Almost There

Sorry Bloggers, it has been a while since I posted. I've been posting daily updates on Facebook.

HCG is doing its thing for sure. Here was my update from this morning.

HCG Status Update: Weight:192.2, Blood Pressure:118/62, Blood Glucose:102. Down 0.2 lbs today. Total Lost:24.4lbs.

The weight has really been dropping off me this time. I'm on day 28 and feeling absolutely great. There have been a few days with less than optimal loss, so on average I am just under a pound a day but I am not discouraged. This week I saw a slow down because I was lazy. I didn't get out and walk as much as I should have, though the times I could break away at work I did and really enjoyed it. It has just been hard to stay motivated at night. My walking buddy Eric was away on a business trip and it was tough for me to get myself out there.

As important as exercise is, nutrition plays and even greater role in weight loss. The personal trainer I used to see told me that exercise could only account for 20% of weight loss. The rest was what you put in your body. I am really pleased to say that I think I nailed that this time around. Some things I did differently this time than last, I started taking calcium, fiber, vitamin C, vitamin E and a multivitamin. I really think this has made a big difference. Even better, I switched to gummy versions of calcium, fiber and multivitamin. They are low in calorie, taste like candy and give my body what it needs. I keep a bottle of the gummy fiber drops at work and when I feel like I need to snack I will take two of those and drink some water. The effect is that mentally I feel like I enjoyed a piece of candy and physically I feel less hungry.

So here I am, 24 pounds less than I was 28 days ago. I've got my nutrition nailed down with healthy food, big salads for lunch help fill me up and I am looking for more dishes with lots of vegetables in them that I can eat. I only occasionally feel the need/desire for starches.

For the past 28 days I have not been eating the same food as the rest of the family. This week I picked a few dishes that I think will be safe for me to enjoy with them like beef and broccoli, jerk chicken and turkey burgers. In addition to that I was looking at a diabetic recipe for Kung Pao chicken that I will modify ever so slightly to be more HCG friendly. If it is a success I will post the recipe.

As for that 20% that comes from exercise, I want to share what I have been doing. In the beginning I was only walking and did a lot of that. I experienced really great results with that and plan to keep that up. I did however want to build up a little more muscle so I started researching what I might be able to do that would help me reach my goals. A trip to the local WalMart got me what I needed. First I purchased a pull up bar. It slips over the doorway in my bedroom and doesn't take up a lot of space when I am not using it. I have a long way to go to get the strength to bang out a bunch of pull-ups, so far I can only do 3 underhand grip + 2 overhand grip + 3 hammer grip. My goal is for 10 of each. That goal will likely take a LONG while to achieve, but as long as I keep at it I will EVENTUALLY get there.

The second thing I purchased were two 10 pound dumbbells. I got these so I could do an exercise called a 'burpee'. I don't know why it is called that, it is an evil exercise but very effective at working the entire core. Here is how to do this.

1. Start with a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Squat down.
3. Push legs out to push up position.
4. Do a push up.
5. Raise right hand with dumbbell to right side of ribs.
6. Raise left hand with dumbbell to left side of ribs.
7. Jump feet inward towards hands.
8. Jump straight up as high as you can with feet off the ground, hands over head with weights in hand.

The above is ONE repetition. Do as many of these as you can in fifteen minutes and then you are done with your workout for the day. Don't go too heavy with the weight at first, try to get the repetitions first.

To be 100% honest, I can only get five of these when I follow my pull ups. So I know I have to work on getting more reps.

For a variation, you could increase the weight a lot and leave the dumbbells on the floor and only use the weights when lifting to the ribs.