1 Week Results of the Un-HCG Experiment....

I finished one week of the experiment and here are the results:

Weight lost: -2.4lbs

Lost -1.5 inches off waist

Lost -1.5 inches off hips

Lost -.25 inches off each thigh

(Those were the only locations I measured, but I know I lost inches in other places as well.)

Avg fasting glucose: 74

Avg lunch 1 hr pp: 74

Avg lunch 2 hr pp: 74

Avg dinner 1 hr pp: 84

Avg dinner 2hr pp: 85

Overall I would say that is pretty good. The scale was frustrating. Now I remember why I got rid of it :) I lost for 3 days in a row really well. Then it went nothing, up, down, nothing. But no hunger or cravings at all. Energy getting back to normal levels. I also have to consider that before I started this I had been bedridden for 6 weeks, so using the muscles finally could be skewing the weight loss a little as well.

I fought headaches that were pretty intense and realized that this pain was the beginning of the pain that had put me in bed! I remembered how I promised myself I was not going to create that stress again, and that nothing was worth the pain I had been in. I said I would not be a freak and would just be sensible, and no scale. Well here I am weighing, counting and measuring everything. Stressing every time the scale said something I did not like. You give me numbers to hit and I will hit them. I follow everything to perfection. And I wonder why the pain was coming back???

So here is what I took from this experiment. I don't believe that HCG has anything to do with actual weight loss. I believe it is the composition of the foods we eat (at any calorie level) that determines if we lose or not. I believe that how easily we lose, under the right composition if food, is then largely affected by our own person levels of insulin and leptin resistance. I believe that on HCG, even though I lost ok, the hunger I felt tells me that much of the losses I had were at the mercy of my lean muscle. I can read back over the posts when I finished rounds that said I felt "skinny fat". Knowing that the HCG adds fat cells to my body that can now be filled, really bothers me. I also can't think of anyone who has really kept it off completely without eventually having to do more rounds to keep it there. (Myself included) Their hypothalamus did not reset, they just changed their eating habits enough to keep the weight stable. Then, if they start eating badly again, the weight starts creeping back on regardless of the new "setpoint". And for those who are not being really careful, they just gain it all back and then some.

Am I sorry I did HCG? No. Other than the fact that I made new fat cells :(, the rest is just a placebo in my opinion. But, it taught me how to break the sugar habit, to learn immense self control, to realize I really could lose the weight if I wanted to, and most importantly to realize that at the end of the day it was the choices I made of what to put in my mouth that made the difference, not HCG. It gave me confidence in ME.

So now I want to take all of the lessons I have learned so far, and put them all together. I want to make good food choices everyday. I want to keep sugar and processed foods to a bare minimum. I want to keep carbohydrates at a level that is effective for allowing my body to lose fat. I want to enjoy the food I eat and not be hungry. I want to be relaxed in my approach to weight loss and be able to flow with the ups and downs as they come. I want to accept that life isn't perfect and neither am I . Slip-ups happen, but I can be smart about them and get right back on track with little damage. I want to exercise because I enjoy it, and how it makes me feel. NOT to lose weight. I want to become the healthiest, best me, possible.

I am going to enter maintenance for a month and try to practice these principles. I am going to get the blood work done to see exactly how my metabolism is functioning, and where it needs help. Then in about a month I will do this program again for a week or two, and so on :) I am turning 40 this year in December, and my goal is to find that balance and start really living my life. Oh yeah, the scale is going back. My tape measure works just fine :)