Day 31: Final measurements

BMI: 20.9

Here's my final report.

Weight Lost: 15 lbs

Inches lost
Neck:   1
Chest:   3
Belly:    4
Hips:    2
Thigh:   2
Arm:    1

Overall I'm ecstatic. I'm now doing No Sugar, No Carbs for three weeks. Except for the sugar-free salt-water taffy I just ate. It's the Nut Man's fault.

I still have to weigh myself religiously every morning, and if I stray more than 2 pounds from my final weight (118), I have to do a "steak day". That means I don't eat all day, and then eat a monster steak and a large apple for dinner. Wierd but apparently it works.

Final comment: I will NEVER do this diet again. It's immensely effective but I will never have the determination to follow through on another month of this regimen. I think I'd rather do a South Beach diet, it takes longer but is MUCH less painful.

Day 30: still breathing

I finally got off the stall on Day 26 with a 1/2 pound loss, and then continued downward for a couple of days - I'm glad I extended this phase for a week. I've reduced the 15 pounds I wanted to lose, though my weight still wavers around. Drives me crazy but that's the nature of the beast, I guess. Now that I'm finally getting philosophical about it, I'm pretty much done this phase!


Sunday was my last injection, and today is my last 500 cal day. I am noticing my hunger is increasing exponentially, today might be hard to stick to the regimen. Tomorrow however, I can eat WHATEVER I WANT except carbs and sugar - which, come to think of it, eliminates most of the fun food. Oh well, it will be a huge relief to eat fatty food and cook with oil or butter. yum.


I made some homemade chocolates with stevia, dark chocolate (no sugar), margarine, crushed almonds and coconut. I'm eager to try them out tomorrow! It will be a yummy celebration.


Tomorrow is also my "final" measurements and weight target. For the next three weeks, I teach my body to stay at that weight. THEN I start re-introducing carbs and sugar. Huzzah! The crowd goes wild.

Day 25: ANOTHER Plateau!!!!!!

Oh. My. GOD! I've been stuck at 120 lbs for SIX days, waffling around a half pound up or down. I could just SCREEEEEEM!!!!


I do have more trust in my body now - I know I'm still living off my fat even if my weight isn't moving - but it's so hard not to see the visible evidence. Aaaaaargh!!!


On the bright side, I am getting a few compliments on my looks - and a few puzzled looks, like "did she just get her hair done? or what? something's different"


One week to go. Four days of injections, three days phasing off. I'm into bargaining now. "okay if I can drop another THREE pounds? No? Okay, TWO pounds. TWO? No? okay, ONE?

Day 23: Time Warp

How did it become Day 23? My last entry was THREE days ago!

Anyway, the weekend was fairly uneventful - no ambushes by pizzas, strudels or chocolate bars- though there was a stolen moment with an ice cream scoop - or rather with the ice cream ON the scoop - that I'll keep to myself. Suffice it to say, I still lost a 1/2 pound the following morning so we can turn our eyes the other way about my little indiscretion.

So, update: I'm LOVING my new and improved tummy. I can actually see my muscles, and hallelujah there ARE muscles there after all the work I've been doing! My pants are starting to fall off. My arms are looking toned, and I only have one small roll of fat left on my belly.

Overall I'm thrilled. Technically this was supposed to be my last day, but since I plateaued for almost the whole of last week, I'm extending the treatment till Sunday. I would REALLY like to get to 115 pounds, I'm at 120 this morning. So actually I probably WON'T get to 115 but a couple pounds less fat wouldn't hurt, and will give me a little grace room in case I "celebrate" my success too quickly.

I find myself wanting to stock-pile food. I bought THREE boxes of Girl Guide cookies. I got a ten-for-ten coupon at co-op for Eatmore bars, which I'm going to buy and freeze, and consume them in quarters after I'm done. I mentally have a little list of yummies that I'm going to wade through gradually: I can start with fatty food so I'll definitely do bacon one day. yum. Omelette with CHEESE and jalapenos. mmmm. Oh and other veggies and fruit: Carrots. Bananas. PAPAYA. mmmm.
Then I'll move into carbs: brown rice and dahl... popcorn. Home-made BREAD. mmmm.

Thinking about it is almost as good as actually eating it. I KNOW you're all thinking "she's gonna kiss that flat belly good-bye if she eats all that" but I have a PLAN. Really.

Plus, there's NO WAY I'll ever have the determination to do this diet again so I pretty much have to practice some restraint. And as you know I'm not a big eater. My idea of gorging is eating the whole Eatmore bar in one go.

Day 20: I need a Tshirt

BMI: 22.0

I (barely) survived apple day yesterday! I managed to choke down 4 1/2 apples out of a possible 6 I could have eaten over the course of the day, but it was tough going. I expect eating anything exclusively like that is difficult. I can't believe some dieters enjoy having apple days. Then again some dieters do this diet for 40 days at a time. I'm down to my last week and I'm almost counting the minutes. A friend asked me "what's the first thing you're going to eat when you're done?" and I must confess I haven't thought of anything specific though it will more than likely be a fried egg for breakfast on the first day of stage 3.

I was booked for a pizza dinner (sans pizza of course for yours truly) at a friend's place last night. So there I was, chock full of apples, driving along with TWO pizzas on the seat beside me. They smelled REALLY good. sigh. I had a spare apple or two tucked into my purse in case I was tempted, but I managed to soldier through without even a nibble.

And then TODAY we went to the dreaded fundraising dinner that has a stunningly delicious indian food buffet every year. I ate my dinner beforehand, and brought along a half fruit in case I got the nibbles. I have to say, the evening was a success - I sat through everyone else eating with only one temptation: the bhajias, which are little fried balls of onions dipped  in gram flour.

Three more injection days to go. I don't have a hope of hitting a BMI of 20, which was my original goal. On Tuesday I have to decide whether to extend the diet for another week and try to achieve my goal, or whether to stop where I am...

Day 19: Apple Day

BMI: 22.3

I have officially hit a plateau: my weight hasn't decreased for SIX days. Ugh. I had a little blip of reduction but I'm back up to the original.

According to Dr Simeon a plateau means my body is adjusting all the tissue and whatnot that is left behind when my fat disappeared - the other stuff has to be carted away, incinerated, whatever. They call it "sculpting" because apparently you keep losing inches during this phase even though you're not losing weight.

So I'm on an apple day, which is all about ..um.. apples. Six large apples to eat when and where I please over 24 hours. No water unless extremely thirsty. It will provide a jump start to the weight loss again - mostly for my personal satisfaction since I'll only be losing water, but at least I'll feel motivated again. Tomorrow morning, back on the 500 cal diet.

Speaking of the diet, I'm kind of getting used to the food. Barring any further association with asparagus, (I overdosed on it in the first week) I think I am quite happy with my options. I haven't had to give up any meat - I don't eat pork or lamb anyway and I can still have lean beef. I only really miss bacon but that will be back on the list immediately once I'm done.

I did flirt with salmonella poisoning the other day - it may actually have been the same day I was misplacing food. I cut up some chicken, grilled it, and then chopped it into little pieces using the same knife. I realized I'd used the same knife, but ate the chicken anyway. I could have re-grilled it for a couple of seconds or nuked it, but I think my brain just stopped working and I ate it. Luckily I didn't catch anything.

The big news today is, (no surprise), I've been exercising too much. I've been sternly ordered to cease and desist because I don't have enough calories to support it - another reason I'm not losing weight, my poor body has been trying to conserve all the energy it can to meet my exercise demands.

so I'm putting off training and swimming, and will only do Kung Fu 2x week.

Day 18: Blue, Blue, Blue

BMI: 22.3


I'm SOOO depressed. I GAINED a half pound this morning. I'm not sure that should have plunged me into a fit of the blues but there you have it. I really wanted to see some progress this morning.

My co-worker Mike mentioned helpfully that hockey players lose 15 pounds per game, and not to worry about a mere  1/2 pound. Sweet of him, but ineffective in improving my mood. Even my ever-flattening belly is not consoling me. *Sigh*

Day 17: In Orbit

BMI: 22.2

Yesterday was a wierd day. I kept losing track of what I was eating. And considering I'm hardly eating anything, that was quite an accomplishment. I lost 1/2 an apple in the morning, to the extent of driving back to the house to see whether I'd left it on the counter (I didn't - it was already eaten). Half an apple is serious business when it's all I get between waking up and 10am, when I can have one, or two if I must, melba toast.

And then I lost a melba toast. That was even harder, because the melbas are usually lounging in the box under my desk, blowing me kisses and ogling me. I love my melbas. I sniff them, nibble them, melt them in my mouth. They're as good as .... I was going to say chocolate but that would be a blatant lie. They are however, sweet, crispy and a fabulous treat all round. So forgetting whether I'd eaten one was a surprise. I must have just inhaled it or been somehow and most unbelievably distracted while eating it.

On top of that, I went through a 'plateau' for a couple of days where the weight loss just stops and camps out at whatever number. It's quite nerve wracking. I immediately sent a panicked note to the PD only to be told it's perfectly normal, particularly for women. Men get to romp through the diet without plateaux. Plateaux? Plateaus? Okay now they're both looking wierd. I'll go with the x.

On top of THAT, I had THREE activities booked yesterday - trainer in the morning, kung fu AND swimming at night. Sheer idiocy, considering my energy levels have been decreasing. Sure enough, I barely made it through 1/2 the training session (cancelled the rest of the week). Kung fu was a total embarrassment since my teacher decided to do a 'review' which is synonymous with seeing whether you're ready for the next level. I bumbled through it somehow and staggered to the pool, to be faced with an alarmingly chirpy instructor "okay folks let's do flutter kicks tonight!" I lasted about 15 minutes out of the hour class and went home to fall into bed. (At about this point I can hear the PD giving me THE LOOK - "Does it SAY to exercise while on the diet? That's right, NO. It doesn't. WTF are you doing?!")

At least despite all that mayhem my weight is down another pound this morning.

Day 15: Water, Water everywhere...and too much to drink

BMI: 22.4

(With apologies to Coleridge)

No, much though I hate to detract from the entertainment value of my posts, and despite what the title implies, this is not a confession that I hit the skids last night and downed a half bottle of scotch - though it looks more and more attractive each day. (Oddly I haven't missed drinking wine at all. Or scotch). Today's theme is all about water, in a simple equation:

Water = Pee = Weight Loss

I give full credit for this astounding discovery to the Program Director (PD) who must have a cache of pithy insights stored up to lob at me whenever I veer from the straight and narrow. (As in, every time I see her). I'm sure she has a list of 'difficult patients' upon which I am the star performer - I'm on remedial training as we speak, having been asked to return for a checkup before the week is out.

Apparently, I don't drink enough water, having failed miserably thus far at downing the mandatory 2 litres a day.  If I don't drink enough water I won't lose weight. End of story.
2 litres is WAY out of my league. I think, on a good day, pre-diet I used to drink a litre or so of various beverages. Now I'm trying to double it with fewer beverages, and it ain't going so well.

I once went out with a guy who refused to drink water after supper because he hated getting up at night to pee. (Different guy than the previous post's Paranoid Poo-er). Not that that's at all relevant to this discussion. I have become a frequent habituee at most toilets around my neighbourhood, in service of the 2 litre rule. I time my out-of-house errands by duration-between-pees so that I can be home or at least near a decent toilet before my back teeth start swimming.  

I keep hoping my bladder capacity will increase but it hasn't happened yet. My co-workers are becoming accustomed to my sudden disappearances, often half way through a conversation. "So then I said to him... what? again? oh okay, I'll wait". (insert eyeball roll)

I hereby resolve to drink a litre by 2pm and another by 8pm, come hell or high water. So to speak.

Day 13: Crabby

BMI: 22.7

Yes, it crept up yesterday. Freakin' fibre. No more fibre for me! Besides, I had a poo today. Didn't change my weight though. I was convinced I'd drop a couple of pounds after the momentous event.

I tried eating crab today, "tried" being the operative word. I optimistically bought 12 (yes, a full dozen) cans of it at costco, thinking I would eat it for lunch every other day and imagining the yummy crab I usually get in my sushi rolls.

I've never actually bought canned crab before and eating it was a horrible, traumatic experience. I will be scarred for life. THIS crab was nothing like the sushi crab. It wasn't very sweet tasting, it was too fishy and had a bitter after-taste. I tried adding some stevia. Not much better. Salt and pepper? Now it was salty and bitter. In desperation I dumped some Frank's into it, and ate a few bites. I kept gagging on it and it didn't help that I had raw cabbage for my vegetable. I thought I was going to lose my lunch - almost had me running for the toilet. Ugh.

Ended up I tossed the whole thing out and made some cooked cabbage and dry-fried chicken. MUCH better, I managed to eat it all. I may gain weight AGAIN tomorrow because I didn't monitor how much I ate before I added the 100 gm of chicken. Groan. It couldn't have been more than two teaspoons, I could barely bring myself to eat the stuff.

Anyone want 11 cans of crab meat?

Day 12: Movement...or lack thereof

BMI: 22.6  (no movement there either!)

Those with delicate sensibilities may want to skip reading this post because it deals with a universal human experience that we only talk about when we're very young or really old: bowel movements. It seems to be one of those topics that somehow becomes taboo around the age of ...well, really when DO people stop talking about it? I don't recall ever hearing a teenager saying "wow I just had the greatest poo!" so it must be earlier than that.

 It fades out of our conversational repertoire, only alluded to in advertising for "regularity". Really only moms talk about poo. They discuss in extensive detail their baby's latest achievement in that arena: "...and do you know Tommy pooed THREE TIMES yesterday!"  Moms have special dispensation to talk about poo. Everyone else must suffer or rejoice silently through their adventures with their intestinal vagaries. Bunged up Barry or Diarrhea Diane, no mention of BMs must arise in human interaction. I once had a date run out on me early from a supper because he had to poo and didn't want to go in a public bathroom. He left me sitting there, half way through dinner AND WENT HOME TO POO. I think that was our last date.  

People will freely discuss having to pee - somehow that's not quite as unconscionable as good ol' poo. We only really pay attention to our nether regions when they stop behaving. We go through our entire lives not talking about it, except for embarrassed interactions with pharmacists - "um... do you have anything for... you know... digestion?"

THEN we hit old age. Old people will discuss their BMs until you wonder whether they actually do anything OTHER than poo. So when does it magically become okay to start talking about them - 50? 60? 70? 80? I haven't quite figured it out.

I personally am mildly militant about having regular BMs, and that brings me to today's topic: HGC and bowel movements. Or per the moniker of this post, the lack of BMs. Granted, considering I'm eating two little pieces of flesh and several cups of vegetables each day, you may think there isn't much to talk about, volume-wise. I contest, however that size DOESN'T matter in this instance (that's a whole other rant). All intestinal by-product should be promptly expelled. Well maybe not literally PROMPTLY but at least every day.

Currently I'm running at FOUR days with no action. FOUR!!! Unheard of. (Mind you I DID hear of a guy who didn't have BMs for weeks on end according to his wife. Ewww. Imagine carrying all that poo around INSIDE YOUR GUT. Gross. His weight probably dropped by 10 lbs every time he finally managed to poo).

So, back to me: I'm now taking some kind of fibre supplement to wake up my intestines. It's calorie-free and essentially invisible - Inulin, they call it. I'm hoping it doesn't affect my regimen. I'll keep you posted!