Where It Stands

I currently weigh 193. My goal weight is 130. So--63 to go.

This past weekend I finished up another round of HCG. I planned to start up again after Thanksgiving, but I am re-assessing my options, and have decided that for the time being, I am done with HCG. Probably for good.

Why?

First of all, because as much good as it's helped me do, it's not a lifestyle change. It's a diet. I'm not really opposed to diets. I think that when you're trying to lose weight, you eat differently than you do if you're trying to maintain. That's just me. But I also strongly believe that lifestyle changes are better than diets, and that little alterations will happen as you shift from losing to maintaining, and the closer you are to a realistic, lifestyle type of eating plan, the easier it will be to maintain once you reach that goal weight. Basically, I have always known that I would say goodbye to HCG sooner or later. I didn't know what I would do instead, or how I would handle it. And I also didn't plan on saying goodbye with so much weight still to lose.

But as luck would have it (or more truthfully, as God would have it) I have been brought, through a series of rather amazing steps, to this new place in my life where I find myself ready to make some changes I never in a million years thought I'd ever want to do. Not only have I been led to the place where I see that not only is it the right thing to do, but it's not all that hard. I have blogged a bit about this on my "normal" blog (under the health and weight loss labels).

Starting tomorrow, I will begin my juicing journey. The goal is to do a straight fruit and vegetable juice fast for 14 days. No solid foods, no added fiber or dairy or anything. I have committed to myself that I will do at least 5 days, as I am not sure how it will go. I've never attempted something on such a large scale. So five days at least, but I'm really, really hoping for 14. Why? First, a juice fast is a great detox. And who couldn't use some detoxing, right? Second, I know I will lose some good weight while I'm doing it.

So the goal is to go for 14 days, making October 30 the last day. On the 31st I will eat only fresh fruits and vegetables, and then as the days go by to add in the other food groups slowly so as to work back into solid food.

But juicing is only part of it. I am really convinced, at this point in my life, that I need to switch to a primarily plant based diet. That means that the majority of the time, I will not eat animal products of any kind. So: no meat, no dairy. I am not going to give those things up 100%, but I figure if I can live strictly plant based 5 days out of 7, I will be a lot healthier. I will also try to eat about 75% raw. (Not that hard if I'm not eating meat, right?) My grains I will cook, and maybe a vegetable here and there. I am convinced that this is an extremely healthy way of eating.

So: juicing for the rest of October, and plant based for most of November. I'm still trying to decide how much leeway I want to give myself for Thanksgiving.