Cycle 1/Phase 2/Day 3

This portion of the cycle is certainly an adjustment.  I'm not having a hard time with items on the list that aren't allowed.  I'm not really having a rough time at all.  Maybe it's just that I'm having to listen to my body again, which isn't something I've done in a while.  Sometimes I don't know if I'm hungry or thirsty or maybe just have a tummy ache.  I've also been having a lot of heartburn.  I had it in Phase 1 a lot.  Usually after I took the probiotic.  Now, it's just anytime.  I was thinking maybe it was that I was adding fat back in my diet.  It still may be, but I haven't changed my diet that much at all since before starting this.  The only thing I changed was no added sugar and starch.  I was eating the exact same stuff.  Well, I'll just keep an eye on it.

When I was on The TeamDau Wellness group page on Facebook yesterday, I saw that there was a question posted.  It said, "What is one benefit besides weight loss that you have experienced since starting this program?"  Or something like that.  Well that's easy for me.  I had been thinking about it earlier yesterday, so I had my answer already.  Weight loss has been great -17 is a lot!  I knew that the science behind the hcg protocol is to reset the hypothalamus.  What I didn't expect is that it would reset my desires as well.  There have been some mental blocks lately when it comes to making healthy and good choices.  Whenever I went out to a restaurant, I wouldn't want to chose something healthy on the menu.  In fact, I would feel a little panicky.  It was almost as if I did, I might never get to experience the taste of the other foods.  My brain would say things like, "You can have salmon anytime you want.  Why would you eat that instead of trying the buffalo chicken sandwich.  A yummy battered and fried chicken breast smothered in ranch with butter toasted buns.  How about that side of fries you love so much.  Would you really want to miss out on them?!"  How can you fight with that?!  It's hard that's for sure.  The sad part is that I didn't used to have that battle.  There was a time, about 5-6 years ago that I didn't have that struggle.  I had two miscarriages in a row.  One was very traumatic because it ended up being an emergency.  It was pretty bad.  Just think... Carrie.  Not pleasant.  So, after that I stopped caring I guess.  Anything healthy just didn't sound appealing.  It sounded gross.  With the first pregnancy, I craved salad.  With R I craved oatmeal cream pies and steak.  Pretty big difference.  Fast forward to today.  After doing the hcg protocol (which I'm not done with yet) I feel like it not only reset my hypothalamus.  It reset that part of my brain that didn't used to care about healthy choices.  I still love those foods, but I don't crave them.  When I think about them, I don't salivate.  I don't hurt because I'm not going to go get them.  I'm actually happy about my spinach salad with tons of veggies and a little of a creamy dressing.  I loved my chicken with salsa and asparagus.  That's a huge benefit.  I didn't expect it, but I'm glad it happened.

The last I wanted to mention before I update weight is that I think the tough part of this phase is going to be learning how much I can eat a day.  I felt like such a glutton yesterday!  I had an omelet, some chicken with salsa and asparagus for lunch.  I had a cheese stick, because I was starving before dinner.  For dinner I had a steak and a salad with veggies in it.  Oh!  I even had a little bit of ice cream for lunch.  I wasn't hungry, but it sounded like a good treat.  That was a little mistake I made yesterday.  I had done well stopping when full at lunch, but that ice cream was like a Siren to me.   My tummy felt full for a while after lunch.  Then, after dinner I was full too.  I drank all my water too.  I was sure that I would probably gain weight today.  Well wasn't I surprised!


Weight: 217.5/-1    <- Down a pound and a half from yesterday's weigh in.