Beta HCG Diet - Round 1 Winding Down

By next Sunday I'll be eating eggs and cheese for the first time in a month and a half, and I couldn't be more excited! I'm down nearly 25 pounds and am thrilled to be wearing clothes I haven't been able to wear (or I looked like stuffed sausage in them) for literally years. Round 1 is almost over. Whew!

Up until a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't IMAGINE going on to Round 2 on this diet. It's tough to do, tough to keep to when you travel, and very tough to do if you don't cook worth a darn. I'm not a bad cook but I am not used to cooking the way you need to on this diet. The food I could have (a very limited list) just didn't taste very good to me and many times I just kind of choked down meals with my eyes squinted and my mouth curled up (and not in a smile). Many vegetables I liked going into this I really hope I never see again. At least not by themselves.

Gee, who would've thought I'd be excited to eat broccoli again, and cauliflower? Zero desire for diet soda, which I used to live on. No craving for sweets, which in itself is miraculous! And I'm determined not to screw it up after I'm off of this diet. I didn't go through all of this to go back to my old eating habits.

So now that I've kind of got this eating plan down pat, I've only got a few days to go. I wish I could stay on it for awhile longer. (What?!?!? Who said that?) But I'm following doctor's orders and going only for the prescribed number of days. There'll be a minimum of six weeks before I can go on to Round 2. And I have to say, I'm eager for it. My first 25 pounds get me started but I want to lose that many again in Round 2.

What made the difference in hating the foods vs. now when I'm comfortable with it? For one thing, I am just in the habit of it all. I know better how to judge 3.5 ounces of meat or fish. I know how to order food in restaurants that is compliant (or nearly so). I bring my own little baggies to take food home with me, and I can cut off the parts I can't eat until another meal, slip them into the baggies and not have them on the plate reminding me of what I can't have. I've made some diet-compliant salad dressings so I can have greens in restaurants. HUGE difference there! Today I had steak and salad for lunch in a restaurant with a friend and it was yummy! And it was a big steak -- 12 ounces precooked -- so I have more for additional meals. Ah, life is good.

One complaint: Old London, if you think we aren't noticing that you have reduced the size of your melba toast by about 1/4, you are wrong! Nasty thing to do. Same package, same little packet size, but I have some "old" ones and the new ones are NOTICEABLY smaller! Screw you, Old London!

So now I am looking ahead to next Sunday when I can eat a wider variety of foods. OMG, am I looking forward to it! I'm also terrified on gaining weight when I do but with still stepping on the scales every day, I will be able to kick in to correction mode if I gain two pounds. (I'll explain that someday if/when I have to do it, and no, it's nothing gross.) For three weeks, I can't have grains, sugars or starches, but I am so excited about being able to eat eggs, cheese, creams, sauces and more than one veggie at a time that I don't care. I admit to drooling over bread but I can wait another three weeks for that.

One of the advantages of this diet, which I really hope holds true for me, too, is that it's supposed to recalibrate my "setpoint," or the weight that is "normal" for me to be at pretty much all of the time despite eating ups and downs. Fingers crossed for that!

Thank you, my friends, pals and random readers, for your comments, cheers and prayers for me during this not-always-fun time of changing my life. I truly appreciate it.