I had originally intended to go 40 days with the HCG but have decided to stop at the 26 day mark for several reasons. I’ll give a final update when I have it but so far I’ve lost 17 pounds (possibly more because eating meat causes me to have edema and I have quite a bit of water weight that should still fall off) and almost 20 inches! I’m very glad that I did this! Nothing else has gotten my weight moving and I feel like my metabolism has gotten the reboot that I was told this would accomplish. I also am, for the first time I can remember, not struggling with systemic candida symptoms.
As for why I’m stopping: with my unique allergies I’m not able to eat most of the food available, or the alternatives. No chicken, eggs, low-fat cottage cheese. Of the vegetables that I can eat there are only a few that I like enough to eat in the amounts allowed–they must be eaten only one vegetable at a time and I’m just not going to eat 2 cups of fennels or 1 cup of onions (I’ve eaten grilled onions a few times but it’s not something I can do often). This means I’ve been eating combinations of around 6 things and I’m just burned out.
On the positive–my metabolism has been kick started and despite being assured I wouldn’t be hungry on the HCG, the last several days I have been STARVING! It’s not just psychological either–but my brain is running back through all of the recipes I used to make! I got Vegan with a Vengeance and am going to pull out some of my favorite books this weekend. When I start, on Wednesday (you have to eat the 500 calories for 72 hours after ceasing the HCG supplement), with the first 3 weeks of the maintenance part of the diet I’m going to go full on vegan (with a vengeance *giggle*) and stick to approved foods. I’m very hopeful that I will continue to lose weight. As I can add in additional foods in the following three weeks I will keep it to healthy vegan foods and I’m confident that my body will remember what it did the last time we ate this healthy!
If not, I can always do this again in October 