Day 21 - COMPLETE!!

So I have completed the full 21 days of 500 calorie restriction, had 2 days of pre-carb and fat loading to help get through the first 2 days until the drops kicked in and these last two days of no drops and restrictions till the hCG worked it's way out.

Today I was starving - and so very happy that I can start to have gorgeous fresh crisp vegetables (as in more than one at a meal) and some sweet berries with Greek unsweetened yogurt. The odd piece of cheese or an almond or two are totally on the menu as well. The drops out of the system meant that I am no longer drawing fat as an energy source and it really feels different and quite uncomfortable. 

So it's back to using the Fitness Calendar to log in the calories and keep me on tract. 1700 cals is more than enough and I think that I will struggle to get anywhere near that on a daily basis.

Spicy Asian Chicken and celery stir fry 

Today was an Asian Chicken and celery stir-fry for lunch and meatballs with that baked spicy cauliflower dish that work really well together. 

I can't wait to try it with the full marinade to see how it really tastes! Soaking the cauliflower in yogurt, lime juice and zest, chili powder, cumin, garlic and curry with seasoned salt and served up with a gorgeous garden salad.

My normal meals aren't too terrible so I'm not worried to much about that, but will definitely watch the calories in the alcohol.

Thanks again for being so supportive to me and posting comments on Facebook and the occasional blog reply, I really do appreciate that many of you have joined me in my journey to health. Oh and I dropped those 300 grams that I put on yesterday so back to my end weight at last!

Thanks again and will keep up with the next 3 weeks of maintenance.

Cheers!

Day 20 and tomorrow's the last day of the 500 calories per day!

Well I am so happy to report that it is almost over, well phase II anyway, next venture I hope is going to be easier to find meal choices and I can't wait to have an omelet, some berries with yogurt and more than one type of vegetable with my meals.

Today I went up by 300 grams on the scales though I think that it is an adjustment from the 900 I lost over the 2 previous days. The last day of the drops is where you lock in your set weight so I just need to focus on that weight when jumping on the scales as my daily ritual.  

After the Detox

Before the Detox

In total I have lost 5.1 kgs in 20 days, not measured myself (because I can't find the bloody tape measure) so not sure about the cms, I will report asap on that one too.

So the photos as promised -
well there is definitely less of my hips and thighs and my 

After the Detox

Before the Detox

stomach is much lighter in the bikini. I am actually really happy although I didn't clear the full 7 kilos that they predict. I re-read the literature and it makes distinct comments about sabotaging the weight loss with poor sleep. If I was to do it over or if anyone wants advise I would say that when they recommend 8 - 9 hours sleep a night they mean it and you should put that in as a strong element to assist you in your endeavour.

Meat loaf with truss tomatoes and basil

Thanks you one and all for keeping me company on my journey through my 5 kilos. I will still post stuff regarding the next 3 weeks mainly to keep me honest but also for anyone who actually gets a buzz out of the Blogs. 

Good luck to anyone thinking that they might follow the hCG diet and contact me if you want any advise or recipes.

Cheers

Day 19 and last day of the drops.

Woke up and had lost another 350 grams so fingers crossed that there is more tomorrow, as it will be the weight that I need to keep within 900 grams of for the next 23 days to re-set the part of my brain that tells me what normal is.

The Hypothalamus is a particularly interesting organ that sits deep within the brain and is involved in many voluntary processes least most the size and weight of your body and what it deems 'normal'. It loves to have things in status quo so if left to its own devises and I misbehave with my eating it will want to take me back to my original weight and that is simply NOT ON! 

Veal and leek soup

In fact this next phase is probably as important and the last 3 weeks that I have plundered through. I will keep you in the loop because it's something that I am finding really interesting. I am also hypothesizing about the weight changes from early sleep to second rising and I wonder if it has anything to do with the muscles and connective tissue being stretched and alert. Think about how heavy your child is when they are asleep versus how much lighter they are awake. Just a thought...

Lunch today was another test - Soup of veal pieces pan fried and leek all of course with a bevy of herbs and today I chose thyme, chives and a sprinkle of fennel. Turned out pretty well and was super filling which is always a benefit.

My delightful son told me it looks like something nasty and maybe it does, but the flavour definitely passed muster.

Dinner I decided to do up a big green leafed salad with fresh basil and shallots and topped it with pan fried chicken breast. Crisp clean tastes with the added zing of apple cider vinegar was a lovely treat to my palate and a really healthy option.

It was much prettier on the plate than the previous dish though they were both good meals for the day.

I wonder what the scales will have install tomorrow and again wish me luck!

Cheers

OMG Day 18 and I can't believe it's almost over!!

So I woke up early (again) and happily found the scales had dropped again by 650 grams - YAY!!!!
I doubt if I will get to that magic 3 kilo's off but many thanks to all those who have said that almost is ok with them.

I have one more day to go with the homoeopathic drops and then two further days of caloric restriction whilst the hCG works itself out of my system. I am a little nervous about those two days as I don't know how hungry I'll get and what coping strategies I should employ.

Pork with crunchy broccoli and asian herbs

Lunch today was really nice, and made up from what my taste buds were after. Loads of broccoli, ginger, chilli, garlic and my Thai mint which is taking over the herb garden at present. All stir fried with strips of lean pork to make one really tasty mildly spicy dish that satisfied me all afternoon.

Dinner was on the run and packed to eat at the movies (Wolf on Wall Street), so it was light and easy to consume. Slices of roasted beef salted and wrapped up in fresh basil and iceberg lettuce. Alas no photos as I was in too much of a hurry.

Over the day and this coming weekend I will be scouring recipes for low carb and no sugar options to enjoy over the next 23 day phase. There are some pretty sensational sites on the web and I will reference them when needed. What I love is that people seem so giving of ways to help whether it's by forums or diet tips or recipes and the list goes on...

It tells me volumes about how not everyone is out there to scam you "on the net", there are actually some genuinely interested people who just love to share anything they can to help you out on your journey to health.

I thank you all.

Cheers!

Day 17 and it's moving again (fingers crossed)

So the good news is 4 days left before the next phase and I feel really good about it all. I woke up this morning and had lost 300 grams so I'm really hoping that it will be a steady decline for the remainder  of the detox. 

I also finally got the tape measure and lost a total of 13.5 cm on the areas we need to measure. So in 2 weeks I've lost 28.5 in total which seems a ridiculous amount. 

I am actually wearing shorts now that I was going to photograph the before and after but I couldn't get them on for the before shot, I feel really optimistic that I will keep this lighter healthier me long after I complete the 7 week in total regime.

Prawn and tomato broth 

Lunch was another soup but not off a recipe and a little too watery to hold a great flavour, still it was a prawn tomato broth with more wonderful herbs to excite my palette. 

I actually slow boiled the tomatoes with crushed garlic a small amount of onion till soft and then blended it, added the chives, coriander in with the prawns to cook them and sprinkled liberally with parsley before serving.

Dinner was a winner with my hearty meatloaf that I have banged on about for a couple of Blogs. The big taste was the spicy cauliflower.

Meatloaf with spicy baked cauliflower

I saw a Facebook recipe from my good friend Tricia and had to delve into it further. Whole cauliflower (adapted to my 150 gram portion) which you marinade with a mixture of the juice of 1/2 a lime, and a good amount of paprika, mexican chilli (because I didn't have regular) and cumin powder. Pop it into the oven on 175c for 20 minutes and then I microwaved it for another 3 minutes to soften it up a little. I made sure that I did this with the remainder of the spiced lime mix so that it really infused through the vegetable. 

It was absolutely delicious even though the recipe originally calls for yogurt in the marinade it certainly wasn't necessary in this case.

Bon appetite on this one if you want to try it out. 

Perfect world I  will be back tomorrow with more good news about a larger drop in my weight for the downhill run.

Cheers! 

Day 16 and trying to clear 3 kilos in 5 days...

Yes I know it is a mammoth task but I set my heart on loosing 7 kilos of unwanted dangerous fat and at 4 kgs down the time is running short. I didn't move on the scales today either so more disappointed that my stringent efforts to keep the right amount of calories in has come to a halt.

I do know that I had a 6:15 patient so that the sleep was definitely not as long as it should be, but why would it affect the weight? And why does it make a huge difference if you get up a little while later.

tomatoes heating in the pan with fresh herbs

One of my besties is doing the same detox and she remarked about the same phenomenon so it's not just me.

I am starting to eat veal this week, it is healthy, light in fats and goes well with almost anything. Lunch was a make up dish of pan fried tomatoes, garlic, onion, veal and a blend of fresh herbs including rosemary, thyme, chives and parsley to sprinkle on top. Super easy, quick and very nice.

The flavour of the herbs went all the way through the dish and was such a pleasant and filling lunch that I would happily have this again even after my goal weight is achieved.

The finished product

Dinner was an old favourite - the celery, sage and chicken soup. This time I added a small amount of garlic and onion with the chicken and when it was done I took the scrapings of the vegetables and topped the soup for a super crunchy extra sensation in my mouth.

This one will also be on the repeat menu as I start thinking ahead on strategies to keep my body shape and size exactly the way I want it to be.

Extra flavour by adding the pan scrapings

So only 5 more sleeps till the 3rd phase and a different outlook on meals. I really hope that I get a better result from those bloody scales tomorrow morning. 

Wish me luck!!

Day 15 and the start of the final week with bad news!

I can't believe it, I simply can't believe it, loosing 400 grams yesterday and putting 350 on this morning, WTF?????

I haven't done anything differently so I am flummoxed as to why the scales went up as they did. I do remember reading in the literature somewhere something about fluid loading or hoarding if we don't drink enough but if anyone actually reads these and you have an idea I would love to hear about it.

This is day 15 which means I am on the last week of the program. After that I go into 21 days of what they call Phase III or the maintenance which is pretty much eat more fats and protein. One rule only and that is NO carbs and NO sugar, this shouldn't be too difficult because I am not a big carbs chick anyway and my sweet tooth is all but gone. Anyway that is still a long way off in my books and I still want to loose another 2 kilos in my perfect world.

Lunch on the hop was roast beef (again) with beautifully plump vine ripened truss tomatoes. Thank God I did that roast at the start of the week as it has been a real blessing when I am on a tight timeline.

Tonight I wanted to do something special and I had bought scallops fresh earlier so that was on the menu this evening. Spraying those gorgeous succulent seafood bites with Braggs seasoning to add a little extra flavour and served with poached leeks was a wonderful treat to finish off a hectic day.

Sea scallops and poached Leeks

I am seriously hoping that whatever went awry today settles down and I can rid myself of that added weight and the toxins with it.

Cheers