Second Chance

Something funny happened after I lost 77 lbs. I found the courage to take a second chance on love.
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Ed and Mary at breakfast the morning after their wedding

It’s amazing what can happen when you feel good about yourself. I met a wonderful man on April Fools Day and, after a whirlwind romance, I married my sweet Ed on May 21st.

Mr. and Mrs. outside the courthouse

Now, after neglecting this blog (for the best of reasons) these past four months, I’m back to update my hCG news and confess my dietary sins! (Get comfortable, because my sins are many!)

On the day I met Ed, I weighed 166 lbs. I looked good. I felt great. I never wanted to go back to my old, tired, uncomfortable, self-conscious, overweight self. In fact, throughout our courtship and the first weeks of our marriage, I continued the diet and the hCG drops. I fully expected to continue losing weight, perhaps another 10 or 15 pounds by the end of summer.

On the day Ed and Mary met

It didn’t quite work out the way I’d planned, though. I knew we would be traveling a lot during the summer for various reasons, but I wasn’t prepared for how difficult it would be to eat right while on the road, to stay organized enough to plan hCG-friendly meals away from home, or to face down the multitude of temptations before us.

For starters, 4 days after the wedding Ed had to return to his home in Wyoming to take care of some unfinished business. I joined him there 4 days after he left, and we spent 17 days in Cheyenne moving Ed out of his apartment and tying up other loose ends.

At first, Ed joined me on the hCG diet and actually lost 15 lbs in just 3 days! However, being newlyweds in a celebratory mood made it hard to resist going out to some of Ed’s favorite restaurants in Cheyenne. After “blowing it” several times during the first week, we agreed to focus on maintaining our current weight loss until we were done traveling. We quit the hCG and returned to our usual low-carb way of life. (When we met, Ed had already lost about 75 lbs by following Dr. Atkins’s diet.)

Unfortunately, we weren’t entirely successful in sticking to the low-carb plan, either. We spent the rest of June driving back and forth between Arizona and Wyoming, hauling Ed’s belongings to their new home here in the White Mountains. We quickly discovered how hard it is to stick to any diet while making that 12-hour drive multiple times, passing every fast food restaurant known to mankind!

The honeymooners after boarding the Sapphire Princess in Seattle, WA
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The diet disaster didn’t end there. Once we had Ed all moved to Arizona, we caught a flight to Seattle and took a weeklong honeymoon cruise to Alaska. You know all those stereotypes regarding the abundance of food on cruise ships? They are NOT an exaggeration.  It truly was like a floating smorgasbord! 

Mary strikes a swashbuckling pose on deck.

When we boarded the ship, it wasn’t too bad. I had gained back less than 10 lbs and figured I could hold the line there. Alas, it was not to be.

Mary stays warm in her jacket while relaxing on deck.

I actually did a pretty good job of limiting how much I ate, but the food choices included so many delicious high-carb selections that I weakened rapidly. I tried to focus on proteins and nutrient-dense vegetables, but I also enjoyed dishes containing the white flour, rice, potatoes, and sugar my metabolism can no longer support.

Mary in the cruise ship's buffet dining room during breakfast

We followed up the cruise with 4 days in Portland, Oregon, where Ed lived from 1999 to 2007. I met his friends, visited his old stomping grounds, and—you guessed it—dined in his old favorite restaurants. By the time we returned home, we’d both regained about 20 lbs (Ed insists it was closer to 30 lbs for him).

After a day spent driving the beautiful Oregon coast, Mary and Ed enjoy ice cream cones in Tillamook, OR. 

Finally, just 2 days after returning from our honeymoon, Ed and I packed up the kids and headed to Estes Park, Colorado, for the family vacation I had planned a full 8 months before I knew Ed even existed. For 11 days we traveled, we explored, we shopped, we visited Cheyenne (a 90-minute drive from Estes Park), and, of course, we ate out occasionally and indulged in the local shops' sweets, like fudge and root beer floats.

A morning horseback ride with the family in Estes Park, CO: Ed, Mary, Sarah, and Dylan.

The morning after we returned from Colorado, I gasped when I stepped on the scale. In just 2 months I had gone from 166.2 lbs to 200.2 lbs! That’s a gain of 34 lbs! Some of it was travel bloat, of course, and I lost 7 lbs in the next two days, which I never gained back. Still, it was disappointing to know I’d have to re-lose 27 lbs to get back to my happy-weight place!

Several days after we returned from Estes Park, I went back on hCG and quickly got my weight down to 188.6 lbs. Two weeks later Ed returned to Wyoming to join his Boy Scout troop at Scout Camp, an event for which he (as assistant Scoutmaster) had helped them prepare all year. I was happy to have him complete this commitment, but as the days dragged on I found myself missing him and making only a half-hearted attempt to stay within 500 daily calories. By the time he returned after a 17-day absence, I’d given up altogether and regained the few pounds I had lost.

On the plus side, my weight did stabilize in the low-190s, meaning I remained at least 50 lbs lighter than when I began the hCG diet almost 11 months ago. I call that a success!

Ed wanted to give the hCG diet another try (remember, he’d lost 15 lbs in 3 days on his first effort), so we decided to take the plunge together and make it work this time. To ensure success, though, we had to time it right.

Ed and Mary enjoy a romantic birthday dinner at The Pasta House.

As luck would have it, Ed and I share the same birth date, September 1st. We knew that would mean an evening out for dinner and dessert, followed by cake and ice cream at home. When we got married, we had also decided to commemorate our joint birthdays with something special on Labor Day weekend, since our birthdays will always fall on or just before Labor Day. This year we had an overnight getaway to a local resort and went out to eat for both dinner and breakfast. No sense starting a diet before these events!

Now, though, we are back on track. We started the hCG drops on Labor Day and completed our two days of loading, or “gorging,” on fatty foods. Then on Wednesday, Sept. 8th, we started the 500 calorie-per-day diet.

I got a second chance at love, and now I'm taking a second chance on weight loss and better health.  In just 3 days we’ve already had great results. But that’s a story for another day…

HCG #3: Back on Board

This is Sandi, who works in my chiropractor's office.  Sandi started the hCG diet back in mid-October, about 2 weeks before I began my first cycle of the diet.  She chose a slightly different route, though.  She has been doing the diet nonstop for 6 months, taking no breaks for maintenance between cycles.

In 6 months, she has lost 102 lbs!  Doesn't she look amazing?  It really is incredible that you can lose that much weight so quickly, yet the hCG prevents you from having sagging flaps of skin left behind.  She'd like to lose just 10 lbs more before she stops.  She's getting very close.

Sandi seems to prove that developing immunity to the hCG hormone is not a huge problem when you're using the homeopathic drops instead of the injections.  Once a month she "reloads" (that sounds more pleasant than "gorging"), regains up to 7 lbs, then loses a ton more weight the following month.  Now that she's close to the end of her weight loss journey, she cheats on Saturday but stays strict the rest of the week and still loses a pound or two per week. 

She inspires me!

Now, to pick up where I left off on my own journey.  I had finished the last cycle of hCG on March 20th, 64.3 lbs lighter at 179.0 lbs.  I felt great!  I had kept that weight for 4 days in a row and I anticipated no huge problems in maintaining it for the next 8 weeks, staying within 2 lbs of that weight either direction.

I'd purchased the brand-new Atkins book and studied it.  I bought all the foods needed to follow it strictly and planned out the first week.  I even made up a binder with journal pages to write down everything I ate and track my carb intake closely.  I was ready!

The first day off the hCG diet, we went to the Renaissance Festival.  I had good intentions and actually made wise food choices throughout the morning, but by afternoon I'd enjoyed a sugary strawberry slushy and by evening I'd devoured a luscious chocolate-dipped wedge of frozen cheesecake.  Oh, it was heavenly!

The next morning I'd gained 3.0 lbs, but I didn't panic.  I did a "steak day," as prescribed by Dr. Simeons, and I lost 1.6 lbs.  So far, so good.  I settled in to live by the Atkins code and maintain my weight loss.

From there is was an uphill battle.  My weight crept up day by day, no matter how good I was.  By April 1st I was back up to 185.6 lbs, a total gain of 6.6 lbs in 12 days.  And I wasn't cheating!  I was so frustrated.  I was afraid to eat anything, so I was certainly not enjoying the foods I was now allowed to eat.

I don't know exactly why this happened, since I was able to maintain after the first cycle.  Maybe I really messed up my metabolism by cheating on the very first day I was off the diet?  I was menstruating that week, so maybe it had something to do with that?  Or maybe my body is trying to finally shift into menopause, so there were crazed hormonal levels at work?

Whatever the reason, this was soooo not acceptable!  I had a whole bottle of hCG left over, so on April 1st--after less than 2 weeks on maintenance--I started taking the drops again.  For the next 2 days I did a small "gorge" and gained another 2.6 lbs, putting me at 188.2.  Then 3 weeks ago, on Saturday, April 3rd, I began my 3rd cycle of the 500-calorie hCG diet.  I decided that, if it worked so well for Sandi, it could work for me, too!

I re-lost almost all the extra weight the first week, getting back down to 179.8 lbs.  That's 8.4 lbs re-gone, never to be found again!  The second week I lost 3.4 more lbs, bringing me to 176.4 lbs.  That's the lowest my weight had been since 2003!  It also brought my total loss from 64.3 to 66.9 lbs. 

Now this week, the third week, I've lost an additional 3.4 lbs.  As of this morning I weighed exactly 173.0 lbs, for a total loss of 70.3 lbs!!!  Woohoo!!  That's a definite personal best!

Here's the funny part.  Remember how anxious I was to lose weight on the second cycle, and how frustrated I was at the slowness of the loss?  This time I've hardly paid attention to the weight loss.  It's as if mentally I'm just using the diet to maintain rather than to lose. 

I'm mostly following the diet to the letter, yet I often find myself in the evening doing something not quite in line with Dr. Simeons's protocol, such as eating a large pork chop fried in salsa instead of my tiny 100-gram, low-fat piece of broiled meat.  I've also started drinking a cup of sugar-free, 25-calorie hot chocolate (with a tablespoon of heavy cream) everyday to get me through the long afternoon, between the afternoon snack and dinner, which is often late at our house.

Despite these cheats, I'm still losing.  Perhaps it helps that I'm not stressing over the weight (although I do still weigh myself every morning).  Or perhaps my body needs a little fat to be convinced it's not starving, thereby becoming more willing to release the body fat!

At any rate, I plan to stay on the diet until mid-June.  I'll quit in time to do a few weeks of maintenance before we go on our Colorado vacation in July.  I've gotten so used to eating this way, it really isn't hard anymore.  It just seems natural.  Go figure!

And look what I found!  Well, actually, Wyndie found it at Safeway.  She called me from the store and I rushed over and bought them out of all 3 packages of grissini they had stocked.

I've been pretty clear about my dislike of the tasteless Melba toast allowed on this diet.  It's like eating crunchy cardboard.  Dr. Simeons recommended using grissini instead because it's tastier and psychologically more filling.  Boy, he was right!  To me, these skinny little breadsticks almost taste like cake compared to the Melba toast!  I hope Safeway gets more grissini in stock by the end of this week, before my supply runs out!

Before and After

I finally have an "After" picture to post with Jacob's "Before" pictures.  These first two photos were taken on January 30, the day we started the last round of the hCG diet.  Of course, that was Jacob's first and only time to do this diet. 

If he's diligent, he'll never need it again.

Standing 6 feet tall as he does, Jacob carried his extra weight well.  He wasn't remotely "fat," but he wanted to lose that extra little pudginess and gain the body definition that boys his age think they must have. 

15 Apr 2010 - Jacob's senior picture

And here is Jacob today, 30 lbs lighter.  His musculature and bone structure are definitely more defined than they've ever been.  He looks more like a young man than my baby boy now!  In the month since concluding the diet, Jacob has gained back a few of the 34 lbs he lost, but he is maintaining his current weight steadily.  It's a success story!

Now, here's a fun set of "Before" and "After" pictures.  Last night I chaperoned the junior-senior prom and I wore the same heavy, black, beaded dress I wore last year.  Last year, that dress was an exact fit.  This year, having lost 67 lbs, I was drowning in that dress.  But I'm not complaining!  Check it out!

Before:

25 Apr 2009 - Mary at age 54

After:

17 Apr 2010 - Mary at age 55

Within an hour after my arrival at Prom, I had 3 more people express interest in learning more about the hCG diet.  I hope they will check us out here on the blog.  If they do, and if they choose to join us on our quest for better health, I wish them well and offer all my support!

As for me, just 30 lbs left to lose!

By now, there is so much to update, I hardly know where to begin!  I promise to get caught up on the latest hCG happenings soon.  Stay tuned!

Wyndie's Report, Part 2

My hCG Experience – Part Two

...by Wyndie

As of Wednesday, April 7th, I finished the maintenance phase of my hCG diet, so it’s time to give you an update.

 My weight: I have successfully maintained my weight loss. I did get into the upper end of my weight range twice, and I went over once just this past Sunday. Not surprisingly, this happened when I overate or ate things I wasn’t supposed to be eating. The first two times, I did steak days with mixed results. My first steak day worked beautifully, but the second one I only dropped 0.6 lb. I cannot account for the difference. When I actually went over my weight, I chose not to do another steak day. Instead, I was very careful to eat only good, healthy foods the following day, paying attention to portion size. I dropped 2.4 lbs and was right back at my end weight.

• Lesson learned: I do better when I monitor my weight daily, but I don’t need to be concerned about minor fluctuations. I can immediately correct peaks, should they occur.

 My food issues: I have to say that the diet did change the size of my appetite, but not as much as I’d hoped. I also still have cravings, darn it! However, I have definitely become more aware of why I eat what I eat, and that has made a big difference. I now know that a small treat is okay if I’m in the right frame of mind. However, if I’m feeling stressed or frustrated, I’m more likely to keep indulging and then regret it later. I’ve also learned that eating after 8:00 p.m. is a big no-no for me. I’m okay having a cup of caffeine-free tea or diet hot chocolate, but anything else pretty much guarantees a weight gain the next day.

• Lesson learned: I need continue to eat wholesome, healthy foods and avoid sugary junk food. However, I can occasionally indulge if I’m careful about it.

 My overall health: I’m thrilled that my “extra-cushy” spots seem to be gone for good. In addition, I did see my doctor for a checkup. He did blood work, and all of my results came back normal. I exercised 3-4 times per week for 40-50 minutes at a time throughout my maintenance, and my endurance and stamina were just fine. Exercising has been enjoyable, and I look forward to it. I feel great, and I haven’t had any of those nasty, run-down afternoons since going on the diet, though I have had one migraine headache.

• Lesson learned: The hCG diet does not seem to have had a negative effect on my physical condition; if anything, it seems to have helped my overall health and sense of well-being.

On the whole, I am very pleased with my hCG experience. I have definitely learned a great deal about myself and my relationship with food. I have learned how my body reacts to different foods and how to respond to keep myself feeling healthy and happy. I would do it again, but hopefully, I won’t ever have to! Ü

[To read Part One of Wyndie's report, click here:]

            http://hcgandmary.blogspot.com/2010/02/wyndies-report.html

End of Cycle Two

We made it!  We survived another cycle of the hCG diet, and again it was well worth our efforts.

This picture was taken on the morning of March 20th, our first day off the 500-calories-per-day part of the diet.  I still have 30-40 lbs I'd like to lose, but it sure beats how I looked in those first couple of "before" pictures over there in the left sidebar!  My net loss since the first cycle is only 18.4 lbs, but I think it still made a nice difference.  Above, 179 lbs on March 20th; below, 197 lbs on December 20th.

In all, I lost exactly 27.0 lbs during this second cycle.  If you subtract the 4.6 lbs I gained on the two days of gorging, I still lost 22.4 lbs.  If you also subtract the 4 lbs I gained during maintenance after my first cycle of hCG (exactly as much as I was allowed to gain), then that leaves my net loss of 18.4 lbs in 7 weeks.  I can live with that!

My total weight loss for the last 6 months is 64.3 lbs!  I consider that a milestone because in the past the most weight I ever managed to lose (on the Atkins diet in 2003) was 63 lbs.  Of course, I still have to lose 10 more pounds before I weigh the same as I did in the summer of 2003, but hey, at least I'm on my way!

Today I also measured myself for the first time since I began dieting last year.  I've lost 36 inches altogether!  Of course, I measured every conceivable body part!  I've lost 5 inches from my bust; 4.5 inches from my midriff; 10 inches from my waist; 8.5 inches from my hips; 4 inches from my thighs; half an inch from my ankles (I've always had skinny ankles); 2 inches from my upper arms; a quarter-inch from my wrists; and 1.5 inches from my neck.  No wonder my dress size has shrunk from 22/24 to 12!

This is my weight graph from this cycle.  It's not quite as steep as the graph from my first hCG cycle, but despite my frustration at how much slower the weight came off this time, this visual makes it clear that the losses were steady and more than adequate.  I hope I can be more patient next time!

This shot of Sarah was also taken on Saturday morning (March 20th).  She's not feeling like she made much progress, but I think these two photos show that this cycle truly did make a difference for her.  I can really see the change in her slimmer legs, waist, and shoulders.  She lost exactly 24.0 lbs this cycle, with a net loss of 15.6 lbs.

Below, Sarah on December 20th, at the end of her first hCG cycle and 33.6 lbs lighter.  Above, Sarah at the end of the second cycle and a total of 49.2 lbs lighter!!  She almost hit the 50-lb-loss mark.  That's okay, next time she'll surpass it!

As for Jacob, we took "before" photos but forgot to do his "after" shots.  As soon as we remedy that situation, I will post his before-and-after here on this blog.

By far, Jacob lost the most of the three of us, even though he stopped the diet 3 days earlier than Sarah and I.  At the end of his cycle he'd lost 33.8 lbs, and he looks great!

We are now halfway through our first week of maintenance, and I won't lie, it has been a nightmare!  Next week I'll do an update on what went wrong and the steps we are taking to remedy the problem.  Until then, please keep sending good thoughts our way!

HCG #2: Week Six

We are winding down to the final days of this hCG cycle.  I can almost taste the variety of good foods we'll get to eat next weekend!

It is exactly 6 weeks today (42 days) since we began the 500-calorie diet, and technically we should be done now.  However, Sarah and I decided to give ourselves five extra days to try and shed an extra pound or two.  We will stop the hCG drops after Tuesday (47 days on the hormone), and have our last day of the diet on Friday (48 days on 500 daily calories).

The day after that will be the first day of Spring Break.  The perfect time to start on maintenance!

Since my last post 6 days ago, I've lost another 2.6 lbs.  Still not as much as I'd like, but I'm very happy for a couple of reasons. 

First of all, I realized this week that I've now lost slightly more than a quarter of my former self (and I hope I never find it)!  That is an accomplishment! 

Secondly, as of today my Body Mass Index (BMI) finally dropped below 30.0.  That means I'm no longer "obese" according to the charts; now I am simply "overweight."  I can live with that while I maintain my new weight for the next 8 weeks.  (The length of maintenance increases between subsequent cycles of hCG).

My total weight loss is now 63.5 lbs.  Not bad, not bad at all! 

Sarah struggled again, but she lost 1.6 lbs this week, for a total of 46.6 lbs lost.  We're hoping she can get another pound or two off before we end the cycle this week.

Jacob had originally decided to end this cycle today.  He took the last of his drops on Thursday, planning to finish the diet today and start maintenance tomorrow.  Then on Friday morning, he found he'd lost 1.6 lbs.  This was big, because it finally put him below 200 lbs!  That was his main goal, and there it was staring him in the face from the scale: 199.8 lbs!   

I asked him if he was sure he wanted to stop now.  Odds were, his weight would bounce back up to 201 or 202 during maintenance if he stopped there.  He confessed that his main reason for wanting to quit now was his desire to eat the "good salsa" he'd bought for his SADD Club meeting coming up on Thursday.  He was tired of denying himself while everyone around him enjoyed the food. 

 

So we counted off the days and figured that he could stop the hCG drops today and finish the diet on Wednesday, just in time to enjoy the salsa (but no chips--remember, no grains, starches, or sugars during the first 3 weeks of maintenance).  He'll finish up just 2 days before Sarah and I do. 

Jacob is glad he waited.  He lost 4.2 lbs this week, for a total of 33.8 lbs in 6 weeks!  As of this morning my 6-foot son was down from 231 lbs to 197.6 lbs.  I'm so proud of him!  Now he should be able to maintain his weight at under 200 lbs, as long as he follows Dr. Simeons's guidelines.  Keep in mind that for 6 weeks Jacob is to neither gain nor lose more than 2 pounds.

And so here we go into the final stretch.  Wish us luck!

I dreamed up another new recipe this week, which we found surprisingly tasty:

Herbed Beef and Tomato Soup

300 grams 93% lean ground beef

1 can petite-diced tomatoes

1 can beef broth

1 can water

2 pinches each: thyme

                             tarragon

                        basil

Brown the meat, then combine all ingredients in a saucepan.  Simmer 20 minutes.  Serves 3.

I rarely cook with herbs unless I'm following a recipe someone else developed.  I don't really know what herbs are supposed to go with what foods.  For this soup, I let my nose be my guide.  I chose the three herbs that most pleased my sense of smell, and wow, we all loved the flavor of this soup!

Another new idea I had was to dress up my shrimp.  I've really missed cocktail sauce, and plain shrimp was getting boring.  Then I noticed that a teaspoon of this Louisiana hot pepper sauce has no calories.  I mixed 1 teaspoon of the sauce with a teaspoon of water and used it to dip my shrimp in.  Mmmm!  I'm not a big fan of super hot sauces, but served this way it gave the shrimp a nice kick and only lightly singed my lips! 

And no, you don't have to count the hot sauce as your dinner vegetable!