Starting HCG - loading days

Background: my wife was researching detox diets to counteract what she fears was a flouride poisoning when she was prescribed Cipro (!) for a staph infection. She was referred to a naturopath who gave her a slew of tests to determine her overall chemical balance.

The doctor also suggested that she try the HCG diet to help balance out all her chemicals, and potentially prevent some serious adverse affects from the Cipro poisoning.

And since I'm such a nice guy I decided that if she was going to eat a seriously low-cal diet, I'd naturally do the same thing, because of the following reasons:

1. We both could stand to lose weight. I'm 80 pounds overweight for my height, according to the federal government, but I'd be happy losing 40-60.

2. It would be really unkind for me to enjoy a nice steak dinner with baked potato and green beans and a beer when she's eating a thimble of white fish and five cherry tomatos. More on that later, as it turns out.

3. The diet is supposed to reset your metabolism and energy level. We'd both been trying to be more outdoorsy and adventuresome, but then we get tired and crave protein and probably eat too much red meat and fried chicken as a result. I'd like to have more energy without the powerful desire for bad stuff after.

4. Alcohol. While she's trying to avoid alcohol for a number of reasons, I enjoy it very much. So if I can go 43 days without a drink in the phase 2 portion, that'll mean something to me personally.

We started the "loading" phase on Saturday, July 4th, which was interesting. We gave ourselves our first injections in the morning, then a huge breakfast, lots of snacks, and bbq salmon and tri tip in the afternoon, then pizza before dinner. No issues, but I felt full all day.

The next day, Sunday, we injected ourselves then went to a restaurant for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns, coffee, juice. I could not possibly finish the pancakes, I was so full. Later in the day we polished off a bag of potato chips. For dinner, several pieces of oven baked chicken and a huge salad with goat cheese and walnuts. Lots of fat. For dessert, rum cake.

Sunday was interesting because we were basically forcing ourselves to eat. I was very unhappy with the idea and very full. I was not hungry. I wondered if the HCG had already started to release the expected 2500 calories from my obvious fat stores. We were exhausted and logey the rest of the day despite not really doing much of anything.