Hard hard hard

Well, it's really gotten harder in the past few days. It's almost like the Releana has stopped working or something. On Monday, I called my clinic in CA. They said that most people plateau or stall while doing this diet, and that it was probably normal. They suggested the apple day routine as soon as I could do it.

Yesterday, my weight was 215.8 AGAIN, and I was pretty frustrated. I decided I would stop with the diet soda, and so I quit it cold turkey yesterday. I followed everything else perfectly. But all day long yesterday I was so hungry I was in pain. My stomach kept rumbling, I had cramps, I felt crabby and miserable, I almost started to cry spontaneously, and I even woke up in the middle of the night with my muscles around my stomach hurting. It hurt so much the pain woke me up!

And, after that misery, plus the extra misery of no diet soda on Monday, I woke up this morning to find I was 216.6! I gained weight while in physical pain from hunger! I gained almost a pound while on a 500 calorie a day diet! It was deeply horrible, plus I still felt physically bad this morning from my bad day yesterday.

I really wonder if the Releana is working. Maybe my bottle went bad? I have a couple more days of drops on this bottle, but I do wonder a bit. The clinic said that I might be building muscle instead of losing fat (I guess that is what sometimes causes these stalls). But I don't see why I would be building muscle right now. It's not like I'm doing any extra exercise or anything suddenly right now. Plus, that happy gently peaceful feeling that I've had with Releana is gone. And it hurts to be hungry, whereas it didn't hurt once the Releana kicked in when I first started. In fact, things have been so remarkably easy, this is really the first rough patch I've come on. And it sucks!

I did the apple day today. I was worried that no protein all day would make me light headed. I also worried about hunger and about how my energy would hold up. I actually couldn't end up forcing myself to eat another apple, so I only ate 7 instead of 8. I'm really hungry, and my stomach is rumbling. And it hurts. Plus I've had some diarrhea today too. The thought of apples makes me feel sick. YUCK. I used to like apples, but really, I may have had enough today! I did actually make it through the day OK, and I was thinking clearly enough, so that's good. (Hopefully, that's the Releana kicking back in!).

I really hope this works, and I go back to losing tomorrow. It's been frustrating, and now painful, to be doing this diet and not to be losing. I know I shouldn't complain about 20 pounds in less than a month, but still, it was working so wonderfully that this stall seems to be bigger than maybe it is. I hope the apple day worked! I have to admit, I've had several points today where I thought that if the apple day didn't work, I would have to quit. I mean, I can't go on like this forever, it's too debilitating! Plus, I'm so hungry right now I would really like to eat a good piece of pizza!