Not that it seems like anyone reads this or anything...
so maybe just for my own posterity. :)
It's been 8 months since I started R1 (round 1) back last February. I stayed on hcg for 62 days, a technically off-protocol, extra long round. I was still losing, and found my "groove" so to speak, so I stayed on it as long as I could mentally handle it. I knew for me, it was so hard, that I didn't want to have to do multiple rounds. I have several plateau-memory weights that it would take me awhile to get past, so really...the whole process just took awhile. In hindsight, I am so, so glad I did the long round, but it was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I learned a lot about myself, my eating habits, and made some real changes. I ended up losing a total of 32 pounds. Wahoo! I went into the spring and summer feeling so much more confident in the way I looked. My last dose weight was around 118.something or the other. I seemed to stabilize fairly well. Not within the 2 lbs Simeons talks about, but within the 5 lbs the long-time moderator of the yahoo group I'm a part of says is more normal now in our chemical and hormone-laden food environment.
I had always tentatively thought I may possibly do another round in October. I knew there were at least another 10, maybe even 15 pounds I'd like to lose. Like I mentioned earlier, my pre-baby weight was 103, but I was only 17 then, so I don't know that it would still be a healthy weight for me now at 32. Regardless, I know 118 is still a bit high for me, I can still see noticeable belly fat, not just baby flab, so I figured if I could wrap my brain around it I'd try it again.
As the summer went on, and the kids were super busy, I found myself eating fast food more and ahem...indulging more often. My weight was still around 123, so not too bad, but I could tell it was slowly creeping up...so round 2 it is.
I kind of got into a pre-loading mindset the week before I planned to begin, so my total pre-loading and "official" loading gain was a little over 4 lbs, but that was still almost 9 lbs over my LDW (last dose weight) so even now, on vlcd 5, I'm still now down to my LDW from R1, but it is what it is and I think overall I've done fairly well. Learning to change a lifetime of eating habits, emotional eating, boredom eating, stress eating (which I've realized this summer may just be my main trigger) and also change one's palate is a process. I'm in it for the long haul. :)
This time my youngest sister is apartner in misery joining me, so somehow that makes it better. I will say, while I've had my moments, round 2 is proving SO much easier on me mentally than round 1. I know anticipating it to be a short(er) round and the excitement of getting my weight down into territory I've not seen since my late teens is exciting!
So there you have it.
so maybe just for my own posterity. :)
It's been 8 months since I started R1 (round 1) back last February. I stayed on hcg for 62 days, a technically off-protocol, extra long round. I was still losing, and found my "groove" so to speak, so I stayed on it as long as I could mentally handle it. I knew for me, it was so hard, that I didn't want to have to do multiple rounds. I have several plateau-memory weights that it would take me awhile to get past, so really...the whole process just took awhile. In hindsight, I am so, so glad I did the long round, but it was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I learned a lot about myself, my eating habits, and made some real changes. I ended up losing a total of 32 pounds. Wahoo! I went into the spring and summer feeling so much more confident in the way I looked. My last dose weight was around 118.something or the other. I seemed to stabilize fairly well. Not within the 2 lbs Simeons talks about, but within the 5 lbs the long-time moderator of the yahoo group I'm a part of says is more normal now in our chemical and hormone-laden food environment.
I had always tentatively thought I may possibly do another round in October. I knew there were at least another 10, maybe even 15 pounds I'd like to lose. Like I mentioned earlier, my pre-baby weight was 103, but I was only 17 then, so I don't know that it would still be a healthy weight for me now at 32. Regardless, I know 118 is still a bit high for me, I can still see noticeable belly fat, not just baby flab, so I figured if I could wrap my brain around it I'd try it again.
As the summer went on, and the kids were super busy, I found myself eating fast food more and ahem...indulging more often. My weight was still around 123, so not too bad, but I could tell it was slowly creeping up...so round 2 it is.
I kind of got into a pre-loading mindset the week before I planned to begin, so my total pre-loading and "official" loading gain was a little over 4 lbs, but that was still almost 9 lbs over my LDW (last dose weight) so even now, on vlcd 5, I'm still now down to my LDW from R1, but it is what it is and I think overall I've done fairly well. Learning to change a lifetime of eating habits, emotional eating, boredom eating, stress eating (which I've realized this summer may just be my main trigger) and also change one's palate is a process. I'm in it for the long haul. :)
This time my youngest sister is a
So there you have it.
