An epidemic of ending early!

As you know, I watch for trends in life and, where I don't always know what to do with the information, I acknowledge it. Lately, though, I've been observing a surprising trend (at least, it surprises me).

You know how January is the big "goal setting" month and all the diet companies jump on the band wagon there and push advertisements down your throat? You'd think, with all that coming at you, we'd all be desperate to release weight and stick to our diets even more. The resolve, I'd reason, should be extraordinarily strong to reach your body weight goal.

What I'm observing, however, is something totally different; even for those of us following HCG. A high number of us are choosing short rounds this time, rather than pushing for the 40 day round. It's interesting to me because my first round was a little over 50 days. I was sick of it by the end of the round. I did mass testing between rounds in the maintenance part to ferret out different methods of maintaining as well as fiddling with continued loss in P3/P4 (this works, by the way, but you have to do it right or it comes right back). My second round, I had full plans to follow through with 40 days again. But I came up with some other tests that I need to get answers to for the maintenance book, so I can get it published by the end of February, so I ended early, at 26 days.

There were lots of other people, who began around Christmas time, who just sort of "lost interest" in losing fat. Now, the people who began in January some time around the middle are also just losing interest in the whole idea.

I think we're being inundated with LOSE WEIGHT and we're tired of hearing it. We're tired of hearing how we, as a nation, always drop the ball on our New Year's Resolutions. We're tired of that focus. It's so intense that to hear about it all the time, not only do we seem to put cotton balls in our ears, but we also want to rebel and refuse to lose, even though that's really what we want to do!

Having been through a 40+ day round and a short little 26 day round of VLCD, I have to admit that I really LIKE the short round. It was easier to stick with, easier to accomplish, and my skin didn't dry out to the point that my fingers were cracking and bleeding every time I played my cello. Only one finger tip got to that point this time, lol.

So, I've come up with an interesting method I'm going to try out for the next two rounds. I'm going to stick with the 26 day round length. I'll follow that with a 21 day add the fats/oils back in (so my fingers don't crack/bleed and I can keep playing cello!). Immediately thereafter, I'm planning to head right back into a second 26 day VLCD round, followed by another 21 days of P3. After that, I'll just take stock of how I feel and where I'm at before I decide to add another 26/21 combo.

I really like this concept because:

1. It allows the body to follow a cycle, rather than an unending torment.
2. My skin will remain somewhat supple.
3. Mentally, at about the 26 day mark, I just need a break from being so strict.
4. Emotionally, I want to lighten up on myself and enjoy life.
5. I get to add exercise back into my life without becoming weak during the break.
6. It's going to be Spring soon and that's time to be more active.
7. I get a full 40+ round in, but with a break in the middle. :)

Last time, I scheduled my round by the calendar. That was an error. Next time, I'm going to wait until after my female cycle is done, then start the 26 day round. I should be able to get all 26 days in without having another cycle to interrupt the fat release process. :) Then, during my 21 days "off," my female cycle should come haunting and be over by the time I'm ready for the next 26 day round! ::fingers crossed::

At any rate, the trend is that the more we see messages in the media to lose, the more we want to hold on to it. I think it's a pure rebellion thing, but couldn't even begin to quantify that one!