Hi there! Stabilization is going great. I am enjoying the new foods but to tell you the truth it is too much food for me! I have been doing this diet since January and I was so used to the green menu that I have to look at my menu daily to figure out what I am going to eat. When I started stabilization I was at 160 and I am down to 157 so still losing. I had a bad weekend due to graduation parties and family in town that I ate off plan on both saturday and sunday, when I say off plan I mean I didn't eat on plan at all on both days. I weighed on Monday and had only gained 2 lbs! I weighed again today and I am back down to 157. :) So it was just water weight. I am following my menu this week so hope to lose another pound or two by Friday when I will go weigh in again and get my week 6 menu. I am going to ask if I can repeat week 6 for an additional week before starting maintenance. I really want to be at 150 or close to it before I start to maintain.

As far as the addition of carbs & fat on stabilization go here is the low down:

Week 1: You are going to get a starch at lunch but only 3 days. They give you a list of what you can have...8 animal crackers, 1/2 a cup of cooked beans, 1/2 a cup of brown rice...etc. Everything else stays the same but you cut down your HNS to a minimum of 3.
Week 2: You are going to continue with your starch serving at lunch 3 days a week plus you get one fruit at breakfast 3 days a week. Again they give you the list of what you can add...1/2 cup of applesauce, 10 cherries, 1/2 banana...etc. Everything else stays the same except reduce HNS to minimum of 2 per day.
Week 3: Continue with your starch at lunch 3 days a week, fruit at breakfast 3 days a week and add a dairy every day this week to breakfast. Your list of what can be added includes yogurt - fat free, sugar free, frozen 1/2 cup, plain 1 cup, Milk cup size depends on type of milk. Everything else stays same including HNS....2 max.
Week 4: Here's where all the food comes in....lol! You get to add a starch at lunch every day. You also continue with the dairy every morning at breakfast and the fruit at breakfast 3 days and you get to add 1 new vegetable 2 times for dinner....new veggies include carrots 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw, corn 1/2 cup cooked...etc. Still doing the 2 max HNS a day.
Week 5: You are going to continue with the additional starch every day at lunch and the dairy every day for breakfast and the new veggie 2 times a week for dinner BUT you are going to add more food! You are going to have fruit every day for breakfast and a 2nd dairy 2 times a week for dinner PLUS you are going to add one fat serving every day....almonds/walnuts 10 whole, peanut butter 1 tbs, sour cream 2 tbs...etc. 2 max HNS.

I must admit I could not eat all that food yesterday. I was so full and I still lost the 2 lbs I gained from the weekend! I'm not much of a dairy person, I can have milk with cereal and I love yogurt but that's about it so I will probably skip the dairy for dinner. I sure did enjoy peanut butter on my toast yesterday and I am putting sour cream on my potato for lunch today...yummy!

I think that somehow your body readjusts the way that it handles the carbs/fat when you follow the menu for a while and when you start to re-introduce food that it can handle it better. Don't be afraid, they know what they are doing and if you start to gain they let you repeat a week. Don't worry about it, you go in once a week and if you have any concerns they will take care of it.

You will do great! Keep up the good work. Ask me any questions and I will be happy to assist if I can! :) The best thing about this....I feel amazing! :D

Take care!
Mel

WOW!! Thanks Mel!! "MILK" is the ONLY thing i saw out of that WHOLE paragraph!!! I miss it terribly!!! im a huge milk drinker!!! :) I miss my morning cereal so so so much!! Do you continue to take the supplements during stabilization (such as the allday or MRc-6?)
It does sound like too much food at this point!! But it sounds like you are still loosing, so that is REALLY good to hear..... Oh! and congrats on your 30 + pound weightloss!!! PHENOMINAL!!!!

Thanks alot! Like I said earlier, I feel amazing and I am not hooked on caffeine anymore! I too miss my cereal with milk and I still can't have it! You can have milk at breakfast and dinner (twice a wk) and you can have cereal at lunch with no milk....lol! Once I get to maintenance and you only count calories I can have my special K vanilla almond....that's my favorite!

I have not been taking the ADWL since I ran out the 2nd week of stabilization. I am seriously considering getting back on because when I was taking it I had no trouble sleeping but it seems like I can't stay asleep all night since I stopped. I was taking MRC6 till I ran out on Friday and my center is currently out of it so not taking that either, I will buy it as soon as they get it ....lol! All I take is my multi and 9 flax and I take one B6 with every meal. I talked to the center manager last week, she said I could take ADWL and MRC6 even in maintenance if I wanted to. I don't know about the HNS in maintenance, right now I am doing 1 or 2 a day, usually a creamy after dinner (dessert...lol).

It's alot of food....especially if you look back to the first menu! I feel so full after my meals but like you said, I'm still losing so thats all that matters! :carrot:

<I am seriously considering getting back on because when I was taking it I had no trouble sleeping but it seems like I can't stay asleep all night since I stopped.>
Mel, I just purchased a bottle of Melatonin 3mg at Costco for less than $10. This is what is in ADWL that helps you sleep but I'm not sure of how much is in the evening pills. Might have to split the 3mg in half. Thank you so much for the preview of Stabilization and Maintenance. jeanette

Shelby and MKRoyer,
I too tried the French Toast this week! When I used two eggs, it looked so funny with the piece of bread surrounded by the egg mixture, I took a picture of it! I used a table spoon of the Vanilla drink to mix up with the eggs and cinnamon because I do not like (or have any) artificial sweetener. I put the rest of the Vanilla in a glass bottle to use this way in the next few days.
The next day I used one egg and that was just right for the slice of bread!
Today I tried one egg and 2 oz cottage cheese and made scrambled eggs (not sure if that is OK or not for green menu). Another breakfast I made was one egg beaten with 1 oz shredded cheddar, dash seasalt. put in small souffle cup sprayed with Pam, microwaved 1 minute - it puffed up just like a souffle, I stirred it to get the uncooked egg mixed up and nuked it 10-15 sec more. Must be dinner time, I'm getting hungry! jeanette

Shelby, wonderful advice to CBDenver. Thanks for all of us! I have been reading and rereading the papers I got from MRC that first week. I find, I forget some of their instructions or hints. I have upped my water intake to 130 - 140 oz per day and 3 Fiber packets. That helped me over my little plateau.
CBDenver, Can you have Stevia? It is the only artificial sweetener I can stomach - it might not be artificial, not sure. I also just saw a bottle of Blue Agave syrup that is supposed to be low-glycemic. I asked Jacquie about it but she's not gotten back to me about whether it is something we could use in small quantities. My DH and I used maple syrup when we used to have French Toast because you do not need very much of it compared to grocery store syrups.
Thank you everyone for all the tips and hints shared here. Good luck to everyone on their next WI. jeanette

Hi Ladies...lots of great info going around....I can't WAIT for stabilization...but a ways to go for me :) 15lbs or so...maybe 5 weeks away...fingers crossed LOL

So my big momentous moments of the past few days...went to the town festival...had no cotton candy...no snow cone (can they really be that bad for you...LOL)...NO CHICKEN BARBEQUE WITH ALL THE FIXINS (THAT KILLED ME)...and no Ice Cream at the ice cream shoppe we took our kids to after the parade/festival....

Today I went to BUNCO...anyone play?....and the hostess had the most delicious spread of food...fresh polished grapes...amazingly large and juicy looking strawberries...a cream cheese/butter/chocolate chip spread and graham crackers that looked and sounded amazing....didn't have a bite....

So op another day.... 4 weeks straight op .... I think.... I'm beginning to think I'm crazy... but I'm so afraid of taking a bite of anything that isn't op....

Stay strong!! Keep on Keepin on!!

Oh and as for artificial sweeteners I like Splenda...it's made from sugar somehow so I hear some people have better luck with it...

I play Bunco as well and tonight was also my night! :) That is amazing willpower you have! Mine wasn't as good. We had an "Ice Cream Sundae" party tonight and I had one small scoop of "no sugar added" vanilla ice cream and topped it with 1 tsp of sugar-free sauce. This is the first time I have eaten at Bunco, some months I wouldn't go just because of the temptation...

Congrats to you again!! :)

dietingagain22: I have started trying Splenda and it seems to be ok. In the past I thought it caused the same side effects as Nutrasweet.

Wish I had read the message about Phentatrim before I bought another bottle. They won't let me take the AWL because I take other medication....UGH!

How does everyone stay motivated? Any suggestions? I'm really struggling since the last weigh in to stay OP/continue with the program.

Hi Jeanette! Thanks for the info on the Melatonin 3mg. :) I will have to check up on that, I don't have a costco here where I live but I'm sure I can find it somewhere. I have taken Advil PM and Tylenol PM in the past but haven't since I'm been on MRC. I always thought that the caffeine was my issue but since I don't drink it anymore I now know it is something else.

Wow! Great job....op for 4 straight weeks! :carrot: That is awesome! Also, Stabilization is closer than you think!! When you get within 10 lbs of goal they will start talking to you about it because they want you to start before you get to goal, you will lose more weight during stabilization. If you keep up the way you have with staying op and losing you may start in a couple of weeks! Good luck you are doing awesome!


Mel

gosh I hope stabilization comes sooner rather than later...i'm going stir crazy!! someone was talking here about sour cream on their potato and it sounded like a foreign delicacy!! LOL

Im almost ready for stabilization i think ( although i WANT to continue losing for a least a few more weeks- i think they are going to cut me off in about two weeks..... i wish stabilization also added SNACKS (instead of just more food at meals!!) i dont NEED any more food during the meals, except maybe breakfast ;) !! I want to eat BETWEEN MEALS!! Oh well...
So ive been very on plan for a while now, and i KNOW i was in ketosis a couple of days ago, because my mouth tasted like i was chewing aluminum foil (YUCK!) then it suddenly went away, and i havent tasted anything, and ive been starting to feel hungry again! I wonder what i did ( if anything) to kick my body out of ketosis (if i even DID) Maybe im just being neurotic, but now i suddenly feel like im not loosing weight anymore, and im getting fat agin...you know, all these psychological things we do to ourselves! But, i weigh in tomorrow, so i guess i will find out soon enough!

mkroyer,

I'm sure you'll do just fine :) Good luck...I like keeping track of my inches...last week i lost two inches in my thigh...just craziness!!

Shelby

Wow!! 2 INCHES around your thighs!! thats AWESOME!! i havent lost ANYTHING around my thinghs yet!