The Decision

I have seven more days on this HCG diet to hit the 42 days. I'm at 182 today, but I'm kind of okay with that--I've lost 20 pounds. I think I'm going to end a week early. Why? Especially when I might even be lower in a week? Well here is my reasoning.

I get out of school on June 4th. On June 8th we head to Yellowstone, then to Libby, MT. I feel if I've had a solid two weeks of maintenance AT HOME, then my body will have had more of a chance to adjust to more calories without gaining. Yes, I'll still be careful, but two weeks of being VERY careful on maintenance, then one week where things might not be so perfect should be better than one week of maintenance THEN going on vacation.

My husband has finally gotten on the bandwagon to weight loss. He hit 201 and that was it for him. So he has been trying to be careful, but since our meals have still had to differ so much it has been frustrating with dinner time. We have a fairly healthy menu plan for the month (had it a long time ago too), but now he is way more willing to follow it and be on it versus eating out. I'm excited for us to be on the same page, finally! He's even eaten cereal for dinner time a couple of times, when his calories have been higher during the day--I LOVE eating cereal for dinner! Not that it will happen much, but still.

Third reason? I'd really like to start doing a modicum of exercise. I've been exhausted on this diet. I haven't had any energy to do anything and I KNOW I've lost muscle mass, even though the HCG is supposed to prevent it. I can feel it in the way my clothes fit. And it wasn't so long ago that I was at this weight that I don't remember how my size 14's fit. And right now my 14's are still very snug, all of which means I've lost muscle. That's okay. I want to start building up my muscle and getting back to taekwondo.

Would I recommend the HCG diet? I'm not sure yet. I feel like I needed the extra motivation to get me to stick with my regular 1400 calorie diet. At 182 I feel like I will have it. If you feel like you need to lose weight quickly to get you motivated to stick to something then yes, probably. But if you are good at the 'slow and steady wins the race' then I wouldn't worry about it. And then let's wait to see the biggest thing--will I yo-yo? That's the biggest thing of the HCG. It works, but you have to maintain after. And I'm going to be seriously tempted this summer--I'm pretty much GONE for the month of July. I'll be in Boston, Phoenix, and New York City, and home all of about ten days for July. So yeah. There'll be some serious challenges.

I'll keep you guys posted!