Alright ladies, I was skeptical. I ordered 10 of them, and they arrived fairly quickly, but after having gone the Tofu Shirataki route on WW.. I wasn't expecting much. I really didn't care for the Shirataki noodles, and was thinking these would be much the same.

They... aren't.

They are pretty amazing! Are they semolina noodles? NO. But... and again, I'm italian and love my pasta? They really aren't bad at all! The texture is far less rubbery than I'd expected, and with some of the tomato sauce I made on it? It was *really* satisfying!

Some of the ladies on that other list suggested the miracle rice (same website) as well.. I'm going to try that next, but I just wanted to pass on that these are more than worth a try. As I understand it, we're allowed to have one package over both Veggie days. I just ate the whole thing yesterday and will suffer through without today .

In other "temptation" news.. I had a rough night. My dear husband had a really rough day, and so I made him his favorite carrot cake with orange glaze. (yes, I'm an idiot.)

It wasn't as though I ate a piece of cake, but I did get my finger into the glaze a few times... hope it didn't do too much damage but.. I can't dwell on it. Onward and upward, and I guess if it was going to happen, right after I weighed in was the way to go..

Today's menu. The rest of the guacamole with cucumber "chips", Butternut squash "fries", a big ole bowl of blueberries and maybe a baked apple.

Here's to a good day to all!

OH! For those of you who don't know about Sobe Lifewater 0 - give it a try, it's really satisfying, and something a little different

Christine

Hi all!

I have been reading the ups and downs of late and it seems that everyone is finding a way.

I know from past experience that if I don't eat after 6 pm I will weigh less the next day. I once went on a diet of just not eating after 6. I plan on using this theory to maintain.

I am below my goal but still want loose a couple of more lbs. Lilly - I got stuck a few times to. I think when you get the point that you are closer to goal it gets harder. I am stuck too and will probably not reach my next mini goal until next week.

I have been reading about nutrition and I believe that one of the keys is the milk cycle to flush fat. It has been proven and I posted about that. I am a devout yogurt fan. This is what gets rid of fat around the middle. Lose 25 - stick to 2-2-2. Annleslie has good advice.

I haven't been this healthy in years but from being in "bad" shape my body changed. I have one pair of pants from Christmas 1999 that I need to be comfortable in and then I will be happy. Funny thing is that I weighed what I do now back then.

As my husband puts it "it took you 6 years to get out of shape 5 months to get into shape I great."

Hey all. Well i guess i am sticking to my two two two. Because today i weighed in at exactly 138 lbs! I was amazed and beyond happy! I swear i couldnt have done it without you guys!! SO THANK YOU!! I am on my fourth set and in three sets with all those cheating i am down 12 lbs all together more like 15 probably but i didnt weigh myself when i first started beading.

Heldenmommy: I am confused what did you order that taste amazing? It sounds uberdelish.

Sophiesnowangel: Long time no chat lol. You will be fitting into those jeans in no time.

Okay so i have a question and hopefully someone will be able to answer it for me today. I am confused about the cocoa. I went to a health food store and asked for unsweetened cocoa but it still had calories in it? I thought were allowed to have some? I am so confused so any help would be great. You guys have no idea but i feel like today i have finally passed through that haze that i was going through and i know i will have a perfect bead set. Again thanks everyone. Lots of kisses and hugs!

I am loving the chatter and feedback we got going on here..keep it up gals. I can't say it better than what was all said ... cliches and all...I am glad we all are recommitted and fighting to win this struggle. This program works, however, extreme..we are getting results. So don't discount that. I too hit a rough patch last week..I fell into a tray of eggplant parm...OMG..so much for my one day of cheat on weigh-ins. Which was working for me very well; my planned cheat day at a friend's house lasted until Sunday...she gave me eggplant parm to go (to freeze for a later date for the family) well...ix nay on that...I devoured the entire ziploc container...easily 5 servings in that container. I ate it over the course of Sunday...omg..I ate like every 2 hours until the container was empty...ok its done...and I've moved past it...but believe me..the scale was seriously up and I was devastated...beat myself for sabotaging myself...well, i've been back on plan for the week and totally in control. I thoroughly enjoyed it and decided not to have a total pity party for my sinfulness and just consume nonsense..nope it wouldn't have been worth it...but getting back on plan is the best advice and not let it spiral out of control. The advice is tremendous on this page..not critical at all. WE are human..we have weakness and as woman...gosh we suffer with PMS.. so CONGRATS to all who took back control ... one day at a time (another cliche - yup) and remember this.."you keep doing what you're doing..you keep getting what you got" or something like that...so I translate that to mean for me, when I weighed 236 I kept eating bad/junk food..and did nothing to change, I stayed fat and got bigger! I am now at 198 (or less) and I've made changes..so if I keep doing what i'm doing I will continue to get good results...I believe that...bc I see it..we all do! Much success to us all!!

p.s. is it allowed to post the other website I would love to read the forum..perhaps I can get a PM from someone who knows...I know some on their can be highly critical there...but I would love to read their success stories for inspiration...let me know...

The Miracle Noodles satisfied me because they absorbed the flavor of my stir fry and added texture. Seriously, once I began eating, I could not tell that my meal wasn't an already prepared Chinese take out dinner. The Bragg Liquid Aminos also helped.

Oh, before I forget. The hot cocoa suggestions from two of you were great. The salt definitely was just what it needed to make it taste authentic and cut the bitterness, and the combo of unsweetened cocoa powder and WF zero cal choc syrup, plus my 8 oz of whole milk made it a heavenly delight! I hope I can recreate it exactly on my next milk day.
The cals are so low on the cocoa that I think it's acceptable like the sugar free jello.

There was a recent question/comment regarding the repetition of bead placements. I have just received my 3rd order of 3 sets (a 27 day supply) and so far, the ear diagrams have all been different.

Is it on the 4th order of a 27 day supply that the positions start to repeat? Can someone clarify this?

Lose25, I think that someone mentioned something like this on the listserv before--don't look at the calories. Since this isn't technically a low-cal diet, the point is to look at the ingredients of the things you're eating. Hope that helps!

So I bought a bottle of braggs a while ago, but just started using it. WOW, tastes just like soy sauce!! I may never go back to regular soy sauce after this. I'm probably using too much on my steamed broccoli, but I would normally put a lot of salt on the veggies instead, which is probably worse for me anyway.

AND I'm down to 131.8!! Thanks for all the encouragement, everyone

BTW I don't know if you all saw, but a Thanksgiving protocol has been posted on the recipe site. I know, I know, protocols are bad, but hey it's gotta be better than cheating, right? And the protocol seems pretty doable. I'll probably stick to it.

I was looking at other plans when considering the difficulty of maintaining the AW diet and I was going to mention this when Lose25 was feeling low as suggested alternatives. Lose25 is feeling better, but I'm still going to bring it up.

3 Day Weight Loss Diet is supposedly recommended by hospitals prior to surgery or other procedures when rapid weight loss is needed. The claim is up to 10 lbs. can be dropped within the 3 day period. What happens after that is up to you. It is considered either a jumpstart to another reasonable long-term diet plan, or a plateau breaker.

Looking at the food on this diet, it looks a bit more substantial than what we are doing on AW, and with a bit more variety.

I was surprised to hear of anyone on AW actually hitting a plateau when daily calories are around 500. Years ago I heard that the way to shock your body out of a plateau is to alter your diet in a significant way for a short period of time, and then resume your diet. The idea is that your body becomes accustomed to the caloric intake as well as the types of foods eaten, and that if you "go off" your diet (presumably for a day or two) and create a drastic increase in calories as well as a shift in the quality of the food, you can actually shock or fool your body so that resuming your diet will produce even greater results, thus breaking the plateau.

By the way, I heard this information directly from a doctor and nutritionist and wondered if this was something to consider when hitting a plateau on AW. If I hit a plateau while doing the extreme 500 cal AW, I would consider a temporary change with the 3 Day Diet, which alters food and calorie intake.

You?

Sorry for all of these afterthoughts, but this 3 day diet is actually as low in cals as AW, but with food alternatives, rather than milk/veg all the time. Definitely a change up. And, this particular article mentions how such a low caloric intake makes your body go into starvation mode, but not for us, right? Because we have the beads!

Annleslie all of your afterthoughts are en enjoyment for me to read so keep them coming. As far as bead replacement go i got four of them and the 4th one was repeated. Therefore now i just repeat the three over and over again. I make sure i also resue my balls so i dont lose more. I have also experimented with this. I didnt use my beads for two days and was STARVING so yes they do work for me personally. OKay but the hot cocoa question how many TBSP am i allowed to have? and the one i got doesnt list sugar as an ingredient. And where can i get the miracle noodles? I am all the way in canada as well as braggs?
Lilly Congrats on your weight loss so happy for you! I knew you would pass it. Also does anyone know where to get the weight loss rescord? I have filled one out and need another one.

Have a perfect day everyone!

Mom2gsb: i am really glad your back on track as well. This will just make us stronger i hope.

Once you reach your desired weight, what will you do then? Will it be 5 days of the way you ate before followed by 2 milk days?

I discovered Clean Eating and once I learned of the simplicity and the benefits, I made this my long-term goal.

Does everyone here know about Clean Eating? Basically, it doesn not allow for any unnatural, processed foods. And when think about it and learn about it, it becomes a relatively easy choice.

The Eat Clean diet plan advises you to pick up a package, a carton or a can of some of your favorite foods and read the ingredient list. The shorter the list with easily pronounced words...the better. The best foods are those "untouched by man," meaning food in its natural state, if course.

What surprised me was how little sacrifice is involved in this plan because of all of the conversions that have been made to the foods we generally love that happen to be unhealthy. For instance, I am throwing a birthday party in December for one of my kids and this year instead of ordering a birthday cake with all of the refined ingredients, additives and preservatives, I am making CLEAN cupcakes with all natural ingredients. Instead of granulated sugar, the chocolate cake recipe calls for honey, molasses, sour cream and applesauce to sweeten it.

Sorry again to sound like a promoter, but Tosca Reno, who lost signifcant weight (she looks great!) eating clean has a site called "Eat Clean Diet" which has the foods you usually enjoy converted into clean recipes. It just makes you wonder what all of the refined, hydrogenated, processed stuff put out by the food industry has been doing to our minds and bodies all this time.

Anyway, I am not at all encouraging anyone to stray from AW, BUT if you have to make a dish for Thanksgiving or eat out with friends or submit to an uncontrollable craving, there is a better and more moderate way of doing these things instead of completely abandoning success and reverting to old, nasty habits. For me, I hope and believe that once AW helps me to get to my ideal weight, I will be able to maintain with a combination of eating clean (still having my cake and eat it, too!), watching the quality of my calories and having my 2 milk day safety net that AW provides!

Lose25,

1. I am not certain, but I would not go above one serving of the hot cocoa per day, which is enough in my opinion for 2 cups of hot cocoa. I assume you are asking so that you can consider it in other recipes, but since my unsweetened cocoa says a tablespoon is 10 cals, I wouldn't risk using more than that per day. Oh, and the unsweetened/no sugar cocoa is all that would be permitted. Definitely no sugar like you have.

2. I emailed the Miracle Noodle website and asked this very question of where to find their "zero calorie" products locally, because I believe they may have other calorie products as well. They responded promptly within 24 hours and reported an unlikely location which was a local 7-11. Now, it's not typically carried at this store and I found out that the owner of this particular 7-11 happened to like them, for whatever reason, so that's how. I didn't want to order the noodles in bulk, pay shipping and then be disappointed and stuck with them, so I was lucky to find them locally. I recommend you make your request directly to the site, letting them know your location, and see if they come back with a suggestion. As HeldenMommy said, the noodles are definitely worth a try because they just add that extra something to a dish that makes you feel like you're not really on a diet. I plan to try the rice within the next day or two. Will let you guys know on this.

3. I got my Bragg Liquid Aminos (invaluable to a diet) from a local health/nutrition store. If you have a store or two like this near you, I'd give them a call because Bragg has become pretty popular. I am not sure if Trader Joe's has it or if there is one near you, but that would be my next guess.

4. The Weight Loss Record can be downloaded from the AW site. It saved for me in Microsoft Excel.

When I began AW, my veg days were boring. I would have a bowl of spinach and that's it. I was stuck in "it has to be a great painful sacrifice in order to work" mode.

Thanks to the recipes from the AW site (butternut squash fries are to die for! and eggplant lasagne with canned tomatoes and a pinch of cayenne is superb) and suggestions from this thread, I am having delicious food on veg days that never would have occured to me before.

I am having guacamole with cucumber today, while my kids eat cheese and beans whole wheat quesadillas with guacmole.

Tomorrow is broccoli, red pepper, onion, mushroom, carrot stir fry with brown rice for my kids and Miracle Rice for me.

Keep sharing your reviews of recipes. Thanks!

From the AW site:

24. May I have Cocoa or unsweetened baking cocoa?

You should use 0-calorie, sugar-free chocolate syrup rather than cocoa. You can use unsweetened baking cocoa but you are limited to 2 tablespoons per day MAX. If used outside of 12pm to 6 pm, 1 tablespoon replaces 1 piece of sugar-free gum/candy.

27. What is the significance of eating between the hours of noon and 6 p.m.?

The body is searching for nutrition between 12pm and 6pm. The combination of the nutritional balance of the food protocol and the use of the acupressure allows us to trick the body to ignore the reduction of calories. Therefore, the body does not "need" to defend itself and does not go into starvation mode. You still require energy to function. The body turns to its own stored fat for that energy and you reap the amazing results. Please note, this is not a ketotic diet.

If you eat outside of the designated hours, the body will begin to recognize the caloric intake rather than nutritional value and the body will begin to go into starvation mode as the caloric intake is so low. The body will instead begin to cannibalize itself using not only fat, but muscle, organ mass and negatively affect your metabolism.

Well, #27 convinces me not to eat after 6 PM. I haven't spent $475 already for nothing. No more eating after 6 for me!!!!!

Thanks for the information Ann. How much have you lost so far? and how many do you have before you each goal?