Update

She has returned. Well, at least for today. I'm certainly not going to promise to return to my daily postings, but I thought I should update this sad, neglected blog o' mine. And play catch up with my buddies.

Things have been very busy here. I'm back teaching full-time and I'm also volunteering some nights as a child advocate. Combine that with the holidays and all sorts of family drama and me wanting to get more painting/sculpting time, and the old habit of updating the blog never registered on my radar.

Phase 2 Round 2
I did have a chance to complete a shortened phase 2 from 11/24-12/19. I think my final total for that round was around 21 pounds. That round was a mess for me. For starters, on my first VLCD day, my menses came two weeks early. So I didn't see the big losses in the beginning that this program usually brings. That put my mind in a not-so-great place. Also, I didn't really load for that round and I think that hurt me because I was really hungry for almost the entire round. I had cravings like crazy and even cheated towards the end. It was like I just couldn't control myself. The thing is, I was totally at ease with my cheating. I even planned which day of the week I was going to cheat, and I did it. I loved it, enjoyed it, then went straight back to being vigilant. And then, I started my menses again at the end of the round. I also noted that I didn't lose hardly any inches that round. I think my hormones must have been wacky and I was retaining water a lot. Who knows but I'm glad that round is over.

I started at 260.8 and finished at 239.4.

For the next couple of weeks after completing the round, I ate whatever I wanted. My weight would fluctuate between 3-6 pounds above LIW. It didn't really phase me much. I blame that on the fact that I KNOW this protocol works and I KNEW at the time that the weight would come off whenever I started up again.

Phase 2 Round 3
I decided to only take a 2 week break between rounds and started loading (in my own healthy, natural way) on 1/4, and just like my first round, I've yet to experience hunger. It's fabulous.

Some stats so far:

VLCD Day 1 250.0
VLCD Day 2 246.4 <3.6>
VLCD Day 3 242.6 <3.8>
VLCD Day 4 239.6 <3.0>
And today, I was at 237.8 <1.8>

So in 4 VLCD days I've lost 12.2 pounds. Not bad. Every single day so far I've eaten the exact same thing. In a rut? Perhaps. But I've been too busy to really want to play with my food much. Pretty unusual for me.

Mid-morning I have a green apple for snack. Lunch is a steak & grilled onion. Mid-afternoon - another green apple. Dinner is grilled chicken & sliced tomato. Easy stuff.

I feel pretty good this round and am sort of just going through the motions. The plan is to stay on phase 2 until the end of February. I'm not sure if I'll go until then or change my mind 308 times before then. I'd really like to see the 100's before I stop this round, however. And we're going back to Paris in March, so I'd like to time it so I can really enjoy some nice wine & bread around that time. We'll see how it all goes from here.

Missed you all! Happy losing to everyone.