The Transformation: R1P2D13

I loved today. I considered it my "snow day" and didn't go anywhere, nor did I feel the need to. I slept in, stayed in my pj's till almost noon, and lazed around the house, ending it watching several episodes of Smallville with my handsome husband. It was great to just "be". This morning I was down .1 pounds and feel great! After my shower, I decided to try on a pair of jeans I haven't been able to wear almost since the time I bought them. Lo and behold, they fit, and fit nicely at that. I wore them all day and they've sat most comfortably on me, not digging into my stomach or hips. What a nice feeling.

I had my chocolate stevia in my coffee this morning, and it was like drinking a mocha, to a certain extent :) For lunch I made quiche again. It was an easy choice as I had slept in, and so, it was like having eggs for brunch. I very much enjoyed it indeed.

Supper I ventured out into the celery realm again. I haven't eaten it since that fateful day when I added a bit of lemon, leaving a vile tasting celery in my mouth. No lemons today! I chopped up the celery into bite sized chunks and steamed them. As they were steaming I spritzed them with some Bragg's, not knowing what this would do to my delicate celery. It was a gamble that I am happy to say I won. I also fried up 100g of lean ground beef and added some cilantro, rosemary, and bit of garlic powder. The aroma filling my kitchen was divine. I then poured both celery and beef into a bowl and enjoyed a tasty meal that turned out just dandy.

Needless to say, my mouth and stomach were happy with the outcome. I'm actually enjoying my inventiveness, for the most part. At least, I'm getting better with each day. Any of the recipes that I've tried I will definitely do again (minus the lemon on celery), and could even do in bigger proportion and feed it to my husband as well. But for now, I'll leave the experimenting to my food only, so if something doesn't turn out quite so well, he won't have to stomach it.

That's all for today.

Till tomorrow…

The Transformation: R1P2D12

Today has been a really great day, all around. With a changed attitude, it's amazing how an entire day can be altered. I weighed in this morning and was down another .5 pounds. My skin is clearing up, but my lips are so dry. I even have a cold sore starting. Not fun, so hopefully I can kill it quickly and be done with it!

Today sparked a desire to try something new and be creative, and in some ways, a bit inventive. Lunch consisted of some lovely haddock fried with a bit of sea salt and cilantro. I absolutely love cilantro, and as Hayden doesn't enjoy it, I'm going to use it as much as I can while I'm eating separate meals then him. I ate my haddock on a bed of spinach leaves and it was quite refreshing.

Supper is where I became a bit more inventive. I decided that I wanted teriyaki shrimp. I hadn't looked at a specific recipe in a while, but remembered I needed Braggs Liquid Aminos to do the job. It's a type of soya sauce, but without all the extra ingredients. It's basically just soybeans and water. So, on the way home I stopped by the store and picked up a small bottle of it. I also purchased a bottle of dark chocolate flavoured Stevia as well, to mix it up. I'm getting a little tired of having french vanilla everyday.

When I got home, I decided I would have cabbage with my shrimp. I found a teriyaki recipe and decided to make my own measurements and try it out. I weighed out my 100g of shrimp and in a separate bowl I added 2 Tbsp of Braggs, 3 Tbsp of water, 2 cloves of garlic, pressed with a garlic press, and a small chunk of ginger, grated. I then added about 10 drops of my french vanilla stevia, to give a bit of sweetness to the sauce. A quick taste told me it wasn't bad! I mixed the ingredients together and then put my shrimp in the liquid and let it sit for a little while, to gently marinate. I then cut up my shrimp in small chunks (it goes farther that way I find) and heated up my frying pan. I poured in the shrimp and sauce and sauteed the contents together. I then had my shrimp on my cabbage and let me tell you, it was delicious!

I am so impressed with my new found inventive ability! I had absolutely no cooking ingenuity before I started HCG, and now I'm well on my way to continuing the search for new and wonderful ideas, well after I'm done. I cooked spaghetti for Hayden at the same time tonight, and was very pleased with my self-restraint. I didn't even taste his sauce, so hopefully it was alright :)

The night ended with my delicious orange and piece of melba toast and now I go to get warm and cozy under my covers and read for a while before falling off to sleep. This weekend may be a homebound one as the snow continues to fly. I don't really mind that in the least.

Stay warm and drive safe

Till next time!

The Transformation: R1P2D11

Here we are, half way through, only 2 weeks to go. The finish line is close! This morning I was down another .7 pounds making my total thus far 10.5 pounds. I'm feeling great, getting heaps of sleep, drinking uber (yes, I just used that word) amounts of water and making myself despise the word "fish" haha. I think, one of the best habits that will come from this, is the drinking of absurd amounts of fluids, which is supposed to be normal anyway. Before I started, I hardly drank any water through-out the day, which is never a good thing, but now, I feel great having my system flushed out and feeling like all the toxins that were stored up inside me wiped clean. Hopefully it's not just a feeling, but an actuality.

I had an awesome friend give me a good reality check today concerning this journey. I realized, that I had become so focused on my bodily results, that it had begun to consume me, even if in the smallest measure. Something I had never wished to ever do in my life. I lived each day thinking constantly about what I would eat next, how much I've lost, and what my body looks like, that I've missed some very key elements to this whole journey. It's the health factor, and in some ways, the spiritual factor. This is great for my health in that I am flushing my body of those harmful toxins and other such things that I've carelessly put into my body in the past. I'm eating clean foods, keeping or lowering, things like my blood sugar level and cholesterol. This is so important to do now and have a better life when I'm older, then neglecting the body I have and reaping the percussions of my bad choices later in life.

This has also become a spiritual journey for me, as I learn more about myself and who I am in God's eye. How does He see me in all this and would He be pleased with my consumed distraction that takes me away from Him? Not at all. I need to be absolutely consumed with Him, and after that, all else falls into place. He is my strength, He is my portion. The Bible talks about our bodies being temples of God, that we are to take care of them. At first this diet was almost a selfish decision because I wanted to look good in a bikini and thought that by losing weight I would feel more sexy for my husband and feel better about myself in every way. This couldn't be farther from the truth. I have a husband who loved me just as much before this journey began as he does now, and I have many who love me, no matter what shape. I have a great life, with so much joy surrounding me, and if I can't feel great about myself now, then it will never happen after I lose weight. So now, I turn my focus to God on this journey, to make my body a healthy and holy temple for Him to reside. This is the main goal, and not to fall back into gluttony or ill care of myself, but to maintain that which I have gained from the loss, and so keep myself at a healthy place always. Thank you my friend. :)

After all this, is seems a bit odd to talk about my yummy supper, however, the main reason I do this is to also help give ideas to those reading this who are also on this diet, and to those who just want to try and eat clean.

Supper was lovely. I had 100g of Haddock which I fried up in fresh garlic and fresh grated ginger. I heated the pan with some water first and added the garlic and ginger to urge their flavours to burst.

I then laid the fish on top of the cooking garlic and ginger and steamed it.

I boiled some cabbage, which you can tell is now a new favourite. I drained the cabbage and poured it into a bowl and then placed the fish on top.

I crushed up the fish and mixed it into my cabbage so I had both in every bite. It was quite satisfactory and pleasant.

Well, this has been a bit to chew, so I'm going to sign off now for tonight.

till tomorrow...

The Transformation: R1P2D10

I woke up absolutely hungry today! This is the first time since I started that I can remember waking up hungry. It was almost a strange feeling to me as it happens so rarely these days. Today I weighed in and was down .3 pounds. Not as much as I was hoping, but at least I wasn't still in a stall. I just don't know what my body is going to do and how it needs to adjust itself. As it's been said "patience is a virtue".

It was a mentally challenging morning, however, with the little change of the last couple days and that number on the scale eluding and taunting me. I just want to get below the number I'm on, but feel like it won't give in to me that easily. I have to remember, it's just a number on a scale. The other mental challenge of the day was one of those struggles where you can almost feel "what's the point?!" and perhaps this is as good as it's going to get, so why continue? I've heard this is normal for this point in the game, so pushed through those first initial feelings. The thing that's so hard to believe, is that I might actually be without back rolls at the end of this. That reason may sound crazy to you, but I've had them since I was 11 and no matter what I've done or how well I've eaten or how often or how hard I worked out, they never budged, much to my absolute frustration. So to think they might disappear is, right now, almost the same as believing in a fairytale. It's just too good to be true. But stick to this I will, and I have faith that it will be worth it in the end.

I'm so thankful for work, as it sure helps the days pass by a bit more quickly. I'm almost at the half way mark and am excited about these last couple of weeks. I'm also thankful for all of you out there who are so amazing in your encouragement during this time. One can always use it.

After such a start that today was, it ended rather nicely with a new change to my menu. For lunch I had made up chicken and cabbage the night before, but then found out that I could add a bit of egg to my plan in substitute for my meat. Loving eggs, I ventured out and made a most delicious asparagus quiche! A friend has posted the recipe, so I tweaked it a bit to my tastes. I steamed two cups of chopped up asparagus and then in a separate bowl I whisked 1 egg + 3 whites together. I added some fresh garlic and some basil to my eggs. When my asparagus was done, I drained it and poured it into a small oven-safe dish and covered the bottom. I then poured the egg mixture on top and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. I have a picture as I would like to start adding a bit more then mere words to my blog, for my sanity and yours :)

My yummy (and quite filling) quiche

Thus, my day ended with something new in my stomach, a new determination to beat this mental block, and a rebirth of excitement for what tomorrow may come. Thank you for walking with me on this journey. It's not quite like anything I've ever been on or done before.

Till tomorrow!

The Transformation: R1P2D9

As I weighed in this morning, this day was unlike the rest. The scale hadn't moved at all! No loss….however, no gain either, and that's a very good sign. I didn't worry or panic at all, as this is quite normal in women who are on HCG. We hit plateau's throughout our regime and it's not anything to worry about. It could last a day or two, but then the weight catches and up and "Whoosh!", you're losing again and right on track. I drank more liquids today, to possibly help the plateau flush itself out of my system. I do hope that works as I'm not really interested, nor looking forward to having to go through an "apple day". This is where all I eat all day, are six apples. I'm sure it will be just fine :) Tomorrow will tell!

Regardless of this absence in loss according to the scale, my body continues to show me signs that it's losing the fat. Slowly but surely the rolls are shrinking, if ever so slightly. I still have over 2 weeks left, so I'm hoping that in the latter stages of the month is when the physical signs are blatant and the rolls just melt off completely! I don't want any signs of them when this is through. Then, after this is all done, it's back to the gym to tone up again and possibly start training for another triathlon.

Today has no real tid bits, struggles, or even anything new to describe menu wise. I ate chicken and cabbage for both lunch and supper, without regret and with much delight, but should probably mix it up tomorrow for supper and try something new. I'll have to see what else I can find that I may not have tried yet. The possibilities seem endless at times!

Well, this is short and sweet, but that's all for tonight! I hope you're all staying warm, wherever you are.

till next time!

The Transformation: R1P2D8

This will be a short one as it's already quite late. The Banff Film Festival took up my evening which is always a great excuse to get out. This morning I weighed in and found I was down down another .8 pounds. Thankfully my little drop mess-up yesterday didn't alter anything that I could see, anyway. This brings my total loss to 9.5 pounds….in a week! That is really something. I had to laugh today, because I saw an ad on the front of a magazine that said "Lose 10 pounds in 2 months! Find out the secrets". Well, I lost almost that in a week! That made my day for sure.

Today was also a day of discovering the delight that is cabbage. I picked up a head of purple cabbage to give it a go and add a bit of variety to my life. Apparently variety only exists in food these days :) Lunch was the same as supper last night, asparagus and 100g of marinated steak. Having sat overnight, the taste was stronger but still just as great.

Supper, however, was going to be something new. I cut about a 3/4 inch slice of cabbage and shopped it all up into small bits and then boiled it until it was very tender and close to becoming mush, but not quite. I grilled up 100g of chicken in, you guessed it, garlic and rosemary. I then put half the cooked cabbage into a bowl (the other half is for lunch tomorrow) and poured the chicken on top. The cabbage resembled the texture of rice, so it was like have a rice bowl, only cabbage instead. And it has a naturally sweet flavour, which is a nice change. Needless to say, I am hooked and hope to use cabbage as my veggie more often now. Lunch tomorrow will look identical to my supper tonight, as it's much easier to cook 2 of everything the night before then try to cook in the morning. That's the last thing I want to do as soon as I start a new day :)

I snuck in my orange and melba toast for a snack during the film festival and I even took all my peels home with me :)

All in all, today was a good day. I started to feel a cold coming on this morning, but have battled it out and that feeling has fled, thank goodness.

Till next time!

The Transformation: R1P2D7

Today was a....different day, shall I say? It consisted of new discoveries and also a moment of memory lapse causing much fret and a tinge of worry, readily consoled by my dear husband through his gift of humour. It started the same, waking up and weighing myself. I was down another .5 pounds. It didn't seem like much, but it was still something, and that is always a good thing. I too easily beat myself up over things like this, wondering if I could done something different yesterday to have changed this number, but I very quickly nipped that one and told myself to cool it. Losing is losing and that's what matters. I don't have heaps of weight to lose, and I still have over 2 weeks left. I'm just fine.

After this early morning mind struggle, I then noticed something that I'd not noticed up to this point. My body looked different. Just slightly, but still, to my scrutinizing eyes, observable. Until now I'd noticed no improvement in the loss of rolls or the slendering of my shape, even with the weight loss....until today. It was ever so slight, but my hips seemed a bit smaller, my back seemed a bit flatter, as did my stomach. It was a neat thing to experience. I realized then, even more, it's not the number of the scale that matters so much, it's how I feel and look afterwards. Up until I started this diet, I never weighed myself at all. I didn't care. As long as my clothes fit, I was happy. I avoided it because I knew, with my personality, I ran the risk of becoming obsessed. This was something I never wanted to be in anyway, so to start this diet and have to weigh myself everyday was a scary notion. But I know my husband will keep me in check and keep from becoming that obsessed being. Perhaps that's why I never found this diet until now, because I needed his support, assurance, encouragement and accountability. Thus said, the morning started out better then I anticipated and I've felt great all day. I haven't felt the slow feeling of compression of the body that usually occurs during the day. This is something new.

The other thing I realized, just tonight, is the amount of energy I have. Normally I'm always tired and have a hard time getting out of bed. I yawn all day and feel like I'm dragging my feet, never getting quite enough sleep....or so I thought. I realized that with each passing day, getting up has been less of a chore and more a joy. It's gotten, dare I say, easier? Also, I'm not tired during the day anymore. I hardly ever yawn and I am wide awake, even now, not feeling the need to go to sleep yet. I even forgo my normal Sunday afternoon nap. I simply did not need it. This is a bizarre and fantastic new discovery which I am enjoying thoroughly and look forward to continuing.

We had a potluck after church today, and I brought my own lunch. I had made it last night, so it was the same as my supper. I had 100g of grilled chicken with garlic and dill and ate it on a bed of spinach with a bit of chopped up celery for the crunchy factor. I wasn't even tempted, nor did I desire, the pots full of chilli, cornbread or spread of decadent desserts. They didn't even call my name.

This afternoon is when I had cause of my worry and fret. Hayden and I had to go out to do some grocery shopping and run a few errands. It wasn't until we were on our way home, at 5:30, that I looked at my phone and realized, to my horror, that I had missed my alarm to take my drops at 3:30!!! I've been so good at taking them at exactly the same time daily, so this almost caused a breakdown of epic proportions, which was quickly dissipated by sound reason and soft words by Hayden. How I love that man. It was my first accident, and I'm hoping that it won't effect my results horribly, if at all. I'll find out in the morning. I will definitely be more careful next time!

Needless to say, because I took my drops 2 hours later then intended, by the time supper time came I was overtaken with hunger. I was going to experiment with cabbage tonight, but decided against it as I just needed to eat, and eat as soon as possible. So asparagus it was....with some delicious steak marinated in my little concoction I had created a few days ago consisting of white wine vinegar, Mrs. Dash, minced garlic and a dash of salt and pepper. I was soon completely satisfied and full after my meal and feeling quite content.

After dinner, as a treat with my apple and melba toast, I made a cup of delicious tea I purchased today. Earl grey chocolate flavored tea! Oh my gosh! It was close to heaven in a cup. It wasn't overpowering, it wasn't sweet, but the flavors captured in that tiny little tea bag were exquisite and just what I needed for the end of today. And with that, this day is coming to an end and I best get to bed as I have work in the morning. Hopefully the roads will cooperate with my little car.

till next time....stay warm out there!