Sometimes I'm the luckiest gal!

So I have to take a little moment out from the hCG humdrum to tell you how lucky I am. Why, do you ask? Well I'll tell you!

Throughout my life I have been blessed, repeatedly to find friends, via the internet....through scrapbook forums, and now Facebook....that have enriched my life beyond measure.

One special friend I'd like to mention today is my buddy Leigh.

Leigh is an amazing woman that has taught me so much about loving everyone and taking what life gives you and making the best out of it.

She was friends with my brother on Facebook and ended up crossing over into my world. I'll be honest...when my brother told me...yeah...she's got 27 tattoos (or something like that), and how ever many body piercings, I thought wow....she's a crazy gal! I am SO VERY GRATEFUL that I didn't let my initial thoughts stand in the way of getting to know my amazing friend. I'm also truly grateful that she has helped me to realize how special each and every one of God's children are, no matter what! (Even with all of those crazy tattoos! ;) )

One thing I adore about Leigh is her gratitude lists. She has so often encouraged myself, as well as others to focus on the things we are grateful for that God has given us. In fact, one day when I was having a particularly bad day, she prompted me to say my prayers asking for nothing, but only thanking Heavenly Father for all that I have. It made me realize how absolutely incredibly blessed I am.

* I am blessed to have the knowledge of Jesus Christ our savior that gave his life for us so that we CAN be together forever.
* I am blessed with a wonderful God Loving husband, who does everything he can for our family. Who loves our kids like every father should love their children. Who appreciates me for what I do. Who recognizes my needs.
* I am blessed with 5 amazing children who are not only my dear friends but teach me love and patience each day.
* I am blessed with a beautiful home, in a beautiful neighborhood.
* I am blessed with friends in abundance, who love me even though I might not be the nicest or best of person at times.
* I am blessed with parents and inlaws that love me and my family dearly and would do anything for us at any time.
* I am blessed with by my children having wonderful teachers that give so much of their time and their talents to better my children.
* I am blessed to have clothing and food (although I'd do just about anything for a pizza right now! ;)

She is truly optomistic. One Thursday when I was having a rough time she sent me a sweet message, to which I replied that I was wrapped in warm fuzzies. She then replied:

That's the way it SHOULD be! My buddy texted me yesterday and told me to imagine myself all balled up in G-d's hand. I told her he was squeezing me too hard (!!!). She said he just loves me so much he's hugging me a little extra tight.

So if you imagine yourself wrapped in warm fuzzies/ on a beach/ on a boat/ in His hand...it might just help change your perspective in a tough moment. :)

Happy Thursday!

And all of this coming from a woman that has recently been diagnosed with Lupus, and keeps on smiling and counting her blessings.

I just wanted to take this small moment to thank her for what an example she is to me. And to share with you the thoughtful bookmark that she surprised me with.

Leigh...I love you - you need to get your hiney back here to Utah one day so we can meet!

(PS - there's the photo for you! ;) Bet you weren't counting on getting it this way!)

Adios Dos punto Dos!

Well, I have to admit that seeing my scale drop 2.2 pounds is enough to face the torture of another day in "starvation camp".


What?

Starvation?

Yup. That's right!

When I first heard about the HCG diet, I couldn't believe that people would actually maintain a 500 calorie a day diet. Cause lets face it. That is dangerous! It wasn't until I did the research and really understood how this diet works that I felt comfortable and confident with using the protocol for myself.

If you aren't familiar with how it works, let me shed some light. (Now don't you poke fun, cause I'm no Dr. Lee. This is how my brain understands it all!)

You know when a woman is pregnant? Well she creates the growth hormone which is HCG.



This hormone is a wonderful growth hormone which not only helps ensure that the pregnancy moves along, but acts as a protection to the growing fetus. Think about it. How do women, in 3rd world countries, who are malnourished, continue to give birth to healthy babies. The answer in part....hCG.

During the hCG diet, the hormone that you put into your system, for lack of a better description, allows your body to safely settle into borderline starvation mode. By having the hormone present in your body, it unlocks your abnormal fat stores so that your body is actually consuming not a measly 500 calories daily, but upwards of 3500 calories, since the average daily fat loss on this system is 1 pound. It's the release of the dangerous fat stores that allows your body to maintain the energy needed to go about your daily tasks.



Another beauty of hCG is it protects the normal and secondary fats, which are the good ones. It also protects muscle structure so that you will not see a breakdown of muscle, cause let's face it.....when you've got good guns, why would you want to lose em?



Now you may be asking yourself, "well if this is such a miracle hormone, why do pregnant women typically pack on the pounds". Sugar. Starches. They are the mortal enemies of hCG. In fact, according to Dr. Simeons, if you are not 100% committed to protocol, and sneak in those sugary and starchy treats then you are running the risk of gaining weight "at an alarming rate". And lets face it....I don't know about you mommies out there but when I was prego donuts and cheeseburgers were my friend! I'd be willing to bet if you looked at the diets of those super cute basket ball belly mommies that they maintained a healthy diet during pregnancy filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.



Another wonder of the hCG hormone is the HCG actually resets the Hypothalamus, which means that at the end of your diet phases, your weight is actually re-set. Of course if you begin eating junk all of the time you will re-gain weight, but isn't that the same with any diet?

So for now, I'm managing my energy levels just fine...in fact even did an actual chin up for my first time ever last night. Also threw in a few minutes of crunches and push ups. My demon right now is trying to put the thoughts of starches and sugar out of my mind. I know it will be worth it! And hopefully I will train myself to have healthier eating habits, cause let's face it, starvation camp just isn't worth submitting to just to pack it all back on!



Even though it's been mentally tough, I expect it to get easier. It's nice however, since this diet doesn't come without an ounce of entertainment, cause if my husband were to take a pregnancy test.....well.....




Nuff said.

:0)

Journeyings of an HCG Diet

Wow. A resurrection to the blog. Don't all gasp at once. (All 0 of you that are likely looking. ;) ) I just figured it would be fun to document my daily journeyings on the crazy HCG diet.

I'll be honest. Over a year ago when I first heard of the HCG diet, I thought THAT's NUTS! Granted the temptation of being able to lose 20 pounds of fat in 20 days was ever so enticing, I never really put more thought into it....mainly because of the cost and the shots.

So I'm visiting teaching the other day and my partner, the bishops wife, begins speaking about her diet. Lo and behold she and the bishop are on the HCG diet. WHAT? REALLY? Not only that, our Fotoplay photography partner and wonderful friend Jen is also on HCG as well. Welllllllllllllll then.......I might just have to look into this cause if the BISHOP is doing it, then it must be okay! ;)

Research, research, research and MOOOOOOOOOOOORE research. Cause let's be honest, I'm not about to submit my body to something dangerous or unhealthy.

Finally.

Convinced.

This is okay.

And at such a fabulous price? I can't say no!

So many of you look at me and say, "you don't need to lose weight, you look great." You know what? I'll be agreeing with you. I do look pretty great for a mom of 5. But that's just it, I hate the tag line "for a mom of 5", cause I'll be honest, it doesn't really make me feel any better that I haven't been able to shed this gut. However I will be the first to agree if you look at me from the front, or the back? Well, it ain't too shabby!



But from the side?



ICK!

And for those of you who know me, you know I'm not an idle person either. I love to run. I mean I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeealy love to run. Look...this is me just after a race.



See! I do! I love it! But truth is, as crazy as I am about exercising, I just haven't been able to lose that belly fat. Granted, I have all too often splurged on foods that I shouldn't, so by forcing myself to have healthy eating habits at the risk of gaining some serious pounds if I do not follow protocol while on the HCG, I do believe is exactly what I need!

So this,




and these,



are my new friends.

I'm not saying it's going to be easy, and I'm sure there are days that will flat out kill me this first week, but I have already given my kids full permission to put me into time out if I get too hangry.




Cause I want this



to change to this



so that when I am one of these



I can be happy and healthy and enjoy every moment!