New Round. Day 1

Today is gorge day 1.

My days and nights are all jacked up from my work schedule, but I'm going to try to pull this off as consistently as possible.

I'm always talking about HCG. It's done wonders for me, and I always want to tell people about it. My grandma used to do this with Advocare, and I never understood why. It's because she believed in it. She believed it could help me, and she wanted the best for me. I feel that way. When people say they want to lose weight, I'm like, "OH MY GOSH!!! TRY HCG! Once you try it, you'll love it!" The thing is, HCG isn't for everyone. Some people are terrified of 500 calories a day, and some people are terrified of unsupervised weight loss attempts. The biggest thing I've learned though, is that some people want to lose the weight, but they don't want to do the work. That's sad. I really can't tell you how hard I tried and how long I tried to lose weight.

The most important thing I've learned is that regiment is necessary. If you just try to fit things in when you can, you won't. "I don't have time" is the easiest excuse. It has to be prevented from the beginning.

Here's my schedule for this semester (Oh- yeah- BACK IN SCHOOL!!! BOIYA!)-

On the nights when I work overnight, I'll bring both of my meals to work with me. I'll eat one around midnight, and the other around 6 a.m. I also bought this Brita water bottle that filters the water as you drink it, so while I'm on campus, I can refill it whenever I need to. :-)

This is going to be good.

This morning's weight- 197lbs.

Almost that time again

I'm bouncing around between 197 and 201 (not a place I'm comfortable bouncing around in). I'm starting up my next round on the 29th. Just a little bit longer. I feel like I did really well managing my weight over the holidays. I know I had planned to work out hard and keep losing weight, but I did not. No excuses, I just didn't.

I hadn't checked my weight until a few days ago and I was really worried about how much I had gained. I just felt bigger. (Paranoia much?)

All's well though. I know I gained a little, but honestly, I'm not going to let myself get upset about 5 pounds. I'm just not.

I'll keep you updated.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

So, to be honest, (which is what this blog is supposed to be all about) I'm having a hard time right now. It's not too bad, but I feel like I'm starting a down a path that I need to correct quickly. My weight is still where I was at the end of my round of HCG. It stays between 192 and 195. I guess I'm just down because I don't think I can make it to 170 by January 4th. I don't know how to lose weight without HCG. The protein shakes didn't work as far as I could tell. I still got light headed when I worked out, and I wasn't losing any weight. I'm being careful about what I eat now, but I'm not on any type of a "diet plan". That bothers me. I feel like I need a plan to keep losing weight, and right now I don't have one. I still have my exercise ball at my desk, and I still work out a few times a week. My arms don't hurt when I lift weights anymore, and my endurance on the elliptical machine is much higher. I know it's not all about the number, but it makes a big difference.

I just don't know how to do it. Everyone says, "diet and exercise". If you go back to the very first post on this blog, it should remind you that diet and exercise has never lead to weight loss for me. I had hoped that after HCG, my metabolism would be different enough for diet and exercise to work for me. BLAH-

For the record, I'm not giving up. Even if I can't get to 170, I can get as close as possible. My mindset though is fairly depressing.

 I can't start back up on HCG until either January 31st or March 27th. Big difference, huh? This will be my 5th round. Between the 4th and 5th round, I am supposed to wait 20 weeks, which will put my start date at March 27th. The thing is, I'm not sure if my 3rd round really counted. I didn't do it right, and I think it lasted around 10 days. I feel like that shouldn't have changed my body enough to need to wait 20 weeks before I start another round. Between the 3rd and fourth round, I'm supposed to wait 12 weeks, which would put my start date at January 31st. I know that I probably shouldn't screw with it, and I should just wait the full 20 weeks, but that's 8 weeks! 2 months! I don't want to lose that time. I've lost so much time in my life because I was fat. I don't want to lose anymore.

That whole patience thing- it doesn't come so easy for me.


On another note- If you have EVER felt addicted to food, you should read this blog- www.onedayatatimehoney.blogspot.com



OMGOMGOMG!!!!!! I almost forgot to tell you- I bought a new pair of jeans. Size 14. Just sayin.

The things that happen when you get up early:

I went to go work out this morning.

Worked on my arm flab. I don't feel like I'm going to drop the weight on my head anymore. I spent 30 minutes on the bike, then I worked on my tummy flab a little. I did crunches on the exercise ball. I really like it. If you do enough of them, it hurts pretty bad (which is how I know I'm doing something right), but it doesn't hurt my neck like doing them on the ground would. After crunches, I started to get on the treadmill and start C25K (google it).

Treadmills and I do not get along. I have no idea what "setting" to put them on that's fast enough to do some good, but slow enough so I don't fall off. I played with it for a few minutes, and "briskly walked" (translation: trying to keep my feet straight while stumbling) on it, then I gave up. There was nobody in the building to take me to the hospital if I face planted and riped my skin off. I decided it was best not to tempt fate. It's pretty sad when I feel like a treadmill is too high tech for me. There should be a setting for C25K on a treadmill. That'd be pretty cool.

So after my near disaster with the treadmill, I went to my old faithful elliptical machine (which, in theory, should be more high tech than a treadmill, but with an elliptical, I feel like I'm in control). Spent a half an hour there- no problem. I wanted to work on my arm flab a little more, but the cleaning lady was there, and I kinda feel like a moron with a pink tie around my elbows while I lift weights behind my head (thank you, Daddy, for that technique). Instead, I went back and spent another 20 mins on the bike while I waited for her to leave. She never did. That's okay. I figure you can't dis an hour and 20 minutes of cardio + some muscle work. Pretty good workout today.

Things I am getting used to:
Seeing my colar bone.
Shopping on the other side of the wall.
Staying on the elliptical machine for the whole 30 minutes.
Being aware of what I put in my body all the time.

Things I will never get used to:
Stretchy skin (any advice for that?)
People telling me how different I look
The first 10 minutes of a workout

I did it again.

Just noticed that the last post said "293.6". I hope you all know that it should say "193.6."

I'll get used to putting a 1 in that spot at some point. It's sort of a happy mistake. I made it through Thanksgiving. I was very proud of myself. I had a small slice of chocolate pie, and that was all as far as sweets go. I did not go back for a second (or third) plate of food. My real fault is that I'm addicted to rolls. I probably shouldn't have eaten any, because they are triggers for me, but I ate one... then two... I think I had four or five total. That's not an okay number. I have to learn to stay away from bread.

I'm not sure what my weight is today. I've gotten bad about not weighing myself every morning. On top of that I've been working weird hours, and I'm not really sure when "morning" actually is. I'm good though. I still feel good, and I'm still sitting on my ball at work. I LOVE it. It gives me energy.

I'll weigh myself before work tomorrow morning and give you a full overview. I'm may not make it to 170 by January 4th, but if I don't, it won't be from lack of effort. 40 days. Around 20-25 lbs left. I got this.

~~~~~~~~Shoot for the moon.~~~~~~~~

Today- 293.6

Not doing bad... at least I'm still keeping the weight off. I figured I'd be losing weight still, but I'm being patient.

Couple of mile markers today:


Been to the gym every day for the past at least 4 days. I'm pretty satisfied.


- I stayed on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes straight today. There was a much smaller lady who was on the treadmill for 20 or so doing C25K. She got off before me, and when I got off she just stared and said, "I couldn't do that."

- Spent 35 on the bike first though. I try to spend at least an hour doing cardio.

- Been doing a little muscle work. Not much, just enough to get rid of the underarm flab.

- Didn't feel wobbly as I walked down the stairs of the clubhouse when I was done.

- Gonna have to mix up the shakes somehow soon. Getting kinda gross.

Thank you, HCG! I'll take it from here (for now).

Alrighty-

I'm not putting my weight on here today, because I have not been weighing myself every morning like I'm supposed to. I have been doing everything else wonderfully, I'm just not sure how much I weigh today. It's probably between 192-195.

I'm not really sure how to explain my game plan for the rest of the year, except what I already have explained in the last post, so I'll just explain what my day looked like today.

06:30- I made a protein shake and drank it on my way to work.
07:45- Ate a banana.
08:15- Took a women's one-a-day multivitamin.
08:30- Drank a cup of coffee in it with a small amount of 2% milk and some Equal.
12:00- Drank another protein shake for lunch.
12:45- Ate another banana.
          -  I've gone through 2 or 3 bottles of water today, but I'm not sure how much.


At 6:00 or so, I'm going to eat a salad for dinner. It's got a hard boiled egg, ham, turkey, tomatoes etc. in it. I do not eat any dressing on it. I'm trying to learn not to eat so close to bed time.

Last night, I went to work out after I got home. I got off work at 7:00 last night, and got to the gym around 8:00. By the time I got home and showered, it was after 10:00. I didn't feel like eating, but I hadn't really ate anything other than my bananas all day. So, I figure the early dinner will help with that.

When I work out, I mostly do cardio. I want to burn calories without building much muscle. Last night, I worked with Dad on my arms. They are kinda flabby in the typical areas, and I'd like to fix that. The more weight I lose, the more that flab hangs. Dad showed me some stuff I can do to work on those areas, but I'm really trying to be careful not to build muscle instead of losing weight. My arms are sore today.

I've seen a common concern with people about my current game plan that I would like to address. People say that by drinking protein shakes, it triggers my body to gain mass instead of lose it. This would be true if I ate a normal amount of food with these protein shakes, and/or if I put a lot of my powder in the shakes.

Look at a typical Special K/Slim Fast diet plan.
2 protein shakes a day.
2-3 snacks a day.
1 real meal.
Work out.

I'm doing the same thing as far as I can tell, except that my shakes do not have 14-20g of sugar. They are only about 140 calories. Also, I can't tell the difference between the "diet protein bars" and a candy bar, except that they have half the calories and more protein. They have a TON of sugar... why??? I'd rather have something healthy without the sugar. I don't want to mess up my progress with HCG by breaking the rules and eating sugar like that before my 2 weeks are up.

I'm also still sitting on my exercise ball at my desk. I'm thinking about getting another one for home. I've had one at home before, but I really never knew what to do with it. A coworker showed me that I can use it for crunches and stuff and maybe minimize the flab on my stomach that used to be a giant belly.

Yay for fun workouts!