R2P2D22/35 - Less than two weeks to go!

January 23, 2012

Round 2, Phase 2 (Very Low Calorie) Day 22 of 35

I may have gone up 0.6 pounds overnight (I'm blaming it on not drinking very much liquid yesterday and eating too much sea salt on my steamed asparagus), but I'm still happily pluging ahead. 

I told my friend Linda this weekend that I have begun to see some parallels in this HCG journey and her journey when giving birth to her 5 children.  She (like many women) goes through about 3-4 months of very intense morning sickness.  It feels as if the journey is all up hill, but she knows, in the end, her current, temporary discomfort and major effort will pay off in the end with a new life for a person.  While my journey is much less enternally-minded (I'm not giving life to another living soul), my journey is long (a year at best), and it can be painful to put in effort and see no results -- denying myself because it's the right thing to do.  Even though I'm not nurturing another life, I am, in a sense, nurturing another life in myself -- one where I'm not looking to food to assuage uncomfortable human emotions (sadness, fear, anger, lonliness).  I, too, hope a new person will emerge after all of this effort -- a mentally, physically and spiritually more healthy person.  I am allowing God to shape my life for the better (relying on him, not food, or myself, to sustain me). 

So, I have 13 days left in this round of Phase 2.  I might even go longer.  Can you believe I'm even considering that?  This Round has felt VERY long, but I'm not ready to be done.  I could quit, right now.  I've gone the required 21 days in Phase 2.  But, it'll sort of feel like a failure if I don't go at least to 35 days, because that is what I promised myself, God and you when I started this Round.  I think it'll depend upon if this weight-loss slow down picks up, stops, or continues to creep up ounce by ounce.  If it picks up and I'm feeling good, why not continue on?

Oh, and I discovered some good news about the program yesterday that I didn't know about in Round 1 -- I can actually lose weight in Phase 4 (eat what you want, but sensibly).  That means, I can EXERCISE!  Okay, that may sound like a DUH moment to you, but in Round 1, I thought I had read in Dr. S's protocol that you had to stay within 2 pounds up or down of your Last Dosage Weight (LDW) all through Phase 3 (proteins, no carbs) and Phase 4.  Well, I was wrong.  It's only in Phase 3, until my weight stabilizes for 3 weeks.  AWESOME!  That means two things:

• I can start building in exercise into Phase 4 -- toning and all of that good stuff!
• I can lose weight in P4 and not sabotage my next Round -- I was afraid last time because I dropped 4 pounds below LDW that I was doing a no-no (what other diet plan doesn't want you to lose too much weight?!).  This means, I WILL exercise.  In Round 1, I didn't, because I thought, how on earth will I not lose too much?  Well, now I can lose in Phase 4 and be on track!

I've had a couple of people ask me how this weight-loss can be sustained for life.  I thought I'd answer that here.  Fortunately, Phase 2 (this odd assortment of real foods eaten so carefully) is only during weight-reduction times.  The bulk of this program is teaching us to eat normally.  That means low-ish carb (or healthy, not sticky carbs like white rice, potatoes, white pasta, white breads, sugars) most of the time, with the occasional splurge meal.  And, exercise.  Basically, eat and exercise like normal thin people eat.  Not fanatical, health-exercise Nazis, but real, "my-body-is-not-an-idol" kind of people.  It's about enjoying special meals, not being afraid of foods (except maybe foods that aren't really food -- the kind that have so many -ose ending and chemical ingredients that we can't pronounce) and remember that every meal isn't special (except that we're grateful God has provided it for us in real, non-chemically altered foods).

So, see you tomorrow.  Thanks for all of your notes and words of encouragement.  They mean a lot to me!