Third day of hCG injections and I must say, if I ever needed an object lesson in sodium related water retention, my dinner last night gives it. I'm up about four pounds this morning thanks to a burger and fries from Carl's jr. This, I begin today at 207.4, which will be gone by tomorrow, perhaps taking a friend or two with it as well.

Here is what I am going to be eating from now until day forty of injections:

Breakfast: Tea or coffee in any quantity without sugar. Only one tablespoonful of milk allowed in 24 hours. Saccharin or Stevia may be used.

-----------

Lunch: 1.    100 grams of veal, beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, lobster, crab, or shrimp. All visible fat must be carefully removed before cooking, and the meat must be weighed raw. It must be boiled or grilled without additional fat. Salmon, eel, tuna, herring, dried or pickled fish are not allowed. The chicken breast must be removed from the bird.   2.    One type of vegetable only to be chosen from the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet-greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, cabbage.   3.    One breadstick (grissino) or one Melba toast.   4.    An apple, orange, or a handful of strawberries or one-half grapefruit.

---------

Dinner : The same four choices as lunch (above.)    ---------

Nifty, huh? Generally speaking, I am eating the meat, grissini, and fruit and counting calories, then filling my remaining space in the 500 calorie allotment with vegetables. The trick being that I cannot mix them, only one type per meal and better to not repeat the same veggie for lunch and dinner. But I can have 100 calories of cabbage, for example, in a broth I made with my chicken breast, and with some added spices. That turns a fairly small calorie amount into a pretty extensive meal. There are NO restrictions on salt, pepper, and most spices and herbs, other than that they contain no added sugar or fat. That means flavor plays a big part of making an otherwise very simple diet interesting, and Cajun shrimp sauté or curry coated chicken is allowable, so long as it is cooked in compliance with the protocol. I have a nice little PDF cookbook just for phase 2 (P2) that gives me a lot of good options for flavor while staying firmly on plan.

I am stating it again, but it needs to be repeated often - I am giving this my 100% try. There is no point in drastically changing my lifestyle and body's chemistry if I am going to cheat. Thus, no going back. From here on out I am staying as on plan as I possibly can, right down to skipping Christmas dinner to instead eat what I packed myself. And when I get into P3 and P4, I am using the cessation of my junk food cravings as an opportunity to permanently replace my previously grain and sugar heavy recipes with ones that aren't going to spike my blood sugar and make me a ravening beast. I'm accepting, flat out, that I cannot eat some foods in moderation, and that half a donut or a slice of cake is really a once-a-year thing for me if I want to stay slim and feeling good, without food allergies.

I'm so fed up with junk and despite what I have told myself in the past, I truly DON'T need it. Thus, from here on out I am not only sticking like glue to the protocol, going so far as to wear gloves while cooking for the family to keep from coming into contact with fats, but I'm using the maintenance periods to get myself firmly in the habit of cooking without grains and sugar. Coconut flour, almond meal, stevia... These are going to be replacements I have to train myself in using, to gradually shift how my family eats. It's a big task but I'm so ready for it. It took a lot of time and struggled to get to the point of being fed up with this current weight (195-205 range) and even more time to be convinced that the standard American diet isn't a right, nor is it something I should be bummed about avoiding. But I did hit that threshold and now I'm all in for changing it.

Everyone has to do their own journey and soul searching on this point, but I am confident with my path for the next six months or so. And being in the habit of eating pretty firmly paleo for the next pregnancy? That will make my pregnant maintaining all the easier, having broken my wheat habits prior to it all.

I'll probably report in at the end of the day with how the cooking went and how many lurking fats tried to land on me ;). Wish me luck!