Day 8

Well, here's a point for hCG NOT being placebo:

I fell asleep early last night. I was whipped. I got up and damn if I wasn't HUNGRY again. I mean really hungry.

Now, I tell my clients that hunger can last up to 10 days. If they are hungry after two weeks, I mean real hunger like this, not just cravings from habit changes, that we may need to look at some things. But I've done this before, and I know I do NOT feel like I have in the past.

My clients would know the hCG they got is fresh from a compounding pharmacy though. I was starting to wonder about mine. So I got a pregnancy test last night and tested it this morning, with a very weak result.

So I HAVE been doing the 500 calories per day essentially without the HCG, which is why I'm losing slower and why I've been more hungry and tired. Like I said, anyone can lose on 500 calories per day. The difference is with hCG isn't not hard: you aren't hungry and you aren't tired. I knew this round was a lot harder than it should be.

So, now I have to decide how to proceed. I'm not sure if I need to 're-load' because when the actual, working hCG hits my system I won't have 'primed the pump' (which I'm loathe to do because it took me all freakin' week to lose my loading weight) or if I should just continue with the VLCI as much as I can as I reintroduce viable product.

Later:

I have some friends on the protocol who had hCG and (bless them!) were able to help me out. I decided I will NOT 're-load'. I've been doing this all week, I can do it a few more days as the new hCG reaches optimum levels in my system. If I'm a little hungry for a few days, or even a week, it's better than having to re-lose loading weight again, as far as I'm concerned. Not only that, but loading is way to fresh in my memory. It sounds like fun, but honest, it's not!

Now, some may wonder why I don't just get hCG from the wellness center I work for, so I'll tell you why.

If I were doing this round from the beginning instead of just figuring on using up the last of the hCG I had from last year, I would have gotten my physical, done the blood work and the urinalysis. hCG is a substance requiring a prescription. When you order it on-line, you must provide a minimal amount of information so that a 'doctor' (from where, I have no clue) will prescribe it.

Reputable doctors in the U.S. will prescribe it only if you are a patient and they have determined that you are healthy enough to embark on this journey. Our facility requires a physical, blood work and urinalysis. All of that takes time, which currently I do not have. That is the only reason I did not go that route this time. It was an odd set of circumstances. I don't anticipate needing to do this again because keeping the weight off hasn't been hard thus far (when I followed the rules), but if I do, next time I will go through my own program. This particular instance is one example of why it is a good idea to do so when possible!

2:00 pm

I didn't record the food stuff for the day, so I figured I should do that before I forget.

Around the time I tested the hCG and determined it was too weak to be working properly, I had to have a few macadamia nuts. I knew I couldn't make it until noon or so, no matter how much water or coffee I consumed.

Later, I had 4 strawberries. An hour or two after that, I had about 1 cup of steamed cabbage. I just ate some chicken and a grissini.

The chicken may or may not have been 100g, but it was close. When my husband grills, he almost always cuts them to 100g sizes just so we can know what we are eating calorie-wise, even when I'm not 'on protocol'. This chicken was grilled before I started this round, then frozen. He didn't measure it. He 'eyeballed' it. It was close, but felt slightly bigger. For today, it may not matter.

I don't yet know if I'll be able to skip some stuff at the end of the day to make up for the 100 calories or so that were in the macs. I'm not even sure I have to. If the previous hCG wasn't working, eating more calories might actually help. If it was working even a little though, eating more will set me back. I'll have to just feel it out and listen to my body. Currently, I am very full.

4:30 pm

We just got back from a 2 mile walk. DH is going to get his Wii time in while I work on some hypnosis stuff for a friend, then we'll switch and I'll get my Wii time.

I'm starting to think about dinner (or 'supper' as it is called here in WI and parts of the South) but I'm not quite ready to get serious about it and make it.

I'm thinking chili (1 protein serving/1 veggie serving), grissini and strawberries. We have lots of grapefruit, which actually sound better, but the strawberries go bad so fast and are so expensive, I figure I should eat those first.

8 pm

I did get 1/2 hour of sweaty Wii in. I love that Wii! It is the best gift we have ever received!

Anyway, I had some fun and kicked Dave's butt in a couple of things. He kicked mine in others, I will admit. We are actually pulling pretty even in a lot of things these days. He's working more on balance and flexibility, I'm working more on aerobics and strength, so we're meeting in the middle. He killed me in the dogfight, I beat him at ping-pong.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had to get rid of several pairs of pants that were too big. I was going to put them in the Goodwill pile, but Dave tried them on. They fit! Something that was too big for me, fit my husband!

This probably doesn't sound like a big deal, but even long, long ago, when I was thinner, I was pear shaped. I have never been able to fit into my husbands pants. He's a skinny guy with a frog butt. (Jeff Foxworthy reference) I had hips. Then I was huge. For the last 20 years or so, I weighed more than him, often by a large margin. It was one of the things that depressed me the most. He ate two and three times what I ate, we'd exercise together, he'd lose weight...I'd gain or remain the same. It sucked eggs.

I am currently about 30 lb. smaller than he is, and the pants that are too big for me fit him. That is a big deal.