What is Eat to Live?

I've had a lot of questions from friends about this Eat to Live diet by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I talk about it a lot, and for those tracking my weight, you know I lose .5 to as much as 2 pounds in a day when I actually follow it (which is mostly during the week).

Eat to Live is a scientifically proven lifestyle diet that reduces and eliminates disease, and restores the body's natural ability to heal itself. Based on clinical studies, this way of eating can prevent cancer and remedy most diseases including Diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. I'm not saying it will cure these, but according to clinical studies, and based on thousands of patients of Dr. Fuhrman, this way of eating has been proven to do just that. Which is why I even stumbled across it at all.

Last year was a sad year for me because I lost several friends and acquaintances to cancer, heart attacks or stroke. Mostly cancer though. It was a surreal and heartbreaking year for me, and something that I'd rather not see a repeat of. It was also a wake-up call for me. Two of the women that died of cancer were both young, beautiful and vibrant. They were both what I would consider healthy, and losing them was a shock to me.

Anyway, this was what made Eat to Live appeal to me. I wanted a lifestyle that would see my body healthy for a long and active life, and according to what I read in the book, this was it. All based on clinical scientific data.

Okay, with that said, the diet is so simple. People who follow it are called Nutritarians. Not vegetarians or whatever, but actually Nutritarians. A Nutritarian is someone who eats a nutritionally dense diet, which is what Eat to Live is.

You should read the book, Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman for yourself. You can start at his website, or pick the book up on Amazon. It's a little technical, but it's worth the read. He covers every fad diet there is and the facts and science that relates to them. It's not just a weight loss diet, it's a lifestyle that prevents and eliminates disease of the body. But you can lose a LOT of weight on it quickly, too.

Breakfasts:
On a typical day, I eat fruit for breakfast (like a fruit bowl from Publix) or I make my own with bananas, watermelon, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, oranges, tangerines, mangoes, pineapple, apples, etc. Any fruit I want in my fruit salad really. There are no restrictions. Just the recommended minimum of 4 fruit servings a day.


Most days I have a green smoothie, though. It holds me through to lunch better than just the fruit by itself. Don't knock it until you've tried it. Trust me. I will take some frozen banana, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries, and a big ol' heaping mound of fresh baby spinach (yep) and blend them all together. You can not taste the spinach and the smoothie is delicious. Sometimes I make it with frozen peaches, mangoes, pineapple and banana (always with the spinach though!)


Lunch:
For lunch I make a BIG salad. Seriously. Not some mealy little wimpy side salad, but a BIG-ASS salad. The salad is the main course of the meal for me and it varies from day to day, depending on my mood.


It might be romaine lettuce with tomatoes, red onions, banana peppers, roasted red peppers, sprouts, sunflower seeds, avocado or a bit of low fat feta cheese (though Dr. Fuhrman does NOT recommend cheese whatsoever) . I put a capful of balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar depending on the flavor I want.


Or I might feel like something more summery and have a salad with mixed greens, cucumbers, strawberries, cranberries, apple slices or mandarin orange bits and crushed walnuts with a capful of balsamic vinegar.

Or I might have a more traditional salad.


Regardless, I always have a ginormous salad and I eat it first because it is the main course of the meal, and it is usually quite filling.

I also have black beans. I love them and there are plenty of vitally healthful reasons to eat them! I make them with chopped white onions, dices tomatoes, cilantro, garlic and cumin. Most days I do not eat them with brown rice, but some days I do. I eat at least a cup of beans each day.

Dinner:
I have a similar salad for dinner as well. I might have a Caesar instead, without croutons though.

Or I might have some cooked veggies and grilled tilapia or chicken.

I will have chicken or fish a couple times a week, but that's about all. I will eat red meat on the rare occasion only (as in once every couple months maybe).

Dessert:
If I'm really craving sweets, I'll have some fresh fruit that is in season, like strawberries or cherries, or I will make a smoothie with frozen mango and frozen peaches and banana (OMG, YUM!!!). That smoothie has the texture of ice cream sorbet and is scrumptious.

Lastly, I will have a small handful of raw sprouted almonds as well. I don't feel deprived at all.

I buy nearly everything organic when possible, especially spinach, strawberries, blueberries. My chicken is free range, anti-biotic and hormone free, and when feasible, organic.

My only weakness is eating out with my hubby on date nights or double dates with friends, but that's getting better the longer I eat this way, I make healthier choices when we eat out.

But that's an example of a day for me following Eat to Live. I lose weight and I very much enjoy it. There are weird random benefits that come with eating this way, too. Besides the easy weight loss, I mean. Like the fact that you will have healthy bowl movements at least twice a day (I do anyway), or the fact that your sh*t won't stink (seriously). Because of all the healthy raw fruits and veggies, the need for water seems greatly diminished, yet I'll go pee like I'm drinking lots of water. I sleep better than when I used to eat whatever as well.

Anyway, I do recommend it.

HCG Diet Done! Pass the butter please...

So, I finished off round one of the HCG Diet the weekend of May 2nd. I remember the date without checking a calendar for two reasons:

1) It was the 21st anniversary of the date my husband and I were married (not our wedding date, but the date we eloped at the County Courthouse).

2) We were in Daytona at the International Speedway for an endurance race that my husband was in.

I remembered both these points because all that cause for celebration really screwed up the end of my mostly perfect diet. Here's how it all played out:

I finished that Thursday at 205 pounds (yay! That's a 15 pound loss in 27 days). Anyway, you're supposed to continue to eat the 500 calorie diet for 3 days after your last dose of HCG. Yeah, well, that did not happen. Instead we ate out and drank some alcohol (wine one night, margaritas another night - to go with the Mexican food, of course!) Oh! And did I mention Cracker Barrel?

By Monday when I stepped on the scale I was 212 (holy sh*t!!). No big deal though (cross my fingers), I went right back to Eat to Live style eating and by Friday I was down to 208. Not so bad, I guess.

So I misbehaved over the weekend again, and by Monday I was up to 210. Damn. Fine. I went back to eating right and following Eat to Live, so by Friday, I was down to 207. YES!! (You're supposed to stay within two pounds of your last dose weight which was 205).

To celebrate, we splurged over the weekend and by Monday I was up to 209. Oops. I really seem to have a hard time with weekends. Back to eating right throughout the week, and by Friday I'm back to 205 again. Whew! That was close! Time to celebrate yet another victory!

By Monday, I'm back up to 208. Well, at least I'm not off the rails on the weekends anymore, just eating out some. And I have been going out of town most weekends for one reason or another and I find Cracker Barrel pancakes really hard to resist. Let's see, how else can I justify this behavior?? I can't really, so back to eating right for a week and by Friday I'm at 204.6 - Booyah!

Time to really celebrate...

Welcome to my "stabilization and maintenance" phase of the HCG Diet.

The truth is, I'm fine with it. I love eating the Eat to Live way throughout the week. It's easy, tastes yummy and feels right. I will usually drop anywhere from half a pound to a full pound in a day, and I don't even have to worry that it won't happen. You can see from the pattern above that each weekend I gained, but I progressively gained less each weekend, and throughout the week, I'd lost what I gained, and another pound or so, leaving me weighing less than when I started the Monday before. If I only weighed myself once a week on Fridays, I'd say losing a pound a week or so is reasonable, especially because I DO NOT feel deprived, especially on the weekends.

But seriously, even last weekend when we went Miami-Homestead Speedway for another endurance race, we ate out (at Cracker Barrel on the road) and even at the concession stands for lunch one day. I crave better foods, so I didn't ever bother with desserts and I ate reasonable portions without the compulsion to finish all my food and by Monday I was at 208. It's Wednesday and I'm already back down to 205. The point is that my taste in foods has changed and I'm not even remotely worried about gaining after I lose all the weight.

Why not just follow Eat to Live if I lose so much weight on it instead of bothering with HCG? That's a great question. The answer is twofold. First, the HCG diet burns up abnormal fat, starting with the visceral fat (the fat that is dangerous and accumulates around the belly). Second, the HCG Diet is not so forgiving for weekend binging and I have not had the discipline to follow Eat to Live seven days a week, so I want that extra accountability. I actually have an app on my iPhone called iFitness which graphs my weight as I put it in each day. You can see during HCG it's a steady and steep graph with only one minor rise through the course of the diet, but since I ended HCG, it's erratic, but in the end, the same range. Plus Eat to Live is easy after HCG as a general way of eating and I'm looking to creating a lifestyle I can live with.

This weekend I start round 2 of HCG, so I'll be loading over the weekend. Then I will do my 40+ day round. I'm getting there!

Look How Skinny I Am. Not.

Okay, so the title may seem a little misleading, but it's not. Just follow me on this one, okay?

So, on Mother's Day I'm with the whole family (the moms, my kids, my grandkids, everyone) and with everyone there and all dressed up, we start taking pictures. You know, pictures of each of the moms with their kids to commemorate the day. Soooooo, of course my mother-in-law takes a picture of me with my mom. I look it over, and my first thought? "Oh-my-god! I look so fat!!" and I proceed immediately to delete it. Then I sigh with relief. Boy, that was close. God forbid should anyone see me looking fat, right? Because that is so not how I really look.

Now here's the problem with that: generally speaking, I'm a good looking woman. I am aware of this and have never had a problem with my self image as far as that goes. However, I have greatly tended to have my own image of what I think I look like to others. In fact there have been many times when I have gotten myself all dressed up (or made up), and I'm pretty sure that I look fabulous based on my waist-up reflection in the mirror. Then, quite unexpectedly someone takes a picture of me and shows it to me, or I find myself looking at a full-length reflection, and I get taken aback by the image I see. Because in that moment I see that I have over 80 pounds to lose, and to me it's as obvious as it must be to others. And for that instant I feel my confidence waver and I doubt myself. So I quickly delete the picture and put on my friendliest smile as I say to the offending would-be photographer, "That was a bad angle." Nervous laugh, then: "Here, take it again, but this time from above and slightly back...Oh! And try to just get me from the waist up, okay?" Big smile. "Thanks so much."

So now I search through my massive photo library for pictures to accurately chronicle my journey of redefining my body, I find that I've pretty much been mildly overweight for years. Certainly nowhere near 80 pounds! Except that it's not true. I'm quite the master at taking great pictures that accentuate the best of me and hide the worst of me. After all, I've been close to this size for more than a decade, so I've had plenty of practice. As an artist I understand how to use angles and shadows to my advantage, so I know to take the pictures or videos from slightly above, so it creates the illusion of a thinner face. It helps that I'm one of those people that is "morbidly obese" in a balanced way.

Here's an example.
This is the picture I've been using for my profile. My husband took it from above while we were just hanging out on our bed right after we'd moved into our home and set up the bed. The camera was to the side and he grabbed it and clicked away. We looked at the pictures and were thrilled to see that the angles were just right to make us both look young, tan and healthy. Perfect.

Well, we were under 40, and tan, but I was actually the same as I weigh now (about 210 and only 5.4"). But you can't really tell by the picture (which is the point I'm trying to make).

All I'm saying is that I have deleted nearly every unflattering, "fat" picture of me because I chose to deny that the picture was an accurate rendering of what I looked like thereby making it nearly impossible for me to properly chronicle my journey visually. But I've come to realize that contrary to popular belief: deleting fat pictures, or avoiding full length mirrors does not actually make one skinny. Damn. And it had all seemed so easy before.

Well, I am trying to restrain myself from deleting these pictures in the future. It takes a bit of getting used to because decades of ninja-like deleting skills have to be neglected, and no one likes to look less than their best, if possible. But I did take some good before pictures this time. So I will have some pictures.

In the meantime, you'll have to settle for how skinny I look in my pictures and videos now, and just imagine that I'm shrinking even more on my diet journey ;-)

HCG Diet - Final week Round 1

You can watch my v-log or read below (or you can do both!) There are a couple before/after pics on the v-log though!



Okay, so this has been a rough round for me. I ain't gonna lie. I started out at 220, and as of today am 205. I know. Fifteen pounds is nothing to sneeze at. It's just that the average weight loss in a round is more like 20-26, with most of my friends closer to the 26 mark. That would have been way more up my alley.

Here's what happened this week:
I took "progress" pictures Monday morning. Then went to the clinic and got measured (see previous post here for how that went) and came home and then kinda stalled out.

I actually gained half a pound on Tuesday, dropped back to where I was before on Wednesday and decided right then and there to take an apple day (where you eat nothing but 6 apples for the day to break the plateau). So I woke up this morning all ready to see a couple pounds released to get me back on track and motivated. I prepared myself for the worst and figured I could live with a pound loss. As it turned out, I lost only .4 after a day of nothing but apples (which brings me to my present weight of 205). I'll be honest, I tried hard to stay positive. I did. Really. But then I tried on my size 14 jeans and when they wouldn't go past my thighs, I let out a roar that was primal enough to startle both me and my dog. Grrrrrrr! Yeah, THAT was not a good idea. At all. Then there were the tears and the few moments of feeling sorry for myself.

My husband was downstairs and I texted him the following:

205 :-/
I'm cheating on Friday or Sat night, just so you know. I'm done with this. I'll ride it out, but I don't believe the injections were ever right for me.

You never heard feet coming up the stairs so fast! He was upstairs in less than a minute with his phone in hand and a look of concern on his face. That made me smile for a second. He was very understanding and said all the right things and was hugely supportive (which was good because I was really in no mood).

So I called the clinic and spoke to Tamora (an awesome lady) and explained that I was hungry the whole time and that I'd lost only 3 pounds in 9 days, and that it did not seem right and I just felt like my body was holding onto the fat, like it would if it was starving. I told her I had not cheated at all, and that I felt cheated as a result (at least let me indulge and not lose weight!!) and that I did my last injection this morning and was done with this round. She listened patiently and was very cool and understanding. She asked me to wait while she pulled my chart because she wanted to look at my bloodwork because it didn't sound right and she agreed that the weight loss should have been more. I waited while she got it, and when she came back to the phone, she asked about my thyroid being circled and the note from the nurse beside it. That's when I had one of those moments (oh damn, damn, damn!!!).

See, on my second visit, the nurse went over all my bloodwork, etc. with me. My thyroid wasn't bad, but it needed a little support or she was worried that I'd not lose adequately. So she checked out what my body needed and found that I needed a thyroid supporting supplement called Thytrophin PMG by Standard Process (not a drug, but a natural product that is available by prescription through alternative health care practitioners). This clinic is a medical clinic that also offers full alternative care. Anyway, THAT was two weeks ago that I was supposed to get it and take it. The problem was that I thought I'd had some at home, so I declined buying it (even though it was only $12). However, when I got home I found that I didn't have it after all. I was supposed to run by and pick some up from the clinic, but I completely forgot about it. Well, that was two weeks ago and probably explains why I've lost so miserably. My bad.

Anyway, I picked some up today and started on it, but this was my last injection this round. I'm done with it. I will do it again in six weeks, but the sublingual instead. In the meantime, I will follow Eat to Live.



I did cheat today, though. I had a big salad with tomatoes, onions, roasted red peppers, purple cabbage, banana peppers, a squeeze of lemon and a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. It was divine and I felt better for it. I haven't been craving the bad stuff, just more of the good stuff, preferably mixed together!

So, there ya go. This weekend is my 21st anniversary and my husband has a race so we're heading out of town. I am packing all kinds of good foods to get me through the weekend. I'll keep ya posted on how that goes.

HCG Diet - 3 Week Results (500 Calorie Day #18)

To read my overview of the HCG Diet, Click Here.

SO first thing this morning, I decided to take progress pictures (I know, brave of me, right?!). Well, turns out this was a very good idea! My body is actually changing and it was noticeable in the pictures! That was exciting for me!!

Then I went to the clinic and got measured and whatnot. Here's what we got:

Where: Wk1 / Wk2 / Wk3 / Total:
L. Arm 14.5 / 14.5 / 12.75 / 1.75
R. Arm 15.5 /15.25 / 13.75 / 1.75
L. Thigh 30 /29.5 /27.5 / 2.5
Chest 46.5 /45.25 / 44 / 2.5 (likely back fat)
Stomach/Waist 40 / 39.5 /38 / 2 (woohoo!)
Hips 50 / 49 /46.75 /3.25 (Booya!!)
-------------
Total inch loss since start: 13.75 (YES!!!)

My total weight loss is 14.2 pounds!

SO that was VERY encouraging!! AND, they upped my HCG dose to help with the hunger, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

I have one week left of the injections (Sunday, May 2nd is my last day), then three more 500 calorie days. We're heading out to Daytona this weekend for a race that my husband is in. It's also our 21st anniversary on the 2nd. I'm bringing a cooler and prepping my meals beforehand. I am totally committed to finishing this thing with no guilt! AND I'm excited to see what my total loss will be and still have my heart set on hitting 195 by the end of this round. We'll see! As long as I come in under 200 pounds at the end, I will be thrilled. It's been a long time since I've seen those numbers!

HCG Diet - 2nd Week and That Time of the Month

During the second week on the HCG Diet, I stalled for a couple days, losing very little. I knew it was near that time of the month (aka TOM), so I didn't sweat it. Then I lost 1.5 pounds and TOM arrived. NOT what I expected at all.

Now, part of the strict Dr. Simeons protocol is that during TOM, you stop taking HCG completely, and you're supposed to maintain the 500 calorie diet protocol and not be hungry! I was skeptical, but stayed true to the diet fully expecting to be hungry, however, I found that I was not really hungry and my mood was pretty good. And - BONUS - I lost a pound a day for three days :-) Hell, even if I had been hungry, I would have dealt with it for that kind of weight loss!

I should mention that I was particularly bitchy just before TOM arrived. This was also unexpected as I have been pretty mellow for the past several years.

Here's my v-log, if you're interested. It covers this and a bit:



So all in all, my cycle went along smoothly. I didn't cheat and all seemed well. See my next video below detailing up to day 3 and check out the difference in my mood:



Okay, so just when it all seemed fine and wonderful, day 4 arrived and I was starving!!!! So back on the HCG I went and promptly stopped losing weight :-( I remained at 208 for three consecutive days and then on the 4th day, dropped to 207.8 and had a melt-down. Yeah. I did. Really. BUT, I didn't cheat, or quit! Instead I called the clinic that I'm doing this through and asked for help. I spoke with a nurse who was very cool and she explained that this was not unusual and that it was okay and that I would release more weight if I just trusted the program and stayed the course. Of course she said lots of other encouraging things, but that was what I mostly heard. It worked. I pulled up my boot straps and stayed the course. So as of today, I'm 206.4. So I've lost a little and am moving again.

Here's my last v-log on all that with a little detail on getting through the last weekend:



The bitch of it was that before TOM arrived, I was just getting into the groove, and it was fine without the HCG, but when I went back on it, it was like all hell broke loose. I was emotional (bitchy), hungy and tired again. But as of today, I'm back in the groove again, so all is good. Tomorrow is my clinic visit and measurements, etc. So, we'll see how that goes!

HCG Diet - 1 Week Results

If you want an overview of the HCG Diet, Click Here.

Okay, so I started the diet last Tuesday, but the first two days were Load Days, so they don't really count as "diet days". I did go to the clinic for my weight and measurements (and to sort out some questions and concerns) on Monday, which works out to the 5th morning of the actual very low calorie diet (VLCD as known in the small, but formidable HCGers world).

First of all, my load days. Well, I could have done better, but I didn't plan it as well the first day. I would highly recommend planning out your load days to get maximum fat AND enjoyment out of it. That includes planning where to eat, if you are eating out. The second day was great! I should mention that my husband started the HCG diet with me. He's only got a little bit to lose (love handles and whatnot), but he jumped in nonetheless.

Anyway, we went to a little breakfast place and had a bacon, egg and cheese croissant with a latte made with half and half instead of milk. We had Thai food, including deep fried curry puffs, pad thai, coconut soup and followed with Thai donuts (deep fried fingers of dough dipped in condensed milk topped with peanuts). We also had Italian. Fettuccine Alfredo with extra Alfredo sauce, cheese cake with whipped cream, and of course we had some bread rolls dipped in oil.

I learned to do the injections and gave them to myself each day. After two days of that kind of eating and the HCG injections, I gained a whopping .4 pounds. That's right, point-four pounds. Not even half a pound. I was stunned. Though I've seen a number of people mention that they lost weight even. Crazy.

So Day 1 of the VLCD was a little rough. I was hungry and I had a headache most of the afternoon and evening. Greaaaaaat. Though I've heard that this can happen. It wasn't awful. It was just...ugh.

The next day made it all worthwhile as I had lost 4.4 pounds. Bam! I didn't mind being hungry after that.

Each day I lost a little more, but I still felt a little hungry. I have talked to LOTS of friends who are on this diet as well, and I believe that the fact that I'm still a little hungry is unusual. Maybe I didn't load properly? Possibly I should have loaded for a week. Dr. Simeons talks about that because I generally eat pretty healthy. Or it could have to do with the fact that I started this program a week before my cycle. Dr. Simeons states that the BEST time to do this diet is to start the day after you're done. So that could be it. Oh well. Still, I did well:



Weight Lost: 7.8 Pounds
Inches Lost: 3.5" (measured chest, waist, hips, L-thigh, R-arm) Not bad. I lost an inch on my waist and my pants are most definitely looser!

My husband lost 8 pounds this week and he's been cheating, so the sublingual drops obviously work! He's not hungry either. Lucky bugger!

What is the HCG Diet?

This post is for my friends who have asked for information about the HCG Diet. I am not a medical expert, nor a doctor. I am a simply girl who was looking for a permanent solution to obesity, and wanted to share what I've found. That's all. Any information I share will be based on direct observation and based on the book, Pounds & Inches, A New Approach to Obesity by A.T.W. Simeons, M.D.

First of all, after reading this post, to understand this diet and the principles behind it, I absolutely recommend reading Pounds & Inches. Download it here, or it is available for free all over the Internet and is about 35 pages. But, seriously, if you are thinking of doing this diet, read the book first. Do your homework and get the facts, then decide for yourself.

What is HCG?
HCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin. HCG is a hormone which is exclusively produced in the placenta, from where it enters the mother's bloodstream.

Chorionic means of the chorion, which is part of the placenta.
Gonadotrophin is related to sex. However, HCG is not a sex hormone and according to Dr. Simeons, is safe for both men and women.

According to Pounds & Inches, HCG can eliminate abnormal fat when used with a very specific protocol (detailed below is the 500 calorie diet). Though the diet is very low calorie, because of the HCG breaking down the abnormal fat, you burn between 1500-4000 calories a day, so you're not really hungry.

HCG Diet - More or less in simple terms

According to Dr. Simeons, there are three kinds of fat:
The first is structural fat which provides padding for our organs, keeping our skin smooth and taut, and provides a buffer for our bones (like on the bottom of our feet) so that when we walk, it is cushioned.

The second is normal reserve fat, which provides fuel that the body can draw when the nutrition from the normal digestive system is insufficient to meet the demand.

The third sucks. It's that abnormal fat that gets stored away for some far away, imagined "emergency" that it never quite gets to. This fat is locked away, but usually quite evident.

Here's what Dr. Simeons says about how the body addresses these fats:
"When an obese patient tries to reduce by starving himself, he will first lose his normal fat reserves. When these are exhausted he begins to burn up structural fat, and only as a last resort will the body yield its abnormal reserves, though by that time the patient usually feels so weak and hungry that the diet is abandoned. It is just for this reason that obese patients complain that when they diet they lose the wrong fat. They feel famished and tired and their face becomes drawn and haggard, but their belly, hips, thighs and upper arms show little improvement. The fat they have come to detest stays on and the fat they need to cover their bones gets less and less. Their skin wrinkles and they look old and miserable. And that is one of the most frustrating and depressing experiences a human being can have."

If you've dieted at all like I have, the above statement is pretty real. This is the primary reason I chose to do the HCG Diet Protocol personally. To think that this diet actually addresses that hard to lose fat?? for good?? Sign me up!

Okay, so that's an overview of what HCG is and what it's doing in this protocol. Now, a quick orientation, because there is a lot of information on line, and some of it does not match up.

Spreading the HCG Word:
More than 60 years ago Dr. Simeons developed a specific protocol for handling obesity. His manuscript is the result of more than 40 years of hands on clinical research, and it was published sometime in the early 1950's. So his protocol has stood the test of time.

Now, a little while back Kevin Trudeau wrote a book and featured this diet with some additions and modifications. This popularized it in a new unit of time for a whole new generation. I'll be honest, I have not read it and I'm not that familiar with it.

I am personally doing the strictly Dr. Simeons, Pounds & Inches HCG Diet protocol. The decision to follow it to the tee is based on the fact that Dr. Simeons is very specific on why the protocol is to be followed precisely, and he claims that when followed, it can eliminate obesity. There are more technical aspects to this, so I refer you again to the book, Pound & Inches. So that is why I have chosen to do his protocol.

HCG Protocol (abridged version):

HCG Injections (read the whole post before panicking please, they really do NOT hurt.)

For less than 15 pounds: 26 Days. 23 Days of injections, plus 3 days of low calorie diet.
More than 15 pounds: 43 Days. 40 Days of injections, plus 3 additional days of low calorie.

Here's how that works out:

Day 1 & 2: HCG Injections (not so fun). Load days (fun). Aka gorge days. Yep, just like it sounds. Eat lots of fattening foods for two days. These days are with injections and allows the HCG to get into the bloodstream while adding some volume of "normal reserve fat" (which will be burned your first days on the very low calorie portion of the diet).

Okay, the load days are a big deal. In fact, here's what Dr. Simeons says:
"It is usually at this point that a difference appears between those patients who have literally eaten to capacity during the first two days of treatment and those who have not. The former feel remarkably well; they have no hunger, nor do they feel tempted when others eat normally at the same table. They feel lighter, more clearheaded and notice a desire to move quite contrary to their previous lethargy. Those who have disregarded the advice to eat to capacity continue to have minor discomforts and do not have the same euphoric sense of well being until about a week later. It seems that their normal fat reserves require that much more time before they are fully stocked."

Days 3-23: Injections plus 500 calorie Diet as prescribed by Dr. Simeons:

The 500 Calorie Diet
"The 500 calorie diet is explained on the day of the second injection to those patients who will be preparing their own food, and it is most important that the person who will actually cook is present - the wife, the mother or the cook, as the case may be. Here in Italy patients are given the following diet sheet.

• Breakfast: Tea or coffee in any quantity without sugar. Only one tablespoonful of milk allowed in 24 hours. Saccharin or Stevia may be used.
  

• Lunch:
  1. 100 grams of veal, beef, chicken breast, fresh whitefish, lobster, crab, or shrimp. All visible fat must be carefully removed before cooking, and the meat must be weighed raw. It must be boiled or grilled without additional fat. Salmon, eel, tuna, herring, dried or pickled fish are not allowed. The chicken breast must be removed from the bird.
  2. One type of vegetable only to be chosen from the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet-greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, cabbage.
  3. One breadstick (grissino) or one Melba toast.
  4. An apple or a handful of strawberries, an orange, or one-half grapefruit.
• Dinner: The same four choices as lunch.
  

The juice of one lemon daily is allowed for all purposes. Salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard powder, garlic, sweet basil, parsley, thyme, marjoram, etc., may be used for seasoning, but no oil, butter or dressing.

Tea, coffee, plain water, or mineral water are the only drinks allowed, but they may be taken in any quantity and at all times. In fact, the patient should drink about 2 liters of these fluids per day. Many patients are afraid to drink so much because they fear that this may make them retain more water. This is a wrong notion as the body is more inclined to store water when the intake falls below its normal requirements.

The fruit or the breadstick may be eaten between meals instead of with lunch or dinner, but not more than than four items listed for lunch and dinner may be eaten at one meal.

No medicines or cosmetics other than lipstick, eyebrow pencil and powder may he used without special permission.

Days 24-26: No injection, but continue 500 Calorie Diet. (To allow the HCG to fully leave the bloodstream before increasing calories. This is explained in the book)

Day 27 and next three weeks: No sugar or starches.

After the Diet - Go ahead, eat whatever you want...or not.
According to Dr. Simeons, once you have completed the full protocol, you can resume eating whatever you want and you should not regain the weight. HOWEVER, I would like to put in my own thoughts on this: When Dr. Simeons wrote and prescribed Pounds & Inches, it was the late 40's, early 50's. Most meals were still eaten in the home and were comprised of lots of fresh foods. He DID NOT have BK, or Micky Ds, or (shudder) some other fast food, low nutrient, high calorie, sorry-ass excuse for a meal readily available! He did not expect that we would live in a culture of delivery pizzas, donut shops, and high calorie/sugary coffee drink stands on every corner. In fact, I'm sure he would have had a whole other section on that if he thought it was an issue.

I say this emphatically because in perusing the net for info on the HCG diet, I have found people complaining that they can't eat the way they used to (tons of junk food) without the pounds creeping back. Really???!!!

So, after this diet, the reality is that each of us will have to take responsibility for long-term health and NOURISHING the body. The weight will stay off if that happens. I'm personally going back to Eat to Live and have no doubts that this is the last time I will have to worry about my weight.

Okay, so what if you have to do another round because you didn't lose all the weight?

After the three weeks of no sugar and no starches, you would have to wait another three weeks before doing a 2nd round. Then you would do the same as outlined above.

If a third round is required, then it would be an eight week break before the third round.

This is explained in detail in the book. I hope this explained a lot. If you're still interested, then read the book. Please ;-)

By the way, if you don't want to do the injections, there are also sublingual (under the tongue) drops. My husband is doing that version because he's afraid of needles. Seems to be just as effective.

New Year - New Diet

So, if you've been following my blog, you know that I've been following Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Furhman (mostly anyway). This is still the most satisfying way I have ever found to eat. I tend to follow it strictly during the week, then we would eat out and I would stray a little. The advantage was that in a year, I managed to maintain my weight steadily. Even if I gained a couple pounds on a weekend with a couple different meal-related events, I would take it back off by Wednesday. This is important for me because it means that if I could get down to an ideal body weight, then I could stably maintain quite easily on Eat to Live. I know this without question.

So here's what happened in my diet world: I decided that I was going to go for broke and follow strictly Dr. Furhman's 6 week plan, and then stay on the diet strictly until I am closer to my ideal weight. Good plan. However, due to a number of events, I got distracted and chose a different course for the rapid weight loss and ideal weight goal attainment. I DO PLAN TO FOLLOW EAT TO LIVE FOR LIFE THOUGH.

I will explain:
So, I'm on Facebook and I see a friend of mine posting various weight loss status updates and he's doing some diet called HCG. I don't pay it any attention as I have no need for fad or dangerous diets at my age, thank you. He loses 27 pounds in 23 days. Not bad, but I'm still unimpressed.

Then, I'm walking downtown and I pass a girl friend I haven't seen for a while and she looks amazing. She's slim and tight looking and if I didn't know better, I'd say she has a personal trainer and been on a strict diet. Lastly, she looks healthy! I'm intrigued and I stop her and ask her what she's been doing. She smiles and says, "HCG. I've lost 50 pounds and I feel awesome." Sadly I have to be somewhere in 2 minutes, so I can't really talk, but I am dumbfounded. I've seen a lot of diets and often I've seen people lose a lot of weight, but they look emaciated and unhealthy. I want to be thinner, but I still want to look good!

I can't stop thinking about my friend all through my daily activities, so I call her as soon as I can, which is around 6:00ish. I grill her about exercise, and she says she's done none. I grill her on the diet and she says it's the easiest diet she's ever done. She started the diet at the end of August last year and lost 35 pounds her first round, and another 15 the second round. Wow.

The moment I get home, I Google "Pounds and Inches book" and find a manuscript that looks unadulterated and I read it that night. I'm completely intrigued and I decide that this is absolutely the diet I need to cure my obesity once and for all.

So begins the beginning of my journey on the last diet I will ever do.

Learning along the way.

So, I learned a valuable lesson over the weekend with regards to my diet and overall health. Last diet post I mentioned that I was down by 10 pounds and going strong. Well, I had a hiccup over the weekend, but I learned a valuable lesson, so it wasn't a total loss.

I should back up to Friday to create the whole picture. So, we waited way too long to eat on Friday, and to make matters worse, we needed to go grocery shopping BAD, which leads to the remaining "hiccup" over the weekend. Grant wanted Mexican and I have to say that I do have a soft spot for decent Mexican food. We went out to dinner relatively late and starving (which is never a good idea) and we kicked off dinner with a margarita (not really allowed on the diet, but it was one of those weeks). I ordered all vegetarian-type food, but there was nothing but a little lettuce as garnish and some guacamole, so it was definitely nutrient deficient.

For the first time in 10 days, I slept badly. I woke up at 4:00am aching and miserable. I took some calcium-magnesium and went back to bed. Unfortunately, Saturday was even worse. We woke up at 7:30am to do our neighborhood spring street clean-up. We grabbed an apple each and headed out. It was hot and humid and we were out there for nearly 3 hours (since only 6 other residents came out to help, argh). Anyway, after the street clean up, I came home and showered and then had to go out to meet my daughter at 11:15am. We were out of fruit and quick veggies were also depleted. So I dashed out to meet my daughter and had not eaten anything since that last scraggily-ass apple at 7:30am. This was bad. I had the shakes, but figured I was having lunch with my mom at 12:30pm - I could last.

I met my daughter at the salon and at about 12:15, my mom called to cancel our lunch date. Damn. That meant I either had to eat alone, or go home and find something to eat. I went home. Besides, my house was mid a few construction/repair/improvements in anticipation of my anniversary event, and I needed to be there to guide it anyway.

I threw some random foods together, but nothing like my big, yummy salads or anything even close to that nutrient density. After that, it was project after project and before I knew it, it was after 8:00pm and I was starving again. We grabbed our 13 year old son and headed to a local Indian Restaurant. We finally ate at 9:00 or so, and by then I had eaten nan, samousas and papadon, so I had officially gone off the deep end. I followed it with vegetable curry and a little butter chicken I stole from my son. It was divine. Unfortunately, I had another sleepless night.

Leasson learned: make sure I always have LOTS of food available and DO NOT allow my kitchen to run dry before shopping. It's so easy to stick to the diet when I have the food there.

By Monday, I had gained back 1.5 pounds. Crap!

Day 10 - Lost 10 Pounds

Okay, I have to say that this is the easiest diet I have ever done! I don't feel deprived. I don't feel hungry. I don't feel like I'm having a melt down. In fact, I don't feel like I'm on a diet at all! Of course waking up and finding myself a pound or so lighter is a bonus, too!

One of the things that Dr. Furhman mentioned in his book (Eat to Live) is that my taste buds would change and that my cravings for crap food would dissipate (he didn't actually call it crap food, but it was implied). I'm happy to report that he was correct on both counts. It's like my taste buds have been asleep for the past 38 years and now they have come alive. I love the many varied flavor combinations that are available in salads alone and I never imagined that making a salad the main dish of my meal would be such a delight. As far as cravings go, they are virtually non-existent. In fact, it seems my taste for meat is greatly diminishing altogether.

Anyway, I'm loving it so far. There are a couple additional bonuses I have to report as well. First, I have a condition that is called a "geographic tongue", which is more descriptive than technical. For years my tongue has had cracks and indents and markings that hurt, they actually look like a geographic or map on my tongue (I know, gross. sorry). This is supposed to be an indicator that I need B1, but you should know that I have taken every kind of B1 and B Complex supplement over the years (along with dozens of others). I've gotten it to be mild, but never entirely gone. When I started this diet, I decided to stop taking supplements just to see if my body could heal based on nutrition alone. As of today, my tongue is almost clear and it doesn't hurt. This is the best it's been in years.

Lastly, I am sleeping better because my dreams now are fairly calm (I always dream), which is a big deal because I went for months and months having bad dreams. They aren't really nightmares, but more like really stressful dreams that go on the whole night. For example, I dreamed that Grant and I were at a restaurant with a City Official (apparently we took him to dinner), but the waitress took forever to come. The whole time I was worried that he was annoyed. Eventually she came over, but she was slow and seemed like she didn't understand what we were trying to order. Then I waited the whole night and she never brought our food. Other people came and went and they ate, but we never did. I ended up being irritated the whole night! Another night I dreamed that my granddaughter and I were walking along a very narrow wall with a 100 foot drop on either side and she refused to hold my hand. That dream went on the whole night! Nothing happened to her, but the stress and fear for her safety felt just like it would in the real world. I would wake up after these dreams exhausted and feeling like I hadn't slept. This past week my dreams have been much calmer. They're still weird, but not upsetting or stressful in any way.

Anyway, this is a longer post than I meant to write originally, but I had to share all of it!

Day 8 – Eat to Live

Well, it's been a week since I started this new way of eating and I'm pretty impressed.

I weighed myself this morning and, drum roll please....I weigh 215.6!! That's a whopping 8.2 pounds!! And Grant lost almost 11 pounds!! It's funny because we weighed ourselves this morning and we were both surprised, but even he said that it doesn't really feel like dieting. That he can't believe how easy it has been.

Yes, this is easier than we thought, but not without some work and rework. I went back to the diet chapter in the book more than once and fine-tuned the points that we were violating. I also cheated a little on the weekend. Not a lot, but a little, so I imagine I could have lost more if I'd been more disciplined. When I say I cheated, I mean I had a couple of pot stickers, a couple bites of chicken creamy crepes and a bite of cheese cake. But I still ate what I was supposed to eat. I also discovered some awesome food and flavor combinations that I LOVE. I will probably share those here too.

So the weight loss was good, but there have been a couple additional benefits I didn't expect. For example, the first few days I have to say that waking up was rough. I was tired and did not feel rested despite 8 or even 9 hours of sleep. Then on day 4 or 5 it changed, drastically. I woke up one morning and noticed that Grant was up and about. I could hear the click click of his keyboard from the office down the hall. The sun was up, but my alarm had not gone off. I had set my alarm for 7:50. I figured it was 7:30 or so and I attempted to go back to sleep, but it was futile as I was wide awake. After about 30 minutes of looking out the window, opening and closing my eyes, I finally looked at my iPhone to see if my alarm was getting ready to sound. However, I was shocked to see that it was only 7:20 which meant I had been up since 6:50 or so. How cool is that???

The same thing happened the next day too. The only day it didn't happen was Sunday (mother's day), and I figure that was because the alleged cheating on my diet took place the night before, along with a glass of white wine.

So the weight is coming off. I feel great. I love eating this way and can honestly see myself doing this for the rest of my life. In the meantime, I've started reading The China Study and all I can say is wow. It's not another diet, it's just more science behind this diet.

Day 3 – Eat to Live

Okay, so I lost another 1.5 pounds. That's 4 pounds in two days. Not bad at all, AND I don't feel like I'm really dieting.

I did learn a valuable lesson today though, which is to prepare for meals and ensure that I have snacks on me. I went to the office today "just to handle something quick", and I ended up there the whole day. I didn't eat until nearly 2:00pm and I got a headache. Annoying. It could have been avoided easily. The headache persisted all day until I went to bed. Argh.

Note to self: ALWAYS take some fruit, nuts or baggies of veggies to munch on.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Day 2 – Eat to Live

I weighed myself first thing and found that I'd lost 2.5 pounds right off. Probably water weight, but it's a start! I woke up feeling really tired and wanted to go back to sleep. I don't know if it's because my body is adjusting to the diet or if it's because I need more sleep. I have to say that it's very convenient to have fruit for breakfast though! I made a big fruit salad and I must say, it is so delightful to indulge in fruit!

We had lunch out and I had a seared tuna on a salad. Tasty, but quite filling.

In the middle of all this I made my husband get some moles checked out and while we were there, the Dr. decided to remove 3 of them and have them checked out. I was there when they did it and I watched the whole thing. It did not bode well with my stomach, so my appetite is slightly hampered. I'm not even remotely interested in red meat right now, either. Fine. I'm not supposed to have it right now anyway.

For snacks, we have either an apple with some peanut butter, or a small handful of raw sprouted almonds (yum!). I haven't had any cravings and it seems to be going good. I'm still amazed at how much I have to pee. Anyway, another day down and I'm pretty sure I can do this.

Eat to Live – Day 1

First this this morning I weighed myself. I weighed in at a whopping 223.8 (OMG!!!!!) Well, that's what happens when it's a free for all and no diet structure. Damn. This is exactly what I aim to solve!

I started out this morning with a big fruit salad, loaded with watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew melon, grapes, pineapple and some blue berries. I ate it all and it was marvelous! God, my body was craving fruit. After that I went about my day.

By lunch I was starving. We went to the Bunny Hop Cafe and had the salad bar. According to Dr. Fuhrman, we're supposed to think BIG, so we each made a heaping salad. I can't imagine no dressing and don't know that the salad dressings match the criteria, but whatever – I figure I'm eating great anyway. So I added about a tablespoon of their Caesar dressing. I also had a bowl of black beans. Rather bland honestly, but it's something. All in all, lunch was quite tasty! I'm beginning to think I can do this.

Throughout the day I don't feel particularly hungry, but even more interesting is that I'm not thirsty either. Usually I am quite thirsty even though I drink a lot of water. I strongly suspect that I'm getting the hydration I need directly from the foods, just like the book says. Oh, and I had to pee like 10 times throughout the day. Fascinating.

Okay, so we cheated a little at dinner. We made a tilapia fillet – cooked in the frying pan with fresh garlic and lightly coated with olive oil. I also made asparagus and a side salad. Delicious! I felt satiated most of the day.

So far, so good. Let's see how I sleep tonight and I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Preparing for Eat to Live Diet

First of all, I had to get ample quantities of the right foods. That was no big deal, just LOTS of fresh fruit and vegetables to offer some variety and some raw, sprouted nuts, along with a few other miscellaneous items.

I decided to treat this diet like an actual scientific experiment on myself. I decided to document all my body stuff before and follow up with it during. This is because I have obvious body issues like being overweight, but I also have dozens of other issues that while not as obvious, still bother me. I made a list of all of these points so that I could track them.

As for the science experiment, I am going to follow this diet and note the improvements (or lack of improvements) on these issues as I go along.

I will weigh myself and start the game...

Eat to Live – This is the diet I've been looking for

Okay, so my friend Hans told me about the book Eat to Live. He said he was pretty sure that this is the natural diet for mankind. I immediately went to Barnes and Noble and bought it. I spent the past week reading it and I have to say I am really impressed. This diet may be just what I've been looking for, though I find it hard to believe that I will lose as much weight as it claims I will in the first month (20 pounds or so). It just seems impossible.

The basic premise is that you eat tons of fresh veggies and fresh fruit, like they are the main course and anything else you eat is like a condiment or minor compliment to the meal. It's written by an MD named Dr. Fuhrman, and it's all based on valid scientific evidence. There's no hype and he writes with such certainty that you get the idea that he must be either brilliant or a fraud. He says that if I follow his diet, I will lose all the weight I need to, my cravings will go away, my allergies may go away and my body will be stronger and healthier than it has ever been, AND he has hundreds of patients that prove this claim. I don't have to buy any special foods, supplements or devices. I don't have to give up any real nutrient dense foods (like fruit!!!), and I don't have to drink lots of water either.

Here's what has impressed me so far:

1. He has hundreds of real patients who have lost as much as 300+ pounds. They also keep the weight off.
2. His formula is to eat foods that have a very high nutrient to calorie factor, which promotes health and healing.
3. Patients that come to his practice with type II Diabetes can generally stop taking insulin and drugs within a few weeks on this diet.
4. You don't have to drink lots of water because you are consuming fruit and veggies in quantities that naturally hydrate the body (there's a nifty concept!).
5. There are tons of scientific research to back up this diet 100%.
6. My friend Hans has lost 13 pounds in the last two weeks on the diet.
7. You don't have to exercise to see results, though he says you'll probably want to when the body is ready.
   

I'm ready for a diet like this. Something wholesome, but aggressive. Now to prepare...

Done with the Pancreas Protocol

Well, I think it's fairly obvious that I'm done with the pancreas protocol. I have been searching for the right diet for some time and I know what I want. Believe it or not, I'm not looking for some diet that offers loads of carbs and sugar while I sit around all day and the fat just melts off me. Though that does sound like the “dream diet”. But no, I have been looking for a diet that is lasting, that melts the fat, but builds strength and heals the body, or better yet, encourages the body to heal itself.

I don't want a diet that I have to take tons of supplements to make up for whatever is deficient because of my diet. I don't want a diet that forces me to drink a gallon of water every day to “flush out my system” and keep me hydrated. Surely our ancestors did not have access to that quantity of fresh water?? I don't want a diet that restricts foods that are known to be highly nutritious and healthy either. I don't want a diet that makes me skinny and the minute I go off of it, I balloon up either.

I've been reading the Eat to Live book and I gotta tell you, if this diet does half of what it says, it may be just what I've been looking for.

Day 4 - Update on Pancreas Protocol

So, I tried the leek soup and...not so much. I ended up making a cocoa shake (which actually tastes great). Because of the various symptoms and whatnot, our wellness coach suggested that we go off the diet until we actually get the supplements that are part of the protocol (Probiotics, enzymes, multi-vitamin, and calcium-magnesium to make up for all the nutients that are deficient because of the diet itself). She also recommended that we get colon therapy to better prepare our bodies for this diet (especially with the constipation) and to do regularly to keep the body working (since when is it natural to have someone else flush one's bowels??? Isn't this the most natural thing that our body should do on its own??).

As it stands, there are a number of things that I have an issue with and I have to get them sorted out quickly. First of all, I do not know how I can eat these processed powdered meals for the next 4-5 months, unless I just go with a shake in the morning as a meal replacement, a shake and a salad for lunch (or the chili which is actually good) and a shake before bed. Then it would work I suppose. However, I find myself craving fruit and I'm having a hard time understanding how it is healthier to not eat some of nature's more perfect and naturally packaged foods (never mind the fact that fruit is loaded with nutrients and anti-oxidants). I guess if you compare the results that I should attain from the program, versus being clinically obese, then that is something to consider as well.

Still, it bothers me that we have to take lots of supplements (to make up for all the ones that are missing in the diet itself), processed foods, additional products to combat the constipation which can occur as a direct result of this program, and tonics. Another part of the problem is that Grant and I never really eat processed foods, which is why I think the packaged meals taste worse to us than someone who eats whatever, whenever. We haven't had MSG in our diet for ages, we never have fast food and we never consume chemical sweeteners, so these packages just taste weird to us (and actually creates a little gag reflex for me).

How can this be the healthy diet when these products were not around when man ate a diet that was more native to him? This really bothers me. Sure, I know I can lose weight, but at what expense nutritionally? Is that worth it to lose weight in a quazi-Atkinsish diet that may cause me to put on even more weight when I go off it later? I don't know. It just doesn't feel right. I can't help but feel that the answer is out there. There is a way to eat healthy and naturally and lose tons of weight and keep it off. I just have to find it.

I have friends who have successfully completed various diets, but most of them either gained back everything they lost and then some, or they gained back some of the weight. What I'm looking for really is something that I can do for the rest of my life and that I can actually live with. I don't think powdered meals and lots of supplements (to make up for all the nutrients my diet has left out) is the answer. I just picked up a book called Eat to Live that a friend recommended. I do believe that knowledge plays a big part in all of this.

Update on Day 3

I just got off the phone with my wellness coach and that was good. I suppose this is why it's important to have a support system in place (so that when I have a melt down, there's someone to pick me up).

So apparently the bad breath and constipation is due to our lack of adequate supplements, specifically calcium-magnesium, omegas and pro-biotics. Plus we are supposed to take enzymes with each meal. Well, we're remedying this.

She's also going to trade out some of the meals for me. I do not mind the vanilla pudding. I like the cocoa drink and I really like the chili. So, I'm getting the supplements and trying some of her ideas on the meals. The point is that the meals are designed to feed the body usable protein and all essential amino acids. She said I could even do the whole program on just a few meals if I need to (which I am willing to do). She also gave me a bunch of her tried and true recipe ideas.

I will try the first one out at lunch when I try the Leek soup. We'll see how that goes, eh?