Before & After

I mentioned that I had been making some positive changes in my long absence from blogging. I thought I would elaborate on that today. My weight had gotten to my highest point ever by the end of last year. I was miserable and tired all the time. I was completely desperate for something to change. My Mom introduced me to a woman she volunteered with who is an HCG consultant. Mike and I talked with her for a long time. It was primarily him she had to convince because I was ready to try anything at that point.

So, on January 1 I started my HCG journey. For those of you that think it's taking the easy way out I strongly disagree. Yes, you lose weight fast but it's definitely not easy. I had hunger at times, annoying rashes, weakness, occasional headaches, and nightmarish periods for the past 4 months but I've also lost almost 60 pounds in that time. HCG is certainly not for everyone, and if you just have 20 pounds to lose I wouldn't even think about it. But if you are like me and you have over 100 extra pounds that you are dragging around it is a very effective way to get things under control fast.

There are risks but gastric surgery has a lot more, which I was starting to think was my only option to get off of this roller coaster ride. I have at least 2 more cycles to do to finish losing the rest of my weight but I'm going to take the summer off to just maintain. I also need to prove to myself that I can keep it off and that I have control over what I put in my mouth. I'm hoping that by the end of the year I will have lost 100 pounds but I will keep you updated about my progress come the fall.
The top shot is from last week when I finished my second cycle in a new outfit, although not much of a departure. The second shot is after my first cycle when I lost over 30 pounds in 40 days. This bottom shot is my before picture. Before shots are always unhappy which wasn't that difficult for me at the time. I can't believe how puffy and swollen my face was looking back. It was only a few months ago that I was seeing that face in the mirror every morning.