VLCD Day 2: Stats and Thoughts (or: I’m Hungry!)

Weight, post-load: 250.8
Current Weight: 248.0
1 day loss: -2.8lbs

(things in bold in my posts are items I recommend for use on and/or off the protocol)

Ah, sheepishly, I see that I put on a few too many pounds during my Phase 3 over the last 7 weeks. I had evened out at 242 at the end of my first round, which I completed on February 26th. So, I was up a whopping 8.8lbs at the end of my load. I confess I haven’t weighed myself in a few weeks and definitely didn’t adhere strictly to the Phase 3 guidelines the whole time. So I’m sure that my weight pre-load was a bit higher than it should have been. Oh well, I’ll not let it get me down, just count the lesson learned and be more conscientious next time.

I am hungry, quite so. I remember my load the first time around being quite unsatisfactory (I was coming off a bout of flu) and I experienced pretty severe hunger for the first 10 days of the Protocol. I thought I had done a better job this time, but definitely could have eaten more. Tea will be my friend, it’s warming and satisfying and a good placebo for food. I’ve found a delicious chocolate-hazelnut tea at Trader Joe’s, which is almost as satisfying as a breve mocha!

I am also going to try spacing out what I eat throughout the day. Last time I just ate two meals a day with the very occasional treat of baked apple at night, until I found the fruit causing me to stall. This time I will try to incorporate some extra veggies as a snack, and my fingers are CROSSED that the strawberries will not cause a stall. They’re a Trudeau addition to the Protocol, I believe, and will be the first thing I eliminate if I hit a plateau.

SUPPLEMENTS and DETOXING

About a month ago, I started taking two drops of Oil of Wild Oregano daily, as I heard it is great for the immune system and general well-being. I’ve stopped for now because of the catastrophic effect oil has on the weight loss, but the stuff is terrific, if expensive. I’m currently taking a Liver Defense tincture from Whole Foods twice a day in water, and I take prilosec daily for GERD. I can’t give that up; my vocal cords are too sensitive to any kind of swelling. Makes singing really difficult if they’re inflamed even the littlest bit. I don’t think any of these things will negatively affect my weight loss, hope not.

I’ve had a headache all day and can feel toxins working their way out of my body. Last time I started the protocol I came down with a terrible head cold about a week in, which I am sure was a reaction to detoxification. I hope it won’t be as bad this time. I’ve definitely been eating better than I was the last time, so hopefully fewer nasties will be working their way out this time. There better be, I’ve got a Beethoven 9 this coming Friday! A lot lot lot of water is the key here, to flush everything out quickly so that it doesn’t get a chance to manifest in a cold.

One last thing. I miss my hand cream. My skin is already really dry. I use the alba oil-free facial moisturizer after washing my face, but have yet to find something that feels good on my hands. I sometimes use vaseline at night with gloves over my hands, a mineral oil gel and aloe vera gel, all free of digestible oils. None of them has a really satisfactory texture, but they’ll do for now.