Day 11 - feels so weird to type that!

I'm not happy to be back at work today, let's just start there :-)

Today for lunch I had ground turkey, grilled green peppers and red onion, with a few springs of asparagus topped with fresh salsa. Delicious.

Dinner tonight will likely be something with spinach, as I have a huge bag of it and it's not depleting despite having already made 3 salads with it! I have some chicken that needs to get grilled, but might end up just eating a frittata with egg whites.

After work, I need to pick up apples for the week (I have one peeled everyday around 3pm), along with some non-fat yogurt, which I've been using a dollop of as a salad dressing.

Since I haven't been having the Melba toasts at all lately (the fruit fills me up just fine and the toasts are quite bland), I enjoyed 1 small glass of red wine last night. I figured since there aren't really added sugars or starches, the antioxidants wouldn't be too bad for me. I've had a little trouble sleeping after this weekend, and wanted to relax sans NyQuil. I didn't have any repercussions such as diarrhea or an upset stomach and today I zipped up a miniskirt with no problems. I will  head to the gym after dinner for some light cardio, however.

Some menu items that I would like to try this week:
-Melba toasts topped with strawberries (apparently tastes like a strawberry shortcake, which I doubt is possible...but when you aren't eating sweets, anything like that sounds good!)
-Apples microwaved with stevia and cinnamon (apparently tastes like apple pie...see above logic)
-Big, sliced tomatoes done up like a caprese without the mozzarella (I miss cheese so much!)

Day 10 (TEN?!)

Pic from last night, just for fun! Went to The Hood Internet (google them!!) and felt like a million bucks. Slim, trim, energized. Was not intimidated in the least to put on these skin-tight pants or show off my arms/back in the halter I'm wearing.

So I've been receiving some nice notes from friends and fans lately, and I really appreciate it. It helps me stay accountable, knowing that if I slip, I will let down not just myself -- but the many others who are counting on me to deliver the scoop and show some results that are worth it!

Look, by day-10, it's safe to say that following this plan is now a habit for me. I no longer think about food in the abusive way I used to: wolfing down my lunch while thinking about what I was going to gorge on for dinner. I am not passing a pizza place thinking I have to stop and order a slice (or 2 if that is the daily special!). Sure, I still think of cheeseburgers, pizza, and enchiladas  fondly and miss them, but my mind has been switched entirely when it comes to food - at least while I'm on this plan.

My body has also adjusted to smaller portions. I rarely feel hungry, weak, or shaky believe it or not. It feels good to be eating the way your body really wants you to, and needs you to. I'm also sure that I've lowered my bad cholesterol which is also an added bonus.

My biggest advice is to do whatever you can to plow through the first 2-3 days of the 500 calories. It will be hard, it will shock your system, you will likely have physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms related to food (which is so crazy, but true), but if you can get through that....you will coast through the rest of this plan. Promise!

Let me know if you have any questions...here to help.

Day 9 - Not Sucking It In & No Pooch!

Okay, maybe just a little one :-) But this is NOTHING compared to what I started with, and I know it will be all gone when I'm done with my drops cycle. Plus, for everyone who knows me, I've always had a butt, but even that has slimmed down quite a bit! Feeling great.

So glad I slept through the night last night with no more leg cramps, I was contemplating stopping the drops if I had a repeat of the tingly/numb feeling. All good there, back to no side effects to report.

Just a note on what I had last night: 100 g of tofu fried in a little bit of soy sauce. It was pretty good! I cut some more tofu up and sprinkled it in my salad for lunch today. It's a good option for vegetarians, even though I do eat (and love) meat.

Tonight, I'm thinking turkey burger with a little bit of salsa and asparagus?

Here's to kicking off another great week on the program!

Day 8 - Fitting into Size 26 Jeans!

So I went to go weigh myself at the gym on a mechanical scale this morning and right away I noticed it wasn't zeroing properly, so I was having trouble finding my exact weight. I believe it is around 122, which would be about a 6 lb loss since I started dieting last Sunday. That's 6 lbs in 5 diet days, just to be clear.

But, a better way to measure my progress so far would be to say that I am now fitting into my size 26 Rock & Republic jeans again. These have not fit me for several months and have ZERO stretch to them. I still think I could lose a pound or two more for an even better fit (just give me a couple days!), but they were definitely on, and I definitely wore them out in public today, so they couldn't have looked that bad :)

I do want to make a comment about a possible side effect:  last night at about 3 in the morning, I woke up and my right leg was kind of numb. By no means was I paralyzed or in any sort of agonizing pain, it just was abnormal. The source of the "tingle" was around my knee. I sometimes get really painful calf cramps that wake me, but this didn't feel like that at all. Compared to my left leg, my right leg was colder as well. I of course panicked and assumed I was having a blood clot, which can occur when taking hormones. I put on long socks to encourage blood flow and put a pillow under my leg to raise it about 6 inches. I also drank a little bit of water in hopes that it was just a little dehydration? No symptoms today.

I'm really glad that I started this diet prior to 1/1/11, there are so many cliches about dieting and weight loss in reference to the first the year, I'm just glad I'm won't get caught up in the hype and that I stook my health into my own hands, on my own terms. 

That said, for anyone who IS starting tomorrow, GOOD LUCK! Remember, it's a test about self control, don't just give up and give in. Cravings WILL subside, you DON'T have to eat anything you don't want to put in your body. I can honestly vouch, NOTHING tastes as good as skinny feels. Promise.

Talk to you in 2011, everyone!

Day 7 (5th day of dieting)

It's Day 7, but only the 5th day of actually doing the diet. I am still unsure as to how much weight (in pounds) I've lost, but I do feel slimmer, cleaner, and leaner. My body is definitely starting to get used to the eating plan, as I'm not having insane cravings or intense pangs anymore. Yay!

I did go to the gym yesterday. I feel like I should try to incorporate a little light muscle-toning exercises so that the low-calorie diet doesn't deplete my hard-earned muscle :-) I will be weighing in tomorrow morning, since that will mark the completion of one full week since starting the drops. I will let you know the verdict in tomorrow's posting.

One thing I noticed is my short-term memory is a little less sharp than usual. Yesterday, when I was done at the gym, I couldn't remember for the life of me which locker I had put my stuff in! I have no idea if it has anything to do with this, but I'm sure it does. Other than that, still no horrible - or even noticeable - side effects to report.

I bought some ground turkey breast last night as an alternate to chicken and will do something (maybe a patty?) with it tonight. BTW: fresh salsa/pico de gallo is my new best friend. I'm putting it on everything. Today for lunch I have a salad with the allotted amount of strawberries and grilled chicken pieces (100 g). Instead of the 1 tbsp of milk you are allowed each day, I put a dollop of yogurt on my salad so that it would have a little moisture. Not too sure how that will taste, but anything is better than eating leaves!

Can I just say that I'm really proud that I haven't cheated once on this diet?! I am actually quite fearful as to what would happen to my body if I all the sudden ingested junk. My friend who had a slip up said she had some rather unpleasant "GI" problems. Let that be motivation for me to stay on track :-)

Wish me luck this holiday weekend as I brave the temptation to toast!

Day 6

This is by far my favorite meal I've made while on the HCG diet. It consists of 3/4 egg whites (Egg Beaters), 1/2 cup of onion, 1/2 cup of mixed peppers (saute both first), then topped with fresh pico de gallo with lime. It's flavorful, spicy, warm, fluffy, filling, and dead-on with the plan. Best of all, it takes 5 minutes to put together (pending that you have all the ingredients prepped), so it makes it a great after-work meal when I get off the bus and I'm starving!

I have to admit that my energy and patience were both low yesterday during the day. I was hungry, my head hurt a little bit, and I felt like I couldn't focus despite drinking tons of water (which, like I mentioned, is hard for me). But, literally, once I ate the above meal, I felt 100% better. I really think this food plan is the best thing you can do for your body, just probably in slightly larger portions. I got all the nutrients I needed in one powerhouse scramble, how can I beat that?

As such, I actually was able to work out for 30 minutes on the elliptical. It was merely to get my body moving and my heart rate up a little. It was very easy-paced, level 7, read a magazine, barely broke a sweat. I didn't feel like I was going to pass out, nor did I get dizzy, nor was I famished after. I kept a water bottle with me at all times though, I think it's a psychological thing! Note, I did not weigh myself last night at the gym since I ate right before I went. I feel like it's best to weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after going to the bathroom and before consuming water. But, I did notice my gym has a manual scale in addition to the electronic one that I am convinced is skewed. We all know which one I'll be stepping on when I finally weigh in.

Remember, you don't have to work out on this diet, but I thought it would be nice to give my body that added benefit (raise the heart rate slightly, use my muscles a bit) and, who knows, maybe a little exercise will help keep my metabolism in check because I know it's likely tanking with this 500-calorie, no breakfast eating plan.

Good news: I'm starting to miss sugar less and less. I think eventually when I'm able to reincorporate it back into my diet again, I'll be satieted with just a few bites of cake as opposed to the whole slice. Or just one chocolate covered pretzel compared to the whole bag.

This will likely go for all food, as I'm learning to like smaller portions of more natural foods. As a testament to this, when I was on the bus this morning, I saw a poster for some new sandwich at Cosi and it literally disgusted me. That said, my chicken and asparagus for lunch (again) doesn't look too good, but I had to use my veggies before they went bad :-)

Even though I haven't weighed myself, I have more good news: this morning I slipped on a dress that I put on about a month ago and promptly took off because it looked ridiculous. Back then, it was too tight, my stomach pooch was bulging and my butt was all over the place - talk about a hit to your confidence. Today, it fit properly, went on easily, and looked bomb. Not to mention, I'm wearing my hair up today, and for the first time, I'm realizing how great my skin looks after drinking about 55 oz of water a day and eating natural foods. I look enlivened, healthy.

Day 5

Sorry I ate half my lunch before I remembered to take a photo!!

Am I really on Day 5 already? Two more days until it's been a week - at that point, I will anticipate around an 8lb loss so far. Although, I'm not sure if when people claim they lost "8lbs in one week" they are referring to starting on the literal Day-1 (loading day) or if they really mean Day-3, which is the first day on the 500-calorie diet.

I haven't weighed myself yet, even though the diet says to weigh yourself daily. I do not own a scale, but my gym has one - however, I think my gym's scale is off because it's on a squishy, uneven floor. I'm starting to regret not weighing myself to begin with, even though that number would have been hard to look at and slightly discouraging, it's going to skew my ability to provide the most accurate reporting on my journey with this hormone. Sorry in advance about that!

Let's see - a few things to report. I was feeling a little shaky this morning and ate my apple at 10:30 to tide me over. Lunch was delicious! I grilled 100g of chicken and probably a little under 2 cups of aspargus last night and drizzled a fresh pico de gallo over the top. I checked the ingredients in the pico and everything was approved. There was no vinegar or sugar added, so we were golden with the spices, veggies, and lime juice. YUM.

Still haven't been able to go the gym, which is actually okay on this diet. Truthfully, I don't think I'd have enough energy to do anything more than just walk anyways...I don't want to faint or get too hungry later. It just feels weird coming home and not rushing to change my clothes and get a vigorous workout in. I am actually unwinding and taking time to prepare my dinner and lunch for the next day for the first time in a while. It feels good to get my eating back to basics, even though I was mad jealous of my cube-mates who went to get pitas for lunch today!

Egg whites are approved on this diet and so last night I made an omellete. I forgot to photograph it, but will tonight when I make a scramble with peppers, onions, pico and maybe some grilled chicken pieces. It was delicious and a nice texture change to chicken. I will be testing out tilapia next.

NOTE: I've never been much of a water drinker. I'm not someone who just keeps a bottle at her desk and sips all day, but I think that's vitally important on this diet, as I'm not consuming any other liquids (no coffee or tea, even though those are permitted). I have a Camelbak water bottle and am making sure to consume a good amount during the day.