Update for Those On HCG

I've been on maintainance for a week now, and I thought that I would share some info for the others who are on it too.

First, there is a great recipe calculator at http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp.  You type in the list of ingredients and then it will calculate the nutritional information, calories, and fat based on the number of servings.

Second, I've found some good low-carb recipes at http://www.dlife.com/.  It is a diabetic web site and they list their recipes as very low carb, low carb, or carb safe.  I have made a couple of the very low carb recipes for this phase of the diet.

Third, I've found that, for me at least, staying within the 1500 calorie limit hasn't been as important as just eating very low carbs.  For the first few days I obsessed over my portions and worked hard to stay under 1500 calories and I gained back a pound and a half, which they say is normal.  On day 5 I was really hungry and I binged a little on oranges and cashews and I actually lost the pound and a half that I had gained.  I've continued to eat fruit whenever I feel like it, and more cashews than I probably should, and I am down another pound this morning.  I don't know if you would all have the same experience, but it's working for me so far.

End of Week 6

So the bad part of having 2 blogs is that, on occasion, I publish a post to the wrong blog.  That happened to me on Sunday and I just realized that I've had my diet saga on the Child Care blog for the last 2 days.  How embarrassing!

I have completed week six and I made it down 35 pounds.  In the last 2 days I have gained 1.5 back, but they say that it is normal to gain back about 2 pounds, so I guess so far so good.  I am keeping my calorie intake at about 1500 per day and by eating small meals several times per day I feel like I am eating all the time.

I have also started to try to jog a little bit over the last couple of days.  When we are out on the trail I am jogging on the level and down-hill portions of the trail. My muscles are definitely complaining about it, but I'm hoping that the increased activity will also help me keep the weight off.