Tuesday, December 30, 2008

VLCD Day #4

Starting weight: 222.0

VLCD Day #1 223.0 (result of loading)

Day #2 221.0 (-1)
Day #3 218.2 (-2.8)
Day #4 216.4 (-1.8)

Total lost after 4 days........

-5.6 lbs

Thats the good news. The bad news is I got sick. Bronchitis. YUCK!

It hit me yesterday late morning and the day just dwindled. I was worried it was the diet causing my aches and hunger, but now I can see it was the sicky sick. I didn't drink enough so that's why I got hungry. It doesn't help either that I don't like to cook and I don't like to plan meals. Those 2 preferences of mine don't help on this protocol because there is a lot of it. You have to plan every item that enters your mouth. That part is a pain.


I coaxed my wife into agreeing to assist me in this department. She is going to start cooking some things for me so I don't have to do anything but eat it when its time. That will be great!

Today has definitely been a better day than yesterday. I've kept up on my water consumption and haven't been hungry. I've spent the whole day in a hori
zontal position trying to get better. I've taken some Nyquil which I'm sure is not approved in the diet, but it makes me feel better. If it affects my weight loss over the next couple of days I'll have to deal with it because being sick sucks. I really hope this ends up being the roughest part.

I sat down to do my blog entry tonight and what do I find sitting on the desk right in front of the monitor?


She is obviously not on the diet with me. She doesn't need it at 115lbs. But that just isn't right!!!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

VLCD Day #2

Start Weight: 222.0
Load Day 1: 222.0
Load Day 2 :222.2

VLCD

Day 1:223.0
Day 2:221.0

Total pounds lost: 1 (2 if you use my "post load" weight)


So after 2 grotesque loading days I only gained 1 pound. I ate so much that I was full to the point of sick for 2 days. I had massive heartburn, indigestion, gas and some constipation as a result. More than you wanted to know I'm sure. The food was good, but boy did that stink (literally). DOH!!

VLCD Day 1 was a breeze. It was a little tricky to avoid eating what everyone else was eating and not lead to an interrogation. I said no to the pancake breakfast and said my stomach was uneasy. Then at noon I grilled some chicken breast which got some looks but no one said anything. I did not eat as much as the protocol instructs. It was a combination of being around family and really not being that hungry. Yes the HCG did take effect that quickly.

VLCD Day 2 (today). It hasn't been as easy as day 1 but it is still just fine. I think the only reason it has been a little more difficult is because we made the drive home today. There was tons of candy and junk food left over from stockings and such. Wife and kids snacked all the way home and I just ate an orange mid morning and for lunch nibbled on a cold chicken breast that I grilled yesterday along with some cherry tomatoes. It was fine. I like chicken.

I've missed doing a vlog on youtube the last couple of days because I didn't have access to a webcam. So I'm doing one tonight now that I'm home. Check it out here.

Friday, December 26, 2008

The adventure has begun.......Day #2

I started my experience on December 25, 2008. It is pretty easy to make Christmas day a load day in this house. We are currently with family for the holidays and there are festive foods everywhere you turn. And trust me when I say that I've taken advantage of that.

I almost wasn't able to start yesterday. We were traveling and it was in some pretty adverse weather. We've been pummeled by snow storms for several days now so we were traveling in a blizzard. We didn't arrive until shortly after 11am and I hadn't eaten yet. I was tempted to postpone my start by a day or 2 but then decided that this was the perfect opportunity to prove how obsessively dedicated I am to following this protocol and sticking to my word.

So, at just after 11am I self administered my first injection. Being that I am doing a 40 day protocol, I ordered 3 ampules of 2000UI HCG from DD.CA. I mixed the first vial yesterday morning with 8cc's of bac. water. I used 1cc to reconstitute the powder HCG in its own vial. I then transferred it to a mixing vial. I then added 7 more cc's to the mix. That gives me 125UI per .5cc injection. I am using .5cc insulin syringes.

I injected into my stomach and it was a breeze. No pain whatsoever. Not even a poke like a flu shot.

Today is Load Day #2. I am just about to have the breakfast feast. Then in about 2-3 hours we'll have the lunch feast....then snack feast....then dinner feast, then snack feast....and on and on until I wanna puke. I'll be relieved when the load days are over.

Start weight: 222.0

Day #1 222.0 (load day)
Day #2 222.2 (load day)


I weighed myself yesterday before loading. I weighed myself again this morning and found only a .2lb gain. I thought it would be more. I hope I ate enough. Time will tell.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

An early Christmas gift

GUESS WHAT!!?!?!?!?!

It came....it came, it came, it came.


My HCG arrived today. I thought for sure that it wasn't going to make it before Christmas. My original plan was to start my load days on Christmas but over the weeks I figured I'd have to start later because it wouldn't get here in time.

I ordered through drugdelivery.ca on December 1st. I ordered before I read a whole bunch of posts on some yahoo groups. Did you know that if you enter the referral code from all sorts of people that you can get free expedited shipping and a small commission to the referrer? I didn't know that until it was too late. Anyhow, I ordered 3 ampules of HuCoG 2000IU and paid for regular shipping. dd.ca sent me a tracking number that would supposedly be available through USPS. I periodically checked the USPS website with my tracking number. It always said that the item couldn't be found in their system. I wasn't worried because dozens of people on the groups have stated that it didn't show up in the USPS system until the day it arrived. Well, I am one more person to add to that growing list. I checked the website this morning and it said the package was waiting for me at the post office.

Queue chorus......."hallelujah, hallelujah"

So here was my timeline.

12/1/08 I ordered my HCG
12/3/08 HCG shipped and they emailed me a tracking number
12/21/08 It arrived

It only took 12 business days. That is a whole lot better than some people who've been complaining about not getting their shipments for over a month. Lucky me and I'm sorry for those who are still waiting.

So, we are departing on our Christmas adventure tomorrow. We are driving north to be with family through the holiday. We will be there through Christmas and probably return on 12/28. I will take my little drug kit with me and begin the protocol on Christmas day. I will load on 12/25 and 12/26. I will start the VLCD on 12/27. Wife thinks I'll have trouble on the drive home, but I think I'll be ok. We will see.

Did I mention that I feel like yesterday was a load day considering all the Christmas candy that I ate. Wifey made tons of treats for all the friends and neighbors. UGGG.

Wish me luck in this exciting journey and if you haven't already, check out the vlogs that I'm doing on youtube.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

My measurements? None of your DANG BUSINESS!

As the title says, how is that any of your business? I'm sure you wouldn't want to share your body composition and measurements with me.

Well, I'm the one going out on a limb here and publicizing my adventure. So here it comes. Keep in mind that I still have yet to receive my HCG in the mail. So I will do another round of measuring on Day 1. If the numbers are different, I'll let you know.

Without further adieu:

Neck 17 1/2
Chest 46 1/2 (right across the nipples....eeep, I said nipples. hahahahahahaha)
Stomach 45 (right across the belly button and over the love handles)
Waist 38 1/2 (thats weird because I do still wear size 36 jeans comfortably)
Thigh 25 3/4

And heres the real story:

Total scale weight 223.2

BMI
30.8 (biometric scale)
28.1 (skinfold calipers)
29.5 avg. (we'll use this number)

So stay tuned and watch this shrink.
Am I missing anything? Or am I just that thorough.....

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

15 minutes of fame

Check it out....I just started my youtube vlog. It will be available through the entire protocol. I won't be starting for at least another 3 weeks, but I have my introduction video posted for all to see. Weeee, I'm a celebrity now.


Sunday, December 7, 2008

Triage





I received my supplies from hcgprotocol.com a couple of days ago. Don't look in my pantry because you may mistake me for an insulin dependent diabetic or worse a heroin addict with all those needles. They got it to me within just a few days which impressed me. I'm still waiting for the HCG though because it's coming from another country. I'm not in a hurry yet because my plan doesn't have me starting until Christmas. Deep down I think it still won't make it here on time to start when I want to. Oh well, if it doesn't I will just start the day after it arrives.
YIKES--------------------------->

Friday, December 5, 2008

Kevin Who???

I am NOT a Kevin Trudeau follower.

I am not anti KT either.

I have never read The Weight Loss Cure and don't have any plans right now to do so.

Just my opinion....I have never been and never plan to be one of those people who are big into:

Detox
Body cleanse
Enemas
Flushes
All organic
Super au-natural
Auras
Energies
Colors
Spirits
Feelings
Herbology
Folk medicine
Naturalism
Homeopathy
and on and on and on and on

I'm just average Joe with a normal lifestyle, a normal personality (I think), normal friends and a "typical" opinion. I think the closest I ever came to participating in these alternative activities was visiting a chiropractor once. The result? I thought it was weird.....so there you go. I am in no way talking bad about those who are into those things, it just isn't me.

The importance of bringing this up is because if you begin browsing the internet on the topic of HCG you will find it completely inter-twined with the above listed lifestyles.

My chosen path is strictly the protocol set forth by Dr. Simeons in his Pounds and Inches manuscript. Therefore, you will never see one of my entries titled "R3P1D4V5". The only possible unfamiliar abbreviations I will use are:

HCG....Human Chorionic Gonadotropin
VLCD..Very Low Calorie Diet
LIW....Last Injection Weight

If I use anything else, it will be immediately explained.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Headed in the right direction

Any time that I embark on a new adventure, I really like to be as prepared as I can. This is no different. I've continued to read through websites, blogs and forums. What a vast network! Any questions that I've had up to this point (which have been few) are quickly answered with just a few clicks of the mouse.

I am now a member of 2 yahoo groups that support hcg users. The first one I signed up for is the one that Tim(delmem) started through his website. Not a lot of activity on that one so I started looking at what else is out there. I found HcgDieters. What a wealth of information. Just in the 24 hours that I've been a member I've received some valuable info. I woke up this morning to find 9 messages from this group in my inbox. Is that a good thing? Kinda. I am expecting it to get somewhat irritating after a while because I am pretty darn anal when it comes to a bunch of "stuff" in my inbox. But for now, its good because I'm absorbing as much as I can. If you sign up for it, just make sure that you select the option for DIGEST, otherwise you would get probably 100 emails for every post. In addition to the numerous posts by other hcg adventurists, I've found all sorts of tools that are going to help on my journey.

I found a food list that has all the items that you are allowed to consume on the protocol. Along side each item is the calories per ounce and a spot to record what I consume. It makes it easy to keep track of all that I eat and ensure that I stay right at 500 calories. <-------I'm still not used to saying those numbers without cringing.

I also found a neat spreadsheet program that I can log my weight each day on. It automatically calculates your total weight lost, pct lost, daily weight lost and a cool graph that grows with your entries. I did a little demo of my own on it and it was cool to watch the chart grow. It looks just like a stock chart of a company that is steadily sinking into the toilet. Hmmmm, kinda like our economy. :-)

I have my annual physical today. I have never looked forward to being told that I'm fat, so I'm again not looking forward to it. Lets just get it over with.

On a postive ending note.....I've always been a soda drinker. I know it isn't the best for you but at least its always been diet soda. My steady practice has been 2/day for as long as I can remember. I'd have one with lunch and one with dinner. About 2 weeks ago I just decided that I was tired of drinking soda. I don't know why. It was kinda weird and a bit of a relief really because deep down I always felt it just wasn't that good for me even though they are zero calorie and low sodium. It kinda makes sense I guess. Even though I've always thought soda was a "low sodium" drink, apparently it has still kept me retaining water. The reason I say that is because I have been doing a lot more urinating. Where I used to only go about 2-3 times per day, I've been going 5+ times lately. Now I haven't banned myself from soda. I've just drastically reduced my consumption and not because I've had to but because I've wanted to. Thats just cool!!!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

My Introduction



Hi, I'm Nate.





I just turned 36 years old. I am very happily married and have 2 terrific kids ages 3 and 9 months.



I consider myself an average guy. I have a good job that I enjoy, I stay very busy with my hobbies that include car building and restoration, atvs, sports and hanging with friends and the family.



I'm not as active as I could be or I wouldn't be doing this blog.





Here are the dirty details. I'm 5' 11" wishing I was just 6' tall. My current weight is 225 lbs. I've been overweight since the day after I graduated from high school. I used to be very active in sports as a teenager but graduation put that all to rest and I just started gaining and gaining. I was over 200 lbs by the time I was 21. I've yo-yo'd between 200 lbs and my current 225 lbs for over 15 years now. My ideal weight is somewhere between 165-180 lbs.
















I have had periods of time where I did a lot of weight training so I'm pretty stocky. I've tried too many different "diets" and "lifestyles" to remember. I've lost weight on just about all of them but I always put it back on.

About 2 months ago my sister began the HCG diet. She successfully released 25 lbs in about 40 days. She looks terrific and is so happy about it. When she first told me about it I thought she was out of her mind.



"You don't lose weight by consuming only 500 calories a day, Thats STARVATION!!!"





...and it will only come back the instant you can't take it anymore. Neither my wife nor I was supportive of it, BUT (don't tell anyone I said this) I was intrigued. Nothing wrong with educating myself about it, right? So I located the Simeone manuscripts online at hcgprotocol.com and read through the entire program. It actually made a lot of sense and if all these testimonials are true there must be something to it.

I spent a lot of time on YouTube watching all sorts of vlogs including productions from delmem & mamaclok. They are inspiring so you should follow my links to them. I've done some lurking on hcg diet forums and groups. I'm impressed with the number of successful stories and I am now convinced that it will work for me.

I took the plunge yesterday and ordered my supplies from hcgprotocol.com and drugdelivery.ca. My plan is to start at Christmas. I decided that my injections will start on December 24 so that I have the 24th and 25th to load on all that yummy Christmas stuff. Then its off to the new me.




Since I now have about 3 weeks before the protocol starts, there will possibly only be a handful of posts. Maybe if I learn something new as I continue to educate myself.



Wish me luck, follow my journey and experience the ups, downs, ins and outs with me by blog and by vlog on YouTube.