It's been about three weeks since my husband, Bill and I began the hCG diet. I've gotten a lot of questions from friends, and even strangers, about the diet. It is a rather extreme program, but we are being supervised by our very capable chiropractor, Dr. Jaison Golojuh. I am confident that this diet is a step in the right direction toward lifelong changes in my family's health. I wrote a post over at Type-A Parent in defense of the hCG diet, explaining my thoughts on the program and why I feel it is right for me. Feel free to take a read. Here are some tangible results you can see, in terms of how Bill and I are doing on the diet so far.

Here's Bill's before and after photos. Wish I were a better photographer because you can really tell how much he's lost by the way his clothes are fitting now. Also, you can really see it in his face. In three weeks, he's lost a total of 17 lbs., though I suspect it's actually more. For some reason, he didn't show any weight lost in the past week. Jaison says sometimes the weight sticks around for a bit and is flushed away a few pounds at a time.

Can you see the difference? Just three weeks ago, I was wearing mostly shapeless pants with elastic waists because they were much more comfortable than my jeans. This week, I'm wearing this pair of size 16 jeans, one size down from my previous size. I am super excited! Here's the numbers

March 21st                                        April 11th

Weight                         247 lbs                                              229 lbs.

Waist                         46 inches                                           42 inches

Body Fat %                  42.3%                                               40.1%

BMI                                38.7                                                  35.9

I've lost 18 lbs. in three weeks! And four inches off my waist. I am so excited, and I'm feeling pretty good. I don't have a great spurt of energy like some say they experiece, but I rarely take naps these days. I used to nap every afternoon. That's right. Every. Single. Afternoon. Do you know how much of my life I've wasted napping? I just couldn't help it. I was so tired and fatigued. This is the step I needed to take to be able to keep up with my kids this summer and really, truly spend time with them. I'm so happy and am indebted to Jaison Golojuh for helping Bill and I to take this journey to health.

I will keep you posted on our progress. There are three weks left in the 500 calories a day regimen, and then we start a three-week maintenance period where we begin to add certain foods back into our diet. I'll tell you more about it when we reach that stage. What are your thoughts on the hCG diet? Would you try it?

If you would, I strongly urge you to do it in conjunction with a medical professional. A friend of mine tried it with drops she bought on the Internet. She said she felt tired all the time and even nearly fainted once, so she quit. Be careful with your health.

Just a quick recap this week. The reason for this is that I really don't have much to report. I didn't start exercising. I ate some junk food. And I got away from recording everything into Weight Watchers. Good news is that I still managed to lose 2.5 pounds. I guess starting the good eating habits at least helped me not to go crazy when I did sneak a snack here and there. I really did pretty well at eating healthy and following the principles of The Abs Diet, despite my setbacks and the fact that I didn't keep track of anything. That's a good thing, but I do intend to get back on track this week so that I can make even more progress.

Another reason this post is short? Because I'm busy learning how to use my new toy. I got one of these today:

Isn't it pretty? It's a new 15" MacBook Pro, and I think it's going to make a world of difference in my productivity. I'm loving it - I just need a little time to get over the sticker shock. Wow. It really is an amazing machine that will make a huge difference in my writing career. Lots of changes coming. Stay tuned!

UPDATE - I just remembered that I did make one change this week - Brady and I went to the mall before it opened two days this past week to go walking. It was fun joining the mall walkers. So much fun that we had to stick around for two more hours to find some bargains get some more exercise!

I just thought I'd touch base and give you all an update on my wheat and dairy-free diet. It hasn't quite been two months. While I've had some slips and setbacks, I'd say that I'm doing pretty well overall. It really hasn't been that difficult adjusting to the things I'm able to eat and making substitutions. In fact, I kind of enjoy it. I feel a real sense of pride in knowing that I'm doing something good for my body and that I'm also working toward a healthier weight.

I haven't exactly reached the goal I had hoped for at this point. This past weekend, I went out of town to visit with some girlfriends. My goal was to fit into my regular button-up jeans. No more elastic or drawstrings for me. Well, I almost made it, and that's something to be proud of. Here's a couple pictures of me. The first was taken about three weeks ago, and the second was taken just a few days ago. The jeans I'm wearing in the "after" picture are not the ones I was hoping to fit into, but they are a pair I didn't fit into comfortably at the beginning of my diet. I can now wear them, and they fit pretty well.

I don't think you can really see a difference in the photos, but I can feel a difference. I fell off the wagon a bit during my girls' weekend, but that's okay. I'm not going to feel guilty about setbacks. I intend to focus, instead, on my successes. I've been able to make changes in my eating, and I feel confident that I can continue making those changes. The weight will come off with time. I must say that I'm feeling pretty good about my progress.

Have you made significant progress toward a personal goal? Let me hear about it! Leave a comment.