Update on the HCG Diet

It's been over three weeks since I ended the vlcd* stage of my HCG diet (eating only 500 calories a day while taking HCG drops), and I thought it time to update you on where I am now.  I've finished step 3 of the diet (the maintenance stage) which is slowly introducing all foods back into my diet while staying away from carbs and sugars.  About one week into step 3, I must have overdone the introduction of fats into my system as I suffered my second gallbladder attack ever.  Knowing that a common causation of gallbladder attacks is losing a major amount of weight (or gaining it) quickly, I should have been more careful about what foods I was eating.  The attack sent my body into a 24-hour fast and more weight loss, however I've regained the weight lost and am now very careful about what I eat.  After a thorough check-up (including a complete blood panel done), my doctor has declared me healthy and is impressed with the progress I've made.

Besides the "forced" fast I experienced, I'm happy to say I have yet to have a "steak and apple day" as my weight has never gone over the two pound mark from my last weigh-in over three weeks ago (and this with eating some carbs within two weeks of ending the vlcd - hey, what else is one supposed to eat when they can't have fats (i.e. eggs, cheese, etc.) on top of everything else because of gallbladder issues?).  I may have introduced carbs and even some sweets into my diet one week earlier than I should have, but I haven't had any negative repercussions from this yet.  With that said, without my health issues/concerns, I would have stayed strictly within the guidelines for the maintenance stage as recommended.  This diet is certainly not one to cheat on even a little bit so if you're going to do it, do it right!

The HCG diet journey may have been a mentally tough one for me, but here I am down 20 pounds.  With 31.5 inches lost (yes, a couple more inches lost since I last measured), I'm three dress sizes smaller.  Many have commented on my weight loss and ask me how I feel about it.  Of course, I feel wonderful!  But looking at photos of myself now, I finally recognize myself.  It was very hard to mentally accept the old me in past photographs and facing the reality of what I truly looked like was always a surprise (I'm really that big? Nooooo!).  In the photo above, I'm wearing a dress I last wore on my wedding day (it was my going-away dress).  All I can say is it's nice to have me back

P.S.  I'm trying to muster up the courage to post some before and after photos of me so you may be able to convince me for solely scientific purposes to mortify myself by showing you my before and afters. :)