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LIW – 153.0 lbs (06.29.08)
Today’s Weight – 153.0 lbs
0.0 OVER/UNDER LIW

Once again I went MIA – what are you people gonna do with me?  OMG – I am such a FLAKE!  Really, I am NOT trying to go MIA – it’s just happening!  Oh well, I will try to do better!

Yesterday was my LIW for this Cycle – I didn’t make it to 100 lbs loss, but before I go into some LONE TIRADE about how I feel about this, let me quote something someone wrote me over at the My HCG Journey Community Forums – because quite frankly?  It put everything into perspective for me:

And B, even if you don’t make a stupid number goal, think of ALL that you have accomplished in the last year. And think of ALL the people that you have gotten to GOAL or helped them on their way to a better, healthier “them”!!!!!!!!!!!! When you have touched and changed LIVES, does a number really mean success or failure?!? I mean, isn’t it just a number?!?! And would it be any less monumental if those 100 pounds came at say a year a a day or a year and a week or a year a month?!?! I think not.

So, once again, thank you DAWN for coming to my rescue, making me realize what this is really all about and to be very happy with where I am TODAY.  Your a peach.

So without further adieu, let me go ahead and post my stats, because they pretty much speak for themselves!

I was not able to come close to Round 4 losses in Body Weight Lost Percentage – but that is OKIE DOKIE ARTICHOKIE!!!

• Round 1 (20 completed days) – 7.74% of body weight lost
• Round 2 (20 completed days) – 8.12% of body weight lost
• Round 3 (20 completed days) – 9.21% of body weight lost
• Round 4 (20 completed days) – 12.15% of body weight lost
• Round 5 (Cycle 1) (20 completed days) – 7.81% of body weight lost
• Round 5 (Cycle 2) (20 completed days) – 9.68% of body weight lost

I lost 16.4 lbs this round!  My LIW was 153 – which is 10 pounds below LIW of Round 5 Cycle 1 and 9 pounds below LIW of Round 4 – so I feel this was a great round.  Ok, so I am 2.2 away from making 100 lbs, I will do that NEXT round, which incidently will start on the 16th – because the family is going out of town!  Yes, we are headed to AIKEN/AUGUSTA!

Updates on Son and JPS:

My Son’s Stats:

• Starting Weight – 190.4 (after load)
• LIW – 174.6 (15.8 LBS LOST)
• 20 completed days percentage Body Weight Lost – 9.05%

JPS’ Stats:

• Starting Weight – 136.0 (after load, which is only like .8 over her LIW of Cycle 1)
• LIW – 125.8 (10.2 LBS LOST)
• 20 completed days percentage Body Weight Lost – 7.50%

Update on Inches:

And now the long awaited PICTURE UPDATE:

I haven’t updated pictures since my LIW of Round 4 which was way back in February (the 17th to be exact) – I didn’t take any pictures at the end of my Round 5 Cycle 1 because of not even getting to my LIW of Round 4 so I didn’t think pictures were necessary.  But I did take them yesterday because it was 9 pounds difference, and boy what 9 pounds can do!  OMG!  Lookie here!

First let me show you the differences between my LIW of Round 4 and Yesterday – Keep in mind that my LIW of Round 4 was 162 – and yesterday my LIW was 153:

Now, let me show you the differences between my BEFORES (Last June 23, 2007) and Yesterday (June 29, 2008) – Almost a YEAR and a DAY:

And then, for those of you that like to see the progression, here ya go:

Ok, so how about them apples? What do you think??? Stay tuned for the next installment of Cycle 3 to start on the 16th of July! If I can maintain an average of about 10 lbs per cycle, then I should be done in about 3 or 4 more cycles! Who knows where the HCG will take me!

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R5P2C2 Starting Weight 169.4
Yesterday – 155.6
Today – 154.6
1.0 lb LOSS Overnight
8.4 lb UNDER LIW of Round Five Cycle 1 (163.0)
14.8 Lost Since Start of R5C2 (VLCD) 06/09/08
96.2 Total Lost Since Start of Protocol (VLCD) 06/26/07

3.8 NEEDED TO LOSE TO REACH 100 POUNDS

I am so sorry to again go MIA – I think I am expecting too much of myself this round in being able to post my proverbial PROFOUND posts all the time! OMG – I am just SO BUSY – sorry about that my friends. Thanks for checking in on me during my absence. I have done really well. TOM finally left Saturday, and so did my stall. 1.4 lost from Saturday to Sunday, and then a 1.0 lost from Sunday to today!

I am working on a post for sometime this week. It is going to take me awhile to write up, it’s basically going to be my story of my journey, because as of today – I am ONE YEAR ON HCG! Yup! Today is my 1 year anniversary of my 1st injection!

I have lost a total of 96.2 as of today, and although I didn’t make my 100 lbs in a year, that still does not negate the fact that I have lost a TON OF WEIGHT during this year! And I have to say, quite easily! OH YEAH! This has not been all that hard, really – I have had my moments, but they have not been all that bad.

My losses have been quite nice, but try as I might, I haven’t not been able to keep up with Round 4 losses!!!

• Round 1 (14 completed days) – 6.30% of body weight lost
• Round 2 (14 completed days) – 6.44% of body weight lost
• Round 3 (14 completed days) – 7.25% of body weight lost
• Round 4 (14 completed days) – 9.22% of body weight lost
• Round 5 (Cycle 1) (14 completed days) – 7.35% of body weight lost
• Round 5 (Cycle 2) (14 completed days) – 8.74% of body weight lost

Updates:

My Son’s Stats:

• Starting Weight – 190.4 (after load)
• Yesterday’s Weight – 177.4
• Today’s Weight – 176.6 – 0.8 Loss – Total of 13.8 pounds lost!
• 14 completed days percentage Body Weight Lost – 7.81%

JPS’ Stats (I should be able to keep up to date with JPS now, so the numbers will be current):

• Starting Weight – 136.0 (after load, which is only like .8 over her LIW of Cycle 1)
• Yesterday’s Weight – 128.0
• Today’s Weight – 127.0 – 1.0 Gain – Total of 9.0 pounds lost!
• 14 completed days percentage Body Weight Lost – 6.62%

My menu yesterday:

• 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
• Strawberries for Snack
• Ground Beef Patty with Cucumbers and Tomatoes for Dinner
• 2 Liters of water
• 2 Liters of Iced Tea (sweetened with Sweet and Low)

OK, this is Biz signing out now – I will get a better handle on things as the week progresses!

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R5P2C2 Starting Weight 169.4
Yesterday – 159.2
Today – 158.4
0.8 lb LOSS Overnight
4.6 lb UNDER LIW of Round Five Cycle 1 (163.0)
11.0 Lost Since Start of R5C2 (VLCD) 06/09/08
92.4 Total Lost Since Start of Protocol (VLCD) 06/26/07

7.6 NEEDED TO LOSE TO REACH 100 POUNDS

OH OH OH – Ok, seriously, I cannot believe I have been able to maintain a 1.38 lb average loss this late in the game. I honestly don’t know how it’s happening, but I will take it, no problem! I have 12 more injections left (after today) and in those 12 injections, I need to lose 7.6 lbs to reach my 100 pounds – if it takes me until the 29th (LIW DATE) that is AOK with me, but officially my year anniversary is up on the 26th. But you know what? If I can complete this round at 100 pounds lost, I swear to Pete, I will completely FLIP OUT.

My head is SO in the ZONE – seriously – it feels like the very first round, when everything was new and exciting. I get butterflies to think how close I am to 100 pounds. I am trying hard to live in the moment right now, taking it day by day. But really, if you would have asked me a week ago if this was gonna be possible I would have shrugged my shoulders – and say, I don’t think so.

In 12 injections, that means I have to lose at least an average of .6 a day – very doable even for me. I have never gone under .65 per day average in any of my rounds, so this is VERY VERY doable, but again, I am really working on living in the NOW and taking this one day at a time.

If I keep these kinds of losses up, I am gonna keep doing the numbers cause they are OH SO EXCITING!

• Round 1 (8 completed days) – 4.55% of body weight lost
• Round 2 (8 completed days) – 4.57% of body weight lost
• Round 3 (8 completed days) – 5.80% of body weight lost
• Round 4 (8 completed days) – 6.94% of body weight lost
• Round 5 (Cycle 1) (8 completed days) – 6.00% of body weight lost
• Round 5 (Cycle 2) (8 completed days) – 6.49% of body weight lost

WOW! My round 4 really kicked some major butt, how the heck did that happen??? I am close, but it looks like it’s running away from me again! OMG – I crack myself up!

Updates:

My Son’s Stats:

• Starting Weight – 190.4 (after load)
• Yesterday’s Weight – 179.8
• Today’s Weight – 178.8 – 1.0 Loss – Total of 11.6 pounds lost!
• 8 completed days percentage Body Weight Lost – 6.49%

JPS’ Stats (I should be able to keep up to date with JPS now, so the numbers will be current):

• Starting Weight – 136.0 (after load, which is only like .8 over her LIW of Cycle 1)
• Yesterday’s Weight – 129.0
• Today’s Weight – 129.2 – 0.2 Gain – Total of 6.8 pounds lost!
• 8 completed days percentage Body Weight Lost – 5.00%

My menu yesterday:

• 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
• Strawberries and Grapefruit for Snack
• Pork Chop and Sliced Tomatoes for Dinner
• 2 Liters of water
• 2 Liters of Iced Tea (sweetened with Sweet and Low)

Superfoods – Walnuts

MMMM, Walnuts! During Phase 3 – these are a daily snack food for me. I buy them by the pounds (unsalted) and I will have usually about 2 ounces in a day. Sure they are loaded with calories, but they are loaded with all sorts of other good stuff as well!

Way back when, in May, I had a Superfoods discussion about Salmon – and we chatted about Omega 3’s – well, this is the number one reason Walnuts are on the list of SUPERFOODS – and in actuality, it’s the ONLY NUT that has Omega 3’s in the HUGE quantity that it has. Let’s refresh our memory on how important Omega 3’s are to our health:

Omega 3 Fatty Acids are very important for our “heart” health. It seems to not allow the gathering of cells in arteries that could cause blockage. Omega 3’s are something that our bodies cannot produce on it’s own, so we need to get these things from our food sources.

Walnuts’ concentration of omega-3s (a quarter-cup provides 90.8% of the daily value for these essential fats) has many potential health benefits:

• Cardiovascular protection
• Better cognitive function
• Anti-inflammatory benefits helpful in asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis
• Improve Cholesterol Profile especially in people with Type 2 Diabetes
• Reported to lower levels of some molecules that promote Atherosclerosis
• Has been known to prevent gallstones
• Protects Bone Health

In addition, walnuts contain an antioxidant compound called ellagic acid that supports the immune system and appears to have several anticancer properties.

The antioxidant properties of walnuts are HUGE:

A 2002 study conducted in Norway showed that walnuts rank second only to rose hips in their antioxidant content. The researchers examined a wide variety of plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, cereals, nuts, and seeds. Sunflower seeds were shown to have 25% of the activity of walnuts while other nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and peanuts) exhibited less than 4% of the activity. (This information was found here)

So be sure to add Walnuts to your daily regime. Very healthy snack. Add it to your salads!

One of my favorite ‘desserts’ for Walnuts – legal for Phase 3:

Here is one of my favorite recipes for use of WALNUTS – completely legal for Phase 3:

Toasted Walnuts

Ingredients:

1 cup raw walnuts
2 tbsp butter
3 packets of sweetener
Pinch of salt

Directions:

Warm butter until bubbly but not browned in a skillet on medium heat.

Add walnuts and distbute evenly in the butter.

Add salt, always keeping the pan moving so that the walnuts do not burn. Let cook for around 3 minutes. Add sweetener and cook for one minute longer.

Great as a snack, or chopped and added to your salad.

Hope you enjoyed our discussion on Walnuts! Tomorrow I will be taking a break from Superfood discussion as I am leaving the house early. Wont have time to give an update until later in the day, and then I will only be able to give you our stats. So stay tuned on Thursday, I will have a discussion about OATS!

A question to all my readers – feel free to either comment here on the blog, use my Tag Board or use my Comment Form. Today’s Question:

What is YOUR favorite way to use WALNUTS?