SouthernGal: Yes, I'm eating plain oatmeal. I just eat it in the packets because it's easier for me to make when I'm out and about instead of having to carry around ziplocs of oatmeal, ya know? I don't get any of the flavors though, just plain.

C Bo: that is awesome about your walking for an HOUR yesterday!! It is so hot outside, I can't imagine, but that is great!! And resisting the Chinese food, your willpower is strong too! Nice job! I'm lucky that I'm the librarian, so when all those people are eating whatever they want during the school year, I can just eat in the library-haha!

JanMot: Welcome! We always love to have new people here, and I love that our message board is growing in popularity!! Yay!!

HollieUA: You are doing great! Those minor slipups are still nothing compared to what eating would've been like on a normal basis, you know? Are you doing Fat Smash or Extreme Fat Smash?

Ok everybody, here's my update....I weighed in today and I lost 11.3 pounds!!!! I am so super excited. That gives me motivation to keep going. I know that this is working for me!!! I even had to change my avatar because it gives me motivation every time I see it!!

Have a great day, all! I know I'm going to!

Kara - YAY YAY YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited for you, not just for losing that much weight but for planning ahead with going out with your friend. We can't just hide out while we're on this plan. This plan teaches us how to make the right decisions, so we can go out in this world and still live. Yay for you!!!! And you only have a short way to go until you're in the 200's. How exciting is THAT?! You are SO on your way to being that hot mommasita bride!
:c heer2:

Janmot - Give it a few more posts and then you'll get the hang of it!

Hollie UA - Don't you worry about any cheating...it could be WAY worse, right? You didn't binge, you didn't go off the plan, you just added a few more things. And you realized that you did it, and got back on board. I am concerned that you're not getting enough protein and dairy with what you posted. Hopefully you're getting lots of beans and are drinking that milk!

C Bo - Another day down! We're going to get through this, I know it! Every morning and before each meal I look at my starting picture (fat picture) to give me the strength to keep on going. I feel so much better about everything in life compared to what I felt like back then. I can see it in my eyes and the way I'm standing. I was so uncomfortable with myself and everything I did. I don't ever want to feel that way again. Life's too short to hate yourself.

Tara - As for the great oatmeal debate, I honestly don't know the answer to your question, but I read through phase I again last night and a few things I figured out. He does list when it says cooked, so I would say that it's uncooked -- which is a lot of oatmeal. The other thing I noticed was that he says that the list is all the things we are allowed to eat on the plan, but we shouldn't eat it all, just until we feel full. So, if 1cup cooked is too much for you, then only eat what you can. Hope that helps!

So...speaking of reading through the book again...was there another printing of this? When I first started last year, I bought the book and loved it. I lent it to my cousin, who never returned it, so when I decided to go full force again to lose my weight, I went out to buy another copy. I could have sworn that during detox we weren't allowed to have any cheese, but in the new book, it says that we can have a slice of low fat. Plus, it says that we can't have fruit on the bottom yogurt, which I don't remember seeing before. That's the only kind I like but I'm hoping since I eat the stonybrook organic, that it's okay, since they don't add any extra sugar to it. Plus, it's way less sugar than the Yoplait low fat without any fruit on the bottom. Any suggestions on this?

Today was a busy day. I was on the run all day. I had another interview for a job...so keep your fingers crossed! I really don't want to keep doing my freelancing, which gives me NO routine whatsoever. Here's my menu for today:

B - yogurt (with fruit on the bottom -- whoops! it's what I bought!)
L - big honking bowl of steamed veggies (I was in the mood for a hot lunch, so I filled the bowl with most of the salad stuff and steamed it.)
S - Fruit Salad: Watermelon, red and green grapes, blueberries
D - brown rice, light salad dressing, lots and lots of veggies

I'm still planning on having a snack later. I read someone tried freezing vanilla soy milk to be like an icecream, and since that's one of my favorites, I'm trying it out. I figured if it's not hte best, then I'll let it thaw a bit and add in some blueberries instead. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

UPDATE: I tried my frozen vanilla soy milk. It does taste like frozen milk with a little hint of vanilla, but I think if you're craving ice cream, this might do the trick. I had to have it melt a little bit, so I could get that creamy feel. At the store I saw there was "really vanilla" soy milk and a chocolate milk, but I didn't know if they were okay to have. Anyone have any thoughts on that one?

Thanks Annie!!! I know, I am so excited about being out of the 300s. And I am pretty darn sure that by my next weigh in, I'll be at at least 299. That is a mini-goal of mine.

Also, your menu sounds great!! I think I'm going to try the light salad dressing with the brown rice. I haven't done that yet. I'm steaming broccoli right now (my whole house stinks from it-LOL) I just love steamed broccoli, too bad it stinks up the house when I steam it, but oh well. It's a price I'm willing to pay

The soy milk sounds good. I have also been thinking about trying the vegan cheese. Has anybody tried that? I know we can have it because it's soy, but I didn't want to buy it without hearing something about it first.

I can't believe his book is so different!!! What a difference that 1 slice of cheese would've done on veggies this week, and I love fruit on the bottom yogurt!! Darnit! Maybe I'll get the new book.

Good to get an update, have a great night, all, and keep up the great work!!

So today I messed up. After seeing the burger king commercial for that loaded steakhouse burger I just had to have one. I ate it and didn't feel guilty until I looked up the nutrition facts (I should've done it before I ate it, but y'all know I'm special) and that dang burger has almost 1000 calories in it!!!! and I think 55g of fat!!!!! I wanted to go throw it up when I saw that. But all is well I am getting right back on plan I just got the burger no pop or french fries and I'm back to eating right and drinking my water.

I know how you feel. And sometimes the best thing is to just get that fix so that it won't haunt you forever and make you miserable. You've done SO well, and you will get right back on track. You could have done much worse by getting fries and the soda, but you didn't. Like Annie has said before (I think it was her), sometimes when you are just craving that and have to have it, the best thing is to just do it, and get it over with. You've lost a great amount of weight so far and you'll get right back on track tomorrow and do just as well. No worries!!! But it is good that you posted this, because we are all human and we aren't all going to follow the plan to 100% every step of the way!!

Congratulations, Kara!!! You rock!

Southern girl, just pick up from where you left off. Make sure to double your water intake today. This diet is a forgiving diet, remember? Yesterday I had a bite of my son's pizza but ya know what...OH WELL. I felt so bad I just went for a long walk. When I returned, my DH had cleaned up the kitchen and put away all evidence of pizza. We all mess up from time to time as we are human. Today is a new day and I will make certain to eat what I'm suppose to eat.

Annie, I do believe the book was revised. On page 22, it lists the foods that we are not allowed and it says "full fat cheese." I have been adding a small sprinkle of low fat feta cheese to my salads. You are allowed, on the new version, to have 1 1/2 slices of low fat cheese or a veggie burger.

BTW, we're almost there. I hope I can make it through the weekend. Today I am attending an Intern Luncheon that will be catered by Crispers and the summer interns did not order salads. I have been thinking of this all week. I'm going to need some willpower to get through the day.

Jan & Hollie - Welcome!

Yesterday, I had:

B: Oatmeal with blueberries
S: 1 pluot & 1 C light vanilla soy milk
L: Lima beans & salad topped w grn onions, steamed broc, feta & mandarian oranges
S: 4 oz. of vanilla yogurt & 10 cherries
D: brown rice stir fry with broc and onions
S: 1 bite of pizza

Yes, I was excited to see that and had my bf pick up some soy burger for me the other day. I think that's what I'm going to have today with my brown rice.

Thank you C Bo! You can make it through the weekend, I know you can! Just keep thinking about how good you will feel to make it through this Detox successfully, and you'll be able to do it. I know it will be hard at the luncheon, but maybe bring your own salad or something? That way it won't be AS hard to resist the temptation as it would if you didn't have anything with you to eat.

We ended up not being able to go over to my friend's house for dinner last night. Our ceiling was leaking because the guy above us was having a problem with his A/C. It got fixed, but we had to stay here while the A/C guy came and looked at our apartments, so that ruined dinner for us. Luckily, my friend is so sweet that she and her hubby drove over here and brought Ryan a tupperware with the food that she had cooked. It looked really good (chicken and rice casserole and corn). I could have eaten the corn if she hadn't cooked it in butter, but that's ok. I did what Annie had talked about for a while and it was delicious!! I mixed in my 3 TBSP of low-fat ranch dressing with my brown rice, some Northern (white) beans, and broccoli, and my goodness was it delicious. I don't know if I'll ever eat that rice any other way than with salad dressing. But I am going to try the salsa combo next, because that sounds really good too. Thanks for the tips, Annie!!!! That's what I love so much about this website, is that we can give each other healthy ideas of how to spice up the food we can eat.

Going to the grocery today once the rain lets up a little!!

Good luck, my friends!! We can all do it!

Mix the dressing with how much beans and rice? Is it really that good? I'm going to try it but I can't imagine eating warm dressing. I need more dinner ideas.

Today, I ordered 2 excercise DVDs...Walk away the Pounds - 3 Miles & The biggest Loser DVD. I'm going to start using these in the morning and walking in the evening.

Well since I had a very very busy day yesterday, I ate my 2C rice for dinner. I put 2C brown rice, 1 can of Northern beans, 3 TBSP low-fat Ranch, and some broccoli and mixed it around. I loved it, but it could just be my personal taste, you know? Usually I split my rice up between lunch and dinner, so I guess then I'd put less salad dressing. The dressing just gave it a creamy texture that I have been needing with the rice. Before I was just eating the plain rice with beans or veggies or both, and the creaminess was absent. So I liked it. Annie also talked about putting salsa and corn and black beans with her rice. I'm going to try that today. How can ya go wrong with a Tex-Mex style rice? Yummy....

That's awesome about the exercise DVDs. I have the one from Celebrity Fit Club-the one that Harvey made. I like it, it works you out hard. Let us know how the two you ordered are once you get them and try them out!!

Have a great day!!

Fellow Fat Smashers: Thanks for the warm welcome. I know with your help and support I'll do this. Yesterday was my first full day and I tried to get the exercise in too. Unfortunately, I could only last 15 minutes and I was pooped. Boy, it is amazing how out of shape we can get. I experienced the gassyness that you guys were talking about - what fun! Today, I am experiencing a really bad headache - is this normal?
B- Oatmeal w/ blueberries
Sn - Fruit
L - Salad w/ lots of vegies
Sn - Fruit
D - I mixed black beans and corn with chopped onions, bell peppers and a little celantro. Not bad - I thought I had brown rice but for some reason I have white instead so I skipped the rice.

Kara - Congrats on the weight loss - GREAT JOB!

CBo - You are already back on track and that is the important thing. Also, as long as you enjoyed your little cheat then you are OK.

Jan

Tara,
How do I add this weight loss tracker to my post? This looks awesome.

Jan

Jan: I've found that the first few days I had a headache too. I think it's just the detoxing of your body. Just make sure you get all your water in, that can really help to make those headaches go away. The black bean mix sounds really really good. I think I'm going to get those ingredients and make that tonight....well, I'm trying something else tonight, but I'll try that tomorrow.

Congrats on getting off to a good start-you can do it!!!

BTW, you can't have a weight loss tracker until you are a member for 30 days. It stinks!! After you have been a member for 30 days you can add one...I haven't gotten to add one yet either and they are so cool looking!

Have a great day all!

Kara,
Thanks for the info about the tracker. Even though having a headache stinks knowing that I am in detox actually makes me feel better for some weird reason. I am trying to wait before I weigh myself but already I feel lighter - I know it is water loss (too many trips to the bathroom) but I'll take it.

Jan

Jan,
You're quite welcome for the tracker information. I felt the same way you did about being in detox, strangely. That's also how I felt every time I refused to eat something that wasn't on the plan. And you probably have already lost some, mainly water weight, but that's great to know that you're not retaining all that water because you're eating healthy...that's how I felt about it, at least.

Hope you're having a good night!

Kara :-)