Focus, sorry about the gain! And sorry about the vacation plans being in jeopardy.

But as for your questions:
1. What your counselor said is true. If you do not eat your portions, it is VERY possible to gain. If you aren't taking in enough calories (and exercising uses up the calories you take in) then your body does go into a "starvation mode" of sorts. It clings to what it's getting. I would try to be sure to get in all portions, and see if that helps.

2. The constipation thing is very common, especially when first beginning the program. High fiber foods help. Many people on here have tried the baked apple trick (can't remember how long you "bake" it, but someone on here can help). The other thing that might help is to take EFAs (I take the off-brand ... Omega 3s, 6s, flax). There is mixed success on this. It seems to do okay for me, though I (TMI ALERT) only go every other day. I attribute it to the marked decrease in the amount of food I am taking in.

Anyway, the other ladies on here will probably have LOTS of good advice. Hope that helps!

Oh, yeah! I've had days when I was certain I was going to be down four pounds and ended up weighing more than I had on the previous WI. It's a bummer all right! But hang in there because your body is adjusting and the pounds WILL come off.

The plans are already restrictive in calories. So, if you're not eating enough it really can slow you down by throwing your body into a starvation mode which makes the machinery try to hang on to the calories you are getting. (I used to have this problem pre-LAWL whenever I tried fasting. I didn't lose any weight on the fasts and when I gave up on them, I'd gain even more weight!)

When you exercise a lot you can lose fat and gain muscle. But muscle weigh more than fat, so the scale won't reflect the fat loss. The good news is that muscle takes up less space, so you may notice that your clothes are looser already. Increasing muscle will improve your metabolism and help you burn fat faster, too!

The lemon juice really can help a lot if you're trying to get regular. Be sure to get your veggie and fruit exchanges in every day. Some things that count as a fruit aren't really fruit, so be sure to include real fruit, like an apple, every day.

You're going to to this, girl! :-)

Focus- I have IBS, and have stuggled with constipation off and on all through my LAWL journey. Are you doing the bars? Soy can really mess you up in the tummy. Medicinal Nutritionals makes a tea called Smooth Move that really helps. A strong cup in the late afternoon will for sure give you some results by morning. As far as not eating all of the food on your plan, I know it seems to go against all we believe about losing weight, but you really do need all of it, every day. I think that we see more people around here who are not losing due to lack of food v. the other way around. Keep on keeping on, you are doing fine!

I love my fat chick sisters~thanks alot.Focus

Focus are you getting in all of your water? Especially when you are exercising you need more than 8 glasses of water. 8 glasses is recommended for normal everyday life but when you add extra exercise you need more water to keep your body hydrated. Also its true you need to have all of your foods or you will stall.

It also matters what are eating, you can be eating on plan and still have things that are not working with your body. Me for example. I dont have PB, bananas anymore (i was stalling when having them), i dont have juice or frozen meals regularly, apples are high in sugar so i dont have those everyday, heavier starches i only have maybe 3-4 times a week. You have to watch the combination of your foods. Like if you are having beef then for the rest of the day have lighter foods like yogurt instead of cheese or milk and never have eggs on the same day as beef, eggs are very high in fat and so is beef. Tangerines & strawberries & grapes are better for you than pineapple, apple, pears and bananas. Your counselors are supposed to be checking these things when they look at your diary but some of them are stupid so they might miss it.

Sorry about going on so much about that.

Oh and the other problem, i have that also but i've had that problem for most of my life it just got worse with LAWL. I tried everything, prune juice, lax, exercising and the only thing that works is i have to drink an herbal tea every other night and then i go the next morning. If i dont then i probably wont have a BM for about 4-6 days so its my regular routine to have my tea before bed every other night and i cant miss it or i will be in trouble. I've heard that it might be the bars because of all the protein and i asked my COD about options and they said if i needed to stop the bars (if nothing worked) then i will just have to. LAWL also has an herbal tea so you might want to try it. Tell them your problem and ask for a sample. They gave me a sample when i mentioned my problem. I didnt want to buy the box unless i knew it worked. BTW i dont use theirs though, i use a chinese herbal tea.

I don't know about anyone else but I tend to gain a bit if I'm stressed. That could be a factor too.

You can buy "Dieter's Tea" with Senna at your grocery store. It is half the price of theLAWL tea and the Senna is the key ingredient.

I've had the same issues and this has been a very gentle solution for me. I drink a mug in the morning. I also use it in the afternoon if I'm feeling hungry. Helps me conquer the cravings.

I agree, tea with senna should do the trick- I had really bad problems and did the Colonix program (I know- controversial here!) I am on my last month of it and when I am done I am going to do a fiber like Metamucil in the morning and a tea with senna at night- because I think that is basically what the Colonix is.