Hi Ladies,

Marie-I agree with no more special circumstances. When I allow myself to enjoy certain food items, I very easily slip back into old habits. Then I have to break them again! Plus, those extra calories per day really add up quickly. It is so easy to overeat my calorie limit. Conversely, it is not easy at all to consistently stay under my calorie needs in order to lose it. Waah. Also Marie, I think you are lucky to have a co-worker to remind you of your goals. I like it when people tell me not to eat something although I have to admit I don't always take the advice!

Rie-I hope you feel better soon. Too bad about the breakfast incident. Oh well now you got that out of your system, right? You probably will not feel the need to eat at McDonalds again for a good long while. Plus, the longer you manage to stay away, the less you will be interested in it anyway. Lesson learned.

The scale has hardly budged this week although I think I am eating better. Hopefully some weight loss will show up soon. If not, I obviously will need to work harder at this. Today is football and since it is the weekend I am allowing myself my little bottle of wine plus I think we are picking up BBQ. I will have to find the calories somewhere. Tomorrow we are visiting my daughter at college which means many hours sitting in a car and then eating out. Yikes. At least I will not be drinking alcohol!

Well I am writing a book here. Anyway, it is time for me to hit the Y. I have a step class plus if I feel up to it I will stay for the weight training class as well. It could help with the BBQ dilemma I see in my future.

Count me in!

I am halfway to my goal and want to lose 15 lbs by xmas.. I really would like to lose more, but I need to be realistic and set a goal that is obtainable. Christmas time is one of my hardest - as I really do love the sweets!

Walking everyday and working out at the gym 3 x a week. I try to eat very little sugar, high protein, and low carb. ... lot of fruits and veggies and water too!

Good luck everyone - lets do this - ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Lisa

Still OP. My L&G meal was 5 oz ground beef patty (no bun of course) and 1 1/2 cups salad. I tossed in some soy "bacon" bits for a little added flavor. Very good!

Tonight I blended one of the Dutch Chocolate Shakes with 1/2 c water and 1/2 ice and added almond and coconut sugar free syrup. Yummy! Tastes something like an almond joy but not quite. Probably too sweet to have often but it sure satisfied my sweet tooth tonight.

Days not over but it isn't looking good. Started out fine with MF pancakes, am snack was a MF PB crunch bar. Then we went to Red Robin for lunch and I'd been wanting their SW chicken salad ...had it in CA last winter and been wanting it again ever since. I should have checked the calories before I ordered...over 800 calories!! On the plus side I only had about 2/3 of the salad and about 1/3 of the chicken, but I caved and shared a cookie sundae with dh...my half almost 200 calories probably. So all i can do is be careful tonight and get a little exercise..then try and do really well tomorrow.:( On a positive note..A friend told me my face is looking leaner...the first person to notice.

Mary, I think most plans are best with a couple cheat meals as long as you get back on the wagon asap. I'm not sure that's the case with MF. Be careful with ketosis! I'm glad you had a friend acknowledge your hard work!

I was on plan yesterday and am on plan today. I wish I could find a happy medium to being perfect or being a screw up. For now, I will only strive for perfection as I will lose weight during the holidays. It's like my mantra these days. :)
Marie

Maryea-That is too bad about the Red Robin goodies. Eating out is tough. At least it tasted good. Keep your eye on the prize Girl!

Marie-Aw perfection. It has its downsides but you cannot argue with the results. You take those perfect days when they come along and savor the victory.

My results on the other hand are not so good. I am still ten pounds overweight. I guess I should be happy it is not more. It appears I have been under counting my calories. I have probably been eating too much in the bread, rice, pasta category. I guess that is my next area of attack. I continue to be very good about the snacks, alcohol and sweets. Yeah. Thank goodnes for that much. I think my calories were good today but who knows for sure. At least I did not eat out and I spent 60 minutes at the Y for a step class. Don't count me out yet, I am still a contender!

Did much better today! Still have two MF meals to go tonight and dinner was a bit high...meatballs with sauce and salad..no pasta..very yummy...but otherwise I'm been right on target so think I'll be ok. Might come in just slightly over 1000 cal.

BTW, I didn't gain! I even lost .4#...of course this is not my weekly weight, so who knows what it will by then.

Awright Maryea! Good goin' Lady.

I had an on plan day also. Plus 60 minutes at the Y for weight training. My weight was down a bit today. Hopefully it will keep moving in the right direction.

Didn't gain, in fact I lose .4#! Actually came in slightly under 1000 calories yesterday. Today I'm OP and so far have only 639 calories so probably will end up having to eat a little more tonight to make sure I get at least 800. Tomorrow is my "official" weigh-in day. Hoping to hit a completely new number but would be happy with 153....will see...My dh said yesterday that he does think I'm looking thinner! So that's two people now..:D

I didn't get any exercise today but will try and get some this evening. I think Tues is going to be my day off from the gym.

Terapet - good job at the Y! I love weight training and would like to do more of it.

Weight was 152.6, I lost 2.2# this week! So far OP today.
breakfast was MF pancakes with 1 t. Smart Balance and 2 t. sugar-free syrup.
am snack was a MF caramel bar
Exercised as usual at gym.

We went shopping after gym and I got to feeling sick...realized it was likely my bs. Luckily I had some bars in the car and dh went and got me one. I usually cut back on my medication when I know I'll be working out but forgot this morning and took the whole dose!

maryea-Congratulations for losing 2.2 pounds. Awesome.

My day has been on plan, no thanks to me. It is my day off from exercising and since my hubby is not traveling this week for a change, I tried to tempt him into having a glass of wine after work. Sadly, he would not go along with my wickedness so extra calories averted. I am sure I will be thankful in the morning when I face the scale!

Tera, give your DH a hug of thanks for helping you stay on track today. Good job on the workouts the last two days!

Mary, you're doing fabulous! Congrats on the 2.2 pound loss. I'm glad your DH is seeing a difference. How is he handling eating while you're on medfast?

I've been on target all week. I think righteousness is in our efforts. As I'm not weighing since I then go over-obsessed with it (daily scale time then Letting it ruin/make my day) I don't know how much I've lost. But I do know I've lost. My jeans are more comfy, even after washing them and drying them on high heat. Exercise is good but that's not my problem. Mine is the morning munchies and they're staying at bay.
Marie

Marie, it's the same as usual for dh. He has always prepared his own breakfast and lunch and I make dinner...protein and veggie and sometimes a starch for him. So it's really no different now except he does like sauces and I do them less now. But tonight I did make sauce in our chicken dish and served it with rice for him. I just picked out the chicken and ate it with vegetables.

I'm still OP. I got a new package of food today and was very tempted to try one of the salty snacks tonight even though I'd had all my meals. I can't say I have any serious cravings but when I think about eating off plan it is usually for something salty. I get 1 T of peanut butter a day which really helps and sometimes I sneak a few nuts (shouldn't really have both!). But I didn't give in and it was actually easy to resist because I was full. I just say no, can't do that.

I fear the dreaded plateau...last time I successfully dieted I lost 33 lbs before I hit it. I hope I can reach my goal before it hits. Just not sure exactly what "my goal" is! At least 12 more pounds or maybe 22:?: I've decided I'll know it when I see it! ;)

A NSV today...our son called...still no job, maybe one in Dec...meantime we are paying the mortgage payment. I was feeling at peace about the whole thing until he called but then there I go into depression about it. In the past I would have turned to food to feel better, but this time I turned to reading the Bible and praying and I'm ok again. So much better than eating!! :D

Terapet, I'm glad your dh helped you keep OP and you will be glad tomorrow too. We can do this! One meal, one day, one week at a time..

I know what you mean about the munchies when traveling. Cheetos have always been my "traveling food." Of course they require a diet Pepsi and are often followed by a candy bar!:o But that's all changed now.

I'm OP again today...and my carbs are very good. I got some Cheese Pizza Bites in my latest box from MF and was really looking forward to them. But the last time I ate them (and liked them) I had diet Pepsi. Guess they are only good with Pepsi. Couldn't even eat them all tonight. I'll put them away until sometime when I have a soda.

No exercise today but we plan to go tomorrow.

Mary, any reason you can't have Diet Pepsi on your diet? I must have one a day. :)

I succeeded today on the car trip. I stayed in my calories so that is a relief. No exercise as I left the house a 5:30 this morning but I'm going to walk the doggies once DH gets home. Today was a successful day.

Yes I can have diet soda once a day, but I normally don't have it at home. Since I've had osteoporosis in the past (last check my bones were ok!) and it's bad for the bones, I try to avoid it. I do drink it when I'm at a restaurant and sometimes when traveling or on a holiday maybe but that's about it. We haven't kept it in the house for several years.

I'm OP today but barely LOL I was hungry mid-day today which is really unusual for me. And tonight I while I wasn't really hungry I just wanted to eat. I allowed myself a little more but still stayed within my limits. Tonight I had a bag of MF Chili Nacho Cheese Puffs and I still like them even without a soda! I did my usual Friday machine workout at the gym.

Glad you survived your road trip, Marie and stayed OP!

Good Morning Chicks,

I have missed the past few days because I was not being good. I am going to try to be better today but weekends are hard. So are weekdays for that matter. Sigh. Anyway, I looked at the stats I keep for myself and although my total calories could be better, they are in line with my usual weight loss pattern. However, I am not getting the same amount of exercise in. I will need to either adjust what I eat or spend more time at the Y or both. I am on my way to the Y for two classes this morning so at least I will get the exercise right today.

Marie-Do you actually drive across America? I lived in Seattle at one time and I have made the trip from there to Omaha,Nebraska many times to see my family. Long but beautiful. I am not sure I am up for long road trips anymore, though I log a lot of miles between Atlanta and Tallahassee to see my daughter at school!

maryea-Sounds like you are doing great on your diet. Good for you!

Ter and Marie - I would love to take a trip across the US! We have done it a few times from here to NC when our sons were stationed out there. Once we did it in a small pickup (our youngest son's) to take it to him and then we flew home, once we flew both ways, once (or maybe twice?) we did it in our RV. I wish we'd taken our time more though. We did slow down a little more on the way home. We were gone six weeks that time.

As to my eating..I haven't done well today. Only good thing is that my going over was mostly done on MF meals which is low calories/low carb. But we went to Costco and I got about ten samples so that really messed me up early. First time I've done that since I've been on MF. After my L&G I didn't eat any more but my bs was low at bedtime (a few minutes ago) so I ate a little bit of a banana. On MF I'm not supposed to eat fruit but it was the quickest thing I could think of and sure tasted good. :)

As I mentioned on FB, I am probably not going to be ordering any more MF meals due to our tighter budget. I have a lot on hand and will continue to eat them and if possible I might be able to buy some from Craiglist or local ebay where it is cheaper. I don't know or I may just gradually work myself back to regular foods and just keep a few MF meals I really like for evening snacks.
Will just see how it goes. It's bedtime for me...good nite!

WOW Chicks, all of you are doing amazing with your weight-loss adventure :cool: Are there other motivating sites that you all enjoy? :o
I have problems like I love peanut butter cup candy, etc. . If I was not a KOP in my TOPS club I know I would be wearing a size 14 again instead of my size 10, but it is hard to maintain my goal. Being at goal 'KOP' is hard with a 3# gain leeway to maintain. At TOPS I gave a program on how I stay at my current goal, maybe it can also Help somebody else here, daily I: walk outdoors with my doggies or on my treadmill 5 minutes for every meal & snack that I eat; I eat at least 16 grams of Fiber; I eat Protein with every meal; I use Kosher salt instead of table salt after reading health studies; I eat desserts with a baby spoon to make small servings last longer. At TOPS we keep daily food journals - If You Bite It...You Have To Write It to keep us accountable for Gains or Losses It's easy to 'gain & become unhealthy' . I need some buddies here at '3 Fat Chicks' to keep me healthy & lose more, another 10#. My 1st goal weight I set was to get back into my size 10's & I did it, but my legs :( are still not tight/muscle. I don't know how to do a 'buddy list here'. Does anyone need a 'support buddy? Time to go eat a pudding cup & walk away from the Halloween candy :devil:

@Maryea, I too have been undone by Costco samples. I figured out with a complicated math equation -- and info at the pizza website -- what that 1.5 in square pizza sample cost me. 120 cals! Ack!

[COLOR="LightBlue"]Hi Marie :smug: Thanks for the nice note. At TOPS club/ tops.org when you reach your weight goal you are a KOPS, K=keeping, O=off, P=pounds, S=sensibly. We have nutritional support & do health programs, play games, have medical guests, say a pledge weekly & support our chapter TOPS members. TOPS, T=taking, O=off, P=pounds, S=sensibly is a huge family all over the USA & many provinces in Canada also for men, women & children; every state has a yearly rally & there is also a International rally yearly, it's base headquarters is in Milwaukee,WI. We meet once a week, dues $1 & TOPS national yearly dues are about $26 with a magazine. I am our chapters charm awards (pins, charms, charm bracelets) coordinator for the 2 best weekly/monthly best losers, etc. :) Getting on the weight scale is private, only our 2 weight recorders know our gains & losses. Our chapter had the state champion loser last year over -100 + # loss, in just 2 years & this year our states 3rd biggest loser with a 91# loss taking her just over 2 years doing it naturally...If You Bite It...You Must Write It...in a daily food diary.
It's a bigggg family style :hug: club where everyone is put at ease for 2 hours a week. Gotta go take my doggies potty now :carrot: Bye, Dee COLOR]

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was not so good, today was way better. Just a little candy and everything else was good and I got in my step class at the Y before the trick or treating began.I have a lot of job related stress right now and have to really fight the urge to overeat (and drink) and am I am not always winning the battle. However, I don't want to deal with extra weight along with very real possibility of losing my job soon so I guess I better get cracking on both fronts!

Wow, quiet day here.

I had an on plan day and got in 60 minutes at the Y for a weight training class. The scale was actually down today but I will have to wait and see if it sticks. I hope you are all doing well.

Tera, great news the weight was down today. You'll get it to stick. It is quiet lately. We misplaced Rie when she got sick. We'll just keep plugging away.

Food wise I had a good day. Vehicle wise not so good. I hit a deer this morning and it damaged my Jeep. I had a packet of m&ms this morning but made up for the calories this evening. After the doggie hike this morning, came back to power out at the house so there was no elliptical or treadmill. I did exercise after work so I guess I'm on track. I feel like I w run over by the day but I guess it didn't get the best of me.
Marie

We drove home yesterday. I didn't count calories but know I was high the other two days and am sure I was high yesterday. I only went off plan for lunch and ate fine in the evening at least. But my lunches were very high cal/carb and my bs was in the diabetic normal rather than normal normal. This am it was high again but it was normal normal after breakfast, so will try to keep it that way. Last night I was so full I didn't realize I forgot to eat my last MF meal. It was too late anyway I wouldn't have wanted to eat that late. We didn't go to the gym today but we did a lot of walking while we were at the beach and I walked extra whenever I could just be sure I was active. I gained .2# this past week but don't think that is too bad considering. I really didn't expect to lose. But now I hope I start losing again. My meals so far today:
breakfast - 1/2 bottle slim-fast with added fiber
am snack/lunch - veg beef soup with added fiber

Hi Crimson, glad to see new people here! Wow that's a lot for a sample! I'm going to have to watch them closer. When Costco first opened up and i saw what they were doing with the samples, I just estimated about 35 (over all samples) cal a piece and 4 carbs but sounds like that may be way too low! I think I'd better go back to being very choosy which ones I take again.

Tera - Glad you are back on track...remember we can do this! One day, one month at a time, just keep plugging away. There will be slipups but we just have to get back on track again.

Minidoodles - welcome! I do everything you do (right down to the Kosher salt!) except the mini spoon. Others have mentioned that on the GG thread...maybe I should try that too.

bye for now....

Evening all. Today was a good day but not quite as on track as the other days. I wanted a morning snack so much so I made the fat free micro popcorn. It kept my mouth busy so the 200 calls were worth it. I was really tired on the elliptical this morning and actually thought of giving up for the day. I'm glad I didn't or I'd have felt guilty. Tomorrow is my exercise day of rest except the doggie hike in the morning. Tomorrow morning I might actually need my snow boots for the trek instead of my hikers.

Mary, good job getting right back on track. Just please be careful going in and out of ketosis.

Hi to our other challengers. I hope all is going well.
Marie

A good day as far as my eating went.

breakfast - 1/2 bottle slim-fast
am snack/lunch - veg beef soup with added fiber
Lunch/snack - MF Cheese Pizza Bites - these need a diet Pepsi which I didn't have!
pm snack/dinner - Chicken Stir-fry - I picked out my chicken and 1 1/2 cups broccoli and red pepper. Only had 3 1/2 oz chicken so I also scrambled a couple egg whites...still not really enough protein for MF but all I could eat.
pm snack#1
Dinner/snack - MF Chocolate Pudding and 6 cashews, 1 T. PB
Eve Snack - My mocha with added protein and fiber
A little more fiber with water later.

Ended up with 1036 calories and 97.3 carb grams. I call that OP. No exercise today though.

Just a quick post for now to say I lost 1.6# overnight! But will it still be there next Wed (my weekly weigh-in), who knows...stay tuned...

My current goal is 150 so it made me really happy to see 151.2 this am!!:carrot: I'll probably be back later.

breakfast - MF oatmeal (I sneaked on 1 T milk)
am snack - my mocha
lunch - veg beef soup with added fiber
pm snack/dinner - 1 T pb and 6 cashews, tuna salad (little mayo) with carrot, onions and red pepper in it on salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber). Realized didn't have enough protein so I had a 1/2 fat-free vanilla yogurt (against MF rules but I'm on my own adapted plan now!)
eve snack#1 MF Cinnamon Sticks
eve snack#2 MF Banana Pudding with 1 teaspoon sugar free caramel syrup, 3 cashews.
eve snack #3 !! 9 frosted shredded wheat bite-size biscuits with 2 Tablespoons 2% milk. I usually drink NF but since I've been on MF I haven't drank milk so all I had was Joe's. Hadn't had cereal in over 11 weeks and just wanted a little bit, but it really didn't taste that good.

Ended up with 989 calories and about 130 carb servings.

Mary, awesome on the weight loss. I think I've mentioned that I always have water weight gain after traveling so maybe that's true for you and the weight will stay gone. You're doing great.

I gave into the munchies this morning. Ai literally couldn't think about work I was so in the mood for snack food. I settled on a NF Starbucks peppermint mocha. My calories are over by just about that. Oh well. At least I didn't buy the scone or crackers or cookies that I saw.
Marie

Another drop in weight today!! I was 150.8!!! Since my current goal has been 150 I'm so thrilled! I really never thought I'd ever see 150 again! Just hope it holds (or goes down!). When I see it dropping it makes me motivated to stay OP!!:carrot: Hope you all have a great OP day!!

My meals today:
breakfast - 1/2 bottle Slim-Fast with added fiber
am snack/lunch - veg beef soup with added fiber. Was thinking how these days I eat almost the same thing every day. I never used to do that, usually love lots of variety! But I think eating the same thing is perhaps helpful to dieting.
lunch/pm snack - 1/2 bottle Slim-Fast with added fiber
pm snack - MF Cheese Pizza Bites (don't like them but would be better with diet Pepsi), 3 cashews and 1 T pb PLUS 1 fun-size Snickers!
dinner - Open-faced tuna sandwich and salad
evening snack - MF Dutch Chocolate Shake with added flavorings..sf coconut and almond, and 3 cashews
Total calories 1292, carb grams 135.8, a little high on fat for obvious reasons. I ate stuff today I haven't eaten in about 7+ weeks at least!

Mary, I'm so proud of you. You are doing great even though you're having a difficult time these days. Just goes to show how strong you are. I'd be emotional eating like a banshee.

I have been so so today on the eating. Not bad, not great. I'm ok with that. I'd say I was still in deficit mode calorie wise, just not as much as I'd like.
Marie

Marie, I'm actually amazed too that I haven't had an issue with cravings/emotional eating but I really haven't...not yet anyway. I think the mini-meals just keep me too full plus I honestly mostly have peace about our situation. At times I do feel angry and sad that we are in this situation that never needed to happen, but at the same time, I am basically resigned to the situation (for now) and resolved to doing whatever we can do to get out of it and I'm sure we will even if it takes a while.

As you can see, I'm branching out just a bit from the MF plan, but I am being careful. As long as I can keep my calories below 1400 I know I can lose and I actually think it's better for my skin to slow down a bit. But I don't want to get carried away and start gaining some back.

I can't believe this!! The scale said 149.8#! So I guess I'll drop my calorie limit to 1300 now. It has only been occasionally that I eat that much anyway these days.

Breakfast - 1/2 bottle Slim-Fast with added fiber
am snack/lunch - was almost out of my usual veg beef soup so mixed it with tomato soup. Still pretty good.
lunch/pm snack - my mocha frappe
pm snack/dinner - barbecued chicken, lightly fried potato in a little Smart Balance, salad and green beans. First time for potato in over 7 weeks! And potato is one of my great loves!! Wouldn't have had it tonight except it was leftover from a meal when I'd made it for dh only and he didn't eat much. Didn't want to waste it. ;-) Unfortunately he really wanted rice so wasn't a happy camper.
dinner/snack - Slim-fast with added fiber, 3 cashews.
eve snack - 5 crackers with 1 t. Smart Balance, MF Dutch Chocolate Shake with sf coconut and almond syrup flavoring.
1302 calories and 142.5 carbs. Barely made it but ok.

Congrats on the weight loss Maryea! You really know how to keep those calories down. Your menus sound pretty tasty too.

Congrats to you also Marie. Way to go staying on plan.

Okay, I need to take a clue from you two and Stay On Plan. I am in a "on a day, off a day" kind of place which is not very good for weight loss but at least keeps my head in the game. Lately I have not been able to say no to all the good stuff I want to eat so I am thinking I need to try portion control and/or intermittent fasting to try to keep the total calories in check. I hope I am not just kidding myself here. Plus I still need to try to add more exercise. I was at the Y yesterday for two hours of fitness classes. I am so sore today! Today will be another challenging day. My neighbor gave me a banana bread yesterday plus my son and his girlfriend are coming over tonight for dinner. I love all this stuff but it makes me fat!