Finally... Week 4 Update

Sorry about the wait kiddos, but I'm finally getting around to doing this... just about 5 days late. Anyway, I have completed 4 weeks of shots & went into "maintenance" phase on 6/12/10. As of that morning, I had lost 53 pounds. Not bad for 52 days worth of work, huh?! :-)

I will be in the "maintenance" phase until the end of July or first of August. At that point I will go back on the shots for 3 more weeks, then decide what the next step will be. The reason for the break right now is due to having to travel off & on over the next 6-7 weeks. Considering I was having to weigh my food & had to cook my own food, the folks at the weight loss center thought this would be the best thing to do. So, as long as I don't exceed my weight on 6/12/10 of 304 by more than 2 pounds... I can pretty well eat as much as I want of anything I want, except for...

No sugar, dextrose, sucrose, honey, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, or any artificial sweeteners. (Truvia is still okay to use because it's natural.)

No starch, including breads, pastas, any wheat products, white rice, potatoes, yams, etc.

No fast foods! (Lots & lots of "processed" crap!)

No trans fats, including hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.

No nitrites or nitrates.

Considering I've only been doing the "maintenance" phase for 2 days, I can say that I am definitely not eating near what I used to. I've been trying to keep track of my caloric intake for the last 2 days & I'm probably between 1200-1500. I've had scrambled eggs w/ cheese, turkey sausage, a glass of milk, a large plate of chicken-broccoli-cabbage-mushroom-water chestnut stir-fry, a salad with ranch dressing, a salad with homemade strawberry vinaigrette, a hamburger patty, a nitrate-nitrite free hot dog, & a couple pieces of fruit. Throw in a gallon of water each day & half gallon of ice tea... I've eaten pretty dang good! Notice I didn't have biscuits & gravy with the breakfast, I didn't have rice w/ the stir-fry, I didn't have croutons w/ the salads & I didn't have buns with the burger & dog. No starch!!!

Jen took a couple pics w/ my iPhone to show the latest results. Not sure if you can notice it or not, but the belt has 2 new notches in it. That's right.... I've gone down 5 notches.

The weight loss center also measured me on 6/8/10 to compare with my "starting" measurements. They are as follows:

BMI - down 7 points

% Body Fat - down 2 %

Neck - down 2.25"

Chest - down 3.5"

Waist - down 5.5"

Thighs - down 1.5" each

The results are awesome, but it's only a beginning. Not really sure when the "fall" will end... but I'm gonna hang on & enjoy the ride till it does. I'll keep you all updated throughout the "maintenance" phase & let you know when the shots start back up too. Until then, continue to keep me in your thoughts & prayers. It's greatly appreciated!!!

Until then...

Fish

Week 3 Update

Okay, today is day 42. The scales showed a loss of 45 pounds this morning. That's still more than 1 pound a day. Still don't understand how it's working.... but it is! I dropped another belt notch yesterday (that's 4 notches so far!!!!), I'm wearing my size 46 shorts which I hadn't wore in 2 years (my 50's were tight when I started!!!!) & I'm wearing 2X shirts that I've had hid away for a couple years! I finally got to wear the UK2K shirt Jen's aunt bought me for Christmas but was WWWWAAAAYYYY too small. That was cool!

Yesterday Jen & I were talking about a trip I have coming up in a few weeks for an engineering society I'm involved with. I told her this will be the first time in a couple years that I don't have to buy new clothes to go. Usually the clothes I wore 6 months before are to tight to wear to the next meeting. It feels good to just be able to open the closet & have plenty of dress clothes. Since I haven't wore them in a couple years, it's like I'm getting new clothes anyway... but not having to spend any money for them!!! I'm also excited that I won't have to ask for a seat belt extension on the planes. I've had to do that the last 3 trips! :-(

I told you last time that we had Jen's family reunion coming up & I had to do all the cooking. Well.... I ended up cooking 10 pork butts, 4 pork loins & a beef brisket. I would love to have dove in, but I only had a sample of the pork butt & brisket... each of which were no bigger than your little fingernail. So I was pretty please with my will power on that! The thing that I really was ECSTATIC about was that even though there was lots of beer & wine.... which I was offered on more than one occasion... I stuck to my cranberry juice & water. Will power - 2.... temptation - 0.

I talked to one of the nurses yesterday & it looks like next Thursday I will stop the HCG injections & go into the maintenance phase for a while. Once I get done with my summer travels, vacations, etc., I will go back on the HCG injections for another 3 weeks. We're doing this so I won't have to travel with my injections, food scales, cranberry juice, etc. I'll explain the maintenance when I learn more about it next week.

Till next time....
Fish