R1P4D13/21 - Load-worthy

December 21, 2011

Day 13/21

Today is officially a palindrome date.  12/21.  Same forwards and backwards.  And, it's Hannukkah (if you have to ask, no, I'm not Jewish).  But, I digress.

Last night, Dad called and he and Carol (my step-Mom) wanted to celebrate Christmas early with me because Carol's Dad passed away, so our plans to celebrate on December 27 needed to be moved.  NO prob.  We had planned on them coming to my house for Chinese food (SO close to a loading day, I was going to risk it, so I could get in all of my load-worthy foods).  Well, we decided that last night would work the best for all three of us.  SO, they came to my house, and they both wanted to keep with the Chinese Food dinner.  So, we went to a buffet.  YIKES!  But, I figured I could eat smaller portions of things and, it worked.

Since I was 3 pounds below LDW (technically, we're not supposed to be more than 2 pounds up or down ... I'm SO rogue!), I figured I had some wiggle room before I'd need to do another correction day (5 pounds to be exact).  So, as I ate, I put things on my plate I normally wouldn't have (tilapia) at a buffet, and left things off that I normally would have eaten (General Tso's Chicken, crab rangoon, those little circle fried biscuits with powdered sugar, any dessert).  BUT, I did eat about 9 coconut shrimp (MY FAVORITE), about 5 pieces of sushi (my first rice in over 2 months), those green beans that are soaked in something that I'm sure is bad for me, one stuffed mushroom (usually, I would have had at least 3), buttered mushrooms (I figured those were safe, unless they put sugar in them!), a frog's leg (who knew?).  It was a LOT of food.  AND, my step-Mom made her home-made fudge and chocolate chip cookies and gave them to me in a tin.  I shared those with them, and ate one each.  Again, HUGE splurge.  But, I'm low in weight and I believe pretty stabilized.  SIDE NOTE:  I found out, those of us doing HCG are considered stabilized as long as we stay UNDER the 2-pounds-within-Last-Dosage-Weight.

So, back to the scale.  I had eaten clean all day (except for the crumpet for breakfast), had more than my share of water and have been ready for bed (reading for maybe 30 minutes) and asleep at least 1 hour earlier than normal.  So, I thought I'd be okay.  I got on the scale last night, and was only up 2 pounds from the morning, so I thought that was good.

This morning, I stepped on the scale and ... was up only 1 pound!  I actually yelled, "WOO HOO, thank you GOD!!!!!"  I had hoped I wouldn't need a correction day.  And, I don't.  I am going to eat clean.  But, what this is telling me is, all of the hard work I did (and I didn't cheat once) in P2, and to make sure I stabilized in P3 (no cheating there either, even when I was sick), this is a lifestyle I can keep forever!

This is the first time I've felt that.  I have been wondering if I can always keep carbs out forever, but what I see now is, I can eat some, maybe for one meal every couple of days, and then eat normally (low carb is my new normal), and the weight will stay off!  I never wanted to be a slave to the scale, and yet, I became a slave to all food and my urges.  Now, I don't get tired during the day (I did today for the first time, and realize it's carb-come-down!), I have energy, positivity, and I'm happy.  Go figure.  I can do this for life.

So, I'm eating some rotisserie chicken for lunch, with some steamed cauliflower, an orange pepper, a little wedge of The Laughing Cow French Onion cheese (tastes yummy with the pepper & and a Chobani cherry on the bottom Greek Yogurt for lunch.  That yogurt has a few carbs, and so does the pepper & also the cauli.  But, I should be good.  For dessert, I'm having a chocolate delite (these aren't so delightful this time) and a few macadamia nuts.  That's a LOT of food.  For breakfast, I had 1.5 eggs scrambled.  For dinner, I think I'll have a Parmesan encrusted Tilapia and veggies.  Oh, and a lot of water.  Maybe even a black cup of coffee.

Let's see what tomorrow brings on the scale.  I'm pretty confident it will be good.