VLCD - Day 1

VLCD Day 1: 152.2

Today was hard. I won’t lie. This is not for the faint of heart.  I have consumed nearly ½ my body weight in water, which means I am peeing every 12 minutes. That is going to get old, fast.   On the plus side I did not have a headache today. I feared the dreaded withdrawal headache from carbs and sugar, but it’s been ok. I felt a little cloudy today but nothing terrible.   And I drank black coffee and didn’t die. So I’m taking the small win. 

Am I hungry? Hell yes I am hungry. I figure the first 3 days are the worst so I’m going with that.  I probably won’t weigh myself for a few days – give things time to kick in a bit. 

Again – this is not for the faint of heart.

Today I consumed, shrimp, chicken, lettuce salad, asparagus, blueberries and an apple. Oh, and a melba toast.  I did whip up a little dressing concoction of apple cidar vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper and a splash of water. It wasn’t bad. Tangy – but it’s going to work for me.  I am not really craving sugar so I am also taking that as a small win.

HCG Phase 1 - Loading Days

LD1 - 150.8 lbs.  I have no idea what my weight was today (LD2) as I was out of town with no scale in sight.  

Out of town is not a bad place to be for loading days.  Happily, fattening food can easily be acquired on vacation.

I thought long and hard about what food to eat for loading.I did a mix of good fats and terrible fats.  I ate until I was full but not to the point of feeling sick.   I loaded with the following (in no particular order)...

Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 + sugar,  chocolate covered cashews, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, hash brown potatoes, a hot fudge sundae,  almond butter, peanut butter, a croissant with jam, blueberry muffin with butter, two 4 ounce tenderloins -- one with Bearnaise sauce (oh my god) and the other with a horseradish crust, stuffed mushrooms (stuffed with crab, spinach and cheese), au gratin potatos (I saw god and god is thinly sliced potatoes with cream and caramelized onions and cheese!),  a cheeseburger (no bun) with guacamole, french fries, a chocolate malted, barbeque ribs.

Overall I feel ok-ish albeit a bit meh -- part of this struggle is going to be halting my workout routine. I already feel soft.   I am nervous about day 1 of VLCD. Very nervous.  Hopefully I don't gnaw off my arm or someone elses. I have planned ahead and have all my food for the next few days measured, bought and packaged.  I suspect the morning will be the worse. I love coffee with cream and sugar. Going without will be torture.  I don't really do black coffee. It tastes like an ashtray.  I tried some of the stevia and HATE IT.  So bitter with a nasty aftertaste . No thanks. I might try 1 TB of milk and ice it down a bit to cut the bitterness.

My goal is 20 pounds and to keep it off and kick the sugar/carbs.    This is supposed to be a 21 day protocol but I have hcg troches for 28 days so I might as well gut it out 7 more days.  I started the Hcg on LD1 - they taste like tangerine and take about 5 minutes to dissolve under my tongue.

The HCG Diet Decision – a bit of backstory

I have decided to take the HCG diet plunge.  A bit of backstory about my situation.  I’ve decided to blog about my experience. I did a lot of reading about the diet prior to making the decision to do it and maybe my experience will be helpful one way or the other to someone else. Or maybe it illustrates what an utter disaster this diet is. I’m not sure which way it’s going to go. I’m guardedly optimistic.

  

I am 49, 5’4 and weight 150.2 lbs.  For the longest time I hovered at 137 lbs and then I turned 47. My weight shot up to 154 pounds – the most I have ever weighed including pregnancy.   I am active. And I define active as working out for 45 minutes or more 4-5 days a week.  I lift weights and do cardio.  2 years ago I started taking Personal training group classes (kinda like cross fit but not labeled as cross fit).  I lost 1 pound but was more toned. Still my pants didn’t fit.  After 9 months I started logging everything I ate.  1240 calories a day. I started running and completed my first 5K.   In three months I lost 1.8 pounds.  I tried various combinations of high protein, low fat and low carb.  Nothing moved the needle up or down.  If I ate really really well nothing happened. If I slipped (like during the holidays) nothing happened.  Yeah… super frustrated. All my weight is in my middle – as if someone inflated an inner tube around my gut.

I went to my doctor and was told and I quote” Yeah, it just gets harder when you get older. Just wait until you hit menopause, it’s gets worse.” Really? This is what I can expect from my health care professional – a heart to heart that this is as good as it’s going to get?  So sorry – you are doing all the right things but there is no physical benefit.  I don’t accept that.

I am healthy but have health stuff including hypothyroid and auto immune issues.

I sought out a boutique NP Practice in my hometown that specializes in women’s health, paid $300 out of pocket for a consultation.  She ran some blood tests. My thyroid was a hot mess. We spent 3 months adjusting my meds both the T4 and T3.  I felt great.  She also corrected my adrenal function with some supplements.  I still felt great but couldn’t drop a pound.  I tried B12/lipotropics (again – felt fabulous) but no real weight loss.  After A LOT of discussion and reading I’ve decided to take the plunge and try a 21 day protocol of hcg sub lingual troche pellets.  My goal is 15 pounds. 

The hardest thing will be no coffee (I like mine with milk and 2 sugars) and the obvious elimination of all fats and carbs. I don’t do a lot of carb loading but I do like some carbs.  I have some GI issues so lots of raw veg can be a challenge for my guts.  This will be an interesting experiment.

I am going to start my loading days on May 30 and 31 and get right down to it on June 1.

Stay tuned.