Our 40 Day Diet- Week One

Marcus and I started the popular, but relatively unheard of, HCG Diet last weekend. In case you haven't heard of it, it is a very low calorie diet without fat, sugar or oil that has been around for 50 years. Living on 500 calories a day is made easier by the use of injectable or homeopathic HCG, the hormone women's bodies create when pregnant. HCG is used in pregnant women to pull stored fat to keep Momma and baby going. In this diet, it helps to keep energy up and keep you full by supplying stored fat to your body as active usable fat.

It is a 40 day diet. You can read about it all over the internet; however, there are many variations. Ours is coming from a medical professional and is not nearly as crazy as some online. I am here to tell you- it works and isn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be.

One week down- I have lost 10 pounds and Marcus has lost 6. You are said to lose between 1-2 pounds per day. Amazing! Here is a snapshot of our foods this first week:

Lots of fresh fruits and vegatables! Did you know tomatoes should not be refrigerated? My Mom told me that- they last MUCH longer! We eat green salad with fat free non-oil based dressing each day. We are having cold veggies at lunch- celery, cauliflower, cucumbers or tomatoes. With dinner, we cook green beans or zucchini and squash. We have a morning snack of apples or an orange.

Packing a lunch everyday is a big part of this and one of the habits I wanted to get into. We eat Boars Head Low Sodium chicken cut thick as our lunchtime protein and string cheese or scrambled egg whites as a morning protein. Dinner ranges from fish, brisket, patty melts, shrimp, grilled chicken or steak.

Zero calorie foods are like freebies- pickles, sugar free jello and popsicles. Dessert at night has been a treat- blended strawberries with water, lemon and vanilla Stevia. Yummy!

We drink unlimited water, black coffee, iced tea with stevia and diet drinks. My new insulated cup helps keep my water cold without the yucky taste of refrigerator ice which helps me greatly at work.

Our grocery cart looks so different from pre-HCG diet. It is filled with produce bags, costs more money, and doesn't last as long. We aren't eating out, so we are running the dishwasher constantly, and shopping each weekend. Afterward, we prep everything into serving size baggies, wash and chop our veggies, and just generally prepare for the week.

I'll keep you posted on our progress- we are both after 1 week in a weight range we haven't seen in 2 years. So, everything hear on out is new and exciting!