VLCD 19 - 288.6

Greetings! It is a lovely rainy day here in the DC area. All I can say is wow what a snowstorm this would be if it was cold enough! This has been another slow week, but after incorporating the snack style meal plan things definitely picked up. I also am feeling like I have more energy. I want to get back to work and off of holiday. I feel like I need to get active. I do have some muscle fatigue when I climb a few flights of stairs and I have noticed that different muscle groups feel tight on different days.

My mom and I will be getting together latter today and I will finally be able to see how she is progressing with her hcg protocol. I am hoping that I will be able to help her out a bit while I am staying in her house next week by making some food and packing her lunch. She has been having trouble finding time to do those things for herself. I also need to schedule definitive boundaries around my schedule for the spring so that I can stay on top of my work. Perhaps it is that new year enthusiasm, or maybe I am realizing that as I am changing my living habits I can change all of the living habits that cause me problems. Obviously, not all at once.... but developing a vision of how I want to structure my life, handle stress, provide balance, etc... seems to naturally all flow together.

So thus far: 307-288.6=18.4

VLCD 16 -290.6

It feels so much better to see that whole pound drop :) The things I changed yesterday: eat every couple of hours, starting from within a half hour of rising; drank 3 liters of water; and added meditation and visualization. I read the Soul, Mind, Body Healing book and have added some of the healing meditations. I have worked in massage and with energy medicine in the past and it feels right to add it in. I am following these three additions today.

One thing I noticed as I follow protocol is that I am more expressive with my emotions. I am not "swallowing" them the way I normally do, and I don't mean by eating as much as by suppressing them. I think this might be part of the emotional side of healing my obese self. In eastern medicine, when you have feelings that you do not acknowledge it leads to imbalance and dis-ease within the body. I have recognized for some time that I take on the burdens of others without caring for myself. I cannot continue to live my life this way if I want to be nurtured and healthy. Perhaps that is one reason why my body believed it was starving, because it was energetically.

I also noticed as my ex-fiance let me down once more, that I coincidently have his exact body weight to lose... Talk about serendipity :) It seems like cleaning house on the physical, mental, and spiritual planes is part of this journey to health, at least for me.

VLCD 15 - 291.6

Ok, last week was frustrating. I don't know if I had a false low at 290, but I went to bed and woke up 2 pounds heavier than my pre bedtime weight... So on Th I was suddenly 294. One of my marine friends who has done some extreme dieting to make his weight has said this has happened to him too. I decided that maybe I didn't get enough water in and made sure to have more than 2 liters on TH. My weight was back down to 292.8 on F and then 292.6 on Sat, and finally Sunday was 292.4. I was glad this morning when I was down to 291.6. I can think of three things that may have contributed to the bounce and slow loss. 1. Not enough water 2. This was a weight that I was at for a while and so it might be a set point 3. I had fast bowls early in the week and that may have triggered the need to hold water.

I also thought about a post I read on the yahoo group board by Lynne, and the benefit of breaking up the meals into small snacks throughout the day instead of having two "large" meals. I broke my food into snacks every two hours. I have felt SO much better today. I have been having gentle cravings for protein off and on during the protocol. Today I felt infinitely better and am waiting to see how I do tomorrow. If this groovy feeling continues... well let's just say then next four weeks will be a breeze.

Even with last week's stall, I still think that this is the most reasonable life change/diet that I have done. I am noticing a difference in how I perceive portions that I have never experiences before. That alone gives me hope. Oh, and apples and salad greens never tasted this good before.