Does anyone have any suggestions for making going out to eat easier?? I'm 18, and it is hard to avoid situations such as this without losing my social life! So far, I've done salad when I go out to dinner. Is this my only option??

And how do you handle chocolate cravings?? I have never wanted a hershey's kiss so badly... =)

Hey there,
I pretty much stick to salads with oil and vinegar on the side, or grilled chicken or steak (look at the ounces on the menu, then when you get it, cut enough off to make your 6oz. Box the rest up You can have steak or salmon 2x/week). I do steamed veggies or salad on the side and bring my low carb tortillas or melba toast. I love eating out with my hubby, but have had to get over the fact that I cannot have whatever I want. Eating is just FUEL, not the main event. I'm there for the socialization.

As far as the chocolate goes, you are in the hardest part of the plan in my opinion. The first 2 weeks were really hard for me for cravings. I just kept resisting and eventually, I stopped wanting it. I drank tons of water and changed the subject on myself 10's to 100's of times per day. Fast forward 6 weeks - I just packed up some peanut M&M's for my daughter's lunch from an open bag and wasn't tempted to have even one. For me, that's huge. Unfortunately, if you give in to the cravings, your body will want more. Better just to tough it out. There's a great book called "The Beck Diet Solution" that I'm reading. You can do it with any diet, but it helps with cognitive behavior re-training. In other words, training yourself to think like a thin person about food. It's been very helpful.

Good luck!

Oh, and are you at the point where you can have creamy HNS's? I really love the creamy hot chocolate. I drink one in the afternoons. If I am really desperate, I can add 2t water and 1t oil (my oil for the day) and microwave for 30 sec. Kinda makes a brownie.

please do yourself a favor and make the MRC chocolate pudding. It is so rich that it will satisfy your chocolate cravings like it does mine. yum!
Re restaurants - I agree with Deb in FoCoCO, eat salads, drink lots of no calories drinks, and focus on your goals. Hopefully you will reach the stage in MRC that you realize food is fuel for a great get-together or evening not the source of your satisfaction.

Hey everyone! After a fear of gain after eating off program, I weighed in today and lost 1.5 lbs! That makes my total 9.5--1/2 and pound from the 10 pound board! The losses make you want to keep on goin'! And another accomplishment--walked the Relay for Life in my town last night, and wasn't once tempted to eat the cookies, chex mix, or candy! Hooray! Hope everyone one has a spectacular weekend!

Went to weight in this morning and was a little scaried , I have gained 1.5 lbs on tuesday and loss 5.5 lbs for a total of 50 lbs.

WOW!! 50 pounds down!!!! Congratulations! That is sure something to be very proud of. Keep up the great work!

...by the way Carolinagirl we both live in Cary.... what a small world. I guess, though, by our photos we will never really know if we run into eachother.

Congratulations on the weight loss!!

WOO HOO Carolina!! 50 pounds is awesome!

Awesome !!!!!
Great JOb!

GWE - I'm with you. I just completed my first 1/2 marathon in May. It is very hard to keep your body out of starvation mode and stay on program or maintenance when training for a race. Not to mention, I used the longer runs as an excuse to eat a bit off program. I took the month of May off of running, but today, I'm back on track and will run 14-18 miles per week. Best of luck to you! We can do this.

That is great!!!! Keep up the great work!! Thanks for the inspiration!

That is so great! Congratulations!!!

What an awesome accomplishment! Way to go!!