It's WORKING

This is a really short one, sorry for the length of time in between posts. I am in the process of packing up my things and moving from the midwest to the northeast, so my brain is anywhere but diet-land at the moment. Thankfully, I'm not doing too bad.

One week in and Phase 3 is going VERY well. I've only had to do one steak day, and that worked a treat. I've even been as low as .6lbs UNDER my last injection weight, so I'm feeling very encouraged. I eat mostly meat, cheese and vegetables. I am unabashedly unafraid of fat, and my sugar cravings are not bad at all. Easily nipped in the bud by a stevia-flavored coffee or fresh berries. Actually, figs have been my latest indulgence.

I start a 12-hour drive tomorrow morning, and I'm really hoping that it's not another steak day. I don't know how I'd manage all that time in the car alone if I couldn't nibble AT ALL. we'll see.

That's all for now, I'll keep you posted, but it's smooth sailing so far over here.

A Steak Day Already

Grrrr, again!

Well, I finished injections on Wednesday, with an LIW (Last-Injection-Weight) of 212.6. Super, great. On Thursday and Friday, I did notice the scale bounced around a bit--212.0 on thurs, but 213 on fri. Yesterday, Saturday, the first day of my Phase 3 eating, I weighed in at 213.6, one pound up, but still a full pound below the Steak Day Red Alert marker. I had a really busy day yesterday, didn't drink anywhere near enough water and ended up 1. having a couple celebratory drinks for my last day at my restaurant job and b. being REALLY hungry by the time I got home at midnight and eating a late snack. Consequently, I was up to 216.6 this morning! ARRRRRGH! 4 pounds above my LIW, and this early on in Phase 3. Just don't do it folks, don't think you can cheat Dr. Simeons's requirements! It ain't gonna work! I am living, ashamed, proof.

So, I'm steaking it today, and I've bought a second steak JUST IN CASE. It's going to be hard the next few days with people wanting to say goodbye and going out for dinner/coffee/drinks to do so. It's really easier to handle that stuff when I'm on the VLCD phase and completely locked into the diet. I'm just going to have be very dull and live with seltzer water and herbal teas until I am SURE I am stabilized. I absolutely REFUSE to endure the gains this round that I allowed myself to put on in previous rounds. I am going to do it right.

On the happier side of things, I inaugurated P3 yesterday at lunch with an absolutely divine filet mignon, cooked bleu, with a delicious mushroom sauce, french green beans and asparagus. Heavenly. Just wish I hadn't blown it with those late night drinks and snacks. Oh, and by the way, nothing I ate yesterday was 'off plan' except the drinks. Just goes to show how careful we must be.

Humbly and hungrily, I bid you goodbye and return to my packing.

That Elusive 34!

VLCD 41 and 42
Date Weight
8.18.08 210.8
8.19.08 212.0 (SO CLOSE! And yet...)

Well, I really should have learned my lesson by now not to speak so soon and so optimistically about hitting -34 lbs before the end of my round. I can't imagine what sparked the 1.2lb gain overnight. I drank a TON of water yesterday, and had a pure protein dinner (I couldn't be bothered to fix veg). I also skipped my strawberries. So, I have nothing to explain it. Maybe I'm just ready to be DONE. And I am. One sort of feels like one's been out in the wilderness while doing this diet. Gastronomically sequestered. Tomorrow is my last injection, so wherever I am, that will be the point from which I need to maintain within 2lbs. I suppose it was too much to hope to hit the 2-0-somethings, I'll have to be happy in the 2-teens until October.

One thing I'm annoyed at: my bras are too big. I really would rather be losing the weight from my hips and thighs, thank you very much! But I feel great, so I really should not complain.

Well, bedtime, And the last injection tomorrow. I can't wait for Saturday: roast chicken, avocado, and heavenly cheese await me. I drool at the mere thought!

Sprinting to the Finish Line

VLCD Days 38, 39 and 40

Date Weight
8.15.08 214.2 (loss of 1.6 lbs)
8.16.08 213.4 (loss of .8 lbs)
8.17.08 211 !!!! (loss of 2.4 lbs)

Total loss this round: 33.6 lbs

Cue a huge sigh of relief. Once my body got back into losing mode it never looked back. I have 3 more days of injections after today and am absolutely positive I will hit the Simeons-recommended 34lbs weight loss for this round. What an absolute relief. The middle 2-2.5 weeks of this round were scary and frustrating, and I can't tell you how many times I wanted to throw in the towel and say 'better luck next time'. My body likes the 220 area, so I was convinced the stall was more or less permanent. I'm so pleased to have broken through that barrier. This is the lowest weight I have been in many years, and the 190s are well within sight. I'll have to wait until October to begin my next round, though, and you can imagine my impatience!

Now, to start fantasizing about phase 3....I tortured myself a little bit by watching some cooking shows on PBS yesterday--one was about grilling. I'm seriously craving the spit-roasted rib roast studded with rosemary, garlic and asiago cheese...ok. breakfast time! Oh, nb, my little modification to the Simeons Protocol is to eat two whole eggs (hard boiled) every morning. It's a 3rd serving of protein for me WITH the fat of that extra yolk. I find I lose better when I do it than when not. In fact, the 2-2.5 weeks that I stalled, I hadn't been eating eggs at all really. Weird.

A Tentative Optimism

VLCD #37
Weight 8.14.08 215.8 (overnight loss of 1.8)
Total Loss This Round 28.8lbs

It feels good to be back on track, even though I only have 6 more days of injections left. The last two and a half weeks have been extremely frustrating, to say the least. But with substantial weight loss over the last two days, perhaps I can break 30lbs lost by my last injection.

I'm frankly nervous about the Maintenance Phase. I didn't do so great the last time around. But since I'm getting SO close to 200, I'm hopeful that I can keep my motivation up and not get lazy. I'll do another round starting some time in October, and finish before the holiday season and all its temptations arrives.

It took 2 weeks, but there goes that barrier!

It's been nearly a week since I posted, I'm sorry--if anyone out there's reading!

So, I finally did it, this morning I hit 217.6, which is a full pound lower than where I had been sitting and waffling around for the last two weeks. Sheesh. What's it take to get a pound around here? Granted, I was on prednisone for a week, which does nobody any favors weight-loss wise! And being sick and TOM and all those good things I'm sure were factors. I'm just hoping that tomorrow morning brings more good news. I only have 9 more days left on VLCD, 7 more injections. I did beef up my dosage to 150IUs as well, which did help, I am sure. I'm pretty strict about the less is more rule that Simeon's has in regards to HCG dosage, and I don't want to get into immunity issues, so I've never gone above 125IUs until now. I'll continue with 150 for the next week.

Another Fun Recipe
I had been eating ground chicken during all my rounds, and thought that perhaps there was too much fat in it. So I switched to chicken breasts which I find hideously tasteless and dry without the yummy fatty skin on. But, noodling around with a friend of mine who's a bit of a gourmande I learned about the wonderful world of brining chicken. Here's what I came up with. It's SUPER.

BAKED BRINED CHICKEN WITH TOMATOES
preheat oven to 450
line small glass baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving plenty on the sides to fold over the top

• Brine chicken breast for at least an hour in salty water (the proportions are .75 cup salt per 2.5 quarts H2O)
• prepare some hot chicken stock, about .25-.5 cup
  

• pan sear chicken breast in a little water with some crushed garlic, a couple minutes pere side.
  

• chop 2 large tomatoes into 8ths, place them around edges of aluminum foil lined pan
• slice 1/2 a lemon very thinly
• arrange lemon slices and sprigs of cilantro around tomato chunks
  
• place chicken breast in center of ring of tomato slices and pour hot broth over everything
• sprinkle sea salt, cumin and garlic salt (or use crushed garlic) over everything
• close aluminum foil over the top of the tomatoes and chicken and bake for 15 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
• Remove the lemon slices before eating! Garnish with fresh cilantro if you like.
  

I put it in a bowl so I can sip the broth when I'm done eating. It's good, nice and flavorful.

Here's to another pound tomorrow...fingers crossed!

Jinxes and Chickens and Annoyingly Persistent Colds, Oh My!

Grrr. Stats First.

VLCD Days 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
Date Weight
8.3.08 218.6 (loss of .8lbs)
8.4.08 220.6 (gain of 2 lbs)
8.5.08 220.6 (nuthin')
8.6.08 221.4 (gain of .8lbs)
8.7.08 218.8 (loss of 2.6lbs)

I was so optimistic. And you can tell how well things are going by how frequently I blog--it's an inverse relationship! My cold has persisted, and to help my immune system out I have been taking in a few extra calories, just to keep up my strength. Nothing horrendously off plan--just a couple extra eggs here and there, chicken soup etc. I had a full (and final) weekend of the production I was in, thank goodness it's over, as well as a little too much merrymaking on the last night (not food-wise, though there might have been a martini involved) and that did me in for a good 3-4 days. Self sabotage, perhaps? I'd have done an apple day today if my weight hadn't corrected itself. I figure .2 off of my lowest yet was not a cause for huge concern.

It's funny, people keep blaming the Protocol for my illness, when I know it not to be true. I have been on and off the Simeon's plan since mid-January and, while I have had more than my share of coughs and colds this year, none of them, until now, coincided with my being on the diet. I've been far more busy than usual, and especially with the show, run down and exhausted more than usual. I suppose it wasn't the most fantastic idea to begin this round in the midst of the 6-week run, but scheduling-wise, I didn't really have a better alternative. I'll be moving at the end of August, just a few days after I finish this round, and with the major Opera auditions coming up in the fall, I wanted to trim down as much as possible to be competitive looks-wise with all those skinny sopranos out there. Gone are the days of the "Fat Lady Sings". We have to fit a certain image now.

Oh well, bygones (I've said that a lot lately). I have definitely felt more distracted and tempted this round than the last two--I think it's because my level of social activity has skyrocketed. I've decided to eliminate fruit for the 13 days I have left on this phase of the round. Maybe occasional strawberries, and I do still eat tomatoes (which I consider a fruit) but not the 2x a day maximum. 2x a week is more likely. I responded well to the elimination of fruit last time, so here's hoping it helps. I'd love to hit 210 by the end of this round, but I'm not going to make any more foolish predictions!!

At the Risk of Jinxing Myself, Dare I Say I'm Back on Track?

VLCD Days 23, 24 and 25
Date Weight
7.31.08 221.6 (loss of 1.4)
8.1.08 219.6 (loss of 2)
8.2.08 218.8 (loss of .8)

Well, I think the enforced rest brought on by the cold I had (I was out flat from Wednesday night to Friday evening) combined with the new batch of HCG has done the trick. Knock on wood! I can definitely feel my hunger subsiding, whereas I was ravenous the last few days of my old batch. I rested completely for nearly 48 hours, hydrating well, and I think that's helped my body get back to it's optimal weight loss state. I'm still suffering lingering effects of the cold, but was able to go on in the show last night. My understudy had to take over for me on Thursday though. I even ate some homemade chicken soup which I know contained more fat than I should be consuming, but when you're sick, all bets are off! It seems not to have had a negative effect. I have 18 more days before my last injection, and I am really hoping to lose 15 lbs in that time. That would put my weight loss this round at 43lbs. But no chicken counting here, I'll take 10 lbs if that's what I'm going to get!

And an Updated Weight Loss Ticker!

Updated Photo

Well, here it is, as promised a recent photo of me at 223. Granted, the mirror I took it in is pretty darn forgiving! And the dress is super flattering, but I'll take it, and the motivation it will provide me over the next 3 weeks!