[MelissaV]

The cheesecake sounds awesome, Kathy. It sounds like everyone is much more upbeat than they were.

I think you're doing so well, Grace! Keep it up, tiny woman!

Renita, I'm glad you're having a great day as well.

I've got to figure it out. As much as I work out and as little as I eat, I should be at least averaging a pound a week. Instead of gaining. I'm hoping this week is fruitful. My pants were tight today. I've only lost 5 1/2 pounds...and it feels like I might have gained a bit today. Ick.

[klc]

Melissa, are you drinking enough water? It's amazing how hard it will impact me if I don't get mine in. Also, it may have just been one of those weeks...don't beat your head against the wall about it.
-Kathy

[MelissaV]

I drink A BOAt LOAD of water. I'm not too bummed. I just thought I'd do better, you know?

I'm looking for at least a pound this week.......

[crenita]

Hi guys..... well I just FOUND a box of food on my doorstep. Lucky for me I planned on being home today. I am confused.. my order started off on Thursdays for several weeks.. switched to Fridays for a few weeks and and now Wednesday ???//
Is it always this erratic ? or is this something I need to address with them . I plan my week and days and need to know what to plan and which days I need food in the house. Currently on the 5 day with snacks plan.

Anyway...no more weight loss... I know, I know I have a few more days before weight in but geeze... can't fault a guy for wanting it to show up NOW........hehehehe
I had to improvise the other night.. our power went off for hours and hours.. so no way to heat the darn food up.....and I fought off the urge to go out so I fortunately had taken the dinner out of the freezer early in the am.. and it was nearly defrosted so a few hours in this HEAT... and it was OK.. so I just made a salad and plucked the bourbon chicken and veggies on top of a salad laced with vinegar and had a cold bourbon chicken salad... Now .. I have to tell you I liked it much better cold than hot ! With the vinegar it had a sweet /sour dressing flavor I made do it again that way on purpose.
Last night I was not wild about the texture of the turkey breast when I looked at it.. So I grilled it.. on my George Forman and added a tbls of sugar free BBQ sauce when it was almost done and left off the gravy. LOADS better...
Anyway that is my tale of my dieting adventures so far this week......

Renita

[MotoXMama]

Are any of you doing the 5 day plan, with snacks? That's what I'm thinking of doing, mostly because of the cost. But what do you do on the other two days per week?

[full of grace]

Gonna try to do some catch up. Wish me luck!!

Originally Posted by klc

Grace! So good to hear from your svelte self!!!! We've missed you. Congrats on that little waist. AND on being in an 18 and about to drop down a size. Woo-hoo! As usual, you post was a great morale booster this morning.

I love you guys. You're so awesome, Kathy. Thank you. I'm totally out of the 18s now, but haven't bought the 16s yet. Tonight, I had to borrow a belt from my husband in order to keep the 18s up and leave the house without flashing people. This is getting silly!

And I LOVE it!!!!

Originally Posted by klc

It will be heaven for me to get out of the plus size department. I'm still wearing all of my original 22/24/26 work clothes (elastic backs in the pants, tunic length tops) but I've only got 1 pair of jeans that come close to staying up. I was going to hold out to do any clothes shopping until I hit the halfway mark, but I may have to go out and buy a pair of jeans today, just because

That's what I finally did. I too was thinking I could wait and stay in my 20s just a little longer and then make a big leap... but that's ridiculous at some point. Our bodies are changing and even if it's just one "transitional" pair of cheapy jeans to get us through that change, it's worth doing sometimes.

Originally Posted by klc

No loss on my weigh-in this morning, but I am definitely happy with that after over indulging last weekend. As Grace keeps saying, it's a matter of doing something that you can live with. I honestly don't feel like I'm on a 'diet'. I haven't had to sacrifice or 'give up' anything (except maybe excess). I can even still be lazy...maybe even lazier...don't even have to get in the car and go thru a drive-thru window or wait 30 minutes for the pizza. Life is good.
-Kathy

HOWL!! You are so funny!

Yes! Life IS good. As y'all know, I do my weigh-in on Thursday mornings, but I also weigh on Wednesday mornings and Friday mornings and if either of those is BETTER, I'll take the better one. (Whatever. It works for me. Don't judge me! LOL) So, today (Wednesday) I was 200.4. Yesterday (never an option for an official weigh-in, just a weigh for fun/obsession) I was 200.8. I looooooooove seeing those DOUBLE ZEROES!!!! LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, as always, not fast going at all, but so in the right direction. And my waist is still 34.5" which is great.

I was thinking about the whole "I didn't lose any weight this week" bummer feeling we sometimes have. And I said to myself, "Hey, no one's going to stop me in the middle of the street and make me hop on a scale. What they ARE going to do is see how my clothes fit or how I swing my hips or how good I feel as I go about my life."

And numbers on a scale don't dictate any of that. Not unless *I* let them!

So, I don't let them. Plain as that. (And then sometimes I do... and I get out the measuring tape again to remind myself how far I've come.)

Originally Posted by crenita

Well I had a wonderful day yesterday. A friend came over for lunch and and afternoon of gab pool side. I made a great New Orleans BBQ shrimp and tortellini salad on mixed greens, French bread and I had a slice of coconut cream pie......( The first REAL food I have had in 7 months except for that Pizza pig out in June )))
YOU WILL BE PROUD OF ME... I sent all the leftovers( lots)) EVERYTHING home with her to share with her husband and teenage son.. I kept NOTHING.

Atta girl, Renita! That's awesome!! I love it! Good for you!

Originally Posted by crenita

Ok Ok...... your were all right... I just need to settle down and forget the up and down blips.....and RELAX and enjoy the ride......
[snip]
Now at 47 lbs lost It would be sweet if I could hit the big 50 by my Birthday next week/on the 15th..keep your fingers crossed for me the Best BIRTHDAY gift..

That's so awesome, Renita! You've done so much!! And we'll be wishing you a happy birthday NO MATTER what your weigh-in is like at that time!!

Relaxing is a much better choice (but it IS a choice. You can be anxious too. Sometimes both), since it's a long haul ride we're all on, right?

Congrats on your willingness to relax a bit about it. Yes, still keep at it, stay focused, do good work, but also be patient with yourself. All good things!

Originally Posted by klc

We're all here for each other...it's really helped me ALOT having this group
-Kathy

Meeeeeeee tooooooooooo. Even if I don't check in that often, it's always a shot in the arm to do so (and I get the email updates each day, so I'm always thinking about you guys). Yay, us! It's a group hug for sure!!

Originally Posted by MelissaV

I think I'm going to have some BBQ O's.

Oooooh, those are so spicy! I love 'em!!

Hang in there, Melissa. You've got a great attitude! And I soooo love how much you work out. Awesome! Inspiring!

Originally Posted by MelissaV

I think you're doing so well, Grace! Keep it up, tiny woman!

You so rock, Melissa. I'm nowhere near tiny yet (probably never will be; I'm a big girl even at my smallest. I was anorexic at age 15 and only got down to 118 at 5'5", and was still wearing size six... and I NEVER ate--oh, and I never plan to go below 150 [at 5'7" now] because it just wouldn't work on my frame. I'm a hippy/boobsy gal with broad shoulders and big thighs. Luckily, I love all that now... just want to be in better SHAPE for such a cute overall SHAPE). But thanks. Your words are encouraging and I appreciate the support as always!

Originally Posted by MelissaV

I've got to figure it out. As much as I work out and as little as I eat, I should be at least averaging a pound a week. Instead of gaining. I'm hoping this week is fruitful. My pants were tight today. I've only lost 5 1/2 pounds...and it feels like I might have gained a bit today. Ick.

Have you tried upping your calories, Melissa? Is it possible you're just not getting enough fuel for all of the working out you're doing and your body is desperately holding onto weight to make up for the hard work your muscles are doing? Just a theory. I'm certainly no expert!! I have found, though, that there have been times I've had WAY too many calories and then WHOOOOOSH, off comes five pounds (of course, you're already at a lower weight to begin with, so maybe you wouldn't see five pounds gone due to a 3000-calorie day here or there) out of the blue (or so it seems).

Just know we're here for you and hope you're having a good run!

Originally Posted by klc

Melissa, are you drinking enough water? It's amazing how hard it will impact me if I don't get mine in. Also, it may have just been one of those weeks...don't beat your head against the wall about it.
-Kathy

Another good option. Water up! Yes!! That helps too.

(Kathy, how many calories per hour do we burn with beating our heads against walls? Just curious. Not gonna try it or anything. Just for future reference. Haaaaaaah!)

Originally Posted by crenita

Hi guys..... well I just FOUND a box of food on my doorstep. Lucky for me I planned on being home today. I am confused.. my order started off on Thursdays for several weeks.. switched to Fridays for a few weeks and and now Wednesday ???//
Is it always this erratic ? or is this something I need to address with them . I plan my week and days and need to know what to plan and which days I need food in the house. Currently on the 5 day with snacks plan.

Renita, do you follow the link they send you in that FedEx tracking email each week? I check mine at least once a day to be sure the food is on its way AND to keep track of the timeline. I've had 29 weeks of food delivered as of this moment and I'd say 24 of those arrived on a Friday, 4 on a Saturday, and 1 on a Thursday.

So, they're not "erratic" for me, if I look at the numbers. Pretty consistent, for the most part.

But I always know when to expect the delivery because I check the FedEx site using the link BistroMD emails me each week when the order gets processed.

Like you, I wouldn't much enjoy too many surprises of timing, so that's why I check. I've found that to be very helpful and almost always accurate.

Originally Posted by Jen34

Are any of you doing the 5 day plan, with snacks? That's what I'm thinking of doing, mostly because of the cost. But what do you do on the other two days per week?

Hi Jen. I do five days/no snacks. I've talked quite a bit in this thread and at my blog (linked below and to the left in my little profile area next to this post) about how I "do" the plan.

I always stay within the 1200 to 1500 calorie range even on my days off and because of my "overstock" and the number of times I've had a "free meal" on "on-plan" days, I am always eating BistroMD at least one meal per day, most days two.

Good luck in your decision! If you do BistroMD, be sure to join us on this buddies thread. We have fun.

Okay, that's it for me tonight, ladies. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week and a beautiful weigh-in to report. (Mine's not official yet, so I'm not changing my profile weight or the ticker today.) But I'm happy to be circling ever closer to ONEderland and hope you're all nearing or reaching mini-goals too.

ONE step at a time.
ONE bite at a time.
ONE ounce at a time, sometimes.

And sometimes ONE pound... or more.
ONE size down...
ONE more reason to feel good for having stuck to it ONE more day.

[crenita]

Oh boy I had a great surprise this morning..

DOWN 2 LBS>.......YIPPPEEEE

OK now I only need one more to meet my GOAL of 50 lbs by my birthday.. on monday..........( fingers crossed))
So on Monday I will be officially ' An Old Fogie' ........as my niece tells me.. 59 and teetering on the brink of Senior Citizenry...... and she says that as if we were Dinosaurs
Anyway.. the day has started out just fine and it will get better and better. and I refuse to worry about being officially called a Senior Citizen ( but I will take the Senior Citizen discounts if you please ))

Have a good one.........Renita

ps... Thanks for all your encouragement and wise words.

[MelissaV]

Congratulations, Renita! Yahoo!

I'm here to tell you guys goodbye. I cannot see spending the money on these meals if I am to continue gaining. I'm thinking that my body is not doing well with the soy protein. Yesterday, I started "Crack the Fat Loss Code."

I will pop back in to see how each of you are doing. I will miss chatting with you and I wish you all the success in the world!

Melissa

[klc]

Renita! YAY! Great going girl. Just the sound of "I've lost 50 pounds" brings chills to my very soul ....even better, the sound of "I've got less than 50 pounds to lose" brings...ohhh....ohhh...OOHHHH...ahhhh...excuse me...I need a cigarette.

Grace...I'm so excited for you...and for those 00's to be there two days in a row means its not an evil blip. I'm getting the confetti ready.

Melissa, I understand completely if this isn't working for you, but we will miss you. I'll wander over to your thread from time to time to check in on you. It's been great having you here.
-Kathy

p.s. Grace, if beating your head against the wall burned calories, with my job, I'd weigh 3lb!

[full of grace]

I love you guys.

[klc]

Down 1.5lb

BTW, cheesecake update. It is much better if you let it set in the fridge for a day. I'm definitely going to try more protein puddings on my next order.
-Kathy

[crenita]

I just got my order for the snacks and they sent a pkg of the cheesecake pudding.. Also I got 2 kinds of pudding... the apple and the chocolate with marshmellows... I'll make them over the weekend and give you my opinion........
I am really excited about the cheesecake... I LOVE CHEESECAKE..... of course I wouldn't have got to this weight LIKING lettuce............
But I do have to say my tastes are changing and really look forward to dumb things like Kashi Go Lean cereal.........Ha HA....... I got some yesterday and am going to make them into snack packs.. vs breakfast ( love that snacking )). Also a pat on the back for me again( love that I have something to be happy about )).. went shopping and not ONE off plan or BAD food choices... I am having my Off Plan dinner.. tonight and it is PIZZA....... been craving that so I am sharing with a friend so I won't blow it, but I also bought a Big Box of mixed herbs/salad to go with the pizza... I am really learning new habits and compromises to have the things I like and still not blow the calories over the wall............ I love that I am learning what to do and when to modify. This is so exciting for me
Grace you are such an inspiration to me.. when I get a little ' over the top' I go back and read some of your posts.. they really help keep me on target and not get discouraged.
Kathy......what can I say.... you lead me to this Bistro plan and I am soooo grateful to you for that. Their concept of protein, protein snacks I think is the answer for me long term.......
WOO HOO......... When I finally go out on my own and do food prep, I will be using the protein mid day snacks along the way...

THANK YOU ALLLL........Renita

[MotoXMama]

Well, I did it! I just ordered my first week of food from Bistro MD. I'm going to be reading through this entire thread while I wait for my food.

How long does it take for the food to get to me? I ordered the 5 day/with snacks plan. It's all we can afford right now... and really we can't even afford that. I don't think my DH is quite convinced. Here we are struggling with money already, and I'm adding $160 more per WEEK to the problem. :-( $600 a month just for me to eat (when we have 3 kids too) is a difficult plan to swallow...

But I feel really desperate. Like if I don't do something NOW, it's just going to get worse and worse. I don't know what else to do...

Anyway, I'm going to give this a try. DH agreed to one month, and see how it goes.

So I'm sure I'll be here asking a ton of questions as I get started! I can't wait! I really hope that this can help me. I really hope that *I* can stick with this!!!

Looking forward to getting to know you all better!

Jen

[klc]

Originally Posted by Jen34

Well, I did it! I just ordered my first week of food from Bistro MD.

Welcome aboard Jen! Glad to have a new kid on the block.

Originally Posted by Jen34

How long does it take for the food to get to me?

It depends where you are. I'm in North Alabama, so I'm relatively close to the distribution center (south Indiana). I typically get my food on Wednesday. If you've already signed up, you'll get your first shipment this coming week. You should get one email from them, telling you that they billed you, and a second email that says they've shipped with a fedex tracking number, so you can see exactly when your food should arrive. You don't have to be home when they deliver it.

Originally Posted by Jen34

I ordered the 5 day/with snacks plan. It's all we can afford right now... and really we can't even afford that. I don't think my DH is quite convinced. Here we are struggling with money already, and I'm adding $160 more per WEEK to the problem. :-( $600 a month just for me to eat (when we have 3 kids too) is a difficult plan to swallow...

You have a few options here to help with cost. You can go with the no snack plan, and buy South Beach or other protein snack bars (watch the calories!) from Sam's or catch them on sale somewhere else, and save a little. If you buy the same snacks online that Bistro sends, you won't save any money, but you'll be able to pick your favorites. Also, you can order the 7 day plan instead of the 5 day, and save up the extra meals. In 4 weeks, you'll have 12 lunches/dinners and 8 breakfasts (i.e. 6 days of food + 2 extra breakfasts that you can use as snacks) for $120, instead of that week costing you $154 (129+25 shipping).

Originally Posted by Jen34

So I'm sure I'll be here asking a ton of questions as I get started! I can't wait! I really hope that this can help me. I really hope that *I* can stick with this!!!

Everyone is different, but for me, it's been the easiest thing I've ever done, cause I honestly love the food. A really good example just happened today. I was stuck in 2 all day working meetings yesterday and today, that supplied lunch. Yesterday, they had killer deli sandwiches delivered. I went back to my office, fixed my bourbon chicken, and brought it back to the conference room to eat with everyone (we were working thru lunch). Of course I also had my morning and afternoon snacks with me while everyone else was munching potato chips. This morning, they had a huge pan of coffee cake laid out. Thank heavens, I had my apple pastries and hot chocolate with me. Pizza was delivered for lunch. I went back to my office and fixed my chicken satay (one of my favorite lunches...I brought it cause I knew pizza was coming today). When I brought it back into the conference room, one of the folks said "You're really being good". I told them that I wished I could take credit for for having incredible will power, but that as much as I love pizza, what I was having tasted even better, like chicken masaman from Surin (a really good Thai restaurant in town). My only regret during the last 2 days, was that I didn't bring the teriyaki salmon in yesterday, just to show off. Now all of that being said, my best friend is a basic meat and potatoes type of gal. She didn't dislike the Bistro food, but it didn't turn her crank like it does mine. But even she talked about that the portions were so big that most of the time she gave part of her meal to her hubby.

Hope it goes well for you.
-Kathy

[kissesmomof4]

Hi all. Another annoying question from me.

When you order are they good about subbing things for you if there is something you know you will not enjoy. My issue is with the snack items. The protein drinks in fruit flavors just don't do it for me. I do not like fruit flavored drinks or juices so ewww. I saw chocolate and coffee flavored which sound good though. I also do not like sour cream and onion, or garlic snacks. Those flavors just don't work for me. So would they sub another flavor of these items for me?