What I've been up too...

Making these...

 

 

 

AND These...

 

Two of my new FAVORITE treats!!! Both of these are HCG approved and PERFECT for my Phase 3 maintenance. The top photo is the Chocolate Peanut Butter Delight - 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa, 1/2 c melted coconut oil, 

4 pks stevia,  a 1/2 tsp peanut butter - the natual peanut only kind. Put into foil baking cups and put in freezer...I eat 2 of these a day!

The second one is strawberries covered in Agave...WOW - WHERE has this Agave been ALL of my life!?! It's SUPER yummy and ALMOST seems sinful! LOL I'm currently waiting for them to freeze and REALLY am hoping that they do BUT if they don't, I'll cherish them anyway!!!

The three Very Low Calorie Days & my FIRST day of maintenance

Things are going pretty good - I thought my 3 VLCDay's (500 calories) without the HCG were going to be BAD but they weren't. I didn't have any trouble at all with them.

Here's a weight update on my last few days - my LDW weight (my last HCG weight) is 145.8, the next day I was 145.6, then 145, 145 and today I'm 144.8. I know it will go back up but I'm currently LOVING this!!! I put my jeans on today and got them on without any trouble or struggles...God is so good.

This morning was my first day of maintenance which I will do for 3 weeks. It consists of eating anything that I want EXCEPT sugar or starch foods.

My sweet girl got up and made me an egg with cheese and 2 pieces of bacon...I thoroughly enjoyed it but in the end I discovered the bacon that she gave me was 'sugar cured'...YIKES!!! My HCG rep said to eat more protein today.

I'm ABSOLUTELY in love with the chocolate delight recipe that my rep sent to me - made with coconut oil, unsweetened cocoa and stevia...oh my goodness - it's SUPER YUMMY!!! I can eat as many of them as I'd like and they don't hinder me so I'm enjoying about 2 of them a day...WOO HOO!!! She also taught me how to make hot chocolate which I liked a lot too - made with unsweetened cocoa, vanilla extract and stevia.

I'll try to keep you updated as to how I'm doing and progressing. I'm SO very thankful that I did this!!!

I'm DONE!!!

It's so funny that I've been praying this WHOLE time to PLEASE let me reach my goal so I don't have to do this again and now all I can think about is doing it again to lose more off my butt & thighs. So I'm thinking I may do it again starting on the last day of this year then I can LOAD that day and Jan 1 - be done by Jan 23 and off of maintenance in Feb for my kids birthday's. We shall see.

I am SO thankful that I went on this journey...I was getting SO discouraged with myself and everything that I was trying that wasn't working. I lost a total of 9.25 inches and 16.8 pounds. I am within 8 ounces of my goal weight...I'll take that!!! Wish I could have gotten all the way to it but I'm excited to be as far as I am!!!

Here are the before and afters that I promised...now to get through my 3 weeks of maintenance continuing with no sugar & no starch.

Before & After (25 days later)

Before and After

I'm so thankful to my HCG rep Dawn at The Ultimate HCG Pro for her kindness and support during this journey with me. I am SO thankful that I decided to do this and I am SO thankful that God was with me and gave me the strength to do it!

I'm so thankful that I held on another day!!!

Big loss today of a pound...I'm SOOO excited!!! I'm praying that my body doesn't do goofy things weight wise when I'm off of this!!! Weighed in at 146.4 with 1.4 pounds to go to reach my goal. I've got my HCG rep helping me determine when my VERY last day can be so I can still eat what I want for my birthday on the 16th. Right now I know I'm ok to continue through today so that's what I'll do. 15.8 pounds down...WOW!

Well...it's SUPPOSE to be my LAST day...BUT - it's NOT going to be!!!

I've decided to hold out a couple of more days (since I have 2 built into my calendar:) and see if I can lose just a bit more. This works out PERFECTLY since my bottle of drops is nearing the end. I just hope I don't run out before I want to stop. This morning I weighed 147.4 - I'll take that and a couple more JUST like it!!! I'm really wishing some would come off of my thighs...that seems to be the ONLY place anything is still hanging on.

I'm hoping I have this planned out right - I need to be able to eat ANYTHING I want on my birthday which is Oct 16. So, I've got to check the manual and verify that I'm figuring this right before deciding on another specific date to end on.

I think this is a bit wiser too cause the other way I was going to be doing my last 500 calorie (NO HCG) day on Saturday and I've got LOTS going on Saturday...I don't want to put myself through that.

I have to make oreo truffles for a baby shower on Saturday too...oh please pray for me...they are SCRUMP-DELI-ICIOUS!!! I'm planning to make myself one and freeze it for yet another thing I'm planning to eat on my birthday. Looks like I'm going to have a steak day the day after my birthday. I already have plans to go to Cracker Barrel to have my 1 pecan pancake, Maggie Moos to have my Peanut Butter Galaxy, have my Oreo Truffle, and go to the Lemp Mansion for dinner...WOW - now I know why I gained all that weight in the first place!!! LOL

Things I'm looking forward to eating...

On maintenance I'm looking forward to eating cheese, nuts, ALL meats, eggs, beans (possibly chili?:).

When my 3 weeks of maintenance is done I'm looking forward to eating Oreo Truffles, Maggie Moos, pretty much EVERYTHING under the sun!!! LOL

3 pounds to go and a day to get there...don't think it's happening :'(

Well - I'm 3 pounds shy of my goal and really happy about the weight that I have lost but bummed that I have not lost near what others have in their first 23 days...everyone that I know that has done this has lost a MINIMUM of 17 pounds in their first 23 days...I've got at LEAST 15 friends that have or are currently doing HCG and I'm the only one that hasn't lost even 15 pounds yet...I'm kinda bummed about that but oh well - I'm not going to let it get me down. I'm very grateful for the loss so far.

While I had intended to end this journey tomorrow - I'm SOOOO close to my bottle being gone that I may hang on 1 or 2 more days and see if I can't drop another pound or two. I REALLY wish it a bit MORE would come off of my thighs.

I went a bit yesterday (yes, I'm talking poo again :) but I'm going to do another smooth move tonight and see if I can't get rid of some MORE internal stuff.

ANOTHER stall...I am SOOO bummed!!!

I really can NOT afford ANOTHER stall...I KNOW it's because I've got some sludge going on and need to get rid of it. I had a Smooth Move tea last night and will have another one tonight if I need to.

I have 3.6 pounds to go and only 2 days until I had planned to finish...thankfully I have 2 days built in to be done by my 40th birthday...it may be wise to NOT try to do the VLCD on Saturday without the HCG since we have so much going on that day. I'm praying that I remain STRONG with that day and during my maintenance.

We shall see...I really would like the last 3 pounds to come OFF of my thighs though!!! :)

Almost there!!!

I'm looking forward to finishing my Phase 2 (HCG/VLCD) this week...never the less - I've already decided that I'm going to continue however long it takes for my bottle to be gone...there's not too much left so I'm hoping to finish on Wed, Thurs or Fri. We will see. I'll post before and after pictures when I finish...I'm SUPER pleased that I did this!!! It hasn't been EASY but it's been SOOO worth it!!!

I'm home...God provided!!!

My biggest concern about the Joyce Meyer Women's conference this year was eating out down there being on this special diet. I'm SOOOO thankful that God provided for me! I had packed ALL the waters I was suppose to drink for the two days I was going to be away, I packed my grissini sticks and 2 apples. Yesterday we went out to eat at Houlihan's and I was so stressed about what to get and flipped the menu and the 4oz (the exact size that I needed) Filet Mignon was on the menu...woo hoo! God is SO good. I had them hold the fries :( but they put some greens on the plate that were really good so that made up for it. I had only 285 calories yesterday so I wanted to make sure that I was able to get more food into me today. I had my apple today, and then had a grilled chicken sandwich...minus the sandwich part. LOL - So thankful for the Lords provision and for the loss this morning.

I was REALLY freaking out when I went to the bathroom at 5:30 this morning and the scale said 153.6 and I was thinking there must had been something in that sauce that was on those greens that I ate yesterday but thankfully when I got up at 7 and re-weighed the scale showed that I lost 8 oz. Today I weigh 149 with 4 pounds to my goal and 3 days to get there...I'm not sure I'll make it - maybe tomorrow night I'll try a detox again...I'm going to do a smooth move tea tonight since it's been a few days since I've "REALLY" gone...that might help me lose a pound or two. lol

5 days from the end...

Well, I'm nearing the corner to the end...I can ALMOST see it!!! LOL

I'm down to 149.8 today and have lost a 12.4 pounds but I just realized that I was up to 165 after my Day 2 load and I haven't been counting those pounds as I just went from my first days weight...so overall I've lost 15.2 pounds so far...that's pretty cool!!!

Some obstacles for today (other than my very best friends asking me if I wanted to go to Ted Drew's last night after the Joyce Meyer conference:) We are headed to day 2 of the Joyce Meyer conference and will be just staying down there all day today and tonight and attending the conference tomorrow...this means I've got to figure out HOW/WHAT I'm going to eat today and tomorrow. I've been fortunate enough to be able to stay home almost all of these days so far and grill my chicken for lunch and my hamburger for dinner. The good news is that I can have a steak, burger, chicken, etc. I am just concerned about 1) being tempted and 2) cheating...Lord please be with me today and tomorrow to not 1) be tempted and 2) cheat.

I'm SO excited...WOO HOO!!!

I hit the 150lb (+.4:) mark...I'm SO excited!!! I've got 5.4lbs to get to my goal and and 6 days to get there...I'm hoping for BIG results these last 6 days. I'm SO thankful to be headed in the right direction again though!!! Praying for no more stalls and NO cheats on this big weekend away at the Joyce Meyer conference.

The toughest day is going to be on Sept 25 when I am no longer on the HCG but still on the last day of my VLCD - I have a baby shower & a bbq that day and I can image that will be difficult but I trust that God will go before me and keep me strong!

Hope you'll be able to see changes when I post pictures at the end of this journey...it's been SOOOO worth it to me!!!

A loss again...FINALLY!!! LOL :)

Last night I relaxed in what is described as a Detox Bath (1lb Epsom Salt & 1lb Baking Soda) - you relax for 20 minutes in the tub of hot/warm water. I've had trouble with things like this before so I was a bit concerned it would wipe me out but it was WONDERFUL!!! In fact, I do feel energized!

I was thankful to wake up to a total loss of 11 pounds so far in 14 days. I'm a bit behind on schedule with 6.2 pounds to go in my last 7 days. My goal was to be COMPLETELY done with the protocol and the maintenance in time to eat ANYTHING that I want for my 40th birthday...Right now I am scheduled to be done with HCG on the 22nd (I can go MUCH longer on this if I need/want to) then I'll do my 3 VLCD's (Very Low Calorie Day's) and have 3 weeks of maintenance which is eating anything except sugar or starch. The way I have it set right now, I wanted to be completely finished by Oct 13...this allows for 3 days leeway if I don't hit my goal weight in 7 days the MOST I can extend the protocol to make my birthday is 10 days.

I am trusting in the Lord and we will just wait and see. God is in control!!!

Another stall day??? YIKES!!!

Ok - I KNEW this day would come but I am SO done with the stall already!!! I've got 8 days to lose 7 pounds...PLEASE STOP stalling!!! LOL My goal is to be done by 9/22 - I do have the ability to continue on longer but only a couple of days as I want to be eating WHATEVER I want by my 40th birthday in October...this only gives me a couple of days to be done with maintenance as it is. I'm SO bummed!!! I'm going to do a Detox Bath tonight (soaking in the warmest water with a pound of epsom salt & a pound of baking soda...looking forward to seeing if that will restart/kick my system!!!

PS. I haven't changed ANYTHING diet wise except adding the Pounds & Inches dressing and I'm using less than a serving size and have had NO cheats...except in my dream I had the most AMAZING bite of cake or pie and then in my dream I remembered I was on this and nearly flipped out cause I had forgotten and cheated...lol!!!

It seems that being around my favorite foods is getting a bit easier. So far Day 8 was my hardest but I think that's cause I didn't feel too good.

A stall...that's all...lol

I'm stalling again...I'm ok with it though - I'm half way done and even sat eating my brought from home lunch as my husband and friends ate out at Bob Evans yesterday. It wasn't too bad but I'm thinking the Joyce Meyer conference this weekend and being with the girls is going to be worse...we will see. Praying for strength to endure.

152 - I like you but 145 will make me jive!!! LOL

I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me! Phil 4:13

Yippee Skippy!!!

Happy Sunday to you all - my the love of God fill your insides today!!!

I had a good nights sleep and thankfully the scale agreed topping off at 152 that's 10.2 pounds gone...Thank you Jesus!!!

We're going to lunch today with some dear friends - it'll be my first time out in a restaurant - I'm planning to bring my own food and am praying the Lord will keep me strong to NOT cheat!!!

Have a blessed Sunday all!!!

A Gain!?! What's that all about!?! LOL

I've got a "slight" 2 ounce gain today...bummer! That takes me back up to 153 but I read my stuff in the beginning and realize I might be at a 'stall' so I'll just keep on keeping on and will endure...hopefully after 3 days, I'll be back to losing again. Went yesterday to the Pounds and Inches store and bought some Sweet Mustard dressing...had a bit on my burger last night, it was SUPER yummy!!!

Had a good day with the regular food that I've been posting so I'll no longer bore you with my menu...I'm a creature of habit and it looks like for THIS protocol...it's a GOOD thing!!! LOL

QUITE a bit smaller of a loss...but it's all good!!!

I refuse to get depressed about the "smaller" loss that I had today - I'm just thrilled that I don't have a stall or a gain so to me 2 ounces gone is 2 ounces gone!!!

Today's weight is 152.8 - a total loss of 9.4 pounds so far.

I will praise you oh Lord for you are worthy to be praised!!!

Happy Friday blog world! May God bless you and keep you!

Stopped by the Pounds and Inches away store today and bought some Grissini sticks (Garlic:), some Safe Spice & Sweet Mustard dressing. Looking forward to adding those into my daily layout.

Had some romaine lettuce, grilled chicken & apples today...it was SUPER YUMMY!!!

I can hardly believe this...

1) that God has graced me to be so positive and strong for this long...I want this SO bad - to be back to where I feel comfortable in my clothes is my ultimate goal! Thank you Lord for going with me on this journey and for your love, grace and mercy.

2) that I'm down to 153...WOW - I don't know WHEN was the last time I was there!

3) to be 9.2 pounds down 9 days into this...I'm SO thankful!!!

My goal is to continue staying positive with it, wait for my next bottle to get here as I'm almost out, to continue to RELY on and TRUST in the Lord to go with me/before me and to NOT cheat...I mean it - DON'T even THINK of it!!!

Here's to another HCG/VLCDay...13 to go...I can do this!!!

I had an apple, piece of chicken, hamburger pattie, 2 melba toasts and 3 strawberries today.

Well the NO fruit worked...woo hoo - down another pound

Though I haven't been able to go to the bathroom (#2) in several days now, I didn't eat any fruit yesterday (except 1 strawberry) and was able to drop another pound...down to 154.4. I'm feeling good, have LOTS of energy and am just trusting in the Lord to get me through this without a cheat!!! It really hasn't been "hard" per say but there's NO way I'd want to be doing this without the Lord being with me.

Will continue this post later after I've eaten...and HOPEFULLY went to the bathroom - going to go read again about constipation issues in my ebook. Hope to lose another pound after I go to the bathroom...no, I'm NOT kidding!!! LOL

Here's what the book says: While a patient is under treatment we never permit the use of any kind of laxative taken by mouth. We explain that owing to the restricted diet it is perfectly satisfactory and normal to have an evacuation of the bowel only once every three to four days and that, provided plenty of fluids are taken, this never leads to any disturbance. Only in those patients who begin to fret after four days do we allow the use of a suppository. Patients who observe this rule find that after treatment they have a perfectly normal bowel action and this delights many of them almost as much as their loss of weight.

I think today is day 4 for me so I'll hold out a bit longer and see how it goes.

WOO HOO - Yippee for me...I finally went, I FINALLY went, I FINALLY WENT!!! Thank you Lord God Almighty!!! {Sorry blog readers, a girls gotta 'do' what a girls gotta 'dooo' ~ LOL

Had a piece of chicken 4 strawberries & 2 slices of cucumber for lunch/snack. For dinner I had a hamburger pattie, 2 melba toasts and a few pieces of raw spinach.

A "little" loss is STILL a loss...right!?! LOL

Not as big of a loss today as I would have liked to have seen but I'm still ok with it...I think the biggest problem is I haven't went to the bathroom, um, excuse me...potty. I mean I went potty like the number 1 kind but haven't successfully had a bm (gross - sorry!:) for a few days now. I'm sure when I do I will lose more. I tried the Smooth Move tea the other night but it hasn't kicked in yet, I will do another one tonight if nothing happens today. I weighed in at 155.4 which I still think is AWESOME and I'm beginning to notice a difference in the way my body looks and things. I think I messed up yesterday and said I only had 9 pounds to go but that was wrong...I have 10.6 pounds to go and 15 more days of HCG/VLCD's. Please Lord let the rest of this come off so I don't have to do a phase 2!!!

Wanted to see if I could lose a bit MORE tomorrow so I didn't do my fruits today and actually forgot about my vegetables. I had a chicken breast for lunch, 1 strawberry for dinner with a hamburger pattie and 2 pieces of melba toast.

No luck on going potty yet so I did another Smooth Move tea.

16 HCG days to go...Yippee!!!

"Don't start off strong and then fall back to your old ways"

I'm trusting the Lord to continue on this journey with me...praying He will get me through. It really hasn't been too bad but I don't want to let my guard down and think I can do this without Him...IMPOSSIBLE!!! But thanks be to God that with Him, ALL things are possible!!!

I'm down to 156.2lbs today...that's a total of 6 pounds so far...I'm loving it!!! With 9 lbs to go and 16 days to get there...praying for strength to endure to the end of this goal I've set!

Had a (6) strawberry & (1/2) orange smoothie for breakfast, piece of chicken for lunch, grilled hamburger with (2) melba toast & remainder of orange for snack.

WOO HOO...the numbers continue to fall!!!

I woke up to 157.4 today...I'm so excited! I pray it stays like this for a little while longer...I think when it gets to just losing ounces or staying the same weight for a few days that it will be a bit of a challenge to stay excited and motivated. Right now I'm 4.8 pounds down from my first HCG days weigh in...God is SO good. I am really leaning on HIM to get me through this and the 3 weeks after with no sweets or starches...yikes!!! Larry and I now weigh the exact same today...he's lost so much weight from his fundoplycation surgery...we almost wish he wouldn't have done it. Praying the diarrhea will stop for him.

Had a filet minon for lunch with spinach & strawberries; for dinner I had a can of chicken in water, romaine lettuce & an apple.

Let this be a blessed day unto the Lord! I love you Jesus!!!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Cor 9:24

Day 3 HCG & VLCD

I weigh 159.2 today...I'm SO excited to be heading in the right direction...praying this will keep up at this momentum and I'll not have any trouble sticking with it!!! It really hasn't been difficult but I am beginning to get some firey darts...I'm combating those with what God's word says - "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me" & "With God, ALL things are possible".

Believing God for a GREAT day...I hope you enjoy this holiday weekend with GORGEOUS weather in the midwest!!!

Had 1/2 of an orange; chicken over raw spinach with marinated strawberries and a melba toast then dinner I had filet minon (AWESOME:), lettuce and for a snack I had my other 1/2 of orange.

Let the losing begin...20 days to go!!!

I feel like I'm doing pretty good - not as much as I wanted to lose for my "FIRST" day of weight loss but a few more just like it would be AWESOME!!! I weighed in at 161.6 this morning.

I had an apple for lunch and chicken, raw spinach and a crushed melba toast for late lunch. (Had a funeral this morning for an AWESOME man named Alan Coleman who will be VERY much missed!!!)

Dinner I had my strawberries marinated in stevia, a grilled burger with a piece of melba toast...can't believe how good some of this food is tasting...this is AWESOME!!!

Pray I can make it through this weekend and stay STRONG...NO cheating!!! God is with me and I KNOW I can do it!!!

Day 1 VLCD...Come on 21 days!!!

I'm up and my scale shows the fruit of my LOADING...165lbs...yikes!!! I'm excited about the next 21 days and pray they go by with the strength of God and QUICKLY!!! My husband wrote a sweet "Good luck today" on the mirror for me and then prayed with me before he left...thank you Lord for that guy!!!

Not sure there will be much to report other than my weight and what I eat/calorie count but I'm still going to try to update daily. Praying my days don't go as my friend Amy's did over on her blog...who despite all the down and out posts still lost 16lbs! Way to go Amy!!!

I measured out handfuls of strawberries and put them in individual bowls sprinkled each bowl of them with a packet of Truvia (Aldi's stevia).

Ok - I just did one of the GROSSES things EVER...I just cut up and weighed RAW chicken...YUCK!!! Got my 21 bags of chicken ready.

@ 9:15 I had one of my marinated truvia/strawberry bowls...it was SUPER yummy!!!

I have a feeling the mornings are going to be ALOT easier than the evenings are going to be...God will get me through. God speed!

Had 2 melba toasts with a burger for lunch had steak and raw spinach for dinner...and an orange for after dinner snack...486 calories.

Day 2 FULL LOAD!!!

Ok...I'm getting sick of eating all this food...I really (IRL) am NOT a large eater...I mean when summer comes I love my ice cream and some how I've packed on a few more pounds than last year but geewiz...with all this eating, honestly, I can feel my nose growing larger under my eyeglasses! LOL

This morning I had 2 of Heathers Cookies & Cream poptarts
This afternoon we had Burger king - a bacon cheeseburger, fry & chocolate shake
Had an ENTIRE bag of Hershey Twizzler's
What's for dinner??? Chicken Kiev & some fettuccine alfredo noodles
A Hershey pie from Burger King for dessert.

AND as my Rep said...I am CONTINUING to go UP...ugh 164.4 this morning. Hopefully, tomorrow is the LAST day I'll see a HIGH number like that. 166.6 is the MOST I've EVER weighed without being pregnant...and that was just a couple of weeks ago...of course, I somehow lost 7 lbs that day/night so it must have been because of water retention.