A diet that is actually working!!!

Day 4 of the HCG diet.  I've been saying I've only lost 4 lbs but that is 4 lbs between day 3 and day 4.  Day 1 and day 2 were what are called "gorge" days.  Most people will think that sounds crazy but all I can say is, it's working!!  Anyway, I won't post my starting weight but from pre diet to this morning, I'm down a little over 6 lbs.  In 4 days!!  and like I said, 4 of those lbs were lost that one day between starting the strict part of the diet until the next morning's weigh in.  I'm excited to see what the scale says tomorrow morning.

Most people think me doing this diet is crazy for 2 reasons....1) it's the holidays and 2) it is EXTREMELY strict!  For the first 21 days after the 2 gorge days I'm limited to 500 calories a day.  I've heard all the " that can't be good for you!" and "have you talked to your dr.?"  and "you must be nuts!" comments I care to hear and can handle.  I can only explain it to you like this:

I was diagnosed with PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome) in 2005.  Basically what that means is that my hormones are EXTREMLY off kilter, my adrenal gland doesn't function properly, my ovaries are constantly producing cysts (which typically leads to infertility but I had a miracle working God on my side!) and, if not able to be kept in check, eventually leads to type II diabetes, kidney failure, liver failure, morbid obesity and MANY....MANY other health problems.  I had been experiencing symptoms of it since coming home from college in 1996 and didn't even realize it.  Chances are, I had it since the onset of puberty but was so active, I was able to keep most of my symptoms in check and it was never diagnosed.  There are varying degrees of PCOS.  Mine has gotten to such a point that I feel miserable EVERY day.

Most people look at fat people and think, "man they are lazy", "How disgusting!!!...Who would want to be like that?  Who would let themselves get to that point?" and a plethora of other comments and thoughts.  I know...I used to be one of those people.  I have even been guilty of making such terrible comments such as, "If I EVER get that size, kill me!"  Seriously!  That HAS come out of my mouth.  Now that I'm a "larger" lady, I have compassion on larger people.  I'm not so quick to judge because you never know what health reason lay behind the reason they over weight.  Most overweight people, like myself, are DESPERATE to drop the unwanted lbs.  Some of us, like myself, typically have to force ourselves to eat on any given day.   Surprisingly, a lot of us continue to gain weight despite our best efforts and work out programs to she the lbs.  My dr. put it to me this way...."losing this weight is nearly impossible with your degree of PCOS.  Just to maintain, you would have to do an hour of cardio a day at least 5 days a week.  Guess what I did???  I joined the gym and did 1 1/2 hours of cardio a day 6 days a week.  (most of the time...there were times do to the fact I had 2 small children that I was not able to go) because I didn't want to maintain.  I wanted it GONE!!!  I've tried weight watchers, low carb diets, no carb diets,  good carb diets, south beach, Hollywood, calorie counting, my own work out program, taking a prescribed med that my Dr. put me on, C25K.  All to no avail.  I would drop 10 lbs.  Sometimes rather quickly, other times it took over 2 months to reach that and then I'd reach a plateau and never lose another lb.

I've been feeling so bad lately and in so much pain that my Dr.'s final suggestion was a hysterectomy with a procedure he would do to my ovaries that would cure my PCOS.  Sounds great right???  A cure!!!  I am OK with going through with the surgery but I've had 5 surgery's and 3 kids between 2004 and 2009 and I FEEL it!  IF I can avoid another surgery, I will explore that option first.  This diet is that final option.  I first heard about this diet over 6 months ago.  I've read testimony after testimony of people who've lost 40 + lbs in 40 days.  It was created by a Dr.  I've googled everything I can find out about this diet. (Obviously if it took me 6 mths to try it).  My visit to my Dr. 2 visits ago, I asked him about this diet.  He had never heard of it (which I'm finding to be common here in the South....seems we are the last to hear about anything.  LOL)  I explained it to him as best I could with the understanding I had at that point.  He thought it was just some fad diet that someone was trying to get money on (just by hearing me talk about it...he had never heard of it or done any research on it).   I trust this particular Dr. whole heartedly.  He's always been VERY attentive to my concerns and health issues.  He does a blood panel on me every so many months to make sure my kidneys and liver are still functions as they should.  He dot's his i's and crosses his t's.  So at that point, I put it out of my mind for a couple weeks.  Then I heard more and more testimony's.  I joined PCOS board's online.  They are communities made up of women who suffer from PCOS and read testimony after testimony of women who not only dropped a large amount of weight but also had all of their PCOS symptoms disappear.  So finally, after much prayer, research, and analyzing my options, I've decided to give it a try. 

Keep in mind, I've only just completed day 4 so I still have 17 days left of only 500 calories....I may not be very friendly at that point...LOL but so far, I'm pleased with the results and I'm ALREADY feeling better!  After these next 17 more days, I slowly start adding carbs back into my diet.  By the end of the diet, (it will be around day 44 I think) I will be on maintenance.  Should I chose to do this diet another round, I will have to wait 6 weeks and then start round 2.  I'm hoping that I will need no more than 2 rounds.  Maybe even 1.  We'll see at the end.

Another reason everyone tells me I'm crazy is that the holidays are coming up rather quickly.  I PURPOSELY chose this time because though I normally eat much less than my 7 year old does in a day and much less than most people eat in a day prior to this diet, the holidays are times that I do eat more than I should.  I think most people do.  And the holidays are FULL of fattening foods!!  I plan on making me a plate of my favorite foods, bringing it home and freezing it.  (Only 1 plate!!) that way when I'm through, I'll still be able to enjoy it but not have so much of it accessible.  It will be my "reward".

So in closing, I have this to say.  Until you've walked a mile in someone's shoes, try to give them the benefit of the doubt.  You have NO idea what that person has gone through and just how desperate they are to reach their goals.  Instead of discouraging them, ENCOURAGE them!!!  Be their cheerleader!  The pic I'm adding on is a typical lunch.  That is repeated for dinner.  I do have other variations to choose from but not many.  I've started eating the fruit in the morning and between dinner and lunch so as to help curb any hunger I may be feeling which isn't typical in the evenings...usually only in the morning.