Exciting days!

So much has been going on lately that I almost don't know where to start!

I believe in the Omnitrition products that I take for my weight loss, that I've become a distributor for them! If you're interested in weight loss, or even just general health products, see my sales page at:

https://www.omnitrition.com/helencarey

I've also become an affiliate for two places that I purchase from. One is Capella Flavor Drops. Capella makes awesome drops that you can put in water, or yogurt, or coffee, or food, or where ever you want flavor! The water drops are sweetened with stevia. I use their New York Cheesecake in my greek yogurt with strawberries. OMG, so good!

The other place I've become an affiliate for is Vitacost.com which is a nice website to buy any type of supplement, and flavored stevia.

I hope you'll check them both out :)

As to the weight loss, being in Phase 3, I should not have been losing weight, but I have been. This week has been up and down tenths of a pound, but I'm currently 185.4. I begin loading for Round 2 on Friday and can't wait! I'm hoping this next round will get rid of the remaining 35 lbs I need to lose. If not, I'll happily do one more round after that.

Finally, I created a Facebook group for hCG droppers. If you'd like to join, please feel free to contact me on Facebook and I'll send you an invite.

189.0

Blah. Up today, but that's fine, because you know, I had my hair down today for the first time in a long time. I usually keep it in a braid, day and night, because it's been just a mess since the lapband surgery. Was falling out in big handfuls...for years. My hair has thinned by half, I'm sure.

Amazingly, being on Omni stopped that! I've noticed it during periods that I had it down, that it's softer, not as brittle and doesn't fall out in unsual amounts anymore, just your typical few strands during brushing. I don't know if its the hCG drops, or if it's the fabulous vitamins by Omni.  But with hair almost down to my waist, having it look good healthy again is sure a nice side effect!

188.4

5/4 - 189.0 -1.0
5/5 - 188.4 -0.6

Wow, I'm surprised. I never expected to lose this kind of weight during maintenance! I keep reviewing my food logs to see if I'm doing something wrong, but I'm not. Everything there that should be (or should NOT be!) I was way under calories yesterday, only 864, where I should be 1200, so I think that accounts for the 0.6 loss this morning. Or, maybe I'm slowing down. We'll see tomorrow.

I want to make note here that I am exactly 13 lbs from my lowest weight with the lapband (175.4). I still have the lapband, and still have the .8 fill (I'm assuming. I haven't had it removed or adjusted). Oddly, I never vomit anymore, where I was vomiting nearly daily before starting the hCG.

My husband says he's so proud of my determination to do this. "Doing this" doesn't seem to be a problem. "Maintaining this" seems to be the problem. If I can start wrapping my head around that right now, hopefully I will keep it off.

190.0

4/27 - 191.4 - R1P3D1 - Maintenance -.2
4/28 - 191.6 +.2
4/29 - 192.6 +1
4/30 - 193.0 +.4
5/1  - 193.0 -
5/2 - 191.0 -2
5/3 - 190.0 -1

As you can see, the past week has been a little up and down. I'm hoping the downward trend continues and that tomorrow I'll finally break that barrier into the 180s! I've struggled a little with actually getting my calories UP to 1200. I have no problem staying under 1200, but I'm supposed to be between 1200 and 1500 per day.

I think the bumps up in weight were because of a couple of things.

One, our annual BBQ was on April 29...and I took a couple of bites here and there of rogue food, including a sliver of birthday cake, and STILL struggled for 1200 calories!

Second, and probably most importantly, it just took a bit for my body to adjust to not having the drops, and to adjust to the increase in calories. Down 3 lbs. in the past two days...wow!

Maintenance

April 24 - 191.2 - 25 lbs gone!
April 25 - 191.0
April 26 - 191.6 - Grrrr.

Yeah...this week has been a struggle. I finally decided it was time for maintenance, and tomorrow at 7:45 am, my 72 hours will be up. On to Phase 3 for 21 days. I was really hoping to hit the 180s before I did stop the drops, but maybe I'll hit it in Phase 3.

I'm really not thrilled to be going into maintenance. I do very well with the structure and routine of the P2 foods. I feel now like I'm just facing a big bad food world!

My current plan is to just increase my P2 foods by double, and add a breakfast of eggs each morning, to add in additional calories and protein. I do, however, have a few recipes I want to try, and I'll be religious about keeping a food log so I can see what may cause a problem.

23.8?

On April 20, I hit 192 lbs, a total of 24 lbs gone, and have been fighting the same one pound for the last 4 days.

April 13 - 195.4
April 14 - 195.4
April 15 - 195.0
April 16 - 195.0
April 17 - 193.8
April 18 - 194.0
April 19 - 193.0
April 20 - 192.2
April 21 - 192.6
April 22 - 192.4
April 23 - 192.6

After watching these numbers for a week, I've reluctantly concluded that it's time to end my first round, and move into maintenance for three weeks. I'm terrified to do this. I really do well emotionally with the structure of the program and the limited food choices. My last drops will be tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.

I plan on eating mostly P2 foods, with few additions. That said, this is one of the recipes I want to try.

http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/01/cream-cheese-pancakes.html

20.2 lbs gone!

Since I started the drops, my first mini goal was getting under 200 lbs, which I've done.

This morning, I weighed in and have lost 20.2 lbs, which was my second mini goal! YAY!

My losses are slow, but each time I think about going into Phase 3, I'll have another nice loss, and I get motivated to stay in Phase 2 a little longer. I weigh 196 lbs right now....I'm thinking getting to 190 would be good :)

Down!

This morning I weighed in at 197.4...so very excited! Our annual BBQ is 3 wks away and I've been debating whether to stop the drops and move into maintenance. I just don't know yet!

ONEderland...again

It's been a long time since I was under 200. It feels wonderful. I'm so excited to jump on that scale every day and watch the weight just melt away. This morning's weight was 198.0.

It's been 30 days since I started using the Omni drops. My loss hasn't been as fast as others, but I just take it in stride. It may take me a little longer, but I will ultimately get there. I plan on staying on the drops at least 45 days, and possibly 60. I know I won't have lost all the weight I want to lose in the next 15 days, but I'd love to get to 190. If that takes 60 days, so be it. Then three weeks of maintenance, and back for round 2.

Success, at last!

I woke up this morning to a very lovely number....199.6! Praying that it STAYS below 200, but I'm finally there!

YAY!

Oh Scale, how I hate thee!

I'm down again today, back at 200.2 where I was 3 days ago. I just can't get under 200 and it's annoying! Still, a total loss of 16 lbs.

However, I know I'm losing inches, so I did measurements.

Chest - No change from start
Waist - Lost 5.5 inches!
Thigh - Lost 2 inches!
Hip - Lost 2 inches!
Arm - Lost .75 inches

That's an overall loss of 10.25 inches since March 8! I can live with that :)

Better!

R1P2D23 - Back down .6 lbs to 201.4, I think primarily due to the fact that I drank a laxative tea last night.

However, today I committed the sin of having red meat (taco salad) at both lunch and dinner, so we'll see if I pay for that on the scale tomorrow. I actually thought about it before I did it and decided what the hell, it's very filling and I wanted to be full!

Up :(

Soooooo disappointed. I had really hoped to be out of the 200s by today, and instead, I gained back to 202 lbs. Having BM issues (sorry, but true). I hate taking laxatives, I'm afraid my body will grow dependent on them, but I find myself needing one every 2-3 days. Bought a tea from Celestial Seasonings that is like Smooth Move, since the Walmart I shop at doesn't sell Smooth Move. Hope it works, and I have a drop tomorrow.

If it doesn't work...I'm going to try adding another protein in tomorrow. I'm thinking this will resolve the hunger issue AND potentially shock my body back into dropping.

I had been taking the drops 3x a day, I've also now increased to 4x in hopes of resolving the night hungers.

*sigh*

Grocery Shopping

Vegetables have always been difficult for me, and even more so with the lapband. Oddly, when I eat vegetables now, I have no problem at all. I don't get it. Maybe I'm eating more soluable veggies?

In any event, going to the grocery store now is fun for me. Picking out the fresh veggies, determining which is ripe, almost ripe, or not ripe....it's all an adventure for me!

Sadly, my weight went up today. I was sooooo hoping to break that 200 lb. barrier, and instead I bounced back up to 202 lbs. I suspect it's because I am, once again, not "moving". So today I bought some tea by Celestial that is supposed to act like Smooth Move, since my Walmart doesn't carry it. Here's hoping it works. I don't want to become laxative dependent, but there's just not enough "movement" on a day to day basis.

I think lunch will be Shrimp and Scallop Cerviche, one of my favorites!

Historical Data

Because I found it necessary to refer back to the blog, I've decided I better post my history with the HCG drops.

Date Weight
3/8 - 214.6 (Loading Day 1)
3/9 - 215.2 (Loading Day 2)
3/10 - 216.2 (R1P2D0)
3/11 - 212.8
3/12 - 211.0
3/13 - 210.0
3/14 - 209.2
3/15 - 209.4
3/16 - 207.6
3/17 - 208.4
3/18 - 207.2
3/19 - 207.4
3/20 - 207.0
3/21 - 206.2
3/22 - 204.8
3/23 - 204.0
3/24 - 203.6
3/25 - 203.2
3/26 - 202.6
3/27 - 201.8
3/28 - 201.0
3/29 - 201.6
3/30 - 201.2
3/31 - 200.2

I keep feeling like this isn't working fast enough, but really, I'm down 14.4 lbs. from the day I started loading, and 16 lbs. from the 1st day of the very low calorie diet (VLCD). To lose 16 lbs. in 21 days is nothing to sneeze at! I have more energy. I'm getting outside again. One of the neighbors remarked the other day that she noticed I had been out more. How sad is that?

I'm doing really well on this program, as far as the food. Nights are difficult because I'd developed the really bad habit of eating at night...ice cream, cereal, whatever. I really feel like the hunger at night is really just that habit kicking in.

*tap tap* Is this thing on?

I had to refer back to this blog today to find out what my lowest weight was after lapband surgery. I read back through every post, and decided that maybe blogging again will help me. I doubt that anyone still has me on their blog lists, and really, since this is for me anyway, that's ok.

After getting down to a low of 175.4, with my lapband fighting me every step of the way, I slowly started gaining weight again.

I hit 215 lbs this year (boo!), after I quit smoking (yay!). I still have the lapband. As far as I know, I still have a .8cc fill in it, but I've simply given up. Having PBs several times a week when I tried to eat "right", and having none when I ate "wrong", just didn't encourage me to eat right. Having been through what I have for the past six years, I would never recommend that someone consider lapband surgery.

Currently, I'm doing hcg drops and a very low calorie diet. Some people consider it not safe, but ya know, I'm eating two fruits, two veggies, and two meats every day, along with my water, and I have only had ONE PB in a month. ONE, and that was my fault, for not realizing that a 93/7% ground beef would be dry. This is obviously easier on my band, easier on my HEAD, and eating this food has got to be infinitely better than all the chips, ice cream, etc. that I was eating because it would go down and stay down!

I began this diet on March 10 at 216.2 lbs. As of this morning, I weigh 200.2 lbs.

Updates

Figured I better make a post to keep this blog alive.

I haven't lost anymore weight. We've had an exceptionally tough year - my mother in law died April 1, our house burned to the ground April 12, and my father died on May 31. My band was so tight due to stress that I had the fill removed. After about 6 wks (and 10 lbs gained), I had it put back in...just in time for my marriage to start getting shaky. All is well now, but that caused my band to get tight again and about the only things I can get down and keep down are the bad foods.

The marriage is back on track, so hopefully, my band will settle down and I can start losing weight again. I don't own a scale yet, so I have no idea how much damage has been done :(

I'm losing again!

After several months of fighting...I finally gave in and got a fill. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, so I just wouldn't get a fill, and of course, started gaining weight. I gained about 6 lbs and said enough, so I went in the beginning of January, and since then I've gone from 183 to 175.4! They want me in once a month from now on to monitor me better, so maybe I'll make goal yet!

Just a quickie update...I really haven't forgotten people are checking ;)

Update

I've gotten a lot of emails requesting an update, so here we are.

I haven't been updating the blog because I simply haven't been losing weight. I got down to 178 and haven't budged since - well, nothing lower, although occasionally I jump back up to 180, 181, and then lose again.

I need to be exercising, but my job has become so stressful that I'm just exhausted and numb when I get home - all I want to do is veg.

I had to have a slight unfill last month, and I know I need to be refilled because I'm eating way more than I should be able to, but if I get refilled, I'll get sick over everything I eat.

Ya know, if you're reading this and thinking about lapband surgery, don't let it discourage you. I'm in a very small percentage of people who apparently don't tolerate the band well. The bottom line though is that I HAVE lost 55 lbs, and while still slightly over weight (25 lbs), it's better than being 90 lbs overweight!

I'm a little discouraged, but I've maintained for awhile now that I'm ok being where I am with my weight, and Scott is happy with it, so that works for me. :)

Please take a moment...

Tomorrow morning, to remember those who died on September 11, 2001