Phase 3 Begins Monday!

Today was my LIW day...Grand Total for this round was 34 lbs!! That makes my overall net weight loss with HCG about 80 lbs. My cumulative weight loss would be about 134....if only I hadn't gained back that cursed 50! But I'm looking good again, feeling even better, and more importantly, I'm fitting in all of my clothes again! :)

In gearing up for Phase 3, I came across this great Phase 3 Primer. It had some great tips that I wanted to share!  Some of it was pretty basic, but it had a couple great tips that I hadn't seen before so it's definitely worth the 15 minutes to read.

I've also got some pretty great Phase 3 recipes that I can't wait to post too! I'm planning on making these in the next couple of days and taking some good pictures, so check back soon!

Tasty Way to Steam Veggies

The first time I tried steamed Asparagus Spears, I thought they were digusting. It was very unexpected because I remember liking them as a kid and it seemed unlikely that I would have lost such a sophisticated taste over the years. ;)

But then I discovered a great way to add flavor to my steamed spears...just use chicken broth!

I added about a 1/4 cup of an all-natural, fat free, low sodium chicken broth in with the veggies that I am cooking and voila! Tasty sidedish that doesn't go against the protocol!

I've tried this with asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans. Yum!

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

The End is Near! Or is it the Beginning?

Only 3 more day of shots for me and my family. This Round Three of Phase 2 has definitely been the hardest one for me, not necessarily in terms of being hungry...though I have had bad days...but because I'm reaching my diet saturation point. I've been doing the HCG diet since March of 2009 (almost 1 whole year) and I think I'm just ready to be independently healthy. I only need to drop 1.5 pounds in the next week to reach my goal of losing 100 pounds!! Once I've reached that goal...and I know I will...I can move on to others that I've set for myself. I've determined to run in a 5K this year and I've already scheduled my training sessions to begin when this round is ended.

I am completely sedentary now, so this will be a challenge for me! I know I can do it though. I'm going to start the Couch Potato to 5K program (C25K) starting in mid-march. Once again, my husband and daughter will be joining me. I'm hoping to get my younger daughter running with us too! I'm so glad to have had my family supporting me all this time. My husband has lost 32 pounds and my daughter has lost 20 pounds. We all look and feel great! We've surely learned a lot along the way too...

• You must drink your 2L of water each day! I'm convinced that this is how the fat is "rinsed" from your system. I'm no scientist and have done no research other than my own experience but I know my loss is accelerated when I drink plenty of water. 
• You can NOT cheat! We have found that any variance from Dr. Simeons original protocol leads to plateaus and frustration. I do think that things like soda, Walden Farms, artificial sweeteners can lead to slower weight loss, but sometimes it's worth it! :)
• This is a hard diet for teenagers. Well, for anyone really! My daughter has done very well, but being a teenager she has not had the patience to wait out the results. Any sign of a plateau or slow loss would send her into a depression and she would succumb to temptation. She has struggled but her 20-pound loss has also encouraged her to start running, play the Wii Fit, put more effort into healthy habits, like keeping a food journal, etc. In a way, I think this has been the most effective for her since she is beginning to develop LIFE LONG healthy habits that can benefit her now and in the future! If we were to do it again, which I'm not sure I will encourage her to do, I would opt for the shorter 23-day session. I think that's about all a teen should have to endure. I'm proud of my girl though! She's done an amazing job!
• HCG really works!!! There is no way that I could have accomplished this 100 pound weight loss without the aid of this diet. I have tried other programs from Weight Watchers to Phen/Fen to Exercising and Eating Right. I have always maxed out at about 40 pounds lost then bounced right back up to where I was before. This diet has been hard, but not as hard as being fat has been! My challenge now will be to keep the weight off. It has always been my plan to lost the weight that has been keeping me from doing the things I want to do so that I can go walk, run, bike, hike, swim....and be healthy! I couldn't do any of those things 100-lbs ago!

So even though this round is coming to an end, I still feel like we have long way to go! I am scheduling a family portrait session very soon. We haven't had one in over 3 years! It's funny how we're all looking forward to getting our pictures taken again. I will also keep you posted on our 5K progress. I wish all of you the best of success with your HCG journeys. I hope you will share your success here. I love to hear your inspirational stories and lessons learned.  

More Phase 3 Tips!

I am just ending my 1st week of Phase 3 (no sugar, no carbs) and I'm finding myself questioning everything I'm eating, even though I have been pretty stable on the scale and I thought I had all this down from the last time. In my research, I found a page from HCGDietInfo that has quite a few good tips on it and thought I would share it here.

It's important to remember that Phase 3 is for stabilization and it is also important to pay attention to which foods affect your daily weigh-ins. A food diary can help with this. Now that I have a little more flexibility in my schedule, it can be easier to lose track of how much I've eaten during the day and I need to make sure that I am keeping my protein intake high--at least double what it was on the VLCD--and a diary or a calorie tracker can help with this as well.

A great food tracker site which I've used is FitDay.com It offers free membership and an comprehensive list of foods. It can also be customized and keeps track of activity, weight goals and other health indicators.

If you have other great tips for Phase 3, or for any of the phases, please share them here! I'd also love to hear how you are doing on the diet! Tell me your overall weight loss, so we can share in your success!