Thanks Bling. I know, and I'm the first one to tell someone else that when they're upset about the scale. Part of it I think is that yesterday sucked so bad I wanted to just *see* something to make up for the suckiness.

I'm headachey today and just feel starving. It's weird doing the drops b/c I feel like I'm not sure if I'm doing it right.

Hang in there!!! Drink lots of water. I lose weight faster when my body is full of water, flushing everything out.

The equation for water and weight loss goes like this

take your body weight and divide it by half. That is how many ounces of water you need to drink a day.

I've lost 26 lbs doing this and walking 3 miles 3 times a week in 3 months.

I'm a firm believer in "things shouldn't suck." If you are starving I would throw it out there that you could up your protein. You likely won't need to every day, but it's not a "cop out" if you do. And you may notice that your losses pick up. The protocol is great, but it's also important to pay attention to your body. If you're truly hungry the protein will help.

Thanks E. Yesterday I actually ended up eating some wheat thins flatbread cracker things and then had an extra 1/2 an apple w/a bit of peanut butter. I did up the protein a little to 4oz when the hubs weighed it all out for the next couple weeks to freeze.

Went down to get the potassium pills they were out of when I got the hcg and multivitamin. I'm hoping that will help a bit. The bottle dosage says 1 pill daily but the hcg folder w/directions said two pills twice a day-that's such a huge difference I hesitate to follow it. It's Potassium plus Iodine.

Mostly today it's the headache that's kicking my ass.

E! It's you!

Packrat. I have done the hHCG drops and have been successful. BUT I learned that I NEED more protein than the protocol suggests, so I tweaked the rules and had 4oz of protein at each meal (a different type, so chicken at breakfast, beef at lunch and fish at dinner, as an example) and backed off on the fruit. The reason I did that, in addition to needing more protein, is the fact that I am very carb sensitive and I know that I am better off with less carbs, even if they are healthy ones.

I was still very careful to eat only the protein suggested (organic range fed skinless chicken breasts, hamburger that was 96/4 or very very lean grass fed steak and non-fatty fish). I also only ate the veggies and fruits suggested.

I kept within the 500 a day limit, so basically I swapped some fruit calories (but had at least one piece of fruit a day) for some protein calories.

That wouldn't work for everyone, but it worked for me... just thought I would throw that out there if you are feeling headachy or weak.

Indeed. lol.

FWIW a LOT of the people that have done this require more protein. My recommendation, FWIW is to increase lean protein. You may even find that 4 ounces isn't quite enough. Watch and see. But do try to stay with the allowable foods. I don't think it's necessary to stay at 500 cals. Many of the clinics offering this protocol are keeping people more around 750 cals. Even the person running the site you're on who mentors people doesn't always keep people to 500 fwiw.

I already told you what I thought of the potassium pills.

Thanks Casey and E! Yeah, I've upped the protein a little bit to 4oz. Sunday and Monday I had an extra 1/2 apple w/a dab of peanut butter just to get me over the hump, but I don't feel the need today. The headache is finally gone and I feel a lot better. Not hungry really, just..those "I wish.." pangs when you think of or see food you can't have.

I do have to cheat w/sauces a bit tho..I can't eat stuff plain. I don't use a lot but I have to have something to add a bit of taste.

Starting w/one potassium/idodide tonight to see how it goes..I never took that or the multi when I did it the other two times and was fine, but I'm game to try and see how my body reacts.

I asked over there, E, but just in case you're not there, what are the symptoms of electrolyte imbalance? I try to really pay attention to my body when I'm doing this b/c I worry something will happen. Like today I filled in at work and my left arm kept wanting to fall asleep and the fingers were twitching. My coworker was concerned and thought one of the providers should check it out and I'm thinking oh shit I'm gonna have a stroke or something! Then I realized-I slept funny and have a spot on my back on the left side that feels like a screwdriver is being jabbed in there-it's a pinched nerve! hahahahaha Nothing like a bit of overreaction to start the day!

Had to eat 1/2 an apple and a bit of peanut butter now instead of waiting to eat an apple at 9. I felt a bit out of sorts this morning when I got up. I've been um...loose..the last couple days and was a tish crampy before each time yesterday so I'm not sure what's going on there. Hopefully nothing.

All total I'm down either 4.6 since my LD1, but only 2.4 down since VLCD1-I'm on day 7 today. Not sure what's up w/this..I was down that much in the first day the first time I did this!