Finding a new motivation for weight loss

Day 6 VLCP 1.9.13

8:15 am - Due to the fact that I am on the 6 week protocol, I skipped hcg intake yesterday, taking it 6 days a week to avoid immunity to the hormone. Perhaps as a result of that, I can say with certainty that last night and this morning, I've experienced hunger. Real hunger. One of my first mornings feeling this way.

Unlike normal, when coffee would subside my sense of hunger in the AM, it made a very small dent in how I felt this morning. So, I ate a quarter of an orange, which seemed to help for about 2 hours. I think I'll have the rest of the orange in small increments, an eighth segment every 5 minutes, assessing my hunger before each segment.

I'm still only getting about 6 hours of sleep, and waking slightly tired. I'm hoping that changes in the next couple weeks.

I continue to find ways to differentiate real hunger from emotional hunger. I am an addict when it comes to eating for emotional reasons, and the challenges are to 1) detect the difference 2) plan on how to combat the urge to eat when not physically hungry, especially when the protocol is in the next two stages.

"To conclude, no matter how miraculous the human body is, or how effective the signal of leptin is to reduce hunger, the emotional drive to eat surpasses all physical cues and ignores the physical signal not to eat. In order to make responsible emotional change, we must use a different approach to Dr. Simeons’ protocol. 

Finding a motivation to change that is stronger than the desire to lose weight, requires a more meaningful purpose; one that intentionally targets the source of the emotional problem. Success must be the goal, and success must be measured by a diminished emotional desire to eat, not by weight loss. For this approach, we suggest taking weight and size out of the equation, removing the scale altogether."

Woodall, Robin Phipps (2011-11-08). Weight-Loss Apocalypse : Emotional Eating Rehab Through the HCG Protocol (p. 70). AuthorHouse. Kindle Edition.

I don't think I'm beyond removing the scale altogether. But if I can decrease the importance of weight and increase the significance to long-term health, the scale's power will be diminished. There is certainly something to be said for the scale's ability to demotivate if expectations aren't being met. By weighing once a week I am avoiding many of the daily fluctuations of water and bowel movements, and removing that daily stress. Previously I would avoid drinking water during the night to avoid that gain when I woke up and weighed myself. But I actually learned (by weighing myself during the early morning hours) that drinking a good amount of water at say 3 am when I awoke, actually resulted in weighing less at 5 or 6 after urinating.

I'll have to deal with the mental challenges of my weight expectations on a weekly basis as well. I accept the challenge - for now.

[9:45 am - One hour after finishing the orange, in 5-10 minute increments, I am feeling a better sense of nourishment, but already sensing some hunger that may require more filler, such as a salad. But I'll let my tea work for awhile, with a glass of water, to see if that holds me off until noon or so.]