Sandi's HCG Weight Loss Journey

Another round to get the weight back off

2010-10-10T01:45:00.000-04:00

Well it has been almost two years since my last post. As you may remember, I had lost approx 40 pounds at that time. I managed to keep it off for a time, but a bout with depression during a time of serious financial struggle left me not caring what I ate or what I looked like. How foolish we can be when we aren't thinking straight.

Over a period of about a year I managed to not only put back on the weight I'd lost, but to gain even more. Up to a whopping 280# this past summer, a weight only 2 pounds lighter than my heaviest had been in 2005. I was aggravated with myself for being so foolish, but I wasn't serious enough to do something about it when the weight began creeping back on me.

I knew I was playing with fire getting back up that heavy. In April of this year the beginnings of a a family tragedy that has forever torn our family apart started to unravel. Silently, too many pounds and the emotional effects of family problems began taking their toll. My mind was certainly not on weight loss...until I began to take notice of symptoms I'd been experiencing. I was pretty certain that my blood sugar and blood pressure were elevated.

Sitting at a Chinese restaurant with a friend enjoying lunch after church one Sunday I couldn't shake it off any more. That still small voice kept speaking to me, "your pressure and sugar are way too high." When I got home I did a quick blood pressure check (200's/100's) confirming one of my suspicions. Next, I went down and bought a glucometer and checked my blood sugar. 446. Way too high!

Now, I'm a nurse, so I know what the implications of those numbers are. But without insurance I was hesitant to add yet another debt to my list. I called a good friend of mine who works in the ICU units and tried to pick her brain: "So what exactly should I monitor for with a blood sugar of 446?" ...An innocent question, I thought..."Get to the Emergency Room NOW or I will do bodily harm to you!" was the response. "OK." I caved in at her threats of bodily harm, resigned myself to yet another bill and headed to the ER.

After being stuck for blood and receiving IV fluid and medication I was sent home with a prescription. Had I had insurance they would have admitted me, but as the doctor told his intern while at my bedside, "She doesn't have insurance, so we won't treat this the way we normally would."

I made a decision that day that I would get the weight back off and keep it off for good. That was a few months ago and I just recently was in a position to start the HCG diet again. I knew it had worked for me before and being half-way into VLCD day 8 tonight has proven it. I have lost a total of 16-pounds so far, with a net loss of 11.6-pounds after you subtract the weight gained during the loading days.

I share my story above because I want others to avoid the health issues and financial strain that I have allowed myself to now have to deal with. The HCG works! It is an effective way to not only lose weight, but to lose stored fat that doesn't normally burn off with normal exercise. I hope those who read this and have been struggling with weight issues will study up on the program and feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my own experience. You can download a free copy of Dr. Simeon's manuscript - "Pounds and Inches". It explains all about the HCG diet and lists suppliers for the HCG and supplies.

Sandi's HCG Diet VLCD Day 39

2009-01-29T12:02:00.002-05:00

Finally! I got enough stuff cleaned off of my hard drive to be able to record video again! Gotta love it when the camera program tells you there isn't enough space...

OK, So the Other Day Caught Up With Me...

2009-01-24T21:42:00.001-05:00

(Another handwritten journal entry that I'm posting late) VLCD Day 35. 231.2lbs this AM. It was a 1.4 lb weight gain from the splurge the other day...I did pretty good today though. No cheats except a Sugar-free Caramel Latte. I forgot about the milk in it until after I'd drank 3/4's of it though...no worries, it'll come off eventually...

A "Blow Day"...

2009-01-22T23:59:00.000-05:00

(I journaled this on 1/22/09 and just getting it online) Went to Washington, DC today for the March for Life Rally. Only had 4-1/2 hours sleep. On the way to meet the bus I stopped at Sheetz and got a Sugar-free Caramel Mocha Iced Coffee that tasted way too good to be even close to Phase-anything compatible.

I did good for meal 1. I had brought with me some strawberries and a Spinach Quiche that I made from EggBeaters and frozen spinach. (The Vegetarian Program allows eggs - 1 whole egg and the whites of 3 eggs- and EggBeaters has a product with yolk. Two servings of it is only 80 calories and is equivalent to a serving of meat.)

On the bus however I made one of those "command decisions" that said, "Oh, heck with it for the day!" They were passing around banana bread slices, so I had one. Then for meal 2 I had a 4-inch Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and another piece of banana bread. Later on the trip home I had a half of a bagel with cream cheese. I know my body must have been in shock, because I hadn't had bread in a month!

I think the saving factor was that I was on my feet either standing or walking for almost 5 hours in the midst of the crowd of 400,000 marchers. So surely I burned part of the food off there, right?

I've made a decision that I will keep on plugging on until I lose all the weight, and that I'm not going to get so legalistic that I despise the very thing that's helping me. It can take a couple days for a cheat to show up, so I may have set myself back a little, but I don't regret it. I'm in this for the long haul.

VLCD Day 25 Update

2009-01-14T18:11:00.001-05:00

Just have a minute to write. I've lost a total of 31.6 pounds so far in the 25 days I've been on the VLCD. Down to 235.8#. I started an 18 minute per night DVD exercise program that I actually bought on my FEMA deployment in New Orleans this past fall. I'm on the beginner level right now, but after a week I'll switch to the intermediate program. It's actually been nice to add the exercise routine to what I'm doing. The fact that it's so short makes it do-able on nights like last night when I didn't get home until almost 4am and had to get up early. I've also started back on my Spanish self-study lessons before bed. Aside from that, I'm going to try to fit a hike in every week or so as well. I'm excited about life, and all I can do is praise God!

Down 30 Pounds and Out for Another Hike

2009-01-11T02:59:00.000-05:00

Well, this morning I was down to 237.4 lbs! I was so excited! Today I haven't eaten everything that I could, but got a late start on my meals. I slept in for once, and when I got up and about I decided to do a hike up to Dragon's Tooth. It's a moderate to difficult hike with a lot of rock climbing/scampering involved. It's a great hike, but I haven't been up there in 5-6 years. When I started to plan the hike it was decently warm for this season, and it WASN'T raining. In the couple hours between planning and execution things changed! Thank God for raingear!

It got cold and wet pretty quickly. I ended up solo-hiking because none of the 15 people to whom I'd texted an invite responded. Their loss! ;-) My plan was to eat an orange before I left my car, and then cook my meal at the top. But as I was getting my raingear on and my pack ready another hiker came up and I started talking with him about the trail, my UFirst signs on the car, etc, and I forgot to eat the orange. I did, however, think it was in my pack...Wrong! About 45 minutes into the hike I stopped and was going to eat it. Much to my disappointment it wasn't there.

That meant no food until the top, because raw hamburger and cabbage just wasn't on my top 10 most wanted list! LOL! Since I'd left late and had slow going-due to wet rocks,picture taking, Twittering/Facebook posting, Texting, etc (Quit laughing at me! I'm a geek who likes to hike!) it took me an extra hour getting "almost" to the top. When I say almost, I mean to the "mountain goat ledges" before the "big metal staples" that they have in one spot due to the absolute steepness of the trail.

The ledges are approx 3-6 inches wide in most places, and you have to find toe/hand holds to climb up to them and maneuver along them to the top/right. On a dry day there're just a lot of fun (if you like to play on the rocks, which I do.)

Anyway, I didn't have a good feeling about being alone, in the rain and cold, that close to dark, trying to go any farther. If I was thru-hiking or even on an overnight hike with my resting spot on the other side of the climb it would have been different. But wisdom and the voice of the Holy Spirit telling me "no" caused me to turn around. (I'll be writing a post called "Faith, Foolishness, and Presumption" on my Faith-Bytes blog if you are interested in listening to what I have to say about the situation there.)

I turned around and headed back down the mountain. I thought about stopping to cook my meal along the trail, but the desire to get down off the steepest sections (almost 2 miles of the trail are steep and rocky) before it got too dark won out over a "cook-break". I made good time and got down the last of the really tough part by the time the light totally left me.

I should have only had a 30 minute night hike from there to the car, but...there's this little trail that intersects with the AT about 12 minutes from the road. I "so wisely" was NOT using my headlamp, because I could see the "glow" of the trail in the faint moonlight. I was actually looking for this trail as a landmark to know how far I had to go yet, but I missed the sign in the dark.

Unfortunately I didn't miss the trail! LOL! It was the more well trodden "glow" at the intersection, and I didn't pay attention to the blazes (yeah, remember, headlamp off). I hiked downhill a LONG way before I realized that something didn't "feel" right with the lay of the land/direction of the trail. I knew I was on a fairly well-used trail, but when I finally gave in and pulled out the headlamp and found a blaze...it was blue. Yeah, it was supposed to be white-if I'd been on the right trail. Well, a 20-minute all uphill hike brought me back to the AT. About 15 minutes later I was sitting in my car laughing at my extra "side-trip". No harm-no foul!

I drove to the little general store about 0.3 mile from where I'd parked, washed my hands and ATE MY ORANGE! LOL! It was soooooo good! I'd done the whole ~5 miles on only water and a cup of coffee. But the great part was, I still had lots of energy! And it wasn't that I was even really hungry, I'd just been thinking about that orange for a while!

I got done with my hike just in time to make it to church for prayer at 7pm on the dot. I was wet and cold, still in my rain gear, and I looked a mess! But I was on time! After prayer I cooked my <300 calorie cabbage-tomato-beef soup and headed to my (ministry) office to catch up on some work (which is where I'm at right now).

Despite the rain and cold, I had a great hike today and enjoyed the climbing. I just wish I had someone with whom I could share experiences like that...

HCG Diet VLCD Day 17

2009-01-07T00:18:00.001-05:00

Whoo Hoo! I've lost 25.8 pounds so far!

Two Weeks Into Things...

2009-01-04T04:59:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update. As of yesterday morning, after 13 full VLCD days, I've lost 24.6 pounds! I'm so excited. I just wanted to encourage all of you who are on this same journey!

Sandi's HCG Diet Journey - VLCD Day 12

2009-01-02T05:14:00.000-05:00

Sandi's HCG Diet Journey - VLCD Day 5

2008-12-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sandi's HCG Diet Journey - VLCD Day 3

2008-12-23T05:12:00.000-05:00

Sandi's Pre-HCG Diet Video

2008-12-16T05:10:00.000-05:00

The Journey of 1000 Steps...

2008-12-15T04:19:00.003-05:00

There is an old saying that goes, "The journey of a thousand steps begins with just one." Well, I think I've re-started this journey countless times throughout my life. Each time with a certain degree of short-lived success.

I'm sure any of my readers who've struggle with weight problems, or more accurately in my case "morbid obesity", can identify. The myriad of new fad diets, the feeling of self-deprivation and starvation, unfulfilled self-promises... the constant feelings of failure.

I've done South Beach, Atkins, Richard Simmons' Deal-A-Meal, the Daniel Fast, 1200 calories a day, 3 "normal" meals a day, 6 "small" meals a day, the Heart Healthy diet, the No Concentrated Sugar diet, eDiets, etc. I've hiked and backpacked, done Slim-in-6 six to seven days a week consistently for 6 weeks, walked-jogged 1-2 miles a day with a friend, done the treadmill and stationary bike routine, and am still fat! All it's ever done was cause me to fight bout after bout of feelings of failure.

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And, oh, those who've been there will understand the desperate hope...You know, hoping that the guy will actually spend enough time around you to get to know you for who you are inside. The real you...the great personality and sense of humor. The talents and abilities with which you've been blessed. The passion for life and sincerity with which you live each day... Yeah, well, it's a scene all to familiar to many overweight people.

Enough of the woes of being fat...earlier this year God brought a business partner into my life who, along with his wife, was following a weight loss program that I'd never heard of before. It was developed by Dr. Simeons, an Italian doctor some 40+ years ago. It's pretty radical in the eyes of most people. And while the FDA has approved it for the clinical treatment of severe obesity under a physician's care, it's not "officially" been ok'd for "weight loss". LOL! The FDA's way of keeping us from having access to something that actually works!

The weight loss program is called by some The HCG Diet, and it's based upon the book Pounds & Inches: A New Approach To Obesity by A.T.W. SIMEONS, M.D. and the research and treatment he did while at the Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Italy. It's been safely self-administered by thousands of overweight people here in the USA with documented success (video blogs, before and after photos, etc). You can get a free download of the book by going to: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/HcgDieters/

Having said all that, I decided to embark upon my own weight loss journey with the help of the HCG Diet. Most of my blogging will be by video, as that will allow you to actually SEE the progress as I become half the person I am now. ;-D (OK, not quite half, but I've got almost 100 pounds to lose.) Come along and join me on my journey...