Milca,
Thanks! I agree your neice has a great name!

Ladies- talk to me about using turkey instead of beef. I have always been too afraid to try it. How does it taste?

Boos we are allowed to have salsa just not much of it lol Do you think if you find the low sodium they might let you have more? Or better yet if you make it homemade?

Britt--I LOVE salsa!! The more the better so I was thinking if I found low sodium I could have more. DUH--didn't even think about making my own and we used to all the time! Part of my weightloss must be in brain matter! Thanks for the reminder--back to the store for more stuff! The Walmart people know me waaaayyyy to well.

[QUOTE=Ladies- talk to me about using turkey instead of beef. I have always been too afraid to try it. How does it taste?[/QUOTE]

Don't be afraid of it. I think it's a little bit sweeter than beef (but not sugary or anything). I don't think it's a stretch or hard to change over to -- not like a lot of low fat options out there. When you buy it, make sure you buy the ground turkey breast as opposed to just ground turkey (which has a lot of dark meat and is as high in calories and fat as beef). My DH and kids have no idea that they're even eating as healthy as they are...ground turkey tacos are the favorite of my family, and DH and I will put it over a salad. It's really, really good.

Boo's I use Rojo's brand salsa - it is in the cold section in supermarkets, not on the shelf with things like Pace, etc... In Walmart, it is in the deli case near the deli counter; in my supermarket, it is back with the refrigerated guacamole and stuff. It is very low sodium (15 mg per serving) and fresh with no preservatives. Try checking out the salsa in that area of your market - they may be lower in sodium than the bottled kind.

Ground turkey- definitely make sure to get the 93 or 98 percent lean or you're losing a lot of the health benefits (plus I hate the taste of poultry fat). I like to use it in things that require a lot of spices (spaghetti, add fennel for Italian sausage, manwich, tacos). I still don't think I could do a turkey burger or turkey meatloaf...baby steps!

Lori--thanks for the info--again-hasn't occured to me to venture out of my shopping path--it's a whole nother world out there!!LOL. I'll sure check it out. Good luck at your next visit--it HAS to go better.

Lori, Boo and Britt:
Thanks for posting about "salsa" b/c I have been looking for it and haven't found any good brand, so now I know I can check on Walmart!

Ground Turkey:
I have found that the brand Jennie-O have really good ground turkey and also taste really good and is lean meat, low fat.

How many condiments do you all have during your Limited TO? I read a few having FF sour cream and salsa but what else??? Thanks

Angie

if I want a late naight snack, I always have jello prepared during take-off

Karen,

I can fully understand the centers reasoning of not wanting you to do Take Off because of your history with kidney stones. Your doctor has cleared you to do the regular plan, but have you specifically asked him about Take Off? Rather than going ahead with it and doing it on your own, I would mention it to him specifically-because Take Off is lower calorie and can result in a quicker loss the week that you participate in it, than your regular plan.

The reason I am asking about this, is because sometimes RAPID weight loss puts people at risk for issues such as kidney stones, having to have their gallbladder removed, and so forth. (This is also why a weight loss of 1/2 to 2 pounds per week is a healthy range of weight loss...but losing 4-5 pounds a week is not.)

My mother did a lot of crash dieting when she was very young-and it resulted in a gall bladder surgery. (Although they did not make the connection to her diet at the time.)

If you are prone to issues of this kind already, then my advice would be to be safe rather than sorry on this one. I know it feels great to see a scale victory, but you might want to actually take the Take Off eating plan to your doctor and have them take a look at it before you actually do it.



Aphil

Please keep in mind that TO is to be done no sooner than 14 days apart. Also if you are new to the program and have done LA express you must wait three weeks before doing take off. After that every 14 days is fine.