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!