Thank you so much for your help, Msgondance and PreSkinnyme.....this means so much to me.

I think you (PreSkinnyme) and I are very much alike. I have been told that I could go as long as I want or quit at day 21 and take a week off for P3. I see now, that that is probably not good at all. I do have a lot of soul searching, and I feel like I have been for several days. I feel very heavy hearted and conflicted with what to do. After reading both of your posts, I see that it is in my best interest to do the 40 days, or at least as close to that, as I can get. You are both right, hang in there as long as possible and get that big first load off. I have to reread what you both posted again, as I have just been filled up with information...thank you so much.

I did not know there was a P4...what is that? I also had no idea that we could add in starches in P3. I need to read the book you were talking about, and find that. Until then, could you answere those questions for me? I am thinking that if I can do the 40 days and then take the 6 weeks or less of P3, that is in my best interest. Today was our youngests 7th birthday. I made her her favorite meal and had her little cupcakes for dessert..Her party is here Saturday with tons of kids and family, so that should be fun...Anyway, I was so sad tonight that I could not join there dinner, b/c it was way too much to sit there for me. I kept reaching for the dish, but pulled myself away..food has such a grip on me...Anyway, I cannot tell you how much better I am feeling with all your encouragement and personal advice. I hate that I have to lose this much, but you are right, preskinnyme...this is the first diet for me that is doing what it said it would. That is not a small thing. I have done tons of diets and this one is working and fast. The six week time frame of not losing is hard to swallow, but I am sure I need the break pretty good.

So, again, thank you for your help. I am going to push on and see how far I can go. Still very scared and nervous, but very encouraged...

tina nolt

tina- it's fine to do a short round if you want to (stop the hcg at day 23, and the do 3 addition vlcd's without hcg before starting P3). personally, i did a 38-day round for R2, but the rest have been 23 or a few longer than that. i feel it's easier mentally, and given my health situation it's a little easier on my body. as long as you don't give up! just be realistic about your losses.

there is a thread on the newcomer series about the phases: http://hcgdietinfo.com/hcgvanillaforum/search/?PostBackAction=Search&Keywords=newcomer+information&Type=Topics&btnSubmit=Search

no starches in P3- that's in P4. that's explained in the newcomer thread on phases.

you can do this, tina. i've been on disability for 10 yrs with severe chronic fatigue syndrome, and am therefore quite inactive. have also had a back fusion and multiple injuries from falls, so i deal with a lot of chronic pain. if I can be successful on this program, i believe anyone can be! one day at a time. you don't even have to commit to 40 days- just get to 23, and then see how you feel. ask your body what it needs.

we need annette to come back and read her praise! she's busy taking some courses right now.

tina- a loss of .4 is very respectable at this point in your round. what day are you on, and what is your total loss? i have a feeling it's going to be higher than the average. you HAVE to look at your total loss for the round, not get caught up in the daily ups and downs of the scale. it sounds like you said you had a cupcake- ?? If so, you have to figure that cost you about 3 days worth of weight loss.

you might want to even stop looking at the scale every day, and look once a week. as long as you're eating what you're supposed to, you'll lose what you're going to lose.

are you sticking to the original protocol in terms of your foods? not using any lotions or liquid make-up? tell us about what kinds of foods you eat. it sounded in your earlier post like you had some confusion about the protocol, so i wonder if there are some other issues here you're unaware of.

Tina, my heart goes out to you because I can feel the sadness in your writing. When I say that the mental aspect is so important in this diet, it is true in many ways. The first is our commitment to do this protocol at all. Once we make that decision, we have to go a step further and commit to sticking with it to the end. It's really such a short time and passes fairly quickly. I was definitely in your frame of mind in right about the same place in the protocol. The end seemed so far away and my losses had slowed down and I just began to spiral into this depression because I felt I was depriving myself for no reason and I couldn't see the logic behind seeing it through to the end of the round if I was just going to lose a tiny amount or none at all! I came to the boards and read and read and read and posted and posted and posted and finally I just snapped myself out of it by saying that I WAS going to do this...everyone else was having great results and I knew I should too! What really changed it for me was re-mixing! I didn't know I needed to do that when I first started my round but learned that here (among other things). Suddenly, I started losing again...usually a pound one day, none the next. Kinda strange but that's how the last half of my round went.

The thing I really had to continue to tell myself, then and even now, was that I KNOW the results are possible because I read about them constantly here, and I was not going to sabotage the good things I was doing. The other thing that REALLY helped me change my attitude was taking my measurements! What had been happening was that when those little piddly losses were happening, my body was losing inches girl! I cannot tell you how happy I was to finish that long round (okay, 38 days, but close enough) and see the results - 29 pounds and 26 inches! It would not have been that dramatic had I only done a short round and I NEEDED dramatic!! It also proved to me that I can do anything I put my mind to. I have crappy willpower, which is why I got to be as fat as I did, and I know that I could never have lost the weight and inches without hcg. It is a godsend!

This is all just my experiences, but you really have to decide for yourself, Tina. OMG, I just read back...you have lost 19 pounds in 19 days??? Honey, that's unheard of for women!! You are well ahead of the game!! Women usually only average .5 - .75 loss per day! Your body is really trying to catch up. I looked back at my own loss in R1 and I only lost 17.6 pounds, so you're ahead of me! :)

Another mental issue is how we think while on the protocol. If we think we are being deprived, we will feel like it. If we think about how much weight and inches we have lost, we're going to feel much better about what we're doing. So, instead of feeling like you are missing out, make something special for yourself...have crab legs or a lobster tail at one of those dinners and watch how quickly everyone wants what YOU'RE having! LOL Glide your hand over your tummy that is quickly shrinking, or your hips that are melting away. Get a big marker and cross of the days left on a calendar until the end of your round. Think about what you will cook while on P3...I love that phase more than P4 even. Read up on that and take your mind off of today and right now. This too shall pass! You have to break that grip that food has on you. Read up on emotional eating. It's very informative.

Are you hungry at all or are you just reaching for food because it is a habit? At 19 days in, the habit should be about broken. How much are you injecting? Have you re-mixed recently? At this stage, you probably should.

More than anything else, MEASURE. NOW! At least you will be able to see the results between now and the end of your round. Whatever you decide to do, we will all be here for you. ALWAYS feel free to come back here and post. We're here for you!

Sorry this is so lengthy, but I just feel for you so much. I seem to really identify with where you are.

Hugs,

Jacklin