HCG #2: Week Three

We made it through week 3 of our second cycle of the hCG diet, which means we are halfway through the 40 days.  But that patience I've been trying to develop is already wearing very, very thin.

Jacob has left Sarah and I in the dust. 

Yesterday, after only 21 days on the diet, he had lost 25.2 lbs.  Amazing!


If Jacob loses just 8 more lbs, he will have reached the maximum amount of weight Dr. Simeons allowed patients to lose during one cycle of hCG, which is 34 lbs.  He should be able to do that easily over the final 3 weeks.  Then he will be mighty close to his goal weight.

For Sarah and I, though, this cycle and especially this week have been rather disappointing compared to our first round. 

Sarah lost only half of a pound all week.  That is so discouraging for her.  And yet I can see her becoming smaller around the middle, so it may be that the microbiologist I mentioned last week was right about a plateau being the time when the body loses inches.  She has a total loss of 40.4 lbs, so she is still doing well!

As for me, when I weighed myself on Saturday, I looked back to my weight on the previous Saturday and saw that I'd only lost 1.2 lbs over the 7 days between.  It made me mad!  I'm sorry, but on this diet I feel that anything less than 3 lbs per week is unacceptable.

So I decided to have an "apple day," which I described in last week's post.  It's Dr. Simeons's answer to breaking a plateau for us impatient folks.

I wasn't thrilled to do it, since I'm not a big apple eater (now, if it were a "strawberry day" or a "banana day" or a "kiwi day," that would be different!).  Still, I was desperate enough to give it a go, plus I thought it might be helpful to see if it really works and post the results on this blog for others who might wish to try it.

So I chose my 6 apples, fasted all Saturday morning, and ate my first apple at 12:30 (lunch time).  I ate another at 5:15, one at 7:30, and one at 11:00 pm, while I was on the computer.  By that time I was all appled out and called it quits.  I could have eaten the 5th and 6th apples on Sunday morning, but it didn't sound at all appetizing to me.  In the end, I only ate 4 of the 6 allowed apples.

Lo and behold, on Sunday morning I had lost 1.8 lbs!  That brought my total for the week to exactly 3 lbs, which I can live with.  Barely! 

I returned to the 500-calorie diet at noon on Sunday, eating lunch right before we left for church.  I was a little nervous that my weight might bounce back up this morning, but I actually retained the loss even though I weighed myself 3 hours earlier today than I did on Sunday.

That makes my weight loss in 3 weeks 17.8 lbs, for a grand total of 55 lbs gone.  That does make me feel pretty good! 

And, in spite of losing only 1.2 lbs during all of last week, I will say that I received more compliments in that one week than I have during all the rest of the weeks since I started the diet on November 1st.  Again, maybe it was time for me to lose some inches despite the plateau.  (I've lost 10.5 inches off my waist so far.) 

Sarah is doing the "apple day" today.  I hope it does the trick, kick-starting her weight loss off this plateau she's on.  We moms love to see our children succeed!

Here are a few new hCG recipes we've dreamed up these past couple of weeks:

Above, chili con carne.  We browned the ground beef, added 2 cups of chopped onion, and seasoned it heavily with garlic, chili, cumin, and parsley.  Then we simmered it in a little water until the water cooked away.  Delicious!

This one looks a little weird, but it was also yummy.  Jacob diced up chicken breast and added asparagus and seasonings.  Sarah doesn't like asparagus, so this one was just for Jacob and me.

I think this version of a strawberry smoothie has become a family favorite which will continue long after the diet is done.  We've only made it once in each cycle, so it's definitely a splurge, but we love it.

Simply fill the blender with fresh or frozen strawberries (we've used both) and fill it up halfway with a sugar-free strawberry-flavored drink, something like Crystal Light.  Then blend it until it's smooth or just a little chunky.  Mmmmmm!

If you use frozen strawberries, let them thaw a bit so they aren't rock-hard before blending them.

And here we have the finished product, ready to enjoy.  We got a little brain-freeze when we used the frozen strawberries, but boy, was it good!

Tonight Jacob is going to grill us some tiny steaks and make a nice asparagus soup on the side.  Wyndie came up with the recipe and says it is very tasty.  I'll share photos and recipe next week.

Wyndie has completed her 23 days of hCG drops and has just 2 more days on the 500-calorie diet before she begins the 6 weeks of maintenance.  She promised to write up her experience and results, which I'll share here soon.  Stay tuned!

HCG #2: Week Two

Our second week on our second round of the hCG diet has produced mixed results, but some success overall. 

Jacob is the clear winner.  He has lost 19.8 lbs in 15 days!  I put it down to the these contributing factors: this is his first hCG cycle, he is male, he is 18 years old, he has a healthy metabolism, and I'm so jealous!  Oh, sorry, I guess that last one wasn't a contributing factor... 

Sarah had some starts and stops earlier this week, but in 15 days she has lost 14.8 lbs, for a total loss of exactly 40 lbs as of this morning.  So today is a big milestone for Sarah!

It's been frustrating for me.  My goal was to lose at least 6-7 lbs more this week, but I only lost 5.4  for a 15-day total of 14.8 lbs (the same as Sarah).  That makes my total loss 52 lbs, which is nothing to sneeze at, I know, so I'm trying to focus on that success.

Here's how it went down:  At the beginning of the week I was losing much more slowly than usual.  There were a couple of 1-pound losses, but also a tiny 0.6 and 0.2.  On the last cycle, I didn't see such small losses until the final 2 weeks.  At least my weight was moving downward each day, but I didn't feel it was coming off fast enough.

I haven't cheated at all, not so much as licking my fingers!  The only thing that seemed different this time was that I wasn't hungry since I'd raised my three-times-a-day dose of hCG from .35 to .40cc.  Maybe it was releasing too much fat into my system, I reasoned.  Maybe the weight would come off faster if I went back to the .35cc.  Maybe my body wanted to be hungry!  Okay, maybe not, but I would rather be hungry if it would speed up the weight loss.

I reduced my hCG drops on Thursday morning.  By Thursday afternoon my stomach was growling, and it has pretty much remained like that ever since.  However, on Friday morning I'd dropped 1.4 lbs and on Saturday I'd dropped 1.4 more!  Almost 3 lbs in 2 days--now, that's more like it!  I thought I'd discovered my solution.

But then yesterday and today the scale hasn't budged, not so much as one ounce.  Back to frustration, square one.  And so, again, I am reminding myself not to compare this cycle to my first cycle of hCG (by day 15 last time I'd lost 18.2 lbs...Shoot!  There, you see, I did it again!).  And I am trying to focus on the 52 lbs that are gone and never coming back!

I found this picture online of a 5-lb chunk of fat.  Think about it.  I've lost a total of 10 of those!  That's like losing a whole child!  And in just the past 2 weeks I dropped 3 of those blobs, so I will try to be more optimistic and patient.  Okay, Mary, be patient...be patient...be patient...

Now it's Lesson Time for those of you sharing this experience: 

First of all, this week seems to prove that slightly increasing your dose of hCG can take away the hunger, if that proves to be a problem for you as it was for me.  I'm going to raise mine back to .40cc and learn to appreciate the small losses among the larger ones while not being hungry.

Second, my friend A'Lece learned something while she was doing the hCG diet last year.  She went for a whole week without losing any poundage, but her microbiologist friend (who has worked with hCG) told her that it's when the weight loss pauses that more inches tend to come off.  When she measured herself at the end of the week, she had indeed lost a large number of inches.

Finally, Dr. Simeons himself had something to say about plateaus.  Here's an excerpt from his book, Pounds and Inches:

"The third type of interruption in the regular loss of weight may last...ten days to two weeks.  Fortunately, it is rare and only occurs in very advanced cases, and then hardly ever during the first course of treatment.  It is only seen in those patients who during some period of their lives have maintained a certain fixed degree of obesity for ten years or more and have then at some time rapidly increased beyond that weight."

I hope this is just a 2-day thing that will resolve itself this week.  I hope I'm not an "advanced case"!  However, I am definitely in the weight range where I hovered for a couple of years in my mid-twenties.  At that time I lost 47 lbs after I discovered I had hypoglycemia and changed my diet, but by the time I married and delivered Sarah at age 35, my weight had crept back up to that range, and there it stayed until I was expecting Dylan at age 42.  During that pregnancy I had many medical issues and gained weight rapidly.  It wasn't until my doctor introduced me to Dr. Atkins's book more than 2 years later that I was able to lose it all and then some... for the first time, anyway... 

So, yes, I did maintain that "certain fixed degree of obesity" in my current weight range for almost 10 years, followed by rapid weight gain.  Nonetheless, Dr. Simeons assures his readers that this type of plateau never lasts more than 2 weeks.

Repeat after me: patience, patience, patience...

Regarding other plateaus, Dr. Simeons states that a plateau of 4-6 days is perfectly normal, especially in the second half of the cycle, and will always correct itself.  For those who are impatient, he does propose a solution called an "apple day," although he says it is purely a psychological fix since it really only creates water loss and the plateau will end itself without help.  He also says this method is useless unless the plateau has lasted at least 4 days.  Still, here it is:

Only water is allowed until lunch time.  From that point on, you may eat up to 6 large apples any time you like, until just prior to lunch the following day.  Once you begin eating the apples (and nothing else for that 24-hour period), you should only drink enough water to quench your thirst, not enough to feel full.  If you can't eat all 6 apples, that's fine.  And that's it.  The next day at lunch you resume the 500-calories-per-day diet.

I think that middle apple looks like an old boyfriend of mine!

The Short Form:  My friend Wyndie is continuing on her 26-day hCG cycle and doing well.  She lost more weight than she expected during the first week, which made her a little nervous since she does not want to lose more than 15 lbs.  However, the weight loss has slowed to an acceptable level and all is going well.  I'll give a full report when she completes the diet sometime next week.

And so I leave you now with this thought: Remember, patience is a virtue worth waiting for!

HCG #2: Week One

There have been many mornings when I expected to see this message on my bathroom scales!  But no more!

Our first week on our second cycle of the hCG diet has gone well.  Better yet, I find I am less hungry this time around!  This may be because I upped my hCG dose from .35 to .40 cc 3x daily, but I think it also helps that I knew what to expect this time.

As anticipated, Sarah, Jacob, and I lost the weight we gained during our 2-day "gorge" within 3 days.

Jacob had gained 2.8 lbs; he lost 2.8 lbs the first day.  I had gained 4.6 lbs; I lost 5.0 lbs in 2 days.  Sarah had gained 7.0 lbs; she lost 7.0 lbs in 3 days. 

And we have all continued our downward trend.  In 7 days Jacob has lost 13.2 lbs (must be nice to be a male teenager with a healthy metabolism!).  In that same 7 days, Sarah has lost 10.8 lbs, for a total loss of 36.0 lbs since November 1st, and I have lost 9.4 lbs for a total loss of 46.7 lbs.   

During my first cycle on hCG I lost 11.8 lbs in the first week.  I fully expected to lose slightly less weight during this second cycle, and I even told myself I'd be happy if I lost at least 9 lbs this first week.  I lost 9.4 and I am happy, yet I find I can't help comparing the results with last time and feeling mildly disappointed.  That's something I'll have to overcome during the next 5 weeks.

Part of the problem may be that, between gaining back 4 lbs during maintenance (the full amount allowed) plus the 4.6 lbs from the gorge, I really only have a net loss of 0.8 lbs for this week.  That means that after a whole week, I'm only eight-tenths of a pound lighter than I was at the end of the first hCG cycle back on December 20-21.

Still, everything from here on out is fresh, pure weight loss, with numbers on the scale that I haven't seen in several years.  I know I will find great pleasure in that.  No more disappointment!

The kids and I have been joined this time by my friend Wyndie.  That makes it more fun, since she and I work together (at school, Wyndie is my aide, and in church she is the Primary president while I'm the secretary).  Now we can compare notes everyday.

Wyndie has less than 15 lbs to lose, so she is doing the 23-day cycle of hCG.  Her main purpose in trying out the diet is to see if Dr. Simeons's claims that hCG can reset the entire metabolic system are correct.  Her family background includes thyroid disease, and recently she has had symptoms that may indicate she's moving in that direction.  Hopefully this diet can nip it in the bud.

Since I know of several other people who intend to do the shorter 23-day cycle, here is some information from Dr. Simeons's book:

1)  The doctor notes that the hCG should be used for a full 23 days, no less.  His experience shows that any shorter use of the hormone nearly always ends in regaining all the weight.  23 days are required to make the weight loss permanent.

2)  If the necessary amount of weight is lost more than a few days before the end of the 23 days, weight loss will stop and the dieter may begin to lose the appetite-suppressing effect of the hCG, leading to hunger.  If this occurs, do not stop the hormones or the diet!  Instead, increase the daily amount of food eaten to about 800 calories and continue to the last day.  (If hunger continues and weight is stable, it may be increased to as much as 1,000 calories per day.)

3)  Like the full 40-day hCG cycle, the 23-day cycle of the hormone must be followed by 3 extra days of the restricted-calorie diet, to give the hormone time to circulate out of the body (or weight gain will recur).  Thus it is actually a 26-day diet, with the first 23 days using the hCG.

4)  Also like the full 40-day cycle, the 23-day cycle must be followed by 6 weeks of maintenance.  This resets the hypothalamus so the body accepts the new weight as permanent.  During the first 3 weeks: no sugars or starches.  During the second 3 weeks, starches and sugars can be gradually added back into the diet. 

5)  You must weigh yourself everyday to see that you neither gain nor lose more than 2 lbs during the entire 6 weeks of maintenance.  If you gain more than 2 lbs above your weight on your last day of the hCG hormone, you must quickly take it off again by having a "steak day" that same day.  Drink lots of water but eat nothing at all until dinner time.  Then you eat a "huge" steak with either an apple or a raw tomato.  That's it.  The next morning you will find you lost all you gained, and usually more.  I know, because I had to do 5 steak days during my 6 weeks of maintenance.  It worked!

6)  Oh yes, and don't forget that--again--like the 40-day cycle, the shorter cycle also begins with the 2-day gorge of fatty, sugary foods.  You start the hCG drops (or injections, if you prefer) on day one.  On days one and two you "gorge."  On day three of the hCG, you begin the 500-calorie-per-day diet.

Here's a note for any vegetarians who might be interested in this diet.  Dr. Simeons does have a plan for you (see his book, Pounds and Inches, for details).  However, he states that the modified diet for strict vegetarians is very restrictive with fewer rewards.  His clients on the vegetarian diet lost at only about half the rate of his other patients.

Is it worth it?  Each individual must decide for himself/herself.  All I can say with any authority is that this is a diet that works!

Round Two

I guess you could say our 2-day gorge-fest was successful.  I've gained 4.6 lbs in 2 short days.  Sarah gained 7.0 and Jacob gained 2.8.  I hate seeing these numbers on the scale again, but it is necessary for overall success.  Plus I know from experience that those extra pounds will come off in the first 2-3 days of the 500-calorie diet.

You may have noticed I mentioned my 18-year-old son Jacob.  He has decided to join us this time.  Jacob is a broad-shouldered, 6-foot-tall, high school senior who carries his weight very well, but he'd like to lose about 30 lbs to achieve a healthier BMI.  We will share his journey in this blog, as well.
*

I charted another weight graph, this one showing my success with the 6 weeks of maintenance that are required between the 40-day cycles of hCG.  The red dotted line in the center indicates my weight on my last day of the hCG drops.  The yellow band surrounding the red dotted line is the 4-lb range I needed to stay within, neither gaining nor losing more than 2 lbs.  My weight fluctuated wildly within the yellow range, but obviously it was inclined to rise toward the top of the band. 

Thank goodness for Dr. Simeons's "steak day" method to bring the weight down each time it climbed back to the top.  At the bottom of the chart I've highlighted my 5 steak days in yellow.  At the very end, the final 2 "gorge" days are highlighted in pink.  My weight took quite a jump there for yesterday and today, but not to worry.  It's all part of the plan and will pay off in the end. 

As anticipated, our gorging days were both pleasurable and uncomfortable.  On Friday morning we began with biscuits and gravy.  For lunch, Sarah had a sub sandwich and Jacob had pizza pockets.  I had a fairly healthy tuna sandwhich on whole wheat bread, but we all ate lots of Lay's potato chips on the side.  The kids had pizza for dinner while I had a grilled breast from KFC--along with corn on the cob and mashed potatoes and gravy. 

The main idea is to eat plenty of fats, so we were generous with butter, olive oil, mayonnaise, and gravy (meat drippings).
*

Dylan graciously offered to make pancakes for everyone on Saturday morning (above photo).  Dylan is my 12-year-old with the perfect BMI (body mass index) of 18-point-something.  He is the same height as me (5'5") but weighs 90 lbs less.  He'll probably never need this diet.

I like pancakes, but I prefer French toast (swimming in butter, not syrup), so I opted for that with hash browns and hot cocoa with a dollop of heavy cream instead (at right).  In the end, I gave Jacob almost half my hash browns, and I didn't quite finish the French toast, either.

On Friday I never felt stuffed, but after yesterday's breakfast I was groaning. 

We decided against going out to lunch at the Chinese buffet because we were all too full to enjoy it.  For lunch  I forced down a burger patty with melted cheese and homemade potato salad. 

Last night's dinner was fried taquitos with homemade chunky guacamole and sour cream, and deep-fried french fries on the side.  And then dessert: chocolate lava cakes with chocolate fudge brownie ice cream.

I never eat like this.  Yesterday I felt sick, sluggish, and tired all day.  Talk about your basic carb crash!  It was a relief to start the diet today, just as I knew it would be.

By the way, in anticipation of the upcoming holiday, we had an early Valentines Day. 

On Monday I gave my children little heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, and I bought myself a small box of pecan delights (and gave half to the kids).  Now we won't feel like we're missing out when Valentines Day arrives.  (Jacob threw his box away, so it didn't get into the picture.)

As of this morning we've started our second cycle of the 500-calorie diet.  To contrast today's menu with the way we've eaten for the past 2 days:

10:30  Melba toast and an orange

12:00  3.5 oz. burger patty (93% lean) and a small tomato

4:30    Melba toast and a sugar-free Jello cup

6:30    Chicken fajitas (with 3.5 oz. chicken breast and a small onion)

8:00    A Granny Smith apple for dessert

Slightly less than 500 calories, and I'm done eating for the day!

Keep in mind that we started the hCG drops on Friday morning.  By today, the hCG hormone should be effectively circulating in our bodies, releasing the abnormal fat which our metabolisms will burn up due to our very low calorie diet.

It is recommended that the homeopathic drops be stored at room temperature away from bright light.  Also, do not take the drops immediately before or after eating or drinking anything.  Wait at least 10 minutes between food/drink and the hCG drops, and vice versa.

How much hCG is recommended?  Dr. Simeons set the amount at 125 units per day (and never more than 200 units, or weight loss seems to stop).  Apparently in the homeopathic drops that translates to 1 cc or 1 mL.  Some folks I know were instructed to take a certain number of drops, about 12, three times per day.  My provider gave me a tiny syringe dropper and said to take .35 cc three times daily.

Out of curiosity, each time I took a dose of hCG, I tried putting 12 drops in a little container and sucking it up with my syringe.  I was amazed at how inconsistent the drops were.  When I measured them in the syringe, the amount ranged from .30 to .42 cc!  Not very accurate!  

So my recommendation is to find a small syringe or dropper that holds only 1 cc or 1 mL of liquid, with marks measuring it in tenths or less.  The only syringes/droppers I can find for sale so far are too large for our purposes, but I did get a smaller one by asking a pharmacist at Walgreens.  He gave me one out of a drawer behind the counter, for free.  Don't be afraid to ask!

Regarding my continual hunger during the first cycle of hCG, some people recommended I try taking more drops.  For anyone considering this, do not exceed .50 cc/mL or you'll risk stopping the weight loss, as Dr. Simeons warned.  I'm thinking I may try taking .40 or .42 cc three times a day this time, though I haven't yet done so, to see if that will help quell the hunger.  

Don't worry if you feel a bit tired during the first week; I understand that can be normal.  However, that wasn't an issue for Sarah or me.  Even if you feel great (and you soon will), be cautious in exercise.  Dr. Simeons encouraged swimming and walking, but heavy-duty workouts should be avoided unless you are extremely fit and already used to such a regimen.  

And NO massages!  (I wish I could afford one...)  Dr. Simeons was firm on this point.  To understand why, please refer to his book, Pounds and Inches.    

Finally, the doctor recommends taking only the most necessary of medications during the 40-day diet.  He okays birth control (remember, hCG is also used to treat infertility), vitamins, calcium, and pain pills like Advil and Tylenol, as long as they are sugar-free and oil-free.  He suggests discontinuing thyroid supplements (unless your own thyroid does not operate at all) and avoiding laxatives, diuretics, and hormones.  And there are no restrictions on salt; just don't use more than you ordinarily do. 

During my previous hCG diet, I took a multi-vitamin, CoQ10 in an oil base, blood pressure medicine containing a diuretic, and a low-dose thyroid medication, and I still lost 35 lbs.  I also chewed sugar-free gum.  Again, the difference may be the homeopathic drops versus the injections.

And now, here we are, poised on the edge of a new weight-loss adventure.  I can't wait to see how well we do this time! 

HCG: Planning Stages

Sarah and I have almost completed the 6 weeks of maintenance after our first 40-day cycle of the hCG diet.  We've managed to stay within the guideline of neither gaining nor losing 2 lbs beyond our weights on the final day of the hCG drops.  Well, we occasionally went as much as half a pound over the limit, but regular "steak days," as prescribed by Dr. Simeons, helped us bring those gains instantly back in check. 

Now we are back at the starting gate.  Five days from now, Sarah and I will begin our second 40-day cycle of the hCG diet.  And, while I don't look forward to the restricted 500-calorie diet, I am totally psyched about losing another 30 or so pounds in just 40 days!  That's because I know: It works!

Here are some tips and important facts for those who may be interested in joining us on this weight-loss journey.

1)  Prepare mentally. 

Honestly, I'm not sure if I could have endured this diet the first time if I hadn't been so desperate to bring down my blood pressure and get off half my prescriptions (I was successful on both counts, far sooner than I'd thought possible).  I'm an emotional eater, and suddenly being reduced to such tiny amounts of food was quite a shock. 

On the other hand, my daughter Sarah is also an impulsive, emotional eater and she had no trouble at all adjusting to the diet.  She immediately enjoyed the hCG hormone effect described by most dieters: no hunger, feeling comfortably full all day, to the point that 500 calories often seems like too much food.  Imagine!

I can't imagine.  I did not get that effect, and I was mildly hungry all day, every day, with few exceptions.  I've read hundreds of blogs and thousands of testimonials, and I've personally spoken to more than a dozen people who've lost a lot of weight on this diet.  I am the only one who felt hungry.  I finally found a website that explained the phenomenon as something that sometimes, though rarely, happens to women in perimenopause.  Lucky me.

The important things to keep in mind are these: I was mildly hungry, not ravenously, and the pounds kept falling off.  I learned to endure the hunger because the weight loss was so rewarding.  This time I am prepared.  So be ready for anything, but remember it is all totally worth it!

2)  Read the book.

It isn't absolutely necessary, but I recommend reading Pounds and Inches, by the late ATW Simeons, MD.  He developed the hCG diet protocol and he's the expert.  The entire manuscript can be found on many online sites, some of which can be downloaded.  Below is the one I use.

http://hcgdietinfo.com/HCG_Diet_Simeons_Manuscript.htm 

3)  Obtain your hCG.

If you live in my area, I can give you contact information for several distributors.  If not, I recommend asking around.  Seek out other dieters, talk to people in health food stores, ask your health care professionals, check online distributors.  I have seen prices ranging from $68 to $10 per bottle, for the exact same product from the same suppliers, so shop around.  You may have to wait a few weeks for their next shipment.

One bottle will last slightly more than 3 weeks, so expect to use 2 bottles for a 40-day cycle.

For those who need to lose only 5 to 15 pounds, there is the shorter option of a 26-day cycle, which requires only 23 days of the hCG hormone.  Dr. Simeons stresses the importance of completing the entire 26 days, even if the desired weight is lost sooner.  If the dieter quits before that time, the weight will inevitably be regained.

You will also need to decide whether to use once-a-day, injectible hCG hormone, or the 3-times-per-day homeopathic drops.  Some folks swear by the injections, which was the only method available in Dr. Simeons's day.  Others feel the drops are more effective since they are absorbed into the bloodstream throughout the day.  The drops are sublingual, meaning they are absorbed under the tongue.

All I can say is, Sarah and I used the drops with huge success.  In fact, last week I told the owner of our local health food store how much weight we had lost, and she was astounded.  Linda has seen many, many hCG-dieters, and she said there is a definite difference in the amount of weight lost between those on injections and those on drops, with the drops being the clear winner.

Having read Dr. Simeons's book several times, I suspect he would have embraced the homeopathic drops if they'd been developed in his lifetime.  He had to be so strict with his patients about tiny details, like not allowing lipstick or lotions or makeup because the extra fats were absorbed and interfered with weight loss.  I didn't cut back on any of those things, yet I still lost weight easily.  Also, the injections must be discontinued during the menstrual cycle, but the drops do not.  I had no PMS symptoms, plus I continued to lose weight during my entire period.  Finally, there are issues with developing immunity to the injectible hCG hormone, but there is some evidence that this is less of a problem with the drops.

4)  Decide on dates to begin the hCG and the diet.

 

For our first cycle, Sarah and I began the drops on Friday morning and the 500-calorie diet on Sunday morning.  That worked well for us, so we plan to do the same this week.  You will not start the hCG and the diet on the same day, since the hormone needs at least 48 hours to circulate into the body and become effective.

Ladies, plan to begin the day after your period, or at least 10 days before you expect your next period to start.

Here is the strange part: During those first 2 days on the hCG, it is important to eat as many fatty foods as you can stand.  Dr. Simeons called it "gorging" or "forced feeding."  As odd as it seems, it is an important step in ensuring success on the diet.  Not only that, but if you have recently been trying to lose weight by strictly following a low-fat or low-calorie diet, you need to gorge for a whole week before you begin the hCG.

I'll let the good doctor explain it to you himself.  Here is an exerpt from his book:

"One cannot keep a patient comfortably on 500 Calories unless his normal fat reserves are reasonably well stocked.  It is for this reason that also every case, even those that are actually gaining, must eat to capacity of the most fattening food they can get down until they have had the third injection.  ...eat frequently of highly concentrated foods such as milk chocolate, pastries with whipped cream and sugar, fried meats (particularly pork), eggs and bacon, mayonnaise, bread with thick butter and jam, etc."

On our first cycle, Sarah and I gorged for the first 2 days and we gained a few pounds.  However, we lost it all and then some within the first 2 days on the diet.

Gorging sounds fun, doesn't it?  It isn't as easy as you think.  Sarah and I were so sick after the first day, we could barely make ourselves eat on the second day.  We weren't even able to eat everything we'd planned.  By the time we started the diet, we were ready!  I admit, we are having fun planning a gorge of our favorite forbidden foods for this weekend--biscuits and gravy, French toast, hash browns, Hersheys chocolate, Lays potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, lunch at a Chinese restaurant, sub sandwich, pizza, fried chicken, potato salad, doughnuts, chocolate lava cake--but in reality we know we're going to be miserable and, in the end, anxious to start the diet. 

5)  Plan at least one week of menus.

Stock your pantry with the fruits and vegetables you plan to eat; buy a box (or several boxes) of melba toast; and pre-cut then freeze your 100-gram proteins.  Those resealable plastic snack-size bags are a perfect fit for the tiny little cuts of meat.  I also kept sugar-free jello cups on hand.

Here are the diet options, again from Dr. Simeons's book:

"Breakfast:  Tea or coffee in any quantity without sugar.  Only one tablespoonful of milk allowed in 24 hours.  Saccharin or Stevia may be used.

"Lunch:  1. 100 grams of veal, beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, lobster, crab, or shrimp.  All visible fat must be carefully removed before cooking, and the meat must be weighed raw.  It must be boiled or grilled without additional fat.  Salmon, eel, tuna, herring, dried or pickled fish are not allowed.  The chicken breast must be removed from the bird.

                2.  One type of vegetable only to be chosen from the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet-greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, cabbage.

                3.  One breadstick (grissino) or one Melba toast.

                4.  An apple or an orange or a handful of strawberries or one-half grapefruit.

"Dinner:  The same four choices as lunch.

"The juice of one lemon daily is allowed for all purposes.  Salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard powder, garlic, sweet basil, parsley, thyme, marjoram, etc, may be used for seasoning, but no oil, butter, or dressing.

"Tea, coffee, plain water, or mineral water are the only drinks allowed, but they may be taken in any quantity and at all times.  In fact, the patient should drink about 2 liters of these fluids per day.

"The fruit or breadstick may be eaten between meals instead of with lunch or dinner, but not more than four items listed for lunch and dinner may be eaten at one meal.  There is no objection to breaking up the two meals.  For instance, having a breadstick and an apple for breakfast or before going to bed, provided they are deducted from the regular meals.  The whole daily ration of two breadsticks or two fruits may not be eaten at the same time, nor can any item saved from the previous day be added to the following day.

"It should also be mentioned that two small apples weighing as much as one large one neverthless have a higher caloric value and are therefore not allowed, though there is no restriction on the size of one apple.  ...chicken breast does not mean the breast of any other fowl nor does it mean a wing or drumstick."

I have never found any of the grissino (Italian breadsticks) he refers to, so we do the melba toast (taste is similar to cardboard).  We buy the largest apples and oranges we can get our hands on.  Do not choose the same fruit, the same vegetable, or the same meat for both meals.  He especially cautions against having beef twice in one day.  We lived on lean steaks, 93% lean ground beef, chicken breast, tilapia (white fish), shrimp, and ground turkey/chicken breast.  Ground turkey breast is not on the approved list, but it didn't hamper our weight loss efforts at all.

Do not mix your fruits or vegetables at the same meal.  This may not seem like a big deal, but I believe it matters.  I know another group doing the hCG diet, but they are enjoying foods like mixed green salads and apple slices with strawberry sauce.  Sounds yummy, but Sarah and I lost twice as much weight as anyone in that diet group by sticking with Dr. Simeons's original protocol. 

And, by all means, do drink plenty of water and other fluids.  I've never had a problem with constipation, but when I began getting careless about my water intake, I had some uncomfortable days.  After drastically increasing my fluids, the problem went away.  Dr. Simeons discourages the use of laxatives and states that one small bowel movement every 3 or 4 days is perfectly normal during the diet, given the small amount of food going into the body.

6)  Begin!

Begin taking the hCG and start your 2-day gorge, or begin with a week-long gorge if your normal fat supplies are low from extended, strict low-fat dieting.

I will be back next weekend to report on the end of our 6-week maintenance phase and the start of our second hCG cycle.  Until then, good luck on your own journey!

Maintenance: Midway

The first 3 weeks of our 6-week maintenance period are over.

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This was the period when we weren't to eat starches or sugars. We haven't been perfect and we haven't always liked the number on the scale. We've done "steak days" (eating nothing all day except a "huge" steak with an apple or raw tomato for dinner) once a week to keep our weight within the prescribed 2-lb range (up or down).
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It's been a roller coaster ride.

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In the end, I think we've mostly been successful.

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The day we left for Mesa (New Years Eve), during the second week of maintenance, I was less than a pound above my target weight (what I weighed on my final day of the hCG drops). I was within the 2-lb plus or minus range, which is good. I had armed myself with sugar-free treats for the coming parties and dutifully packed up my bathroom scales for use in the hotel room, as prescribed by Dr. Simeons, but I was still nervous.

The next morning I was 2.2 lbs above my target weight, putting me one-fifth of a pound above the upper limit! It may have been travel bloat, but it was worrisome. So I was extra-diligent in avoiding sugary treats and ordering my fast food burgers without a bun. By the time we returned home, I was actually half a pound lighter than the day we left! Since the next day was Fast Sunday in church anyway, I did a steak day and lost 1.2 lbs more, putting me almost a pound below my target weight.

Week 3 was back-to-work week. I figured it would be easier to maintain once I was back on a schedule. As if! The first 2 days were fine, but over the course of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I gained back 3 lbs! However, I tried not to panic. I was still less than 2 lbs over the target, I was eating right, and I reminded myself that stress contributes to weight gain, too, thanks to the stress hormone cortisol. It was a very stressful week at work. And who knows how my crazed menopausal hormones are affecting me? Relax...relax...

By Saturday morning, 1.4 lbs had dropped back off, and I did another steak day. As of this morning I am again 1.6 lbs below my target weight.

Actually, I think the whole concept of being required to maintain your new weight for a prescribed period of time is a great idea. And not simply because it gives your hypothalamus time to reset to your new weight. I think it's been emotionally healthy to accept the new weight and step back from the single-minded pursuit of weight loss.

I wish I had done this when I lost a lot of weight in the past. Then maybe I wouldn't have regained the weight so easily. When I would get within 20 lbs of my goal weight and hit a plateau, I would become so discouraged that I would eventually give up and the pounds would creep back on little by little over the next few years. How crazy is that? Instead, I should have accepted the new weight, given my body time to adjust, and waited awhile to work at weight loss again.

I think this concept is one of the best things I will have gained from Dr. Simeons's protocol.

Today I decided to celebrate my current size by trying on every blouse and every pair of pants in my closet. Mind you, I have a large walk-in closet with literally 25+ years' worth of various-sized wardrobes, so this task took about 4 hours. I threw away several shabby old biggy-sized pants and shirts (when you're fat and can't easily find clothes that fit, you hang on to everything). I also gave 3 pairs of pants and more than a dozen blouses to Sarah. They're now the right size for her new, smaller figure, but ridiculously baggy on me. I love it!

In the photo above are the many blouses that haven't fit me since about 5 years ago, and a few I bought but never wore because I never lost the weight I intended to lose at the time I bought them. It was so fun and exciting to find so many clothes that now fit perfectly!

Add to those the other pants and blouses I was able to start wearing 4 weeks ago, and I have a great wardrobe to enjoy now! (Not shown in this photo are 7 more blouses in the washer--clothes can get pretty dusty hanging in the closet for years! I sneezed a lot while modeling all these shirts.) For the past few years, I have typically had a selection of 6 blouses and 5 pairs of pants to rotate and wear to work each week. Now I can literally go a month without ever wearing the same blouse twice! And it didn't cost me a thing!

It's also fun to think that someday Sarah will be able to choose from these clothes as we both continue to decrease in size and I move into the next-smaller wardrobe in my closet...

As much as I'm enjoying the new me, I still greatly look forward to continuing to shrink. The blouses in the above photo are still too small, varying from slightly too snug (on the left side) to "Did I buy these in the children's department?!" on the right side. The smallest shirts are from the mid-1980s. I'll need to lose 45 more pounds to fit them. That's just 2 more hCG cycles away. It finally seems attainable.

Finally, I thought it would be interesting to compare one of the smallest blouses in the closet to a shirt I was wearing to work only 2 months ago. That cute little blouse looks like it belongs to a child! Was I really that small once upon a time?

The dream remains alive!