Second VLCD day -- went pretty well!

Start Weight: 168 lbs
Weight after two loading days:  171.7 lbs (3.7 lbs total gain)
R2P2D4:  167.8  (-3.9 lbs gross, -.2 lbs net)


Oh my goodness!  I lost ALL of my loading weight in one day... crazy! This protocol is simply amazing!  I feel that this, plus the fact that I wasn't hungry yesterday or so far today and (crossing fingers) no KILLER headaches, validates the high-fat/lower-carb loading days.  If you are preparing to start this diet -- DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR LOADING DAYS!  Trust me on this one... You will thank me later. ;-)


I probably won't always have time to post my food journal for the day, but I'll try to do it as often as I can.  It's not a bad idea to keep a food journal so that if your weight slows or stalls, you might be able to spot a pattern and determine some foods or food combos to avoid.  I'll readily admit that I DID NOT keep a food journal during my first round, but now I see that it could be very beneficial.  Sometimes a stall is just a stall (you should expect them) but sometimes you can tie it back to something you ate the day before.  I frequently see people's weight loss stall out after eating beef and tomatoes together, so you might have an issue like that you would want to remedy.


Here is today's menu:
Water with SweetLeaf Lemon Drop Liquid Stevia and lemon wedges throughout the day - about 100 oz total
9a:      Coffee with SweetLeaf Hazelnut-flavored Liquid Stevia
           (I sip on it all morning)
12p:     Sauteed (in non-stick pan with no oil) spinach and onions*
           topped with Frank's Red Hot sauce*
3p:      1/2 diced large apple mixed with non-fat cottage cheese*
5:30p:  Other 1/2 of apple
7p:      Large bowl of Baby Spring Mix Lettuce with couple of splashes
           of White Balsamic Vinegar*
8p:      Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt* mixed with diced strawberries and
           SweetLeaf Vanilla Creme Liquid Stevia
I plan to sip on Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla Chamomile Tea with Vanilla Creme Stevia and/or Trader Joe's Bedtime Tea with stevia this evening.  That tends to knock down the "hungries" if they creep up, although I am not having that problem so far, knock wood!


*OFF PROTOCOL WARNINGS!!!
1.  I mixed my veggies together (spinach and onions).
2.  I used hot sauce made from cayenne peppers which aren't listed as an allowed food.
3.  Dr. Simeons mentions that it is okay to "occasionally" have cottage cheese made from skimmed milk.  However, having cottage cheese as one of my standard proteins is one of the off-protocol changes that I accept to make this vegetarian-friendly.
4.  Even though Dr. Simeons says vinegar is okay, I have seen folks say that they believe balsamic vinegar has too much sugar and that only plain white vinegar is on protocol.  I did check my particular bottle (Alessi White Balsamic Vinegar) and there is no ADDED sugar in the ingredients list, but there are sugars in the vinegar (from the grapes, I guess?)  So, I now use this very sparingly.  I have heard folks extolling the amazing properties of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV), so I plan to obtain some Braggs Organic Raw Unfiltered ACV as soon as possible and start using it to dress my salads.
5.  As I mentioned before, the nonfat plain greek yogurt is not mentioned by Dr. Simeons in the protocol and is therefore not allowed. It was something that I decided to add because it is high protein, non-fat, and low sugar/carb.


Til next time... later losers! ;-)