3rd Week update of my weight loss journey

I was going to have my husband take photos again but, he was busy so I didn't ask him.  I think you can see the difference that one week has made and I am not exercising just my normal day to day work.  So far since Jan 2 which my 1st day of taking hcg I have lost 20.5 inches and 13.4 pounds.  This past week I had a stall and I have only lost 2.8 pounds this week.  Stalls are a given in the hcg journey and while psychologically frustrating the are necessary physically.
Here is what a veteran has to say about stalls:

If there's one question that we veterans get more than any other, it's about stalls. We answer these every single day. So here is the skinny on stalls: THEY HAPPEN. You didn't do anything wrong. A stall after the first few days of great losses is almost a given. A long stall in the middle of the round is more common than not.

But rejoice! Stalls aren't a bad thing. I know they feel bad because you've been so good and have followed the diet to a T. But what happens is that you are gaining back some of the water you lost early on. So the fat THAT IS STILL BEING LOST is not showing up on the scales. I really believe those stalls help solidify the losses for when you get to P3 too. I see way more people upset about gaining in P3 when they rushed there as soon as they could because of that typical stall. They assume their body is done, but that's not the case.

So don't be fooled. Hold the course and don't let the stall upset you. It will break when it's ready to break. There is little you can do about it. You may read stories about having a handful of nuts or doing a mini steak day. But these things really don't work. It's just coincidence because the stall was about to break anyway. It would have broken no matter what you did. We get so desperate for it to break that we will try anything. Take your measurements. This will encourage you when you are in the middle of a stall. I have had 10 day stalls in the middle of every long round so I know how upsetting it can be. But put your sights on the end goal and know that you are getting there!

I was kind of excited for the stall since I knew what was happening and this morning I woke up to a 1.8 pound loss.  I couldn't believe it and had to weigh myself again just to be sure. I had resigned myself to .2 and .4 losses. What a wonderful surprise!   This is my 3rd round and I was so ready mentally for it. My second round was difficult for several reasons. The time of year I picked (July) was more difficult because I ended up having to do more heavy outside work than I had anticipated. I did up my protein a little but, I just felt I would have lost better if I had not been as active and had more protein. Mentally it was just harder for some indefinable reason.  In reading others testimonies I found that it was widely agreed that the 2nd round was hard for a lot of people.

My husband's  Birthday was last week and a friend gave a birthday dinner for him and 2 of his friends that have a birthday within a week of each other.  There were so many goodies but, I persevered and did not have any and brought my own dinner.  I had told my hostess before hand so I wouldn't hurt her feelings. It was hard, yet it wasn't hard because I wasn't hungry.  And the smell of the food was great and I found enjoyment in the smells. Here are some photos of our dinner:

 Our lovely hostess plating our dinners

 Lasagna & Salad plus cheesecake for dessert

The three birthday boys!

My husband has been rather oblivious to the changes my body has been going thru, but after church this week. He said that he had been looking at me and thinking that something was different and he had been puzzled as to what it was. Then he had finally figured it out, the original weight gain had been so subtle and all over that you didn't really notice it and now that was how it is with the weight loss.  It has been subtle and all over so he didn't really notice it until he had been watching me sing with the worship team.  He is very supportive of my doing this and I'm so glad otherwise it would be so hard.  I still fix him 3 meals a day and don't find it difficult or tempting.  I find that I'm putting a little more effort into his meal presentations. And yesterday I made him 2 loaves of sourdough walnut cranberry bread.  Today I'm going to try a recipe for Amazing No-Knead Bread even though I can't eat any.  My husband is picky about his bread. He can eat all he wants without any adverse affects. I'll take pictures and if it works out I'll post some for you.