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R5P2C4 Starting Weight 150.6
Yesterday – 146.6
Today – 145.6
1.0 lb LOSS Overnight
2.6 lb UNDER LIW of Round Five Cycle 3 (148.2)
5.0 lb Lost Since Start of R5C4 (VLCD) 09/02/08
105.2 Total Lost Since Start of Protocol (VLCD) 06/26/07

Another good day.  I was looking over my numbers, like I usually do in the morning, and I started to get just a tad down on the percentage, as you know that is something that I look at all the time.  But this is the first break I have taken that I didn’t gain massive amounts of weight to lose quickly so my numbers are not meeting up to the past.  Once I figured that out, I felt better.  Yup!  I am 5 lbs down so far on day 5 - not too shabby, that is 1.25 lost per day - and I am no longer playing catchup, this is all virgin territory!  GOTTA LOVE IT!

My menu for yesterday is here:

• Coffee with 2% Milk
• Cottage Cheese and Blueberries
• Tuna with 1 T Light Mayo, Mustard, SF Relish and Lettuce - Chopped hard boiled egg
• One of the 48 Calorie Shakes - recipe to follow sometime next week!

UPDATE ON HANNA:  It was pretty nerve racking last night, the winds were howling and the rain was pelting - but we made it through unscathed.  Thank you everyone for your concern - things have indeed worked out for the best.

Support

Whenever we deal with anything in our lives, it really helps if we surround ourselves with people that share the same values, goals, passions, ambitions and beliefs.  This is even more important when a very focused part of our lives, changing the way we eat to lose weight, comes into play.  Just like anything else in life, we can do this by ourselves, but when we do it with a group of people that share our ideals and direction, well then, it makes the journey much more enjoyable.

I knew early on with the HCG Journey to Weight Loss that I was about to embark on that I was going to need a strong support group to help me with my journey.  In the beginning, I chose the HCG DIeters group over at Yahoo Groups, because back then, they seemed to have the most knowledge and were very true to the protocol - which as you all well know, was the purist attitude I maintained during most of my journey.

One thing lead to another, and I found myself becoming part of a support team that to me is unbreakable.  I went from the original group, to another YahooGroup (HCG2) to an online support forum (that was actually more my cup of tea format wise) to what you see now available at My HCG Journey Community Forums - and all along the way, I have surrounded myself with little pieces of the puzzle that pretty much created the team of members that I call my ROCK with this protocol.

Creating a Core Support Group

To create a support group, two things have to take place.  First, the important aspects of you, what makes you tick, what your passions are and what your needs are, they need to be rock solid in your own mind - in other words, you need to know what you want in order to know how to ask for it.  Then you have to give them reasons to want to support you - most importantly realizing that this is a two way street.  You must also GIVE support in order to GET support.

Your should surround yourself with a team that handles things you do not excel at, so that they too can fit into the puzzle - one person should never be greater than the next, it should all work like a well oiled machine so that as one, the goals of the GROUP can be realized.  Then you have something you can work with that can accomplish ALL your goals.

The team I have surrounded myself with, they fulfill different needs in my journey, which I am hoping that I do the same in return for them (they tell me I do anyhoo) and in so doing, I have seen 3 of the core group of 6 that I surround myself with already reaching goal, and maintaining nicely I might add.  Their reaching goal while on this HCG Journey while I am a part of their lives has given me more motivation than you can ever imagine.

Extending That Group

In My HCG Journey, I have come across literally THOUSANDS of like minded individuals that have shared the same goals, desires, ambitions, beliefs and so on (in regards to the HCG Protocol).  Some are around for just a moment, others hang for the time frame that it takes them to lose their weight, and still others flutter in and out of my life, but each time I have a moment in life with one of these individuals, I deem it a privilege to have shared in this journey with them.  I cannot tell you how exciting it is to see an email from someone that I have been in contact with along the way that I haven’t heard from in a while drop me a line to tell me how they are doing.

All This to Say…

Thank you for being a part of my support group.  I truly believe that I couldn’t have done it without each piece of the puzzle you all have provided being here to help along the way.  I am here, here for the duration, here to help in any way I can to share this miracle with anyone who will listen.

•Get my updates via eMail: Subscribe to My HCG Journey - Blog
•Click here to JOIN the My HCG Journey Newsletter and here to see the September, 2008 Issue!
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R5P2C4 Starting Weight 150.6
Yesterday – 148.2
Today – 147.0
1.2 lb LOSS Overnight
1.2 lb UNDER LIW of Round Five Cycle 3 (148.2)
3.6 Lost Since Start of R5C4 (VLCD) 09/02/08
103.8 Total Lost Since Start of Protocol (VLCD) 06/26/07

Can you say “VIRGIN TERRITORY”???  Not too shabby!  Everything is GRAVY now!  And my goal is that much more close!

I got an interesting email yesterday.  I asked the writer if they had any issue with me posting their question and then my answer.  They said no, so here it is - her email:

No urgency whatsoever, obviously you’ve got plenty on your plate. But I’m curious about the menu you posted.  You just know from experience that blueberries work for you? It didn’t look like much food and no veggies. I struggle sometimes with getting my veggies in. I’m definitely not criticizing you in any way. Just want to learn a little more to understand the reasoning and you said you’d be happy to share.

My answer:

No problem, I am always reachable by email, much more so then my blog or the forums.  I am a WAHM and spend alot of time on my computer!

Anyhoo, the blueberries?  I found on my 4th round that I could do them with no issues.  My 4th round in fact was pretty much the first time I played around with the protocol whatsoever.  I had a huge loss really quick (2 weeks) and did my whole goal for that round in two weeks, so in the interest of “research” I started experimenting with different foods.  I tried green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, not to mention some different crackers, even flat bread.  I tried peaches and blueberries.  I opted to try things I had seen other clinics use and see what the consequence was.  I found that if I stuck to pretty much the same “families” of veggies, that I was aok.  Any berry worked, and the peaches did to.  I would never go with any high glycemic stuff, asking for trouble there (grapes, watermelon, catalope).  The flatbread?  It was the only time I gained.  So that is a NO GO for me.

Every so often I go thru this thing with my mouth.  I develop sores in them - it’s usually around TOM and always focused in on one side (where my only filling is) and when this happens, it’s hard to eat much of anything.  So that is why I focused in on the eggs and cottage cheese/blueberries yesterday.  Today was the same thing, but I found I could add a bit of tuna so I subbed the one egg for the canned tuna.  When these sores go away, I will focus in on my veggies again, cause quite frankly, I love them, and would rather live on them.

I added this in a subsequent email:

Yeah, I worry about how things come across online also, and I have been called on the rug a few times for things I do, but I always say, when you have come as far as I have and been on this as long as I have, then we can talk. ROFL - For my first 4 rounds (well, 3 rounds and the first 2 weeks of my 4th round), I was the poster child for the HCG Protocol - and most of the stuff I have done has been in the interest of research. Lots of people doing lots of different things depending on what avenue they are taking (clinics and docs) and I wanted to find out why these clinics allowed what they did.

So there you have it people, that should explain why I go a little “against” the flow - I usually have my reasons, they are MY reasons, and they are MY consequence should I encounter issues with those decisions.

That being said?  Here is my menu for yesterday:

• Coffee with 2% Milk
• Cottage Cheese and Blueberries
• Tuna with 1 T Light Mayo, Mustard, SF Relish and Lettuce - Chopped hard boiled egg

Ok peeps - we are not out of the woods yet, those storms are still churning out there, we apprise the situation each morning as to whether or not we will be leaving, today it’s a NO GO - so stay tuned tomorrow!  Did I mention TOM was in the house?  UGH - maybe that explains my mood.

•Get my updates via eMail: Subscribe to My HCG Journey - Blog
•Click here to JOIN the My HCG Journey Newsletter and here to see the September, 2008 Issue!
•Click here to join in on the fun at the My HCG Journey Community Forums!

R5P2C4 Starting Weight 150.6
Yesterday – 150.6
Today – 148.2
2.4 lb LOSS Overnight
0.0 lb UNDER LIW of Round Five Cycle 3 (148.2)
102.6 Total Lost Since Start of Protocol (VLCD) 06/26/07

Not bad, not bad at all.  Right back where I was when I started my break, in just one day!  WOO HOO!  The lowest I have gotten so far is 147.2 which was done during my 3rd cycle on the 16th of August, so I wont be in “virgin” territory until then, so let’s not celebrate yet!

Things are getting a little crazy around here - with Gustav causeing my sister to evacuate to Jackson Mississippi and my thoughts with her and her husband, as well as my brother and his wife that live on the panhandle of Florida; and now Hanna, Ike and Josephine making a BeeLine to our area, you can imagine where my focus has been.  Tomorrow should be the day where we make a decision as to the “are we evacuating” or are we staying, so stay tuned.

I wanted to start posting my menu, but I gotta tell you, I don’t want any flack about it.  LOL - I have been on this WAY long enough to know what works and what doesn’t for me.  So if you see my menu, don’t freak and tell me that I shouldn’t be eating this, or I shouldn’t be doing that.  I will gladly tell you the reasoning I have behind the choices that I make, just ask.  And it’s nothing freaky, it’s just I know what works and I do it.  So that being said, here is my menu for yesterday:

•Coffee with 2% Milk
•2 hard boiled eggs
•Cottage Cheese and Blueberries

Ok, yesterday, I posted the WRONG picture of my son, ugh, I wanted to post his before and afters where you can really tell the difference, so here is that (remember to click for larger view):

So, that is all for today! Keep us in your thoughts, looks like we are in for a bumpy ride!

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R5P2C3 Starting Weight 160.4
Yesterday - 155.0
Today - 153.6
1.4 lb LOSS Overnight
0.6 lb OVER LIW of Round Five Cycle 2 (153.0)
6.8 Lost Since Start of R5C3 (VLCD) 07/14/08
97.2 Total Lost Since Start of Protocol (VLCD) 06/26/07

2.8 NEEDED TO LOSE TO REACH 100 POUNDS

6.8 loss so far - .6 more to LIW of Cycle 2 - 2.8 lbs more till I reach 100 lbs lost!

Loving life right about now. These numbers are too unreal - dare I say it? It is topping MY FOURTH ROUND - I am quite frankly AMAZED - no joke. 6.8 lbs in 3 completed days. I am gonna get into the 140’s before the week is up if I keep this up!

But seriously, I haven’t really wrapped my head around being in the 150’s and now already I am gonna have to deal with the 140’s??? What is up with that?

WOW

I had a really rough day yesterday (just really weak), and now today my back is hurting - I have come to the conclusion that something is going on with my body, it’s shifting or something - funky things are happening. I have not been this weight since the early 80’s - and something weird is happening to my muscles in my back.

During the first round, I lost an incredible amount of inches from my thighs and they were in a constant state of aching while on protocol. This time, I think I am dealing with back fat or something cause since Tuesday morning, some strangeness is happening back there - and now I am in bed, this is the 2nd day. UGH

Oh well, interesting to see what the future holds for me. Pictures should be interesting this round that is for sure.

I am short on time, so this is my update for today!!!

Let me go back to answering my commenters from yesterday:

Trudi - thanks for the wonderful words!  We have all been given a great gift, it’s up to us to use it wisely, give of it freely.  Thanks for being a part of my journey!  BTW - YOUR PICS ARE AWESOME!

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LIW - 153.0 lbs (06.29.08)
Today’s Weight - 153.0 lbs
0.0 OVER/UNDER LIW

Once again I went MIA - what are you people gonna do with me?  OMG - I am such a FLAKE!  Really, I am NOT trying to go MIA - it’s just happening!  Oh well, I will try to do better!

Yesterday was my LIW for this Cycle - I didn’t make it to 100 lbs loss, but before I go into some LONE TIRADE about how I feel about this, let me quote something someone wrote me over at the My HCG Journey Community Forums - because quite frankly?  It put everything into perspective for me:

And B, even if you don’t make a stupid number goal, think of ALL that you have accomplished in the last year. And think of ALL the people that you have gotten to GOAL or helped them on their way to a better, healthier “them”!!!!!!!!!!!! When you have touched and changed LIVES, does a number really mean success or failure?!? I mean, isn’t it just a number?!?! And would it be any less monumental if those 100 pounds came at say a year a a day or a year and a week or a year a month?!?! I think not.

So, once again, thank you DAWN for coming to my rescue, making me realize what this is really all about and to be very happy with where I am TODAY.  Your a peach.

So without further adieu, let me go ahead and post my stats, because they pretty much speak for themselves!

I was not able to come close to Round 4 losses in Body Weight Lost Percentage - but that is OKIE DOKIE ARTICHOKIE!!!

• Round 1 (20 completed days) - 7.74% of body weight lost
• Round 2 (20 completed days) - 8.12% of body weight lost
• Round 3 (20 completed days) - 9.21% of body weight lost
• Round 4 (20 completed days) - 12.15% of body weight lost
• Round 5 (Cycle 1) (20 completed days) - 7.81% of body weight lost
• Round 5 (Cycle 2) (20 completed days) - 9.68% of body weight lost

I lost 16.4 lbs this round!  My LIW was 153 - which is 10 pounds below LIW of Round 5 Cycle 1 and 9 pounds below LIW of Round 4 - so I feel this was a great round.  Ok, so I am 2.2 away from making 100 lbs, I will do that NEXT round, which incidently will start on the 16th - because the family is going out of town!  Yes, we are headed to AIKEN/AUGUSTA!

Updates on Son and JPS:

My Son’s Stats:

• Starting Weight - 190.4 (after load)
• LIW - 174.6 (15.8 LBS LOST)
• 20 completed days percentage Body Weight Lost - 9.05%

JPS’ Stats:

• Starting Weight - 136.0 (after load, which is only like .8 over her LIW of Cycle 1)
• LIW - 125.8 (10.2 LBS LOST)
• 20 completed days percentage Body Weight Lost - 7.50%

Update on Inches:

And now the long awaited PICTURE UPDATE:

I haven’t updated pictures since my LIW of Round 4 which was way back in February (the 17th to be exact) - I didn’t take any pictures at the end of my Round 5 Cycle 1 because of not even getting to my LIW of Round 4 so I didn’t think pictures were necessary.  But I did take them yesterday because it was 9 pounds difference, and boy what 9 pounds can do!  OMG!  Lookie here!

First let me show you the differences between my LIW of Round 4 and Yesterday - Keep in mind that my LIW of Round 4 was 162 - and yesterday my LIW was 153:

Now, let me show you the differences between my BEFORES (Last June 23, 2007) and Yesterday (June 29, 2008) - Almost a YEAR and a DAY:

And then, for those of you that like to see the progression, here ya go:

Ok, so how about them apples? What do you think??? Stay tuned for the next installment of Cycle 3 to start on the 16th of July! If I can maintain an average of about 10 lbs per cycle, then I should be done in about 3 or 4 more cycles! Who knows where the HCG will take me!