Thought I would come by to post in my lonely journal. lol.

Anyhow, took a break from HCG for most of the month of April, not sure why I did it, just felt I needed a break.

The good news is, MAINTIANING my weight. Down in the 150's which is my doctor's goal. My personall goal is 145 or maybe even 135.

I started the HCG again this month and will do it until the end of the month and then will end it. I should be close to my goal by then.

I am very happy with the fact that as soon as I began eating more than the diet required, I didn't gain. It seems that the resetting of your hypotholamus (sp) is what the HCG is supposed to do, it seems it might have worked because I am not gaining. I didn't lose either, but I didnt try. I just ate normally, protein first and then the rest of my meal.

I will post more this month with my results. I plan on stopping on 5/30 then I will do a 3 week maintenance plan according to the manuscript and then 3 weeks slowly reintroducing the starches and carbs into my diet. Then I will be leaving for my cruise.....If I still have another 10 lbs to lose after my cruise I might do one more round.

It feels so good to be in a size 6 and being so close to my personal goal! Also, I'M NO LONGER OVERWEIGHT according to the charts. I'm a normal weight. Wow, first time in 22 years I'm normal!

Thank you Mr. band and thank you HCG. Together they have acheived miracles for me!:thumbup:

I also want to say that I owe most of my progress to the band! The band helped me lose 80 lbs! HCG is just helping me get to my personal weighloss goal. For some people they can get to goal with the band by itself, but for me, it just wasn't happening - I was sooooo close to goal, but yet sooooo far.

The last 20 lbs is by far the hardest. I tried Weight Watchers, low carb etc and just couldn't lose the last of my weight. So I decided to give HCG a try and it worked for me, very happy with the results if I havent mentioned that before. :confused:

Anyhow, I just don't want to confuse anyone especially newbies that they will have to go on some special diet with the band, that IS NOT THE CASE.

Follow the band rules, proteins first, no drinking with meals, exercise 30 minutes a day, stay up on your fills, etc. You will do great! And then when you get to final stage and having problems lose the very last 10 to 20 lbs, thats when you might think of trying something new for your body. But until then, I recommend eating the lap band way. It does work!

SO I am trying to lose the last 20 and what is HCG? I am a little confused with that? CARB GRAMS?

Thanks for sharing again. I read one of your posts a while ago and read up on the HCG. I am so glad you stuck to it and it really paid off. I can only imagine that that last 20 has to be the toughest. Hang in there - keep up the good work.

Thank you for your support luckyinlove, I really do appreciate it!

Janetsjourneytoslim, please google HCG diet, its a pregnancy hormone. There are several different ways to to take it. I have tried both the homeopathic kind and the perscription kind. I got my perscription from alldaychemist.com and it took about 3 weeks to get it since it is coming from out of the country it also has to be approved from customs (I also order latisse from them for $10 a bottle vs $120 here in the US and you wouldn't believe my beautiful eyelashes and how quickly it works) I learned how to mix the RX kind by watching youtube by mamaclock. I also had to buy the mixing kit which I got from EBAY. You can also inject, which I chose not to inject. Injections are 1x per day, oral sublingual RX HCG is twice a day, and the Homeopathic HCG is 3x's per day.

The homeopathic kind I got from healingpowerwithin.net, and it has worked too. Its the best price and very reputable with all the women I've talked too. Many are using it and having great great success.

I've been trying to decide which brand I like the best and I am almost leaning toward the homeopathic kind, so either one is great. If you want to start soon, I would order the homeopathic kind and you will have it in 3 days.

The key to the homeopathic kind is to figure out what dose of drops you need, many do not do well on "10" drops as the instructions state, and find themselves hungry, most do better on 6 drops or .35 on a dosing surringe (1 cc surringe) which is what I do. You can pick up a 1cc/ml surringe at the walgreens pharmacy, they just gave me 3 of them at no charge. No needles on them, just the surringe part.

I hate to confuse people more, but there is so much information out there on HCG, and if you want to know more, please PM me and I will send you Dr. Simeons Manuscript called pounds and inches - google that too and you can find it online, free. He outlines the entire plan. I follow his plan to the T. Except in his plan he talks about how sensitive HCG is to oils, so you can't wear your makeup, lotions etc. A lot has changed since this manuscript was writtin in the 50's, so I continue using my makeup and a lot of women I have talked to do to and have no problems. So I did ignore that part of his program.

There are many clinics out there and charging $$$$'s big bucks for it, $500 to $1000 a round. I am doing it for less than $1 a day on my own. Also many of the clinics "tweak" Dr. S's program, this slows down the weightloss so you keep coming back to the clinic - therefore, they make more money. If you follow his progam to the T - you can expect to lose 1/2 pound a day average. A 30 day program and you will more than likely lose 15 pounds.

I lost 22 in 39 days and I had a few "cheat days". I then went off it for a "planned interruption", drank some sugary alcohol drinks and gained 8 lbs back. Lost the 8 lbs in about 10 days after I got back on it, now down an addtional 10 lbs - and want to lose just 10 more! Weighing around 150, and hoping to get to somewhere between 135 to 140. My doctors goal was 155 and I've passed that now! I'm no longer overweight! So happy and pleased. I wear anywhere from a size 6 to an 8, depends on the style. But I own several size 6 clothing peices now, and some of my 8's are swimming on me. I havent been in a size 6 since, I can't even remember ever buying a size 6 to be honest.

Also, I took a break from it for most of April and just stuck to eating "bandster" style, and I maintained my weight.

It is not a starvation diet and many claim, even though you are eating very few calories. Your body is surviving on the "stored" abnormal fat and getting nutrients from that. So that is why there is no hunger. I did find I had slight hunger for the first 10 days, mainly because I didn't load correctly (this is outlined in the manuscript). But it was a managable hunger. But after the 10th day, had absolutely no hunger, almost like when I first got banded.

I hope I didn't confuse anyone more, but please feel free to PM me and I can send you some information I have on it.

Best wishes!