Gag........

Happy Monday!

I began my Monday.....gagging on my formula. I've never experienced this before! Mixed it the same way, same flavor, same EVERYTHING, and here I am gagging on it. I tried to breathe through it, set my mind on other things (I was having it while driving to work as usual), swallow it with water like a pill, biting down on it as if it was jello, NOTHING worked!

Finally I sat down at my desk at work and literally nibbled at it and was able to get through half. I felt horrible about wasting my expensive formula but I was also mystified why I was gagging on it a week later.


I immediately emailed Roca Labs and they sent me their standard 'Tasty Ways to take your Dose' or something like that. It talked about various methods like smelling the powder, thinking about your desired results, mixing it with applesauce (which I think would be REVOLTING), anddddddd blending it into a smoothie!

Link: http://rocalabs.com/support/instructions/tips-for-tasty-dose/

And there was my AH-HA moment.

I will blend it into a morning fruit smoothie and it'll be great! I even did some research about the formula in smoothie form and found good reviews. So it was decided, I'm heading to Costco for some frozen mixed fruit/berries after work!

Lunch: 3 pieces of skinless fried chicken (1 thigh, 2 drumsticks), after some research, it supposedly put me out to about 250-300 calories

Exercise: After lunch, I went to a nearby park and walked around their track for 40min. For my weight, the walk basically cancelled out my lunch.

Dinner: The fiancé had work obligations until around 8:15pm, so I just did some wedding DIY while waiting for him. I was practically dizzy with hunger by then....I know, not good, but I knew we had planned to eat out and didn't want to risk snacking, only to have him return 5 minutes later. We went to a teriyaki joint and we shared a gyoza (dumplings) appetizer, I ate his side salad cuz I was about to pass out, then I had maybe 15-20% of my chicken yakisoba. I got a takeout box and it filled up all the little slots!

 

Overall, I think it was a successful Monday, considering I had not even half of my formula goo, I still filled up quickly and even exercised for 40 minutes! I'm super excited to try my smoothie tomorrow, let's see how it goes!

Week One

I officially began my Roca Labs on Sunday March 23rd, 2014. So the night before I followed their directions for mixing the formula, and then putting it in the fridge for at least an hour. Except they're sort of confusing, they advise that the formula be taken ASAP when you wake up, but that it also needs to sit in the fridge for an hour before consumption. I don't know if I'm the only one, but I simply do not have an hour to wait around in the morning before hauling a** to work. So clever me decided I would always premix it and let it sit overnight.

Sunday morning (181 lbs): Woke up about 8:30am or so, rolled around in bed with the dogs for a bit then went to do my Roca Labs. When I opened the container it was a thick jello-ish consistency and I immediately started dreading it. I naturally have a strong gag reflex (seriously, a trip to the dentist will empty my stomach for the day) so I did not look forward to it. Surprisingly, it wasn't THAT bad. Ok, it was bad, but not THAT bad. I followed directions like a good girl and followed each bite with a drink of water. About 60% of the way through, I was stuffed. "Yay, this is working!" I thought. Throughout the day, I did notice I didn't get hungry as fast and also filled up much faster. I was delighted! I even took the dogs for a half hour walk and got the recommended half hour exercise in!

Over the course of the week I continued to follow Roca Labs explicitly, drank a ton of water, ate less and also drank the Anti-Cravings when I knew I was nearing the end of the 'effects'. It wasn't hard serving myself less food but it was definitely hard determining when I'm full. Truth is, I DID feel full much faster, but that feeling is difficult to distinguish from the constant water-fullness you feel while on Roca Labs.

Wednesday 3/26/14: 178lbs
Thursday 3/27/14: 176.5lbs

Friday: This is where I screwed up. My lovely coworker surprised everyone with Dairy Queen lunches and I ate.....all of it. Chili dog, fries and sundae. I was smart and only took a couple sips of the soda because Roca Labs says it'll cause bloating. BAD BAD.

Saturday: I had fallen asleep while watching TV Friday night and forgot to make my formula, so I wasn't able to have it first thing. Then came my doctor's appointment, who is so wonderfully on the same block as McDonalds. And who could avoid that delicious McDonald's breakfast after a doctor's appointment?! And there was my dilemma, eat my breakfast while it is hot and delicious or have my formula first and not have the appetite for my delicious breakfast until lunch time (which we all know McDonalds will be disgusting by then). Andddddd my decision was....just eat my breakfast. I was going to eat my formula afterwards but after finding out the calories (1090) in my breakfast, there was no point. The formula was so darn expensive there's no point wasting it on a day I knew was down the drain already. Dinner time came and I didn't do too bad, just slapped together a couple skewers (seafood and green peppers) and stuck them in the oven.

Sunday: Woke up and struggled with my formula in bed until at least 11:30am, then my fiancé, being the sweetheart that he is, made us a delicious branch with lemon pepper tilapia and rice pilaf. Didn't do anything other than clean the house a bit so calorie burning was minimal. But didn't do bad with dinner either, we went to a local restaurant and each had a bowl of Pho (which has minimal calories besides the carbs).

All in all, not a bad first week. I had a really good start but fell slightly off the wagon during the weekend. But I also figured out be more attentive to my stomach's signals too. Even on the day that I fell off the wagon, my food consumption still wasn't crazy.....probably due to quilt too. But I've been scared to weigh myself since Thursday, so I have no idea where I'm at.

TOTAL for Week One: 4.5lbs lost

 

 

Decision Time - Roca Labs

The wedding is on August 16th, 2014.

Venue - checked
Catering - checked
DIY projects - started
Dress - checked
Lose weight - A BIG FAT BLANK!

In fact, I just dusted off my balance (denial, yes) and weighed myself. A shocking 192lb! GREAT......just because I was realistic and got a dress that fits me at my current weight, doesn't mean I want to fill it up!

But it's ok, I've got 8 months to go, I can do this......NOT

Truth is, I've tried numerous weight loss methods - Medifast (disgusting), Hydroxycut (jitters, headache and insomnia), Metamucil (bloated-ness galore), HCG (ineffective), healthy lifestyle (yeah right, emotional-eater me). AND I blame it on the crappy Seattle weather, who wants to go running when it's pouring down rain 90% of the time?! So I did some research and decided to try Slimfast.

Yes, Slimfast sounds overrated and commercialized but heck, I'm up for anything short of ingesting a worm. So after 3 months of being on that, I've lost about 10lb...not bad, but not great either. Especially when I basically replaced 1-2 meals a day with it. That and after ingesting so much milk, I may have forced my body to become lactose intolerant, if you know what I mean....

So at 181lb, I found Roca Labs.

There are tons of negative comments and people claiming it's a scam but I did my own research. It's just a big glob of fiber you ingest that fills up your stomach and remains there the whole day, theoretically filling up to 80% of your stomach and leaving about 20% for you to eat. So what's different about this fiber than other MUCH CHEAPER options like Benefiber or Metamucil? .....I don't know. I just know Metamucil didn't work for me and there is no evidence those other options are built to stay in your stomach throughout the day rather than just clearing you out.

Problem: It's expensive! The basic dose with insurance is $480 (you can split it into 3 equal monthly payments if you pay $15-20 more). But the basic dose without insurance is $780. HOLY CRAP!

Solution: tax return baby! I told myself that I'll consider it "unexpected money" and use it for Roca Labs, yes it's still expensive, but I'm willing to do almost anything to not be a 200lb pig at this once-in-a-lifetime event that will also include loads and loads of photographic evidence.


So I did it! I filled out their application on a Monday March 17th, 2014 and received my package on Saturday March 22nd, 2014.

Dun dun dun.....here we go!