In order to lose the weight I need to lose, I contacted a Weight Loss and Wellness Clinic. I had done some research online and read reviews and testimonials about the doctor there. He apparently has had some success and has several offices in North Carolina where I live.
When I arrived for my appointment on Tuesday, August 23, I was very nervous. I didn't know what to expect from them. Much of my nervousness was relieved when they gave me a workbook and showed me a 45 minute video of the doctor explaining the diet, shots, prescriptions, etc. that are available.
I was taken into a room where a very friendly nurse put me on the fanciest scale I've ever seen. It weighed me and calculated my body mass index (BMI) and calculated where I carried most of my weight (legs, hips and butt). Then, it gave all that information in an informative color printout with pictures and graphs and told me exactly what I needed to lose and from what part of my body I needed to lose water weight and maintain muscle mass. Super cool, but still depressing.
The paper says:
"Body composition testing is the process of measuring the components of your body, in short what you're made of. Weight alone is not a clear indication of good health because it does not distinguish how many pounds are fat and how many pounds are lean body mass. By regularly monitoring your Body Fat, Muscle Mass or Muscular Development, you can understand how your diet, lifestyle and exercise regime are influencing your body composition. Knowing what's working for you can help you target and reach your wellness, appearance and longevity goals."
The nurse asked me, before she showed me my paper, how much weight I wanted to lose. I told her 100 pounds. My paper says I need to lose 96.8 pounds. So, I've already lost 3.2 pounds in my mind. She asked me if I would be doing the HCG shots. I had read about the shots ahead of time and had made the decision to take them. HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) is a controversial treatment for obesity. HCG is normally produced by pregnant women in very high levels in the first trimester of pregnancy. The dosage they give for obesity is much lower than what you would experience in pregnancy. Men are also able to take these injections and they actually have better results than a lot of women. You cannot take these injections if you have a history of cancer and they don't work for everyone. I had my first injection at the doctor's office on Tuesday and was sent home with three more syringes. I have to give myself shots once every Tuesday until I return to the doctor's office on September 20th.
The other decision I had to make was whether I would take the diet pills. I elected to try those as well. I am currently taking three 35 mg Phendimetrazine per day. These are appetite suppresants. That is what I need. Since the pills are addictive, the doctor will not leave me on them for an extended period of time. I'm good with that. I'm admittedly a little nervous about taking them. He says that I should use these 30 days to retrain my body and my mind on portion control and self control. He also said that if I stick to the diet plan, that my stomach will shrink by as much as 80%. It will be like having a gastric bypass without all the surgery. Since I had been considering GB before discovering this diet, this is good news. Frankly, if my insurance would cover the GB I would probably be writing a blog about my recovery from surgery.
In the morning I drink a whey based protein shake. One scoop mixed with water. If you get the vanilla kind, you can mix it with 1/3 cup frozen unsweetened fruit, diet soda (orange for dreamcicle flavor) or other things. Had I realized how much more flexible the vanilla was, I would have gotten that. I elected to get the chocolate thinking that it would taste less "pasty". I will try the vanilla next month. The 30g of protein are supposed to keep me from being so hungry and help me burn more fat throughout the day. So far, that is not the case. I take my first pill with my protein shake at 6:30am.
At 11am I take my second pill. At 12pm I eat lunch. I have been eating a "diet" pre-boxed microwaveable lunch such as you find in your local grocery store. The ones with high protein and low carbs are the best choices. Watch your calorie content. According the diet I am on, take your total protein grams and multiply by 4. Subtract that number from the total calories you consumed to get your TRUE calories. Those are the calories you need to burn off. You should get no more than 600 to 800 calories per day the first two weeks of the diet. The third week, you increase to 1000 to 1200 per day. You keep repeating that rotation to keep your metabolism up.
I take my last pill around 4pm when I leave work. For dinner the first night of my diet, I had a baked chicken breast about 6pm, but didn't have any of the required low starch vegetables. Remember, I have to change my entire lifestyle and all my eating habits. All I had on hand were potatoes, rice, corn and beans. All bad. This proved to be a huge mistake. Even though I waited the required time between my pill and my meal, by the time 7pm rolled around I felt I could have eaten the south end of a north bound buffalo.
The second day of my diet, I made a huge bowl of sugar free Jello. I followed the same meal and pill plan except for supper I had a center cut pork chop, string beans (allowed) and I had Jello for dessert. Much better! You are allowed one small snack per day. Sugar free Jello, 28 pretzel sticks, apple, etc. Healthy choices and low carbs and sugars are the key. If it has protein in it, much better.
The third day I followed the same plan for breakfast and for lunch, but for dinner I had Moo Goo Gai Pan from my local Chinese restaurant. True, dining out options are very limited on this diet, but there are some things you are able to eat. You just can't eat all of it. I got a pint of Moo Goo which came with white rice. I could have eaten half the Moo Goo and 1/2 cup white rice. I chose to forego the rice and eat the pint of Moo Goo to get my vegetable serving and my protein and less carbs. For dessert I had an apple. I felt satisfied, but not overly full.
I am supposed to get two vegetable servings and two fruit servings per day and drink 6 to 8 glasses of no calorie or low calorie liquid. I count my protein shake as one of my liquid servings since I mix it with water. I have black coffee with two sweetener packets when I get to work. My company provides bottled water. I purchased some of the pre-measured drink mix pouches and mix those with my water throughout the day. Normally I drink two of those while I'm at work. Before I leave work, I mix another pouch with water and take it with me. I sip on this as I run errands, pick my son up from school, etc. That's four. When I get home, I drink a glass of unsweetened tea with two packets of sweetener with my meal. Before I go to bed I refill my glass with water. I sip on this throughout the evening as I walk on the treadmill and watch television.
According to my doctor, you should exercise at least four times a week but no more than six. You should exercise at least 20 minutes. That should be consistant movement. He said activities such as lifting weights do not count toward those 20 minutes. Water jogging, swimming, water aerobics and walking in water are his recommended exercises for people just starting out. It's easier on joints and helps support your weight. Even though I belong to a gym with a pool, I choose not to use it because of my body image. I do not like wearing a bathing suit in public.
I purchased a used treadmill from someone online and my husband picked it up for me. It is now in the middle of my living room. It looks awful there, but I can't not notice it or forget about it there. I'm not tempted to hang clothes on it. Plus, I can walk on the treadmill while watching television. Last night was my first attempt. I would like to say I put it on 2 mph with full incline and jogged for half an hour, but I'd be lying. I put it on 1.6 mph with no incline and made it almost thirteen minutes before my legs felt like lead weights, I was sweating, out of breath and beginning to limp from the pain in my calf muscles. As my husband said, that was more than I did the day before and I just need to make it a little further every day. I like that.
My booklet plainly says to not weigh yourself at home because all scales are different and people get discouraged. I couldn't help myself. Even knowing that you weigh more at night than you do in the morning, I weighed myself before I went to bed. My scale said 274.6. Surely I haven't already lost 8.5 lbs. That's not possible in three days, is it? If I have then it is probably all water weight or my scale reads lower than the doctor's scale. Since I don't go back for a month, I'm curious to see how much I can lose. Now I'm motivated. I would love to lose 20 pounds this month.
So, here we are on day FOUR of the diet. I have had my protein shake and my first pill of the day. I am drinking my coffee...and I am starving. I have a diet dinner in the freezer at work. I think it's chicken parmesan. I will take my next pill at 11am allowing me to eat after 12pm. I can't wait!
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