So many things resolved

So many things are resolved in my life. I can attribute it to several factors -- my health and well-being is greater than I've ever experienced in my life.

One of my final hurdles to optimum health is my weight. Despite drastically changing my diet, and beginning an exercise program 4 months ago, I don't seem to have lost a pound nor an inch.

I know that I'm insulin resistant, and I have at last been able to equate my insulin resistance with my ever spiking blood pressure, and got that under control with exercise and cinnamon capsules (recommended by my wonderful, crunchy daughter-in-law!). So now that I have both presence of mind and time to implement, I began looking for the perfect diet plan.

I have never been much into "fad diets," and especially nothing that required outside intervention such as pharmaceuticals or surgery. I had lost 30 pounds on a low-fat diet, but gained it all right back after I stopped journaling everything. I had lost 30 pounds on the Atkins diet. I managed to keep that off for several years, until I abandoned the whole high protein/low carb scheme in a prolonged ice cream indulgence with my new partner.

I knew what to do this time, and taking a test on Dr. Mercola's site had identified me as a "Protein type." That went well with everything I knew about my eating habits. So eliminating certain foods, and upping the protein again, completely quelled my hunger. I got into a good regimen, and then started exercising. So imagine that I was very disappointed with no weight loss after nearly 4 months.

I had heard about the hCG diet initially from one of my students, and thought the concept interesting, but dismissed it when she told me she kept it off for about a year but then put it right back on when she got under stress.

I did, though, recall immediately when she told me about it, that when I was pregnant with my first child -- I lost like 30 pounds in the first 6 weeks of my pregancy, and desired to eat nothing but vegetables. I was a little alarmed at the time because I didn't know about hCG or how it works. But putting two and two together upon hearing about the diet, I knew that it could work.

I didn't consider it for a while because it seemed so expensive. But then family members got into it, and it worked for them. I got a writing gig that required me to research it and write about it, so then I was actually informed. The key thing for me was that I had already made serious lifestyle modifications, so doing the hCG diet was simply a matter of rearranging things and making a few different food choices instead of trying to drastically diet from a lifetime of bad habits. So I knew it was doable.

I intended to have a doctor's help, but when I called the VA, they wouldn't touch it, even when I told them diet and exercise wasn't enough for me. I had already made up my mind fully to do it, when, during a shopping trip to Sunflower last week, I spied the hCG drops at the checkout counter. Radically lower priced than anything else I'd seen, I decided on the spot that I would try it. If it didn't work, no great loss -- I would only be out $40 instead of hundreds.

I came home and read the brochures. So these were homeopathic drops. I ignored the many online criticisms I had read of the drops whose complaint was that the drops contained none of the actual hormone. I knew what homeopathy was all about, and those critics missed the point completely. Homeopathy is an energy medicine. The original batch of the remedy has the hormone in it, then it's diluted and succussed over and over to produce various strengths. In the end, it's about the energy of the hormone which is left in the remedy and that its effect is actually anywhere from 10 to a 1000 times stronger than the original substance. Remember Masaru Emoto and the fact that water remembers? Same principle exactly.

So I had great confidence in the drops. I stopped by my local co-op and bought the extra foods that I needed for the diet that I hadn't purchased as a matter of course at Sunflower. I was armed and ready.

So now, I'm halfway into day 4. The first two days don't really "count" in my book, because those are the fat-loading days when you eat all you can of certain fats in order to create extra energy stores for yourself as you begin.

Yesterday was Day 3 on the drops, but Day 1 of the actuall 500 calorie diet. NOW -- THIS is why I'm writing this blog. I want to be support to any of you who remain skeptical about this diet, and I want to encourage you that it can be flexible and not rigid.

People ask, "Can I just eat ANY 500 calories I want?" No. HOWEVER, having said that, this is where I am departing from the rigidity. I know my body and what it will and will not tolerate. Hunger is not my problem, nor is bad food. I eat 90% organic, ovo-lacto vegetarian. I have developed an aversion for most meat as an entree. I keep my protein high and my carb intake lower, and eat enough fat to be satisfied.

That, combined with the fact that there seem to be almost as many hCG food lists as there are doctors who prescribe it (although they all have similarities), and I realized that if I am to be successful at this, I have to do what I know works for my body. Although I haven't been able to lose weight, I know why now, having read Dr. Mercola's diet plan. And I know what kinds of things will sabotage a diet for me every time.

The lucky thing is that often fatties like me are experts in nutrition. We know all about food and how and why it affects us like it does because we've spent YEARS working with it, reading and researching it, and trying just about everything.

All that to say, NO, you can't eat just any 500 calories for it to work. BUT, I am going to work what I KNOW will work for me within the boundaries of true common sense.

I know that the reason I failed at my second attempt at Adkins was because of my meat aversion. I just couldn't eat all that was required. So I knew this would be the same way. My plan? My protein will be primarily milk, fresh farmer's cheese (feta, in my case), occasionally a chicken thigh, occasionally shrimp, and maybe a little more often, nuts.

So, after the fat loading stage, by Day 3 the hCG was kicking in. My breasts were tender (like they are when they get the signal to start building the lactation network).

Because a friend of mine had told me that she fainted one day after walking when she was on it, armed with that knowledge, I decided to make some modifications. No way was I going to give up my daily walks (in fact, I plan to increase them now). And I know low-blood sugar all too well and the effect it has on me. So, between knowing what I have to do to keep from having low blood-sugar as well as my meat aversion, I made some changes in the diet.

I am allowed two vegetables, two fruits, and two entrees (meat or protein), plus a piece of melba toast or grissini. So, I added a third high protein snack and eliminated the bread. I have some rye-crisp on hand if I need more fiber occasionally.

I started my day with a cup of tea and an apple. I took my usual walk. I had 2 cups of salad for lunch. You are not supposed to mix your veggies, but I had read too many comments by doctors who said they couldn't figure out the logic of that, so I ignored it. I had a cup of lettuce with some mushrooms, onion, and balsamic vinegar. My big meal of the day was 8 oz of milk with a handful of strawberries, plus 1 egg yolk and 4 egg whites all mixed into a giant smoothie. That was cheating, too, because I ate 2 protein portions at once. But I had already determined to add an extra protein portion because I knew that was what would keep my blood sugar stable.

Later in the day I had a cup of black coffee, and a handful of nuts (definitely not on the list, but consistent with my own protein/fat needs).

I was very pleased that when I fixed pork tacos and corn-on-the-cob later in the day for Gayle, I was not even tempted to sneak anything, nor did I feel deprived.

And as we watched X-Files in the evening, he had his buttery, cheesy popcorn, and I had a nice Pink Lady apple -- so fragrant and tasty! Again, I had no regrets nor even a twinge of feeling deprived. It was all good.

I did crash for a nap in the afternoon, but that may have been because I had been up till midnight and gotten up at 6.

This morning, I felt refreshed after 7 hours sleep, and eager to continue. I had 2 cups of coffee and 1/2 grapefruit for breakfast. Lunch was a salad of one small cucumber, 7 grape tomatoes - halved, a few slices of onion and 5 rings of a tiny orange bell pepper and topped it with 100 grams of feta. Again, I combined my veggies (bell peppers are NOT on the food list. Nor were yesterday's mushrooms, but at 15 calories per 1/2 cup, I wasn't worried about it since I only had 2 mushrooms. Only cottage cheese is allowed on the list, but I figured it wasn't much different from the feta nutritionally, and the feta was certainly more flavorful.

I'm now sipping a glass of home-brewed tea. Dr. Mercola said you don't want to chug your water/liquids, sipping is best. I always knew the formula was 8 eight-ounce glasses per day (to start), but I never knew why it was framed that way. He said if you drink more than 8 ounces per hour, it just goes right through you into the toilet, where if you sip all day, it will do it's job and flush out all the fat and toxins. Oh-hhhhhhhhhhhh. Makes sense.

I need to measure myself today and write it down. I don't have a scale (what? how can I diet without a scale?), but I know that if the losses are as significant as I expect them to be, I'll be able to tell quickly, and measuring weekly will be a good way to tell as well. (Probably better.) I know you're supposed to watch for 2 pound gains during the rest and maintenance periods, so I'll likely invest in a scale by then. But you know what? I was tired of being fat, and I knew if I put it off until I had all the right equipment and the right this and the right that, that I would put it off indefinitely.

So please -- this could be a great forum of support for the final hold-outs who think it might be a good idea, but are just not sure. Comment, and I'll respond.

How much do I have to lose? My goal is 90 pounds. My naturopathic doctor told me 100 pounds. You know what -- in the 14 years that I've been going to the women's clinic at the VA, they've never once told me I needed to lose weight. Why? Because all my allopathic doctors have been as overweight as I am. It seems they would rather cost the government thousands in invasive tests to find out what's "wrong" with me rather than say, "Hey, honey -- you could stand to lose a few pounds. Like about 100."

I won't write about this every day, I'll do other things in between, because I know not all my readers out there are dieting. But this is in conjunction with my latest adventure, so I thought it belonged here.

Have a FABULOUS day!