OH, so close to making the 130s.  Maybe tomorrow.  If you are wondering why the weight drop is so low is because I cheated.  I admit it, I cheated.  I would have hit the 130 range, but NO, I just had to have that rum raisin eggnog gelato from the creamery.  I have no excuse, I could have said no, but I said yes.  Even though it was only a small.  I paid for it by adding 4 pounds back on.  You got that right, I ate a small gelato and gained 4 pounds.  All the fat, the small amount of rum, well it just wasn’t very good at all.  Also, I have had a hard time not feeling hungry.  It would seem that it takes a full 4-5 days for your appetite to recover from something with that much sugar and fat.

In not wanting to admit to you my readers that I was a big cheater, I simply haven’t posted in a few days.  But then realized I was human, far from perfect.  So one word of advice.  DON’T CHEAT, it makes the next 4-5 days so hard to be good again.

Holiday season is here and Christmas is rapidly approaching.  I really, really want to be 130 pounds at least by the time I stop my hCG on December 21 so that I can enjoy Christmas dinner.  How about the rest of you?  Are you going to stick it out right through Christmas or stop on December 21st with me so you can eat a Christmas feast?

I will be following this hCG menu with recipes today.  If you don’t like the menu for today.  You can find all the hCG daily menus with recipes here.

Hint, tuna and salmon are not allowed.  For the White fish selection, I made this recipe for Bass, but if you can’t find it, select your favorite white fish.  Must be white fish.

Breakfast:

Coffee, tea make your pitcher of iced tea and water

Lunch:

Veal Sauerbraten

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup organic apple cider vinegar
• 1 large onion, sliced thinly
• 4 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 bay leave
• 1 teaspoon juniper berries (found on the spice isle)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper corns
• 1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 100 grams Veal

In a large ceramic bowl, combine all ingredients except the veal.  Place in a sauce pan and heat to a rolling boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.  Slice your veal and place into your ceramic bowl.  Pour the marinade over the veal in your bowl, seal and let sit in your refrigerator for 2-3 days.  Yes, that is days, trust me, the wait is worth it. 

On the day of cooking, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook until tender, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Eat with the onions, or remove onions and eat over slaw sliced cabbage.

Snack:

• medium sized apple
• 1 breadstick or melba toast

Dinner:

White Fish

• 3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic (broiled for roasted flavor)
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• juice 1/2 lemon
• 100 grams striped bass fillets or other white fish

In a ceramic bowl, combine all ingredients except the fish.  Mix thoroughly and set aside.

Poach or steam your fish until cooked and flaky.  Put on your plate and garnish with your tomato mixture.

If you don’t really like onions, cut the onions into large chunks so that they are easily removed after cooking so that you may switch in a vegetable of your choice in their place.

Snack:

• 1 medium orange
• 1 breadstick or 2 melba toast squares

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast:

Start with the usual coffee or tea.  Make 1/2 gallon pitcher of Iced Tea and 1/2 gallon of water.  Place in the refrigerator to chill.

Lunch:

Mediterranean Chicken

• 100 grams Chicken breast
• 2 tablespoons organic, Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil minced
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced or run through press
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced

In a ceramic bowl, combine all ingredients except the chicken.  Mix well and set aside.  In a hot fry pan, cook your chicken breast until fully cooked, using only as much water as needed to keep chicken from sticking to the pan.  Once chicken is cooked.  Add to your marinade mixture and thoroughly blend.  Eat slowly and enjoy.

Snack:

• 1 handful of strawberries, sliced thin
• dash cinnamon
• dash cloves
• dash nutmeg
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Mix well and eat slowly.  You may add stevia packet for sweetening.  Sometimes I toss this into the blender with a handful of ice to make an iced sweet treat.  Garnish with a sprig or two of fresh mint.

Dinner:

Shrimp Scampi

• 100 grams shrimp
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or run through press
• 1 tablespoon tarragon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, rough chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, rough chopped
• 1 serving fresh greens of your selection

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except for your shrimp.  Mix well and set aside.  Cook up your shrimp until pink.  Drain cooking liquid, toss into your marinade and enjoy.

Snack:

• 1/2 grapefruit
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

Remove your grapefruit from the skin, mix in a bow with the fresh mint and enjoy.

 

 

First, I am sorry that I haven’t been able to post much since Thanksgiving.  We had a family funeral to plan and take care of.    To those of you subscribing to this blog, I apologize because I have a bunch of posts to make up for.  I will try not to blow your emails up with update alerts, but I have three days recipes and three more make-a-mix recipes to add to that section of the blog as well.

With being on the go, I was amazed I could lose any weight at all.  It slowed down, but that is because the schedule has been really crazy and I had to make do at times.  Stick to your diets everyone, Christmas is right around the corner and a slimmer you is waiting to be released.  This post is going to be rather short so I can get to loading the new recipes.  Check them out under the hCG Diet Recipe section located here.

Today the kitchen will be busy making up cornbread mix.  This mix will be placed with the many other mixes we will be giving away to friends and family for gifts.  It is super with chile, stews or any time you want a cornbread.  It is also very simple to make.

Cornbread Mix:

• 4 cups unbleached flour
• 2 cups nonfat dry instant milk
• 4 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 4 cups yellow cornmeal
• 2/3 cup sugar

In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine all ingredients.

Package up 1 1/4 cups of the cornbread mix with the following instructions:

• 1 egg beaten (may use egg substitute
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 450 degrees farenheit.  Grease a loaf pan, set aside.  Beat the egg, water and butter until well mixed.  Stir in the cornbread mix until moistened.  Don’t over mix, you want it to be lumpy.  Pour into your loaf pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. 

Yeah, thanksgiving and the temptations to break diet are over.  Now I just have to survive till I take my break so I can eat Christmas dinner.  I didn’t lose much weight.  I think preparing all those fatty foods and the fact that I was doing so many dishes I just had to use hand lotion.  I forgot to take my aloe with me and used my Mother-in-laws hand lotion.

As promised, here is another homemade cooking mix for the holiday season.  These go into our gifts in a jar packages.  Today it is homemade cornbread mix.

I hope Thanksgiving was good to all of you and you are filled with the spirit of thanks.  The commercialized Christmas season is always something I do not look forward to.  The people who are murdered because everyone just has to push through the doors of their favorite stores at 4am.  Worse yet, the woman that was stabbed to death by a shop lifted kitchen knife over the last Xbox game system.  I wonder if little Johnny enjoyed his gift and knew the cost behind it?    Do a search on Bing, www.bing.com for black friday fatalities and you will be sickened.

Hence, I refuse to support the “buy the love of your friends and family” theory many retailers have made many come to believe.  Years ago I went shopping on Black Friday.  It was when home DVD players first came out.  I was carrying my infant daughter and was holding very tightly the hand of my toddler son.  There were five very large stacks of these DVD players.  I needed just four.  I picked up one, placed it in my cart, turned to pick up another one, when I went to put it in my cart it was gone.  There was a man with a smug look on his face with one in his cart next to me.  I smiled, wished him happy holidays and placed a second DVD player into my cart.  When I turned to pick up another (remember I only needed 4) and turned back to place it in my cart, you guessed it, again it was gone.  That man standing next to me now had two in his cart and I had none.  I asked him to please stop taking them out of my cart, there were plenty in the five large stacks.  He looked at me, called me a few swear words and wrangled the DVD player out of my hand, causing me to fall down, drop my baby girl and land on top of my son.  He told me this was what the Christmas season was all about.

We were all fine, just a few bruises, but it really made me see how ugly much of society has become.  Greed has crept into the very core of society and it has not produced a very pretty result.  I have yet to purchase a store made gift since.  Everything is now made by hand and with love.  It may or may not be appreciated, but Christmas is about giving.  Giving of your heart, your love, your family, your traditions and the core of what makes you and yours, YOU. 

Anyhow,  be careful this Holiday Season.

Hope to see all you losers tomorrow with great holiday news from the scales.

We package this up for Christmas presents in the christmas chinese take out boxes.  You can do it in individual mugs if you would like.

Hot Cocoa Mix

• 10 cups dry milk powder
• 4 3/4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 3/4 cups powdered non-dairy creamer

In a large mixing bowl, mix thorougly all ingredients.

To serve, mix 1/3 cup of cocoa mix with 3/4 cup of hot water.  Stir and sip.

If you are making them up as presents, we call these Snowman Soup.  Here is what we add:

• 1 pepper mint stick or candy cane, this is the stir stick
• 2 Hershey’s Chocolate Kiss
• 6 miniature marshmallows
• In another plastic bag, 1/3 cup of the hot cocoa mix

Here is the tag we make to go with it:

So here’s a little Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick.
Add 3/4 cup hot water, sip it slow.
It’s sure to do the trick!

 

Hello all my fellow holiday losers, I hope today welcomed you to a beautiful reading on the scale.

Today is an easy cooking day.  Mainly because my kitchen is busy in Thanksgiving day Feast preparations. 

Breakfast: 

Usual, few cups of black coffee, make the 1/2 gallon pitcher of iced tea and 1/2 gallon of water. 

Lunch:

Fiesta Chile

Well, not really a company serving chile, but since everything about hCG seems to be followed with, “Can’t eat that”–lol  I decided to call this chicken chile, Fiesta Chile

•  2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
• 100 grams of chicken, cubed
• Dash chili powder
• Dash onion powder
• 1 clove garlic, minced or run through press
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dash cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon chervil
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
• 1/2 cup water (more or less depending on the texture you like)

In a heated fry pan, brown and fully cook your chicken.  In a sauce pan, add all ingredients, including your cooked chicken and cook, stirring often until the tomatoes are soft.  Normally about another 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, serve in a bowl, eat slowly and enjoy.

Snack:

All this preparing foods for everyone else is leaving me rather sad.  I see all the pies, cookies, the delightful cranberry sauce and well, I just find myself tell me ” NO, you can’t have that” all day long.  So today I will treat myself to something nice.

• 1/2 ruby red grapefruit, remove from peel and toss into the blender
• 2 teaspoons fresh mint leaves
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh vanilla bean
• dash cinnamon
• dash cloves
• dash nutmeg

If you like sweetener, use your stevia with this, you will have to calculate your drops.  I don’t use sweetener.  Toss everything into the blender and blend till smooth.  Toss in a handful of ice cubes and blend, continue adding ice cubes until the texture is that of a smoothie.

Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and enjoy.

Dinner:

Blackened Tilapia fish fillet

I love blackening seasonings, but the kind I use on this diet (normally I make my own in bulk) On the hCG diet, try any of Tony Chachere’s seasonings.  For this dish I will be using his Creole seasoning.  be careful however as it does contain salt. 

• 100 grams tilapia fish fillet
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 tablespoons organic, filtered, Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 cups of your favorite greens (I am using napa cabbage)

In a ceramic bowl, combine all ingredients except the fish.  Mix until all greens are evenly coated. 

In a heated fry pan, add a thin layer of water on the bottom, watch it so that it doesn’t cook out.  Place you fish fillet in, sprinkle the blackening seasonings over the top, cover and allow to steam for 3 minutes.  (If your pan was preheated that is).  Carefully flip your fish filet, season it again with your blackening seasonings, place a lid on your pan and steam until it is fully cooked.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Line your dinner plate with you greens.  Carefully spoon your fish filet on top, eat slowly and enjoy.

Snack:

• 1 medium sized apple
• 1 breadstick or 2 melba toast rounds

Thats it for today losers, see you all on friday.  I already loaded Thanksgiving and well, it is going to be busy in this neck of the woods.

Yeah the scale continues to read lower numbers every day.  This is so exciting. 

Feeling better today, not so weak and lacking of energy.  The fact that I lost another 1.4 pounds made this all the better. 

As promised, here is the recipe for the gifts in a jar that we are sending out this year.  Last night I gave you Curry Lentil soup, today it is Snow Man soup.  It really is just a hot cocoa mix, but decorated up all cute.

Started out my day like any other day,  in fact, drinking my coffee as I type.

The hCG menu with recipes I am following today is located here.

My average weight loss on the Hcg diet has so far been 1 pound per day.  Some days more, some days less, but in the end it works to be about 1 pound.  Though I have to admit, I am not counting the weight I put on in Phase 1 when I was gorging.  If I did, my progress in 8 days has been 16 pounds. 

We are going to be busy here, finish putting up the christmas lights, finish making the hand made christmas wreaths for the neighborhood, the popcorn garland with peanut butter and birdseed ornaments, you know all the fun stuff.  Toss into this the bread to make, raise and shape for tomorrows dinner.  The pies were done last night, the cookies will be done tomorrow while the guys are watching the bowl games.  The turkey is chilling in the refrigerator.  I stick my tongue out at it every time I open the door.  Just because he represents holiday tradition, part of that tradition is eating way more than needs to be eaten.  This year, I will simply munch slowly on my food, smile, be a good hostess while on the inside I will be saying “I am losing weight, I don’t need it for thanksgiving, I am taking a break for christmas and will indulge then as a much thinner me”.

It was nice to step on the scale and find it register 146. This gives me hope that by this time next week I should register into my next mile marker goal and be in the 130s. I am now day 8 of Phase 2 and have lost an amazing 16 pounds since starting this diet.

While it is strict, I have to remind myself why I am on it. My husband pulled me aside last night and took me out on a date. Normally he tried to take me out for dinner so that one night in the week I don’t have to cook or do dishes. I didn’t know what he would do for our date.

We drove up the road near our house that leads to some off roading. There is much snow, but the Explorer loved it. There we were on top of the mountains. He pulled out a caraf of hot coffee, black just like the diet calls for and a warm baked apple. He smiled and said he baked it for me in the microwave at work.

We talked about the upcoming Holiday season, my diet and the difficulties he knew I must be facing. Then he sprung a surprise on me.

“Honey, I know the weight charts say you need to be between 104 and 107, but you always seemed healthy and more athletic at 125.”

This caught me off guard. True, I was a size zero at 125 because I was really active. We windsurfed, snowmobiled, camped, went on lots of motorcycle rides, skiing and so much more. Since I got sick, we havent done these things.

I have always worked out, but the weight stations at the gym aren’t the same as rock climbing at the family ranch. I didn’t know what to say but, “Honey, lets just let this first run of the diet tells my body where it needs to be”.

He smiled with a hint of concern. We sat and ate our baked apples, drank our black coffee and enjoyed the lights of the city.

Having said that, it is time to get back to the holiday preparations.

P.S.  I was so weak, and I feel really stupid.  I had my weekly follow up with my doctor and he laughed when I brought him in my hCG and told him how much I was taking each day.  Evidently I am supposed to take more.  He helped me adjust my hCG dosage and said it would help me so much.  I am feeling better this morning, just 3 doses at the amount of hCG I was supposed to be taking all along.

Happy losing everyone.

I am giving you the Thanksgiving day menu early so that you have time to purchase the ingredients.  While everyone else is munching on their Thanksgiving, you will be given a treat to your nose and a fest fit for any hCG diet Queen.  You will want to start the roasted tomatoes 2 hours before you plan to eat lunch.

Breakfast:

Usual, few cups of coffee, make your 1/2 gallon pitcher of iced tea and 1/2 gallon pitcher of water.

Lunch:

Roasted Tomatoes with Thyme and delightful Shrimp

For the Shrimp:

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 100 grams peeled, deveined and tailless Shrimp
• 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced (we want texture today)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, rough chopped
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon organic, filtered, apple cider vinegar

In a heated fry pan, put your garlic slices and toss them around until they start to smell nice and roasted.  Stir in lemon zest.  Add 1/4 cup of water, toss your shrimp into the pan, then all remaining ingredients except for the lemon juice and apple cider vinegar.  Cook until the shrimp is pink.  Pour contents of your fry pan onto your meal plate, set aside.

For tomatoes:

• 2 Roma tomatoes, halved
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 clove of garlic, minced or run through press

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees farenheit.  Place tomatoes cut-side up in a shallow baking dish.  Sprinkle with water, salt and pepper and thyme.  Roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes.  If your tomatoes are really juicy (which Roma should not be) you might have to roast for 2 hours. 

To assemble, place your shrimp mixture in the center of your plate, arrange your tomato slices around it sprinkle lemon juice and apple cider vinegar and sit down for a nice earthy scented and flavored Thanksgiving day feast.  Eat it slowly, enjoy each morsel.

Snack:

• One medium sized apple
• 1 bread stick or 2 melba toast squares

Dinner: 

Crusted Turkey with Pickled Onions

This crusting also works for veal and chicken as well 🙂

For the Turkey:

• 100 grams Turkey breast, remove all visible fat
• 2 cloves garlic, rough chopped
• zest from 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 4 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a shallow bowl except the Turkey breast.  Mix well and set aside.  Prepare your turkey breast.  I normally cube my turkey as 100 grams just doesn’t tell my brain it is much food if I leave it whole.  Dunk turkey in water, then roll in your mixture.  Line up on a shallow baking dish covered in foil wrap.  You will be making an envelope for the turkey and spices, otherwise it will stick.  Cook in a preheated oven of 350 degrees farenheit.  Cook until your turkey breasts are done.

For the Onions:

Works for other vegetables if you are not fond of onion, but the onion flavor lends well to round out our day.

• 1/4 cup organic, filtered Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 medium sized red onion, thinly sliced into rings.

In a saucepan, bring to a boil your apple cider vinegar, bay leaf, fennel seeds and red pepper flakes.  Over a medium high heat, add your onions and simmer for about 1-2 minutes.  remove from heat and let the onion mixture cool. 

When your turkey is done, place it on your plate, spoon out the onion from the sauce and place around your turkey.  Eat slowly and enjoy.  The juice from the pickled onion will keep for a few weeks.  Use it over your greens as a dressing through the week.

Snack:

• 1/2 ruby red grapefruit
• Skip the breadstick or melba toast, we splurged on the two meals today.

Happy Thanksgiving all you losers!  I hope that Black Friday welcomes you with more loss.