This post is the second in the series I am writing in my quest to lose the baby weight with the help of Dr. Allana Polo and the hCG Pound a Day Program. It also marks the second week of my journey and Day 13 into what is holding me back from letting the weight go.

As I said last week, I felt like I needed a swift kick to get this show that is shedding the baby weight on the road. My mind has been playing tricks on me and fear is big in my world when it comes to getting to the heart of why I am holding onto the weight. I’m not sure why but what I am realizing is that feeling hungry terrifies me. It probably stems from using food to comfort my feelings as I was growing up. That’s a no brainer of course, but it gets better. Hold on.

This past week was going pretty well up until Wednesday when I started feeling a ravenous hunger and a headache that settled in behind my eyes. In my follow up visit with Dr. Polo that day I was reassured that what I was feeling was normal and that I was having a delayed reaction to the detoxifying effect that this plan was having. I have to admit I was skeptical and wondered if perhaps the low-calorie aspect wasn’t working for me.

I was hungry and I wasn’t supposed to be! How can 500-600 calories a day be enough?

The hCG hormone that I am taking is supposed to curb hunger but I felt like I was going to go cave woman and start breaking things. Ok, I exaggerate slightly. But man was I HUNGRY!

Being hungry is not something I am used to. I know it sounds crazy but when I am hungry I panic. And when I let it go too long my blood sugar drops and I get sweaty and my heart pounds.

So I eat.

And when I get to this sorry point of no return I often choose the wrong foods. It’s not that I am going for chocolate or pastries, it’s that I am not paying attention to how my body feels when I eat certain foods. I go for flavour, who doesn’t? But sadly I don’t know how to decipher my body’s signals. It turns out I’ve been reading it wrong for many years.

What I’ve discovered on the hCG Pound a Day plan is that this hunger feels different. It is real there is no doubt, but it is different. My heart doesn’t race, I don’t sweat and I don’t feel light-headed. When I eat the hunger goes away. Whaaat??

I know that sounds ridiculously basic but the difference is that I believe that what I was eating before was irritating my gut and I was confusing that feeling for hunger. So I would eat to make that feeling go away. The crazy thing is, I would feel that way very soon after eating a meal and think,

“How can I still be hungry? I just ate.”

But I would eat anyway. And it goes without saying that this happened pretty much every day.

To think that I can finally get a handle on my weight issue is pretty monumental for me. And if I can get to the heart of what is in my head when it comes to covering up the emotional side of eating chocolate or ice cream or just too much food in general, I will be a happy woman.

Having said all that, I was feeling much better the following day. The headache hasn’t come back and I have more energy today as well. The Vitamin B-12 injection helped and I feel like I’ve come out of the detox on top. And now the moment you’ve been waiting for!

Week ONE results

I have lost the equivalent of a very large-sized newborn so far on the plan! Woot! Now I just need to work on the preschooler that I’ve been packing around for more years than I care to divulge here. Okay FIVE. FIVE years! 

I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Why aren’t you telling me how much you lost? I want details!”

Ahhh…what fun would there be in that? Don’t you just love surprises? And I already said that I’ve lost some weight, right? Over the next few weeks I’ll reveal more details, don’t you worry. I’ll be taking measurements and photos so you will eventually see for yourself.

For now I will tell you this.

1. My body feels calmer, less tired and less hungry.
2. Now that I am over the ‘detox-hump’ my mood is lighter.
3. When I feel hungry, I eat. And when I eat the hunger goes away. I don’t feel that familiar acidic sensation in my stomach that I have confused with hunger in the past.
4. I think less about food. This is a huge win!
5. The aches and pains I was having in my joints are subsiding. This was something I didn’t expect!
6. I don’t crave anything. Of course I still think that it would be nice to have chocolate or something decadent but I am determined to stay the course. These thoughts are fleeting however which is amazing considering how obsessive I can get when there are sweets around.
7. I feel empowered and confident that I can do this.
8. For the first time in my life I feel I have control over what I eat.
9. For the first time in a long time I have hope that the clothes in my closet will soon fit. I am looking forward to a summer of feeling comfortable in my skin which hasn’t been the case for many years.

 If you’re curious about this program and want to find out more, let me know in the comments!

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