SO I decided to start a meal replacement shake for one or two meals. I will still keep in my 1200-1400 calorie limit. The problem is that after I drink the shake I feel extremely hungry for anything sweet. I was on Medifast and decided to change because of the side effects of Medifast. I posted in General because I felt this fit all the categories. Question one: should I continue with the shakes from IdealShape...oh yeah and its made me gain 3 lbs....or should I stop the meal replacement all together? Question two: hax anyone had this problem? If so what did you do? Finally: If I stop are there any suggestions for a mom of two, who lives in an area that she would rather not walk in, for exercise (plus I have a heart condition so I'm not allowed to do extreme cardio).

I just tried out Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds for some extra pre-lifting cardio and was very impressed with it! I bought the Ultimate Collection (7.08 on Amazon). Today I just did the 1 mile workout since I was using it as a warm up. I was surprised at how good it was! I used 3 pound weights for the weight work, but you can use 1 pound weights (which is what they use) or no weights. It was a lot of fun, and I had a good sweat going at the end of it. I am looking forward to trying one of the longer workouts on a non lifting day. It includes a warm up, cool down and a gentle stretching portion which were really nice additions. It was a lot more fun than a treadmill and obviously a heck of a lot cheaper!

Thanks for the advice, but...well I guess my weight has finally caught up with me. I went to the Doc yesterday because I have been having extreme pain in my knee. Patella-femoral was the diagnoses and I have to wear a brace along with no weight bearing exercises. He wants me to work out on a bike for an hour. He wants me to start at five minuets a day and work up to the hour.

Their office just called me this morning and I guess my LDL cholesterol has increased so he increased my meds. They did say that my minimal weight drop was not in vain as my ACH dropped.....YEAH! I hope more weight loss will get me further away from the medication he has me on for diabetes...fingers crossed!

I like the advocare meal replacement shakes