Day 2 VLCD 174.0

174.0 lbs.

15 drops (9:40 a.m.)(4:00 p.m.)(11:20 p.m.--wow, way late!)

It was nice to see a 3 lb. loss. I am a lot more hungry today. I am really hoping that I am doing this right. Now I see that the loading days so important. It just seemed scary to put all of that fatty food into my body in two days. But, as I said, I am really hungry.

My timing is all off. My 1 yr. old daughter was up from 2 am to 5 am. We are trying to straighten schedules out.

This diet is forcing me to play with seasoning combinations. I tried some more today--ok, but I'm still searching for that perfect combo for meats and vegetables. Stevia and cinnamon are awesome!

I am using the ketone test strips. There is a comparison chart on the bottle. Light tan means negative for passing ketones. Dark maroon means that there is a large amount of ketones. Ketones in the urine means that the liver is breaking down fatty acids that have been released into the blood stream. Ketones are the end-product of rapid or excessive fatty-acid breakdown. Ketones will be present in the urine when the ketones in the blood go above a certain level. The idea here is that when on the hcg diet, the body is releasing lots of fat into the bloodstream for use by other cells for energy. So, if the levels are above normal, it means that fat is being broken down. I guess when you are on this thing, you want the test to show a dark color. I tested the night of Day 2 Load and it was negative. I tested today and it was "trace." So, I am curious to see if it will get darker as the days go by.

I haven't switched to taking the drops 6 x/day yet. I am still doing 3x. My husband seems to enjoy the 45 minutes of "quiet time" 3x/day. For once, he gets to do all the talking. heehee.

Diet:
68 oz. water
10 strawberries w/stevia
1 melba toast w/stevia and cinnamon
1 cucumber w/red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, dill, cumin, and mustard powder
1 melba toast used as crouton in cucumber salad

Tilapia w/lemon, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic

Chicken w/garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, marjoram, and parsley
2 cups spinach w/lemon juice, red wine vinegar, dill, salt, pepper, and stevia
1 baked apple w/stevia & cinnamon
Juice of 1 lemon used as described above