Thursday, March 6, 2014

VLCD 4

After 3 days VLC, I have lost 9.2 lbs. Fantastic! I am starting to feel boney parts again, specifically my hip bones. Right now I am really pear shaped, a total bummer because I used to be an hour glass shape, aka a really heavy Mae West (very sexy!). If I react the same way as I did before, I will lose the weight, but not the inches, until P3. I am OK on waiting. Since I am no where as big as I was before, I should lose inches while losing weight, but there is no guarantee. We are born with a set amount of fat cells, when our bodies store fat, the cells fill up. When the body releases fat quickly, the cells push out the fat, but add in water (hence the mushy feeling). In time, the water drains out, and the cells shrink. My concern is the loose skin I am have, which will only get worse. There isn't really much I can do about it, exercise will only do so much. Right now, I am at 219, hopefully, in the next 2 weeks or so I will be into "one"derland. I have been down to 191, so once I hit the 80's (about a month or so, depending on my losses), I will reevaluate my exercise regime to regain my strength and tighten my core. I have also been working on a Paleo plan to stay slim (for me) and not regain any of my losses. I am still 15 lbs. away from my ldw, then everything else will be virgin territory for me. This round, I find myself much more obsessed with food, specifically eating. I am combating this by keeping my eyes on the prize, namely, getting down to the 70's. Any diet, no matter how fast or slow, requires focus. hCG seems a bit of a cheat because it works quickly. The standard focal mantra is "you can do anything for 30 days", yes and no. Sure, you can go on any diet for 30 days, but what happens after? There are always going to be people who will encourage you to eat what you shouldn't. My dearest husband, The Colonel, has made mention of what a bummer it is to go out to dinner with me, because of my self imposed dietary limitations. While loading, he realized that my limitations take some worry away from him (about my health). We had gone to Der Wienerschnitzal, where I ordered their 5 chili dogs for $5.55 deal (no buns), then went next door to Carl's Jr. for a large sweet potato fry. He remembered when I would get something at one fast food place, then head over to another, then, sometimes a third. Not healthy. Delicious, but not healthy. It's my history that keeps me on track. Like so many obese people, I have stories that would make the skinny folks throw up. Pizza Hut now puts out a combo that's 2 pizzas, with an appetizer and a dessert. I call it the Fatty Special. I personally have ordered 2 Little Caesar's pizzas, bread sticks, chicken wings, and washed it all down with soda. Who's to say that I wasn't feeding my whole family? I wasn't, I was feeding me. Shameful behavior. And that was just dinner, it doesn't count the 2 Whoppers (with extra mayo) at lunch, or the Grand Slam breakfast, then there was the snacking in between. How did I get so fat? I wonder... The only way to break the food addiction cycle is to face it head on. The first thing I gave up was soda. I was never partial to diet soda, so my choices went from coffee, tea, water, or soda, to coffee, tea, or water. I don't sweeten my coffee or tea, so it was no biggie for me. Losing the soda helped, but it wasn't enough. The bread and sugar was next, but I didn't know enough about how to reduce or eliminate these. The AMA has set guidelines about how to lose weight safely, unfortunately, everything they promote makes me gain, and is so overprocessed that none of what they tout is actually healthy. Where they go is calorie restriction, which, although I am deep in the throws of a 500 calorie diet, doesn't work either. It's the food. Would anyone disagree that a sautéed chicken breast is healthier than a BLT? Surprisingly, it's not the bacon, it's the bread, it's the soy based mayo, the lack of nutrition of iceberg lettuce. What I really like about hCG is that I can scarf all the veggies I want. My meat is portioned to 100g, I can have 2 fruits, but veggies are a free for all. I fill my plate with mixed greens, or slice up a whole (large) cucumber, eat a pound of asparagus, and away melt the pounds. This has to be the basis for my return to real eating. Go as big on veggies as you like. Portion meats, portion fruits, portion fats (that's healthy fats). I have said all this before, and it's still true. Even if you aren't doing hCG, you will lose weight. Eating at 3 fast food restaurants daily, with convenience store stops in between is not only expensive, but wrong. You know it, I know it. Losing weight is just a side effect of eating healthy. Any type of eating is a diet. A diet is just how we eat. Some are good, some are not. Is pizza the end all be all of living? Will you die if you only have ice cream every couple of months, rather than every day? I can testify that NO you will not. I have gone years without soda, and lived, months without ice cream or candy, and lived. I haven't had onion rings in a year, and when I did, it was paleo-ized, but still a fried, not healthy food, but a treat. I know that in a few months, I can have some onion rings again, I can have coconut milk ice cream again, I can have chocolate again. The trick it to keep them in their places. Broccoli is a food that you can eat bunches of. Have all the romaine lettuce you want. Have a thick steak with a ton of asparagus, that's food. Cookies, cakes, ice cream, candy, these are not "food", these are treats, like a vacation is a treat, you don't do them everyday, but maybe only once or twice a year. A vacation wouldn't be a treat if you did it everyday, neither are sweets.

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