It's here!

Whoa. I just check the tracking info for my HCG, and it's out for delivery. Which means I'll have it today. TODAY. Holy heck. I just got so nervous! Time to plan meals for loading days and buy supplies for the first weeks. My Omron HBF-514C Full Body Composition Sensing Monitor/Scale is being delivered today, too. Everything seems to be coming together. Now, I need to decide when to start. Dec. 1 sounds like a nice, even date, but that's tomorrow, and I don't think I can get it together that fast. We'll see.

Customs / Too much meat

Yay; my HCG made it through customs and is on it's way here from NY. Should be here by the end of the week. That's the good news. The bad news is that I'm starting to hate the idea of eating so much meat during the diet. But I know it's the protocol that works best, so I'll do it. Perhaps after round one, I'll transition to vegetarian/vegan protocol. We'll see. I'm thinking it'll take at least three rounds, maybe four, to get to my goal weight. I haven't put a number on GW yet. Probably somewhere between 135-150.

Where I bought the stuff

I've ordered my supplies. It was cheaper than I expected; even more so that some of the leading homeopathic drops (which I am convinced help control appetite but do not help the body release "abnormal" fat like the real hormone does). Anyway, the 43-day injections mixing kit, which I ordered from FormaGenix, was on sale for a total of $26.98. Then I ordered the actual HCG from AllDayChemist, which seems to be the standard place to get it, according to the forums. The product itself was $28 (for three 2000 IU vials), plus $25 shipping (not unexpected, since it's international), for a total of $53. So, in total, round one will cost $79.98 for the meds. There will, of course, be incidentals on top of that. I plan to buy a body-fat scale (used to have one; not sure where it is), there will be co-pays on my labs at the doc, etc.

Injections vs. Sublingual Drops

I've decided to do injections rather than sublingual drops. I'm not excited about shots, but it's really a time factor. Sublingual regimen requires two doses per day, holding the drops under the tongue for 10-15 minutes. That's a huge amount of time that I can't afford. I've watched quite a few YouTube videos on how to inject, and it seems easy enough. I don't have a needle phobia, so that's that.

Background

Well. It's been a long time since I blogged. It seems most of our social media experience involves Facebook these days, but that isn't the right place for this. I need a diary for my latest personal challenge — weight loss — specifically, the HCG diet. It's pretty radical, but that's what I need right now. So, for a little background ... I've always fought fatness. In 2001, I had a RNY gastric bypass, laproscopic. It was a miracle, and I lost close to 100 lbs. However, I abused my new little stomach by overeating regularly, and after a couple of years, about 15 lbs. crept back on. After my first child was born in late 2007, my metabolism completely tanked and I gained 30 lbs. in just a few months. I spent the next couple of years battling that bulge, including a year of visiting an endocrinologist to see if there was any physical explanation for my fast gain. Nope. In 2010 I got pregnant with baby #2. Pregnancy is kind to my body. I lose weight, my skin clears up, and my relationship with food becomes normal and healthy. I've always said that I wish I could bottle that stuff. Anyway, after baby was born in October 2010, I joined Weight Watchers and a gym. The combo helped me drop 10-12 lbs. in three months. Then my mom broke her leg; she's my babysitter, so my whole world went crazy for a while and I abandoned my senses and ate like a convict on death row. Now, 20 lbs. heavier, I'm depressed and desperate (about my weight; the rest of life is lovely). I'm a mere 20 lbs. from my pre-gastric bypass weight. Life with a full-time job and two young children is too crazy to get much exercise, and yet it's a critical time to have maximum health and energy. So that's it — I need a big boost. I've been reading about the HCG diet and hearing about it on TV and online lately. It's the new fad program. But it's been around for 50+ years, so it's really not new. Whenever I consider a major investment — whether it's money, time, health, etc., I research it to death. That's the phase I'm in now. I've done enough to know I want to do it. I went to my doc for baseline bloodwork and let her know my plan. She gave me her blessing. Now I just have to order the supplies (I'll be getting the HCG from an international pharmacy since it's not covered by insurance for an off-label use). In the meantime, I'll keep on with my reading and research. I need to decide if I'm going to do the daily injections, or if I'll try the sublingual drops. More research on the methods will help me choose. I won't be doing the homeopathic version; I think they're a waste of money. So that's it for now. I'll update when anything changes. We'll talk numbers when I'm ready to start the program.