My husband has joined MRC and is doing great (19 lbs in 3 weeks) but even though I didn't sign up with him, I have been following along with him. Here's the problem, in the preconditioning period I lost 5 lbs then the next week I lost 2 but then this week I gained a pound!! I am following the beige diet (which my friend gave me because she started off at the same weight I am now) strictly. To save money I have been using Whey Protein in lieu of the shakes because I found one that has similar calories, no sugars and 3 grms of carbs. I have been taking Flaxseed oil instead of their Fatty Acids and I have been drinking 2 64 oz cups of water a day. Is there any advice or someone give me a clue as to what I might being doing wrong?

Are you weighing and measuring all your food? Also be careful with condiments such as adding lemon to water or counting water with something added to it as clear water. You may have hit a plateau which we all do. It probably isn't a pound of fat, just water. Make sure you drink lots of water.. Are you restricting your salt intake? I am not sure what the beige menu entails but I would go over it very carefully to make sure you are doing everything it says.. Good luck and congratulations on the weight loss so far!

Cheers!
Ronnie

Thank you for responding. Yes, I am doing EXACTLY what the menu tells me to do weighing my food, no condiments, no salt (only Ms. Dash) and drinking 2 64 oz containers of water a day (clear water with nothing in it). I'm going to keep at it though maybe something will breakthough soon! )

Thanks for the response!

A quote that they gave me when I first started: "Plateaus are good signs. On the first part of the plan, your rapid weight loss is partly due to water loss as well as fat loss. After 7-10 days, you'll probably stop losing weight. Unfortunately, too many people get discouraged and stop the plan at this point. Yet this is where the real fat loss occurs. Your body begins to retain water to maintain the shape and configuration of its cells as fat is lost. Water is heavier than fat and so, while your weight may remain stable or even increase you actually are losing fat. You really are winning the losing battle!"

This is exactly what happened to me, and the next week, I started dropping again.
Good luck!
Debi in FoCo, Co

Ians Mom, I went through the same thing, loose then gain. I found that I will always have a big loss after I gain. It just seems to be the way my body works. I would suggest you drink 120 oz of water a day. Good luck and big losses!!

okay, I also started on the beige menu. I am not familiar with what the whey protein is that you say you take "in lieu of the shakes." when you say shakes, are you generally referring to the fruit-flavored drinks (the hns) that you would get 5 times per day on the beige menu? and if so, you should do the max of 5! (unless you use a "creamy", then you would just do 4). and you can't have a "creamy" on the same day with a "meal-replacement." and this assumes that since you are on the beige menu, you are currently at a weight over 200. many details to pay close attention to!

We can also have meal-replacement shakes occasionally (I think 3 times a week -- or the meal-replacement bars -- it states this on the top of the beige menu, so check it regularly).

so, I am just checking to see by what you are actually referring to as "shakes".

it is a great plan and works if you follow it closely!

I usually do 100-128 oz per day and I think this is critical, but it sounds like you are already doing that!

Thank you all for your encouragement I REALLY needed that. It gets REALLY discouraging when your husband is eating more on his and he is dropping weight like crazy!! I was about to say if I'm going to gain weight then I'm going to eat a cheeseburger!! )

To Joy2MeNu:
Yes I am talking the HNS you get with meals but no I have only been drinking this at breakfast at lunch, so you think I should increase this. I will give that a try.

I think one huge problem was since I wasn't doing this through MRC just following along with my hubby for support (and for the fact that I REALLY need to lose the weight also) I was going off of a friends menu that was much smaller than me and one of my friends that have already gone through the program and started at the same size that I am told me "oh no girl, you are starving yourself!!" so I think my body was just holding on to everything it could get! I adjusted that so I am hoping that soon it will pay off.

Again thanks so much for the encouragement it was just what I needed!

yes, max on your clear hns. Again, if you weigh over 200, that is 5 per day. Also can have up to 3 of the fruit fiber drinks.

okay, I will just attach a couple of things here. Remember, once you get under 200, you need to follow the green menu. page 11 of this doc is the beige menu, but there are other helpful docs here.

The food diary is especially helpful in the beginning.

all the best!

oh, and here is a product label from PROTI hns drinks available from dietdirect.com. there are many flavors to choose from.

if you look at meal replacement bars and shakes, BARIWISE are amazing.

Definitely max out your HNS's and it's not uncommon at this time period to have a small plateau.

Thank you!! I will definitely read up on this!

To Joy2Menu and PinkTiara22 I appreciate all of your information. I do have one question for you, though, I am sure there is a good reason to increase the hns's but what is the reasoning behind it. I'm just trying to learn everything I can.

Hello, My Friend

Glad to see you found this. Everybody on here is so helpful. Have you been doing the beige menu instead? if so has it worked? MRC worked so well for me
but I can't seem to get back OP so I decided to my own thing, which includes LOTS of exercise. So far it's working but very slowly... I'll help with all I can and so will everyone else here on 3FC..

Hey girl! I have been using the beige menu since Tuesday, not much of results as of yet (only lost .4 lbs) but I'm going to keep at it. I want to start harder at working out next week. I have been trying to fit it on lunch breaks by walking the park but haven't been able to be too consistant so I'm going to start getting up early next week before work and working out. I'm just going to keep pushing myself through and ignore my discouragement. Actually the wonderful people here have given me my second wind to help me be a little more determined with their encouragement! And you pointing me in the right direction to tell me I was on the wrong menu helped me out ALOT. Love ya girl!

Originally Posted by Joy2MeNu
Yes, there is an advantage to maxing the hns. I am not really very good at explaining, so I am sure someone will be able to improve what I am going to say.

It was explained to me that the HNS is PROTEIN which will NOT turn to fat. By consuming the protein HNS, it goes in and GOBBLES UP the carbs etc. that otherwise would turn to fat.

I know, not very technical/medical, but it's the best I got !