Beta HCG Diet -- Re-entry Day 1: Painful!

Before I went on this diet 41 days ago, my feet were both swollen. I hoped that losing weight would help that. After a few days on the diet, the swelling was completely gone in my left foot and nearly gone in my right. I was delighted!

Two weeks before I went on the diet, I'd had arthroscopic knee surgery. I'd had zero pain. Zero. Unbelievable but true. I was a bit stiff when I got up from sitting for a long time but did okay in physical therapy and afterward so I thought I was doing great.

Yesterday was the last day I had any HCG in my system, which is why I could go back to eating more foods today. Yesterday my feet started swelling again. You've gotta be f*%&ing kidding, I thought. It has to be the HCG because I was still eating the same restrictive way until today after noon.

Also today my left knee hurt so much that I actually took my cane with me when I went out. For all these weeks I took no glucosamine and chondroiten, no Celebrex, no ibuprophen, no aspirin. Nuthin'. So apparently the HCG was doing good things for my knee, too, because without it -- and with that being the only change -- today my knee hurt incredibly much, a lot more than after my surgery, when I also wasn't taking anything. Why????

All day today I've been terrified that if I ate I'd gain a bunch of weight. It's Thanksgiving so I went out to eat. Went to a diner, of all things, because their dinner was much cheaper than a high-tone restaurant and I could get it the way I wanted it. Namely I could get it without stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Those are all things I don't think I could pass up at somebody's house because they'd be on the table and other people would be scarfing them down and I'd be looking at them with that pathetic, feed-me look that dogs give you when they look up at you with those big brown pools of pleading eyes. In the diner, the guy next to me was having eggs and french toast. The people on the other side of me were finishing their meal so I didn't have to see their full plates.

I had turkey and put 2/3 of it in my little plastic bag to take home. I'd intended to take half but found I was only hungry for about 1/3. I also put my whole helping of string beans in a ratatouille-like sauce in another little plastic bag. Can I even eat string beans or are they considered starches? I ate the florets of my helping of broccoli, and that was enough. I had maybe a tablespoon of the gravy I'd asked for on the side, maybe just a teaspoon. Just enough to take the edge off of the dryness of the plain turkey. The salad I probably enjoyed more than anything -- what a joy to eat lettuce AND tomatoes AND a tiny bit of ranch dressing all at once. Not sure if the ranch dressing is in the "okay" column of foods but I'd forgotten my HCG-compliant dressing (which I'm not wild about -- too tangy) so I went with it. The only other thing I ate all day was one little Babybel disk, which was sooo good, as I drove home from the store.

It's nice not to feel stuffed after a Thanksgiving meal. Can't remember when that last happened. And I survived passing up stuffing and the other usual trimmings. Pie doesn't appeal to me. Whew, is that a change from the old me! All of it! I love this and pray that I can keep it this way.

There are still some hours to go before today is over. I may eat some more turkey, and I may have a slice of mozzarella cheese. I think I'll be quite happy with that. And I'll hold my breath until I get on the scale tomorrow morning. I pray I don't gain weight. Given the promises of this diet, I'll be quite upset and disillusioned if I do. Stay tuned.