Start of 2nd Day. Weight 227.5

Yesterday was probably 2500 calories of which 50 grams were carb. So today's weight is my true non-carb weight. That sucks. I have gained 10 real pounds. This is serious. I am not going back up. I saw on the scale the other morning 230. That is not acceptible. Here we go again!

Day 1 of copycat Medifast
320 grams of deli roast beef (3% fat) split up over 4 mini-meals (100 calories each, 16 grams protein each).
1 mini meal of Braunschweiger (2 oz 193 calories, 17 grams of fat (enough to get my gall-bladder to flush)).
1 lean and grean meal consisting of
5 oz tilapia fillet, 2.5 oz frozen spinach, and 100 grams (raw weight) of butternut squash.

Total for day 796 calories, 29 grams fat, 22 grams carb, and 114 grams protein.

Mini meals eaten at 12, 2, 4, 6, and 8pm. (After heavy protein, low carb yesterday I wasn't hungry until noon today). I plan on following this exact meal plan for today and the following 2 days. By then I should not be experiencing any hunger and it will be easier to add variety (sticking to normal guidelines) without getting hungry again.

I feel heavy in my clothes. My gall bladder hasn't bothered me for several weeks, but I have been experiencing kidney pain 3-4 times per week for the last couple of weeks. I am not sure what is causing this. I will be drinking a lot of water during the next few days and supplementing with Morton Lite Salt as usual (to hopefully prevent nightime charlie horses).

Struggling again

I fell off my pseudo medifast plan on September 3rd, and haven't been able to get back on plan since then. I was right at 220 then and since that time have seen as low as 215.5, but now am back up to 225.5 as of yesterday. I am really disappointed in myself. I am so tired of struggling with this day after day after day. So tired of saying I am going to do it and then not taking the actions. I am starting back on the pseudo medifast today and am even going to use the phentermine again this week to get myself back on track. I used phentermine a few years back (prescribed by my doctor) and was successful with it. As anyone who has tried phentermine will tell you, you have to continue to try to make good choices (it DOES decrease your hunger) and the effectiveness of the drug does decrease with time. I am hoping that if I can be successful for a least a week, I can get back into the groove of losing weight. I hate the side-effects of taking phentermine, and will stop taking it as soon as I feel that I am firmly on track again. I also will be utilizing the protein shakes again... basically 4 (100 cal 15 gr protein, 3 gram carb)shakes 200 calories of high fat food for one meal (for gall-bladder emptying) and then one lean and green meal around 200 calories... for a total of around 800 calories. I am not to excited about doing this, but know that if I stick with it for 4 or 5 days, that my appetite will decrease, my stomache will shrink, and it will get a lot easier to continue on.

Also of note, I was an eating machine all of the last week, and got my time of month yesterday. I am going to try to keep track of how hungry I feel throughout the month and see if I can't find some of the hormonal causes to my eating. I have read that some herbs are good for helping with this. (I think it relates to the increased progestone during the latter part of the month).

Other than that, I am trying not to be too hard on myself. I am lighter than I have been before, and will continue to try. That is all I can do. I have been walking for my errands to the store, bank, post office, etc lately. Hopefully that will help as well.