R5P2D14 of 23 - Another 1/2 Pound Bites The Dust

October 23, 2012

Round 5 (R5), Phase 2 (P2) Very Low Calorie Day (VLCD) 14 of 23

No, your eyes aren't crossing.  Last blog, I reported that I was in Round 6.  I'm not.  I'm in Round 5.  Not that ANY of you care, aside from me and my Rainman-like-obsession with numbers.

So, this week has been a pretty eventful one, as far as weight-loss is concerned.  The first week in Phase 2 (October 9 - 15), I lost 12 pounds.  The second week in Phase 2 (October 17 - 23), I lost 5 pounds.  That's my 2nd best Round in totals (right behind Round 1, which, for everyone following HCG, is the best).  I'm in completely new territory ... well, completely new in the sense that I haven't been here since the end of 1995 (at best).  I'm praying I can lose another 3-ish -- but 7.7 pounds would be the best, not because it's two primes (my head might explode from the fun of losing TWO primes -- but because I'd be in a new decade before Last Dosage Weight (LDW).  To refresh your memory, LDW is the weight I weigh the morning I stop my drops.  Us HCG-ers only take drops in P2 (when we eat the 500 calories of "wonky" food), and that's the only time we lose weight.  The rest of the time, we're supposed to maintain.  Which, honestly, feels like the hardest part.  So, I'm going to rise to the challenge and tackle this maintaining thing head on.  This is what I plan to do.

FIRST -- Keep Eating P2 Foods, Just More Of Them (aka: P2+)
Yes, I said it.  In fact, I did more than just say it.  It's in WRITING, so it's even more official.  I'm not going to run with reckless abandon into P3's open pantry that is filled with cheese and nuts and low sodium bacon and avocados and olives of all colors, shapes and sizes.  I'm going to fill up on mostly P2 foods like chicken, fish, lean beef/bison/veal (for meat), tomatoes, cucumbers, onions (for veggies).  I will add in things like colorful peppers and celery (maybe with a bit of peanut butter, if I can resist going hog wild).  I'm going to do that for another week or so of P3.  Since this is my shortest Round of P2 ever (23 days), I not only want to maintain my losses, but I feel like I've had more willpower in this Round, because I know it's "short."  Around D21-28, it's drudgery.  I can't say it any other way.  The losses slow way down, the food is NOT fun anymore, and it seems like the end is not in sight.  Now, with this little shorty, I feel I have the gumption to stick with this food (again, eating more of the protein and adding in veggies I can't have in P2) for at least another week, before introducing things like Brie (HEAVEN in the form of cheese) and bacon (could there BE a more perfect meat?). 

SECOND -- Continue Not Eating Carbs And Count My Calories (P3)
This is vital.  I've done the first part correctly every time.  No processed (bread, potato, rice, sugar, honey, agave, chemical sugars) carbs.  But, I have stunk it up like a shunk warding off an enemy when it comes to counting calories.  And, the problem isn't that I'm eating too much.  Bet you thought it was!  The problem is, I'm not eating enough.  I can get by on very little now-a-days.  But, our bodies weren't designed for that.  We need fuel.  Ironically, the HCG diet is about eating ENOUGH calories most of the time.  It's only when you take the drops that you eat so few.  Most of us who are or have followed this have found out that when we don't eat enough, we gain.  Yet, I find myself gaining by not eating enough, and what do I do?  Yep.  I eat less the next day.  Go ahead.  Call me a moron.  I agree.  So, counting calories should give me a good idea of how I CAN eat to maintain.  Am I kidding myself that I'm not eating enough?  The few times I've tracked in P3/P4 in the last year, every time, I wasn't eating enough.  Am I eating too much?  Tracking will show that to me too. 

THIRD -- Only Add Higher Fat Items When My Calories Are Too Low
I will keep cooking with butter.  I have for years, including this last year when I've lost 87.9 pounds.  But, I can still drink skim milk (I don't have to drink whole).  I can have 1/2 and 1/2 in the house for occasional use, but not every day.  I will eat eggs (they really are the perfect food) and maybe add avocado, if my calories are low.  But, not every day.  It's great to eat real, whole food.  Just not a ton, and not every day.  I know I should know that, but I don't.  It's either low fat (NO THANK YOU, that has just as many bad side effects, some of which is weight gain!), or high fat (only when I have to).
FOURTH -- Eat Clean Instead Of Correcting
I think one of my problems has been that I use Correction Days a little too freely in P3.  Yes, you are supposed to correct the day after you go 2.1 pounds over LDW.  That, I've nailed.  BUT, if you keep going up and down, there's a problem.  That's my problem.  I correct like a champion.  The next day, I eat P3 again, and, boom.  The scale goes up a few ounces or a pound.  Wrong-o.  Why?  Because what I should be doing is eating "clean" (P2+) the next few days to solidify the weight the Correction Day has lost.  AND, as a side note, once I do a Correction Day, I'm supposed to maintain that weight for 21 days.  So, all of this P3 correcting, but being done in 21 days (from the start, not from the last Correction Day)?  I've been doing it wrong.  So, since I'm on a schedule (you know how I love my schedules!), I'm not correcting more than 1 time in the beginning (it happens to the HCG champions that a CD has to happen in the first week).  But, after that, I'm just eating clean.  It might take 4 days for the weight to come off, but it'll come off.  I know it.  I've experienced it first hand.

FIFTH -- Assess My Round Length In R6 (January)
If I have the stamina to stabilize well this time, it's because I had a short Round.  I'm planning on doing a doozy of a Round (30 days) in January, so I might rethink that, if I stabilize well.  If I (I should say WHEN I) stabilize well this time, I'll be within spitting distance of a MAJOR goal for me, so if it takes me another 2 Rounds to get to goal, who cares?  A shorter Round that is successful (meaning, I don't gain back 1/2 of what I've lost) vs. a longer Round where I hang on by white-knuckling the last week, and run with reckless abandon into P3 food at the end will mean I gain back part of what I lose.  And, I'm not willing to do that.

So, in short, I'm learning to be flexible in rigidity.  Huh?  Yep.  I'm having to be rigid about some things (the plan), but flexible in how long I do it.  So, here I am ... the HCG equivalent of Mr. flexible, Gumby.