R1M2D3 (-0.4 LDW)

Well, this is getting easier everyday. I definitely ate my full 2000 calories yesterday and down come the numbers still. My body really does seem to want to stay around 195. I'm slowly adding in carbs in no particular order. Today I had whole wheat pasta with meat sauce for supper. We'll see tomorrow if that is okay :) I have also been trying some different cuts of meat. Yesterday I had chicken thigh meat. So much more affordable then the lean chicken breasts I buy during VLCD! Trying to enjoy different flavours while I can.....I'm still using stevia to sweeten everything. I'm used to it know and hey, why not...it's a freebie to me. I used it in my meat sauce since it is a very bland sauce. What a difference it makes! I put in about 5 drops of plain stevia to one can of sauce at the end of simmering. I did the usual fortifying while cooking with onions, yellow peppers, mushrooms, and italian spices. If I had garlic, I would have added them too. Oh well. Next time. I have done this before and put it on my salad greens. 
So 4 days to 4 weeks since I started M......read a site that supports 1 month breaks for people using drops.....I know, if you look for the rules you want, you'll find them. Extremely tempting though... It makes sense too since
the second part of M is all about adding carbs only to be followed by vlcd's first week of carb withdrawal. Why torture ourselves?? The site basically said to stay in M1 for 4 weeks and then do another round. Only thing I can see a problem with is depriving the body of carbs for such long periods. Not to mention that I'm already doing carbs. Either way, I'll decide over the next 4 days.....well there goes my timer (the kids are done for today).

R1M2D1...2?? I guess it is 2...anyway (+0.2LDW)

I ate fairly clean yesterday but not totally clean.
I did have a sanwich for supper. Pretty sure this is okay at this point. I was
around 2000 calories and focused on some good proteins like chicken, peanuts and
my organic whey shakes with only 1 fruit for the day. My veggies were zuchinni,
lettuce, tomatos, onions, green peppers and I even had some olives in there so
nice variety for they day, I think. Lost a pound so I must have done something
right!
Today I am busy trying to get everything organized for my girl's
birthday party this coming weekend. I want to get her a bike and my brother has
one that his girl is almost grown out of...even though she is 2 years older
there is the issue of size. Not sure what my milk composition was exactly but my
kids are big, especially my girl! My girl is only a couple inches below her
brother and cousin. So I'm not sure the bike is big enough! *sigh* Cost is not
really an issue but I do want it to be the right size.....perhaps I will take
her shopping and let her 'play' on some of the bikes.
I hope my weight goes down a bit more but either way, looks like I'm still nice and stable. Stick with
it friends! This really does work and you do get to go back to your life. I'm looking forward to more rounds and moving on with my life :)

R1M1D22 (+1.2 LDW)

Yah yah...I know...WTF. Okay, let me explain. "Confessions of a Round 1 hCGer" LOL
Yesterday was off the charts for intake. It was my niece's B-day and I had both
my kids plus plus...We went to a local farm/petting zoo and the kids ran wild. I
think it would be easier to care for the animals there than the kids! Must have
been 18 kids under 6 nevermind the people who where there that weren't part of
the party! I ate a sandwich (crousont) with swiss, roast beef (deli meat) and
lots of mao and butter on it. Then I had a small slice of chocolate cake. It was
an outside piece and had extra icing on it. YUM! Then.... I had garlic bread in
the evening....this was the real oops :-S Oh well. I had a good day! I will eat
clean for the next week and try to stay basically in M1 to help correct the
gain. I'm still within 'stable' from LDW so I am happy. I have to be allowed to
indulge once in awhile. I just should have waited until I was done M2, lol. I
think I justified it since I have more rounds and I have done so well to date.
So today I'm uping my proteins and avoiding carbs, short of what is in my fruits
and veggies. My system is a bit backed up too so I'm hoping some smooth tea,
this evening, will help. (The things I share! sorry, lol)
The sun is begging me to get outside, so I'm off to enjoy!

R1M1D21 (-0.6LDW)

I know I did a steak day 4 days into M1 but I have been stable ever since and this is the
last day of M1 for me. I'm smack dab in the middle of TOM and I'm still stable.
This is pretty amazing since 'normally' I would fluxuate as much as 10lbs around
tom. I am not even worried if I end up doing a carb today instead of tomorrow. I
feel pretty happy with my results and I'm still contemplating a second round
here soon.
Busy day with the kids so not much on here today! Have a good day everyone!

R1M1D20 (-0.4LDW)

Worked my butt off last night! I finished mowing the lawn, watered 6 flower beds and the garden. Did some laundry and power walked for about 30 minutes. I feel sore today but I had to get it all done. The power walk was kind of an accident. A lady from the neighborhood had stopped by that I didn't know asking if I knew
anyone that did rototiller. I told her to leave her number and I would find the guy's number. A week later I finally find his number but lost her's :( Oops! So I figured there are only a few houses around here that I don't know the people who live there....shouldn't be too hard to figure out which is her's. After asking around it turns out she lived further away then I thought and then she wasn't even home. So I'm still not sure if I stuck the number in the right door, lol. Good thing I was wearing my runners. Even did a bit of jogging :) I used to love running. One of my goals is to be 'able' enough to run a marathon. Nothing huge, but I have to complete it!

R1M1D19 (@LDW)

At least my neck finally relaxed and I can move again. That was a bad one. I don't normally have to take the meds 2 nights in a row...really kicks my butt. I didn't have anything wrong yesterday so...I BLAME TOM...I'm probably retaining water. I'll up it today. The only thing I can think of that MAY have had an effect was the whey shake. I had switched back to the organic one and I ran out yesterday. So I used the Kaizen brand that correlated with gains early in M1. I used it again this morning. I will go shopping today and get some more of the organic.
Thankfully I still have a 2lbs buffer. I forgot to soak some almonds last night so no cream for my coffee :( There are 80 calories in the creamer I normally buy and I'm eyeing it up....I could work the numbers in but what about
that sugar....I'm going to chance it. If I am allowed to use dressings sparingly then I should be allowed to use coffee creamer....sparingly.
Only 3 more weigh-ins until I go into M2. Tick Tick Tick.....I really want to go back on the drops and start watching the weight drop again. I know I have been pretty hard core about following the rules so far but I'm feeling weak!! I want more gone!!!! NOW!! LOL....sorry. Patience is not one of my strongest suits. I do
alright but not great. My hardest time of day to eat is before noon and my hardest time of day to NOT eat is in the evening. Probably comes from years of training my body this is 'normal'. It is confusing since the rules say eat when your hungry and stop when your not...If I listened to my body I would eat (graze) from 1-3pm and another smorg from 6-10pm.  I have been forcing regular meals and I can see that they are shifting as I use the whey shakes to get breakfast in now. So I am aware. I guess that is the first step. I am hopeful that as I do more rounds and more maintenance I will reprogram my hunger times too.

R1M1D18 (-1.2 LDW)

This is actually the same as yesterday...not sure why I put -0.8...my sheets has it right. I must have glanced at the sheet and transferred the previous day's #. Days starting to blur and counting calories is getting old. Thankfully, I am close to finishing M1. It will be easier to back off on the fats and let some carbs in.
I have great news today! Yesterday, I ate my full 2000 calories (2011 to be exact!!) and didn't gain! How awesome is that! That means it took me 2 weeks to bring my calories up from 1500 to my BMR+activity level (x1.2). I will remember this for next round! Of course I will have a lower BMR then and I logically should be able to get there sooner. Slow and steady increase is the key for my body. So here's what I ate yesterday:

2 scoops whey shake 220
1 1/4 C almond milk 125

2 eggs + 1/2 whites 130
30g cheese 120
1 large white mushroom 14
1/4 C yellow bell pepper 12

20g peanuts 112
orange 66
1/4 C almond milk 25

100g steak 189
peach 54

lettuce 17
dressing 80
200g chicken 232
40g peanuts 224
apple 73

1 C Greek yogurt 157
1 C strawberries 49
20g peanuts 112

I probably shouldn't have done so many peanuts, lol. They are so good! I bought the dry roasted ones. But they do go good with almost anything. Anyway, just trying to keep it real here and show what I am actually doing. I'll post some earlier days at the lower calorie counts later. Taking the peanuts out would drop this menu to 1563.

R1M1D17 (-0.8 LDW)

So I think I'm retaining water which means I better be careful I don't lose too much. I feel tom coming so it is no surprise. I'm sooo tired. I'm also feeling the repercussions of my yard work :( I really miss the strong me. Now my neck is like a rock again and the pain is the same as it has been for the last several years. Will I ever be 'able' again?? It is very depressing. I had to take one of my prescribed muscle relaxants last nite so I'm not as bad today. Unfortunately, a major side effect of these is that I have no energy left for 24 hours after I take one. I just want to sleep.  So that combined with approaching tom has taken me right off my feet. The worst thing is that the weather is amazing!! I want to be out enjoying the sun but the pain won't let me. Hopefully I will be feeling
better by this afternoon. I would like to load the kids up and head to a near by lake....if not, I (rather the kids) will have to settle for some back yard time. Minus the yard work...
So as per my promise yesterday....optimism....I'm still well below last drops weight which thrills me! Even with a pile of negatives in my basket I think my stablization so far well out weights the bad :) How can I be sad when I'm doing so good! This tells me that the fat will go....with or without the help from my muscles. I still think that as the weight drops so to will my pains. I need to focus on gradual exercises to rebuild my strength and that part will probably take me years to do. I can accept that :)