SO I did the field trip today with a Meal Replacement Shake. I didn't take veggies-just the shake. I am proud of myself for not eating the extra pb&j that was taken by another teacher and I only ate 2 pringles (a student offered and I felt bad saying no.) I really didn't want them! They were bbq and am not a fan of bbq chips. ANyway, I am proud of myself. My goal is to sign the 10 pound board on Friday! TOM is here now, so hopefully I will be ready to roll by Friday.
Thanks for all of the advice on my Shakes. I ordered 3 syrups from DaVinci today too!

Originally Posted by DKRiley:

Liquid Minerals - this is good to have when you have taken the 5 Http and the alarm keeps going off :D On a serious note, if I'm feeling tired and a little run down the liquid minerals are an exxcellant pick me up with no adverse effects. I will replenish my stock when it runs dry ($18) but it's like a half of a cap full (from the bottle) to get you going. :carrot:

You can look around on different vitamin sites for the liq. minerals and find them cheaper. I get mine (the same one that MRC sells) at vitacost and by getting 2 at a time, I think I save about 5$. Meemo has tried the liq minerals from Sam's and gave those the OK, I believe.

Hi everyone! It looks like there continues to be great weight loss reported on this string so congrats everyone. I went for my first WI on Monday after only 2 days OP and was down .5 lbs. A little smaller than I was hoping but still .5 in the right direction. I probably need to quit weighing on my own scale at home.

I have a question. After 4 days OP, my muscles feel really fatigued. Not sure if this is a real symptom of the diet change or if I'm just imagining it. Any thoughts? Is this normal?

Originally Posted by Rdy2Lose:
Hi everyone! It looks like there continues to be great weight loss reported on this string so congrats everyone. I went for my first WI on Monday after only 2 days OP and was down .5 lbs. A little smaller than I was hoping but still .5 in the right direction. I probably need to quit weighing on my own scale at home.

I have a question. After 4 days OP, my muscles feel really fatigued. Not sure if this is a real symptom of the diet change or if I'm just imagining it. Any thoughts? Is this normal?

Hmmm. I don;t remember muscle fatigue. I just remember feeling very tired each evening. Liquid minerals don't seem to help me much, but they seem to do wonder for others! Have you talked to the center about the muscles?

Originally Posted by shenanigan:
Hmmm. I don;t remember muscle fatigue. I just remember feeling very tired each evening. Liquid minerals don't seem to help me much, but they seem to do wonder for others! Have you talked to the center about the muscles?

I haven't talked to them yet. Plan to go in again on Thursday so I'll bring it up then. Thanks.

dla I was WIDE awake in the beginning. Center told me to stop the evening vitamin...I did...all was good after that.:flow2:

Rocky49She'll see less of you...cuz you're "stickin" with us, right?...especially with your heath issues...it's exactly what's kept me OP!;)

Rocki It's made just like a scooter with a seat...I rest my knee to my ankle on it...with my foot hanging over the end! You should have seen the kid's faces when I rode up to them:wave:and the parents faces were even better!:rofl: What a great 1st day of K picture! Ha! I Looooove teaching Kindergarten...I started in the 8th grade 32 years ago...and worked my down to these precious ones! I can hardly stand how sweet and receptive they are! :hug: It breaks my heart with hard--- teachers...there's no excuse for their behavior! School is hard enough!!!:smug: My foot is because of the "Play Station Dance Pad"...way fun...BUT...and I'm not kidding...The Wii ROCKS...:) Oh my gosh...it is absolutely the best thing going for indoor exercising...sooooo many choices...and...just reading your threads...you WILL be adicted to the :boxing:Trust me! OPEN IT NOW! You'll have to buy an extra nun-chuck...but sooo worth it! If you go to my personal area and click on my threads...look for the "wii thread" we (or I did :() logged in our daily Wii time...it's a great motivator:carrot: Let me know how you like it!:D
SchoonCR Here it is the second day of school and I'm soooo jealous of you going on vacation...and to the BEACH! Have a great time!
theycallmemom: Wow...he's soooo cute..and those feet...he's going to be sooooo tall! :)
Ready2Lose All I can say is: WATER, WATER, WATER...it always makes my muscles feel better...actually...it just seems to be the miracle liquid in EVERY area!
Sheaniagan: How brave to go on a fieldtrip so soon in the year. I'm envious!;) Where'd you go? What grade to you teach...I know you told us...I forgot!

Originally Posted by maintainforlife:
dla
Sheaniagan: How brave to go on a fieldtrip so soon in the year. I'm envious!;) Where'd you go? What grade to you teach...I know you told us...I forgot!

I teach English and Interpersonal Skills at an alternative high school. We took 60 kids to a ropes course. Sooo fun!

Shenanigan - Way to go today! I'm not sure I'd have the willpower to turn down a pb&j or chips right now. :carrot:

Originally Posted by Finz:
You can look around on different vitamin sites for the liq. minerals and find them cheaper. I get mine (the same one that MRC sells) at vitacost and by getting 2 at a time, I think I save about 5$. Meemo has tried the liq minerals from Sam's and gave those the OK, I believe.

Yep, I've used the Sam's liquid minerals - they don't taste quite as good as the MRC ones and honestly I don't remember running down all the ingredients, but I think they're fine.
One thing I found is that if I had an HNS I wasn't crazy about, adding the shot of liquid minerals always made it taste better - like the pink lemonade.

Originally Posted by Rdy2Lose:
Hi everyone! It looks like there continues to be great weight loss reported on this string so congrats everyone. I went for my first WI on Monday after only 2 days OP and was down .5 lbs. A little smaller than I was hoping but still .5 in the right direction. I probably need to quit weighing on my own scale at home.

I have a question. After 4 days OP, my muscles feel really fatigued. Not sure if this is a real symptom of the diet change or if I'm just imagining it. Any thoughts? Is this normal?

Hi, good job on going in the right direction. Fatigue and muscle aches are normally when you first start in on a lower carb diet. The glycogen stores in the muscles are being depleted, and your body is adjusting to having to look to fat for energy rather than the easy access carbs and glyc.

I would take it as good news, but also make SURE you are getting a TON of water. TRY to get 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water each day. Make it a goal to work up to that. It really will make a huge difference in how you feel.

Originally Posted by SchoonCR:
Hi, good job on going in the right direction. Fatigue and muscle aches are normally when you first start in on a lower carb diet. The glycogen stores in the muscles are being depleted, and your body is adjusting to having to look to fat for energy rather than the easy access carbs and glyc.

I would take it as good news, but also make SURE you are getting a TON of water. TRY to get 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water each day. Make it a goal to work up to that. It really will make a huge difference in how you feel.

Thanks for the feedback. I will take it as good news. The way I figure, i've got about 30 more ounces of water to get in for 1/2 my weight in ounces but I can do it. And in the meantime, I'll just keep doing my walking so my muscles can adjust to the increase in exercise.

Hello everyone! Okay, I seem to be surviving this bout of fatigue, but if this happens one more time, I think it might drive me to try the thyroid supplement afterall. It has been an interesting few days since I dropped down (however briefly) into the 170s last Friday.

I already confessed the two slices of pizza and slice of cookie cake I had at the birthday party Friday night, but that little transgression caused a big 'ol set-back! Apparently I've been following this new MRC lifestyle a little too closely because with the moderate injection of carbs and sugar my eyes swelled shut and I felt like I had been on a bar crawl! I was worthless on Saturday. I got back on plan pronto, but I spent Sunday moving some heavy furniture out of my apartment and got a sunburn, and somehow I managed to gain 10 lbs in the process! I know...it has to be water weight and probably lactic acid build-up too, but I've been drinking gallons of water and it isn't leaving as quickly as I think it should! Darn it. :rolleyes:

On the upside, the snack bar re-opened for the fall semester today and the snack bar lady pulled me aside and asked if I had lost weight. She yelled down the hall that I looked great, which made me blush. :)

Thanks, Diana, Meemo, SchoonCR, Finz, and everyone else for the shakes/fast & easy meal advice. I need to do a better job of preparing meals ahead of time now that the leisure of the summer is drawing to a close. I've got an early morning tomorrow but wanted to take time for a few shout-outs before hitting the sack:

Originally Posted by WorkingARMom:
Went to WI today. Down 2 lbs. That means I lost 5.5 last week. That is my biggest week since I have been on the program. I have to travel for business this week so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Maybe I will hit the hotel gym. I did walk/jog last night for about 30 minutes. So maybe.

5.5 lbs in one week! Dang, girl! Since Strawberry isn't here to do it, I'm going to be the nag: when are you going to update your avatar pic?

Originally Posted by exsquisit:
BTW, Congrats on only being 10 away from your goal!!!!

:bike: Thanks! It's kinda astonishing to me to be here, but I think I'm going to have to adjust my goal downward. It turns out that I do not have as much muscle mass as I did before breaking my jaw and having my mouth wired shut for several months, then taking up a bourbon as a hobby. However, in my defense, if you broke your jaw and had it wired shut that long, you'd take up bourbon, too. :) However, YOU are the one who is smoking everyone!

Originally Posted by HighMaintenance:
Checkin' in to say Hello! Work's been CRAZY lately some days I almost forget to eat. WI today down 2. Progress is Starting to slow down but no plateau yet. I know I need to start exercising, how do you all fit it in, with the cooking and the eating and everything else?

With the insufferable heat, I've been a little lax here, but I take my dog on a hike twice a day--first thing in the morning and then again after dinner. I've also tried to pick up extra steps here and there--I always take the furthest spot out in a parking lot and schlep my way in. As silly as that sounds, it seems to have made a difference! Also, there has been a lot of chatter about the Leslie Sansone workouts recently. Those are great, too.

Originally Posted by Rocki:
SIGS..I, too, think you can have the shake for dinner. Just not more than 3x per week as SchoonR said. That taco thing sounded good too:). Oh, I told my grandmother about your story the other day b/c when I was there yesterday (AFTER WE HAD A HUGE BRUNCH AT A RESTAURANT) she asked me if I wanted anything else to eat! :) I told her we just had brunch and she said "well, you can't visit without me offering you food. That wouldn't be right!":) She lauged about your Jewish (Baptist) grandmother though. She totally knew what I was saying.

Funny! I talked to my Jewish Baptist grandmother this evening, and I think maybe, just maybe, she's forgotten that I'm on a d...d...d-i-e-t. I did slip, though, and confess that my bread smelled like beer.

Originally Posted by Meemo:
I know it's probably hard for your schedule, but maybe on the weekends & one night during the week, could you cook up enough veggies & protein to get you through 2-3 days on leftovers? Last night I did some sauteed zucchini & squash - I had enough of that for 2 more meals. Then all you have to do is zap them in the microwave. I have one of those "spin & store" things, and I've found that 4 oz of cooked veggies fits nicely into one of the small containers so I only have to measure it out the night I cook them. Canned chicken or tuna is super quick, and the fastest thing to zap in the microwave is fish - I used the frozen tilapia or mahi mahi & when it's thawed, it only takes about 1 minute to cook. Or grill you some chicken breasts and/or buffalo burgers and reheat them.

All that said - there have been times I ate a bar for dinner, usually on a Sunday night - Sundays can be tough for me because sometimes we eat a late breakfast/lunch (sometimes it's not an OP for me!) and then I'm just not hungry for anything at dinner. But a bar was better than nothing.

Meemo, this is such a good reminder. I should print this out and post it on my refrigerator door. I know it sounds like overkill, but when I get hit with a wave of fatigue, I honestly could not care if I ever eat again. I'm not sure which is worse, either: having to get in the kitchen and prepare dinner or the thought of having to clean it up. I'd drive through Rosa's and get a salad, but that would require driving. It's times like this when I need my mama.

Originally Posted by DKRiley:
dla - thanks for the humus recipe, mouth is watering for some, I use the 5HTTP for help sleeping and it works very well. I had problems sleeping in the beginning of the program but they had me stop taking the folic acid (B Complex) and that seemed to help. I take the 5H now simply because it gives me a very nice deep sleep (and I like that) however I do sometimes wake up against my will around 5am (thank goodness for the snooze alarm). One more thing regarding the 5H, it may sound strange but if I take two it is more difficult to get to sleep, almost like it has a negative impact on my sleeping. One is good Two is not, hope that helps.

I think I missed the hummus recipe. :?: And what is 5H short for?

Originally Posted by may06haw:
I joined about July 22 and have lost about 8 pounds and haven't really stuck to the diet like I should..I would either eat something I shouldn't or not eat something I should or drink a glass of wine that I know I shouldn't but I am starting over today with a new attitude..I think users in the past threads have called it making a u-turn..so I would like to thank everyone for their posts and encouraging stories ... So far today so good..Thanks, Deborah

You know, 8 lbs isn't too shabby. And my first week of being on plan, I enjoyed wine, summer sausage, cheese and crackers at my stained glass class. I finally sat down and thought about my sunk cost in the program, and what I hoped to accomplish. The thing was, I couldn't fathom 17 weeks, which was the rough estimate that the MRC consultant threw out there, so I decided that I was going to give the plan my best effort until July 4th, which I think was about six weeks, then re-evaluate. The first few weeks, I really made a conscientious plan not to cheat, and one of my friends constantly reminded (taunted?) me that most dieters don't make it more than 3 weeks. But then it kinda became habit, and when July 4th rolled around, I didn't even realize that I had reached my first mini-goal of staying on plan until July 4th. It wasn't until a week or two later that I had that aha! moment, and realized that I was going to make it to the end. I just want to encourage you in your u-turn. It is so worth finding a way to make it work for you!

Originally Posted by 2kiddos:
Congrats to everyone on all the losses this week!

I went to my first WI today since starting the Day 1-4 menu (it's Day 3 for me). I was down 2.5 lbs!! (Total of 5 since I started preconditioning). I knew this would work from looking at the success everyone else on the board has had - but it's really exciting to see it working for me!:)

It sounds like you are off to a great start!

Originally Posted by namaste:
Just wanted to drop in really quick and say HELLO to everyone and send BIG HUGS! Hope all is well!

HELLO and BIG HUGS back! Are you really on trash duty?

shenanigan: Yikes...no wonder you are hungry all the time:)! What a "wonder" to be with "those kids!" You're kinda the "Polar Opposite" of me all day! :)!!!!

SIGS - 5HTP states it is for mood support, the center sold it to me because I was cranky and had trouble sleeping. It contains hydroxytryptophan and the does is 1-4 at bedtime. I take 1 however not on a nightly basis.

Thanks all for the tips on the Liquid Minerals, I'll have to check that out on our next trip to Sam's. The bottle I have is from my starter package the 1st of June so has lasted quite awhile. I use it only if I feel tired and run down.

Does anyone take the MSM, what are you thoughts/opinions on that supplement? SchoonCR?

SIGS - I put the hummus recipe on the recipe thread, compliments of dla, it can be tweaked to meet your specific plan requirements. I likely will skip the chicken. The cilantro will certainly take the place of the tahini for flavor. I will be trying this over the upcoming weekend. I'm a total hummus junkie and portion control will be my challenge but I have to face it because I need a fix. I can do it. Thanks dla for sending it.