Losing it!

As you know, I have struggled with very high blood pressure for the past 7 years.  I have been to cardiologists, other doctors and the cause of my HBP still remains a mystery.  There is no family history of anyone having it this young (I was 22 when I first began taking medication.  And even on medication, over the years there have still been times when it has been very high) and I am not extremely overweight, so diet and exercise really have never played a role in lowering it.  Back in March, I joined the Y and decided to go workout everyday on my lunch hour with a co-worker of mine.   Kind of an accountability partner to keep me going.  I was very faithful in doing this as well as trying to follow a low sodium, low fat and calorie diet of around 1200 cals.  I lost a few pounds and a good amount of inches and felt more toned, but I still felt very tired and like I said earlier, it did nothing for my HBP.  I was frustrated.  Here it is October and I did not feel much better after almost 6 months of intense (500 calorie) workout sessions.  It was time for my bi-yearly bloodwork at my doc, so I again pestered him to help me find an answer for more energy.  I also really wanted to lose a little bit of weight.  At least 10 pounds but would have loved to go out on a limb and lose 20.  He tested my blood to see if my iron or B12 levels might be low causing my energy to be so low, but those came back normal.  My blood sugar was high though and my cholesterol.  WEIRD. Anyway, this leads me to the exciting part of my post :)

My doctor recommended the HCG diet.  A lot of times, people with HBP or diabetes can go on this diet and come off their medications completely or reduce them because of the positive effect that it has on the body.  I won't bore you with the details but you can read about it here www.hcg4anewyou.com.  I had heard about this diet before, but thought it was just a fad diet so I was very interested when my doctor recommended it and also provided the services for it in the office.  Well, that was last week.  I started on October 10th and today, ten days later, on October 20th, I am down 11.5 pounds!  And the BEST part is that I FEEL so good.  I have so much more energy and just feel so much better.  As excited as I am about losing the weight I wanted to (and I am!!) I am just as excited about feeling like a 29 year old again instead of an 89 year old.  The minimum number of days at a time to be on the program is 23 and the maximum time is 40.  I will probably only need to do the 23 day program since I am so close to reaching my goal weight.  Then I will begin the stabilization part of the program which is the vital part of helping my system regulate.  I am excited to see if I am going to be able to reduce my medication!  Can't wait for that!  Anyway, I was going to document each day I am on the diet with photos and progress and menus, but I was away from work for a week so I got behind.  But if anyone wants any info, I would be happy to answer whatever I can.  And I will definitely be posting updates as I finish up!  Looks like my ending date will be around Halloween.  Wish me luck!!

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