Hi Cindi!!! I said everyone left EXCEPT you, and I am thankful for your support :)) It is unfortunate what you are seeing happening to folks around you. I think like any diet, people try to "make it better or easier", and unfortunatley end up making it not work at all....then the next step is the outcry about how hcg is a scam....can't you just hear it coming???

You are setting an excellent example...maybe they will come around when they see their way doesn't work. I agree with you about the way we now eat...folks look at my food too. People are shocked at all the cheese and ranch dressing I eat on a salad...LOL!!! Ironically, when I was heavy, they never saw me eat stuff like that, so they can't figure out how I can eat it now and be so much thinner. I talk about resetting your weight set point and your hypothalamus, and their eyes glaze over. Oh well....:)))

so, what is your secret to keeping the weight off? You are eating a hotdog, popcorn and peanuts, so what are you doing in your day-to-day life that is keeping the weight off? That seems to be the big mystery. My plan is to not do another round. So, I need to know how to do that.
Is it moderation, are you eating more protein than carbs, are you avoiding sugar? Are you drinking 3 gallons of water? exercising? You are eating cheese and ranch dressing, but also hot dog buns and popcorn. This is what is so confusing. My plan of action is to remove sugar and starch from my diet, pretty much forever. Is that what you've done?

Oh, You were the 80/20 gal. I liked that!
I followed the diet exactly. I lost a good amount of weight, and Im totally satisfied. Ive stabilized. I just dont know what to do from here out. My goal from the start was to use HCG as a platform, and then just follow a healthy eating plan from here on out. I guess your last sentence pretty much sums up exactly what I believe, about the meat and veggies and fruit. I just need it reinforced by somebody who is successfully doing it. I think the problem with me right now is there are an awful lot of people here and on the internet talking about their success stories while on hcg, on their second, third, fourth rounds, well sure, who wouldn't be telling their success stories when you're losing a pound a day, and Im one of them, I lost 20 lbs, but then you get to the point where Im at now, probably reached my goal, or within 10 lbs, and suddenly there's crickets chirping. Type in 'hcg a year later' and what do you get? maybe 2 or 3 entries, and one of them is a bad story. So then I start to second guess myself, and the weight loss, and wonder if its just all going to come back, and I start to panic wondering what the secret is. Im not smack in the middle of three rounds, Im looking at maintaining it for the rest of my life, and let me tell you, when you dont have the comfort of knowing that you have another round to do in a couple of weeks, its pretty scarry. I only just decided to not do a second round, and Im quite nervous.
If I can maintain this weight loss by eating healthy and exercising, then theres no problem, thats what Im doing. But If Im going to eat healthy and exercise, and it turns out there was some freak reason that the weight came off temporarily while taking hcg, and now its just going to inch its way back onto my body little by little, by eating a bite of bread here, and a pinch of sugar there, Im going to be pretty devastated.

what is interesting is that i'm sure the stats for people using hcg can be NO WORSE than people who lose weight other ways- because 95% of those people gain it back! but if 95% of people on hcg gain their weight back, it will be seen as "a scam".... Even a fair number of people from the biggest loser have gained all or some of their weight back, and they lost it with clean eating and exercise.

so my lesson from that is that maintaining your weight is a whole new challenge- separate from losing the weight. my sister says she will not do this program until she sees if i keep my weight off for a year- but i told her that i can not take on the new challenge of maintaining my weight, until i get the weight off in the first place! They are two separate challenges. One cannot criticize Dr. S's program if some people re-gain their weight. I think if you go back to your old eating habits, the weight will come back on. you may have some "protection" against that by changing your set-point, but we all managed to blow past our old set-points and gain more weight. unfortunately, that can happen again if we're not careful.

i have marveled at cindi's results- especially since her health does not allow for much exercise. but as she said, she eats everything but for sweet things it's a few bites here and there- she's not going to krispy kreme and having 2 donuts every morning for breakfast. (at least i hope not! :) )

for me, i think a key thing is what Dr. S. says about combining fat with sugar/starch. of course most of the "treats" we love are exactly that. but i try to look at what may satisfy my desire, without being the worst combo. if i feel like pasta (starch), i'm going to have it with a meat/tomato sauce (low fat) instead of an alfredo sauce. (high fat) If i do end up eating something combining fat and starch for one meal, i'm not going to do it for a 2nd meal that day. maybe that will mean having scrambled eggs with cheese one morning for breakfast, and toast for the next- instead of having them in the same meal.

and let me also say that i'm so glad barb and cindi have stuck around- we really need people who can continue to pave the way for the rest of us!

Thanks Barb... I will pack that information for my next P4~~ I had a great round 1, even greater P3 and hit the wall on P4.... although I traveled across the nation and took my eyes off the prize for the second week... I didn't follow the rules, didn't introduce things one at the time, actually went *hogwild* after a few days of tempting the odds.... and paid royally for it!! I'm going into the second week of round 2, has taken the first week to get back to LIW from round 1... and you are SO right about adding one thing at the time.... I had already conquered the fats in P3, amazed that I could eat all of that and get away with it... just as the Good Doc said...but when Sugar and Starch hit the field, I totally dropped the ball. I think all food addicts are slow learners, I know I am.. and I truly understand the concept of *slippery slopes* described by other addicts~

Bretty~