[cevert]

I have been doing this diet for two and a half weeks and I'm not seeing much change.My total loss to date is 4.7 pounds, and I go weigh in tomorrow. I am following the diet very closely with just a few little slips(I had two small rice crispy bars on Saturday at a boy scout get together). It seems like the scale has not changed much at all. I have had a few friends do this diet and they had really good success, seemed to lose quickly in the beginning.
I have been following This group for some time now, and have seen the weight loss that other people have lost. I'm just afraid I'm going to fail at one more diet. Did anyone else have simular experiences in the beginning?
Thanks for you help,
Candace E.

[bizlawchik]

Candace - So sorry you're having difficulty. Are you on the purple program? Do you have any health issues? Are you getting all of your food in? Do you exercise? If so, what kind? Can you post a sample menu?

We'd be happy to help. Just give us as much info as possible.

[Kimphin]

Candace - 4.7 is a good loss! Don't worry about what results other people get, we are all at different stages of our journey. I tend to not lose at the beginning of a plan. It usually takes a couple of weeks for my body to adapt and start to lose (I've been on since 9/8 and am just now getting to the 10lb mark) Stick with it and eventually you will see results. Once you get used to being on it it really is not bad at all, it has become something I can live with.

Come on girl, tough it out with me!

[bizlawchik]

Good advice! I wasn't really looking at what you've lost. There are a lot of girls on here who didn't have that dramatic drop at first. Each body is different.

[cevert]

Thanks for the quick replies,I am on the purple plan. I do a health issue, I have Sytemic Lupus, but unless I am taking steroids it ussualy dosen't affect my weight. A usual menu for me is...
Breakfast= a light yogurt 6oz, and 15 grapes.
Snack= Lite
Lunch= lean cousine(no more than 5 a week) 2 cups of salad and a S.F. Jello
Snack = lite, and a apple
Dinner= protein, the rest of my veggies, and a starch
Evening snack= 7 almonds, and a sugar free Jello

I also get all my water or more in, and I have a couple diet Pepsi's.
I excercise three times or more a week. I have been doing 20-25 minutes on the eliptical machine, on the weight loss setting.

Is there anything wrong in my menu that you can see??

[Boo'sMom]

personally--I would be tempted to cut back to no more than 2 lean cuisines a week and see if that helps. They have lot of sodium.

[bizlawchik]

Candace – First of all, remember that the big loss at the beginning when you do Fast Forward is a lot of water weight. If you weren’t retaining water, you won’t lose a lot. After that, 2lb/week is their goal, but a lot of us are losing at 1.5/week too. So don’t be discouraged.

I don’t know what help it will be, or if it will make any difference, but here are some suggestions I’ve gotten from the COD, and also from this board.

Water – you say you are drinking what’s required and more. I believe you will also stall if you have too much for your body to process. They recommend 64 oz. so try to cap it at 96 oz.

Salad – Are you having salad dressing that you’re counting correctly? I see two jellos and then salad. You can have three condiments/day. Maybe you are going over a little bit? BTW… try the Wishbone Salad Spritzers. 10 sprays for 10 calories. Yummy!

Maybe switch your evening starch to earlier in the day?

Maybe have two veggies at lunch and two at dinner? 3c lettuce = 1 veggie.

Maybe cut out the lean cuisines and try real food? I take tuna, tuna kits, and veggie burgers a lot to work.

Is the yogurt fat free and sugar free?

I know these things sound nitpicky, but there really isn’t anything wrong with your menu. These are just things the COD would say. How much did you lose on TO, and how much since then?

Don’t let it get you down. Just keep on keepin’ on. The great losses you see on this board all started at the same place you did. 0 pounds. We worked our way up from there, one pound, sometimes one ounce, at a time. It’s consistency, and it’s hard. But you have to stick it out to get to the end result. It may not be in the time frame you had in mind, but you will get there if you keep at it.

(I typed that last paragraph as much for myself as anyone else.)

[cevert]

In my menu plan kit, it says that one cup of lettuce is equal to 1 Veg. Is that wrong?

[Shannon13]

Canadace - (first off you have come to the right place on the net for help - these gals are fablous)

I only see 2 fruits and purple has 3 fruits.

Serving size for yogurt is 8 oz not 6 oz. Looks for light, nonfat and look at the amount of sugar too. You could add your other fruit to nonfat plain yogurt and you wouldn't even realize that it was plain. Try unsweeted pineapple, strawberries or raspberries, even peaches.

Definitely limit the lean cuisines as the sodium is outrageous.

I started on purple and moved up to red when I started working out more. I have been a very slow loser. 10 lbs in almost 10 weeks, but I've lost 10# so I am not dwelling on the time as I feel better, my clothes are looser and I have more energy.

Maybe try to split your lunch protein between breakfast and lunch (same protein just 1/2 at each time). The sooner you get some protein in your system the better as it gets your metabolism going. I have better loses when I eat my breakfast asap with some protein in it.

For dinner, stick to lean meats - fish, chicken, ground turkey breast. Limit red meat to 1-2 times a week.

Cassie, my books still say 56 g lettuce is 1 veggie which when weighed is 1 cup. Thought if I have extra lettuce I never sweat as well I never got to be a fatty from eating too much lettuce!

[bizlawchik]

I got the new updated book with plan changes from my COD. 3c lettuce = 1 veggie and 6 OR 8 oz nonfat, artificially flavored is 1 dairy, as is 8 oz plain fat free yogurt. I scanned into my computer the plan updates that I got from the COD before the new books were out. If anyone needs it, PM me with your e-mail address. It is a pdf file.

[STEPH5530]

My name is Stephanie and I'm new to this site. I have been on LAWL for 12 weeks now. In the beginning I was having a lot of difficulty losing the weight. I would lose then gain and I was following the plan to a tee and it was getting really frustrating. One of the counselors was paying close attention to my plan and noticed the big drops and big gains so she gave me the Maximum Burn plan. There's one for every color plan and I'm on the purple plan as well. Sometimes it just takes moving a few foods around to kick start your metabolism but 4.7 lbs is great so don't kick yourself. My daily meal plan looks like this:

Breakfast: starch, dairy, fruit
Mid-AM: LA Lite or equivalent substitute
Lunch: protein, starch, 2 veggies, fruit
Mid-PM: LA Lite or equivalent substitute
Dinner: protein, 2 veggies, fruit

You can try it, it might work for you but everyone is different. So far I've been losing exactly 2# a week and hoping to increase my average. Good Luck!!

[Candiflip]

Welcome Candace

I think 4.7 in two weeks is great! If I remember right that is about what I lost. I lost about 1.5-2.5 a week average so you are doing great! Keep it up!!!

[Prazteam]

Candace - I'll jump in here too. Lean Cuisines will definately hold you up as will anything in the book with a dot beside it! The items that are "limited" will slow you down! We even found out that cottage cheese two days in a row stalled dh... so we're all different.
Start mixing up your foods.. try not to have the same thing two days in a row. Our bodies tend to get "used" to the same old caloric intake...
Like Cassi said, water is great but you can over do it! DH actually use to drink 2 gals a day and COD told him to cut back to 64 exactly, give or take 8oz...
Lastly - 4.7# in 2.5 weeks is great! You're learning to eat properly. You're on the track to a healther LONGER life, and you ARE losing!!! So, with all that said - don't get discouraged... You didn't gain your weight overnight and you won't lose it overnight!!! The key here is to be consistently POP and patient! This plan works!!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!! We're here for you! And as long as you're losing and/or eating healthier - don't let your "old" self look for a reason to quit this plan!!! (We've all been there!!)
YOU DESERVE to do this!!! AND YOU CAN!!!

Blessings,

[StargazerJMK]

Originally Posted by bizlawchik

I got the new updated book with plan changes from my COD. 3c lettuce = 1 veggie and 6 OR 8 oz nonfat, artificially flavored is 1 dairy, as is 8 oz plain fat free yogurt. I scanned into my computer the plan updates that I got from the COD before the new books were out. If anyone needs it, PM me with your e-mail address. It is a pdf file.

Bizlaw I got the same info on a slip from my COD. I have had it since I think just about July. I was surprised about the 6 ounces of yogurt, because each and every time I have a Dannon Lite and Fit Yogurt I measure it into a 1/2 cup measuring cup (and then just eat it out of that measuring cup) and they only have FOUR ounces of yogurt. Hmmmm...honesty in advertising? LOL

I can't stuff down 3 cups of lettuce so I count 2 cups of lettuce and 1/4 cucumber as 1 V and then take it from there. That makes a great salad and I have 2 veggies left for a cup of broccoli or whatever at dinner, which helps to keep me full in the evening, when I have my problems with food.

[LittleBlueCat]

Wow! Nobody told me to limit the Lean Cuisine?! I’ve been having them 4-5 times a week!! Since I've signed up and saw it in the Menu Plan Kit. And what ‘dots’? There are no dots in my book… Also, my book says 1 cup lettus = 1V They also told me that doing Yoplait Lite every morning is fine too. I’ve never even looked to see how many oz is there.

I think, from reading all you gals advices, I will try to cut down on Lean Cuisines… Very sad. I love the Lean Cuisines...