Howdy, howdy, howdy! I'm officially under 350 lbs!!!!
(I actually, reached the milestone last week, but then I made homemade beef jerky for my dad for his retirement and ate too much of it. Not nearly enough to really affect my weight-loss but the salt caused me to retain 6 lbs of water - OVERNIGHT!!! So a couple days of drinking nearly enough water to drown myself, and there went the 6 lbs and 3 more!) 346 lbs, I haven't seen that number in almost two years. About 25 lbs from my highest weight, and 15 lbs since I started taking the Meridia five weeks ago, woohoo.

Nikolas - I'm way ahead of you (Did I tell you I collect cookbooks - most are low-fat or easily adapted to low-fat, such as oriental?). I'm still trying to keep things simple, because portion control is such a problem for me, especially when I'm doing the cooking. Today, I made a small lean beef sub for lunch. After work I stopped at the oriental grocery store in town and was able to avoid the snack aisle (the most fun! have you ever tried dried squid? Ok, I'm more adventurous than most, I'll admit, but it's sweet, slightly salty and not "fishy" - and it's light pink. It's low fat, but I'm sure is deadly in sodium). I did buy some shrimp, curry paste, a few vegetarial indian dinners and some indian pasta thinner than italian angel hair. I baked a potato and made a quick shrimp curry to pour over the top of the potato.

dakotalassy - What Nikolas said about taking Meridia a while to kick in was definitely true in my case. The longer I'm taking it the more effective it seems to be getting, but the changes have been so gradual that they sneak up on me. Like what I said earlier about becoming more picky. I do think it is true that I do have to pay closer attention to what I'm eating on Meridia than other diet drugs, but for me I think that is a good thing. Since Meridia doesn't completely mask my hunger I feel like I'm eating more like a "normal" person and choosing the foods I eat instead of them choosing me.
I went out to eat last night (a rib place, my weakness).
I sampled but did not take "my share" of the deep fried appetizers. Shared my salad with my (disgustingly thin, even though she just had a baby two weeks ago) sister, didn't finish my (delicious garlic butter topped) roll, ate about a third my bake potato (with decadent toppings including bacon and cheese - and I didn't even make it through the toppings), and gave half of my ribs to my dad. A month ago, I would have had two rolls, my own appetizer, would have used butter and more sour cream on the potato, and would have finished everything else (including the potato skin). I would have left the restaurant feeling as though I were about to throw up and or have a heart attack.

Since I often eat, not only when I am not hungry, but when I am painfully stuffed-to-bursting full (which is why diet drugs haven't worked for me very well in the past), I didn't really hold much hope for Meridia, but I needed to take the chance. I still can't believe it's working, and part of me is waiting to wake up.

Cee Cee - Congratulations on sticking to your diet - it IS especially hard when going to a restaurant. My sister-in-law picked a BRUNCH to go to on Easter at a fancy hotel. Hopefully they will have a lot of fruit, salads and low fat choices. Thankfully my daughters are teenagers now and don't really want all the Easter candy. I read in Prevention magazine that any kind of hard candy in moderation is fine though - sugar is not really the problem - it's the fat (like in chocolate).

I said this in an earlier post but the reason the doctor said Meridia was all right for me even though I needed to lose only 20 or 30 pounds was that I have a low HDL and both my parents have had heart attacks. LDL has to do with your diet (how many fats you consume) and HDL is determined by heredity and how much exercise you get. My HDL is only around 27 but it can be increased with a low fat diet and exercise. Cee Cee - I can relate to your sister being thin because one of my daughters probably inherited my husband's HDL (which is 65) and she is constantly eating steaks, peanut butter, etc. and never gains and the other daughter really has to watch her fats like me. The ratio of my LDL/HDL puts me in the moderate risk range for heart attack. It's good to know what your ratio is. Women don't realize that heart attacks are really something to be concerned about - a lot think that they usually happen to men. Well, good luck everyone and I'll talk to you soon. Joan

Well, here we are, getting ready for a holiday weekend. For most of us in the past, we had already consumed all of our kids Easter candy and we had to go to the store this weekend to replace it. We had planned a several course meal for Sunday or planned to consume half our weight at a holiday buffet. NOT THIS YEAR. We have dutifully taken our Meridia and are more under control than before. I am beginning to feel fuller sooner, but then all my life I have never waited until I was hungry to eat. It was something I did all the time, hungry or full.

I congratulate those of you who seem to be having tremendous success. Whether it is the Meridia or just a new found resolve to get healthier, keep it going as long as you can. The "newness" will wear off and you will have to draw on that inner strength to keep going. Web sites all over the internet show it can be done. Let's do it together.

Happy Easter or Happy Passover to all my efriends.

dakotalassy====what a great post. LOLed when I read about consuming the kid's candy and eating, eating, eating on Easter all in the spirit of the holiday. How true. I don't know or care anymore if it is or is not the Merida--whatever it is, it works.

CeeCee===congratulations to you for reaching that milestone. How wonderful. Sounds like you have some unusual tastes in food. Wish I did. Unfortunately, I am a picky eater (except when it come to candy and any foods that are guaranteed to put weight on). The psychologist who heads our group would love you. She is always encouraging us to try new foods and new spices. Variety and more variety. Keep up the good work.

Don't Worry====good luck with your Easter brunch. I just suggested a brunch to my S-I-L for mom's day. I know it will be VERY hard for me but my M-I-L loves them. We have several great hotel brunches here in Boston. They usually do have plenty of fruit but there are just so many good things---drooling now as I think of them.

Good luck to all over the weekend.

seems like everyone is maintaining this holiday, that is great...

you are right about the newness...it's kind of ashame you lose so much the first week and then are disappointed the next...my first week i dropped 7, and right now am showing an 8lb loss..another 7 would have been great, but impossible i know. ..my official weigh day is on monday, so i will keep you posted of my final number for week 2.

i finally got in a little exercise the other day, unfortunately i have not found the time to continue it for the week. i need to work on that..

my ediets plan is still working great, i am able to eat what is on the menu and not feel like i am starving thanks to the meridia.

cee cee - congrats on your loss.

baby is crying..gotta run..have a great holiday..robin

week 2 weigh in...down 2, total for 2 weeks 9lbs.

hope everyone is doing well...have a good week

robin

I did fairly well, yesterday considering all the food that was set out for Easter. I did have one piece of pastry but even having had that my fat grams were under 30 and calories were under 1600.

Sometimes it is almost scary that I actually can control myself around food. Again, I can't give Merida all of the credit but I can't imagine being without it.

Robin, unfortunately, the psychologist who heads our group tells us ALL of the time that exercise is a MUST if we are going to lose weight and keep it off. I didn't really do all that much when I first started in late January but when the weight loss started slowing down, I knew I had to bite the proverbial bullett. I try and exercise 7 days a week and usually end up with 5/6. Actually once you get into the habit, you find yourself just doing it.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Hello everyone. I am glad to have found this board and to also see everyone is really doing well. I just filled my prescription for Merida and took my first one this morning. I have tried WW, Atkins, and all the other possibilities, SB, Somersizing, etc. MY QUESTION IS THIS: I think I am sensitive to carbs and sugar (yeah, the old insulin resistant problem). Is it okay to be on Merida and use a low carb, hi protein and somewhat high fat diet or do I have to count calories and fat grams? I am willing to do this if I must but I was wondering about this option of perhaps staying on Protein Power (not counting calories and only having 30 grams of carbs daily including veggies with less pasta, bread, and sugar). Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated and welcome. Thanks, Happywisdom

Hi All! Considering all the food (and family stress), Easter went relatively well foodwise. Today, however we had a "food day" at work, and all the food was set in the empty cubicle near my desk. I ate a lot less than on previous food days (but that's not saying much). Someone brought simosas (deep fried egg-roll type pockets filled with mashed potatoes, peas and spices). They were so good! Well, at least tonight I didn't decide the day had beel "blown" and eaten everything in sight.

welcome, happywisdom. To answer your question, Merida is an appetite suppresant, so it does not matter what type of food plan that you are on. I just happen to be on a "traditional" approach--- low fat, low calorie and exercise.

I read the "Sugar Busters" book and found that it really made sense. Very low sugar, no whites. Sounds similiar to what you are doing. I decided not to try it because I love sugar and love pasta (could never get used to the wheat)

Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

CeeCee, glad Easter went well for you. Boy those simosas sound delicious. You have the right attitude....just because we eat a little to much sometimes does not mean that we have "blown" it for the whole day. Stick to it.

Hi there,
I am currently following weight watchers. It is very slow going.
I was in my hometown today and could have (just about did) dropped into a Drs. office for Meridia but I chickened out.
All those possibilities scared me.(the ones that somebody had previously posted)

I will still continue to think about it and check everybody's progress on here.

Hi everyone, I got on the scale today after one day and lost 3 lbs which I know is from Easter dinner and two meals of chinese food this weekend. but it looked good on the scale anyway. I feel good so far, my appetite has diminished somewhat but I feel tired in the evening so I eat some carbs. I am soooo happy Meridia does not make me feel speeedy like other diet pills did. Have a great day ya all.

well, glad to see everyone did well over easter...we stayed home and i fixed ediets bean burritos, not your typical easter feast...but it was good.

nikolas - yes, i started exercising this week, i walked for 45 minutes on monday and tuesday and will squeeze in at least 1 more day before the week is up. i needed to get the hang of my eating routine before i added another change to my life. so far, so good...and i am having to work exercising in around my childrens schedules, which isn't easy. my goal is 3 times a week and i can only go up from there.

happy - congrats on your loss.

going to bed, nite all..robin

Hi everyone,

It is very encouraging to see that everyone has been having such great results with this. I saw my doctor this afternoon thinking she would prescribe the same stuff I had 2 years ago.Not so, apparently its been taken off the market (at least here in Canada) :eek!: That is really scary, knowing that you've taken drugs that were dangerous enough to stop selling..I wonder if it was the PPA thing? Anyhow, she prescribed meridia for me and after checking 3 drugstores, I found one with it in stock. The pharmacist gives me the bag and then says to me "This wont work unless you exercise". I felt like telling her "I'm fat but I'm not stupid" I think this is the first time in a long time that I have felt so encouraged. I cant wait to start tomorrow!

toomuch, it was nice to "meet" you last night on the live chat. Good luck with your Merida. You know how positive I feel about it. Keep posting and "see" you on live chat