Metabolic Research Center attempt

Day 11: Blue Menu

mrchopeful — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:41:53 +0000

On Thursday, 7/9/09, I went into the center for my biweekly weigh-in and was highly disappointed. Although I had shown a 1.5 pound loss on Monday, I had a 1.5 pound gain by Thursday. I had celebrated my anniversary during the week and did go off program by drinking a glass of white wine and eating lobster, but really does that condemn me to regain the weight I had lost after following the diet to a T for the previous 10 days? And to tell you the truth I didn’t even enjoy the food I ate off program. It made me feel nauseous and bloated. If that wasn’t reason enough to keep me from eating out again, then the 1.5 pound weight gain was. But still, after a week and a half of being on the program, except for one meal, and being nowhere closer to my goal now then I was when I started makes me lose some faith in the program. I am taking my vitamins and my supplements, drinking my HNS and my fiber fills, and still nothing. The consultant stated she would start to be concerned about the lack of weight loss if I haven’t lost some weight by 7/13/09, which is Monday when I weigh in again, but I’m concerned now. I have stopped eating out and have cut my daily calorie intake by at least 2,000 calories. That alone should at least produce some results, right? Maybe I am being too inpatient and expecting results faster than my body can produce them and I just need to give it some time. The consultant stated I should be in fat burning mode by now and I will be given a urine stick on Monday to determine if I am in ketosis. She also wanted to redo my Tanita and measurements on Monday to see if my body is producing some results that are just not visible on the scale. She also stated that the fact that I am “premenstrual” may have something to do with it, as I could be retaining water, which very well may be. Since starting the program my cycle has been disturbed as I have been spotting consistently, in spite of the fact that I am on birth control pills and have never had that problem before. So I am also considering that my body is having a hard time adjusting to the change in diet and is responding by holding on to water like crazy. Who knows? But I am going to stick with the program and continue following my menus. I have ordered some HNS from dietdirect.com because they are cheaper than they are at the center, and I am thinking of buying some fiber fills from the store. I just want to try and save some money anyway I can. I am also going to exercise more this week and see if that doesn’t help to produce some results.

Day 1: Yellow Menu

mrchopeful — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:30:56 +0000

I went in for my first weigh in and menu yesterday. Although I did not have any weight lost for the 3 days that I was on preconditioning, I did not experience any weight gain either. During preconditioning I cut out caffeine and started taking the MRC6. I was feeling tired and getting headaches, but I was told that this was due to having decreasing the amount of carbs and caffeine that I am used to. I was given my first menu, which is the yellow menu, and was told that I would need to follow the menu for the next 4 days. I have to admit that the food selection or lack thereof, was quite surprising to me. I am to have 1 oz of cheese, 1 slice of diet bread and ½ a small orange for breakfast, 8 oz of salad and ½ cup of cottage cheese for lunch, and for dinner 4 oz of lean meat, 4 oz of salad, 4 oz of cooked vegetables, and a slice of diet bread. With breakfast and lunch I am also required to have a high nutrient supplement, of which they have many varieties in concentrate or powder form. I am required to have 2 HNS a day but can have up to 4 if I feel hungry or feel like my weight loss is stalling. They say the HNS contain a lot of protein with a small amount of calorie content, which boosts metabolism and will provide food for my muscles. They also have fiber fillers which are powder form drinks that will give you the feeling of being full to help tide you over until your next meal. I decided to do the 10 boxes for $90, 3 boxes of fiber filler and 7 boxes of HNS. . There are 7 packets in each box so those 7 boxes should last over 2 weeks if I take 3 per day. I bought the 3 boxes of fiber fillers because I know I will get hungry or be hungry after my meager meals, compared to what I am used to eating, so hopefully the fiber will make sure that I stay on track. I know the $90 sounds like a lot, but when I think of spending $20 a day on eating out I know I am actually saving money by doing this program, and will hopefully lose weight to boot. Due to the fact that I was feeling hungry during preconditioning I also decided to try the All Day Weight Loss supplements. They are 4 bottles of supplements that are different formulas before breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime, to help with hunger, weight loss, and sleep. The ADWL cost $75 for a 1 month supply. After this first month I am hoping the hunger and cravings will decrease and I will find I do not need the ADWL. I have been one the yellow menu for over a day now and although I am not used to eating so little I am sleeping better and feeling better. I don’t notice any weight loss but I am hoping that will change by the time I go in on Monday. When I go in on Monday I will weigh in again and receive another menu, the blue menu, for days 5-10. I hear that the blue menu will have a few more food options than the yellow menu has. Fingers Crossed X!

Consultation

mrchopeful — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:28:00 +0000

I had my consultation with Metabolic Research Center today. As soon as I arrived at the center I felt welcomed and everyone was extremely friendly, including the clients that had just gotten out of their morning class and were passing through the lobby and out the door. My consultation was with Carly, who is also the assistant manager, and she showed me the success photos of clients from their center. She then showed me where they do their weigh-ins and the room where they have their classes. The calendar of their classes had a listing for everyday, except Sunday, and included Yoga, walking club, 12 step, emotional eating, tips for eating out, managing stress, meditation, and sugar addiction to name most of the classes listed. We then went back to Carly’s office to discuss the specifics of the program and ask about my reasons for coming to the center and my weight loss goals. She stated that goal of the program is to decrease one’s body fat while maintaining their lean muscle mass. They provide menus that will increase a person’s metabolism and ensure that their body is consistently working to burn calories. The High Nutrient Supplements are also designed to increase metabolism and supply food to muscle cells. I told her my goal was to loss about 30 pounds. I had no specific reason for picking that goal other than the fact that I knew I weighed about 185-188 and felt a 30 pound weight loss would put me at a healthy weight for my height. I got a body analysis using the Tanita machine which is a scale but all so a body fat analyzer. It showed that I weighed 186.5 and had 43.7% body fat, which made my BMI 30.1. Carly explained that they base their weight loss goals on bringing a person’s body fat down to 23% for someone my age, which would make my target goal weigh about 137! That seemed crazy to me. I don’t think I have ever weighed that, not that I remember at least. I can’t even imagine what I would look like 50 pounds lighter. Carly said that it would take me until October 30, 2009 to reach that goal weight, which is a 17 week program and the cost was $298 for the 17 weeks of weight loss, 6 weeks of stabilization and then a year of maintenance. It is very hard for me to wrap my head around that. My original goal of 30 pounds would be reached by September 11^th. She stated that the lower range weight loss is 3 pounds per week on average so they fully expect me to meet these goals by the target dates noted. It’s hard to look at those numbers and dates and not be amazed. Given the way I currently eat, with take out food, fast food, and restaurant eating making up 80% of my diet, I know that by cutting that out I will lose weight no matter what. What draws me to the program and makes me feel that it is worth the money is that they will hold me accountable, work with me on areas that I am having trouble with and will help me keep the weight off once it is lost. So I signed up for the program. I was started on a preconditioning program for the next 4 days to 1 week. I don’t actually start my 17 weeks until I am done with preconditioning, but it is designed to get my body used to a decrease in caffeine and sugar and an increase in water. I was given a meal selector chart with has 4 Columns. There is one column for protein, 1 for starch, 1 for vegetables, and one for fruits. I am to pick an item from each column for each meal and for snacks I can use ½ portion of an item from the protein and a ½ portion of an item from the vegetable column. Pretty easy to follow. I already took a daily multivitamin, B vitamin, calcium and fish oil so I am to continue with those. She also mentioned some of the supplements they sell at the center and although she recommended some of the supplements, no pressure was used to try and get me to purchase them. I did decide to buy a 2 month supply of the MRC6 just to see what it was like. I am to take two of those before each meal. And that’s it. I will meet with Carly again on Thursday and discuss how I am doing on the preconditioning program and if I feel ready I will start on my first menu plan. If I feel I need a few more days I will wait until Monday 7/6/09 to start on the menu plan. I’ve had 2 meals so far today following the meal selector and feel full, although the water definitely helps with that, and I’m excited about continuing with this. More to come later.

Precontemplation Stage

mrchopeful — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:11:39 +0000

I am a 30 year old woman from Colorado who has noticed a steady gain in my weight since meeting my husband. I have never had to go on a diet in the past in order to lose weight. I would just notice when I was eating poorly or too much and cut back, no large weight gains, no tight fitting clothes, no problems! But that is no longer the case. My main problem is that my husband likes to eat out and we don’t make any effort to cook at home. We eat out over 10 times a week! I’m sure if I just cut that out I would see a weight loss stat – however, motivation has been a huge issue. Who wants to say no to a husband that wants to take you “out to a nice dinner” when you have been working/cleaning/studying etc. all day? Apparently not me. So I have been researching different diet programs and even looked into hiring a nutritionist and/or personal trainer. As I said previously I would probably notice a weight loss if I stopped going out to eat all the time, but I feel that if I have someone that is holding me accountable I will be more likely to stick with a program. When researching different alternatives I stumbled across the Metabolic Research Center’s information. I began to read blogs and postings from other people who have tried this diet and from what I saw all the information looked really promising. I called the center and made an appointment for Monday 06/29/09 to have my first consultation. I initially called the center to get some information about the cost, however, I was told that they have many different plans available and the cost would depend on how much I wanted to lose and the time frame. I figure it’s a standard answer they give to all inquiring minds in order to get a person to come in and get more information. But after I got off the phone I was pumped up. I felt like I was finally taking a step in the right direction and doing something about my weight. For the last year or so I have felt like my weight has really gotten in the way of my happiness. I have avoided social situations and pictures because I am embarrassed of the way I look currently and clothes just don’t fit right anymore. I have been avoiding buying bigger clothes because I don’t want myself to get comfortable being this big. I keep telling myself I won’t be this size for long, but in the last year I seem to be getting bigger and more uncomfortable. After making an appointment for my consultation I found the 3fatchicks website and the MRC page. Reading the stories from the different members has been very inspirational and has made me even more eager to start. It seems that as long as one follows the plan the weight will come off. I have started this blog to track my progress, document the information I receive from MRC, and inform others of what to expect from this program based on my experiences. If questions arise please post them.