I was a bad eater over the last few days, and ended up 2.5lbs over my Last Injection Weight. That meant a "steak day" for me yesterday. Last time, I lost 4lbs overnight, but this time I only lost 1, not even getting me back to my LIW. I left a message with the naturopath's office to see if they have any advice for me.

It feels good to have my main closet filled with things formerly in the guest bedroom (a.k.a skinny) closet. I tried on a bunch of pants yesterday. I fit in all but 3. Of those three, two get on, but I have muffin top waist in them. They are both regular size 16 from the Gap and have no stretch in the fabric. The two pants that fit the nicest were plus size 14. I was extremely excited to fit into these men's size 36 pants. Women's sizes vary widely, but men's are a bit more accurate to the label. If you have a 36" waist, you expect to wear a 36 pant. It seemed like a truer indicator of where I am at now than the more arbitrary sizing of ladies clothing. I actually cried a few tears of joy when I put those size 36 pants on. When I started out, my waist measured 43". It's no wonder to me now why my size 34 corset easily laced edge to edge without a gap and didn't seem to bring my waist in much! Time to save up for a new one in a smaller size. Time to save up for a new wardrobe!

Though I ended up 5lbs short of my hopeful weight goal, with a final loss of 31lbs (53lbs total), I did make my clothing size goal, a +14. I started at a +20.

I took a round two "after" photo last night and collaged it with a photo taken of me at Kat's shower in June (left) and a photo taken after round 1 (center). The clothes are a bit bulky on me now, so I don't think it is the best representation of how much smaller I am in the middle, but you can really see the changes in my face and neck. More subtly, you can see that my arms are a bit smaller, the sweater seems longer because it no longer stretches width-wise to cover me, and the skirt hangs a little lower because the waistband is big.

I fit back into my mens sz 36 pants! Squee!

As of today, I have lost 29 lbs this round and 51 lbs total. It is my last injection day. I'll be dieting for two more days, so I may still make it to my goal of 30 lbs, but I am ok with being this close. Going into this week, I didn't expect to lose any more weight as I have my period, and the last two times, I didn't lose weight for those few days. Surprisingly, I have. I still have two more days of the VLCD, and I'm really looking forward to Sunday when I have more eating options! When I talked to the naturopath last week, and to someone in her office today, they said that I should slowly ramp up the calories to a normal level over a week and not just start eating normal low-carb right away. They also said that I can start incorporating carbs like beans and whole grain breads one serving a day next week. I'll carefully see how that goes.

I must have worn some very flattering pants yesterday, because two of my female co-workers who I don't usually talk to approached me to ask me about my weight loss. That's pretty cool. I sent them both some info about it.

I actually missed a fit window on a couple of pants in my "skinny closet". By the time I tried them on, they were actually a bit loose! That's ok, they weren't too loose to wear. There are a few things that I haven't tried yet because they are too casual to wear to work. My old job had a much more casual dress code than my current. I'm thinking about making some time to sew some wrap skirts to tide me over until I make it through the next diet cycle, since I don't have anything another size down in the closet.

Whittled weight loss to 26.4 lbs lost this round. One week left. 4 injections left. I have been having mad cravings. It has been really tough not to cheat with more than tiny nibbles of things.

I went with Myrna to the State Fair on Friday after work to see an ABBA tribute band, and we decided to leave work early to get in on the 1/2 price admission deal. Myrna let me taste her fair food treats, a smoked turkey leg, buttered corn on the cob, and a caramel apple rolled in peanuts. It was nice to have little tastes of things. We walked around a lot, which was nice. The weather was perfect for it. The concert was pretty cheesy, and not in a good way, which was a bummer.

Weight loss today was a respectable 1.2 lbs, which lifted my spirits, and brought my total up for this round so far to 25 lbs. At this point, it looks like I may at least make the average loss for the program of 30 lbs in the 6 weeks.

Someone brought bagels into the office yesterday, and they were in a cube across the hall and two down. When people used the toaster, there were some seriously yummy toasty bread smells going on. It was really hard to resist having some bagel, but I managed to stay away from them. This morning, while walking into the office, I could swear that I could smell popcorn, which gave me a sudden craving for buttered popcorn. I am not usually that into popcorn even when I can have it, but I really had a hankerin' for it today.

I've gotten really tired of cooking this week. For today, I threw together some pre-shredded cabbage with some fresh basil and chives as a salad topped with some firm tofu I marinated to eat for lunch today. I need to throw some foil packet cooking together tonight for meals for tomorrow, as I will have little time after work between a visit to the naturopath and getting to the sock knitting class I'm going to teach.

Today is the start of my last two weeks on the VLCD. I've only managed to shave down fractions of a pound this weekend to get to a total of 23lbs. Yet, I feel like I am smaller in size than last weekend, as I've been able to liberate a number of items from the "skinny closet" that didn't quite fit the weekend before. 2lbs doesn't usually make that much of a difference, and I haven't been doing any extra exercise. At the rate I'm going, it doesn't look like I'll reach my weight goal for this cycle. I seem to have so much more success in the first 3 weeks, so I am thinking about doing a 3-week protocol in January instead of 6, and possibly 3 weeks in March if I still feel that I want to. This will extend my weight loss plans for another two months, but if it is more effective, it may be worth taking my time.

This round's weight loss is up to 22.4 lbs. I'd really like to lose 14.6 more pounds but I only have 16 days left. I may get close.

I haven't been feeling too well for the past few days, and have made soup for some meals. My favorite so far was the mushroom soup with fresh sage that I made with slivers of firm tofu as noodle-like things in it. Myrna said that she's going to bring me some fresh lemongrass from her yard to work for me tomorrow. That will be a nice addition to my cooking efforts.

As of day 20, I had lost 17.8 lbs. As of today, day 21, I'm at 19 lbs. At my half-way point I was nearly half-way to a weight milestone. I don't know if I'll make it to that milestone, but things are progressing pretty well.

The apple day did it's job. I lost 2lbs, taking my total up to 16lbs. Tomorrow is the halfway marker. I'm at least on track for the base goal of the expected average of 30lbs in 40 days. I am trying not to be disappointed, but it is hard after I lost so much more in the first round. But, I did have less to lose this time, I haven't been quite as strict with the diet, and I was sick for a week. It's still really good.

Day 18. No loss again today. 3 days without weight loss is officially a "stall", so I am doing an "apple day" today. All 6 food items for the day are replaced with an apple for each. This is supposed to flush out water you are retaining.

Stuck at 14 lbs for the past 2 days. Need to pick up some apples on my way home tonight, in case I'm still stalled tomorrow.

I'll be going to the naturopath for a check-in tomorrow after work.

My co-worker who is doing the protocol is bummed that he's not losing as much weight as I have. He started 4 days after me and has lost half as much weight. He's also not following the diet plan in the original protocol at all. He's kind of guessing at what he's eating by plugging in things into a calorie calculation web site and thinking that he's around 500-700 calories. I saw him eat a regular pain bagel with cream cheese from Einstein's yesterday. White flour and full-fat cheeses are not recommended for even the looser version of the diet. I suggested that he try following the diet more strictly for a week and see if his results are better, but he brushed me off.

Weight loss to date: 14lbs

I had a back-slide of a half a pound yesterday after eating badly Saturday night. I put myself into a bad position, going from one social obligation to another from afternoon into evening without having a pre-made dinner with me, I noshed various things. Oh well, it happens. I was strict yesterday and lost a pound and a half as of this morning, so I made up for that little gain.

I took another trip to AJ's yesterday to stock up on more beef while it was still on sale. I also got some scallops and halibut on sale and some more crab meat. The lady at the fish counter told me that they are having a big fish sale in 2 weeks. Nice.

For those not on a diet, someone purportedly from Mojo yogurt posted a comment in my entry about KoL Con mentioning the tasy stuff with a link to this buy-one-get-one coupon: www.mojobogo.com. It looks legit, so I thought that I'd share with those that can enjoy it!

Round 2 loss to date: 12.8lbs. I've only lost 1.8lbs over the past 4 days, but I did have my period, and I stalled over my period last time too. There were 2 days that I didn't lose any weight, and I was feeling really tired.

Hopefully, I'll feel better over the weekend, since I have a lot to do!

Down 11 lbs. Someone asked me yesterday what my total weight loss from inception was, and I hadn't really been thinking about that. I've been focusing so much on moving forward from the new set point that I haven't really looked back. So, as of today, my total weight loss from July onward is 33 lbs.

I grilled up a bunch of kebabs yesterday, and so far they have been delicious. My great new discovery was beef and strawberry. Sounds kooky, but it was *delicious*. I marinated that Kobe beef from AJ's in balsamic vinegar and a little salt, fresh pepper, and garlic powder for about 15 minutes. Skewered it up, alternating chunks of meat with whole strawberries.

Other kebabs: filet mignon marinated in balsamic with tomatoes, ginger and chili Kobe with tomatoes, Singapore-seasoned sea scallops with yellow zucchini, Chile-lime shrimp with tomatoes, balsamic marinated ahi tuna with mushrooms, ginger and chili sea scallops with tomatoes, garlic and chili ahi tuna with yellow pepper and tomato, ginger and chili filet mignon with yellow peppers.

I went a little wacky at AJ's yesterday. I heard from my co-worker Wendi that AJ's was having a 1/2 off steak sale (which goes through Sunday, incidentally). I swung by there yesterday and splurged on the grotesquely expensive Kobe fillet mignon. On sale, it was $25 a pound. But, since I'm only eating a quarter of a pound at a serving instead of a typical half-pound or more, it's not so hideous. I also bought some of their regular filet to compare. Then, I got some lovely seafood; sea scallops, ahi tuna, sea bass, lump crab meat.

Got my propane tank filled up yesterday. I plan on marinating, skewering and grilling some of the meat, scallops, and tuna with some local heirloom cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, or yellow peppers.

Weight loss to date: 8.8lbs.

On Friday, I was still kinda hungry throughout the day, and I was concerned because I was fine by day 5 last run. I was also at a little higher dose, 20 units instead of 18. I talked to the doctor on Saturday at my check-in, and I'm trying 19 units. If its still not better after 2 days, I'll go to 20.

Usually, when I'm taking antibiotics I try to eat some yogurt. Since I'm taking them for the sinus infection, I wanted to try to find a way to work some into the diet. Cottage cheese is listed as an acceptable protein for vegetarians, and when I compared the fat-free cottage cheese label to that of the Trader Joe's Fat Free Greek-Style plain yogurt, I found the calories, protein, and sugars to be similar. So, I had yogurt and raspberries for lunch yesterday.

One of my co-workers had been asking me a lot of questions about the diet recently. He wants to lose 15 lbs and has been having trouble getting it off with diet and exercise. When he asked me about it at lunch with other co-workers, someone teased him, saying that he was going to develop "moobs" (aka man-boobs) if he took it. Even though I said that is not a listed side-effect for this particular hormone and to research for themselves, they didn't want to hear it and kept prodding him. So, he resorted to email and hushed talks in an office with the door closed to ask the rest of his questions.

He saw my new naturopath yesterday and has started the protocol. He asked me not to say anything to anyone. I told him that I would keep his diet secret. At lunch today, a different co-worker (the other co-worker is on vacation) commented on the small size of the salad he was eating. He said that he hadn't been that hungry during the day and was eating bigger dinners.

Weight loss on day 4 = 1lb, day 5 = 1.6lbs. Total to date - 4.6lbs.

I had some strawberries that were on the verge of getting fuzzy, so I washed and sliced them up last night. On one portion, I drizzled rose water and almond extract, the other has balsamic vinegar. I had the rose/almond ones this morning and they were tasty. The vinegar ones will be a snack later today.

The lingering cold with congestion that I had last week turned into a sinus and eye infection this week. My eyes were red and itchy on Wednesday, and by the time I was heading home from coffee that night, sticky with a little blurred vision. I woke up a couple of times during the night with crusty lashes and gooey eye corners. Fearing that I had picked up Pink Eye at the con, I stayed home from work on Thursday and get an appointment to see the doctor. My main doc wasn't in, so I saw the nurse practitioner, who is also nice. She said that I had a sinus infection that spread to my tear ducts. I didn't know that could happen! Gross, but less gross than pink eye. I was planning on announcing that I was doing the hCG thing when I go in for my annual exam in two weeks, but I needed to ask if the antibiotics she proscribed were going to mess with the hCG. Thankfully, it's not a problem. I was kinda expecting some negative attitude and possibly a lecture, but her reaction was surprisingly positive. She congratulated me on losing weight and said that she's been thinking about doing the protocol herself.

As of this morning, I am 2lbs below my final weight loss from the last round. I was one pound up on Thursday, but I decided not to use that as my starting weight as I had been maintaining the slightly lower weight pretty consistently, and I'd just had Lo Lo's the day before. So, henceforth, loss total is based off the average weight that I maintained over the past few weeks.

I haven't made any of the new recipes that I have been conjuring in my head yet. I'm just going to skate by on easy meals this week until I can spend some concocting time on Sunday. I also need to set up my makeshift photo station so I can take some decent quality photos of my results. So far, I've decided that semi-thawed frozen blueberries with some vanilla extract on them are a tasty alternative to apples, and the langostino tails from Trader Joe's are a nice change from shrimp.