HCG: Day 2

When I went to bed last night, I was starving hungry. I finally got to bed about 11:30 and I was more tired than typical at that time of night. I usually get to bed around 12:30 or 1am and get about 6 1/2 hours of sleep and feel great. Last night I was exhausted.

I slept about 8 hours and woke up feeling great. I wasn’t hungry. In fact, I didn’t even eat my breakfast (strawberries pictured at left) for over an hour.

I decided to take an appetite suppressant to see how that worked out. I have some the doctor gave me and I only took a half of one. I really wasn’t hungry until about 3pm or so. I had ended up eating lunch about an hour later than I planned and remembered about 3pm that I had an apple for a snack.

I would say the appetite suppressant worked just fine.

I assume that the effects of it have worn off and now, at 10pm, as I write this post, I am not really any more hungry than when I was eating a lot more than I do now. They say that one of the effects of this diet is that your appetite is naturally suppressed… they also say that can take a week or two. continue reading...

HCG: Day 4

Again I had a great night sleep and woke up with no appetite. I didn’t eat my breakfast until about 9:30am.

My lunch was great. I am a big fan of Italian food so I mixed ground beef with fresh tomatoes. I added oregano, basil, thyme, garlic, minced onions, bay leaf, pepper and sage. It was very good. Only missed the pasta. I didn’t make it into a full sauce because that would have been weird with no pasta. As a result, I could taste the tomato among all the flavors. I didn’t take a picture of it because it really didn’t look that appetizing, but it sure tasted good… and filled me up nicely.

For dinner we grilled chicken and I grilled some onions for myself. Sorry Jen for the breath.

This diet isn’t so hard. I am not a big fan of vegetables, so I am trying to get creative in how I eat them. continue reading...

HCG: Day 6

Last night… while sleeping… I had a pretty rough night. I went to bed far hungrier than I have been in the last week. I also went to bed pretty late by comparison (about 12:30am). Although that isn’t any later than I did before the diet, I have felt more tired than when I eat lots of food. I woke up several times with hunger pangs. At one point, I couldn’t fall back asleep for about 30 minutes.

This morning, after sleeping about 7 hours, I was pretty fatigued. I was fatigued all morning long.

Interestingly, I didn’t take a nap and I am not that tired right now. I did have a moment or two of dizziness that was a bit odd. It was right after I had my afternoon snack. I ended up eating lunch at 1pm (I am trying for noon) and dinner at 8pm (I am trying for 6pm). I am a bit hungry now, but I am only staying up until about 11pm so hopefully it won’t be too much of a pain.

Pictured at the left is my breakfast. The white flecks you see is stevia. It tastes so good… good enough to be a dessert. continue reading...

HCG: Day 8

I recycled the picture from the left from a few days ago. This chicken/asparagus meal is pretty darn good. (I didn’t recycle the food).

I was a little disappointed that I was so incredibly hungry yesterday, exhausted when I went to bed at 10:30, didn’t cheat at all on my food but woke up this morning with an increase in my weight.

Yeah… I grew.

I think (I hope) I am just retaining a little excess water. I had a little extra salt in my diet yesterday and last night I had some heartburn. Because I can’t have sugar, Tums are out. So, I used a little baking soda and water… heart burn went a way, but it is a lot of sodium just before bed. In addition, I didn’t drink as much water today.

Today, I drank a lot more water (over a gallon) and didn’t put salt on anything. As far as I can tell, my sodium intake today was virtually zero. Hopefully I’ll see the benefit on the scale in the morning. continue reading...

HCG: Day 10

I am not sure how appetizing the picture at the left is. I decided not to eat my normal snack today so that I could have it at dinner instead. We had a bbq for the scouts tonight. I am the assistant scout master for the 11 year old scouts. It was pretty nice to have a more full meal than I usually do.

At the left is grilled onions, a burger and an apple. I put mustard on the burger… it was spectacular. I have 96% lean beef that I seasoned like I normally do for burgers. It was really good. Almost made me forget that I am on an unbearable diet. I should have put more mustard on (you know, that is zero calories and zero sugars/fats). If you have had my burgers, then you know how they taste.

Easter, tomorrow, will be interesting. We have friends coming for dinner. I’ll have to do the same kind of thing tomorrow so that I can eat more when everyone else is eating.

For lunch today, I tried my tomato soup with turkey instead. It was very good. I think I’ll use that for the soup from now on. I get just a little more food because the turkey is more lean. continue reading...

HCG: Day 12

Today is the first day that I really don’t like this diet. I have been hungry on some days, but today I really don’t like it.

The reality is that I don’t like vegetables. I never have. Previous diets I have done (usually of my own making and not someone’s program) have been great for me because I find foods that are low calorie, taste great and I enjoy eating.

I don’t like vegetables and so I am running out of options.

The chicken/asparagus meal at the left I liked at first. I couldn’t finish it tonight. I am burnt on chicken and really burnt on asparagus.

I am going to have to find a way to change things up a bit or I am going to be in real trouble.

I retained a bit of water from yesterday so my weight actually went up. Even though I know it is impossible that I gained any fat, it is discouraging to see an increase on the scale. I reduced my salt to almost non-existent again and increased my water. I also decided to eat apple for both of my fruits because I heard that it helps with water retention.

I better see a drop on the scale tomorrow or I will be really upset.

Probably time to start experimenting a little… like replacing some vegetable with some fruit so that can eat something I like. continue reading...

HCG: Day 14

When I  eat foods I like, I like this diet. I think I have found my lunch staple. Today I did a beef/tomato soup, but it tastes great with turkey (ground) as well. Tomorrow, I’ll post the recipe. I think I may have it honed pretty well.

I am pleased with my weight loss. My appetite is regulating a bit. I am not starving between meals. In fact, I have found today that I didn’t really get hungry until I started eating. I am a little hungry now as I write this post, but overall I am not starving and feel like I am good to go.

One interesting thing about not cheating ever is that my temptations to cheat go way down. I am not as inclined to snitch even a little since I know that I can’t. Oh, the temptations are there… the kids had waffles tonight for dinner and I wanted about 14 of them loaded with syrup (mmmmmmm syrup). But alas, I can’t. So I didn’t. Still on track with the diet on the 14th day. continue reading...

HCG: Day 16

No, I didn’t eat any donuts.

Bethany had an activity at her school called, “Donuts for Dads.”

It was a lot of fun and a little tempting.

But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

She took my donut home to let Hyrum and Jenna share.

She was very cute to make sure that her teacher knew ahead of time that I was on a diet and that I wouldn’t have a donut. Basically, she told the teacher that I didn’t want to be fat anymore.

Tonight I am going camping so I am blogging a bit early. I am logging food I plan to eat since I have only had my lunch so far. Tomorrow I won’t be able to weigh in so tomorrow night’s blog will just be how the camping trip turned out.

My appetite has really regulated. I have a consistent hunger. What I mean is, think of the hunger you feel an hour or so before lunch that makes you say, “I can eat, but if I have to wait an hour, no big deal.” That is kind of what it feels like for me. So, I didn’t eat breakfast so that I can eat a little more on my campout tonight. After I ate lunch, my level of hunger didn’t change, but it is not overly concerning.

It is also interesting to me that I don’t feel like I want to munch like I used to. I don’t feel compelled to go get a snack because I want one. The longer I am on the diet, the easier it is to maintain the diet. continue reading...

HCG: Day 18

After my camping trip, I wasn’t sure how much weight I would lose. I was hoping to get down to 245… I got down to 243. I couldn’t believe it.

Oh, I know what people will say… “It was all water weight.”

I say that if it is water weight that keeps coming off, then I am glad it is because I need to bring my weight down. But, as long as my body fat percentage keeps coming down, too, then I won’t be concerned.

I had a more full dinner tonight by not having breakfast or a snack. It is amazing how much food 250 calories is, pictured at the left.

My dessert was just incredible. I had some frozen raspberries. I put some stevia on them and let them thaw and macerate for about an hour. The juice it created was just spectacular. It was better than just about any dessert I have had in a long time (I mean much longer than 18 days:)).

If you haven’t tried stevia as a replacement for sugar, you really need to try it out. It really makes dieting easier. I couldn’t do this diet without that. It takes the edge off of the diet. If you need sugar on your cereal in the morning, in your tea or in other of your foods, you really need to try it out. I have tried Splenda (that claims it tastes like sugar because it is made from sugar) and it doesn’t even compare. Stevia is too expensive to be a good replacement for baking (I think), but to sweeten drinks and oatmeal, it is great. continue reading...

HCG: Day 20

I have found a number of ways to be creative on the diet. Mustard is one of the best ways to get additional flavor and add moisture. If you like sauces, you ought to try mustard. Most mustards have zero calories, zero fat and zero sugar.

You’ll have to be careful because I am sure that some will have sugar and fat. For example, honey mustard wouldn’t be a good fit for this diet. However, even honey mustard tends to be low in calories so after the diet is over it a good way to get some moisture in your sandwich and much better than mayo.

The other day I put this stone ground mustard on my chicken. I don’t normally like brown mustards, but the flavor was really nice for a change. I usually put my almost-famous bar-b-que sauce on my chicken and can’t during this diet. So, it is nice to have something to put on it. continue reading...

HCG: Day 23

I am back on the horse again (like the pic? does this make me a goat?). I guess I didn’t really fall off, but I wanted to when I gained a pound yesterday.

I was a little concerned when I gained a pound yesterday. I am not sure if it was related to mixing some veggies but at least it wasn’t fat. Gaining 1 pound and then the next day losing 2 is okay with me. It just illustrates that I was holding on to some water.

I have see a few blogs of people that are on this diet and are struggling with water weight. I thought that I would share what I do every time I think I am holding on to water. I don’t know if it is right, but it works.

First, I eat my fruits as apples. Second, I cut out most or all of the salt. Third, I increase my water drinking (up to a gallon of water).

I know it sounds weird to increase water. Jen had a doctor explain once that one of the reasons your body will retain water is it thinks it is not getting enough so it starts storing water like a camel. When you are properly hydrated, your body doesn’t need to store as much water.

My scale shows me my percentage of water in my body. As I am losing weight, I am finding that percentage increase. I don’t know what that means, but I think it is interesting. continue reading...

HCG: Day 25

I grew… and not in a good way. I added another 1 pound to my already substantial girth this morning (well, it is less substantial than it was 3 weeks ago).

It is a little frustrating to be extremely strict on a diet and find negative results.

Yesterday I said that if I was stagnating that I would eat nothing but apples for all my calories. So, today, I have had nothing but apples. I can have 33 oz of apples for 495 calories.

I actually kind of enjoyed it. I enjoyed the simplicity of it all. For about 8 oz, I heated it up with stevia and cinnamon on top and ate that while the family had my favorite baked chicken dish and dutch oven potatoes.

I have 10 oz left to go on the apples for today. I just cut them all up and I am going to snack on them and watch a little TV. As a reference, the apple in the picture above is just less than 5 oz. I usually eat just less than an apple for one of my fruits every day.

I got to thinking that after this HCG diet is over, I will definitely be eating a lot more fruit. I am toying with the idea of planning one day a week where I eat only fruit. Or maybe a couple of days per week where I get 50% of my calories from just fruit. Regardless, going forward, I want to get a larger percentage of my calories from fruit. I think that the sweetness in the fruit helps to subside sugar cravings. continue reading...

HCG: Day 27

Well, I decided to take inventory of my HCG injections. I wanted to start planning out when I can eat again.

As of tonight, I only have 11 left.

Hurray!

The protocol normally lasts 40 injections, but for some reason I am going to end up at a total of 36. One day I had a needle pop off and I lost all the fluid. When I tried to get my first few injections from a new vial, it was dripping a bit. I didn’t realize I had lost four dosages worth, but I don’t think I am complaining. I am losing, on average now, almost a pound per day. So, four dosages means less than 4 pounds… I can handle it.

It is starting to boggle my mind a little bit to think about how much food I’ll be eating when I will be at my maintenance diet of 2,500 calories per day. Right now, I am getting plenty of food. I am not hungry very much. Tonight I didn’t get to eat dinner until 8:30pm. I was pretty hungry by the time I at only 1/4 pound of food, but it was very filling.

Sure, I know that the medication is helping to suppress the appetite, but thinking about eating five times what I am eating now is significant. Think about eating five times what you eat now and you’ll kind of understand.

So, I have two weeks left before I start to increase my calories. I am anxious to see how it all shapes up for me.

I did decide to post my entire journey from start to finish with a graph of my experience on this page. continue reading...

HCG: Day 29

Since I was down again, I decided to try out the mixing of veggies again. If I gain weight in the morning, I am going to consider it a failure… even though it probably just makes me retain water.

Just getting an additional flavor in my meal, even with the same number of calories, is incredible. I don’t know if adding tomato to my onion is really mixing since I had tomatoes earlier in the day, but it sure tasted good. I added some mustard and enjoyed every single bite.

I can see how I can eat within 2000 calories a day if my permanent diet can contain foods like this. continue reading...

HCG: Day 31

I am officially tired of the diet.

I am starting to get more and more cravings.

Today, Jen cooked grilled cheese for the kids. I wanted it.

Tonight, I had my burger (with onions and tomatoes cause I just wanted the tomatoes) and I cooked hot dogs for the kids. I cut up Hyrum’s hot dog and had a little of the juice on my fingers. I licked it. I wish I had it. This was after a bratwurst craving last night.

Earlier in the week, I craved a quesadilla, pizza, peanut butter, chocolate milk, etc.

I am going to hold on and see it through, but a month down and I am starting to get cravings that I thought were all but gone.

I had the berries (pictured at left) with a little stevia sprinkled to get some good, sweet juice for my dessert tonight. It was very good. Very filling and incredibly tasty. It would have been much tastier on top of ice cream or with whipped cream on top.

Even though my weight was less this morning by only a little (I think I am holding water again), I still think the diet is worth it. Jen asked me today if I would do this HCG protocol again after knowing what I know now. I simply said that losing over 30 pounds in six weeks is worth it. I would probably lose more if I was as strict as the program requires, but, hey, I am losing a lot of weight.

Also, my gut is down a total of 4.5 inches right now. That is pretty compelling. continue reading...

HCG: Day 33

Well, after a “mostly apple” day, my weight didn’t drop as much as I expected. Seems that my weight loss has slowed a bit. I supposed I shouldn’t complain that it did drop nearly a pound. I think it just means that I wasn’t retaining as much water as I thought over the last few days.

I don’t know if I have slowed because of mixing tomatoes and onions or not. One thing I wonder might cause it is my body is starting to get used to the same foods. Because I really don’t like veggies, I have found two (onions and tomatoes) that I like and I just eat those same things over and over again. I haven’t gotten sick of what I am eating so I just keep eating it.

You might be wondering about the lemons image at the left. On Saturday I wanted to try some lemon in my soup. I read that I can have the juice of a lemon with my diet. I have a bottle of lemon juice that is always in the refrigerator. I noticed on the side of the bottle that you can make a lemonade with the juice, water and sugar. I decided to try it with stevia. I put an ounce or so of lemon juice with some stevia in about 12 ounces of water… presto… a great lemonade. So, I had some on Saturday, yesterday and today.

I am sure the lemonade adds some calories. It is possible that it has slowed me down, but I doubt it. Even 3 ounces of lemon juice only adds 23 calories. If it does slow me down for consuming 23 calories too much, then I’ll live with it.

In reality, one of the components of this diet that I just don’t get is exactly 500 calories. Why not 475 or 525? Why not 507? 500 just seems to round of a number to be scientifically the exact number that works where other numbers won’t. With that said, I have been very careful along the entire diet to ensure that I was very good with my calories. Here, towards the end, I am ready to move on… so, I’ll fudge the data a little bit and won’t count my lemonade. continue reading...

HCG: Day 35

I crossed a milestone today.

I am officially down more than 30 pounds.

Not bad for 35 days, huh?

Having only 21 pounds left for my goal is a nice feeling. It is nice to know that I am able to fit better in my clothes and feel better about myself.

A lot of people who know me would never have thought I was fat. I have always hidden my weight really well. However, losing 30 pounds makes me feel a lot better. Not only feel better about myself, but simply feel better.

Being so heavy was just uncomfortable. Having that extra weight all over my body makes it harder to do everything. It is harder to walk and run. It is even uncomfortable to sit and lie down.

I have a bit more to go, but it is amazing how fast I can feel better about my body. It has already been worth being very strict about my diet. Although I have been a little lax a few times, for the most part, I ended up being more strict than I thought I could be. continue reading...

HCG: Day 38

I neglected to blog yesterday. I ended up going camping last night (well, it was planned). I went with the Boy Scouts. I was going to blog before I left, but ran out of time.

Because of that, I also didn’t get to weigh myself this morning. I weighed myself after I got back, but that really doesn’t count because it was in the afternoon.

As a result, no blog yesterday and no weighing in today.

Don’t worry, yesterday I stuck to my normal 500 calorie regime. I did cook my beef and onions as a tin foil dinner… what a nice difference. The vital stats below are from yesterday’s measurement.

Today, was a little different story. I cooked my soup for lunch over a camp stove… really good. I got home and decided that I really didn’t want to cook. So, I just had some apples. As a result, my calorie intake today was less than usual.

One problem that I have found is that my hands are getting very dry. About a week ago, my doctor suggested baby lotion. I am using it sparingly but on the campout my hands started to crack a little… so, when I got home, I wasn’t so sparing on the lotion and now they feel better.

Tomorrow is my last injection.

Hurray! continue reading...

HCG: Day 40

While I am working toward increasing my calories, I thought that I’d put into perspective how much weight I have lost so far.

Take a look at the picture to the left. What is visible is 30 pounds of butter. Each of the boxes on the left is 1 pound of butter (you see there are a couple of half boxes). I have lost four more pounds than shown in the picture.

It think it is a pretty strong visual to think that all of that was in my body and now is no longer there after only 40 days.

When you are carrying the weight, you don’t really comprehend how much you are carrying because it is spread out throughout your body.

When you lose this much weight this fast, you notice it’s absence and really enjoy it.

I did go a little crazy on my dinner tonight… mixed vegetables… I had tomatoes, lettuce and green onions. I even had some salsa (heaven forbid). It was really good.

I rode my bike to work… 4.5 miles each way. It was a really nice ride. I think I’ll do that more often. It burns calories so hopefully I’ll offset the “mixed” veggies. continue reading...

HCG: Day 49

Well, I have been off the injections for a little over a week and I am still losing weight.

At the left is a picture of Jenna and Ian. They are my two youngest. Ten days ago, I mentioned that I lost the equivalent weight of my 4 year old.

As of now, I have lost the equivalent of my 3 year old plus my 4 month old.

So, now, I have lost two kids :)

I have been slow in increasing my calories. Yesterday I only had about 630 calories. Today, I’ll end up with only about 660 calories.

I am increasing a little more slowly than recommended. I figure that I should take advantage of my body not being that hungry to lose as much weight as possible.

It seems that I’ll be done with this diet beyond my goal. I only have 12 pounds left to go. My goal for the 12 weeks (6 weeks on the HCG and 6 weeks of reintroduction) was to lose a total of 51 pounds.

I may actually hit that weight a little early. continue reading...