Month: June 2010

This morning, my weight was 149.4#, down 1.6# from yesterday. It feels nice to be down below 150# again. I’m down 4.2# since a week ago and 14.4# since I started the hCG diet 23 days ago. That’s 0.62# a day. Not so bad, considering that I was gaining 2# a week before I started.

Yesterday, I went to my parents’ 50th anniversary party. My sister hosted it. As agreed, she accommodated my diet. She had a rather large grass-fed steak for me. I cut it down to my 100 grams. She also served raw cucumber. I brought Melba toast with me. I had thought I would eat a fruit when I got home, but it was midnight by then.

Before I went, as I was getting ready to go, I decided to try on my size 8 pants. They fit, and with no muffin top!

I washed out all of the spice containers on the carousel. The old spices in the carousel were several years old, so I tossed them. I am now letting the containers dry for a couple of days before I fill them with fresh spices.

My weight this morning was 151.0#, down 0.4# since yesterday. The curve on my graph hasn’t been quite as steep this week.

I’ve decided to buy the low-sodium versions of broths from now on. The regular stuff gets too salty when it boils down.

I’m continuing to try different flavors in my homemade sodas. I got the flavors from Capella. Yesterday, it was Strawberries & Cream and Dutch Chocolate Mint. I think those of you who like the chocolate Metromint will like that last one.

I’m thinking about cleaning out my spice carousel and putting in fresh spices. Right now, the large jars of spices usually live on the top shelf of the baking cupboard. I have to use my step stool to get to them, so they’re not getting put back like they should. Since I’m using so many of them to make the recipes in “THE HCG DIETERS GOURMET COOKBOOK,” I’ve now got quite a collection on the countertop. If I use the spice carousel instead, it will be easy to find the spices and put them back when I’m done.

My weight this morning was 151.4#, down 0.4# from yesterday and back to where I was on Wednesday. My weight loss since a week ago is 5.4#, which I think is quite good, especially considering that I was gaining about 2# a week before I started hCG.

I finally unpacked the SodaStream last night but not before “cheating” with Zevia. I know there could be far worse things to cheat with, but I already knew that it could affect my weight loss, plus I suffered from constipation after my last Zevia bender. I’m blaming the erythritol that is in it. Anyway, I got the SodaStream set up and made my first homemade soda. I put 11 drops of liquid stevia and 4 drops of Capella Root Beer Float flavor into a glass and then poured in the freshly made soda water. The result was a nice, light-tasting soda that I really like a lot better than commercial soda.

I’m halfway through VLCD, so I thought I’d do a midway set of measurements.

I’m still wearing size 10 pants, but there’s some room in them now. I tried on a pair of size 8 shorts that fit at Tommy Bahama today, but I already know that they’re cut generously. I need to lose just a bit more off the waist before the size 8 pants I already have will fit.

My weight this morning was 151.8#, up 0.4# from yesterday. I kind of expected that. My soup last night was too salty, partly because I had let the broth boil down too much and partly because I had added too much seasoning. If not for that, the soup would have been quite good. Also, I ate my dinner quite late. At least the weight should fix itself in the next day or two.

My SodaStream and my Capella Flavor Drops both arrived yesterday. I got Cool Mint, Strawberries & Cream, Orange Creamsicle, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Cola, Root Beer Float, French Vanilla, Raspberry, and Dutch Chocolate Mint. The plan is to make sodas with the flavors and some liquid stevia extract. I’ll be giving that a try later today.

I’ve been using my Omron Fat Analyzer to check lean body mass. It appears that I am losing more than just fat, so I decided to schedule a bunch of yoga classes plus a Zumba class. I went to the first one last night. While it is not a cardio exercise methodology by any means, it does challenge the muscle well. I had difficulty with a lot of the poses, but I’m sure that will improve with time.

This morning, I weighed 151.4#, down 1.4# from yesterday. That made up for yesterday’s gain and then some.

I called my sister last night to talk to her about the food for Saturday’s anniversary party. She said she would accommodate me. I told her what I needed, and she agreed to provide it. Problem solved. I will stay on protocol.

Today, my body took back part of yesterday’s large loss. My weight this morning was 152.8#, up 0.8# from yesterday.

I am still thinking about whether I want to take a planned break or not. I need to decide by tomorrow morning. Perhaps I should call my sister and see what is planned for my parents’ 50th anniversary party this Sunday. With all of the choices in “THE HCG DIETERS GOURMET COOKBOOK,” there’s sure to be something close to what they’re having. Then I could just bring my version and eat that while everyone else eats the regular food.

Hubby took off for Europe yesterday. He invited me to go with him, but I really wanted to get started with hCG. It was either do the diet now or buy new bigger clothes, and I did not want to do the latter. I’ve got so many cute things in smaller sizes that I really would rather get back into those. I’ve already been to Zurich and Venice a couple times already, anyway. I lost 6.2# in the last 11 days. I see no reason why I could not do that in the next 11. Maybe by then I will be able to put my diamond wedding ring back on. Right now, I am wearing a cheap 2mm 10K band that I got for “fat” days. That is yet another reason not to take the planned break. Hmmm…. It’s looking more and more like I shouldn’t do it….

I took another full set of measurements yesterday. I was down 4½” overall since the last set. I saw the greatest change in my chest above and below the breasts. I lost a little off the abdomen. The waist still isn’t changing much, though. Hopefully, that starts changing soon.

This morning, my weight was 152.0#, down 1.6# from yesterday. I put another paperclip on the chain. I was just 0.2# shy of being able to add a second one.

I went to my daughter’s college graduation in San Diego yesterday. I brought my lunch to eat before the ceremony. I had not planned on staying afterward. The family decided that they wanted to go to a restaurant after the ceremony, and they wanted me to go with them. I told them that all I would have was iced tea, and they said that was fine. We went to Roy’s, a very nice upscale restaurant with a Hawaiian fusion theme. As I drank my iced tea and watched everyone else eat, I did not feel any real hunger. I did decide, though, that I would put Roy’s on my list of restaurants to try later. The meals that the family ate were fairly low carb, consisting of mostly fish or meat.

My parents will be having their 50th anniversary party next week. I had originally decided to do a planned break for it. As I was sitting there at the restaurant, though, I thought perhaps I really did not want to do that and lose my momentum. Today’s reduction had me feeling that way even more so. I’m thinking of calling my sister and finding out what they will be serving. Then I could bring an hCG diet version of what they are having and have that instead. I have until Wednesday morning to make a decision on that since that is when I will need to stop taking hCG in preparation for the break.

This morning, I weighed 153.6#, which is down 0.6# since yesterday and 10.2# net since I began the hCG diet.

Yesterday, I had Abondigas Soup with Tomato (Mexican meatball soup) from “THE HCG DIETERS GOURMET COOKBOOK.” It was delicious! Just about everything I’ve had from the cookbook has been fabulous.

Today, I will be attending my daughter’s college graduation in San Diego. I will need to bring a lunch with me. I decided to take the Arugula Salad with Chicken and Grapefruit since that had packed so well last time.

This morning, I weighed 154.2#, down 2.6# since yesterday. That reverses yesterday’s gain plus 1.0# more. It also earns me another paperclip on the chain. I guess yesterday was something of a blip.

I remembered after I had written yesterday’s blog entry that I had gone to the gym Thursday morning. While working out can lead to weight gain, I still suspect the Zevia. This is because my pants were a little tighter Thursday evening, and I had not worked out my abdomen. Besides, sugar alcohols such as the erythritol in Zevia can contribute to candida problems, and I’m fairly certain candida has been a problem for me.

I was looking at myself in the mirror this morning and noticed that I looked slimmer than just a couple days ago. I spot-checked the waist and abdomen measurements and discovered that my abdomen had shrunk 2” since just three days ago. I really do like this diet!

My weight this morning was 156.8#, up 1.6# from yesterday. I’m going to blame Zevia “100% natural stevia soda” for that. It’s supposed to be 0 calories, but it does have erythritol in it, which is a sugar alcohol, in addition to the stevia.

I think I may have put too much tomato paste into my Beef Bourguignon last night, but my pants already felt a bit tighter by the time I ate that. I had a can of tomato paste from which I had removed 3 tablespoons a couple days ago. The Beef Bourguignon called for 3 tablespoons, but I added the rest of the can, thinking there were 3 more tablespoons in it. Then I remembered that it was a 6 ounce can, not a 6 tablespoon can. Oh, well. The recipe came from “THE HCG DIETERS GOURMET COOKBOOK.”

So, I think I was up today due to errors. I’m cutting out the Zevia, and I’ll see what happens tomorrow.