Apple Cider Vinegar: Miracle weight-loss elixir or hoax?

Start Weight: 168 lbs
Goal Weight: 138 lbs
Weight after two loading days:  171.7 lbs (3.7 lbs total gain)
R2P2D6:  165.6  (-6.1 lbs gross, -2.4 lbs net)


Two pounds down this morning -- woohoo!


My tip for the day:  I have read numerous reports suggesting that adding Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) to your weight loss regimen can be of service.  Since I really like the taste of vinegars on my salads, I thought, 'What the heck?  I'll give it a try.'  I saw a recipe on one of the HCG forums that I follow that suggested adding a couple of teaspoons of ACV to water to drink.  So, here's my little ACV recipe if you want to try it:

• 16oz of water
• 40 drops of SweetLeaf Lemon Drop Liquid Stevia
• 1 tbsp of Bragg's Organic Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
• Juice of lemon wedge (after I squeeze it in, I toss it in my glass)
• Ice

Shake or mix all ingredients together and enjoy!


I've seen multiple reports that drinking an Apple Cider Vinegar concoction (like the one above) before meals can reduce your appetite, help you feel full faster, slow absorption of foods to prevent spikes in glucose levels, increase your metabolism, decrease water retention, relieve constipation and just generally help you feel good. I've also seen reports that there is not one whit of medical evidence to support these claims.  So, is it a placebo or a weight-loss miracle?  I don't know for sure.  I do know that after I started drinking it during Phase 4 of my first round, I fell below my last injection weight (LIW) and I wasn't trying to lose weight but simply maintain.  I actually LIKE the flavor of ACV and find the drink above to be refreshing, but I see that some people liken it to drinking lighter fluid.  My advice:  if you like the taste, why not add it in?  If you can't stomach it, then don't bother.  As for me, I plan to drink the above concoction at least once a day, and use ACV to dress my salads.


Okay, on to today's menu:
Coffee with Hazelnut Liquid Stevia and 1 tbsp organic skim milk
11:30a:  ACV concoction
12p:       Scrambled eggs (1 whole + 3 whites) mixed with
               sauteed spinach and onions* - 1/2 portion
1p:         ACV concoction
2p:         Other half of scrambled egg/spinach
4:45p:    Large Apple
6p:          Honey Vanilla Chamomile tea with vanilla stevia
7:30p:    1 toasted slice of Ezekiel bread* topped with
               Baby Spring Mix lettuce + 3 slices of tomato*
               and spicy brown mustard
7:30p:    ACV concoction (I hope I'm not overdoing it! ;-)
9p:         Sipping some Trader Joe's Bedtime Tea with stevia

*OFF PROTOCOL WARNINGS!

• Mixing veggies.  Also of note: this isn't off-protocol, but you may be wondering why I split the scrambled eggs up into two portions.  Well, once I had the eggs mixed up with all the spinach (it was more spinach than eggs) it looked like a pretty large portion so I figured that I would stretch it out.
• Ezekial bread is not on the protocol, but it was listed on a website as a good HCG protein option for vegetarians/vegans. I personally worry that there are too many carbs, so I plan to limit it to only once or twice a week.

I might eat a 1/2 grapefruit later, but right now (9p) I'm not hungry so I might leave off my second fruit for the day.  Here's an interesting thing to think about: some folks point out that a tomato is actually a fruit (even though Dr. Simeons lists the tomato in his vegetable list) so if they have a salad with lettuce and tomato they will count that as one veggie and one fruit.  So far, I have kept the tomato solidly in the vegetable category even though I know that it is a fruit.  But, you may feel differently...  Anyway, it is something to consider.

Yesterday, I did notice the "hungries" creeping up on me a little, and also developed a little bit of a headache.  I wasn't hungry enough to make me feel like I was ready to gnaw my arm off (which is a sure signal that your HCG dose is either too high or too low if you feel that way past the first week of injections *OR* that you have no more abnormal fat to lose) but enough to keep my mind on food a lot during the day.  The headache was not bad and easily remedied with some Advil and Tylenol.  Today I have had neither the headache nor the hunger.  Perhaps it took until today for the HCG levels in my body to reach optimal?  Also, I'm thinking that the ACV does do something to suppress appetite, and probably evenly dispersing the ACV concoction and the herbal teas throughout the afternoon helped.  I can honestly say that I am not the least bit hungry now, which is AWESOME for me at this time of night.

Guess I'll close for now, and see all you losers later! :D