andreaonhcg

Ok..so it just kind of hit me that I’m almost at the end of my first 4 weeks. I started this journey on the hcg protocol a little bit unsure of what would happen and I’ll admit, although I had read hundres of blogs and posts and success stories, I still was a little pessimistic considering the numerous attempts I had made at losing weight..I had a hard time believing that there was something out there that would work this well and i DIDN’T know about it?!  But I will say now..without a shadow of a doubt..I AM A BELIEVER!  Still in a little shock that it’s actually working exactly like they said it would..but sooo happy!

 I had lost 10lbs on my own…so my total weight loss at this point is 36.4…26.4 of which was in the last 24 days!! I only have 3 days to go to try to get the remaining 3.6 lbs off…so wish me luck!!

Starting Weight: 245 lbs
Today’s Weight: 211 lbs
Total Weight loss: 34 lbs

YAY!!! The plateau has FINALLY broken! I don’t know why..but for some reason I really just thought that this whole “plateau ” thing would not happen to me?! But, sure enough..just like everything that I’ve read…it started the Monday of week 3 and lasted until Friday! I stuck to the plan..and I think that’s what helped the scale finally move on Friday..but pheww GLAD that’s over!

Today has been the hardest day so far to stay on the diet..I will be honest here..finally..after dinner tonight which I had some ground beef and green beans, I broke down and went to the store and bought sugar free popsicles…now, I don’t know if that’s what I would consider ‘cheating’ ..BUT, it’s not on the approved food list..so take that however you want haha. I did do the research first to find out..’IF” you were going to cheat..what would be the best thing to do it with..and this was the conclusion that I came to. They literally have NOTHING in them except 15 calories..so how bad can it really be?? Guess I’ll find out in the morning =(

For some reason..probably because I was bored and just laid around all day watching TV i.e. lazy sunday!, and maybe it was just habit that I was hungry…and I found myself daydreaming about pizza and ice cream and french fries HAHA it was really funny when I realized what I was thinking about HA.  I hope it’s not like this the whole week…but usually I stay busy all day so I’m sure this was part of it!

I spent quite awhile yesterday just trying on clothes in my closet again..I went down another size..so I’m ‘almost’ back into a 12!! The 14’s are fitting very comfortably..maybe a little loose..so that’s VERY exciting!

Oh..and another interesting thing that happened at church this morning…I was sitting there and out of the blue realized..I WAS CROSSING MY LEGS!! I think this may have been the first time in a few years that I’ve comfortably sat with my legs crossed! Its amazing the little things that being overweight has an impact on =( And there’s just something inherently feminine about being able to cross your legs…anyway..it was very cool!

I also started eating a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese as replacement for my lunch ‘meat’ on occasion..which is usually chicken for lunch and dinner..and I’m afraid I’m getting a little burnt out with the chicken..and I LOVE cottage cheese and really missed having dairy in my diet..so I added this in yesterday and again today and it was great!

So..that’s all for now, I’m hoping to stay consistent with the 1lb loss per day..at this pace, I should reach my total goal of 165lbs by my birthday..Sep. 5!!

Food Log

Exercise Log

Starting Weight: 233 lbs
Today’s Weight: 216 lbs
Total Weight loss: 17 lbs

So, I can’t explain how excited and hopeful I am today…the end of this week my weight loss slowed a little..I only lost .5 lbs on wed. and .4 lbs on thur. But then when I got up this morning and weighed, I had lost 2.3 lbs…which totally made up for it! I just can’t believe that I’ve lost 17 lbs in 13 days..that is truly unbelievable to me.

Here are some exciting things that happened this week: Wore a pair of jeans that I bought 3 years ago..wore once and then gained too much weight to ever wear again. And today, I have on a pair of Victoria Secret “pink” sweatpants that I”ve been dying to wear again..they were my favorite about 3 years ago but I grew out of them rather quickly…and am so excited to be able to wear them again! I am finding myself spending time, just standing in my closet just trying on everything that hasn’t fit in over 3 years..it’s really a liberating and motivating thing to do!

I also realized that this is the week that people start ‘noticing’ me again. This whole experience of going from having a great body and getting attention etc.. to gaining so much weight that some people didn’t even recognize me has really been hard on the ego and confidence. I think the central theme throughout it has been the question of “is there more to me than just the way I look?” and it’s really made me stop and ask myself where my confidence comes from..and I think in the past I got so much attention because of my appearance that I began to rely on that to fuel my self esteem. So, when that goes away..what do you have left? I’ve noticed over the past 3-4 years that everytime something goes wrong in my life, I’ve blamed it on the fact that I was overweight..and I’ve found myself saying ” well if I was thin and attractive, that wouldn’t have happened” and unfortunately…many of the times that is true. I don’t care what anyone says but the fact of the matter is…people get treated differently based upon their appearance. I’ve experienced it myself many many times. Having gone from thin, to overweight you get an up close and personal glimpse at the true colors and integrity of people. Maybe that was the whole point of my experience, I’m yet to know that at this point. However, I can guarantee that it has changed the way that I view people and interact with them.

While I’m in deep thought here lol, I’d also like to talk about self image. I find it fascinating to watch those programs where girls who are barely 125 lbs get up and talk about how they think of themselves as being ‘fat’..and when they look in the mirror they see a ‘fat’ person. I believe they call this ‘body dismorphia’. However, I have never heard an overweight person say that they have the opposite problem..where they don’t recognize themselves as being as overweight as they really are. I don’t know if I am the only person who has experienced this or not but I will never forget the first photograph that I saw of myself after I had begun gaining weight. It launched me into a pretty deep depression because I had NEVER thought of myself as looking like that. When I saw that photo I literally had to look at it for several seconds before even realizing that I was in the photo. I think my mental image of myself was the way that I had always looked, and I never replaced it with the ACTUAL way that I looked..it was a very hard reality to take. Even now, I struggle with this b/c in my mind, I don’t see myself as being overweight..and even thought I’ve lost a total of 30lbs since March, I feel like I should look ‘back to normal’..and I am noticing that my confidence is coming back. However, just yesterday when I passed by a window of a store and saw myself…I realized that I’ve still got a long way to go…before I’m back to normal. It was almost as if someone took a pin and completely bursted my balloon and I said to myself “ya, your still fat, don’t get too excited”. Which is a negative thought that I am trying to replace with positive thoughts..but honestly, it was my first thought.

There are some times when I look forward to a day when I don’t have to constantly worry about what I look like, or feel uncomfortable in clothes, or live by the scale…and I know that day is alot closer than it was 2 months ago. So this process is not only an exercise in self confidence..but also in PATIENCE!

Food Log

Exercise Log

Starting Weight: 233.4 lbs
Today’s Weight: 219 lbs
Total Weight loss: 14.4 lbs

Well…I haven’t had a chance to update this since I left last friday for my parents house for the Fourth of July weekend. I was kind of worried about how that would go since this weekend is typically known for partying on the lake and eating and drinking. My mom was really great about supporting me by preparing enough chicken, vegetables and fruit to get me through the weekend so that wasn’t a problem. On Friday when I got there she had filet mignon and vegetables ready (I saved my 1 red meat all week for this!) and then came the challenge..my step dad was whipping up margaritas behind the bar meanwhile I sucked down 2 liters of water..fun huh?
I got up the next morning and went for a 30 minute run which was great to really clear my head of all of the problems from the previous week and let me just refocus on my priorities. The rest of the day I stayed right on track with my diet and water however, after much internet research on the effects of having alcohol on this diet..I decided to try it myself so I made a Rum and Diet Coke using 1 oz of Bacardi and 1 can of diet coke. The interesting part was that about half way through it I noticed that I was feeling kind of nauseuos and really didn’t even feel like finishing it although I can say that the effects WERE much stronger! So that part is true..and not necessarily a bad thing..makes me a pretty cheap date at this point haha. But..after I finished that drink I decided that I really wasn’t interested in drinking anymore..and much to my surprise, I got up the next morning and weighed in with a 1 lbs weight loss!! So..no harm..no foul!

The weekend went relatively smoothly although I did realize some important things about myself…that most of the calories I consumed in the past were out of habit and boredom. On my 5 hour drive up there and back home, I packed fruit, chicken, carrots and plenty of water (not good for the bathroom stops!!!) so that I wouldn’t get hungry. But when my daughter and I stopped at a convenience store and she got a donut and fruit punch..I realized that had I not been on the protocol, I probably would have eaten some sort of unhealthy junk..not too mention the inevitable fast food stop on the way. So..it was a much needed change and a healthy dose of reality. But all in all..I came home 2lbs less for the weekend…and I consider that a SUCCESS!!

Food Log

Exercise Log