At the start of my day today, I had declared today to be “Tofu Tuesday’s” totally prepared to do the day Vegan Style. It was a lot harder than it seems. Getting in protein while on protocol without the added carbs is very VERY hard. Tofu is about the only thing that you can work with VEGAN that will give you some protein but not too much carbs or calories. As it stands, for the entire day I only had 24 grams of protein – when a normal day on P2 is usually around 35 – 50, so if any of you have some ideas on how to up the protein and not go over on cals, bring it on. And don’t tell me protein powder, ugh, can’t do that stuff. Nope, not gonna work for this woman.

Dawn mentioned Nori, and I thought, yeah, that is cool, but when I went to EarthFare today to get some groceries, and saw that a package was like $20 and my budget was $30, I was like, um, no way, that can wait. I ended up getting more than a few things from EarthFare that I have been wanting to get for awhile. Some vegetarian broth, some vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, the Coconut Milk (OMG, I finally bought the RIGHT STUFF) and I got some Silk Creamer, and that actually surprised me, that was pretty darn good.

The tofu has to be eaten within 2 – 3 days after opening the box, so I am gonna go ahead and use it tomorrow. I had picked out two recipes to try today that involved tofu, and only made one, so I will do the other tomorrow. Trying to think what I am gonna make Wednesdays for my blogging experience? Wacky Wednesdays? Wildcard Wednesdays? Probably Wild Card Wednesdays so that whatever I might have leftover from my back to back veggie type days I can use up if need be on Wednesday.

So this was my meal for dinner. MMMM, it was delish. It’s called “Ginger-Sesame Tofu with Wilted Watercress” and I redid it to be P2 legal – I have to hand it to the Vegans out there, they really depend on presentation, texture and spice to liven up there meals, this was utterly fantastic. Honest to goodness. I highly recommend this to everyone.

So my meals today were:

• Coffee with Coconut Cream
• Coffee with Silk Creamer
• Green Smoothie made with Tofu, Spinach, Papaya and Blueberries
• Ginger-Sesame Tofu with Wilted Watercress
• Dried plums (this was unavoidable, I got stuck out longer than anticipated, but it was Vegan and delish!)
• Cucumbers with lemon and cilantro

Totals were 497 calories, 17 grams fat, 71 grams carbs (13 fiber), 24 grams protein

I eliminated 3.4 pounds overnight! I am at 6 lbs total eliminated – I am not interested in a daily average, so I am counting my losses from my first day of loading. That goes in direct contrast to the way Dr S does things, but like I said, I don’t care about average daily losses, I am looking for a 20 pound drop for this “cycle” and then I will take a break, so I am almost a third of the way there! WOO HOO FOR ME!

M – WOO HOO – let’s do this thing and let’s do it right my friend! GO US!!!

If you have spent any time getting to know me, you should know by now that I have an aversion to saying anything in a ‘negative way’. Case in point is the word ‘cheat’ – I would rather use ‘deviation’. So using the word ‘failure’ in any text just doesn’t set well with me. But I came across this quote in doing research today and it struck me:

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

That pretty much sums up my experience. Funny how this particular quote grabbed me – based on the fact that Terrie worked on Fear of Success as my Deep Emotional Release treatment, it’s no wonder that my upcoming round is not bothering me in terms of thinking I am a failure.

Sure, I have gained 43.6 pounds since my LOWEST LIW which was in September, but it’s really not an issue. It is what it is. Linda, gotta love that woman, told me yesterday in a conversation what I basically already knew. I had to go through this. I had to experience the gain. I had to experience all that is what the hormone imbalance caused in relation to the Protocol. I now speak with a degree of authority.

This weight?  It will come off.  I know it will, and again it will be easy.  I feel different this round.  I feel like I did when I first started on hCG back in June of 2007 – except that I am older and wiser.  It was my sister that once said “if I knew how much fun grandchildren were, I would have had them first” – how true is that?  If I only knew of the changes that were about to take place in my body over this last year I wouldn’t be in this place.  But then again, I didn’t know and so maybe this was the way it had to be.  How many people will I be able to help knowing what I know now?

Interesting.  Someone from the old Yahoo HCG2 group contacted me today.  Basically she thanked me for the honesty portrayed in my blog posts.  She said:

Keep doing what you do … you have no idea the silent masses who are reading and gaining strength from your words.

WOW!  Thank you for that, because it is just such a reality that keeps me going.  With my failures lies my success.  I am successful in what I do.  I am successful in helping people with the hCG Protocol.  I am successful in getting to my goal of a healthy weight.  Even in my failures, I am successful.

Terrie, if your out there reading, thank you – and yes my friend, you have created a monster.  Aint no stopping me now.

First Dose This Morning

Today was my first dose of what I am calling Round 6.1 – Round 6.0 had a false start back in January 2009, so this is the new and improved version.  I will be posting my stats on this page for your viewing pleasure, and so that I can concentrate on just blog posts here.  Based on the fact that I do have a history of doing protocol, there are some things that will be happening during this protocol that are a bit different than Dr. Simeons original menu:

1. I will be adding cauliflower, broccoli, green beans and zuchinni to the menu
2. I will be allowing a small amount of half and half daily for my coffee, but counted in with my calories
3. I will be experimenting with doing 1 – 3 days a week VEGAN STYLE while on Protocol.  Haven’t decided yet on the amount of days, but I am doing this because you cannot possibly know how many times I get that question of if Protocol can be done VEGAN.  So I will be experimenting with it to see.
4. I am loading via “High Fat” – I had all the carbs I wanted over the last two days, in fact, I think I went a little bonkers in that department to get it out of my system.  So loading should prove to be interesting.  So interesting that as of right now, 5:15pm on Saturday afternoon, I am 1 pound less WITH MY CLOTHES ON then I was this morning when I weighed.  So it’s working!
5. I reserve the right to edit my list.  LOL

This is gonna be so much fun!!!

Yeah. When I saw my ND – the emotional release that we worked on centered around “fear of success” – well, it worked and worked really well. I am back on track and focused in on all things that I have a love for in my life. This time with the knowledge that I will get them done and done right and be a success at it.

Something that I need to work on though is my temper. WOW – that will be the focus of my next visit. I still feel myself get my dander up quite fast when I don’t like something. Today something happened in the forums that at first glance raised the hair in the back of my neck and I should have just walked away and handled it when I had calmed down, but alas, I didn’t. I let loose. That isn’t professional. Yes it’s me, but it’s not professional. The direction of the site is going for one that has a professional yet community atmosphere and all things trickle down from the top. If I am prone to outbursts then it will start becoming the norm for the masses of the community.

Thankfully, and as per normal, a fellow admin came to my rescue. HA! Thank you Dawn for saying exactly what I wanted to say but didn’t because I allowed that conspiracy theory brain of mine to take over. Oh well, that is why we are a “body” and not just a “head” – ok, what does that mean???

Oh well. I am getting so TOTALLY excited about getting back on protocol it’s not even funny. Saturday will be my first shot, and I have decided to treat this as a ‘first time experience’ – starting all over. Cause I am basically in the place I was at the beginning of my 5th Round anyway. Oh well. C’est la vie – this will be the best round ever. I really have a great feeling about this. I will be taking pictures, and I will be taking measurements, and yes, that means that all of you will have to get used to me again with the numbers game I like to play. I will NOT be focusing in on what has happened in the past, but rather what will be the future.

The future of me being a SKINNY MINNY!!!