Lost: 24 and a half pounds

If found

DO NOT RETURN!


Last week of Protocol ticker!
I gotta make my goal!


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Yesterday for lunch I had:

French Onion soup





Makes two servings:
Put one in the fridge for another day.



Last night for dinner I had:
3.5 oz. of grilled halibut with a reduction sauce and roasted garlic "fauxtatoes"



Early in the day roast a head of garlic then refrigerate.



Marinate the fish in:
1 cup of water
4 tablespoons of Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon Braggs
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Use 1/2 cup to marinade the fish:



and 1/2 cup in a small pan for your reduction sauce.
Bring it to a boil then reduce heat and let it high simmer, stirring and watching it.



Grill your fish:



The reduction sauce should look like this when done:



For the "Fauxtatoes:
1 head of cauliflower steamed or microwaved till VERY tender
Some "Butter Buds" of desired
and all of your roasted garlic
Steam (or microwave) cauliflower

Put steamed cauliflower in food processor and add garlic and "Butter Buds" if desired.
process till smooth. Warm in the microwave before serving.



Drizzle fish with reduction sauce and serve!



(The fish looks like pie! It was as good as pie too!)

Speaking of Pie...
For desert we had baked apple sauce...
But you can eat them chunky too like in a previous post.

2 apples (serves two)
1 package Truvia (or other allowed sweetener)
Cinnamon to taste or nutmeg or both
For chunky apples I peel them, for applesauce I leave the skin on.
Core slice and place in a baking dish with a little water, the cinnamon and Truvia.
Bake at 350 for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Serve chunky or put in the food processor and process till smooth.
A VERY good dessert!
When off protocol add a little
no sugar whipped cream.
(I'll post that recipe when I am off protocol. Stay tuned)





Process for applesauce:



Serve hot or cold!

Enjoy!

Broke the "stall"

Finally some progress!
But I must remember that sometimes its pounds and sometimes its inches.




So now that I am down to the last week I need to decide what kind of nutritional plan I will be following after the Hcg is out of my system. To reset my hypothalamus gland and for these last 45 days to be a success and so I don't gain ANY weight back I need to follow the strict rule of NO starch and NO sugar. But after that I can eat everything else. So I am looking at South Beach. That can easily become a lifestyle way to eat for us. Plus I love to cook. That nutritional plan was made for people like me! But I am also going to combine two programs, because I have a friend who was very successful on the "Flat Belly Diet".
So I will incorporate that plan in after my three weeks is up.
Then I will be able to maintain a while till I can one more round of Hcg.
So that's the plan.

If you exceed 500 calories

I have a Clinic weigh in today!
Only 5 more day's on Protocol!
*I"ll update later*

Here is a great article written by Marianne Cooms from Green Valley Spa on what happens if you exceed 500 calories while taking the Hcg:

I got the article here.

Faulty Dieting

By MARIANNE COOMBS | Published: AUGUST 18, 2009

"Under the influence of hCG, the blood becomes saturated with calories from abnormal fat stores (approximately 1500-2000 calories/day). The blood volume adapts itself so that it can only accommodate an additional 500 calories/day. Caloric intake above 500 calories forces the body to increase its blood volume to sufficiently hold extra calories. The weight of what is eaten does not necessarily play a determining role — the amount of water which the body must retain to accommodate these calories does.

This can be illustrated by mentioning the case of salt. In order to hold one teaspoonful of salt, the body requires one liter of water — it cannot accommodate salt in any higher concentration. Thus, if a person eats one teaspoon of salt, weight will increase by more than two pounds while this salt is absorbed from the intestine.

Many patients on the hCG Protocol ask, “If eating only a few calories over the 500 calories causes me to gain weight during phase 2 of the diet, how can I maintain my lost weight when eating more calories in the maintenance phase?” It must be made clear that this only happens as long as they are receiving the hCG injections. When hCG is no longer present in the body, it can easily accommodate extra food without having to increase its volume."

I hope you enjoyed reading this article I thought it was interesting enough to post. I was never able to explain the reason to stay on a strict 500 calories.

22.6 pounds and...

...the countdown has started!

I have 7 more injection days left and 7 more pounds to lose...
I don't usually lose a pound a day on this Protocol so my goal looks a million miles away!
All I can do is keep trying...




Today for breakfast I had:
Baked apple chunks with cinnamon and Truvia

For lunch I had:

1/2 cup of low fat Cottage cheese, green onion tops and tomato from my garden!

Al Fresco!

For dinner we had "simmered all afternoon Marinara" and Bison Meatballs.



I will post the recipe for this on Sunday!

21 Pounds are outta my way!

Doc. weigh in went very well today... My weight loss has slowed in the way of pounds but the body comp. test shows I am losing fat and gaining lean muscle mass! And that is what we all want!

Here is what we had for lunch:

Shrimp Cocktail for TWO on the patio:



Mocktails on the patio this evening while we were waiting for our fish to bake:

ZERO calorie "Raspberry Mocktail"



Dinner was baked fish with steamed baby bok choy and my La Croix Cran-Raspberry seltzer water with a raspberry/mint spear.

Click on any photo for maximum enjoyment!
(But don't lick your computer screen)

Waving goodbye to 20 pounds!

I did it!

I met my mini goal a day early!

That doesn't mean I can slack off tho...

I still have another goal to reach.

Another 10 pounds by May 25th!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today for lunch: 4 oz Grilled chicken salad with Boston lettuce leaves.

(Click on the photos to enlarge)

1 pre grilled chicken breast- diced

1 dill pickle-diced

1/8 red or sweet onion-diced

1/2 teaspoon Grey Poupon mustard

a few sprigs of fresh Lemon Thyme or Dill (or any dried herb you like)

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Place chicken in mini food processor and process till small chunks

Add onion and pickle and Thyme, salt, pepper and mustard

Process till smooth or desired consistency.

No need for mayo

Roll up a spoon full of chicken salad in a soft lettuce leaf and enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For dinner we had:

Meat loaf (made with bison) and Mashed Fauxtatoes (made with cauliflower)

If anyone is interested I will post the recipes... Just ask :)

Have a great night...

And Keep Moving that body and feed it the good stuff!

~Rainey~

I'm gonna make it! I'm 19 pounds lighter!

I have lost 19 pounds! I know I can lose ONE more pound before my Tuesday weigh in at the Doc's! Especially if I don't blow it tonight with Shish-ka-bobs on the grill for Mother's day... The whole family will be here playing in the pool and then we will grill.

My Mantra for the day:

I CAN LOSE ONE POUND BY TUESDAY
I CAN LOSE ONE POUND BY TUESDAY
I CAN LOSE ONE POUND BY TUESDAY

Many thanks to you all who follow my blog and encourage me!

Almost 19 pounds...

The scales are teasing me this morning! I weigh every morning at the same time. I got on three times and it was the same every time! I am just under 19 pounds lost! Its aggravating me this morning! I HAVE to be at a 20 pounds weigh loss by my Tuesday weigh in!

Yesterday for Breakfast I had 1/2 pink grapefruit with Truvia.



For lunch I had Bison Chili and grissini.



And for dinner we had steamed broccoli and herb chicken breast with dijon sauce drizzle.



And of course lots of H20!



Plus my favorite. Sweet Tea!

Back on track!

I lost about 1/2 pound yesterday just by having an apple day and taking it easy. I did end up having some broth for dinner and about 10 almonds last night before bed. But I woke refreshed and happy to be back on track. 12.2 more pounds to go to meet my goal!

I tried a new product this week and I really love it! I won't touch artificial sweeteners or colors so I was really happy to have found this new product from Kraft. It Crystal Lite's Pure Fitness water in On the Go packages!

Its not ZERO calories, but I would rather sip 15 calories of sugar cane that 0 calories of artificial anything! So its my treat... to sit out on the patio with a ice cold Crystal Light lemonade. Its delishious. I tried the grape and the Lemon lime and I prefer the lemon lime. I also only used 1/2 the package, I found it to be really strong tasting. One half the package with a twist of real lemon and lime and I am sipping something delightful like the rest of you!

CHEERS!

Spa/Apple day

I was tired yesterday as I drove over to my son's house to watch my grandkids while they went to work... As the day wore on I felt funny, off, not myself. So I am going to do a spa day. I am eating only apples, taking it easy, reading in the shade by my fountain drinking iced lemonade or tea, going for an evening walk with my dog and going in the hot tub tonight after a dinner of broth. When I take a day like this when I feel sluggish, I always feel rejuvenated the next day and that feeling lasts for weeks!

My weight loss is steady, 1/2 pounds last night...

I'll update later...

Weigh in With Doc this morning!

Weigh in and body composition test.

That machine doesn't lie!

It tells how much water I have been drinking

and if I have been working out or not!

I'll also get my B12 cocktail (she adds other goodies to it).

Wish me luck!

*UPDATE*

My visit to the Doc. went well! I lost 5 pounds of FAT this week and I gained 1 1/2 pounds in lean muscle! That's good cause the muscle burns FAT!

My water is great... Been drinking a 8 oz glass every hour in the hour. Just chugging it...

Did you know that one chug is about an ounce? It takes me 15 seconds to chug 8 OZ of water! EASY!

Inches...

The Hcg Protocol is also called Pounds and Inches. Because you lose pounds AND inches. You lose fat in places that are hard for crunches to get to. Hopefully today I lost inches... The scale didn't move this morning. Tomorrow is my weekly Doc. appt, and weigh in. Also last night I had beef. And I tell ya... I'm thinking beef doesn't work for me on the Protocol. Even the most lean cut of beef. Last night we had a beef filet. And looking back at my log book, its starting to dawn on me that I can't eat beef! And I love a good steak.

So NO more beef while I am on Protocol!

(Only 15 more days!)

Yesterday for lunch we had:

Roasted Chicken nuggets (No breading) and tomato parsley salad.

(Yes, we ate the parsley, if was fresh from my garden.)

Last night for Dinner we had:

Grilled beef filet tenderloin and a large salad with ginger dressing.

We also had fresh strawberries for desert:

18 pounds!

I am amazed! I even had 2 bites of my birthday cake last night and I still lost big! I"m so excited. I am working so hard to make my goal.

For lunch yesterday, we had:

Chicken/Spinach sausage (80 calories each, all natural ing.)

and Napa cabbage and radish salad.

For dinner last night: Apple/chilie shrimp and Green Beans (We aren't supposed to to have green beans on the Hcg protocol, but I need to go shopping and I had those frozen)

~See you tomorrow~

Goodbye to 17 pounds!

I have lost 17 and hubby has lost 15!

Since April 5th 2010.

We have 18 more days on the strict calorie and specific food list Hcg diet.

Then we can up the calories and eat more of a variety.

But NO starch or sugar for three weeks.

I added the T-Tapp work out combined with the walking and the fat is melting away!

I still feel great with lots of energy.

I still take a half hour to an hour rest in the afternoon if I am home.

The better sleeps you get on this diet the better your weight loss.

I picked produce and canned peaches and made pickles Thursday. That took a lot of energy!

I may have over done it that day....

I was extremely exhausted.

But it was a satisfied tired.

I got in the hot tub and relaxed then went to bed at 9:00am.

It was an awesome day!

For lunch yesterday we had:

Grilled Bison Burger and cucumber salad

Last night for dinner we had:

Apple chili Mahi Mahi with sauteed asparagus.

15 and a half pounds!

Painfully slow but moving non the less... I think I'll step up my work out another day and walk twice a day starting today. More water too... I was having a hard time getting 100 oz. in a day.