Update: 5 Years from the Beginning

Wow. 5 years ago I started my very first VLCD day (Very Low Calorie Day for the uninitiated). I'm 5 years older, 74lbs lighter (and counting) and absolutely none-the-wiser. Well, I guess that's not true... I've learned a lot about my body, my eating habit and I've learned how differently the world treats big people vs normal sized people.

In the last 5 years I have left a bad relationship, started playing a full-contact sport, started a new relationship, bought a condo, started a new job, gotten a few promotions, made a ridiculous amount of new friends and I've become infinitely more happy.

Let's be honest, you guys are just waiting for more before/after photos:

Not too shabby, I'd say... Let's see a few more!

Now that I am a moderately healthy weight of 145lbs, I am changing up my diet and exercise routine to start focusing on how to cut weight while gaining or maintaining my muscle mass. Literally NEVER thought of any of this when I was fat. It was simply "Stop eating, get skinny." right?

Now it's "Workout, track your calories, track your macros to get correct amount of protein and fat, be wary of carbs, don't stop lifting, build specific muscle for better shape etc. etc. etc."

At the end of the day, this is what I tell every single person who asks me about how I lost weight:

• Calories in vs Calories out. 
• You must create a deficit every week. 
• You cannot out run your fork! 
• You can work out like crazy but if you are still eating more calories than you're burning, you'll never lose weight.
• Diet to look good, hit the gym to look good naked. 
• Weight loss happens in the kitchen, shape happens in the gym.

If you strictly want to lose weight, just focus on food. When you get down to a more reasonable weight, then start hitting the gym! It doesn't have to happen all at once. I didn't start working out until I started playing Roller Derby 3 years ago after losing 45 lbs.

If you guys have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me! Life moves on after weight loss, just make sure you don't lose sight of why you lost it in the first place. Maintenance is more important than getting to eat a cheeseburger and fries again.

Good luck!

1.5 Years Later...

*Whoosh* Let me just dust this baby off...

Alright, alright. Calm down. I'm back, I'm here... you can all calm down. Seriously... stop cheering... why are you clapping? Mom, please. Not in front of my friends! Yeesh! *sigh* I love you too... let me get back to my blog here.

So, it's been just over a year & a half since my last round of HCG and my epic weight loss journey (man that sounds so cliche). Sorry for the break, I've simply been enjoying life! I am still down 41 whole entire pounds from my highest weight of 216lbs but, yes, I have gained a bit since my last round, +16 lbs. In a year and a half? Yea... I can handle that.

I've noticed lately that my blog has been getting a ton of hits & really growing without me even maintaining it. I think part of it is that HCG is the big fad diet of the year but also because of my epic before and after photos. I should probably give you an update on how my life has changed since the weight loss.

How my life has changed:

• My skin has cleared up and is really healthy.
• I lost a lot of hair when I was about 18 (alopecia) and it has grown back fuller and stronger after I lost weight.  Really noticeable difference actually!
•  I sleep better and stopped snoring. My boyfriend is pretty happy about this.
• Buying clothes is SO fun now. Everything looks awesome and I don't have to start at the biggest sizes anymore!
• Guys check me out constantly. While I am not single, it is thoroughly enjoyable still. Love that ego stroke.
• People are legitimately nicer to me... this was a weird one. People do more favors for me, listen closer when I talk, and want to become friends immediately. Because I'm in sales, this has affected me in a fantastic way.
• I am TERRIFIED of becoming fat again. I have nightmares about it and am constantly thinking about how I look. I listen to all health tips and avoid so many foods.
• I can now work out easier. I've started running recently and actually enjoy it! It's a little bizarre for me as I still have a huge rack so I always figured that's why I avoided it but really, it's just because I was so fat it was really hard to breathe.
• Healthier choices come much more naturally for me. No longer are the days where my cupboards are stocked with snacks, now it's fresh veggies and meat as far as the eye can see.

These are just some of the changes I've noticed but over all, my life is just so much better. My confidence is through the roof, my skin is better, my health is better, my life is just... better.

If you're thinking of doing this diet, just go for it! You lose 43 days of your life on this diet and gain a whole new world. So worth it. If I did this all over again, I would do better on Phase 3. Phase 3, maintenance is INSANELY important!! I would have followed it closer and worked harder to maintain my weight properly during those 3 weeks. This might actually be the most important part of the entire diet.

Anyhow, I'm off to go for a run with my dogs. If you've got any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me! I'll do my best to continue updating the blog but really... what do I have left to say?

Do it. 

2 Months Later...

Well, it's been just over two months since my last entry. Two months since my second round ended and my after pictures were taken and just a few weeks away from me starting my third round!

Since the pictures were taken I have gained about 10lbs. 5lbs of that was from my four days in Vegas with no sleep and tons of alcohol and the other 5lbs would be mostly Christmas although I have been bouncing around every week. I've found that every day is about constant maintenance and constantly tracking your body's reactions to different foods.

Things I have learned over the last few months:

• My body likes chocolate but dislikes white bread
• My body is cool with me having toast with peanut butter but disagrees with chow mein noodles, rice or potatoes.
• I can eat yams by the bucket load (I love you, yam tempura) but refuses to acknowledge my love for Frappucinos.
• Salad is actually pretty awesome. Add some goat cheese, some chicken and some nuts and it's down right delicious!
• Cesar salad isn't that bad for you if you stop eating it with french fries and deep-fried mars bars. And also without croutons.
• Not all carbs are bad carbs (multigrain anything is usually pretty good)
• Just because chicken wings and dry ribs are not considered carbs does not mean I can eat them with no consequences
• Cheese is heaven's gift to fat people
• Chocolate is not bad for you. Excessive amounts of chocolate is very bad for you.
• Sugar-free Jello is your friend
• Low fat yogurt is not your friend (seriously, WTF sugar?!)
• Potatoes may have saved the lives of many Irishmen but they are destroying my progress
• White bread is not just what Nick calls me; it is also the devil. Multigrain bread is my savior.
• Sleep is excessively important to weight-loss. Who knew?! (well yea, all those diet books and doctors may have mentioned something about this but I just thought they were being dicks)

Anyway, I am learning something new every day about my body. It's a constant battle that I am slowly winning. Unfortunately, based on the amount of skin that is sticking around, it looks like I might actually have to start working out. Lucky for me, it's much easier to work out 160lbs of fat girl than it is to make a 216lb fat girl try to put the bucket of chicken down.

Yes, I've gained some weight back. But 10lbs over two months is forgivable, I'd say. I am on a cleanse right now to knock off 5lbs or so before I start my next round and then after that I will be even better at knowing what my body is cool with eating. I am so different now than I was before starting my first round. I am conscious of everything I eat. I always weigh my options before ordering my food or making my dinner. If I am craving fries I always think "What will I have for dinner? What have I eaten today? If I eat this then tomorrow I won't be able to splurge and have sushi for lunch" and then I quickly decide it's not worth it and order the salad. If I do choose the fries I now limit myself and encourage others to eat them for me so I'm not as tempted to devour every last morsel. It's been very educational!

Let's hope that after my next round I'll be able to focus even more on not gaining. I am going to work extra super duper hard at stabilizing my weight in Phase 3 because I think that is a super important part to getting your body to stop gaining so quickly. My body needs to realize that THIS is my weight now, NOT that super high number that makes everybody say "holy crap, you were that big?? You weighed more than my entire family combined!!" Seriously, I'm going to slap by body across my face and make it SEE that there is no option and that's final, DAMMIT!

er... um... ahem...

Sorry Body, I'm sorry for raising my voice. No no... we're still best friends. Yes... I love you. um... sure, okay, yea I guess we can have some cheerios for breakfast... can I put sugar on.. oh nevermind. No no, I don't need sugar... you're right. We'll just have plain old cheerios. My favorite. Sorry again... sorry. Love... um... love you, Body.

please don't hurt me.

R2 Before and After Pics!!! (Warning: Kind of Graphic Content?)

Well, the second round has ended. The new clothes have been bought, the rings are being sized, and the pictures have been taken! Wow, they are great! When compared to the first set of pictures it's pretty crazy, from the end of the first round to the end of the second round it's not quite as obvious but still totally epic.

From the first pic to the second I lost 30lbs, from the second pic to the third I lost just over 20lbs. ANY feedback would be appreciated. Enjoy!!

Oh man... I am so effing hot.

R2 VLCD Day #35: +1.2lbs (Sniffle Sniffle Coff Coff. DAMMIT!)

Weeeeell... I've gained about 4lbs in the last 4 days because I'm getting really sick. Been under a tonne of stress and haven't been sleeping properly. Of course, all of these things lead to getting sicker, sleeping less and more stress so that's fun. I hope this backwards stall can stop because nothing I'm doing food wise seems to be helping it. Fortunately, I still look amazing so I'm not terribly worried. Also, I've already decided to do another round after about 8 or 9 weeks.


On the bright/insane side, I recently went to the mall to buy myself a new bra. I havent been able to buy bras from a normal store like, La Senza or Victoria's Secret since I was in highschool (still going through puberty, tyvm) and decided not to tempt that yet. I chose to stop by my local Change Lingerie store. They are supposed to be know for having specialty sizes and for fitting basically everyone so I had high hopes for them having my first "normal" sized bra. Silly me.

Before starting this diet I was wearing a 42 DDD. For those who don't understand how bras work, the numbers are the size in inches of a woman's rib cage (where the band sits) and the letters are the cup size. The larger the band size, the closer the cup size gets to the ribs and the smaller the cups need to be. For example, a 42DDD has a large rib cage and a fair sized rack but looks proportioned; while a 32 DDD would have Pamela Anderson tits. Everyone caught up? Great! I hope that made sense... Anyhow, I was a 42DDD. Big but proportioned. Yesterday when I got measured I was given the incredible news that I was now a 34I. Thats an I everyone... like eye but a letter. I. Does anyone know what this means? Oh, you with your hand up in the back! Yes, that is correct. That means that while I have lost weight in my rib cage and the rest of my body, my breasts have kept every single one of their little fat cells all full to the brim.

I've lost weight everywhere except my boobs. Awesome. Actually no, not awesome. It would be awesome if say, I was a C cup or a D cup, but an I cup?! No, I definitely could have used some loss in the top portion of my body. Ah well, at least I know how to work it!

R2 VLCD Day #24: -1.3lbs (AKA: 54lbs Lost Since 1 Year Ago... Whoa!)

So last year at this time I was well over 200lbs. My highest recorded weight, that I recall, was 216lbs. That is one of the first time I've ever actually admitted that weight. Wow. 216... I weighed more than my 50" TV; more than four toddlers in a doggy pile... with a labradoodle... that is more Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton and Angelina Jolie COMBINED!! At 5'1 that is scarily over weight. That's like... pre-diabetic weight. I should have been practicing how to cruise around in a motorized cart due to the future loss of my foot and practicing asking people to tie my shoes since it would have been too much of a work-out to bend down, never mind trying to see them! This is a picture of me on my birthday in 2010, a year ago this past Sunday:

Whoooooooa booty. I look like a Freddy Krueger sausage! (that's like Betty Crocker but in an uglier sweater... yes it was a costume, I am not THAT much of a fashion reject) But jeez I look big. I went to Ireland about a month before this picture and in aaaaall of my Ireland pictures I look just as huge. I barely look at any of the pictures that have me in them soley because I can't stand how I look in them. So sad. The best trip of my life and I am ashamed of how I look. I refuse to feel that way about my wedding pictures.

Now, this picture was taken BEFORE this round, I've lost an additional 17lbs since this picture but it does give a pretty damn good idea of how different I look.... I think?

I'm much less Rolly Poly and much more Arrooooooogah! I've got shapely legs instead of tree trunks and a roll-less waist (while standing, at least!) and I'm so much more comfortable in clothes. I can sit without feeling uncomfortable and even my sleep has gotten better! Not so much fat on my face choking me at night. Even my little sausage fingers are looking much more svelte... that is, if fingers can look svelte.

Either way, I am on track and on my weigh way... to my goal weight of 140lbs. That will be a total loss of 76lbs from my very highest weight on record. Lets just hope I can keep it up but man... I really have no intentions of ever going back and after I reach my goal, I will never even look back.

PS: I would just like to mention that before posting this I read my blog out loud to my fiancee, Nick, who is sitting beside me. I read the part about tying my shoes and he said "You weren't that big!" I showed him the picture commenting on how I looked like the dress was painted on and he says "No way, you look beautiful." Now, ladies, is that a keeper, or what?!

R2 VLCD Day #18: -2lbs (AKA: Smaller Body... Smaller Hands. WTF?)

Down another 2lbs today, WHAAAAT? Awesome, right? On the bad side, as I've mentioned before, nothing in my closet fits me. Like... nothing. It's all too damn big. But at least I can cover my body in my jewellery, right? Wrong. Apparently.

I have recently found that my engagement ring has been slipping off of my finger when I shake my hand or when my hands get cold. I thought nothing of this and just assumed that my hands were extra silky. Until I went to a jewellery store to try on a couple of new rings and found that all the sample sizes fit. Shocked, I asked the girl why they have bigger sample sizes then the other stores and she looked totally confused. She then said that the sample sizes were size 7.5... this is shocking since I wear a size 8.5! So, with both me and the sales girl standing there looking shocked and confused... it finally clicked. I've lost 40lbs and apparently some of that came out of my fingers. Whoa. I know that the HCG diet is supposed to sculpt the body and take even amounts of weight off of all of your body but seriously, my fingers?? Maybe my childhood dreams of being a hand model aren't totally lost...