Day 23 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 166.0
Today: 165.0
1 lb. Released Overnight
15.2 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0.66 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 226.2
Today: 225.6
0.6 lb. Released Overnight
23.2 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1 lb.

For Pete's sake. This day was so rough on the VLCD... First we had a late Boss' Day lunch for the doctor.... at Uccello's. I had a grilled chicken caesar salad with NO dressing and a breadstick.
Snack: 1 orange
Dinner was 100g 96/4 ground beef with minced garlic and Herbamare.
Snack: *cough* Ummm.... Wheew, let's see... 1 bag of popcorn, 8 whoppers, 1/2 bite-size Milky-Way, 1 piece of Super Bubble gum, and 2 Mary Janes.

Eddie cheated too.

So there.

;)

Anyways, Eddie had chicken and cabbage for lunch, ground beef and onion for dinner... and just as much candy as me. *sniff*

Ah, well. We'll see how rough Halloween is on our release. I'm really hoping that my body will just ... ignore the sugar rush ... and release another pound+ :D

Let's see how that goes. I feel guilty, like I'm letting everyone down by deviating like this. I'm sorry guys!! I'll be better from now on... No holidays, work trips, no visiting relatives... Things should smooth out between now and P3.

Nighty night!

Day 22 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 166.2
Today: 166.0
0.2 lb. Released Overnight
14.2 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0.65 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 226.2
Today: 226.2
0 lb. Released Overnight
22.6 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.03 lb.

Sorry about skipping days, everyone. I was exhausted last night and ended up in bed before 8:30. Maybe my body is getting ready to release some major pounds?? I can hope! On the up-side ... Eddie STALLED! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

*cough*

I mean... That's really, ummm, unfortunate. >:)

So yeah, he's only averaging ONE pound per day. Still not too shabby. The weekends are bad for us and he's thinking of cutting this round short. I guess after tomorrow he could do that .. (??) I should go back to Dr. S and see what he says.

Eddie wants nachos sooo bad. LOL We'll see how long it takes for him to cave... or if he does. He's been surprising so far.

Amie Lunch: NADA! I had a massage today at work. Don't envy me - our massage therapist is a SADIST. Yikes.
Dinner: 1 egg + 3 egg whites, 1/2 tomato, 2 grissini (but they're so GOOD! lol) and 1 orange.

Eddie Lunch: NADA! He fell asleep watching TV last night and overslept this morning... no lunch. Ouch.
Dinner: chicken and onions seasoned with Mrs. Dash and Herbamare, 1 grissini and an orange.

I'm praying for a big drop in the morning - it's about time! Gnight everyone ;)

Day 20 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 166.4
Today: 166.2
0.2 lb. Released Overnight
14 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0.7 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 226.6
Today: 226.0
0.6 lb. Released Overnight
22.8 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.14 lb.

This weekend has been very busy. We helped a friend move yesterday and then went to a Halloween concert at a local club last night. Today was a typical Sunday full of cleaning and preparing for another work week. :) Overall good, but I seem to have hit a plateau. I am gaining and losing the same 0.2 pounds it seems, but I know that somewhere I am releasing inches, fat is being redistributed and in the near future I will start seeing lower numbers on my scale, darnit!! lol It probably didn't help that I had a (lite) beer last night. (doh!!) Oh well... even if I only average a half-pound per day during this round, I'm still doing WAY better than any other diet I might follow! I'm hoping to get back up to a 1 pound per day average. That's the goal.

Eddie, as always, is still losing like a champ and thinks it is sooo funny that I hit a stall and he's still melting away. I say it's easy to be competitive when you're already "winning"! I just remind myself that I'm not competing against anyone but myself and my own will-power. (So THERE! lol)

Here's the menu:

Amie Lunch: chicken sauteed in lemon juice and Mrs. Dash, half of a HUGE tomato and one grissini
Dinner: chicken sauteed in lemon juice and Mrs Dash (yeah, not too creative today) and mixed greens with ACV, one grissini and one-half apple

Eddie Lunch: chicken and onion
Dinner: chicken and cabbage

Incidentally, we were at Harvest Health Foods and found this reeeally good organic seasoned salt. It is A. Vogel Herbamare Orginal Organic Herb seasoning salt. The ingredients are: Sea salt, celery leaves, leek, cress (water and garden), onion, chive, parsley, lovage, garlic, basil, marjoram, rosemary, thyme and kelp (with trace iodine). Does not contain (per label) artificial flavorings, dairy products, gluten, anti-caking agents of hydrolyzed vegetable protein. Website: Organicbrandsllc.com in case you want to check it out. :)

'night y'all!

Day 18 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 167.2
Today: 166.4
0.8 lb. Released Overnight
13.8 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0.77 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 228.6
Today: 226.4
2.2 lb. Released Overnight
22.4 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.24 lb.

OMG is he KIDDING ME?? 2.2 pound in one day in the middle of VLCD?? I'm checking that man's scale! You know, almost every day Eddie cries to me about wanting NACHOS and then he gets up in the morning and has a 1+ pound loss. MEN! LOL

But in all honesty, I am so proud of Eddie in this protocol. He has really stuck by me and the diet in a way that I never thought he would. Great job Eddie - I love you!!

Pfft ;) Now that THAT'S over (lol) - Here we go, Biz - Any Loss is a Good Loss!

I didn't drink as much water yesterday as I should have, so I'm glad to have lost that much. I have been exceedingly lazy today; my daughter is at our aunt's house until after noon, so I slept in awhile. That isn't going to happen again anytime soon, so I really soaked it! ;D I did mix up a new batch of hcg last night, so we'll see how the fresh mix treats us.

Amie Breakfast: grissini
Snack: apple
Lunch: ground beef seasoned with salt/pepper, garlic/onion powder (big surprise! lol), one grissini, mixed greens with Bragg's aminos and ACV. Incidentally, I really like ACV on beef now - it adds a little bit of bite. Eddie said it smelled really bad, though! LOL
Dinner: chicken seasoned with sage and Mrs. Dash, sauteed in water and lemon juice. A half of a large tomato.

Eddie Breakfast: apple & coffee
Lunch: ground beef (with salt/pepper, Mrs. Dash and tabasco), onion and grissini
Dinner: ?

Eddie went to a Rodney Carrington show tonight with a friend, so he hasn't had dinner yet... Unless he decides to deviate a little and go out for dinner. We'll see when he gets home.

G'night everyone - I did post our Progress Pics below!

Progress Pics 10/26/07

Here you go - these are clickable!

Day 17 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 168.2
Today: 167.2
1 lb. Released Overnight
13 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0.76 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 229.4
Today: 228.6
0.8 lb. Released Overnight
20.2 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.2 lb.

WOO HOOO for Eddie! He's over the 20 lb. lost mark! I'm ... pluggin along :) I swear that pound I lost yesterday all came out of my boobs! HA! My bra fit very funny this morning, and the skin feels very .. different. Maybe I'll actually be able to buy my bras in "normal" sizes soon! LOL Progress pics and measurements are forthcoming either today or tomorrow.

Amie Lunch: 1 egg + 3 egg whites (need to go shopping!) and the other half of that monster tomato, one grissini and an apple.
Dinner: ground beef and mixed greens, seasoned with Bragg's aminos and ACV, salt/pepper, garlic/onion powder and one grissini

Eddie Breakfast: apple & coffee
Lunch: Greens and ground beef, grissini
Dinner: ground beef and onion, grissini
Both of us had an apple for a late snack at around 9 p.m.

Thanks everybody for your comments, and we have a question: Is sugar-free gum allowed?

xoxo ~ Amie & Eddie

Day 16 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 169.4
Today: 168.2
1.2 lb. Released Overnight
12 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0.75 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 230.6
Today: 229.4
1.2 lb. Released Overnight
19.4 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.21 lb.

Nice :) I'll take that! Eddie said he wanted to be in the 228.something lb. range today, but this works! Right now I'm waking up, drinking a big glass of water and getting my bearings before I wake my daughter up.

Amie Lunch: 100g 96/4 ground beef (which has 7% fat in it, btw - how can they get away with that??) seasoned with a little salt, garlic and onion powder, two big handfuls of organic mixed salad greens with Bragg's aminos and ACV, and one grissini.
Dinner: ground beef, one-half large tomato, grissini and an apple

Eddie Lunch: chicken and greens with ACV and grissini
Dinner: ground beef and onion

VLCD Day 15 (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 170
Today: 169.4
0.6 lb. Released Overnight
10.8 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0.72 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 230.8
Today: 230.6
0.2 lb. Released Overnight
18.2 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.21 lb.

YAAAAAAAAY! I'm back on track! Not much to report today, so here's our menu:

Amie: Breakfast - grissini and apple
Lunch: 96/4 ground beef and one small tomato
Dinner: chicken breast and grissini - no veggie yet (LOL I was going to eat a couple handfuls of organic mixed greens but I forgot until just now. Better get on that.)

Eddie: Breakfast - apple
Lunch: 96/4 ground beef and cabbage
Dinner: 96/4 ground beef and onions

Day 14 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 168.2
Today: 170
1.8 GAINED Overnight
10.2 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0.73 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 232.2
Today: 230.8
1.4 lb. Released Overnight
18 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.3 lb.

Well - there you go. I'm back to the weight I said goodbye to a WEEK ago. DON'T DEVIATE. IT ISN'T WORTH IT!!

Back to good ol' VLCD today. I had lemon-pepper cod with two handfuls of mixed organic salad greens and a small apple. Dinner was lemon-sauteed chicken with celery, a small apple and a piece of Melba toast (my daughter loves the grissini too! lol).

Eddie had an apple for breakfast, 96/4 ground beef and cabbage for lunch, and for dinner he ate chicken and a sliced large tomato.

We'll see if my prayers for forgiveness are answered and the scale starts moving again tomorrow. Night y'all!

Day 13 VLCD (First Round) BIG CHEAT

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: ?
Today: 168.2
0 lb. Released Overnight
12 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0.92 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 233
Today: 232.2
0.8 lb. Released Overnight
16.6 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.23 lb.

I am
NOT
SMART.

OK, so the trip went alright. I ended up diverting a bit from protocol for a couple of meals and getting chinese at the airport before we departed for home. No soda. Lots of water. No bread. Overall OK. I got home and this morning I weighed 168.2 and was OK with that. THEN, my sister and I went shopping tonight and I ended up caving and getting Wendy's. Not half-healthy Wendy's mind you - a FRIED chicken sandwich with french fries and a Pepsi. AAAAAARRRGH! I shudder to think what the scale will say in the morning... But I brought it on myself. I accept it, and I won't beat myself up over it. Tomorrow is another day and I am BACK on-protocol.

I did eat a semi-normal lunch .. minus a veggie. I had lemon juice-sauteed chicken with Mrs. Dash, half of a small apple and one of our homemade grissini. (DELICIOUS btw - if you eat grissini, check out the recipe in my previous post. Awesome.) So that didn't help the hunger factor tonight, not eating a veg and skimping on the fruit.

Eddie has been a very good boy, and it shows in his loss. GO, EDDIE!! I am SO proud of him. THANK YOU for all of the great comments on our pics! In case anyone noticed, we changed our 'Goal' weights to show what our goals are for JUST THIS ROUND. 150 lb. for me and 210 lb. for Eddie.

G'night for now!

Progress Pics 10/18/07

Here we are! MUCH better than last night's pics. Click the image for a larger view, if you dare! LOL








P.S. I'll be leaving at 10 a.m. for MN and will be gone overnight, so I won't be able to post tomorrow night. I am also thinking of allowing myself ONE "cheat" meal since we'll be eating out the entire time. I don't think I'll want to cheat, per se, but I have this feeling the restaurants we're going to will be very hcg-unfriendly. :P I'll let you know how that goes! LOL Ta-ta for now!

Day 10 VLCD (First Round) & Grissini Recipe Links

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 169.6
Today: 168.0
1.6 lb. Released Overnight
12.2 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.22 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 236.0
Today: 234.8
1.2 lb. Released Overnight
14.0 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.4 lb.

See? What'd I tell ya?? I'm the stair-step Queen! LOL I even ate all of my calories yesterday, and my body seemed to like that. :D Eddie, I guess bcz he's a man, is losing more consistantly and a little more. However, he does have more to lose and his body is more used to losing weight than mine is. Eight years ago he was well over 200 lb. when he went into the Marines, got down to the 160's then slowly back up when he got out. He's lost 20+ lb. a couple of times since we started dating. SO - his body is used to the yo-yo, where my body likes to sloooowly gain 5 lb. per year.

We took progress pics last night, but I'm not very happy with them. The last ones were taken closer-up and we were both tired and grumpy this time, so they just don't look right. I have the comparison shots ready, but I'll see if Eddie will take another set tonight. Alright? Alright!

OK - I have been having a godawful time trying to find GRISSINI in our area! So I looked online for a suitable recipe and found the links below. There were many more, but I don't have a pasta machine, nor am I a gourmet (nor patient! lol) chef. If I make any of these, I will omit any cheese. Here you go:

Kitchen Link - NO Cheese, NO Special Equipment!

Update: This recipe (Kitchen Link) is absolutely DELICIOUS. Love it!

Epicurious

Find My Recipes

Paper the Town

Food Network

Amie Breakfast: The other half of that monstrous Honeycrisp apple, Melba toast.
Lunch: Cod seasoned with pepper and topped with spicy mustard, sauteed in lemon juice and water. I cover the pan and let it kind of boil in the water/juice for about ten minutes. 3 8-10" stalks of celery, eight strawberries with stevia.
Dinner: Steak seasoned with garlic and onion powder, a dash of allspice and covered with two thick slices of a small onion. Per EweWho's blog entry today, I wrapped it all in a piece of tinfoil and cooked it in my toaster oven for 25 min. at 400 degrees. It is still cooking as we speak, but I'm certain it will be delicious!!

Eddie's Menu: Lunch: ?
Dinner: Steak and tomatoes :)

Day 9 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 169.6
Today: 169.6
0 lb. Released Overnight
10.6 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.18 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 236.2
Today: 236.0
0.2 lb. Released Overnight
12.8 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.42 lb.

Well, any loss is a good loss - so YAY for Eddie! :) And I seem to be stair-stepping my way to success! lol Just had a few minutes home for lunch .. will post menus, etc. later.

Sorry for the delay everybody :) This is what we ate:

Amie: Lunch - sauteed steak with garlic, aminos and pepper. 1 tomato, 1 Melba toast & seven strawberries with stevia.
Dinner: 100g 96/4 ground beef seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder and pepper, pan-cooked to well done and 1 small sliced tomato. 1/2 large Honeycrisp apple & 1 Melba toast.

Eddie: I'm not sure - he didn't tell me before he went to bed! lol

Day 8 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 171.0
Today: 169.6
1.4 lb. Released Overnight
10.6 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.33 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 237.4
Today: 236.2
1.2 lb. Released Overnight
12.6 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.58 lb.

WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!

I had to post this bcz I am so excited that we're back to losing! AND I've lost over 10 pounds!! *happydance*happydance*happydance*

Okay - sorry the rest of this is so late! My sister flew in from CA last week and today was the first chance I got to spend any time with her... plus I had to bake two cakes (spice cake and Hershey's triple chocolate fudge, just so you know my pain! lol) ... plus my dishwasher was billowing smoke earlier today so I had a sinkful of dishes to try to tackle. All is pretty well in this neck of the woods, except that I won't get more than four hours of sleep tonight! Ack! Menus:

Amie:
Lunch: Cod sauteed in ACV and lemon juice, seasoned with ground pepper, and one tomato.
Snack: Melba toast and one apple.
Dinner: This is freaking me out... I honestly can't remember what I ate for dinner! I remember eating when I got home from work a little after 1 p.m. and hanging out with my sister. I remember Eddie making his dinner. I don't remember eating at all after 5 p.m. except for one apple. I'll have to ask my sister if she saw me make something because at this point I think I skipped it by accident!! I did feel extra hungry tonight, it didn't go away when I drank water and I wondered why. LOL

Eddie:
Breakfast: Apple & coffee
Lunch: grilled steak in broth and celery.
Dinner: Cod and red cabbage seasoned with spicy stuff.

I know I said we would do pics and measurements again today, but Eddie went to bed a couple of hours ago ... So I promise sometime this week!

Day 7 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 170.8
Today: 171.0
0 lb. Released Overnight - 0.2 lb. GAIN
9.2 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.31 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 237.0
Today: 237.4
0 lb. Released Overnight - 0.4 lb. GAIN
11.4 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.63 lb.

Okay. I'm not going to panic. There are several potential contributing factors to our weight gain today:
1. We weighed at different times in the morning this weekend. Like I said, we get up around 8 or 9 a.m. on the weekend, which is when we weighed ourselves, then we got up this morning early as usual and weighed in.
2. We've been eating a lot of salt. This weekend especially, after releasing all of that water weight and becoming more comfortable with the whole process, we've been seasoning a lot. There is at least one of our seasonings that has malodextrin or something in it, which I am suspicious of.
3. We didn't drink as much water this weekend as we did all week. Just being lazy. We drank a lot more tea and coffee than usual.
4. We've been eating a lot of the same meat on the same day.
5. Okay, okay. I didn't CHEAT really ... I just momentarily forgot myself and swiped a bit of ketchup off of my daughter's bologna sandwich with my finger and stuck it in my mouth. Complete accident - force of habit. It was probably less than a teaspoon but still not good.

Okay. I'm done freaking out. We're still averaging over a pound per day. It's going to be O - KAY. :)

Menu was pretty average today.
Amie: 100g steak and 175g celery for lunch - seasoned with garlic, 5 squirts Bragg's aminos & pepper (no added salt). Dinner was 100g steak with organic baby spinach greens, seasoned with allspice, garlic powder and McCormick Original Season All (seasoned salt). That's the one that concerns me. Snack: 1 apple.
Eddie: Lunch - chicken with curry spice and cabbage. Dinner - steak and onion rings. He subbed 1 Melba toast for the grissini since we're having a tough time finding it around here. Snack: 1 apple.

Ingredients in McCormick Original Season All: Salt, Spices (including chili pepper, black pepper and celery seed), onion, paprika, maltodextrin, garlic, silicon dioxide (added to make free-flowing) and annatto (color). This is the best seasoned salt we could find at the local grocer. It's pretty good but I'll take it off the menu if there's bad stuff in there.

Ok, cherrio for now .. Off to bed. Pleeeeeeeeeeeese God let me lose tomorrow!

Day 6 VLCD (First Round) & Work Trip

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 171.2
Today: 170.8
0.4 lb. Released Overnight
9.4 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.57 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 237.4
Today: 237.0
0.4 lb. Released Overnight
11.8 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.97 lb.

I'm not complaining - still over 1 lb. release average per day! We both finally went #2 today ... AFTER weigh-in of course. So I'm hoping for a bigger release tomorrow. Things are pretty smooth now: very little hunger easily taken care of with water or tea, we have our meals down almost to a science. :)

Amie Menu
Breakfast: Orange
Lunch: 100g BSCB and 200g cabbage boiled in broth with sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder, salt & pepper.
Snack: 1 Melba toast
Dinner: 100g BSCB and 110g organic baby spinach seasoned with allspice, salt & pepper.

Eddie Menu
Breakfast: Apple & coffee
Lunch: 100g steak and organic baby spinach greens
Dinner: 100g chicken and cabbage
I feel like I'm getting less and less original with our menus ... Sorry about that. :)

Incidentally, I'm going on a trip for work this weekend and will be gone for two days. How do I deal with this? Can I take my hcg with me? I'll be sharing a room with two other women and there is no kitchen, so even if I were to go to the store and buy food - how would I prepare it? I guess I hadn't thought about this before.

Please help!

Day 5 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 172.4
Today: 171.2
1.2 lb. Released Overnight
9 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.8 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 238.4
Today: 237.4
1 lb. Released Overnight
11.4 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 2.28 lb.

WooHoo! Another 1.2 and 1 lb. gooone fooreverrr!! And I guess I hadn't noticed it before, but according to my BMI I am NO LONGER OBESE! Eddie and I are both starting to feel lighter and see the difference in each other. It is amazing how it's hard to see an almost-10 lb. change in myself, but I really don't. Hopefully the progress pics will be "revealing"!

**TMI ALERT!**TMI ALERT!**
You've been warned. ;)

OK, so neither of us has been able to poop (HA! I said it! *snort*) since we started. I'm not feeling bloated or anything yet, but Eddie is really feeling the pressure. I have a feeling we'll be using some of the KleriTea I got with a Dr. Natura cleansing kit to help move things along, as it were. It works great and the chamomile has a wonderful, relaxing effect right before bed.

Amie Menu:
Breakfast: Orange
Lunch: 100g BSCB sauteed with broth, garlic, oregano and basil. Veggie was about 90g of organic baby salad greens. I was halfway done eating, got distracted by something else and FORGOT for about 20 min. that I had the rest of my lunch sitting there. That would NOT have happened before hcg!! No hunger pangs at all! Hallelujia!!
Dinner: Lemon Chicken Soup, 1 Melba toast and 1 apple.

Eddie Menu:
Breakfast: Apple & coffee
Lunch: 100g BSCB seasoned with Mrs. Dash Hot & Spicy and 150g cabbage. 1 Melba toast.
Dinner: 100g BSCB well-seasoned ;) - 150g organic baby spinach, 1 apple & 1 Melba toast.

Day 4 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 173.8
Today: 172.4
1.4 lb. Released Overnight
7.8 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 1.95 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 240.0
Today: 238.4
1.6 lb. Released Overnight
10.4 lb. Released Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 2.6 lb.

Amie Menu:
Breakfast: Orange
Lunch: 100g BSCB (Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast) with garlic and rosemary, a few squirts of Bragg's aminos, a capful of ACV and about 90g of cabbage. 1 Melba toast.
Dinner: 100g veal with garlic, Bragg's aminos and ground pepper. I started weighing my veggies per Biz's advice and I realized just how much of your veggie you can eat and still stay under 500 cal's! I weighed out just over 150g of cabbage tonight for dinner (that seems to be my fave lately!) and I could hardly get it all down!! I'm very happy with how full and satisfied I feel now after eating all of that. Very encouraging. I'm debating whether or not I'll be eating my second fruit and Melba tonight. We'll see. Oh yes, about 1 T of spicy mustard on the side for dipping/dressing. Spartan spicy mustard rocks.

Eddie's Menu:
Breakfast: Orange & coffee with FIVE PACKETS of powdered stevia! He's been having issues with lethargy and hunger today, and I think that it has something to do with the lack of veggies and the powdered stevia. He says he's been using between four and seven packets per day, so it is a very good possibility. We went to Apple Valley Foods today and got a big bottle of liquid stevia extract, so should be set now. I almost got the Chocolate flavor, but we have to budget very carefully this week. :(
Lunch: 100g BSCB grilled on the Foreman with garlic & pepper, one sliced tomato and one Melba toast.
Dinner: 100g veal seasoned with crushed red pepper and horseradish and black pepper. 180g of cabbage cooked in the juice, which I found out is delicious so I'm SO going to boil up some broth this weekend, and one Melba. Eddie was way stuffed with that amount of cabbage and said he probably wouldn't make that much at once again. I'm amazed that so much less food than before will make us full! Today was a big test also, because we got my daughter Wendy's for dinner. Neither of us had eaten yet, and I was AMAZED that I didn't even want to munch on her fries. If one thing has been my downfall, it has been fast food. I am so so so addicted to it, and though I think about Taco Bell from time to time between meals, when it is actually in front if me I don't want any of it.

I love hcg.

Measurements!

Finally got off our butts tonight and measured each other. I figured my regular post was long enough to warrant posting them seperately.

Amie
Bust: 44 (these are all in inches, btw)
Chest: 35.5
Waist: 36
Hips: 41
Thigh: 24.5
Knee: 18.5
Calf: 15
Upper Arm: 12.5
Forearm: 10

Eddie
Bust: 45.5 (LOL - Had to post that one since he swore up and down his couldn't be bigger than mine)
Chest: 43
Waist: 41
Hips: 45
Thigh: 27.5
Knee: 20
Calf: 18
Upper Arm: 14
Forearm: 12.5

As an aside, I am starting to miss other food. "Other" meaning fried, processed or otherwise not-healthy, and eating enough of it to make myself uncomfortably full. I'm not going to freak out, though, because I know that these cravings are just going to take a little time to go away. They are not permanent, I am not going to starve, and I actually feel pretty dang good. :) There's my little ray of sunshine for the night - sweet dreams everyone.

Day 3 VLCD (First Round) & Questions

(sorry about the big spaces - blogger's acting funny)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2

Yesterday: 176.0

Today: 173.8

2.2 lb. Lost Overnight

6.4 lb Lost Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07

Average Weight Release Per Day: 2.13 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8

Yesterday: 244.0

Today: 240.0

4 lb. Lost Overnight

8.8 lb. Lost Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07

Average Weight Release Per Day: 2.93 lb.

Amie's Menu:

Breakfast: Water

Lunch: 100g Cod cooked in one capful of lemon juice (is that legal, or do I have to actually squeeze a lemon??) and a little water - I use a small frying pan. I seasoned it with fresh ground pepper, a few shakes of salt, oregano, basil and garlic (of course!). Like last night, I ripped up a few cabbage leaves (seasoned with basil, salt and pepper - there was still some garlic in the pan), added enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and cooked them about 8 minutes. Very good! Also 1 piece of Melba toast.

Dinner: More cod and Melba toast. :P We have to go shopping. I cut it into little pieces and cooked it my pan with a little water, diced tomato, salt/pepper and basil.
Snack: Apple


Eddie's Menu: (Sorry for the lack of detail. He rattles it off and I type it in.)
Breakfast: apple and coffee
Lunch: steak, greens, tomato, Melba toast (yes, I know - two veggies)
Dinner: cod, tomato, Melba toast
Snack: orange


Still hungry today, but nothing terrible. I'm considering upping our dose, but honestly am not sure how to do that. Energy has been pretty good, and I've been downing a good amount of Yerba Mate tea at work just for the little extra pick-me-up. I feel a *little* woosy before/during meals sometimes, but I figure that's par for the course. Overall, not too shabby.

We've come up with a couple of questions, if y'all don't mind...

1) How do you measure your veggies? One tomato is easy enough, but how do you know how much of your greens, cabbage, celery, radishes, onion, etc. to use without going over?

2)How do I keep track of my calories? I tried FitDay, but I must be some kind of nitwit because I can't figure out how to get the caloric value of 100g of boneless, skinless chicken or anything else. Very frustrating . We want to make sure we aren't going over, and (more importantly *g*) that we are getting close to 500 calories per day.

Day 2 VLCD (First Round)

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 180.2
Today: 176.0
Lost Overnight 4.2 lb.
4.2 lb. Lost Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 2.1 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 244.0
Today: 242.0
2.0 lb. Lost Overnight
6.8 lb. Lost Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 3.4 lb.

ha HA! Take THAT, fat pants!! :D

Amie's Menu
Breakfast: Water
Lunch: Curried Broiled Cod (very quick, easy and delish!)
Snack: 1 piece Melba toast and 1 orange
Dinner: I actually got a little creative with dinner today. We bought lean, thinly-sliced "sandwich steaks" which we cut into 100g portions. I put one portion into a small frying-pan with a little water, a few squirts of Bragg's Aminos and one spoonful of organic minced garlic. I cooked the beef to about med-well, removed it from the pan and left the liquid & extra garlic. I ripped about three leaves of cabbage into strips and cooked them for 5ish minutes, (So I'm not the most precise cook. lol) adding a few shakes of dried basil leaves. I cut the steak into 1-2 cm pieces, piled the cabbage on top and added a small squirt of spicy mustard on the side for dipping and "dressing". It was SO GOOD. I really hope I didn't break any VLCD rules with that one... don't think I did, except that I could have drained the liquid out of the pan before cooking the cabbage. Any thoughts??
Snack: 1 apple and 1 piece Melba toast

We are allowed two pieces of Melba toast per day, right? I wouldn't have eaten that second piece, but I was still pretty hungry after dinner. I think I just needed the psychological satisfaction of eating one more thing, because after I ate the toast and drank down a big glass of water I felt fine. I didn't struggle with hunger much today except near the very end. Wednesdays are our long days at the office, and tonight we had patients still in the office at 8:15 p.m. when I could finally leave.

I'm honestly not sure what Eddie ate today. Coffee and probably a fruit for breakfast. I know it was steak for both lunch and dinner. Maybe not good to have two same proteins in one day, but we don't have any chicken in the house right now and he isn't a big fish fan. I think he ate grilled steak and mixed greens for lunch and grilled steak with tomato for dinner. How's THAT for excitement?! *snort* We'll be dabbling with soups, etc. more later. Maybe this weekend when I have a little time to relaaaax.

That's it for now... Night night!

Day 1 VLCD (First Round) & Eddie's Before Pics!

Amie Starting Weight: 180.2
Yesterday: 180.2
Today: 180.2
0 lb. Lost Overnight
0 lb. Lost Since Start of VLCD 10/09/2007
Average Weight Release Per Day: 0 lb.

Eddie Starting Weight: 248.8
Yesterday: 248.8
Today: 244.0
4.8 lb. Lost Overnight
4.8 lb. Lost Since Start of VLCD 10/09/07
Average Weight Release Per Day: 4.8 lb.

LOL - not much to report for me just yet, but I thought we could at least get started. Eddie, on the other hand, is already kicking my butt! Could be because he drank about 4 liters of water today .. while I managed a little less than 2. :P Will be working on that.

For breakfast I had ... nothing. :)
Lunch for me was 100g grilled chicken breast which I dribbled with the juice of one wedge of orange. I ate the rest of the orange, chicken and a handful of organic mixed salad greens with one piece of Melba toast.
I ate one apple as a snack before dinner.

Eddie ate one apple for breakfast.
Eddie's lunch was one apple and a WHOLE PACKAGE (about 5 pieces) of Melba toast. lol Oops. Stinken man still lost, though!
Eddie ate 100g of grilled chicken seasoned with Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy when he got home at 5 p.m.

Dinner was chicken pizzaiola for both of us, (thank you, Renee!) which we ate just before 9 p.m. We are going to work on the dinner time.

Eddie's Befores - Clickable:

VLCD, Pics and ... Some TMI :D

PICS ARE CLICKABLE NOW! :)

We are trying to get into this whole VLCD groove... Last night Eddie forgot to make his chicken for lunch today, so he was running around asking, "What can I eat??" at 5:00 this morning. (grrrr! lol) I think he took an apple, a tomato and a Melba toast or something... I honestly can't remember. I'll grill up some chicken and he can have it for a "snack" when he gets home from work around 5. We usually don't eat dinner until after 7 p.m. I hope it is OK for him to have his protein that close together... ?? .. Today I will have an apple for breakfast and likely grilled chicken with some kind of seasoning on it with sliced tomato for lunch. Tonight ... I haven't gotten that far yet. lol I have to go through all of those wonderful recipes on Renee's blog and figure out which ones we will use. For today anyhow, things will be very boring.

For those of you who are having some issues in the "bathroom" department on Phase II - I got this great link awhile ago from the HCG Dieter's Yahoo group. It has worked wonders for me many times since. ;) HTH.

Welcome, VLCD! (and Before Pics)

Enough already! I am so over this loading thing. Eddie and I will attest that hcg has truly tempered our appetite. It was all we could do to stuff down any amount of food today, let alone load all day. We did manage, and I had my probably-last-ever "Free to Pick 3" fried appetizer combo at Logan's Roadhouse tonight. I can't say that I even enjoyed it, when just two weeks ago I gobbled one down like I hadn't seen food in months. I watched Eddie force down an 11-oz. sirloin with a look on his face like, "Just a few more bites..." We are both (former) huge fans of food, so tonight was nothing short of a miracle! We have to locate the flexible tape before we can post measurements... sigh... guess that's as good a reason as any to get this house picked up! *snort*

Here are my Official Before Pictures. They are clickable now, so you can see me up close. Ugh! lol (P.S. Really, really sorry about that little bit of cheekage in the "back" pic - hope I'm not violating any terms of service or something. Feel free to send nasty-grams to Eddie for NOT telling me I had a wedgie. Yikes.)

Sick Sick Sick

Argh! If adversity only makes us stronger, I'm going to end up the strongest woman around!

So - my second official load day was spent 90% in the bathroom with the flu! I couldn't keep anything down until about 9:00 tonight. LOL and sigh...

So, I guess I should do a third (or I guess a "second" second .. *g*) load day .. ?? .. or should I do another two load days since there was about 24 hours between my two load days? I guess I should go back and see if Dr. Simeons says anything about it in Pounds and Inches.

Injections are going well. We are using 1" 25g needles, and I think I *might* have nicked a muscle yesterday when injecting Eddie. He has a bit of padding over his abs (*g*) but he said it hurt quite a bit. (Eddie's a big baby, mind you. lol) I was careful today to make sure the needle went in on an angle, and he said there was very little stinging.

Onward and upward!

We DID IT!

*happydance*happydance*happydance*

We did it! We injected our first HCG at 10 p.m. - which is much later than I had anticipated, but mixing our first batch was quite the harrowing experience... If you want, I'll give you the details (it's pretty funny actually - those rubber stoppers do NOT like the 18g mixing needle I started out using. Oy.), but for now I'll just get to the nitty-gritty.

My beginning weight: 179.8
Eddie's beginning weight: 247.6

I'll post measurements later. In case you're wondering, I did end up giving Eddie his first shot. He layed down on the couch and covered his eyes... It was too funny. All went well - It honestly did NOT hurt. We didn't "load" today, perse. We didn't even eat our first meal until after noon, but tomorrow and Sunday we'll load seriously.

Alrighty then... Gnight!

FRIDAY

It's FRIDAY! Official first Load-Day of our HCG Protocol! WHOOPEEE!

...

And I'm avoiding it like the Plague.

...

Some reservations:

First of all, I'm scared as hell that I'm going to start this and just end up cheating and wasting all of my money because I can't stick with a "diet" that doesn't allow me to eat all of the crappy Taco Bell, Burger King, etc. that I want. Gross, I know. :(

Also, we can't do morning injections because Eddie goes to work M-Th at 5:30 a.m. and F-Sun doesn't get up until 10 a.m. or so. We could do the injections at night, but I'm afraid it won't work as well ... or not at all.

Finally, I'm going on at least two trips this month. One trip will be to a Chiropractic conference, which I have to go to or lose my job. The other, which I can postpone, is to a University out-of-state that I'm applying to. My sister is also flying in from CA some time in the next couple of weeks, which poses less of a problem, but could still complicate things.

I've been loading today... kinda... I didn't eat breakfast (doh!) but I did have pancakes, sausage and an egg covered in organic maple syrup for lunch and tortilla chips with cheese-salsa for a snack. I usually don't start eating until later in the day anyhow, so as long as I keep eating until tonight I should be good, right? Well, I'm going to mix my HCG here soon so wish me luck!

Hasta ~ Amie

ALL HERE

Today my supplies were delivered!! (I <3 you, UPS Man!)

So that means that we start loading THIS FRIDAY!

*cue dramatic music*

Anyone with last-minute advice for what we should buy is welcome to leave me a little comment, otherwise I think we'll be loading up on lean chicken, fish and yummy spices (after reading the labels CAREFULLY!) tonight at the local Meijer.

I changed our blog a little bit to read just as 'me' since I think Eddie wants to stay in the background more. (I told you - he's SHY.) I'll be updating his stats and input intermittantly, but it'll mainly be my info on here...

*phew* Finally!