New Year Update

Figured I'd update this blog as to my weight loss, since the holidays have passed.  I can happily say that I have maintained my entire weight loss. No more has dropped, but I hope to change that over the next month...I'll check back in later. :)

Day 23

So today was the last day and at my weigh in this morning I had dropped a full 17 pounds! Was it worth it? Definitely! But the true test is will I be able to keep it off. Only time will tell....

Day 22

Another day down and another pound gone! Work is very busy this week so I've had to make sure to remind myself to take the drops and drink water and even eat. Still feeling a bit bloated, which isn't helping but both cycles will be over soon and I'll have my final results. Tonight for dinner I made a recipe called Sweet & Sour Chicken with steamed broccoli and it was good.  I even made enough to share with my sweetie for dinner and he said it was good too. Although he did ask where the rice was? :) It was pretty simple and definitely a change up.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

3 -1/2 ounces of Chicken Breast cut into bite size pieces

1 cup of Water

Zest of a small Lemon

Zest of a small Orange

1 tbs of BRAGGS Aminos

1-2 tbs of Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbs dried Minced Onion

1/8 tsp Garlic powder

1/8 tsp of Onion powder

Cayenne, Chili Flakes or an allowed Hot Sauce to taste.

Pepper to taste

Stevia to taste

1. Brown the chicken and cook until almost done.

2. Add in the water, zest, aminos, half the vinegar and all seasonings. Let it cook on med to med-high to allow the liquid to reduce. 

3. Taste the sauce at this point, if it needs more sour add the rest of the vinegar and if it needs more sweet add some stevia - but just a little at a time while tasting.

4. Cook until the liquid is reduced to your preference and toss in your steamed broccoli. (It will never become that sticky sauce we all know, but it is a good substitute in my opinion.)

Day 21

Now I know according to the title of this blog this should be my final day, BUT I didn't count the first two days as part of my 21, since they were the "load up" days and obviously I wasn't going to lose any weight on them. So I actually have a couple days left. Today I had no loss and that's okay because I still feel like I've been successful. I'm hoping for at least another pound or two before it's over, so we'll see! Tonight I had broccoli beef and although I don't have pictures, it was pretty good.

Day 20

So no weight loss this morning, but that didn't surprise me because in addition to the HCG cycle another "cycle" arrived this morning. Feeling a bit bloated, but no gain was still a good thing. Today I did a lot of baking, all of which I couldn't taste or try so I relied on my family to tell me if they were good. I'm actually nervous about my HCG days coming to an end.  Not because I'm not happy already with the result, but because I think it'll take more self control to not over indulge on all the foods I've missed. Oh how I've been craving Mexican food! But tonight I had stir-fry chicken breast, zucchini and onions - it was very good!

Day 19

Things have definitely ramped up! Today I had another 1 1/2 pound loss, bringing me to 15 POUNDS lost total! If it continues like this for the next 4 days, I could easily hit 20 pounds before I end my first cycle and that would be wonderful! Additionally, although I don't know that I'm seeing the loss on my body (scale only), Todd mentioned that he could see a difference already. It is encouraging and already has me thinking about trying another cycle in a few weeks as long as I can maintain what I've done at this point.  But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. One thing about today is that I completely forgot lunch.  So for dinner I increased my portion; not to double but enough that I felt like I'd get enough for the evening. It ended up being almost 5 ounces of meat and 1 1/4 cups of brussels sprouts. That was at about 6:00pm and here it is after 11:00pm and I'm feeling fine - drinking plenty of water too. (Oh one thing I definitely suggest is to serve food on your smallest plate, it makes your meal look more substantial.)  Looking forward to tomorrows weigh-in, hope it's another positive morning!

Day 18

Today was a good day, actually great compared to yesterday.  I took the day off and just did what I wanted to do. In the evening Todd and I went to The Ram and again I stuck to tea with a small garden salad topped w/ grilled chicken breast and vinegar. Some of our regular servers thought I must be sick, since I wasn't drinking beer. Anyways it was a nice night out and this morning....another 2 pound loss!

Day 17

Today was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Not because of this diet, just because of life.  Work was stressful, I didn't get to eat lunch and so when I got home I was starving.  I decided not to double up my dinner, but I did have a slightly larger portion of salad. The only positive things about this day were coming home to Todd and a hug and the fact that I had dropped 2 pounds overnight! :)

Day 16

Two weeks down, one week to go!! So far the addition of the 4th dose of drops hasn't given me much more energy.  I'm beginning to think it's the weather..this happens every year. I may have to start using my blu-light therapy again; that I know works! Dinner tonight was yummy and simple. Grilled chicken breast and roasted brussels sprouts - very satisfying. I may even indulge on a strawberry or two from the pack I picked up at the farmers market tonight. As for weight loss, 1 1/2 pounds today!

Day 15

Although I was happy to see another 1 pound loss this morning, I've been feeling very tired lately. I decided to add an extra does of drops in, so we'll see if it helps. As I mentioned before switching up my meals has been very important. Tonight I tried something new and it was good, but not great.  I used about 3 ounces chicken breast cut into pieces, 1/2 cup of chopped asparagus, 1 tablespoon chopped onion, 1 garlic clove and 1/3 cup fat free chicken brother. Mix all in a small baking dish and bake 30 minutes @ 375. Before serving crumble 1 melba toast on top, sprinkle with paprika and bake another 10 minutes.  

Day 14

Monday was an okay day except I forgot my drops at home! I contacted my friend and she just said to take a does when I got home and then before I did and that's what I did. No weight loss this morning, but no gain so that is positive. I've found that my cravings for foods I'm not allowed is getting stronger and stronger. I'm not giving in though!! I've been very proud of myself for sticking to this, I really never thought I could.  Tonight for dinner I had a small stir fry using the Braggs aminos again with a little celery & cabbage, not bad.

Day 13

Another 1 pound loss which was nice. That brings my total to just under 8 pounds loss.  Otherwise Sunday means lots of football and doing stuff around the house. I'll be back tomorrow!

Day 12

This morning had a 1 pound loss. :) Saturday afternoon I didn't do much, but shop and hang out at the house. Meals were pre-made from earlier in the week; chili for dinner and mexican seasoned chicken breast for lunch. Had one apple for breakfast and also found that if I brewed a lighter roast coffee, I could drink it without sweetener or half and half.

Day 11

So today is going to be a HUGE test. It will be the first time we've gone out since I started. Tonight after work we're going to The Triple Door for a show and since I'm not drinking it's going to be strange to say the least, but I'm prepared! I'm going to eat before we go and while there I will have tea (iced or hot), coffee or water. I can't say that I'm not looking forward to being able to eat and drink more than what I'm allowed right now, but I'm going to keep at it. 
Oh and todays loss was 1/2 pound.

Here's the chili I made last night, it's todays lunch and it great for this cold weather.

Day 10

Just a quick post tonight.  Just under a 1 pound loss, which is okay. I'm still keeping up with it all and feeling good.  Tonight I made open faced chicken burgers. Which may sound great, but really it was kind of a let down...leaves me wanting the bun, cheese and mayo.  Oh well, I also made some Chili that I plan on separating into 4 servings and it tastes very good. Tomorrows another day!

Day 9

This morning I was down just over 1 pound from yesterday and I'm happy with that.  I did decide that I needed to change up my meals and went searching online for some well reviewed recipes. I actually found quite a few that looked good, but decided on Orange Broccoli Beef for tonights dinner. But let me back up a little bit to bring up something that plays into this meal. Last week when I said I was starting the HCG diet a friend mentioned something called BRAGG Liquid Aminos. I had no idea what she was talking about, she just said it was her "life saver" when she was doing it. I had put it out of mind until today, but in my recipe search it kept popping up as an ingredient? So I looked up their website (which I will link to below), read more about it and also located it in my area. Essentially it's an alternative to soy sauce, full of amino acids, that adds flavor to your food and it's HCG friendly.  www.bragg.com

Now onto my dinner, here is the recipe I used: 

7 oz very lean steak 

7 oz broccoli

Zest of 1/2 orange

2-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp liquid aminos 

1/2 tsp fresh crushed garlic 

1 tbsp minced dried onion

 1/4 tsp chili flakes

1. Cut broccoli into large bite sized pieces and then steam them until almost done. You'll be adding them in later.
2. Slice beef into very thin bite size pieces, cook quickly on med-high heat and remove from the pan.
3. Over medium heat add the vinegar, BRAGG aminos, garlic, onion, chili flakes and zest, let cook for 2 minutes.
4. Turn the heat up slightly, add back in the beef and broccoli and stir to cover with the sauce and heat through. 

How did it taste?? It was YUMMY! It was as close to a restaurant meal as I've had in week. It will definitely be made again! Oh and the recipe makes 2 servings, so save half for tomorrows lunch or dinner. :)

Day 8

So it's slow going. Today, no weight loss. I started to feel a little deflated, but then I went online and read through a bunch of testimonials from different sites regarding your first week on HCG and I felt much better.  I've decided to re-evaluate it all at the 2 week mark, that really seems to be when people have enough weight loss to get excited over. Otherwise I'm keeping busy with work and eating my 500 calories. :) 

And for no other reason than I like posting pictures...here's dinner.  Grilled chicken and zucchini.

Day 7

Okay so this morning there was a more significant weight loss; about 2 pounds, but that still only brings my total to 3 pounds off from my starting weight.  I'm not disappointed yet. I figure when Friday morning hits and I check my weight, that'll be a better indicator of how things are going. (I have to remember the first 2 days I was gorging myself, so they don't really count.) I've kept with the diet for 5 days now and although not fun, it hasn't been extremely hard for me. Yeah I do miss not having a beer when I want to, a yogurt in the morning or a piece of chocolate in the afternoon, but I've just been making sure that I'm eating stuff I like from what I'm allowed.  Also I tell ya - that APPLE a day, keeps Mandy away.....from all the sweets and sugary stuff. :)  If you can find them in your grocery store, the Honeycrisp Apples are wonderful!!

Day 6

Well today I was even worse about keeping a schedule. Since it was Sunday I slept in, watched some football, then went shopping and the only thing I had before 5:00pm was an apple. :( Of course when I got home from shopping I was starving and so I immediately made lunch/dinner. I went with ground chicken breast seasoned with all the stuff I used on one of the earlier days and then I placed it in lettuce cups and topped it with green onions & homemade salsa. It was very tasty and satisfying. Unfortunately I didn't eat again before I went to bed, so my calorie intake was under 500 for the day.

As for weight loss I was down a pound from the day before.

Day 5

The first weekend day has thrown my schedule off.  I still ate half of a pear for breakfast, but lunch didn't happen until 2:30pm or so because we were away from home. When I finally did eat I was starving! So now here it is almost 8:30pm and I'm not ready for dinner, so I'm snacking on half an apple to try and whet my appetite. My weight loss this morning was just over 3 pounds, putting me just barely under what I started at.  Hoping that both Sunday & Monday mornings bring higher numbers. Anyways here was todays lunch, lean pork chops, grilled onions, salad and unsweetened ice tea.

Day 4

This mornings weigh in was a 1/2 pound loss.  Not much and that's okay as it's just the beginning. I brought my water bottle to work with me today so that I would remember to drink lots of water. 

One thing I decided to do last night was to cook up several meats to portion out and freeze, so that I'll always be sure to have something available to eat. I went with chicken and beef, both seasoned with cilantro, onions, cumin, chili powder, garlic & salt.  Now the diet that came with the drops I'm taking doesn't show ground beef in any of their recipes (only cuts of lean beef), BUT looking online I found several that suggested it was okay to have once a week or less as long as it was the leanest possible. So I bought 96/4 and I'm okay with this.  It only took me about 30 minutes total to prep and cook them both, then I had to wait for them to cool before packaging up. In the end I had six packets that I can thaw, heat and add to a salad for lunch or dinner. I even made up 2 jars of homemade salsa to go with it.

Day 2 & Day 3

Day two was even harder than day one.  I don't remember eating that much food in a long time.  Krispie treats, banana bread, leftover homemade mac -n- cheese, soda, protein bars, yogurt, cheese and the list kept going.  Then to top it off we went to The Ram for my "last dinner & beer" where I had the Faburge Burger (cheddar, sliced ham, bacon, fried egg and onion crisps all on a burger), french fries, two beers and shared a mud pie with Todd. I left feeling uncomfortably full and looking forward to tomorrows chicken salad.  

Also after day one I did have a gain of 2 pounds, which I completely expected. Then this morning I had an additional gain of 1.8 pounds. Truthfully I was really surprised that it was only 3.8 pounds total after how I ate the past two days!

The one thing I've missed the most so far is the half and half in my coffee.  I've never been one to drink it black, so this is not pleasant. I think I'll probably end up switching to tea and giving up coffee for now.  Otherwise I had half an apple for breakfast and a small chicken salad for lunch and the other half of the apple as a snack.

For dinner I went with grilled chicken breast and to try something new I bought some swiss chard (red, gold & orange). After I cooked the chicken I tossed the chard into the same pan added salt, pepper, onion powder and some cider vinegar. Then I just let it cook until tender. It wasn't amazing, but it was good and made for a filling dinner.

Overall, I know I can do this.  I'm sure there will be days I want to give up, but if the results start showing soon like I'm told they will, then that will be all the motivation I need to keep it up.

Day 1

Woke up at 6am to take my drops and like I was told, they had no taste. :) Last night I packed up a bunch of food that I could eat throughout the day.  Some good for me stuff like yogurt and string cheese and some not so good for me stuff like M&M's and soda. For lunch I had a bacon cheeseburger, fries, soda and a cookie. Dinner will be homemade mac -n- cheese, pork chops, nutella rice krispie treats and the list goes on...I've been kinda "cleaning" out the fridge.

It has actually been hard trying to keep myself full all day. I've been constantly snacking or eating or drinking to do it.  Only one more day of this and then on to the really hard part where I assume I'll probably be wishing I could go back to a day like today.