I text my SIL this afternoon to let her know I'm still going strong on HCG. 10.2 lbs lost since weigh-in Tuesday -- that was only 4 days ago! It's all so mind-boggling and hasn't quite set in . . . but that's for another post.

Anywho, she asked me what I eat and I figured I'll let all you know. But since all I hear are crickets on this site these days (my own fault, I know), I'll let them know instead.

The brand of HCG I'm using is Healthy HCG. The ABSOLUTE only reason I'm using a product from the internet is because I know others who have used the brand and have been very successful on the diet with no health problems or negative side effects. Otherwise I wouldn't touch the stuff with a ten foot pole and would still be 10 lbs heavier.

Every day I'm allowed 2 servings from each category:
~3.5 oz. of protein (I've mostly been eating chicken breast, but yesterday I had some beef fajitas and today I had low-fat cottage cheese!)
~Veggies (I stick with fresh spinach, tomatoes, romaine lettuce & cucumber. There are more options but this is all I've had so far.)
~Fruit (only apples, oranges, strawberries, & 1/2 grapefruit)
~Starches (1 Melba Toast; I have 1 serving of Melba Snacks since I couldn't find the full-size Melba Toast at the store)

The only stipulation is you cannot eat 2 from the same category at one meal. So that means lettuce with no tomatoes; cooked cabbage with no onions for flavor; cucumbers with no hummus to dip it in. Ok, so chickpeas aren't a veggie, but we're still not allowed to eat them!

I'm learning some tricks, tho. For example, sometimes I'll eat half a serving of fruit and then save the other half for a snack later. I don't know if it's completely legal, but it's what my friend's do. And yes, if they jumped off a bridge I would too!

I'll leave you with a snapshot of my dinner from the other day:

That's 3.5 oz of cooked chicken breast cut up and seasoned with a bit of cumin, cinnamon, salt & pepper. Boiled in about half an inch of water, of course, since no oils are allowed. I had to have it with a cup of strawberries since I reached my limit of veggies by eating tomatoes for breakfast and spinach for lunch. I ended up eating all the chicken first, then squeezed some lemon juice and sprinkled some pepper over the strawberries. Sounds odd, but it's oh so yummy! Even better if you use lime juice instead! I washed it all down with an ice cold glass of water with a squeeze of lemon.

I'm sure I was still hungry after I ate it all . . .

Apple Time!

I <3 Apple Time.

So sweet and crunchy.

When someone's eating watermelon I just close my eyes, inhale the sweet scent, bite my apple's flesh and pretend it's watermelon.

It almost works.

When I'm eating the apple without the scent of watermelon in the air, I enjoy apple time even more.

But I'm still hungry . . .

HCGee, I'm hungry!

Ok, so obviously I didn't keep up with the whole diet and exercise thing. Life got in the way. My grandma passed away and then my uncle's cancer started rapidly progressing shortly thereafter. We lost him just a week before Christmas. After the dust from all that settled, the reality of being unemployed for over a year hit me. Thankfully, the Lord opened a door at a school for a long-term subbing position and that has led to full-time employment for next year! PTL!

Anywho, back to the hungry part.

Basically, I stopped trying. I stopped logging my calories. I stopped exercising. I stopped weighing-in. I stopped caring.

And then before I knew it my clothes stopped. They stopped being comfortable. They stopped hiding my rolls. They stopped fitting.

Something had to be done.

I was sick of trying the same old. I start off motivated and then lose steam after a few weeks and months of seeing no change. I could never lose more than 20 lbs; if that!

Some co-workers started a new diet and were disappearing before my eyes. I asked them for their secret. Simple: HCG. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. (Don't ask me how to pronounce that, and please click the link for a definition; I'm too famished to type it all out here!)

I thought they were crazy -- drops that curbed hunger so much they only needed to eat 500 calories per day?! Say WHAT?! I could never be that disciplined. Or crazy.

Well, turns out I am that crazy.

However, it has yet to be determined whether I am that disciplined.

I've survived four official days so far: two days "loading" on fattening foods while starting the drops, and two days on the 500 calorie diet.

I gained 1 lb. during the loading days.  I lost 4.4 lbs. after one day on the strict diet! I couldn't believe it, so I had to weigh myself three times -- each time it was the same!

My friends/coworkers are so happy for me and very supportive. Sadly, school is over in a few short days and my daily support system will disappear. I know I can still call, text and email, but it's not the same. So, as added accountability it's my intention to regularly post here again. I probably won't post my daily weigh-ins and food log everyday, but I'll do my best. I'll probably talk about all the foods I miss as well. And talk about how hungry I am.

Call me crazy, but you know what they say about desperate times -- it calls for desperate dieting!