Photography by Heather Roach » Blog

I know I have been neglecting the blog lately. I hope to change that very soon.

Mommy and Me Mini Sessions will be Saturday, April 30th, 2011. Sessions are $100 for a 20 minute session and the CD of your images. Spots are limited so message me soon to reserve your spot.

In celebration of my sister turning 24 on the 24th of March, I am giving you a chance to save. Purchase a CD for only $240. The sale is good for 24 hours. Just go to my website, www.photographybyheatherroach.com, go to clients, and type in 24sale. Add the image to your cart and then purchase the CD. The gallery will go up at midnight and will be removed at 11:59 tomorrow night. Your purchase does not expire, and you can buy more than one. As an extra bonus, post this for me for a chance to get $50 in cash or $50 in prints. All you have to do is refer 5 friends to purchase this deal. Make sure they send me a email at heathers.photography@gmail.com saying you referred them.

I decided on this blog to make it a little about me instead of just my clients photos. Although their stories are so much better and their photos so much cuter. ( :

The past 3 weeks have been a real challenge to me. I have been on a diet it seems like for the last year and a half. I’ve had a few breaks, but it always comes back down to dieting again. Quite honestly, I was sick of it. I had gained about 10 pounds back after losing 45 pounds, which was frustrating, and I just wanted to get back down and hit my 50 pound goal I had started with.

I heard about a diet from a guy that attends my church. I heard 500 calories, and I thought he was crazy. I thought better him than me. Then a friend I have been dieting with said she was considering doing it. I thought she was crazy too. But as my weight was yo-yoing even when I was doing good,  I decided I wanted to be done. This diet seemed to be the answer as you were supposed to lose at least a pound a day. Better yet, no exercise to do it.

So, on January 31st, I rode with my dieting buddy to the health store, and we bought some HCG drops.

You take these drops 6 times a day, 6 drops each time, for 23 days. The best part of this diet was on the first 2 days you get to load, meaning you get to eat everything horrible for you for 2 days. I have to say I enjoyed that part. I also gained about 3-4 pounds. That part I didn’t enjoy so much. On February 3rd, it was time to start the 500 calorie part of the diet. Let me also mention you don’t get to pick what foods you want to eat for your 500 calories. There is a list. I happen to be a very picky eater, so my list consisted of 6 items: Chicken, Hamburger meat, Cucumbers, Onions, Apples, and Oranges. I thought I could do anything for 23 days though. After the first day I lost 3.1 pounds. The next 1.8. Then .7. But the shocker was the 4th day, 4.2 pounds. On the 5th however, I gained .5. Back to losing the next day but only .2 pounds. That meant it was time for my first “apple day.” What’s an apple day you ask? It’s a day you eat only apples. 3 apples. That’s an apple for every meal. That was the day I wanted to quit. Especially when the next day I only lost .2 pounds again. Basically I struggled through the rest of this diet, wanting to quit. As expected, there are side effects from only eating 500 calories a day. I stayed hungry most of the time. I had intense cravings for everything I wasn’t supposed to have, and during Valentine’s day season, things were only worse when going to the grocery store for food. I should also  mention that I have been dizzy every day of this diet when I stand up. One time I honestly blacked out, although I didn’t pass out. Pretty crazy. The weight loss fluctuated, and I totaled 4 apple days. When the countdown got to 9 days left, I decided I was in the single digits and I couldn’t quit. I had to keep going. I have never not cheated on a diet, and I think I just had to prove something to myself. Not to mention I had a support team behind me I didn’t want to disappoint either. Probably the worst part of this diet was my moods. I admit I have suffered through some depression and irritability. The best part though was the fact that as of today I have lost 15.5 pounds. I am back to my previous  lowest weight, and have actually lost a little past that. I know the drops say they last 40 days, but, that’s a lie. They don’t. They lasted me 20 days. 3 days shy of the 23 days. I admit I was beyond ecstatic though. I have been ready to quit for a long time. The weight loss is great, but the diet is not. I honestly couldn’t recommend this diet to anyone. It’s great for quick weight loss, but you have to have the right mentality. You have to know what you are going into. You also have to know that if you just go back to eating afterwards, you will only gain it back. You have to know going in that afterwards you are going to have to still eat good and do some exercising. Quite honestly, I am SO ready to get back to exercising. I have 2 days of 500 calories left without the drops, and on Wednesday, which is my 23rd day, I get to increase my calories and get back to exercising. I admit, this isn’t exactly how the diet goes. You do 3 days of the 500 calories with no drops, and then do 3 weeks with no sugar and carbs but increasing calories. But quite honestly I am proud of myself for making it for 3 weeks and sticking to something. This may not have been great for me, but in a way it was. It helped my mind. I was able to push through and finish. My saving grace during this diet was my great support team, and well, oranges.

Oranges were the sweetest thing I could eat. And quite honestly, I looked forward to when I ate them. ( :

I would like to say thank you to Ronda. Thank you for being my diet partner, for pushing me, for listening to me whine (I know there was a lot of that), and for not giving up on me.  Quite honestly, I couldn’t have done this without you. And it was so much better going through this with someone.

I would like to say thank you to Rhonda. Thank you for knowing just at the right time to say you were proud of me so that I couldn’t give up. Thank you for dealing with my whining and constant talk of food. Thank you for dealing with the mood swings.

I would like to say thank you to Matt. Thank you for telling me to suck it up when I wanted to quit and was in the single digits. I needed that.

And last, thank you to everyone else who supported me, told me I could do it, and told me you were proud of me. Without a support team, I know I would have given up.

Quite honestly, this was hard. But I don’t regret doing it. And I am thankful for the weight loss. I know I can last through these last 2 days on 500 calories. After all, I’ve come this far. ( :