I drink 4 24 ounce bottles of water per day. I tried 5 but it was too much. I can sit for about an hour between dashes.

SweetP,
Honestly, I don't think I've seen anyone lose as quickly as you! You've lost 65 pounds in 3 months! That's 5.5 pounds a week. Congrats on the 100's!!

zeute,
Do you take classes or teach them? There are a lot of teachers here. I always make my shakes/soup in the morning and drink/nuke them when I need them. There's no prep time involved. If you're a student, that's more difficult. They sell a premium shaker jar. You put the stuff in there and ice on top. It keeps the shake cold and the cover screws on so it doesn't spill. I guess if you kept it in a lunch cooler with dry ice.....

Sue,
Wow, you've lost an entire person! Since when? What's your secret for longevity? Do either of you have pictures??

Gotsta whizz again,

Wow look at all of these new posts! yeah.

Everyone who says they can't drink the water, I swear that is the key! I have a 24 ounce bottle that I fill as much as possible. It has a built in straw and I will be talking to someone at work and before I know it I have drank it all! I look a little like a baby with her bottle, but who cares!

I just finised eating the best oatmeal cookies ever! Maybe it's because I have been deprived but they were awesome! You make them with the vanilla shake, oatmeal and 1t of baking powder, 4t of sweetener and I added sT of flax meal. The flax meal is what really gives it the texture.

Michelle - I'm a student (nursing school!). My breaks just weren't at the right times and I can't be late getting back.

I can't do really any prep work because I'm gone so long I can't carry all the containers I would need. (I leave home between 5 and 5:30 am and get back between 4:00 - 6:00 pm depending on the day and traffic.)

*****
Speaking of which I better get to bed!! I was also supposed to have two more meals in too. *sigh* But I will get this worked out!

My daughter is a nursing student too, second year. She is in anatomy right now, lots to memorize! She is doing the slimfast plan so she can have more flexibility, so far she's doing great. I don't think it's as fast as MF though.

Have a good day everyone! People around me at work are sick with colds and I am slathering in hand sanitizer.

Hi guys, I don't feel well and yesterday decided that I had had enough of MF. It's not that I crave anything, it's that I did this diet and only lost 12 lbs and I think I have really screwed up my metabolism in the process.

I am keeping my MF meals and plan to use them like I would slim fast. I want to take my caloires to 1,600 and zig zag them, 1,200 for a few days, 1,500, 1,800 etc.

I have a cold right now and don't want to eat anything which makes it harder to get my calories up. Imagine such a problem!

I hope you don't think I am awful and I certainly don't want to cause anyone else from giving up. I have issues with things "not moving" through my system and it makes me feel lousy all of the time.

I'll be around and I want to thank you for all of your help, you are a great group.

Brooke, no one will think you are awful! Sorry to hear that you're leaving MF & I really enjoyed your posts on this little MF group here. MF will still be there if you decide to come back on the program. Only 12#s??? In how long?

Anyways, I understand that sometimes it is not the right time for this type of diet. I went off for a while after my Dad died & then my doctor put me on a modified plan for a few months before & after my surgery. I stuck to dieting though, came back to the 5&1 & eventually lost all my weight. Not as neat & tidy as some of the 100% folks over on MyMF but eventually I got thinner.

Best of luck with your new diet plans & please check in & say hi to us here from time to time.

SweetP-give us some tips-how did you lose that much so fast?

Congratulations Carol & Sue! It's inspiring to see posts about achieved goals.

I continue to make progress, though not always as quickly as I might like, and every time I convince myself that I've hit one of those plateaus, I weigh in the following morning to find that I've lost another 2 pounds or so—seemingly overnight. I'm sure that in reality it's more a matter of regularity (or irregularity of sorts) that accounts for days of stagnant weigh-ins followed by an abnormal one-day loss, but I'm curious to know if anyone else is experiencing a similar pattern.

I've suffered from digestive issues for several years, ever since my gal bladder was removed, so I'm really liking the impact that the MF diet is having on my routine. I had come to accept the fact that as a result of my surgery I would forever suffer from chronic diarrhea. Now the correlation between input and "quality of output" has become very clear. I've had a couple instances where my "steamed" vegetables turned out to be stir fried in something I wouldn't have approved of (or otherwise supplemented with something fatty), and while I don't always taste it, I certainly become aware of it—and rather quickly—because my digestive system responds poorly.

I certainly don't feel as though I'm suffering from constipation, but I can go days now—compared to the frequency I endured before. Is this normal? Is this the result of just one L&G per day, or is it the elimination of fat? It's awful, I know, but whenever I'm within a pound or two of a milestone, my husband will say "no problem, one good cr*p will get you there." I'd like to laugh, but I can't help but wonder… how much truth is there to the crude humor?

He is correct!

I don't have a gallbladder but have had the opposite symptoms of you for years. So, MF made it much worse. I tried taking Pearls, flax seed oil, flax seed but still ended up taking Correctol most days. Even that didn't always work. Fiber supplements made it worse. I had the same problem on Atkins. This is why I am going to do a modified MF and add fruits and veggies. It's scary to bring my carbs up but I always feel bloated and slightly nauseous on MF and my weight loss, 12 lbs in a month isn't worth it. I can do that by going back to just eating healthy like I did last year. MF has given me my motivation back!

I do love my MF shakes and they are such a good source of protein.

Do you wake when your tummy is empty and have to take tums? I did before MF but that got much better on MF.

Also, my routine blood tests were odd and they put me through some scary test looking for liver cancer among other things. Turns out, it's normal to have some odd results when you don't have a gallbladder. My alk phosophate sp? was high. Keep that in mind, I have never really researched the effect of not having a gallbladder.

To the rest of you make sure you get enough fat so you protect your gallbladders while on MF!

So it turns out that there is a downside to losing weight… A closet full of clothes that no longer fit. At first, of course, it's great when the clothes start fitting more loosely, and when you find that you're down another size. But unless you can afford multiple new wardrobes, there comes a point when the clothes that don't fit cease to be a good thing. I don't know how others feel, but wearing clothes that are too large leaves me feeling frumpy.

I was able to find some great deals on a few new pieces after the holidays, but I can't count on similar sales running every time I lose another size, and I haven't found anything in the way of a dieter's clothing exchange, so I decided on a different approach. It's been years since I sold anything on eBay, but two weekends ago my husband helped me to clean out the closet. We spent two days photographing, measuring, and writing descriptions for each piece. It was very time consuming, and I seriously wondered if it would be a worthwhile effort, but I am so glad we did. My first wave of listings closed last week, the second wave will close tomorrow, and today I bought my first new pieces with the proceeds.

I still wish there were a more organized setting specifically for dieters to exchange clothing, but if anyone else is looking for some nice temporary clothes, I highly recommend looking at eBay.

I should clarify, that this is not a pitch for anyone to look at my auctions. I just wanted to share how I've decided to deal with an issue that for me had been a source of significant consternation. I can hardly wait to be wearing my new clothes.

Very interesting. No, I don't need tums for an empty stomach, but I did have trouble with heartburn for about a year. That was three years after the surgery though, so probably unrelated. Also interesting about your blood tests and liver. Thank you for sharing. I had some abnormal liver function tests about a year ago, which required a follow-up liver ultrasound. There was excess fatty tissue, but no damage and not enough to cause significant concern.

Last month my doctor ordered a full blood work-up and she was extremely pleased with the results. She really expected to find that I was suffering from vitamin/mineral deficiencies, but they found absolutely nothing wrong. She was so impressed with my progress and test results that she asked me for information about MF to share with other patients.

Thank you for your help!! Good luck and of course we don't think you're awful.

My husband refused to take me out anywhere because my pants were too baggy! I started in a plus size 20 and just this week walked out of the plus sizes and into a REGULAR 16! I just gave away 6 pair of my pants last night to a freecycler and a huge bag of my daughters Gap clothes to another. I would suggest joining that group and posting that you are looking for pants and shirts in your size. The website is www.freecycle.org. From there you can search for groups in your area. The only stipulation that I know of is everything must be given away, not sold and you can't give away your spouse. That always cracks me up! Anyway, "your" local group will have their own rules but I have received and given away a lot of clothes. Just to clarify, it isn't just for clothing though. People give away anything and everything. The goal of the group is to keep things out of the landfills. I like it because I know that the items are going to someone who can truly use them.

I completely understand the cost issue though. I purchased one pair of pants and own one more. I refuse to buy anymore because I know ultimately it is a waste of my money since I will most likely be moving out of 16 in the next two months. Luckily, my son works for a department store and they hold contests on who can earn the most credits (getting people to sign up for a card). He has won gift cards for the last 4 months and then gives them to me so I can purchase new pants. What a sweetie! I am trying to save them though, so when I finally reach my goal I can buy a new wardrobe.


Jen

Isn't it a thrill to buy "regular" sizes again? I was so excited I was crying in the dressing room.

I take my clothes to a resale store. I don't get much money for them but some things are brand new and I feel better than just giving them away.