Refreshed, Renewed, Rejuvenated

Hey Guys!
How are you? I had a WONDERFUL weekend. It was soooooo nice. I am so blessed with amazing friends and family. So blessed.

I went away with two of my sisters, my sister in law and 3 really great friends. We had a blast! And yes, there was LOTS of yummy food there. I only got one picture, of the first spread of the weekend. ;-)



And then there was cake. Ohhhhhh, the cake!!! The bottom layer was chocolate cake with oreo mousse filling (SWOON!) and the top layer was carrot cake with pineapple cream cheese filling. And that amazing little sun? That was a rice krispy treat!




We had lots of healthy, yummy snacks and of course some yummy not so good for you snacks as well, like brownies and Jelly Bellys. =) I stayed on track the whole time, with the exception of 3 bites of that heavenly chocolate cake. It was soooo divine!!!!

Here is my weigh in for this morning (and a pic of my do-it-yourself pedicure):


Not too shabby, eh? The weight, I mean, not the french tips. ;-)

Yesterday was the first day that I really had no appetite. Today is my last day that I'm supposed to take the HCG drops, then 3 days of 500 calories and then maintenance. Meaning, eat what you want but weigh yourself every day. If your weight goes up more than 2 pounds in a single day, you have to fast all day and then eat a steak for dinner.

I'm emailing Beth again today to ask what's up with being able to take the HCG drops while on maintenance and how that works.

If any of you are thinking to do this diet, here's the advice I have for you: DO NOT SUBSTITUTE. It seems, logically, like it shouldn't matter if you're matching calories and fat grams, but it really does matter. Dr. Simeon, who created the diet, researched extensively to come up with the precise formula of food. I didn't know this until this weekend, which would explain why I'm only losing 1/2 a pound every two days instead of a pound every day or two.

I am most definitely planning to do another round of HCG and I'm looking forward to it. I am starting to see the difference in my body now. We went shopping this weekend and I bought a pair of size 11/12 pants. All my 14s are definitely too big now; even the Levi's that run small actually fit me right now. I can see that my stomach is flatter... it's NOT flat, don't be deceived! ;-) But it is less poochy.

I feel good. My brain is definitely, no doubt about it, clearer. I'm getting my smarts back! We told riddles this weekend and I was SMOKING! I was figuring them out left and right, which is not something I could have done with a foggy brain.

All in all I had a lovely, wonderful, fantastic weekend. I hope you did too!