Katie.. I'm on the Blue plan now, but started on Red.. I've been doing all the lites...

Sask.. I find that the lites really help me with the cravings... THey beat hitting the vending machine!

Also, that 9 pound loss the first week sounds a bit extreme, but I lost about 5 or 6, so I guess it's close to normal, although I'm pretty sure it's not close to average..

Men almost always lose faster than women, and the cheating, for some reason, affects us less, much to my wife's chagrin.

At the rate you're losing, you probably won't be with us too long here..

Keep up the good work!

Looking for buddies on LAWL and wanting helpful tips.

Barb- OMG, Jake looks just like one of my dogs. We rescued him last year, and I have had no idea what kind of dog he is. Is Jake black or brown? Also, what the heck is he?

Hey Lisa! Sounds like a good plan to me. I have been laying off of the scale a little too.

Jason- Good answer, good answer!

Lea Ann- The week I was home over Christmas the IBS virtually went away. I think that stress really aggrevates it because after a really tough day at work on Thursday, I had a bad episode. I had a pain in the belly that hit me so hard it doubled me over. I literally threw a bowl of hot spinach at my DH on the way down. Good thing he caught it! It really is too bad that the bars are packing bad stuff. Have fun at the movie, we saw it last week and loved it!!!

Steph- Great NSV! Feels good, doesn't it?!

Twopugs- Welcome!

Sherry- You are doing great! Remember, slow and steady wins the race!

Joni- Nothing you can do about it now, except of course, learn from it! You can do this, you know you can!!!

Kristen- I made the pasta fagioli soup for lunch and loved it! Thanks for the great recipe!

Nicole- I also cheat on veggies and coffee/tea a lot. I don't really see any big crime there.

Dan- Thanks!

As for DH, we made a few small changes today to start with. His eating habits hurt him because he drinks tons of Pepsi all day, every day, eats nothing until dinner most days, then snacks until supper, eats supper, goes to bed hungry, and gets up around one or two starving to death and eats again. He lives on carbs and is tired all the time. Does this sound familiar? We have decided that 1- No more pop, period 2- He will faithfully eat 3 meals a day and 3- He will eat a snack before bed that is protein based so that he will not need to get up in the night and eat. I think that these changes alone will make a big difference in the way he is feeling, and help drop some lbs as well.

Salsa girl- Take a look at this thread. I saw a lot of great tips here.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99555

Joni- I am right there with you and have been really upset with myself but have renewed my committment over the weekend and will make this week an OP week...WE CAN DO IT.

Kristen- Thanks for the recipes! I can't wait to try your Kung OW shrimp LOL

Welcome Two Pugs and Jason!!

Stephanie -Congratulations on your NSV @ Ruby Tuesday's....AWESOME.

Lea Ann - I hope you have fun at the movies and Congrats on planning ahead!

Christine - I LOVE the lites but before I joined LAWL I liked the Kashi bars and the Luna bars w/ chocolate. The South Beach bars were quite tasty, the peanut butter bars inparticular, but I am not sure if they are OP or not.

Jason- Good answer to Lea Ann's question! And of course we would NEVER hold it against you...we welcome those comments :-) At least I know I do!

Lisa- Good idea! I too have become scale obsessive and have allowed myself to cheat because I feel I am not getting the results I want. This behavior is sabotaging my weight loss so I am with you and am going to weigh in once a week ONLY! STEP AWAY FROM THE SCALE MA'AM!

Dan - I am with you...the Lites really help me too. They help my cravings and take the edge off when I start getting hungry mid day.

Liz- I missed your post the other day but wanted to welcome you to the board! I am not able to post as often as I would like but do check in once a day for support. WELCOME and good luck!

Salsagirl- You've come to the right place! helpful tips and support is what this board is all about.

Katie - Sorry to hear about your IBS..glad your DH has good reflexes. Does LAWL help your IBS at all??? Good start with DH!

As for me...I can't turn back the clock so I have decided this week I am starting over! I am pledging to myself that I will be OP all week. I am also going to start working out 5 days a week for 20 min. a pop. Each week increasing the # of minutes. Now that the holidays are over and my SIL and kids have gone back to FL. I am now hoping to get my life back on track. Work is still a major stress but perhaps now that my "busy season" is winding down I can get into the groove. I CAN DO THIS!
I am turning 40 in 2007 and want this year to be MY weight loss year. Sorry for the ramble....I need the therapy..LOL

Hugs!

Katie: jake is Black. We got him when he was 11 weeks old at the Humane Society. He is now 1 1/2 years old He is a Border Collie/Golden Retriever mix. He acts just like a Border Collie. When we were looking for a dog we said we did not want a black, long haired puppy. We wanted a yellow lab about 1 year old. I walked in there and Jake (Zipper at the time) walked up to the gate and lifted his paw to me. I fell in love right there and then. I went to look at the yellow lab I saw online and I watched Jake with other people. He did not lift his little paw to anyone else. I walked back over to him and he lifted his paw. I said he is the one. I called my fiance and told him to come look at him and they were holding him for us and he was like we dont want a black, long haired PUPPY. I said come look at him anyway. He went there and called me and said we are picking him up tomorrow. Evidently he lifted his paw to Phil also..... He is a great dog. See, I rambled put he is my baby.......

Christine--I'm glad you said that because I just tried the lemon zest and thought it was gross--I know I know--someone loves them--but not me! Anyway--the chocolate peppermint stick is my all time favorite. Sundays are tough--used to be that at 1:00 and I hadn't had anything but yogurt for breakfast--now I get up a little earlier and try to get in a bigger breakfast so I am not stuck with trying to cram everything into a short period of time.

Nikki--it's amazing what people will post while taking absolutely zero responsibility. I would love to write a check to a weightloss company and have the weight magically disappear--lol. Everyone I've heard say the diet doesn't work--didn't work the diet. my opinion.

Sask--perfect answer--

Any bony women on here offended??

Lisa--good for you! I just remembered my old favorite saying "STUPID SCALE!!" --what does it know?? Go with the clothes.

Dan--I'm really surprised you are on Blue--that doesn't seem like nearly enough food. My DH was on the plan and was on Purple with lites the entire time--started at 232 and is maintaining around 198ish.

Salsagirl--you are in the right place

Katie--I can see how stress would aggravate it. Mark it down on your list of reasons to stay home! YOu'll find a way. Any interest in going back to home daycare? Have you heard from the owner? Sounds a little flaky to me. Is DH going cold turkey on the Pepsi? YIKES! If he can't maybe you can start by mixing half regular with half diet--I had to get off coke--still a hard one--glad to say I had a sip of one the other day and while still good it seemed so sweet that I didn't want more.

Debbie--hey--we are FREE therapy--ramble all you want--we are here to listen. Sounds like you are back in the game--YEAH!!! The first step is the hardest. I've been at this over a year and it's still baby steps for me.

Barb--what a sweet story--of course you had to pick him--he already picked you! I ADORE my yellow lab but I also have a black, long haired chihuahua that holds my heart--we have a lot of dog lovers here so we can relate.

PS--Night at the Museum was really cute--of course I am a Ben Stiller fan, so......

Hello Everyone
Glad you are enjoying the recipes! I've got a few more submitted to COD and am also going to request the help of Cassi and Deb as they will not grant us access to LA CHEF even if we want to pay.. and my COD isn't always rushing to do things for me! But I told them the plan says you can eat what you have at home so therefore give me the exchanges!
Katie I'm glad you liked the soup.. my girls love it and also the Beef and Broccoli that I posted. Variety is the key for me too.
I am going to join up with Lisa and the other girls and try to remove the scale obsession from my life. It's amazing how that machine can totally determine my mood for the day.. DH often has to hide on a day I've gained and it gets out of control. I am glad to know I'm not the only one!
We do have Cliff Bars here which I prefer over Luna. They have great chocolate ones and carrot cake etc.. DH really likes them. If you can't get them there I'll start an export business and you all can send me the great Lites flavors I can't get in Canada.. SNICKERS PEARL.. WHERE ARE MY SNICKERS!

Kim, Joni, Pearl and Cassi we are missing you so come back!

Hope you all had a good weekend and here's to everyone getting some rewarding numbers for all the hard work and motivation we are putting into this together!

DEB.....I wanted to respond to you right away. I remember when I first joined we chatted a bunch. Re commiting is great and I wouldlike to do it with you also. I have just been basically on maintenance for a month..with only a small loss. I have a bunch to lose still..I cannot stop now...The exercise will help for sure....nance

kristen---that scale can do it..I can actually say since I joined in SEPT. I have not weighed at home ever. I agree with you .. there used to be days where if I was up I would be really upset. Anyway we have a crummy scale...hard to read and not consistent. When maintenance is here then I will get a great one....sooo maybe just wt. in at the COD???

I would like to know what peanut butter reduced fat counts as? Please help.

Hello everyone and welcome to all our new friends,

There is no way I will be able to catch up on you chatty bunch of losers, so I will just say hello.

Everything is going well and I have made up my mind to go ahead and give the Red plan another try. As I said yesterday it can't hurt because I am not losing on the Purple. I will continue my exercise and I have my week planned, Thursday and Friday will present a challenge for dinner because my DD has two more performances.

I am going to try and drink some of that lemon water that you all talk of, but I can't say I will like it. I will do it, but I don't know what the benefit is. I have to research the threads from a while back.

Dan and Liz, I am glad that you are both a part of our thread now. I think it's great to go at this journey together.

Have a great night everyone.

Nance- Thanks for the support! I can't wait to be skinny...let's do it!!

Lea Ann - Glad you had a good time at the movie. Thanks for the encouragment...you're the best :-)

Barb - Love the puppy story! Too cute.

my boyfriend's mother is a great cook and tonight she cooked chicken parm. now there was NO way I could have no eaten it. (she's not the person I would want 'against' me or to be offended). She understands I am on a diet but she's done WW (and lost 60 lbs. I might add) so she's in the "eat whatever you want in moderation" mentality.

oh well, atleast I did not gorge myself and I had two bites of a biscotti that his grandmother made so I guess it could have been worse, right?

bring on the horrific lemon water!

hi! how is everyone doing tonight?