial water weight you speak of is probably related to no wine/alcohol? I gain a lot of weight from even a little wine and I don't have it every night.
Your cooking sounds so good, even in P2. Hope you write a recipe booklet one day!
Intermountain HHCG
Goal 150
R3
P2 6/28
PI 7/24-8/3
P2 8/4-8/19
P3 8/22
P4 9/13
LDW 149.2
Maintaining well, but at 160
I have wine so often that I haven't noticed much weight gain from it. Kind of lucky that way. But beer is a different story. I really think travel is a distuptor too. Either way, I am on the path and all will be good in about 2 weeks.
Thanks on the cooking compliment. I know my way around a kitchen, smoker and grill but have no plans on a recipe book anytime soon. But always willing to share recipes.
Welcome Back Jeff....
nice to have you around again....
I too have the occasional treat (alcoholic) during P2 but find wine is hard to stop at 1... so I do a whisky or a Gin and Sugar free tonic...
~AKA Yvonne SA~
Greetings from Sunny South Africa!
Round 3 - Loading 16 Apr '21 - start weight 76.4/168.1
Round 2 - Jan-Mar '21 - lost 5kgs/11lbs
Round 1 - Sept-Nov '20 - lost 10kgs/22lbs
good morning, Flo. I hope you are doing well. To clarify, I do not drink any wine or any alcohol at all during phase 2. A couple of rounds ago I had a tumbler of whiskey one night and gained 2 pounds the next day. I am way more sensitive during P2 and don't take any chances. My body is way more forgiving during P3.
This morning. Down to 220.2. Getting closer to my previous LDW. Part of me wishes I had another week to begin this short round. A week of clean P3 eating and that travel weight would have come off easier. But as long as I end up in the desired spot it is all good. Anything around 210, preferable south of that would be great.
I don't do it often, had wine on sunday eating out and 1 gin with a neighbour
But I am losing slower so this must stop too
~AKA Yvonne SA~
Greetings from Sunny South Africa!
Round 3 - Loading 16 Apr '21 - start weight 76.4/168.1
Round 2 - Jan-Mar '21 - lost 5kgs/11lbs
Round 1 - Sept-Nov '20 - lost 10kgs/22lbs
Well, so far so good. Yesterday weighed 218.2, basically my last round's LDW. This morning my weight was 215. That means I am already at 9.2lbs below my pre-load weight. Compared to past rounds, I am well ahead of pace and very happy with that. The last two mornings, I have lost a combined 5.2lbs. That alone is really good but considering the fact that I played tennis the previous two nights makes it that much more remarkable. In past rounds I was way more likely to not lose or slightly gain after playing tennis because of inflammation. I will measure on Monday morning but am sure everything is going well in the "inches" department as well.
Physically, no real hunger. No emptiness. Not yet at least. By next weekend I know I will be feeling it. On the tennis court I feel fine. My tennis game is not in a great place. Really struggling with my serve. Forehand is good right now. None of that is related to the diet. Just the nature of my game. Things ebb and flow. League play has started and I am playing out of my class. Or at least I did last night. Played a humbling match against superior players. Much more work to do on that front. Will probably show up to my session early tomorrow and get some solo serve practice before the gang shows up. Slight light-headedness towards the end of the night on the court.
Mentally I am in a great place. I love the entire idea of a 2 week round at this point. It would not make sense if I still had a bunch of weight to lose but since I am close to my goal, doing a short round right now really fits. It is weird (in a good way) that I am almost halfway through my round. I have not had much hunger at all, but in fairness I haven't been through a weekend yet. Weekdays on the protocol are never too difficult. I really believe I fixed a lot of food and eating issues last round and P3 so I am ahead of the game. But for sure, that effort never ends.
Shameless product plug: I am really loving the Intermountain HHCG pellets. They are very effective and EXTREMELY CONVENIENT. I am on the go a lot and being able to bring whatever pellets I need instead of trying to keep liquid drops cold is a logistical godsend. Dosing is more consistent and reliable than drops as well. As long as they are available I will not go back to drops. My results on HHCG whether it is IM or Triumph have been solid so no regrets leaving real HCG behind. Added bonus is the transition to P3 is only 48 hours from last dose compared to 72 on real HCG. I am in no way affiliated with Intermountain or any other company related to this protocol but I wholeheartedly endorse this product.
Looking ahead for the weekend. Staying busy. Tennis early tomorrow for 3 hours. Will pack a cooler with seared tuna steak for lunch. Will brine some salmon for the smoker this weekend. Certainly will make some more beef jerky. Heading to my sister's tomorrow afternoon for a pool party. Will bring plenty sparkling water. Really looking forward to that. Tennis again Sunday morning then some meal prep for the week ahead.
Well that is enough for today. Happy Friday to all of you. Have a great weekend.
Thanks so much for this post, Jeff. I'm following your experiment closely. Glad to hear it is going so well--is your wife having same kind of successes? I was especially interested in the Intermountain HHCG pellets. I will be going back to P2 to complete a 40 day round in just over a week, and am going to use the Intermountain pellets. I did see a previous posting of yours, that you do the 3 pellets, 3 times a day, Am I remembering that correctly? Thinking you said you do as directions on bottle? So you do in a.m., early, then about 2? And again at 9 or 10? I ask because someone was having trouble with timing and hunger. Oh, and I love the idea of only 48 hours from last dose to P3, as well.
mrsstrong once wrote your food looks so good--I agree. Someday when you have the time, would love to know how you do the homemade jerky? Do you have to have some kind of dehydrator? I was able to purchase the 0 sugar jerky, but it prob has more crap in it than homemade. Do You have the jerky in P2? I don't mind P2 so much except that I am beginning to get really bored with the food, would love to figure out something different. Have a great Friday!
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