And On We Go.....

So I have had a little bit of a hard week. At my last post, I had lost 15.4 pounds, and that was more than a week ago...This week, I have lost 3.5 more pounds-- and almost 3 of it was this morning.

Let me tell you what happened... I guess I am somewhat of an anomaly, what with my "sleep eating" disorder, but this week I had some trouble with my blood sugar as well. You know, fainty, tunnel vision, irritable (I'll Say!) headaches- AND to top it off... I started my period (is that polite to say in public?) I don't know how else to get the message across-- that time of the month is often accompanied with bloating, so I gained 1.5 pounds, then sort of stagnated for a few days. When I called Dr. Wright about the tunnel vision, (the support is great-- he took my call on a Sunday), he recommended that I eat more for a couple of days, and just know that it would put me behind a little bit. I weighed it out (no pun intended) and decided that since I could not even lose a SINGLE pound in a week before HCG (much less keep it off if I did lose it) that I would be OK with listening to my body for a couple of days, and following the 5 fingers of balance (water, veggie, grain, protein fruit) at a more normal caloric intake (around 2000) Imagine my surprise when I did not gain ANYTHING the first day I ate like that, and the second day, I still LOST about 1/2 pound! I felt much better and on Tuesday went back on the restriction, and low and behold, I lost nearly 3 pounds this morning, bringing me to a total of 19 pounds lost since I started almost 3 weeks ago. Not bad, I have to admit.

I really like listening to my body- I feel like it tells me things for a reason. It is nice to learn what it means, and to be patient with it while it teaches me how to take care of it. I like that my body burned fat even while I was eating A LOT more calories- I think my body has been hoping I would figure out something to help it feel safe enough to burn fat for many years. I am so excited that I have found HCG and am having such great success with it. (by the way, my hubby has lost 22 pounds now!)

So Dr. Wright recommends some supplements for the program, but not everyone will need them, so they are not included in the initial price. But for blood sugar regulation, he recommends a cinnamon and chromium blend. I am taking that now, so I am hoping to be OK through the duration of the program. I also picked up some Papaya digestive enzymes, the L-carnatine (I guess it helps your body to metabolize fat better) and some DHEA-- I have no idea what that does, but Dr. Wright says it helps a lot on the program, so I am taking it too.

OK, now to your favorite part-- RECIPES!!

I tried the cabbage rolls, and they turned out SO YUMMY!

3.5 oz ground bison (or ground steak, or super lean ground beef)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp sea salt
Cabbage Leaves
For sauce, blend in the blender
1 whole tomato
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 small onion

Steam the head of cabbage for a few minutes to make the leaves soft.
Mix the first 3 ingredients together. Pour just a little of the sauce in (like, maybe 1/4 cup?) Mixture should still hold together when you shape it in your hand. Shape into ball, then peel off a cabbage leaf and place the ball in the center of the leaf. Wrap it up, and place it seam side down in a glass baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray (I used a bread pan) Use all of the beef (should make about 3 cabbage rolls). Bake at 375 for 1.5 hours (at 45 minutes the meat was done, but cabbage was still crunchy-- I guess you could cook the cabbage longer at the beginning...) This is really yummy.

Salad Dressing or Dip
Take 1/2 cup of nonfat plain yogurt and add garlic salt and dill weed to taste. Really good as a dip for celery, cuke spears, peppers, or bread sticks (although, bread sticks are limited, so they don't last long... but it is still good)

"Desserts"
These are so yummy, they save the day when you are feeling really naughty.

Apple Cinnamon Delight
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 dropper full of liquid stevia
1 whole apple, cut up
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon

I also added nutmeg and cloves to make us think of pumpkin pie. Really good with a cup of Pero. It was a fun, tasty, cozy, winter-ish night treat.

Strawberry Delight
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 dropper full of liquid stevia
1 handful of strawberries, cut up
1/8 tsp vanilla

We eat this for breakfast every day (yeah, we are on the cheater plan)

So, I will try to write sooner next time-- I even got phone calls about when I was going to update!

Thanks for all of your support--