well, the first day after the “eat all you want/can to set things with the HCG” two days.  I can tell the HCG is working because I ate (for me) a HUGE amount of food and ended the two days weighing what I started them

So today I had coffee with 1 T milk and vanilla creme stevia

Then for lunch I ate 100 g orange roughy and 2 cups of cabbage (seasoned with sea salt and apple cider vinegar) and 1 gaia apple

For dinner I just ate 100 g steak and 2 cups asparagus seasoned with some lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and garlic sea salt. For dessert I’ll be having 1/2 a grapefruit with stevia sprinkled on

I was hungry this afternoon and if I had to do it over again (which I will tomorrow LOL) I’d save my apple for a mid-afternoon snack. But I did okay. I kept busy, had tons of energy, and didn’t feel too deprived I actually enjoyed all the food and felt really good

It’s nice that I have a lot of hope of this finally working–and that hope will turn into success that builds on itself as soon as I start actually losing–which should be tomorrow morning.

the first two days are unattractively called Gorge Days as you’re supposed to take the HCG but also eat all you can–which is the part of the whole experience I’m most worried about.  I really don’t eat much–I have no appetite. So my stomach already hurts because I dared to eat pancakes for breakfast.  I was able to eat 3 of them   I’m about to go get coffee and then will do my best to eat a full day’s worth of food.  I realize one of the reasons I’ve held weight is that my body is in starvation mode due to the celiac, DI, and ensuing B5 deficiency.  This is what I’m working hard to reset and when we’re done I should be eating 3 full meals a day with snacks in between the way normal healthy people eat.  I think this is going to be a good experience for getting in touch with myself again as it relates to food.

Later today while I’m out I’ll be going by Sprouts and getting Stevia sweetener (apparently I decided I wasn’t going to use mine and gave it to my mom LOL) and I’ll be getting some liquid stevia with flavorings for my coffees. 

Yesterday I bought my food scale for the meat and some meats and veggies that are on the approved list so I could make it through the first week unhindered  

and I did weigh myself but I’m going to keep that out of public viewing. I will track how much I lose each day though

I  am so excited to report that eating our first meal last night was a wonderful experience.  Because it cooks like a slow cooker it was easy easy easy. Just put food in the pots and leave all day.  You can either keep track of time for cooking longer or slower recipes or you can face the whole thing South and take off–and though we didn’t actually leave that’s how we did it.

A pic of the oven in use:

  This was the stew I made.  It had squash and zucchini from our garden, basil from our herb garden, sweet onions, diced tomatoes, and red potatoes and was seasoned with garlic seasoning from Grill Shakers and Sea Salt.  You don’t add water as the foods cook in their own juices. YUM

  And this is my Cherry Cobbler dessert that was delicious and perfectly bready.

Okay–got pics

We also have a garden in the front with herbs and other plants growing with a little white picket garden fence framing it off. Very cute

We got the solar oven we ordered and I’m so excited!  We are hoping to do most of our cooking in the solar oven and on the grill so that we can save energy and avoid heating our kitchen because we only have a window a/c unit in there. So today was the first uncloudy day since we got it and it’s out there cooking away   I have cherry cobbler and a stew of potatoes and squash and zucchini.

I’m also done with my liver cleanse as of this morning which means as of tomorrow I start the HCG diet.  I’m doing the sublingual drops and that means today I have to go get a scale for my food and some other products since I can’t have oil on me.  I’m not advocating this diet; I’m not encouraging others to do it; I do want to track my progress and share the recipes I find or come up with.  This is something my naturopath has me on because the metabolism balancers and the natural weight loss products I was on for two months left me not a single pound lighter than when I started.  So I’m doing this with doctor supervision.

So this is my record and I hope it encourages someone else who may be using either of these products