So I lost a few pounds!

I haven't mentioned it here in a while, but hey, guess what? I lost some weight! Since December I'm down thirty pounds, but I'm still working on it. I've hit a plateau that seems rather hard to break. But hopefully I'll be back to losing soon. 

This picture surprised me a bit this week. You can really see the difference if you don't look at my awful hair and notice my waist instead. I actually look like I've lost some weight. (Woohoo!) And I owe it all to taking Contrave. I've tried for years to lose weight and nothing worked until I was prescribed Contrave by my doctor. 

But here's the thing. This picture was taken just 10 days ago. I love travel, but it is so hard on my body. I did a good job of not overeating (easier said than done when in France and Italy and surrounded by gelato). But the second my body is put under a new stress, like sleeping on a less than comfortable bed, or just traveling in general, I bloat up like a balloon! 

There is something to be said for the flattering shape of a dress. But I love my pink gingham dress. And usually it's really flattering on me. It's not a dress that generally adds ten pounds. (Even if Dillon (the guy in the pic) did say that the dress made it easy to "spot the blonde picnic dress" in a crowd.)

At my sister's wedding (4 years ago), I started out the day fitting into my bridesmaid's dress and shoes just fine. But by the end of the ceremony my feet were so swollen I could barely walk in my shoes back down the aisle. And by the end of the reception, I felt like I would burst out of my dress. 

Anyone know why that happens? Or more importantly, how to stop it? (Fun fact: whenever I do public speaking or sing, I have to take off my shoes. I do it subconsciously before I even take the stage/pulpit. I am incapable of performance with shoes on!) 

Just for fun, here's a before and after comparison, taken a few months ago. I've lost about another 10 pounds since the black dress picture was taken. The blue dress picture is a perfect example of a day where I was fine one minute, and then bloated up out of stress the next. I would never have worn such a clingy dress if it looked like that when I first put it on! 

The goal is to lose another 25 pounds still. I'm only halfway to my goal. It sure would help if I could figure out what makes me bloat up so very oddly. Thankfully it does go away after a few days. It just makes it hard to pack clothes for a trip not knowing how much water I'm going to retain! 

I do things. And then I think.

After looking at my Netflix DVD queue, I've had an epiphany about myself: It's entirely possible I have a type- of movie, that is. And many other things as well. Particularly men. English ones that is.

I can't stop daydreaming about moving to the English countryside, living in a little cottage, and being a full-time writer...

But then I notice just how often people in British TV shows and films are wearing long wool jackets and scarves, and how they do this on EVERY show, and I reconsider.

But wouldn't I be great as a writer in England? Maybe Scotland...

I've been learning other things about myself recently too. Like how much willpower I have. Or how much better I feel when I'm gluten-free and corn-free. And how sometimes it doesn't matter that I feel so much better, I still really, really want certain bad for me foods!

And I've really come to learn the cold hard truth about the joke I always make- if you want me to get something done, give me 10 things to do, or I'll never get anything done. I've taken on a bunch of responsibilities lately, and I've never been more productive. I really do prefer to be completely crazy busy, than to have just a few bits to do.

For instance, about a month ago the idea hit me to participate/walk in the Avon Breast Cancer Walk. Knowing how I am prone to flights of fancy, and I'm a bit ADD, I decided not to fork over the money that would commit me to the walk. (First you pay $50 just to register, and then you have to train for the 30 mile walk, and raise $1,200! Really, this isn't a decision to make on a flight of ADD crazy.) I decided to wait a month and see if I still felt compelled to do it.

And well, I do. I can't explain it. I really do feel compelled to do this walk. I have no idea how I am going to come up with the funds. Or how I will actually convince myself to train. (I'm actively recruiting friends to join me! Who wants to walk 30 miles with me? And raise lots of money?) But here it is a month later, and I'm still thinking about doing this. I've even started making small changes to my diet (gluten-free, corn-free, sugar-free, pretty much all paleo), and wearing my pedometer-thingy around. Hey, if a hobbit can walk that far, so can I, right?

Yeesh. I really am a nerd sometimes.

Okay, time to stop blogging and return to that life that keeps making me do things. Like plan a singles conference. And write books. And plan marketing campaigns. And walk 2 extra miles every day. And balance checkbooks. And pay bills. And fix transmissions. And, and, and...

And watch more English films. (Brownie points if you figure out what 4 of those films have in common, other than being entirely posh and British.)





Erin Ann McBride is a writer, dreamer, and single woman. By day she works in marketing, and by night she hunts unicorns and writes romantic novels, “You Heard It Here First,” and the sequel “This Just In!” She accepts new friends daily at https://www.facebook.comAuthorErinAnnMcBride

HCG Before and After Weight Loss Pictures

Well, this round of HCG has finally come to an end. You can read about my first experience with the HCG diet here. And here you can learn more about the HCG diet from the company I bought from and recommend.

Now for the moment of truth.

You have seen my before pictures-

 

(I hate this picture now!)

How it looked after I lost the first 20 lbs!

 

And how it looks after losing another 18!

(how nice of my dog to try and butt in to 2 of the pictures. I guess that's what happens when I spend too much time by the front door and don't let her out!)

Because I did put about 4 lbs on between rounds and things haven't really settled down yet (it takes a few days back on normal foods to know where you are going to land), I've only lost about 30-35 lbs. I can live with that! I lost a total of NINE INCHES off around my waist! I love it!

I am donating my old clothes to both Janae and Juli who are both on the HCG diet as well (36 lbs off for Janae, and 20 for Juli so far!). I am currently down to exactly 3 t-shirts, 2 sweaters, 1 old coat, 1 party dress, and 1 pair of jeans that fit. Not one other thing in my closet fits me without being obviously a size or two too big! Thankfully I'm headed to my fashion mothership next week and plan to buy several new outfits. Until then, don't be surprised if you see me holding up my pants funny.

I am still 18 lbs away from my high school weight. I am currently exactly what I weighed 10 years ago when i got diagnosed with a thyroid condition and slowly but surely started gaining weight. Not one diet ever has ever made me lose more than 8 lbs. I have always been able to lose 8 lbs just to put it all back on in one cheeseburger dinner. (Not joking!) This is the first diet I have ever successfully completed where I have lost the weight and kept it off. In the interest of full disclosure, I was also given the "all-cured" on my thyroid condition last April. For the first time in ten years, my thyroid is fully functioning and normal. I think because of that my body was finally able to lose weight. And knowing my body and my shortcomings, this diet was the only way that would happen.

So now I enter into the next phase. Essentially it is what I call the "no-white" diet. No white foods- no sugar, no flour, no rice, no potatoes. I'll do that for as long as possible (which may not last long since I'll be in NYC in a week). As of right now I plan to go back on the diet just after Christmas. (load days over christmas should be perfect!) If I can lose another 15-20 lbs then, I will be down to my high school and pre-thyroid condition weight. And that, my friends, would be amazing!

One funny sidenote to mention- today I was a substitute teacher in Primary/Sunday School for 7 year olds. We were in the middle of discussing the all important Halloween costumes when one of the little girls looks right at my tummy and says, "Are you having a baby in there?" I said "No, but thanks for asking." (in a very sarcastic tone that the kid totally missed). The other teacher standing nearby looked me over and said, "I don't know why she asked that, you really don't look it." Thank goodness!

My experiences with the HCG diet

For the last 3 weeks I have been on the HCG diet. For those who are unfamiliar with the HCG diet, feel free to click the link and read about it there. I chose to take drops, rather than the injections. I was introduced to the diet by Heidi, and like most people was completely skeptical when I heard about it. But when I saw Heidi's before and after pictures after just 2 weeks on the diet, I was sold. Heidi chose to do the injections, I chose to do the drops.

I will be honest that as strict and as crazy as this diet sounds, I really never expected to be able to stick to it hard-core. But my goal was to lose 20 lbs, and I should make it! I still technically have 3 days left on the diet, and as of right now I've only lost 18 lbs. But with three days left to go, I think I can lose the last two.

So in all their humiliating honesty, here are my before and after pictures.

Before--

And as of today- 18 lbs down-

 

  

That would be 6 inches lost off my waist, and 18 lbs in just 3 weeks!!

And the rest of the details-

Waist- 6 inches down

Arm- 2 inches down

Thighs- 2.5 inches off each

Neck- 1 inch off

Bust- 4 inches off under bust, 1 inch down on bust

All pretty good right? But my butt?? Barely 2 inches down. I as so hoping to lose more off my butt. There is now a 10 inch difference between my butt and waist.

Dress size? Down 3 sizes! 

Now for more about the diet, my person experience-

Load days- 

The first 2 days of taking the HCG you "load up" on as much food and calories as possible. I thought this was going to be my crowning moment. Me? Get to eat everything I want? I can totally do that, right? This was supposed to be my Lorelai Gilmore moment! I was looking forward to it. I spoke to a few people (including Heidi) who had been on the diet, and they all told me how impossible their load days were. They had whined and said how they couldn't eat anything. I just knew I could do better. 

But no.

By the end of the first day on the HCG I could barely eat anything. I had planned out my meals for my load days to include trips to all my favorite places. And I couldn't do it! I was seriously having to force myself to eat. It was depressing!

The second day? Even worse. It felt like that post-Thanksgiving Dinner full stomach when someone has just put your favorite piece of pie in front of you. You can't possibly eat another bite, and yet, there it is, chocolate silk cream pie, and its the last piece, and if you don't eat it, someone will steal it from you. That is how every single bite of food felt on my second day of HCG. I was attempting to force myself to eat more than usual and realized at the end of the day that I had eaten considerably less than usual. Ugh! So I had to add a third load day to make sure I had enough food in me to start off the diet. 

For the life of me, I still don't know why or how that all works. But it did. I haven't been hungry from this diet once in three weeks. 

So then the real diet begins. The 500 calorie diet. Which yes, does sound impossible. But the HCG is there to keep you from getting hungry, and encourages your body to burn up fat stores. Knowing that I was going to have to give up diet sodas for the diet, I weaned myself off of them the week before I started the HCG. Much to my surprise, I don't want them anymore! (But three weeks of just water and boring teas is getting very old.)

I primarily ate strawberries and oranges for my fruits. I'm just not a big apple eater, although I did eat a few on the diet. The vegetables were all choices I normally hate, so that was rough for me. I despise celery, especially without either ranch dressing or peanut butter to hide the taste. So I only ate that once. For the most part I ate a lot of asparagus and cucumbers. 

The meals do get dull, but you do start to get inventive. My favorite thing was crab meat with spinach and strawberries. Its actually not a bad meal at all. 

Cheating and this diet-

Ha. There is an overwhelming fear of cheating on this diet. But the desire to cheat wasn't very strong. The diet is actually pretty fun! I lost 10 lbs in the first 7 days! You don't want to cheat when the weight is just falling off of you! It was fun to go to the scare and weigh myself every day to see how much I had gone down again. So when the temptation to cheat was there, it wasn't ever because I wanted to eat something, but because I really wanted to taste something more interesting. When I did cheat (just a few small handful of times) it was incredibly small and insignificant. I "cheated" with 1 potato chip. Not the bag, just 1 chip. I know, I'm going to hell. I took one little finger swipe and lick of cake frosting. I ate 1 tiny bite of pizza (which made me horribly sick!). And that was all of my cheating over the last 3 weeks. Each time I cheated, I made sure to walk the dog an extra mile that day. 

And in the interest of full honesty and disclosure, yesterday I couldn't take it anymore, and put the tiniest amount of sharp cheddar cheese on my little tiny patty of meat. (It was divine!)

Low blood sugar-

The first 2 weeks of the diet I had no problems with hunger or low blood sugar. I really was surprised. I will admit though that this past week I have had a few spells where I realized my blood sugar was getting low, and I had little head rush moments when I stand up. This is usually cured quickly by just eating a few slices of an orange, or a strawberry or two. In 2 instances, I tried those tricks and still had a massive headache after. I tried a few glasses of water, to not relief. So I went to Maverick and indulged in a caffeine free Diet Coke, which cured it instantly. Go figure.

Health benefits-

Now, you already know from below about my horrid stomach ache. I am convinced that was completely unrelated to the diet. So ignoring that, and focusing on the other 20 days of this diet- I have never felt better. I swear its like being on happy pills and energy pills at the same time. I have more energy than I know what to do with. I'm sleeping fabulously! And I just feel great. As someone frequently plagued with gastrointestinal issues, I will just say this. Not one problem. Perfect GI system. Its a freaking dream come true. I barely know what to do with myself. No indigestion. Nothing. I feel fantastic. I don't want the diet to ever end! 

Other details-
Like I said, I haven't been hungry once. I have, however, found myself not eating enough, and wondering 6 hours later why I was so hungry. It was always cured by eating whatever I hadn't bothered to eat during mealtime. It was my fault, and never the diet.

I'll be honest. The diet isn't easy. But the results are so fast and visible that it isn't hard to stay motivated.

Now that I've finished the HCG doses, I have to do a few weeks of a modified South Beach diet. This is to help your body reset to its new weight and metabolism. I'm really looking forward to starting it. I MISS CHEESE AND EGGS! It may be the strangest cravings I have ever had. But I can't wait to add eggs and cheese back into my diet.

So why did I do the HCG diet over some other diet? Because I have tried everything. I've tried 5 small meals a day. I've tried adding weights. I've tried adding more cardio. I've done Atkins. I've done everything. I can always drop 8-10 lbs quickly, but then it comes right back, and I can never keep it all off. That was something I noticed was a common thread among many HCG users. They were all chronic dieters like me. And this worked for them.

There you have it. My experiences with the HCG diet.  If you have questions, let me know.