Hi Julie!
Hope you have a great first week, let us know how it goes.
Congrats on your previous success. I'm down a couple more pounds which is really amazing to me.:D My body must REALLY like this way of eating...real food, minimally processed, balanced protien/carbs, low calorie, etc.

For those of you who have successfully weaned off of Bistro, have you found some great recipes? Please share if you have!
Off to enjoy "My Night Meal";)

Hey seizetheday! I'm glad you're finding success on BMD! I slowly weaned off the BMD. I remember being sorta panicky at like month 2, thinking, this is working now, but I can't eat this food forever! What happens then? Someone on the 3FC pointed out that you can skip deliveries! So, I sort of weaned myself off slowly! Many of the meals I've made recently are on my blog. Here's a link to just the recipe section: http://boxweek.blogspot.com/search/label/recipe

Hey guys! I'm still on BMD, going well. I haven't been "perfect" (I went out for some serious drinking earlier this week with some coworkers, and I'm sure my calories were way over...) but still losing the weight about the rate I expected. I have 1 pound left before my next minigoal. :)

As for eating everything they send you to "retrain" your taste buds - I tried that approach the first time around. I lasted about 6 weeks before I literally would rather not eat than try to force down any more spinach. So I would end up eating only 500 cals a day and it just got ridiculous. Even the smell of certain dishes would make me feel sick at the thought. So I think this only works for some people...

This time around I'm being very clear about the things I hate (spinach) and it's going much, much better. I am still enjoying and looking forward to the food, and losing weight.


Oh and I will admit - I discovered "Frank's Cayenne Pepper Sauce" a few weeks ago.. and it makes everything taste like hotwings with minimal calories. I enjoy it on some of the meals that I find a little blander. :)


edited to add - I do sometimes have Atkins bars or shakes around for dessert. The shakes don't seem to derail me, but I cannot do the peanut butter cups. They were.. amazingly good. I literally ate the entire box in 2 days (10 cups, 5 packages - 800 calories). The main problem was I spent a good portion of those 2 days in the bathroom due to the maltitol, but also that I just had incredible cravings and ended up eating way more besides that too. I would end up eating 4 BMD meals in a day because I just kept feeling like I was starving. It was overall a very weird experience as I usually don't have just insane irresistible cravings. Anyway, no more Atkins peanut butter cups for me. The shakes however are a nice, cold treat sometimes.

Edited to add - I mistyped and said I spent 5 days in the bathroom.. It was only 2! :lol: It was bad but not that bad!

Hey Everybody,

So I had my free meal at Chili's and literally felt ill afterward. :barf: I shared a triple appetizer and a molten lava cake with my husband. I think I may try to have a more BMD type meal on those nights and have a small desert, which is really what I enjoy. Thankfully I didn't have a hard time getting back on plan today. Which is why I am loving BMD it's helping me get through all the little hiccups in trying to lose weight that are inevitable but would derail me a lot of the time. It's helping me get some momentum going!

Jen, thank you so much for sharing your recipes! :hug: They look fantastic and I love all the pictures. I think I had stumbled on your website when I was researching BMD a few months ago. Never saw the recipe section though and didn't know it was your site!

Glad to see you back on this thread, My2cats. That is crazy about the PB cups, best to stay away from them! You are so close to your next goal, I'm glad BMD is still working for you! It's great to know you can customize that much and the program still works. This was the first week I didn't have to make any changes.

Have a great weekend!

I'm glad to hear you found my blog while researching BMD, since that's initally why I started it! When I was reaserching myself, I couldn't really find any independent reviews of the service, or any real-life pics of the food. I'm glad you stumbled on it -- hope it was helpful in making the decision to BMD! :D And thanks for the nice comments on my recipes. I will continue to post as I find and like new ones!

I will be receiving my first BistroMD order tomorrow (8/4/11). I am using their 5 day plan -- no snacks -- to get back on track with losing weight. Will see how it goes; I need to keep losing the weight, and keep me & my doctor happy.

Julie!
Hope this is a fantastic week for you, I always look forward to getting my shipment, I'm on my 5th week and have only had a few repeats for lunches and dinners. Snacks and breakfast seem to have a little less variety. I don't feel like I've lost much this week.:?: Trying to resist the temptation to weigh everyday! Has anyone had weeks on BMD where they did not lose or (gasp) gained?
I'll check back in the end of the week to let you guys know how it goes.

Because I'm getting the full 7day/snacks, I know my calories are always between 1100 and 1400. For all of you doing the other plans(which seems to be everybody:p) what calories are you shooting for?

Also, who is trying to add in some exercise? I'm alternating biking and elliptical at least 5 days a week along with a little friendly boxing with hubby a couple times a week. I REALLY need to get back into lifting some weights for my knee and upper body.

Jen, your blog did help me in deciding about BMD, so keep it up, it's doing what you hoped!

My2cats, so glad it was only 2 days and not 5!:lol: Can't wait to hear that you have made your next goal!

Jen516, I have enjoyed reading the beginnings of your BMD blog. Can their food be nuked in the microwave?

I am fortunate that I have a great support system with my family. Last December after having routine bloodwork & u/a, my doctor told me "Lose weight or else" -- the "or else" being that if the numbers weren't starting to come down after 3 months, she was going to put me on medication for diabetes. Well, I look on this as having no choice. I HAVE to lose weight. I'm facing a job lay-off at the end of the year and I can't afford to be using more medication (I'm currently taking medication for high blood pressure). I think I've mentioned previously here that I used Diet To Go, which worked for the time I used it. I lost 39 lbs. but I know I've gained some back.

I'm using the 2 free days to try on my own and incorporate more fresh fruits & vegetables, more exercise, and better eating habits.

Seizetheday: I try to average 1500-1600 over the week. SOme are higher, some are lower. I try to cycle around. I found that the weeks I dropped to 1100-1200 I didn't lose anything. And I experimented with that 4-5 times and my loss always stalled. But everyone is different!!

Julie: The food most definitely is microwaveable... I don't remember EVER doing anything else! A huge bonus in my book. Microwaving isn't always the best cooking technique -- it can screw with the texture of the food -- but seriously, not a huge concern when I'm trying to lose pounds. It was a medication scare that set me off too. My blood pressure was so high that my OBGYN wouldn't let me leave the hospital without meeting with a general pract. They put me on a "water pill" immediately to help bring it down. I felt horrible about it. After 6 months, and 50lb, I had my blood work redone at the end of January. Everything was down to where it should be -- BP, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc etc etc. I went off the BP meds and have been fine since. I guess my point is... it will work!! Keep it up and get healthy! :D

My first 5 days' worth of meals arrived yesterday (8/4/11) -- they look quite good, even though they're frozen. I am planning that Saturday & Sunday will be my off days; I like to cook and the weekends are probably the better days to be getting together with my family. Looking forward to getting back on track and losing weight.

Well, I didn't lose much this week, but I did lose one pound! That's one pound in the right direction. Hoping and trying for a bit more this week, but I'm still averaging over 2 lbs a week, which is amazing for me! I am also noticing a huge energy level change, especially in the late afternoon.

Glad to hear of your health "wins", Jen and I know you will get there too sticking with this plan, Doodie! I'm sorry to hear of a possible job loss.:( I need to do this for my health as well, I've got insulin resistance which I know was headed to diabetes(runs rampant in my family), I would love to have another child but have been scared to even try to get pregnant because I have had pre-eclampsia with the last two. Which you really can't prevent, even thin women get it, but I know it would help pregnancy in general! I also have got to do this for my knees, to take some pressure off. I know losing weight will not fix all my problems but I know it will help some and that is good enough for me!

I have to admit, I am horrible about cooking for myself so since I'd either be eating frozen or fast food anyway, BMD seemed like a great alternative. ;) And the food is a lot tastier than 90% of the Lean Cuisines I have tried. Typically there were 3-4 LC's I would like and get repeatedly (tortilla fish anyone?).

I've continued to "off-road" a bit - and am down to 206/207 so it doesn't seem to be hurting much. I find it's easier if I give into my "ok" cravings. Eg a salad from Chick Fil A, a sandwich from JJ's (#1, no mayo). Honestly I'm never going to get away from fast food or eating out completely with my job and time commitments, so just learning how to incorporate that has been nice. I literally went to a bunch of fast food web sites and wrote notes in my iPhone about the low-calorie options so if I'm stuck and need to grab a bite I know which 2 things I can order at Taco Bell and be ok. Doesn't mean I do it all the time (it's been a month? or two? since I went to Taco Bell), but it's very handy to have that always with me.

I typically aim for 1200-1600 calories a day. Tend to trend more to 1300ish, but I'm not going to starve myself. If it's 11pm, I'm going to be up a few more hours working, and I'm hungry - I'll just eat another BMD meal if I don't have an appropriate snack. I think the key for me this time has been not feeling deprived. Once I start focusing on being hungry, then I start focusing on different foods I would love (often not healthy), and after very long of that my willpower starts to cave just because I'm starving.


Edited to add - I did have to start the "no impulse orders at drive-thru" rule for myself though. :lol: I had a baaad habit of getting to the ordering speaker and suddenly deciding "y'know, what the heck, I'll get X too". So I now have a rule that I can only order things I intended to purchase when entering the parking lot. This does not include "no-calorie" things, so if I decide I want a Diet Coke at the last minute, that is acceptable. ;)

That alone was enough for me to start with a plan in itself. It's not that I can't cook, I just really don't have the time. I know it seems expensive overall, but the amount of time it saves me directly is a huge help in allowing me to continue with other daily activities.

Starting!
 

I should get my first Bistro MD order delivered tomorrow. I ordered the 5 day, no snack option. I've been wanting to drop my last 30 (out of 130) pounds for years. When I was 24, the 100 pounds were easy to drop (well, not easy, but easier than now). Now that I'm 37, my metabolism is obviously slowing, & I need extra help. I've had really inconsistent sleep & work schedules for the last year, & now that I'm starting a new job next month (& 11 days off to finish this month) I think this is a great time to finally lose the last 30. I've been darn good at maintaining the original 100 for 10 years.

I also hate to cook. So, prepared anything is best for me. Wish me luck!

Annie

Welcome Annie! And good luck! :)

I haven't ordered in a couple weeks - I'm still on track with my meal plan but I've been traveling a bit for work on and off and was getting tired of some of the options (they started including spinach again even though I told them not to.. blah).

So I'm living off a few dinners I have left as well as some Lean Cuisine's I picked up - the LCs have actually improved quite a bit, I'm having a love affair with their pizzas with sriracha sauce on top. :lol:

I do miss the BMD breakfasts though, mm, the crepes were so good.