[#[SoftAzerZx]]

Hello,

Week 2 was a million times harder than week 1 and for one reason only: the weight did not come off as willingly or quickly. Over the entire week I only lost about 3.5lbs and 1 inch from my stomach... no inch loss anywhere else. It was (is) devastating, especially after a wopping 9 lbs loss the first week. As I stated in my last post I had TOM and didn't get to exercise as much but still... pretty disappointing. Yesterday I walked for an hour and also went to Bokwa in the evening, and only lost 0.4 lbs this morning. Have been swimming today so we'll see if that makes a difference tomorrow. Just to reiterate I have NOT cheated at all!! Been a good girl!! Because the weight loss has been slow/minimal it has been a greater struggle to stick with it, motivation has waned and on Friday I was DESPERATE to eat chocolate. But I didn't, phew.

Now I just have to work out my game plan from here. The long term goal is obviously to get rid of as much fat as poss, try to keep my boobs, and get my life and self-esteem back. I think HCG can give me that, but over a longer period of time. If week 3 is kinder and I manage to lose say 7lbs, FANTASTIC!! No, I won't be at my goal weight, but I'll still feel so much better. But I don't know how this week will turn out, so just going to assume it might be similar to this week. Which would mean my final weight would be about 123 lbs. I cannot go on holiday at this weight!! I will not feel confident in a bikini or fit into my favourite summer dresses.

I fully understand the point of Phase 3 is to maintain and I also understand why - to reset your hypothalamus so that, providing you continue a healthy, balanced diet, you will not regain the weight you lost long term. It teaches your body to weight the weight you are at the end of P2. EXCEPT I DON'T WANT TO BE THAT WEIGHT! I still have a lot of fat to lose!!

So what I'm thinking is, I'll do phase 3 - incorporate new 'allowed' foods, avoid sugars and starches and still watch my calorie intake, increasing it gradually. But I will not try to necessarily maintain the weight - if I continue to lose then that will be perfect. Same with phase 4. I KNOW that is against protocol but I need to get smaller before August 14th!! I'm also going to up the exercise and toning to give me more muscle (to burn more fat).

After my holiday (I plan to enjoy myself but not go mental) I will continue having a 'clean' diet, free from processed food and have a lot of P3 type meals. Obviously keep up the exercise. And this is how I want to live from now on. So if I go out to eat for someone's bday I order what I like without giult, because every other time I is healthy and balanced.

THEN if necessary, I might do HCG again in January. The reason for waiting this long is twofold:
1) I might not need to. If my lifestyle is healthy and I keep the weight off and reach my goal, FANTASTIC.
2) Before then it will be my birthday, my sister's 21st, Christmas etc etc... Again I don't plan on going crazy but I don't want to miss out on big events for a diet. Everyone knows that in January social life seems to decline and EVERYONE is on a diet.

In an ideal world I will be 110 lbs for my holiday. How realistic/possible that dream is will depend on how kind HCG is to me this week!!

What does anyone think about this?? Any tips/advice? ALL WELCOME! This is my first time on HCG btw.

Thanks guys!
X

[Usendyduexy]

The average weight loss for a woman is .5 to .75 lbs a day. Much of the weight lost in week 1 is retained fluid from a carby sugary lifestyle.

Phase 3 does not teach your body to be "that weight". It completes the reset of your hypothalamus and metabolism.

Try not to get caught up in the day to day with the scale. You did not gain this weight in 40 days, but you can lose a lot of it quickly. Even with your week two loss of 3.5 lbs (which I would kill for), it is a faster rate than any other protocol I've ever followed.

[Vznvtthq]

You are going at this the wrong way, though, and with wrong expectations.

Average loss for women is 0.5 - 0.75 lbs a day. The first week is rapid, because a) you are losing your loading weight, and b) you are losing water retention. The closer you get to goal weight the slower it gets, too. Throw in TOM and cardio exercise, and you are actually doing exceptionally well.

I gained 4.5 lbs within 24 hours on TOM. Just saying. And cardio exercise can cause water retention and inflammation... not necessarily bad, but the scale might not accurately reflect if you are losing abnormal fat.

P3 and P4 cannot be skipped, though many of us just stay on P3 for 6 weeks, instead of splitting that. Why bother introducing carbs, if those made me fat in the first place, and I just gotta cut them out for the next round? You are resetting your hypothalamus. In order for this to catch, you actually gotta get it working again. It not only helps with stabilization (which is essential in between rounds), it also helps to keep your skin tight.

There will also be some reshaping in P3, so you will most likely still lose inches then. Don't bother counting calories or watching your fat intake - that is not P3. P3 means having fun with meat, fish, veggies, and healthy fats. Real fun. Honestly, I love P3.

You now know that it is a huge commitment to do HCG. Do it right. Otherwise, you will look back a couple of weeks later, and wonder why you wasted your time...

[StanWatts]

Ok, thank you! I guess I should be happier with the loss so far that I am, didn't realise that TOM was such a huge factor! I am grateful with the weight I've lost already!! Just wanted to figure out where to go after this last week is done.

So... are eggs ok in P3? Or just the egg whites? And is plain natural yogurt fine? How many servings of healthy fats in a day? And should I introduce each new food 1 day at a time rather than like have eggs, avocado and yoghurt in the same day? I have seen so many different lists of which fruits/veggies are ok and which aren't my head is spinning! And when you say 'reshape' how much exercise should I aim for?

[JosephEL]

Honestly, no limit to coconut oil, olive oil, meat, fish, all non-starchy veggies... really, really easy. The only foods that you should be careful when introducing: eggs, dairy, nuts, and cheese. Do one at a time, leaving a couple days in between, to see how you do. Either through physical discomfort or weight gain.

Having lived so clean on P2 means you will definitely notice food sensititivies that you never knew you had. I was miserable on eggs, for example, but happy as can be on dairy. It's a matter of listening to your body again.

The less you stress your body with foods that you are sensitive to, the less inflammation you will have - which is the healthy way to be, not just for weight loss.

[IteseFrusty]

For more weight loss after this round, you just do more rounds until you get where you want to be. You can lose weight on your own after P3 but it comes off very very slowly or not at all for most without hcg.