it sounds like you work around alot of food...and i know it can be soooooo hard to keep yourself from little tastes and licks as you have talked about in past posts. but remember every time you take even a lick of something off your finger or the littlest crumb it will be 3 days before you will start burning fat again. So look back and see if in the past five days there has been even the smallest choice to taste something and you will know if it is truely a plateau, or if your body just hasn't had a chance to get back into fat burning mode again since the last "taste". That being said, don't beat yourself up about those decisions, just be aware of how your body will respond when you choose to enjoy something off program. :)
hang in there!!

Ditto Wendi. Feel about slower about right now (3pm). But I'm doing Metaquick, so I was really attributing it to that.

Down 1.5 lbs today as well! :) It's a good day. Looks like you and I started in about the same place and are heading close the the same place as well - congrats on the weight you've already lost!! Doesn't it feel great?!?!

I went to WI yesterday & I was very disappointed. I didn't lose anything. I stayed the same. This is very weird for me because since I began I have always lost & haven't hit a plateau yet. I'm not sure why I didn't lose because I stay OP 100% & I have been trying to exercise more plus I drink at least 120 oz of water a day. I don't know what it is. I am only 1/2 a pound away from signing the 60 board & was so upset. If this is a plateau I think I may do the metaquick plan next week to hopefully jump start my losing streak. I guess I should be happy I didn't gain, but I really don't see that being possible since I stay OP. Oh well, hopefully Wed or Thurs I will be able to sign the board.

Shanny, you mentioned you've increased your exercise - could be that you gained some muscle. Ask your center to run a body comp for you (they usually do one every 30 days) - that printout might help understand what's going on. Regardless, you are doing AWESOME!! Congrats on what you've lost already!!

Hormones
 

I have a good friend who did saliva testing - but she did it through her MD's office - who told me the resultant treatment had really helped with her energy and weight issues. I went to her doctor and got the saliva test. It required 4 samples: on rising, at noon, mid-afternoon, and bedtime. The test kit was shipped off to a lab in Oregon for processing. I went in to the doctor's office yesterday to confer about the results. I was shown to be out of balance between estrogen and progesterone/testosterone, and also to have adrenal fatigue (cortisol depletion), which explains the low-energy issues. So I am going tomorrow to pick up an individually compounded prescription for bioidentical hormones for the imbalance, and another individually compounded prescription for the adrenal fatigue. I plan to try it to see if it helps with my quality of life! The test was pricey - $240, and the drugs are going to cost another $68. I hope to recoup these from my insurance, but don't know if it will be covered. It just seemed to me that a one-size-fits-all cream from MRC couldn't possibly be very specific to an individual person with so many hormones involved. I also get migraines and I'm hopeful that this will help with that condition, too. I should also mention that my regular family doctor didn't think much of the whole saliva testing thing, but I read up on it and there are many people who swear by it and the treatments that have resulted. I figure it is worth a try if it helps. I will keep you all posted as to whether this has been helpful and worth it.

Congratulations to all you losers out there this week!

I see I am not alone, though. I lost a big fat zero this week so far. It is pretty frustrating to be at a plateau. I had a long chat with my center today to see what I can switch up to shake things up a bit. I haven't been doing too well the last couple of weeks so I've been expecting a nice weigh in, but it hasn't come yet! I am ready to get more of this weight off!

Wendi, I do not experience the 2-3:00 slump as you mentioned. Have you talked to your center about that? Are you anemic?

They are having me drink one of my HNS around 3:00 so maybe that's why I am not experiencing it. Good luck to you.

Oh, and you are catching up! I am still .2 from 30 pounds!

Thanks for the reply s you guys :cool:

APRILW94 - I do work around food all the time! And let me tell you I am tempted every single day, however I dont take tastes or bites hardly at all! Its a killer too LOLOLOL - but Im thinking last week was the big had to make a caramel cake with caramel frosting and tasted the frosting..which I admitted would knock me out of ketosis for months !!! :dizzy: But its been longer then 3 days ago. I dunno :?:

Im just gonna keep on keeping on - the fact that the calories are very low on this diet alone should get the scale moving again - I hope!!!

Congrats to all you looser below me!!!! WOO HOO

Congrats wendinnc! Great job!

Re: the low energy, it took me a month on program to realize it but this diet has no sources of iron and the multi lacks it for some reason. You might be experiencing some signs of anemia, in which case, a small iron supplement is the answer or changing to another multi.

As for your inches lost, there's another thread about MRC-6 going on about lbs vs. inches. Looks like you're also in the more inches than lbs range, are you on MRC6? or could you weigh in on that other thread?

Thanks!

It does feel great! :) I had this pair of pants I couldn't wait to fit back into and then it got lost in my closet. When I cleaned out my closet last weekend I found them and tried them on..... too big! I was not sad in the least!!

I did talk with my center about it, June. They just suggested more of their supplements. (CoQ10.... believe it or not.) I was hoping for some legitimate reason and not just another pill to try out. I do have an HNS in the middle of the afternoon, but more because that is a hungry time for me.... so I guess that doesn't help increase my energy. I do take prescription vitamin D so maybe that needs to be increased. Maybe I'll make an appointment to see my doctor and have some blood work taken.
I know you will make your 30 pound mark at next weigh-in! You are doing great!! ....at the rate I lose I am still so far up from catching up with you.... but thank you for the vote of confidence. :)

The multi I take does have some iron in it, but not much. I am thinking that you may be right and the low iron may be contributing to my low energy. I honestly could even pull over in my car and fall asleep...... it is horrible how tired I get!! Thank you for your advice.
I don't take MRC6. I only take my multi and flax oil. (along with my prescription vitamin D) I am not much of a pill taker...... I usually gag when I take them so the less the better for me.
Do most people lose more weight than inches?? or more inches than weight?? I just assumed this was right along with everyone else.

I NEEEEEEED chocolate!!!!! OMG what a day today, my boss drove me nuts all day!!! He messes up his budget big time and for some strange reason seems to think I can cut my budget to make up the difference...so he kept giving me the most ridiculous suggestions all day long on how to cut my food and household supply budget...like take left over fried pork chops and make soup out of them! Did I mention I live in ALABAMA - its a zillion degrees out and he wants me to make soup!!! Anyway long story short...I have discovered a food trigger!!! :D

I get the same thing - here's a couple of thoughts:
1. You have fewer carbs, so you do have less immediate energy. I just give in and take a 15-20 min nap. Can you do that? It really helps me. Sometimes, if it's bad, I will drink a cup of green tea right before the nap and the caffeine wakes me up feeling refreshed.
2. Do you eat red meat 1-2x/week? I make sure to eat it at least once a week along with plenty of spinach and vit D and vit B. When I start dragging for an entire day, it's my signal that I need to have steak that evening. Vit B is a supplement I have taken for years for energy. They're small pills that you can dissolve under your tongue - not gross at all.

Good luck!

WI today and down 3.5lbs since Monday. Not too shabby. Day 4 is done, and I'm going to the blue menu tomorrow. Not a whole lot more options but at least I can eat tuna for lunch instead of a huge honkin salad. So over salads! :)
The hubs weighed in today too, and he's already down 8lbs. I'm so proud of him. I knew he'd lose a lot faster than I would. They warned me and told me to not get discouraged, but it's more exciting to me than anything. I'm just grateful he chose to do this with me. It's great having a live-in accountability partner.
I'm finally (hopefully) through the worst of my coca-cola classic withdrawals. Had a pretty bad headache for the first 3 days straight, but today the pain seems to be subsiding. Like others have mentioned, I do notice I get super tired around early afternoon. I'm hoping it's just due to my body getting used to my new eating habits and it will regulate itself. We'll see how that plays out.

I also wanted to ask - how often do you all WI?

That is so great! Keep up the good work.

I weigh in twice a week. How often will you weigh in?

Whew!
 

It's been 21 days since my last weigh in. I ate somewhat off program during that time, owing to vacation and then daily eating out for lunch during teacher inservice week. In my city the only fast restaurants for lunch are Subway, Mexican, and Pizza Hut - it isn't easy to deal with the menu while following the program. I was very concerned about gaining, let alone losing, weight on my trip. Weigh-in today was better than I expected - I am down 3 pounds. I also did body comp and have lost 5 more inches since last month. I probably won't achieve the rest of my August goal of 10 pounds by the end of the month, but I still consider this to be a great victory! I did make good choices whenever I could, and things could have been a whole lot worse. Now that school is starting on Monday, I can get back into a routine, eat OP, and start going to the gym. Only 3 pounds to go and I'll get my 40 pound stone. Woo hoo!