Raw Vegan Diet - I bought a Vitamix!

Since I started this Raw Vegan Diet I also started to watch a lot of YouTube videos about Raw Vegan recipes, I'm mostly learning tips and new ingredients used in Raw Vegan diets. One item that I was missing in my kitchen was the Vitamix, an expensive tool that everyone seems loving and worth all the money. But really the idea of spending $600 was not exciting me, so I found one on kijiji, I went yesterday after work to pick it up; it is almost new and I got it for $350, I don't think I can find it for less than that, but in any case now I have an almost new Vitamix that I can start to use to do tons of new recipes.

Yesterday at the end I was able to stick to my plan and avoid eating 8 bananas with tons of peanut butter powder and dates. I just had a giant salad with my superb tahini sauce! I still felt that I was eating a lot at the end of my dinner, but I kept on going into my huge salad bowl, I think I was still somehow binging on my salad, deliciousness though. Thankful this morning I saw a small decrease on my weight, only 400gr but for me a loss is a loss, and if I could count on 400gr every day I'll be happy with that.

Today I should have a smaller dinner though, not sure if I'll be eating out yet, I was supposed to see a friend after work but we didn't keep in touch in the past few days so I might ended up being home with my cucumber noodles, which I like a lot as option anyway. I know I eat too much in my meals but this is what helps me to crave sweets and food in general, some days it's harder I have to admit it, but it would be much harder if I wasn't eating enough or feeling constantly on diet.

I planned to do another short Water Fast on December 5 and I'm still of the idea on doing it, I have some weight that I want to lose, I fell I didn't complete my cleansing and detoxing process and my mental clarity will be definitely thank me after the Water Fast. I'm debating about the number of days, but roughly I would like to be in ketosis for at least 5/6 days, so at the end my 10-day estimation should not be too off from reality, I'm also counting like 3/4 days for a good refeeding process, so in total will last almost 2 weeks, just before Christmas time.

HCG Diet - VLCD#16 Can I change my life for food?

Another check-in today to track my progress with the HCG Diet; I registered a weight loss today or - released some fat - how they say, so everything is good.

Weight loss process is usually with a downtrend in any diet: you lose a lot of weight to start with, and then things tend to slow down. Plateaus are more frequent, cravings are stronger and general motivation is not always 100% positive like the beginning. But – as I always say to myself – that's part of the game, so I try to not lose focus on what I'm doing and for what.

In the past few days I had lots of food temptations, and literally I had to repeat in my mind: food not allowed, carbs carbs, sugar sugar. I know the effect of the sugar has on me and I don't want to go down that path, plus we all need to learn to avoid junk food anyway, regardless what type of Diet or food restriction we're following. It is a life change, contrary to other diets that I tried so far, HCG Diet makes you feel so good that you learn on loving your body, in a different way, realizing that we really are what we eat.

In the past, every time I heard: it's not just a Diet but it's a life change, I've been always afraid of what I would need to do to change my life. Hey people don't change their life from dusk to down, it requires trials and errors and most importantly: determination and commitment.

With the HCG Diet is a natural process, if done properly this Diet will reward you so much that you would be asking yourself how I ate so badly till now? The fat is not just lost, is redistributed in a different way on your body. It was clear since the first few days, that my weight loss was mostly affecting those areas where stored fat gets stuck forever, so difficult to get rid of. I took measurements after a couple of weeks and I saw no changes in areas where I did not have that much to lose and great numbers on others where my biggest problems are – never happened with previous diets.

One of the biggest mistakes that dieters do very often is thinking that, when the diet is over, we will be allowed to eat whatever we want. Unfortunately that's not entirely true. For some people is ok having a piece of cake once in a while, without affecting the results; but, for most of us, and I would include myself in the crowd, in order to be successfully on maintaining the weight loss, we just need to kiss goodbye to a lot of food, all those carbs that might trigger a spiral of overeating and sense of failure. There are moments in everyone's life when food is a comfort, it's our escape from reality, it is a warm hug, and a way to say to ourselves that we need love/attention and only there…eating the whole cake can fill that emptiness. Unfortunately 99.9% of the time we always regret doing it though, question is: why then we keep on doing it? Why I can just say to myself that I don't need food to feel better, I need a healthy body and be able to look at myself in the mirror and not feel miserable.

Are you really ready to lose weight?

I've been thinking lately how important is to be in the right set of mind when starting a diet, not just the HCG diet but any diet. Motivation and determination is essential, to avoid failures, frustrations and mental cravings. I wasn't ready for my Round 2 with HCG - I think after coming back from my vacation, I rushed on starting again the protocol without not even asking myself if it was the right time – I just wanted the weight off.

For me food is my obsession, and although I rationalize everything in a logical way, food it's still illogically controlling my actions, my thoughts and my deepest desires – every-single-day.

I read a lot online about eating disorders, watched videos of people confessing their food obsessions, I know I have a problem, I don’t feel ashamed to admit to myself or anyone that my relationship with food is not normal, my issues are clear, just not easy to resolve.

What I do not believe is true in my case, is the rejection of my body; sure I’m overweight and I would like to lose weight but I think I’m beautiful anyway. I’m pretty even with my chubby muffin tops. But being appreciative of our bodies does not mean that we stop trying to be more in control with our health, our weight. Why has to be so bad even just talking about dieting when dealing with an eating disorder? Why everyone has to convince me that I should not lose any weight whatsoever, I should accept myself like I am - right now and be happy for the rest of my life? I am happy when I am in control of my diet. I noticed that if I don’t have any specific diet plan during my days….I eat everything I want, or better saying: I overeat with anything I crave. And I usually crave a lot sugar.

I tried many times to practice the rule: eat only when hungry, it doesn’t seem working for me, since I’m always hungry! I don’t recall last time I felt really full or satisfied after a meal, mostly because I try to avoid carbs and eat more proteins, so after one hour or so I feel hungry again….starving again.

So my advice is: do not start any diet until you’re 100% ready to be fully committed to it, because if you lose faith in a diet/protocol – it will never work again for you. I f we cheat once we will likely do it again.