Day 34 of Round 2 - GOOOOOAL!

Saturday October 31th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 240

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have reached my arbitrary goal of 240. Yay!

On Wednesday we take our last dose of HCG for this round, and then have two more days of VLCD. But the weight you should maintain is the last-dose-weight, not the weight of the last actual day.

So between now and Wednesday it would be nice if:

a) I reach 239.0 - that would be 70 pounds from July 4th.
b) I reach 238.5 - that would be 30 pounds this round.

In case you haven't noticed, I like round numbers.

I have decided, however, that I can no longer eat any white fish for the foreseeable future. I just can't physically bring myself to put a forkful in my mouth. So for the next week it's chicken, shrimp, beef, or fat-free cottage cheese for my protein.

Day 33 of Round 2

Friday October 30th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 241

One pound to go to my arbitrary goal of 240. Why 240? Dunno. There's all sorts of height-weight guides and BMI recommendations but none of them go up to 6'7", so I have to either extrapolate the curve or make a guess. Either way 240 seemed reasonable.

But now I think I could lose another 20, so a third round is in order, which we'll start in January. We won't be going to the fair again, so we were thinking what could we do for loading days?

Well, for the first day, in the morning we're going to go to a seafood buffet on the waterfront, and in the evening sushi buffet.

Day 32 of Round 2

Thursday October 29th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 242.5

Beef.

There's a little deli on Lakeside Avenue at Leschi Park that has organic meats for a lot less expensive than Whole Foods, PCC or Trader Joe's. Also, they'll grind beef for you at leanest possible, which is important for Phase 2 of the HCG VLCD.

For the last couple days I'd been stalled at 244.5, very annoying. But on Monday I ordered three pounds of beef, which was ready yesterday, so I made 4 oz patties out of it and fried them up (no oil) in a pan. They were delicious with some tomato, lettuce, onion, and pickle.

They say that beef can either break a stall or start one. It broke mine, as far as I can tell, but stalled K.

This morning I weighed myself at 243 before the shower, and 242.5 after. Fantastic. I'm 2.5 pounds away from my goal (though looking at 240, I see a lot of excess weight around my midsection that will necessitate another round next January). I have a little less than a week to go, and barring further stalls it should happen.

It'd be nice to hit 239 if possible, that'd be 70 total pounds in two rounds. Hell I'll round up if anyone asks. :)

Day 29 of Round 2

Monday October 26th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 244.5

I was down to 245.5 on Saturday but I fucked around all weekend and didn't get around to posting the blog.

Bought a new belt. The old belt's extra length was ridiculous. 4.5 pounds to go! I should be able to do that before the end of the round one week from this Wednesday.

Yay!

Day 26 of Round 2

Friday October 23th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 247

It's been said that the last few pounds are the hardest. Definitely true for me - seven pounds to go, but only a week and a half before I have to stop taking the HCG. It's a race against time!

Day 23 of Round 2

Tuesday October 20th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 249

Right.

Milestone 1: I'm in the 240s. Only 9 pounds to go before I reach my artificial goal that I set 60 pounds ago which leads me to

Milestone 2: 60 pounds. From 309 to 249 - and in only 4 months. Unbelievable.

Milestone 3, and this is the big one:

I don't have a clear memory but back in 1998 K and I decided our weights had gotten out of control, and in anticipation of a two month backpacking trip overseas we joined a health club in the city we were living in. They weighed us. I think I weighed in at 349, though it might have been 345 (don't think it was 350).

So that means I'm 100 pounds down from my highest weight. That's kinda really blowing my mind right now.

Day 20 of Round 2

Saturday October 17th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 250.5

Hola, amigos. How's by you? I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but I been stalled and not energized to blog. Monday night we had a roast suggested by one of the HCG cookbooks and while it was delicious and I only ate 3 ounces, I didn't lose any weight until Thursday when I suddenly dropped to 252. Friday I was 251.5, and today now I'm at 250. So despite the setback I think I'm still on track to get down to my goal of 240.

When I hit 249 (hopefully tomorrow, possibly Monday), that'll be some milestones I'll share. Also Monday I'm going to start ingesting HCG sublingually three times a day instead of twice. I'm picking up a new batch from the doctor Monday morning and will leave some at work. We'll see how that goes.

Day 14 of Round 2

Sunday October 11th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 255

Lost a pound despite having a taste of champagne last night in honor of a dear friend's birthday. Not even a sip. I suspect it was well within expected tolerance levels.

15 pounds to go! I could do this in my sleep. Of course it'll be interesting to see when that happens, and what happens if I continue after? At what point will my body say "Right! That's it, no more weight loss, no more fat to lose."

We'll see.

So K's recipe for HCG Friendly Quiche:

6 egg whites and two yolks
1 cup non-fat cottage cheese
2 cups diced onions
2 cups diced tomatoes or chopped spinach
Fresh herbs - chives, parsley, whatever you have
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Garlic Powder

Adapted from a different person's non-legal HCG diet Phase 2 recipe - this is basically HCG diet Phase 2 legal, except it does mix vegetables. Our doctor told us that mixing vegetables doesn't matter, and we found that mixing vegetables doesn't seem to affect us. If you aren't mixing vegetables, choose one and double the portion.

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Original recommendation: "I try to use a glass baking dish as it seems to stick less." (Personally, I found a ceramic baking dish to work beautifully, with almost no sticking, even with no oil or butter.)

In a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs with the cottage cheese and spices until well combined, and fold in the herbs, diced onion, and tomatoes or spinach. (I wasn't able to fit in all the veggies, so fold in as many as you can, and eat an equivilent amount of veggies with what was left out to compensate.) Bake for approximately 40 - 50 minutes, or until the eggs have set and the top has gone as golden as you like it. (It should stop jiggling much when moved.) For two people, eat a quarter each, and have some the next day for lunch. :)

Day 13 of Round 2

Saturday October 10th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 256

Wednesday I was down a half a pound but haven't blogged since - life, she is busy, no? Gonna try to remember to blog every day that I lose weight. :)

K made this amazing quiche for lunch with cottage cheese, eggs (1-3 ratio of yolks-whites), spinach leaves and onion. Google the recipe, you won't be disappointed, if you're looking for a more traditional weekend brunch food than baked fish or chicken. Let me see if I can get her to write up the recipe.

Day 9 of Round 2 - Double fun milestone day!

Tuesday October 6th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 259

Milestone one: If you count from my highest of 309, I've officially lost 50 pounds. That's like four bowling balls.

Milestone two: unarguably down into the 250s. I'm very happy about that.

So the weight I gained yesterday is off and I'm in the 250s. Less than 20 pounds to go!

Day 8 of Round 2

Monday October 5th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 263.5

Goddammit, so yesterday we had a really great (and expensive) dinner of chilean sea bass and grilled onions. Didn't think it'd be bad, but both K and I gained a pound (and a half for me). Damn. Other than that we were perfect! No cheating or anything.

Hope that comes right back off. :(

Day 6 of Round 2

Saturday October 3rd
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 262

On Monday morning I really hope to see the scale read in the 250s. Even 259.5 would be acceptable. Milestones, you gotta have milestones in order to reach your goals. The psychology of being able to say "I'm in the 250s!" after never having been in the 250s as far back as I can remember.

Day 4 of Round 2

Thursday October 1st
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 264

I was concerned about metabolic set points - since we had worked hard to stay at the last injection weight (mine was 268) I thought maybe it would be hard to lose weight and break that.

Evidently not, since in the last four days I've lost four pounds from that LIW, and 11 pounds from the loading weight of 275.

However the HCG immunity is something to keep in mind. I've lost my HCG immunity so it's working at full-strength. Hopefully over the next 30-something days I'll lose another 24 pounds and get down to my goal of 240.

And when I get there, whenever I get there, I'll make the decision as to whether I stay there or continue going. I don't know when I was that skinny before. Like I said, this is all uncharted waters.

Day 3, round 2

Wednesday September 30th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 266

From here on out, it's all uncharted waters.

After the last round, I saw a dear friend at a bar and she said "have you been working out?" I said no, but I have been losing weight, but it's mostly noticable on my face where I don't have those chipmunk cheeks anymore. She said "but that's what I liked about you!"

"Too bad," I said.

Saturday ran into a friend at the county fair. He said to me "where's the other half of you?"

Day 2 Round 2

Tuesday September 29th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 269

So the loading weight is dropping off. I've decided not to count the loading weight and use the LIW from the previous round.

I haven't mentioned the gout yet - it's back, though not as terrible as last time, probably because as soon as I started noticing it I jumped right back on the Colchicine. I spend Sunday afternoon fretting about it, and went home early on Monday, but it never really came on and the colchicine and vicodin really did the trick.

No hunger pangs, so the HCG must be working. This time we're doing sub-lingual so we're getting more of the hormone in every dose but it's not all getting absorbed. Note: B complex tastes NASTY. Even the half B-and-half colloidal silver is pretty rank. So for five minutes you've got this terrible liquid rolling around under your tongue, then the medicine gets absorbed. But for five minutes after that, you can't drink or eat anything to get that taste out of your mouth.

I don't know which is worse, really - a jab with a needle or the terrible flavor. Once we're done with the B complex I think we'll be going full-colloidal-silver for the remainder.

However the jab with the needle had its own issues - like if you hit a nerve (shooting pain or disconcerting twitching) or a blood vessel (bleeding).

Day 1 of Round 2

Monday September 28th
Starting weight: 268
Today's weight: 272

Last injection weight (LIW) previously was 268. At first it was tough to stay within two pounds of the LIW, having to do a steak day once or twice a week, but then things stabilized over the course of the last six weeks.

As promised, Saturday K and L and I went to the county fair. Saturday I was at 269.5, well within the LIW+2, but Sunday I was at 275! A little freaky and scary but I had to tell myself it was all coming right back off. And it did :)

Here is the list of food we ate:
1. Earthquake burger
2. Brick of fries
3. World's worst cheese steak
4. Krusty pup
5. Ice cream on a stick * 2
6. Blooming onion
7. Corn on the cob
8. Chocolate-dipped strawberries on a stick
9. BBQ dinner (chicken, pulled pork, ribs, baked beans, corn cob)
10. Elephant ear w/ cinnamon & sugar
11. Funnel cake with strawberries

The next day we ate organic at Wild Mountain . Oh, and K made almond flour "molten volcano" cakes. I'll have to post the recipe - they're low-carb and low-cal but don't taste like it.