Final Post

An update from Valeria:

This summer was very busy for me, with 3 trips abroad and another one
coming up at the end of this month.
I will be out of the country for 3 months, and I won't be able to
continue.
Unfortunately, the last time I tried, at the beginning of October, I
failed to keep at the 500 cal/day and I had to stop.
I may try again next year to do it on my own.

Thank you so much for the opportunity. Best of luck to everyone in the group.
Valeria

Disappointment is setting in!

I am sorry to report that I am right up where I started! I am very disappointed, because I really believed that this was the "cure" for my yo-yo-ing! It's not. After I came back from my business trip, I left for vacation back home in Italy. I finished my 1st round of VLCD, I went through the Phase 3, no sugars no starches, so on my vacation I reintroduced slowly both sugars and starches. Unfortunatelly I did not have a scale with me, so when I got back I was exactly where I started a few months ago. At this point I do not know what to think...do I have to stay forever on Phase 3? This is not sustainable long term. The idea was to re-set the hypothalamus and live normally and happy forever after. Or at least a few years until the needle starts going up again. It did not work for me. I lost 11 lbs in the 1st round, and I gained back 16 lbs !!
You'll say, well, it was your fault and yes, I recognize that I ate too many pastries and too many good things. But that's how it is when you are on vacation, and mine was a long one.
Anyway, I want to give it another try. I just started anouther round of HCG (since Tammy was very nice and sent me another vial back in July). I am on day 4, 156.8 lbs today and I am starting my VLCD. This time I will stay on as long as I need to get back if not at my ideal weight, at least to 140 lbs. Will keep posting. Tx for reading. If you have any helpful suggestions, pls respond. Valeria

Girl Interrupted!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am in the Dominican Republic for 5 weeks. I was 3-4 days away from finishing my HCG and at 139 lbs. 14 lbs away from my ideal weight. However the good news is that Tammy is sending me another vial of HCG and as soon as I am back I will start again. Maybe this is the last time. The food here is mostly fried and you have plantains in everything! I am on a maintenance phase, but without a scale it's hard to ascertain if I gained anything or not. Chances are I did. I do not feel it, but as Dr S. says you can gain a lot without realizing it. I will have to bite the bullet and buy a scale here. Especially since I will re-start Phase 2 as soon as I get back home. It's hot and humid here, but that's good cuz I drink a lot more water than before...so...more news in a few days. Toodles!

Memorial weekend! Up 1 lbs!

I know, I know, I tried really hard...I think I gained a little by smelling the good food we had for the Memorial Day. I'm 141.2 today...but I tried really hard today to stay below the allowed calorie count and hopefully tomorrow I'll be down 2 lbs!!! I'll be going out of the country for 4 weeks, and that means that I won't have the scale with me and I will be eating out a lot. I will start the maintenance phase as soon as I get there...and I will continue to report as much as I can. I think you can measure your success if you are able to maintain your weight after the protocol, so I will continue to post.

Tuesday 5/20 - down to 140.4 lbs

Phiu! That was hard, but I made it back to Saturday's weight! How? I walked 35 minutes yesterday! Up and down the hills, fast pace. I drank 2 liters of water (usually I'm happy if I can get down 1) and ate 1 apple around 4pm and a broiled chicken breast with a few artichoke leaves for dinner. I guess this was my equivalent of a steak day. I will repeat the menu today and see what happens with the scale tomorrow! I can hardly wait!

Monday, 5/19 - Up 3 lbs!

After getting down to 140.4 on Saturday morning, I had a setback! We are remodelling our kitchen and we are also painting the house. So we had people over to help over the weekend. Since the handiman was not able to hook the new stove to the gas line over the weekend, so we had to cook on the grill and order out. So I was up the proverbial creek! However, it could have been worse! This morning I was 143.4. I am doing a steak day today and I will be drinking the smooth move tea all day...hopefully tomorrow I can be back on track.

Ups and downs...today 141.8 lbs

It's hard to keep from cheating... even though we all know that a few french fries can hinder your loss by a few days....and yet...pretty much everyone is doing it at one point or another! And the closer you are of your ideal weight the slower the loss and the harder to keep faithful to the VLCD. I probably have another 2 weeks to go and I plan on reaching 130 lbs. In the begining I wanted to get down to 125, but that's going to be almost impossible to achieve. I have a certain age and my methabolism is getting slower by the minute... plus I don't want to have hanging skin and I am already seing some...the skin on my hands and arms looks like raisins! And yes, I want to be skinny, but so much as to show 10 yrs older than I really am...