Maintenance!

Since I am leaving town tomorrow, I decided to stop the HCG drops a few days ago and move into maintenance. I am two and a half pounds from my goal weight, which totally amazes me. It was an arbitrary number. 120—a number that was on my driver’s license for years and years, whether I actually weighed my low of 125 or my high (in those days, it went higher later) of 150. So I picked 120 to match my old driver’s license weight. I am 122.4 today so I guess that will just have to do! omg, am I really writing this in a blog for the world to see?! Part of me is excited to be so transparent….and then there is the part of me that wants to hide under the covers.

I need to celebrate….without food! I am so excited to be in a smaller body. It is now fun to go into the dressing room and try on clothes (a size 6!). When I lost weight as a younger person I never got into clothes smaller than a size 9. I know the women’s clothing industry has changed their sizing so that a 6 now is what an 8 used to be. Either way, I’ll take it … and celebrate.

The HCG protocol was so easy that a part of me says I can just go on it again and take off another ten pounds. I don’t know if that is realistic or the highest good for me, though, so I will ask for spiritual guidance. If I did choose to do another round though, I would have to take a 6-week break before starting again.

For now, I followed the 500-calorie food plan without the drops and tomorrow I actually begin Phase 3, maintenance. At that point I need to up my calories but have no sugar or starches.

I know this will sound strange to most of you, but I went to the grocery store yesterday and got all excited about bringing back into my diet such foods as kale and broccoli sprouts. I have eaten healthy for a long time -- now I can go back to healthy eating in a leaner body.

Stay tuned—I will let you know how I do on the three weeks maintenance of Phase 3 before I move into Phase 4 (gradually reintroducing starches and sugars). The only sugar I plan to consume will be dark chocolate—in very small quantities. But that isn’t for a while. For now I can allow myself to start thinking about my usual morning shake: whey protein powder, lots of veggies (kale, collards, broccoli sprouts, raw beets), a handful of frozen strawberries, water, cinnamon, cayenne, ginger. Yes, most of you are probably gagging about now, but these shakes are my favorite way to start the day and I look forward to having them again!