Day 7: A croissant and a taco, please

For some reason today, I had some cravings. First, a vision of a croissant popped into my head. My grandmother got me hooked on them when I used to go visit her for the summers. A total treat since it's not something my mother would buy (rather like the Froot Loops). She also taught me the best way to enjoy a croissant. Little pat of butter on the top, microwave for 30 seconds, and you have a warm pile of deliciousness.

Then, inexplicably, I had a craving for a taco. They're one of my favorite things to make, mostly because they're so easy. It's been a while since I had one, so I had no idea what made me even think of it. Especially since I wouldn't ever want to eat them together. Sadly, I won't be having either the croissant or the taco any time in the near future.

My liquid Stevia came in today. I order the Mixed Berries flavor. It's not bad. Definitely has a bit of an aftertaste,  though I could have gotten more of one since I probably squirted too much into my water bottle. It will be nice to perk up my water some. I was about done with plain water yesterday.

My order of Miracle Noodles came in yesterday. I have to tell you, they are NOT what I was expecting. I was thinking of a hard noodle. These are limp and come in a bag filled with fluid. I once saw an episode of ER where a man had been to some African country and had gone wading in some river and ended up with some sort of worm IN HIS LEG. They could only pull it out inch by inch or it could break off and end up trapped in him forever, causing all sorts of damage. THAT is what the noodles remind me of. Additionally, there's the bonus (or so I've read) of them smelling like rotting fish when you open the package. I gave a couple of my coworkers the noodles to try. Gonna wait to hear back from them before I go ahead and open one up.

The weight loss has started to slow down, as I was told to expect it would. I lost 1.1 pounds today. (I always find it intriguing that we say that we "lost" weight. That sort of implies that we'd like to find it again.) It's probably good that it's slowing down since the loss I'd been experiencing was pretty drastic. But, in a way, it's a bummer. It's so much fun to see those pounds just dropping off. However, as long as it keeps coming off, I'm a happy girl.

Today's Weight: 222.4 (9.5lbs total)

Day 6: Headache...GONE!!

I got to work this morning, took ibuprofen from the bottle and set it on my desk. I didn't want to take it on an empty stomach (nothing worse than having a headache AND an upset stomach), but I had it out so I wouldn't forget.

I ate my orange and went about my business. It wasn't until hours later when I got an instant message from one of my coworkers who is also on this diet that I even thought about a headache. He messaged to say how great he was feeling and how the headache was gone...WAIT! I need to take my ibuprofen for my...what? No headache? NO HEADACHE!!

I want to say something about hunger. I've gotten a lot of questions about whether I feel hungry and whether there's an appetite suppressant in the drops. To my knowledge, there isn't. And I do get hungry, about the same times most people do. The difference is that it takes a lot less food to make me feel satisfied. My stomach has realized it's going to get fed less, so it's just smaller now. I know that I was overeating before, and if I'd just taken time with my food, I wouldn't have been eating half as much as I had been.

I played cards at a bar in Seattle. I thought it would be a lot like when I went to the movies, but aside from a quick craving for french fries, it wasn't a big deal. I pretty much had to force myself to even eat my apple.

Today's weight: 223.5 (down 8.4 total)

Day 5: Please don't toy with my emotions like that

In terms of food, today was even better than yesterday. I think my body's catching on to the fact that I'm not going to feed it as often as I used to, and it's savoring the food I do feed it. I drank a lot more water today than I did yesterday, and thus made more trips to the bathroom. I am seriously considering Depends. Of course, according to my mother, I didn't much enjoy diapers the first time around, so I don't think I'd enjoy them much now.

I went to the movies tonight with a friend (50/50 is an incredible movie, by the way. You should go see it), and she needed to eat beforehand. I have to say, being around restaurants was tough. I love to go out to eat, though I do realize that restaurants are part of the reason I'm on this diet now. Okay fine, it's not the restaurants and their oversized portions, it's my lack of control. Blah blah blah.

Almost worse than her delicious chicken chimichanga aroma was the popcorn. I love going to the movies and getting a Kid's Pack - just the right amount of soda and popcorn for me, not to mention the fun candy treat! It sort of kills me to know that I'm about 6 weeks from that. I guess I'll appreciate it that much more when I can have it again. In moderation, of course...

What kept me from getting my own chicken chimi are the results I've seen so far. Yesterday I went down 2.8 pounds, so I figured today couldn't be nearly as good. I know the weight can't keep coming off this quickly, so I assumed it might be a pound. This morning, I was at 226.0 - which is a loss of 3.1 pounds from yesterday!!! I've lost 5.9 pounds so far.

Even if I lose only ("only") a pound a day for the rest of this, I'll have lost about 28 pounds. A-mazing!

Today's Weight: 226.0

Who's coming with me when I get my freedom chimi???

Day 4: So. Much. Better.

I have no idea what happened overnight. Today was just so much easier than yesterday. I haven't been nearly as tired or as cranky. I wasn't even as hungry as I was yesterday. Could just be the shock of going from such an unholy and awful amount/type of food to almost nothing. Could be that I saw the 2-pound drop in weight and I was more motivated. Either way, I'm thankful. If today had been like it was yesterday, I might have hurt someone. Or, I might have stopped at McDonald's on the way home (vomit).

I had my orange around 10am, my chicken around 12:20pm and then I waited until 2pm to have the tomatoes. I think eating actually made me hungrier than I would have been, so I ended up having 2 Melba Snacks crackers around 3.

I got home and didn't rush right in and eat. I chatted on the phone, got in the shower, and then made my dinner of shrimp. My sugar-free Jell-O is still in my (coughcoughDisneyprincesscoughcough) lunch bag. I'll bring it tomorrow just in case I need it. Shortly I'll enjoy my apple.

What was weird was that sometime this afternoon, probably around 2, I got this rush of energy. It was like I was on a sugar high, but we know that wasn't the case. I read on several blogs that sometime around Day 8 or 9 people all of a sudden felt incredible clarity and energy. Just felt totally great. I'm definitely looking forward to that!

All in all, today was a better day, and I hope this is the beginning of a trend. One thing I'm not digging is the headache. I have had a righteous headache all day, but it wasn't as bad as yesterday, which ended up requiring Advil. I hope it goes away in the coming days.

I would also like to stop peeing so damn often. Seriously, I woke up TWICE last night to pee. I don't need a preview of what my old age is going to bring. I hear the peeing super often thing goes away after a bit, but I'm skeptical.

Looking back, if I were going to do this all over again (and I might), I'd have my fat-loading/binge days be Friday and Saturday, that way I'd have Sunday to just kick back and rest rather than trying to go to work like that. Pretty sure I can sit at a keyboard and shove my face at work as well as I can at home.

Anyway, to sum up, today has been SO MUCH BETTER than yesterday. I don't know that I could have gotten through another day like it. The really nice thing is that so many people at work are doing it. We're sharing the misery, and since some of us started earlier, I can see that they're still surviving. As with any diet or other challenging experience, it's nice to have people around who understand what you're going through and can help you cope. And who will steer you away from other friends and coworkers before you start gnawing on their limbs.

Today's Weight: 229.1 (-2.8lbs!)

I'm still craving Coke, and so you know how hard it is for me to give it up, I'll share a picture from a few years ago...

Yes, that is me kissing a bottle of Coke.

Day 3: Holy Crankypants, Batman!

Alright, some people who know me might insist that I'm a bit of a crankypants all the time. But there's a difference between being a general bitch and a total crankypants. By about 4:30 today, I was losing it.

I got to work this morning around 7:30am and I was already hungry. I downed some (read: a lot) of water and was able to avoid eating my orange until 9:30am. But, it was that kind of hunger where you don't feel so great even when you do eat, it took me an hour and a half to eat the one orange.

Around noon I was totally starving, so I microwaved my chicken nuggets. (When I call them chicken nuggets it makes me feel like I'm eating something way cooler than microscopic mounds of grilled chicken.) I managed to over-season them, and the pepper was kicking my ass, so I ended up drinking 24 ounces of water with the nuggets. Which didn't help the fact that I was already pretty water-logged. I  peed 4 times that morning.   

I held off on eating my tomatoes until a bit later. I wasn't super-hungry just then, and I figured I should save them for when I was. Recognizing that my hunger had ramped up a bit, I went to QFC with a colleague and obtained some Grissini breadsticks and Melba snacks. I hoped adding a little carbs in there would help with my energy levels.

Not long after I started chomping on the breadsticks that I was MAJORLY hungry. I ate the tomatoes - one at a time - but was still done by 2pm. At a minimum I was looking at another two and a half hours before I could eat. And I knew even then that I was looking at 11 tomatoes and 7 shrimp. 

On the way home I decided some of the "free foods" would be necessary for my survival. I was SO irritated with everything around me - the rain pouring down, the people who couldn't drive - that I knew I had to get another snack in. Sugar-free Jell-O tops my list of  "How is that a food?" but if it was going to stop me from wasting away or eating someone's arm, I was down for it. 

We're also allowed Miracle Noodles, so I googled for them and learned that the Whole Foods store near me sells them. I can tell you this: When you are wild with hunger, attempting to locate a store that is hard to find on a good day is NOT a good idea. It took me forever to get there. Not only do they not have the noodles, they don't have sugar-free Jell-o either. I picked up some broth (to make sure that someone would validate my parking) and I left in a huff. I took myself to QFC and bought some Jell-o. I almost opened it right in the store, but thought I'd look ridiculous trying to eat Jell-o from the container with the thin lid.

I got home, almost unable to make it up my three flights of stairs. My body was totally ready to give out on me. I made it in, peed for the umpteenth time that day, and went to the kitchen to have Jell-o and start my dinner. 

Turns out, frozen shrimp weigh a lot more than raw shrimp. I was short about 26 calories on them for tonight's dinner. I corrected for tomorrow, but that didn't help me tonight. Around 5:30pm, I settled in and ate my shrimp and tomatoes, and after I finished watching an episode of Psych, I passed the hell out took a little nap.

I woke up around 7:15pm, freaking out about missing an appointment (which I hadn't) and then realized I'd decided I would have my "dessert" - an apple with cinnamon - at 7pm, which I missed by a little bit.

I sincerely hope tomorrow is better than today. I know there are some good benefits just around the corner, if I can get there. But damnit, I'm hungry and I am wiped out. FEED ME.

Weight this morning: 231.9 

Day 2: Warning! 100 grams is less than you think!

Waking up at 3am with screaming stomach pains pretty much hits the bottom of the list of things that are fun to do. I never want to see another french fry again.

After getting myself settled sometime near 4am, I managed to get some sleep. I groaned at the idea of spending another day eating crap, so I decided to gorge on foods that I know are high in fat but haven't been cooked in a fryer. Turns out, that wasn't much better.

Breakfast: Candy and three eggs scrambled with cheese. Barely finish eggs as they just sort of slosh in my mouth, not wanting to go down.

Lunch: 2/3 of a small sausage pizza. Nearly vomit as I finish my last pieces.

Dinner: I have utterly given up on gorging myself tonight. I refuse to wake up at 3am again, dying of stomach pain. Settle for two bowls of Apple Jacks. And a crap ton of candy.

Totally bummed that I missed out on Cold Stone. But I'm pretty sure it would have been the death of me and I like Cold Stone. Don't want to put them out of business because I exploded all over their place like a water balloon you've overfilled.

I spent time today getting my food ready for the week. It would be an understatement to say that I was shocked when I saw how much food 100 grams is. To give you an idea, below is my lunch for tomorrow - cherry tomatoes and chicken breast:

Um, wait. WHAT???

That food scale in the picture is brand new, just for this. My mom told me I didn't need it, that 3.5oz/100g of chicken is about the size of my fist. Guess what. It's not.

As I was adding the tomatoes to the scale, I expected I'd get at least 20 tomatoes out of it. So I slapped a bunch on it. Then had to start taking them off. A lot. I cried as I dropped ELEVEN cherry tomatoes into a plastic bag for my lunch. Yes. ELEVEN.

It only got worse as I moved onto the chicken. At least then I knew it was going to be worse than I'd originally anticipated. It's like the warning on the side view mirror of a car: Warning! 100 grams of food is smaller than you think!

Because I know myself and know that if I'm not proactive about this I will just have candy for dinner, I also packaged frozen shrimp into 100g baggies. Want to guess how many shrimp it is? No? I'll tell you. SEVEN. Yes, SEVEN shrimp. That's what I'll be having for dinner. Oh, that and my ELEVEN tomatoes.

Commence weeping.

This morning's weigh-in: 230.2

Just a thought: If you see me tomorrow afternoon or evening, and I look at your arms funny, I recommend you step back a few feet. I'm not saying I'd actually rip them off an fry them up like chicken, but I am saying it's probably better we don't take the chance.

Unflattering Picture

As promised, here is my unflattering picture:

They say a picture says a thousand words. The words that come to mind right now are: Ugh. Ew. ACK. Lord, what happened here? Put the donut down!

On a positive note, nowhere to go but up!

Day 1: Gross

My mission, which I chose to accept: Reach an unbelievably high level of disgust with myself eating as much disgusting, fattening food as I can handle. Today's the first day on the drops and it's a fat-loading day.

Did I find success? Yes, I did. And, as the overachiever that I am, I did it at breakfast.

Today's Meals:
Wake up snack: Funsize Snickers, Funsize Twix, and a small bag of M&Ms.

Breakfast: McDonald's Sausage Biscuit, hashbrown, and small Coke.

Breakfast wreaked complete havoc on my digestive system, so I had to have a...

Post-breakfast snack: Package of Hostess donettes (powdered).

Lunch: McDonald's - two hamburgers, small fries, and a Coke.

Dinner: Mini chicken quesadilla, an order of fries, and several Cokes.

Post-dinner snack: Hostess donettes (chocolate), Snickers peanut butter candy bar.

I have spent many a day eating utter crap, but NEVER this gross. I actually had a CRAVING for vegetables. I ran to the closest mirror to make sure I was still myself.

I acquired all my needed supplies today, which means I got on the scale and took some measurements. And then immediately wished I hadn't. The numbers were...downright embarrassing. I have to say, once you know the numbers, you can't deny the need for diet any longer. A friend of mine told me I was brave to share the numbers, but I think honesty is a big part of any diet. Can I have the envelope please?

Weight: Fat 231.7
Arms: Ham hock 16.5"
Thigh: Double ham hock 29"
Waist: Used tire 42"
Hips: Small satellite 44.5"

Pudge was excited about these fat-loading days. Pretty sure he's not so excited anymore.

Until tomorrow...

Oh, if you see me rolling down the street and I look like I'm going to hit something, divert me.

Battle ON!

I'm not a big dieter. I went on Weight Watchers a couple years back. I lost 60 pounds...but I found most of it again. I feel like I'm in better shape now than I was when I started that, but I still gained a lot of weight and Pudge is still hanging around. (Pudge being the tire that lives around my midsection. It's time that Pudge and I stopped being friends.

A guy I work with went on the HCG drops diet with his girlfriend and holy smokes! They look TERRIFIC! He's lost 13 pounds in 13 days. He's been talking about it while doing it and I was a bit skeptical. His girlfriend checked it out with her naturopath and the naturopath signed off. I did some more research and got on board.

The diet is broken down into a few phases: You binge eat to build up fat for 2 days while taking the drops. You continue taking the drops and eating a very low calorie diet of limited foods for up to 43 days. Then you stop the drops but continue eating a very low calorie diet for 3 days. You move into maintenance next, eating at least 1500 calories, but no starches or sugars for three weeks. After that, you start to slowly introduce starches back into your diet.

I'm going to blog the hell out of this experience so that anyone looking for a resource on it can have one!

Currently on my To Buy List:

1. Food scale
2. People scale
3. Measuring tape
4. Baby oil - lavender
5. Herbal Essences shampoo
6. Mrs. Dash
7. Chicken breasts
8. Shrimp/prawns
9. Lean ground beef
10. Apples
11. Oranges
12. Tomatoes
13. Cucumbers

To Do:

1. Take unflattering pictures of myself to document progress.

Every day I'll update with my weight (ugh), what I ate, and how I felt. Weekly I'll update my measurements (ugh, again).

Goodbye Pudge and good riddance!