I agree Bawdy. I don't plan to go much higher than 1250. After stabilizing for a while, I might even try to lower to 1000 cal and see if I can lose the rest of my surplus weight that way. That would be so much nicer than going back to that low fat diet, lol.

I don't know if you use My Plan or not but all the steak cuts in it have all the fat trimmed off. If I eyeball the fat, or weigh it, and stick it into my daily calories as "oil" I seem to have NO problem meeting my daily 1700 calorie goal.

Between that, my salad dressing and eating avocado, it is pretty easy. Oh yeah, my peperonata which has a lot of butter and garlic infused EVOO in it. YUM!

If you're a dairy product eater, then this should be super easy for you. I'm trying to limit mine to sheep cheese and only a tiny amount.

I notice how much warmer I am when my calories get closer to 1700. I'm going to have to put my silk comforter from China away. I kept waking up too warm last night. Of course, the nights are getting a little warmer here now, but when I was lower in calories I could lay down with that comforter on me, fully dressed, thick furry, microfiber robe on top of that comforter and still be a tad cold... in a 68' house. Right now, I've got the microfiber robe on and the house is 68' and I'm too warm.

ate clean P3 yesterday (P2 eating with fat) topped out at around 1550 calories and 68% fat....dropped 1.2 lbs so back within 2lbs of LDW but only just barely.

doing another clean P3 today but adding goat cheese to see if I react.

was it me that couldn't find ny strips in myplan? are they in there somewhere?

You can always enter it in as a custom food. I think a lot of times the same cuts have different names depending on where you buy them.

You could probably use a porterhouse instead: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_steak

I have a question regarding insulin level. I just got my last test result, blood was taken on Friday, at the end of a five-week phase with HCG, thus very low calorie, very low carb. I was expecting to get very low level of insulin. Test shows 96.7 pmol/L. The normal range is 15-130, so it is considered normal; but I find it very high. How come? Do you understand any of this? I don't. Thanks.

I'm the same way. Despite low carbing and all, I still have highish fasting insulin levels. Pisses me off!

Oh gosh Nancy, same here!
And another thing, new studies show that cholesterol levels are not influenced by food. So how come mine went down after P2?
I so wish I could find a knowledgeable doctor to help me through all this. I would pay good money to finally get all systems working properly.
Today I ate 1065 calories. I was shooting for 1000, went a bit higher. 71% fat, 28 % protein, just a little carb in the one egg this morning. Scared to see what the scale will tell tomorrow.

Someone posted... think it was Maile, about cholesterol being lowered by hcg and thyroid issues improved.

I hope your transition goes as well as mine. My scale didn't really budge. It was only when I started getting above 1500 calories I started seeing it go up a tad.

I've cut back on the carbs more now. I decided I didn't HAVE to have a strawberry sorbet every day.

Does anyone notice how much better their response to fullness is? Man, I sure do! It's been broken forever on me.

Nancy, one thing I noticed after both of my successful P3s was that my typical "I am never full" response to food went away.

For years, I have been the one who could literally eat nonstop all day and all night and never feel full. I think that is one reason I would stall out on LC. I simply ate too much LC food, because I never felt full. (I wasn't necessarily hungry, I just wasn't ever full.)

Yet at some point after my second hcg round, at some point once I stabilized in P3, I realized that my appetite was markedly decreased. I would stop eating while food was still available, just because I had no more desire to keep eating. And that was something completely new to me.

Before, if I made a 20 ounce steak, I would eat a 20 ounce steak. If I made a dozen devilled eggs, I would eat a dozen devilled eggs. If I opened a can of nuts, I would eat a can of nuts. And then one day I realized I'd been snacking on the same small can of salted pecans for a week and it was still half full. That was the moment I realized that I really would be able to maintain my losses.

Wow! I haven't tried anything like salted nuts yet. That would be amazing if I could just stop eating them.

I had about a 6-7 oz steak tonight and only ate half. I have lemon egg custard and deviled eggs in the fridge... don't want them. Strange!

And I"m somewhere in between Ducky and Nancy. I've never been able to eat a 20-oz steak. About a 12-oz steak has always been my limit. The last two nights I had one 12-oz steak in two servings (6-oz each night). While I would have enjoyed the entire 12-oz steak each night, I have to say I was satisfied with the 6-oz serving.

As for my progress . . . I can't believe I'm DOWN today!!! I was DOWN 1.6 pounds since yesterday, which brings me in a solid 2.0 pounds BELOW LDW!!! And a total loss of 24.8 pounds since January 1 ! ! ! ! !!



Yesterday’s goal was to raise the calories to 1249. Done and dusted. Today I raise the calories to 1500. It’s very difficult for me to raise the calories without also raising the protein amount (Biz wants me to keep the protein down to 75 grams, even if I have more than 2000 calories).

I don’t like avocados at ALL. Blech. Nor do I like mayo. I adore butter, heavy cream, and sour cream (especially on scrambled eggs with salsa). I’m not having cheese or nuts yet, per Biz, though I did ask that question today in Boot Camp. I know I could add at least 100 calories by adding 1 more serving of both fruit and veggie today, but not interested.

I might even start getting sneaky and splitting my veggies into two "servings," like saying I had a salad with both lunch and dinner when in fact I had only one salad.

Still figuring out the menu for today.

No sour cream in the house, but now that I'm thinking of it, I know have a recipe for 80%-Fat Pancakes, which would be good in the mornings. I'll have to get sour cream when I'm out today.

Excellent news on the weight front Bawdy. I also adore butter, but I need something to eat it on/with. I could never be a butter snacker.

Where do you stand on olives?

Blech!!!!!