Thread: Not as new of a guy. But a new journey altogether

But yes, from what I hear stabilization is better after longer rounds. I have no personal experience with that though. Depending on how I feel next Monday there is a good chance I will stretch this round out a couple more days to a full week.

Yesterday's post was a broad recap of all my rounds so I will toss out a little more detail and update on my current round. From last Thursday to this Monday, the scale read 225.6 on my morning weigh ins. That is the longest stall in any of my rounds. Since then I have lost over a lb per day and today's weigh in I am at 220.8. From a weight loss point of view my losses are on par, even a hair ahead of my last two rounds but had huge, 2+ pound drops on Saturdays of each so it wouldn't surprise me to fall behind that pace. I know the weight numbers are not as important. Even though I love to track it and compare to past rounds, I don't stress over it too much. I do find it interesting.

Still feeling good. No physical hunger. Normally by the 21st day I am feeling really empty and want to move on to phase 3. I am suspecting there is a huge mental aspect to this so I am very interested to see how I am feeling. Right now I am feeling like I can stay on this for longer. Normally at this point of the protocol I am READY for P3. My attitude towards P3 foods is I can take them or leave them. Not really craving that steak yet.

My main issues are food boredom from P2 foods. I have really been leaning heavy on seafood. That said I have not had boiled shrimp yet and will add that next week. Not a huge fan of grilled shrimp when they are not basted with lemon butter. I have only had steak one time the entire round. Normally by this time, I have had it a few times. This week I have been eating turkey taco meat with pico de gallo and shredded raw cabbage. Really good. Our main treat lately has been boiled crawfish. A few cajun restaurants have live crawfish so we have eaten that last Saturday and last night and will probably go back tomorrow. The actual amount of meat you get for all the trouble peeling is quite small and calories are pretty low. I could use a glass of wine but I wouldn't say I am exactly craving one. Normally by this time I am climbing the walls dying for a glass of wine. But I have had weeks like this in past rounds when I feel like I am on auto pilot so very curious to see if this feeling lasts. My guess is that it won't and some cravings or physical hunger or general feelings of low fuel will creep in.

Tennis tomorrow. Hopefully a low key doubles match that should end quickly. Depending on how I feel I might play Sunday too. I normally play with a group that is fairly fun and social on Sundays. But the courts are pretty hard and usually beat my body, mainly my back up.

Monday is measurement day and decision day about the remaining length of this round. I will check in then. I hope you all have a great weekend.

I just saw crawfish meat at the grocery store and wondered if it's P2 compliant. I love me some crawfish. But eating the meat without having to work for it doesn't seem anywhere near as appealing as a true crawfish boil.

Glad you're doing well and feeling like you can keep going. That's so much more pleasant than crawling up the walls!

Enjoy tennis, and I look forward to checking in Monday. Monday's my LIW, so it's a sort of new beginning for me as it is also an ending. You've really helped me think more deeply about stabilization and maintenance long term, so thank you for that. Sometimes we need certain possibilities brought to the forefront of our minds. . . . And I connect so deeply with your joie de vivre and love of food and cooking. Figuring out how to retain all that wonderfulness and the joy it brings while dropping the destructive patterns/possible outcome seems to be the name of the game. May we all figure it out so that we may live happier, healthier, and longer!

Crawfish seems compliant enough but I am sure the strict OP followers would frown on it. I am not sure I would want to go with cleaned tailmeat because it is easy to overdo it. When peeling each individual crawfish it forces you to eat slowly. And the flavor? Money. My losses after eating crawfish have been good so I have no reservations eating it again. In fact that will probably be dinner tomorrow

Big day Monday. Sounds like you are ready to move in and have a good plan. Good luck with it.

And thanks again for the kind words

Small loss this morning. Scale was .4less than yesterday but that is coming off 4 straight days of losses over a pound each. Had a double match against two really good players. Played some of the best tennis I have played in a while. Started out with some forehand errors on service returns but straightened that out. Every other facet of my game was on point. Ate two small pieces of my homemade beef jerky before stepping on court. Was light headed at times and felt fairly empty but was able to fight through and my game or stamina didn’t miss a beat. Lost first set the turned it around to dominate the next two for a very satisfying win. Had a chunk of smoked salmon thawing in my bag so had that for lunch afterwards. Was really hungry but took my time eating and really paid attention to my body. Was full enough where in the past I might have still been a little hungry or at least wanted to eat something else.

I think my wife is getting tired of the protocol and is ready to move on. She has already gotten the benefit from the diet for what she needs at least. She will continue to lose weight in P4.

Crawfish tonight.

Dang it, no crawfish to be found Saturday. Ended up at a local seafood joint after going to 4 different places and had a little grilled fish (no butter) and boiled shrimp. Everybody around us eating fried seafood (my weakness). Didn't bother me at all. It is good to be around foods you would normally love while on protocol. It is important to face your previous eating issues.

This morning, I sit at 220 on the button. Yesterday, didn't lose any weight at all. Most likely due to playing tennis for 3 hours the day before. I also played tennis for 3 hours yesterday and was very sore so there should be a substantial weight drop in the next day or so once my body lets go of some more water from inflammation. My pace is off by a pound compared to previous rounds, but my measurements are spot on to my last round. My measurements are 35-waist, 38-hips and 22.5 thigh. My winter round last year ended with 34-39-22 with a LDW of 215.2lbs so I am right there.

Frame of mind is dramatically different than where it was last 2 rounds. I was really ready to transition to P3 in my last rounds and was dying for some bacon and eggs, caeser salad dressing, fatty steaks, glass of wine etc. Right now I am content staying on protocol for a bit longer. How long? I am not sure. At minimum I will continue to dose through Friday. At most, I will go to next Tuesday for LDW just to get to 30 full days. But my main thing is timing of the transition from P2 to P3. I am not going to make my mind up right now.

LOL your P3 food desires are exactly the same as mine! But it's so great to see that things have shifted mentally for you this time. I hope you're able to stay open and curious about how long to make this round, especially if your wife is done or ready to be done. You seem in a really good place to make good decisions for yourself. And I agree: it's good to face our previous eating issues, especially when we're somewhat protected by the container of P2. I think that's the genius, really: without the same old hunger, we can perceive those issues for what they are more clearly--whereas before we were so blinded by our undiscerned hunger. Or at least that's me!

I definitely see the same kind of trends with muscle soreness/water retention from exercise. Glad you've got your head on straight about what the scale does and doesn't mean as well as what's likely to happen. And congrats on those great stats, especially the measurements that are on point. The measurements are the main thing as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by DivineMissM

LOL your P3 food desires are exactly the same as mine! But it's so great to see that things have shifted mentally for you this time. I hope you're able to stay open and curious about how long to make this round, especially if your wife is done or ready to be done. You seem in a really good place to make good decisions for yourself. And I agree: it's good to face our previous eating issues, especially when we're somewhat protected by the container of P2. I think that's the genius, really: without the same old hunger, we can perceive those issues for what they are more clearly--whereas before we were so blinded by our undiscerned hunger. Or at least that's me!

I definitely see the same kind of trends with muscle soreness/water retention from exercise. Glad you've got your head on straight about what the scale does and doesn't mean as well as what's likely to happen. And congrats on those great stats, especially the measurements that are on point. The measurements are the main thing as far as I'm concerned.

thanks again. My point was where in past rounds I was craving phase 3 foods at this point. Right now, I am really not to be honest. I am not craving any of those things, as in not at all. That is weird. But at this point, I am taking it day by day. Tomorrow, I could pull a 180 and be 100% ready to transition to P3. Either way, this will be my longest round on VLCD ever. The remaining question is by how many days.

Exercise is tricky. I can feel the low calories. The inflammation really holds water weight. But I love playing tennis. My only concern is to not over-do it and injure myself. That is a real possibility and something to be mindful of.

I know the scale doesn't matter as much, but I would really love to get down to 215. With that would easily bring an extra inch off of the waist and hips.

Originally Posted by Dubbles

Good Luck to you as you finish round, hope you get to where you'd like to end, scale-wise. But it's just a number. And very hopeful extending at all will help with stablization. I honestly don't know how you and Miss M, Starbucks, and who exercises during P2 do it. Kudos to you all, but I have very little energy in P2.

Thanks Dubbles. Sounds like you are getting back in the swing of things. Good luck on your last 2 weeks. I saw your post this morning. Hang in there and enjoy the process.

I am hoping the extra days will help stabilization. That plus a different frame of mind should set me up for success. I hear you on the scale. Was thinking it over and the most likely scenario is that I make Friday my last dose day. 48 hour transition on HHCG so first P3 meal will be Sunday evening putting the entire week on P3 foods. That way I can meal prep on Sunday and be in mode for 1 phase. I would rather not prepare foods for a couple of days of VLCD and P3.

Of course that all depends on how I feel on Friday. I might want to keep going. But generally, Saturday-Monday is when the scale stands still so a case could be made either way.

I will check back on Friday.