Phase 4 Day 1 111.5 (6.0 over LDW)

I know I've been MIA. To be honest for a good while I was freaking out, I gained (at my highest) 8 pounds during stabilization.

It all comes down to this - your mileage may vary... I was listening to advice that had me eating far more fat and protein than I need at this weight, and it became time to listen to my own body.

I've lost 2 pounds so far, and I am confident I'll make my way back down to 105.5 - if needed, with a round of HCG, but I don't think it's going to be necessary. I'm finding my groove.

And that groove is looking like minimum dairy.Very occasional cheese. I'll try butter again when I can afford good quality butter instead of regular butter. And even then, as a minimum.

So what am I eating that is allowing me to slowly get back to my LDW?

Cream in 2 coffees in the morning with a bit of coconut oil mixed in, is breakfast. It's filling and satisfying.

Lunch is meat (I've discovered I do better with baked or grilled meat, frying is too much for me. So are processed foods, bye bye bacon). I like it with a side of mustard and an apple, or a serving of raw veggies like celery, tomato or a red pepper.

Dinner is chicken or meat or fish, with a salad with olive oil and spices. I've seen a sugar free dressing I want to try, and since as of today I'm allowed starches, and it has a little starch in it, I'm going to try it. I'll let you know how it goes. And if it goes well, I'll post the brand.

I've also been doing fat bombs, usually two a day. My version of fat bombs is coconut oil mixed with the sweetener of your choice to taste, and unsweetened cocoa powder to taste. They're delicious, they taste like good quality dark chocolate - without the sugar craving!

Now, don't get me wrong, being 111 isn't terrible. Not at all. I look good, feel good. But truthfully, I adored how I felt and looked at 105. So I want back there, I want to maintain below 110. If I fluctuate between 105-108, I'll be content.

Onwards!

P3 Day 6 108.6 (-0.3, +3.1 over LDW)

Well, it's a little better anyway.

I thought (hard) about doing a steak day today, then decided I simply didn't want to. And I've always read that you need to do it the day you go over the 2 pound mark, or it's not as effective. Frankly if I'd gone through with it and lost 0.3, I'd be upset LOL. So today, I will continue the no cheese program, drink lots of water, and carry on as normal.

Happy Thanksgiving by the way!!

Being new in town, and not knowing anyone yet, will make for a quiet day. A coworker at my new job invited me over, and I may go, haven't decided yet. I spoke to those I love this morning and wished them a happy Thanksgiving, and that was lovely. The quiet day is not a bad thing for stabilization anyway, no real temptation.

Stay tuned for the progress I hope to see tomorrow!

P3 Day 5 108.9 (+1.0, +3.4 over LDW)

Arrgh and the restaurant food strikes!

Today I kept going, cheese free etc, I had 2 eggs fried in butter for breakfast, bulletproof coffee, egg salad (with sugar free mayo) over mixed salad greens for lunch, chicken thigh and an egg with salad greens with olive oil (and a dollop of sour cream on the chicken) for dinner. Snack was some cream cheese (I'm not including that in my no cheese experiment for now... if I need to, it will go too.)

We'll see what the scale says tomorrow. I bought a huge steak today in case I need to do a steak day tomorrow. I am determined to finish stabilization at my LDW, and I'm sure I'll stabilize to there in the remaining 2.5 weeks.

Oh, and I was called skinny by a very forthright lady (new coworker) at the lunch yesterday! Me! It's a whole new world, I'm telling you!!

Onwards!

P3 Day 4 107.9 (+0.1, +2.4 over LDW)

Okay, another slight gain... not great.

Today was my first day of no cheese, and it's gone great. There's only one thing that I'm worried about, and that is that we went for a going away lunch for the lady I'm replacing at my job. I had to go, and I ordered the most innocent thing I could see on the menu. I ordered a burger (no cheese, discarded the bun) and had a side salad.

That said, I could taste the sugar in everything. And found it very salty. I'm worried about tomorrow as P3 is strictly no sugar, no starch. But I did my best, and if Thursday ends up being a steak day (my version of Thanksgiving lol...) then so be it. I drank a lot of water today,  11 glasses, so hopefully that will have flushed stuff out. Also, TMI alert, had some very, umm, productive BMs today. Much needed.

There was a tiny bit of feta in the salad, and I had one bite of artichoke dip, so there was a little cheese in that too, but other than that, no cheese. I'm quite pleased with how well I did in that area.

Wish me luck with the scale gods for tomorrow!

P3 Day 3 107.8 (+0.7, +2.3 over LDW)

Yes, I know I should run screaming straight to a steak day... however...

TMI alert!!!

With the addition of potassium and magnesium, things are, ahem, moving along better...

I had a comment on yesterday's post that has gotten me thinking... along the lines of every encounter with the protocol being different - maybe at this time, I can't handle cheese as well as I used to. A big part of doing Phase 3 is having an open mind, paying attention to your body, seeing what works, what doesn't.

Thank you Skinny Cow for speaking up and supporting me in that experiment, that having an open mind :)

I'm going to try a little experiment for the next two days.

No cheese. At all. And see what the scale ends up saying on Thursday. Can't hurt, and frankly now I'm curious to see what could happen! Cheese may have to go on the list of occasional foods, which would be sad, but what do I want more? To keep this fabulously lean new me, or to eat cheese? It's only food after all, and trust me, no cheese tastes as good as being this size and weight feels!

I'm not giving up the bacon (or the pork rinds lol, although truthfully I'm finding them a tad salty, so they can sit in the cupboard no problem), so don't even try LOL.

Anyhoo, we'll see what happens, should be fun!

P3 Day 2 107.1 (1.6 over LDW)

Well, not totally unexpected.

It's funny how each experience with HCG is different (kind of like each pregnancy is different, or so I'm told). I've been constipated, so I'm taking some potassium and magnesium with each meal to get things moving again.

Wasn't feeling too good this morning. I woke up at 7am, then went back to sleep until almost 11am. Which is where the K and Mg comes in lol.

Food wise has been much less than yesterday. Bullet proof coffee (which is coffee with butter and heavy whipping cream in it. You can also put coconut oil in it), and 2 eggs with bacon and cheese and butter for breakfast. Some pork rinds (3 or 4), some cheese slices with bacon as a snack. And dinner will be some beef fried up with onion and celery. Then as a side I'll have a tomato with a little mozzarella and olive oil. So all in all, getting closer to being structured again in my eating, 3 meals and a snack.

Onwards!

P3 Day 1 106.6

Well, day one of phase 3 - stabilization went very well. I was lucky that my gut didn't object to the change in food, I think that has to do with the fact that it was already put through the wringer by excessive sugar free gum chewing over the 72 hour weaning off period (sorry for the TMI).

The last three days looked as follows:

 P2 Day 184 - LDW 105.5 (-0.2) (this is also 0-24 hours in the weaning off period)
P2 Day 185 (25-48 hours) - 106.0 (+0.5)
P2 Day 186 (49-72hours) - 106.0 (-0.0)

And today, P3, 106.6 (+0.6)

I ate my way through today, I was alternately hungry and stuffed, craving a lot of protein and fat. I'm nervous about tomorrow, feeling bloated and full. But, I've felt this way on the first night of P3 before, and nothing terribly drastic tends to happen on the scale on day 2. If it is a scary number tomorrow, I know what to do. And in any case, tomorrow will be more structured (as in 3 meals and a snack), so that will be good.

Anyway, that's it for today's report!