R2 P2 Day 10

So yesterday was a bust again. I had fish and tomatoes for lunch and then a salad for dinner. I had a large amount of jerky. Then to top that off, I had more candy. I am such a loser! Anyway, I also had my usual apples. Needless to say I was not looking forward to this morning. I weighed in with no change. I guess I should be happy considering how much junk I have consumed in the past three days but I am going to get back on the wagon and stay on target so as not to sabotage myself. I would like to get this over and done with instead of having to do a repeat.

I am still having issues with dizziness and I am not having as many BM's as I would prefer. I think I need to up my fiber or something. Now just to figure out how.

R2 P2 Day 9

Yesterday went ok for the most part. I started out the day pretty much missing breakfast. I had such a busy morning that I took my drops at about 6:30 in the morning but didn't eat until about noon after my second set of drops. I had fish for lunch and it was probably bigger than it should have been. Then somebody snuck me some jerky which I ate right along with about a handful of sour cherry gummies. I am so bad! Then about 2 or so hours after my third dose I had dinner of beef with cucumbers and skipped my second apple. Needless to say I did not think that my next weigh in would be stellar. So I weighed in this morning at -0.5! Yay! I am wondering what the deal is. Last round I had such a difficult time losing the weight. I felt like I stalled all the time. I realize it has only been a week but I feel like it is going better this time around. And it was cheaper to boot! I spent less on 2 oz than I did on 1 oz last time. Maybe it's because I'm losing back the weight that I lost last round. I haven't hit past that point yet. Maybe it will slow down by then but I hope not. It's almost kind of terrible that I still lost weight even though I cheated. It kind of tempts me to cheat again. That's awful!

R2 P2 Day8

So yesterday was my "planned cheat day." I did it because I have been having dizzy spells. I thought maybe I wasn't getting enough calories throughout my day. It didn't happen last round, at least not this severe but this round I was having some numbness associated with it. So for lunch I had "teryaki" beef with cucumbers. I am pretty low key when it comes to cooking my meals for this protocol. I don't do anything fancy and have a tendency to do the same thing every time. I usually just "dry fry" my meat with its spices and then salt my vegetables or add apple cider vinegar to a salad or something. Last night I had been reading a blog and by chance it was for the HCG protocol and some of the recipes inspired me to try something new and now I love it! The recipe wasn't on the blog but I just kind of winged it. I made a sweet mustard chicken salad. It was delish. I used the dressing both in cooking the chicken and for the dressing.

Sweet Mustard Dressing

2 TBS Dijon Mustard
2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
1 packet stevia (approx 1/2 tsp)


I doubled mine so I could use half as a marinade for the chicken. I didn't even take much time to marinate the chicken so this doesn't have to be a "make in advance" meal. I just whipped up a batch of the dressing and then let the chicken cook in it. It was so awesome, I can't wait to eat it again but I think I am going to have to try to find new recipes to try to excite me. Before I had been eating food just to eat food but this time around I might enjoy it. I think I can keep this recipe even after the protocol. For my cheat foods I didn't want to go overboard and have french fries or cookies, I just ate some really processed meats. So much better, I know. All in all, it came out to under 300 calories more for my day. In trying to keep my weight from ballooning up I took a soak in a detox bath.

Detox Bath
1 C Epsom Salt
1 C Baking Soda
2 TBS Ginger Powder

I drew myself a fairly hot bath and soaked in this mixture for around 30-40 minutes. I'm not entirely sure because I was trying to relax and count songs or something. The point of the bath is to sweat. I didn't sweat as much as I would have liked but I did sweat a bit. Afterwards I rinsed off and went to bed where I continued to cook in my sleep. I had to resist the urge to turn on my fan. So this morning was scary. I weighed in at -0.5 lbs! Yay! That is awesome! I think I will continue with the detox baths especially when it seems like I might stall. I am also going to take the Potassium supplements to see if that helps offset the dizzy spells and other things. I have great hope for this round.

R2 P2 Day 7

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I had fish with tomatoes for lunch and a chicken salad for dinner. I made cookies yesterday and resisted the urge to taste one. I still had a few dizzy spells but nothing really bad. This morning, I weighed in without any change. It was weird though because I weighed myself with and without clothes and it made no difference at all. I don't know. This morning, however, I have been having a lot of dizzy spells and it is getting worrisome so I am taking my first cheat day. I am planning it though so hopefully it won't get out of control. So far I have had an apple, a piece of buttered toast, (courtesy of my littlest one who decided not to eat it) and a serving of lunch meat. I know that sounds terrible but I am trying to increase my caloric intake a little without sabotaging myself. I guess I can handle a gain as long as it is only temporary and that it means that I stop feeling like I'm going to pass out. I did go out for a walk yesterday but it was probably on half an hour and not that fast. I had gone to the Chiropractor earlier that morning and done a foot bath detox. I didn't really know what to think of it but hey, we'll see if it works. Afterwards, I felt a little sick. I had a slightly upset stomach which carried over into my walk so I had to cut it short. Now I just need to keep myself under check so that I don't go crazy thinking I can have whatever I want because I'm already feeling it. Who knows, this may be filled with an apple day which may defeat the purpose of adding a few calories to my day.

R2 P2 Day 6

Doing good so far. I resisted the urge to have the same dinner as my family last night. It was pasta. I'm not usually a pasta person but of course it sounded good. Also, my littlest one has been asking for toast and it was all I could do not to sneak a bite. I love the smell of freshly baked bread and the bread I just bought had that smell. But I resisted. Yesterday I had beef with cabbage for lunch and then a chicken salad for dinner. I still have issues with dizziness but I'm not sure if that is related because I was having spells before I started this round. Cravings are there for things that smell good but then when I eat them I know they aren't going to taste the way I think they should. That frame of mind has kept me from cheating even though I have considered it many times this round.

This morning I weighed in at -1 lb! Yay! This round is going so much better than last time. I have had consistent losses this week. I'm happy. I hope it continues. I haven't been keeping track of my calories. Just eating the recommended foods.

R2 P2 Day 5

Yesterday I made a mistake. I didn't even realize it until just now. Thus far I've been trying to change my protein for every meal so that I didn't have the same thing. As my choices are only chicken, tilapia, and beef because of the choices that is what I'll eat, I just rotate to make sure I don't repeat the same protein on the same day. Upon reflecting what I ate yesterday, I had chicken soup with tomatoes for lunch and then a chicken salad for dinner with my customary apples at snack times. I also had a melba toast at lunch and chamomile tea with stevia after dinner. To my knowledge that is the first time I tried stevia while on this diet. Frankly, I don't like sweet tea warm. I don't know that I'm much of a tea person as it is but I thought I'd try it since I was having a bread craving after making toast for my little one. Needless to say I was nervous this morning for weigh in. Last time around the toast didn't help so I just omitted it. This morning I weighed in at -1.5 lbs! This is the first time so far that I've been excited because I was pretty sure I was going to gain. I also weighed in this morning in my underwear so I don't know if that made a difference or not. I do have a slight amount of swelling in my fingers this morning and less than usual in my ankles and feet. This is awesome! Here's hoping it will continue.

R2 P2 Day 4

So yesterday was better as far as being hungry went. I don't think I was really at all but I did have a late dinner where I took my drops a few hours before I ate. I don't know if that makes any difference. I also went to bed really late and I still didn't feel hungry. I woke feeling fine. No hunger pangs either. As for lunch and dinner. I had tilapia with cherry tomatoes again. For dinner I had chicken and cabbage. I need to get some spinach so that I can have some soup. I remember from last time that the oranges didn't help me out and the grapefruit never felt like enough so I think I'm just sticking to apples for this round.

So here's the thing. This morning I got up too early thanks to a kid with a bad dream so I weighed myself and there was no change. I went downstairs and watched a little tv with The Man, took my drops, then went upstairs to weigh myself and get in the shower. I came out -1.5 lbs. I'm taking it. I need the motivation. This thing isn't so bad. It's a pretty easy adjustment for me. I think a big thing for me is realizing that I don't eat enough vegetables throughout the day. This almost forces me to eat more because since I don't get a lot of food, I have to eat the things that have the least amount of calories to fill myself. I think that I should be eating more veggies on a daily basis from here on out. Though I eat more veggies than the typical American diet, it still isn't enough. I hope to change that. Well, one more day down.

R2 P2 Day 3

Yesterday was an improvement. I didn't feel starving like I did the day before. I made the day with a chicken salad for lunch and beef with cucumbers for dinner. Because "it's what's for dinner." Had my usual apples at their appointed times. Drank more water than I did the day before. I'm doing better.

I weighed in today at -2 lbs. Oddly enough, I was a little disappointed. Last round I had lost 6 pounds in one day. That was motivation enough. This time around, it seems to be a little slower. I don't know if it is the new drops, my TOM or what it could be. I have noticed that my water retention has gone down a bit. That could be the loss so far. My weight from my start date is down 3.5 pounds but 5.5 pounds from my highest weight this round since I gained some on the load days. I guess all I can hope for is to continue this loss. If I can even lose one pound a day from here until my round is done I can lose all that I need to lose to get back down to where I want to be.

Looking back from last time I recall not having a BM for a couple of days at the beginning. I am going to do a salt water flush this morning to get things moving. Way too much TMI.

R2 P2 Day 2

So yesterday I had an apple mid morning, tilapia and cherry tomatoes for lunch, an apple mid afternoon, and chicken and cabbage for dinner. I felt hungry this go around. I don't recall feeling hungry last time. Maybe it's because I prepped on my load day differently. Who knows. It could even be the drops. So far this round is not going especially well. I feel hungry and tired. I'll have to go back and see if that happened last time too. I know I had headaches before and I'm still getting them. This morning I dropped back down the weight I gained on my second load day so I weighed in at -3 lbs which seems kind of moot to me. I hope things go better from here on out. I need to get more sleep and start exercising again.

I just started my TOM today so I don't know if I am retaining water due to that. I hope that is all that is wrong. I kind of expected more of a loss this morning.

And there it is....

Did my second load day yesterday and I tried to eat more calories and for the most part I just ate more food. Probably not the best idea. I ate mostly peaches because I'm the only one in the house who eats them and I had a big bag. Probably not the best idea. Anyway, I also ate rice crackers again and for the life of me I can't think of anything else I ate until I had a late dinner of Winger's wings. It's been a while since I last had them and so I was excited to eat them. It was anticlimactic. They were not as good as I remember. The sauce was different and I didn't like it as much. Other than that, my day was fairly uneventful so I figured I would just maintain. I didn't. I gained. I weighed in at +3 lbs. It was pretty sad. I hope this isn't indicative of what's to come. I don't like to yo-yo. It's very frustrating. So today I start phase 2 and I am ready. I keep thinking I am going to tell The Man what I am doing but pride wins me over every time I think of it. I may still do it later. I guess we'll see.

Round 2 Load 2

So yesterday was a pretty busy day for me. I ran a lot of errands and stayed busier than I've been all summer. I had peaches throughout the day, some cookies, a little jerky, an egg mcmuffin meal, a big bowl of chocolate ice cream (which made my face and mouth itch), and some rice crackers throughout the day. I didn't eat as much as I would have liked to as far as calories and fat but I'll try to get in more junk today. When do you ever say that when you're on a diet? I haven't prepped my meat yet and I really should. I still have some but not enough. I guess I'll be making a trip to the grocery store today to get what I need. I will be eating mostly fish and chicken with the occasional beef meal because last time around I felt like the beef made me stall and lots of people have said the same thing. I need to up my water intake because that is lacking. I also have a sore throat right now and my nose just started acting up. I am guessing it is allergies all of a sudden because I am hoping I'm not sick. I rarely am.

This morning brought a surprise for me. Normally I weigh myself in my underwear so that it is pretty consistent. Yesterday and today I weighed myself wearing what I wore to bed. I didn't mention a deduction on my weight even though there were added clothes but from now on I'll probably just weigh myself in my underwear for continuity. I came in -1.5 lbs from yesterday. Last time around I just stayed the same. I hope this is a good thing.

Here we go again

I am beginning round 2 of HCG this morning. Since April I have maintained about half of my weight loss but did not really exercise. I think if I weren't so bloated and retaining water I could count more but it is what it is. This time around I got the HCG 1234 drops because they were cheaper than the last ones and I couldn't get the other ones right away so I ordered them online. I haven't done much research on what the plan is for these drops but I would assume that it is pretty much the same as the other ones since I got that one online and it wasn't specific to the drops. From what I read in the accompanying brochure, however, these drops have the basic rules but nothing too specific. Maybe that was just the stuff that came with the box. I'll have to check out their site just to be sure. I am planning to go for longer this time. I also did not wait until after my cycle...again...I guess I am just too impatient to start when I want or need to start to get my timing right. Oh well, we'll see how this goes this time around. Fingers crossed!