My Adventure from the beginning.

OK, I keep starting this and stopping it over and over. I feel vain talking about me. Don't get me wrong... I am very proud of what I have done and where I am going. Each new adventure I journey on takes me one step closer to where I plan on being in my life. So to see where I am going, it's always good to reflect on where I have been.

Stable, gain, loose, gain, loose, gain, loose.... and on and on!!
That explains a lot up till 1996. In January 1996 I joined a TOPS chapter in Richland, WA. I was in the neighborhood of 235 pounds. I kept going for a whopping 6 months!! WOW long time huh?? I gave up on myself and TOPS with many excuses. Family, kids, having little kids, no time, hated exercise. Oh and the ever so wonderful... "I Cant".

January 1997 I joined a different TOPS chapter and rededicated myself to starting over. I weighed in about the same again (lost it gained it back). I lost 49.75 pounds to reach my goal of 180 pounds. YAY!! I graduated as a KOPS and Chapter Queen of my chapter in May 1998 at SRD in Silverdale, WA.  I was so happy!! I had accomplished a goal!! I was walking up to 12 miles a day 6 and 7 days a week. No wonder why I had such a great weight loss in such a short amount of time. By October 1998 my progress started to slip. I went back to the thinking of  "Hey I lost my weight now I can have anything I want again." Well this might have been true if I had kept it in portion control. That is always easier said than done. Needless to say my walking slowed as I put on more pounds. Then in December 1998 I had a surgery that made it so I couldn't walk like that for about 8 weeks. Poof... kept eating like I was walking 12 miles a day. Again I gave up on myself with the "I Cant". Out of embarrassment I also quit going to TOPS.

I joined back to TOPS on and off but never really gaining momentum in the right direction. Stress with family and life became the key focus of my world. Eating a half to whole chocolate cake tossing the evidence in the garbage and burying it deep in the trash was nothing. The deeper I would go the more weight I would pack on. In 2000 I had another surgery which again was another set back. Again no exercise for a while and it was an easy excuse why I didn't have to.

2001 I helped to start a new TOPS chapter. My start weight was 275 pounds. I had gained back the almost 50 I lost and tacked on another 40+ pounds!!! This was devastating! I pushed through it and lost down to 230s and flat lined!! Shortly after things happened with in our chapter and I quit going.

Again back in and out of TOPS. Not getting below that 230 pounds. I had gained again up wards to 250ish pounds and finally reached a point that I had to do something to break the cycle.

November 2004 I started to focus on what my triggers were. I figured out a plan that I knew I could stick to which was the Diabetic Diet. It worked very well. I was able to get to 228-235 and stayed there for about 4 yrs. No matter how I exercised or ate right I could not break through to a lower weight.

In October 2009 I found a plan that worked so well. I went with doing a raw foods plan. I was eating about 80% raw foods. I went from that 230's to 202 by the end of December!!! YAY!!! I was feeling so good!! I couldn't believe how good it felt to be that close to being under 200 again!
January came and went. February came and went... entered into summer. We  moved which was a stress in itself.  I was back up to 215. I stayed Vegetarian, mostly Vegan all the way through it. I went to my Dr. In desperation and had a talk with him as to why if I was eating so healthy (other than the move pizza junk) why was I not able to get below the 200's?? He said I should seek out a nutritionist to work on that. I can say he was honest.. he couldn't give me the cure all I wanted but gave sound advise.

This leads me to present...

A friend of mine started telling me about a protocol she had been on 2 yrs ago and it worked so well for her. I blew it off thinking that just sounded crazy. Don't get me wrong.. I was very happy for her and said if she could wrap her mind around it then way to go and was happy she had lost the weight to her goal.
August of this year 2010, another friend of mine was loosing weight at a steady rate and I know she has had a hard time loosing her extra weight. I asked her what she was doing and she shared with me she was on a strict  protocol too. So my curiosity got the best of me and I started doing my research.

I decided that after 8 months of plateau doing all I could right it was time to do something else. I did not want to wait another 4 yrs to break a plateau.  We all ask the question of ourselves... "How bad do you want it?"

I made my appointment with the Advance HCG Clinic and started my protocol August 12, 2010. Today is September 18th and I am down to 188.6!! I started at 215 pounds and have lost 26.6 pounds now in the past 36 days.

I didn't post before now because I wanted to see for myself how this would work because I am a very cautious person when it comes to health. I have read positive and negative things about this protocol. I am finding the negative things were because people want to cheat and then do not understand why its not working.  I encourage anyone to try this. It is AMAZING!! I have friends who have had surgery (lap band, gastric bypass, stomach staple) I could not afford those methods. This is NOT an easy way out just like the surgeries are NOT an easy way out so some people would say. It is very strict. It does take patience, will power and determination. The way I feel now is so worth it.  So before anyone tells me to stop... or don't do it... please keep in mind... I am healthier now for having lost the weight than I was when I was almost 100 pounds heavier. 8 pounds from now I will have lost 100 pounds!!! For me that is a very big achievement!

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. If you have any questions I will be happy to share more information with you.

Huggs
Dea