Saturday, August 18, 2012

Atkins Fat Fast on P2

Last round I read a lot about people doing and Atkins-style Fat Fast while on hcg P2.  I was curious about it so I gave it a try.  It worked really well for me, but I did it too close to the end of my round and was not able to maintain the loss during P3.  This time around I decided to do the Fat Fast half-way through my round so last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday was when I did it.  I follow the Atkins guidelines and eat 5 "meals" of 200 calories each throughout the day.  For me, it consists of macadamia nuts (2 "meals), bacon (1 "meal"), and Chocolate Fat Fast Parfait (2 "meals").  It is an easy three days for me, not having to worry about cooking P2 meals, and the change from P2 foods is nice.

Results:  I lost 4 lbs. in 3 days on the Fat Fast and have continued to lose after I completed it.

I LOVE the fat fast! :)

I think I will continue to do one 3-day Fat Fast each round as long as they keep working.  They really help my Week 2 numbers, which can usually be a rough week for people.

I am on VLCD 13 today and I have lost 10.6 lbs.  Only 4.4 lbs. left to my goal for the round of 15 lbs. lost.

6 more injections!  8 more VLCD days!  And then P3!!!

If you want more information about the Fat Fast, just google "Atkins Fat Fast" and you will find a lot of information, recipes, etc.

-K

Friday, August 17, 2012

The Numbers on Loading

What can I say - I'm an accountant and I love to crunch the numbers.  So I was very anxious to compare my High-Fat loading this time with my High-Junk :) loading of last round.  And I was very surprised at the results.  I expected that with the High-Fat loading (no processed carbs or sugar) that I would gain less but would still have big losses the first week.  This would make my "net loss" (loss less load weight) for Week 1 much greater.  That wasn't really the case.

I am comparing Round 2 and Round 3 - because Round 1 was really off the charts and I don't think it's fair to compare it to anything.  No matter how I load, I don't think I'll ever have Week 1 losses like Round 1.

Round 2 - Ate lots of junk, sugar, carbs, etc. but tried to keep the fat high.  I loaded for 3 days and gained 6.8 lbs!!!  My total loss for Week 1 was 9.2 lbs. for a net loss of 2.4 lbs.

Round 3 - Ate "fat fast" type foods and made sure my fat percentage was around 70%.  I loaded for 2 days and gained 2.6 lbs.  My total loss for Week 1 was 5.2 lbs. for a net loss of 2.6 lbs.

As you can see, my net loss with the High-Fat load was higher - but only by .2 lb.  In my opinion, not enough difference to do it again.  I think I will continue to alternate between a regular load and a high-fat load each round to see how they do.  For me, the one advantage of the high-fat load was there was no detox at all during the first few days of P2.  No headaches - which was nice!  But there are disadvantages too - lots of planning and preparation for the high-fat foods.  No going out to restaurants or eating my favorite junk food that I miss.  My family has loved load weekends in the past because of all the eating out and junk so they didn't think much of the high-fat load. :)

So I will keep crunching the numbers each round and let you know what I find. I still have at least 5 more rounds to go so I'll have lots of data by the end of this. :)

-K

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Chocolate Fat Fast Parfait

I've had a lot of questions about my fat fast parfait that I used during my high-fat loading.  I also eat it when I do an Atkins fat fast - just in much smaller amounts. :)

I created this recipe last year when I did my first fat fast, and it was based on this recipe.  I thought a chocolate layer would go nicely with the cream cheese so I created one using whipped coconut milk and cocoa.  My recipe is below.  I apologize for not having a picture - I will take one next time I make it.

Chocolate Fat Fast Parfait
8 servings of 200 calories each

Cream Cheese Layer:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 Tbs. vanilla
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup no calorie sweetener (I use Ideal and ZSweet)

Blend with a mixer until creamy.

Chocolate Layer:
1 can Coconut Milk (full fat)
2 Tbs. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup no calorie sweetener (I use Ideal and ZSweet)

The best way to use the coconut milk is to put it in the refrigerator a few days before you want to use it.  It should harden up and separate.  The top should be the white cream and the water should be left in the bottom.  Sometimes this works for me and sometimes it doesn't.  Whip the solid part of the coconut milk with a mixer until fluffy.  Discard the water.  Add in remaining ingredients and mix.

Now layer your parfait into dishes, alternating the cream cheese and chocolate layers.  If you are making Atkins fat fast size of 200 calories, they will be very small so something like a shot glass might be best.  You can also make it all in one rectangular container and divide it out into servings.  If you are making the parfait for high-fat loading, then I recommend adding a couple layers of crushed macadamia nuts because they taste yummy in it and the calories don't matter.

-K

Monday, August 6, 2012

Loading Days - Food Diary

Here are my food diaries from my 2 loading days.  Click on the picture to open it bigger so you can actually read it. :)




Results of High-Fat Loading

I barely survived my two days of super high-fat loading - ugh! :)  Loading is never fun so the high-fat wasn't really any different in that regard.  But the weight results were very different!  Here's how it went.....

Saturday I ate 6511 calories!  Of this, 69% were fat, 17% were carbs, and 14% were protein.  My percentages were off this day.  I know why - because I went out and ate 2 pieces of regular pizza and then had ice cream.  I woke up on Sunday to a 2.4 lb. gain.  Still, not bad compared to previous loading experiences.

Sunday I ate 5185 calories, which was 80% fat, 8% carbs, and 12% protein.  So I was much happier with these percentages, and I woke up today to only a .2 lb. gain!  Wow!

So for the weekend I ate almost 12,000 calories and only gained 2.6 lbs. loading.  I am thrilled!  Previous loads I gained anywhere from 6 to 8 lbs. over 2 days.

My starting weight today for Round 3 is 209.6.  I am very happy with that and with the small gain from loading.  I am excited to start VLCD and start losing again!

I am going to try to get screenshots of myfitnesspal and post them so that you can see exactly what I ate, the calories, etc. and over the next few days I will post the remaining recipes.  Most of the recipes for what I ate can be found in last week's post entitled "High-Fat Loading - Planning My Next Round".

-K

Edited to add:  Here is a link to the post I made of my food diary for the loading days.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Low Carb Cinnamon Rolls

I have been looking for something low-carb to replace my cravings for cinnamon rolls.  They are one of my very favorite things!  I decided to try to adapt a Bisquick recipe using Carbquik and it really turned out well.


Carbquik Cinnamon Rolls

4 cups Carbquik
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 Tbs. Z-Sweet

1 cup Ideal Brown
1/4 cup Ideal Confectionary
1 Tbs. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 Tbs. melted butter
3/4 cup melted butter

Icing:
1 cup Ideal Confectionary
2 Tbs. Cream
1 tsp. vanilla
Plus a little water to get the right consistency

Combine Carbquik, buttermilk and Z-Sweet in a bowl using a fork.  Mix just until combined.

Combine Ideal Brown, Ideal Confectionary, cinnamon and nuts in another bowl.  Add 2 Tbs. melted butter and stir to moisten.  Set aside.

Use Carbquik to dust your working surface and your hands.

Turn dough out onto surface and roll to 1/2" thickness.  My dough was very crumbly - so I may need to add more liquid next time?

Pour melted butter over surface and then sprinkle with the nut mixture. My butter started running off the edges, so I think next time I will sprinkle the nuts first and then try pouring on the butter.  Maybe it will be less messy?

Roll the dough starting from the long end.  Slice into 1/2" slices and place in a 9x13 pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until just golden brown.

Icing:  Combine Ideal Confectionary, cream, vanilla and water.  Drizzle over the top of the rolls.

Makes:  18 rolls
230 calories each, 29 net carbs, 20 g. fat, 5 g. protein
They are a little high in carbs, but much lower than a regular cinnamon roll.  I am wondering if next time I should use cream instead of buttermilk?  Also, myfitnesspal does not show the sugar alcohol from the Ideal - but if I knew what that was I would deduct it from carbs as well.

** I just realized I didn't add the pecans to the ones I made :(

Note:  I made these using the sweetners that I had on hand.  You could use whatever you prefer - erythritol, xylitol, stevia, etc.  Since the original recipe used brown sugar, I thought the Ideal Brown would be best for the filling, but I'm sure a white sweetener would've been good too.

Let me know if you try them!

-K

My Last Day of P3 (for now)

I went to the store last night and bought everything I need to make my high-fat loading yummies.  Since I didn't have time to get everything made for today, I decided to wait until tomorrow to start loading.  I narrowed down my choices and will be making cheesecake, refrigerator fudge, 7-layer dip, guacamole, chocolate nutty delight, egg nog, buffalo chicken dip, and maybe fat fast parfait.  It still sounds like too much - doesn't it? :)

I entered a mock day in MyFitnessPal yesterday and came up with 10,000 calories!  Yikes! But it was 73% fat.  The part I had trouble with was getting my protein to be more than my carbs.  I think that is because I was trying to add in some "normal" food like pizza that I really miss.  So it's still a work in progress, but I am excited to give it a try!

I decided to go ahead and make the cinnamon rolls today and have them pre-loading instead of during loading because they were throwing my percentages off.  Here is a picture of the two I am getting ready to eat.



They are made with Carbquik and Erythritol and Xyltol.  I used a Bisquick recipe that I adapted and the dough was a little crumbly but the finished product tastes great.  I love cinnamon rolls and I usually have some for loading - so I think this is a great alternative.  I'll try to post the recipe I ended up with soon.  They are P3-friendly!!

I made the refrigerator fudge last night and it is not quite what I expected.  It tastes a lot like chocolate cheesecake so I'm not complaining - it's just different.  It does have a gritty taste because I used granular xylitol.  I really should have powdered it first - live and learn.  But it's still edible.  And high-fat.   :)

So sometime today I still need to make 7-layer dip, chocolate nutty delight, buffalo chicken dip, and cheesecake.  Busy busy.

-K

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Lesson Learned

I always wondered why Dr. S said to continue hcg for 3 days past a period.  I still don't know the answer as to why - but I know I am going to follow his advice from now on!  I ended my last round about 2 days before TOM came to call and it really messed up my P3.  I gained about 4-5 lbs. right away and it never came off.  I have stabilized wonderfully, but it is above my LIW.  I am not going to worry about it, since I am stable, but I will do things differently if the situation comes up again.

Here is the passage from Pounds & Inches:
Similarly, the end of a course of HCG should never be made to coincide with menstruation. If things should happen to work out that way, it is better to give the last injection three days before the expected date of the menses so that a normal diet can he resumed at onset. Alternatively, at least three injections should be given after the period, followed by the usual three days of dieting.


It still amazes me how hcg can work.  It still amazes me how I can eat so much during P3 and still stay in a stable range.  It still amazes me that anyone could really research hcg and not think it is the amazing thing ever! :)

-K

Monday, July 30, 2012

High Fat Loading - Planning My Next Round

So I guess I've made my decision to start loading on Friday for my next "cycle".  That will put me in P3 for 2 weeks and I am ready to get back to P2.  This weekend I went through all my low-carb recipes and found the highest fat ones I could to use for loading.  My goal is at least 70% of calories from fat for those 2 days.  I entered all the recipes in My Fitness Pal so now I am ready to go.  I need to do some shopping for ingredients and I plan to make the cheesecake on Thursday so it is ready for Friday loading.

Here are some links to recipes I plan to use:

Goat Cheese Balls - These remind me of tiny cheese balls and they sound yummy!
Refrigerator Fudge - Made with cream cheese - yes, please!
Low Carb Turtle Cheesecake - Planning to freeze part of it for next time
Avocado Fries - I love anything avocado!
MsHCGGirl's Chocolate Nutty Delight - A variation of Chocolate Delight with peanut butter and almond butter in it - can't wait to try it!
Fat Fast Parfait - I add another layer made with chocolate in my version - will post it sometime.
My Buffalo Chicken Dip - I'll post this soon too - it is one of my favorite low-carb meals!
Nacho Chips - I'm going to try making these to eat with guacamole and maybe 7-layer dip.
Cinnamon Rolls - I am going to make these with Carbquik.  I was surprised they came out to 77% fat!  Yay!
My homemade Egg Nog - SO yummy and high in fat!

So, that is kind of a long list.  I don't know if I'll get to eating all of these things this weekend but I'm going to try.  I definitely need to start making some things ahead to be ready by Friday.

-K

My Carbquik Pins

Since my success with Carbquik, I have been searching out more recipes to try.  I created a board on Pinterest and will continue to add recipes as I find them.  Feel free to check out my pins and let me know how they turn out if you try anything.  Some are Bisquick recipes that I plan to sub Carbquik, and others are low carb recipes using Carbquik.

Carbquik Recipes on Pinterest

-K

Sunday, July 29, 2012

What I Think of Carbquik



I ordered two boxes of Carbquik from Netrition and I got them last weekend.  I was leary of how it would taste and how well it would work in recipes but I have been pleasantly surprised!  I have played around this week with several recipes and they have all turned out well.  Even my kids have said you can't tell that it is low carb.  Below is one of our favorite recipes - altered to use Carbquik instead of Bisquick.  These did not even last a day around here!  I plan to make some more this week and I will try to get a picture before they are gone.

Sausage Balls

1 lb. bulk pork breakfast sausage
1 cup Carbquik (original recipe calls for 2 cups but I cut it down the first time - just to make sure there was no aftertaste)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients and roll into small balls.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Makes - about 50

Headed in the Right Direction

Over the last two days I am down 1.6 lbs.  I am still above LIW, but I am moving in the right direction.  TOM is gone and I think some of the water is finally leaving too.  I did not do any correction days, just my normal P3 eating of 2200 calories and the weight is slowly coming off.

Well, I say 2200 calories, but I hardly ever make that goal.  But that is my goal.  It is 11x my current weight. I usually end up around 1800-2000.  I eat low carb and as much as I want - I don't restrict myself.

I think I am ready to start another round.  Today is Day 8 of P3 and while I enjoy the food of P3, I am ready to get back to losing. I have a lot more to lose and it is hard to just maintain when I would rather be moving forward.  Currently, I am cycling 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off, but I am thinking of changing that.  A lot of hcg'ers cycle 2 weeks on and 1 week off and I am considering it.  One week on P3 is enough to eat what I've been missing and then I could get back to P2.  It sounds great and I may give it a try and see how it goes.  Either way, I will be loading with HIGH fat and no sugar and hoping to not gain any weight.  Gaining loading weight on a short round is tough.

I think I will plan on loading next Friday and Saturday.  Yay!  It is always so exciting to start a new round. :)

Happy Releases!

-K

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

TOM and the Bacon Bomb

This has been a rough P3 for me!  Last Thursday was my LIW and my weight increased every day for 5 days after that!  TOM showed up on Saturday, which explained the increases, but I still didn't like it.  Yesterday was the 5th day since LIW and I was up 4.8 over LIW.  I knew I hadn't done anything wrong and it was just water, so I did not do a correction day.  I just continued to eat P3 normally and today I was down .8.  So I am glad to be on the right track.  Hopefully the rest will come off over the next few days.  I hate the bloated feeling - ugh.

Last night for dinner my daughter made a YUMMY P3-friendly "Bacon Bomb".  It was something we created after seeing something similar in our natural meat store.  I wish I'd had a recipe, but we just winged-it and it turned out delicious.  I thought I'd share the recipe for anyone who would like to try it.

Bacon Bomb
2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 Tbs. chili powder
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic, mashed
2 Tbs. parsley
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 jalapenos, chopped
8 oz. cream cheese
16 slices bacon

On a cookie sheet, basketweave the bacon, with 8 slices across and 8 slices down.


In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, chili powder, eggs, garlic, parsley, cheese, worcestershire sauce, and jalapenos.  After thoroughly mix, spread the mixture over the bacon.


Spread the cream cheese over the ground beef mixture.


Starting at one end, roll up the all the layers.


Seal the ends of the ground beef as well as you can.  We didn't do this and we lost some of the cream cheese goodness out the ends!  Bake at 375 for 1 hours and then turn on the broiler for a couple minutes to crisp the bacon.


I cut it into 7 slices and it is 569 calories per slice (3 g. carb, 37 g. protein, and 44 g. fat).  I used 85% ground beef.

ENJOY!




Sunday, July 22, 2012

P3 Day 1 (Round 2)

I just love P3!  I love eating low carb with lots of fats and so P3 is exciting for me.  When I am in P2 I really miss the butter and the cheese.  Today I set my goal at 1500 calories and ended up eating about 1700.  If you take my weight times eleven, my maintenance calories is 2200.  I probably ate too many calories for my first day on P3, but the scale will tell tomorrow.  During my last P3, I added calories back a little more slowly.

Last night I tried my first recipe with Carbquik and it turned out very well.  I am excited to try more recipes.  In case you are not familiar with Carbquik, it is a Bisquick-like baking mix that is low carb.  Check out my recipe for Low Carb Sausage Balls.

TOM showed up today and I can tell I am retaining water.  I am hoping it doesn't show up too bad tomorrow on the scale.  I'll just have to wait and see.

-K

Saturday, July 21, 2012

A Late Start

Today is the last day of my 2nd round of hcg protocol (also knows as P2).  Three months ago, when I was researching hcg, I said I wanted to start a blog to share my journey to lose 80 lbs. with hcg.  Here I am, finally starting it.  A little late, I know.  But I still have a long way to go.  So don't worry - there's still more story to tell.

You can read more about my struggle with weigh here.  But for this post, I want to catch you up on my hcg journey.

May 12, 2012 - First injection and first loading day for Round 1 of hcg - I stuffed myself with every sugary, carby thing I wanted and more.  I got to the point where I really didn't want to eat any more, but I made myself.  The next day was more of the same.  I gained a total 6.6 lbs. during loading, making my starting weight for hcg, 231.6 lbs.
May 14, 2012 - Starting the 500-calorie protocol - I was worried about eating such small amounts, but it really wasn't that bad.  After the first couple days, I really was not hungry at all and it was easy to stick to protocol.  I followed "Pounds and Inches" with the exception of adding one tablespoon of coconut oil each day.
June 13, 2012 - My final injection for Round 1 - Last Injection Weight (LIW) - 209.4.  Total loss of 22.2 lbs. for Round 1.  You can see my stats/charts page for more details on the losses.  I lost great the first 2 weeks and then it slowed down dramatically.
June 16, 2012 - Started P3 and stuck to low carb eating.  I did not have any trouble stabilizing and the most I varied from LIW was 1.6?
June 29, 2012 - First injection and first loading day for Round 2 - I had intended to stay on P3 for 3 weeks but I wanted to start on a weekend, so I guess my P3 was a little shorter then I realized.  This time I decided to try 3 days of loading to see if it helped me lose any better.  I gained 6.8 lbs. loading.
July 2, 2012 - Starting the 500-calorie protocol.
July 15, 2012 - I decided to try a 3-day fat fast during P2, just to see how it worked for me.  I ended up losing 4.6 lbs. during those 3 days - I would call that a success!  I wish it had not been so close to the end of the round though.  Hopefully that will not affect my stabilization.
July 19, 2012 - My final injection for Round 2 - LIW - 201.4.  Total loss of 8 lbs. for Round 2.  I am very happy with this since it was a 3 week round.

Tomorrow I will start my second P3.  I am ready to start eating some real food again. :)

My plan from here on is to cycle - three weeks on hcg and then three weeks off hcg (P3).  I will eat low carb between cycles and not add back any sugar or starch.  I still have 56 pounds to lose, so if I can lose 8-10 lbs. each round, I have about 7 rounds to go.  I prefer the cycling because during Round 1, my losses slowed so much after the first two weeks, that it became discouraging.  With a 3 week cycle, the depravation of P2 is short and I know I will soon be back in P3.  It also capitalizes on my best loss weeks.  Some people cycle 2 weeks on and 1 week off and I may consider that sometime in the future.  Or maybe even 3 weeks on and 2 weeks off.

I have a new plan for loading as well, and I'll be sharing that in another post.  I hope to avoid gaining 7 lbs. loading so that my true losses can be greater.

There it is, my journey so far in a nutshell.

-K