I wouldn't say the HNS drinks fill me up, but they help "tie me over" until mealtimes.

It's ok to make these mistakes during preconditioning--that's part of why you're doing it. I made a lot of mistakes during Pre-c and the first couple weeks of my plan.

I travel a lot for work (well, not really a lot, but enough that I have developed an "eating out" routine), and my consultants told me that if you have to eat out and can't adhere 100% to plan, try to get as close to it as you can. For dinner, I'm supposed to have 1 each of a protein, veggie, and carb. If the carb isn't OP, I don't sweat it, but I make sure I keep it proportional. For example, the other night I ate out--I had salmon (ordered with no butter), roasted veggies (specified no carrots/onions), and my meal came with a dinner roll. I know a restaurant-style italian dinner roll is waaaaay more calories than I'm supposed to have, so I just had a couple bites of it--not even 1/2. Another time I ate at a Cuban restaurant in Orlando, and I used some rice (about 2 tbsp or so, as pp suggested) as my carb.

I would say that fruit on a pie doesn't exactly qualify as "fruit." Probably should have skipped that, or just eaten a few bites of a roll or rice.

Be careful that you don't use these situations as an excuse to go off-plan. I've done that, too. For example--"I'm supposed to have a carb with dinner, and the only carb available to me is this dinner roll, so I'm going to eat the entire roll."

It's not the end of the world if I don't get my carb with a meal once in a while. When in doubt, it's probably better to just skip it (as long as you don't do that often).

I've been snacking a lot between mealtimes over the last week or so--and I was convinced it was because I'm hungry. I even considered moving over to the metabalance menu to solve this problem.

However, today I think I figured out how to tell if I'm REALLY hungry, or just feeling snacky. If I think I need a snack, I will take a drink of water and/or an HNS or fiber drink. If I still think I need a snack, I will allow myself to eat celery or cauliflower (no dip). I dislike celery without dip, and I HATE cauliflower. But if I'm hungry enough to eat them, then I'm HUNGRY, not SNACKY. If I would still turn down the celery or cauliflower, then I guess I'm not that hungry after all, lol.

I got this idea from watching my sister with her kids yesterday. They really really really wanted some cereal in the afternoon because they were HUUUUUNGRY. But when she offered them carrots instead, only one of them was hungry enough to eat them.

So, the next time you think you're hungry between mealtimes, ask yourself if you'd be willing to eat something you dislike just to satiate the "hunger." If not, you're not really hungry.

I started at MRC on 2/25/11. Friday when I went for my WI I was down 7.5lbs and 17.25". The problem that I have been having since Friday is 1) I get about halfway through my veggies and I am yuck! I just can't eat them all. I am going to try the crispy green beans to see if changing up will help and 2) all of a sudden I can't stand water! I am going to pick up some Crystal Light tonight after work to see if that will help.

I live an hour away from the closest MRC so I only go for WIs once a week on Friday's and call in on Tuesday's for a consult. So far, so good. I was told today that they would change my menu when I got around 195. I am currently on the beige menu.

Perhaps you might try your veggies (cooked or raw) with some of the yummy Walden Farms dressings (completely okay on plan). I even love dipping my steak and chicken in the dressings.

Thank you everyone for the congrats.. Teacher lady,I definately will stay
with the forum and keep everyone informed on what is going on with stabilization thru maintenance,so I have a way to go yet and am willling to help anyone, as y'all have done for me.. The struggle was worth every minute to get to the goal, you are correct.

I am not sure who brought up only losing a pound during meta quick, but I have been in same situation, where after 2 days of it,lost 1/2 pound,but one time,I lost a little each week after ,so it did take me out of a stall. On stabilization,I was told I can eat bars no more than three times a week, and when I do, I have to omit a starch for each bar. I am still on the green menu of the meta slim,but will be given a food to add each week, this week it is starch. I will only eat the bars when on business trip, or if I have a problem .

Patzi

Thanks for the tips everyone. I had a minor (hopefully) set back today. I don't start the meta balance until Friday, but in order to do it, I had to have the doctor's approval because I only have one kidney and he wouldn't approve the protein drinks unless I go in for blood work. So... In I went and my fingers are crossed that it will come back good and I can get OP Friday. If it comes back badly, my consultant said it would cost me an extra $100 because I would have to have one on one dietitian menus as the other programs wouldn't work for me. I should have the result back later tomorrow.

It's good to be really sure, so glad you are following though.
But as for more $$$$ because of your unfortunate circumstance,
that just STINKS. Why should they have to charge you even more money.
It is so expensive anyway. Oh well, that just what I think.
I know you really want to find a plan to get it off. All the best.
--Joy2MeNu

Thanks for celebrating with me! I am going to continue MetaQuick for the rest of my 7 day period....and hope for more losses to come!

I think I only did the Metaquick once. I too didn't lose very much that week, but the following week was kicked up a notch. It was probably about 3 pounds (I don't lose quickly anyhow though).

I use the Walden Farms on my salads, but that doesn't even seem to help. I will only get about halfway through and just can't stomach the veggies anymore. I did talk to one of the ladies at my center yesterday and she said to make sure I get in all my protein, but not to sweat the veggies.

Okay, great. Cause no one needs any added stress due to a diet.
On the other hand, I know there is an MRC powdered form drink especially for those not being able to tolerate eating all the vegetables. --Joy2MeNu

I had the same reaction early on in my program to veggies and chicken breast. I would literally gag at the sight of them! lol! I got really discouraged thinking I wasn't going to be able to make it through the program. Eventually, though, it went away. I think sometimes our bodies revolt because we make so many changes all at once. Just eat what you can and know that within a week or so, that will probably go away.

I have that too! Yuck is all I can say. I would rather eat the veggies! It's like drinking sand.

Good to know! We are going camping this weekend and I thought I would try some green beans and asparagus done on the grill. (Not necessarily at the same time!)

I was told at my center to limit my splenda to 4 packets a day. Does anyone know why? I can have all the crystal light that I want, so I don't understand the limitation.

Also has anyone tried EZ-Sweetz? It is a liquid sucralose so it doesn't have all the filler that Splenda does. I got a free sample from their website.

I got about 2-3 weeks into my program and started gagging on my veggies, as well. It does go away eventually.

I started changing up my veggies, experimenting with "hiding" them in my food. This really helped me. Even now, when I don't feel like eating them, I will make a dish with veggies in it, but I can't really tell.

A couple of my recipes are in the recipe thread... But my "Buffaloaf" (buffalo meatloaf) has veggies chopped and shredded into it, and the MRC Texas Chili is an excellent way to "hide" the veggies.

I also like using zucchini ribbons (made with a veggie peeler) as "mock" spaghetti. Just blanch the zucchini for about 15-30 seconds in boiling water, add "sauce" (made from tomato basil soup, lots of mushrooms, diced grape tomatoes, and whatever other veggies you want as well as ground bison or chicken.

I also did a "chicken & veggie" soup. Cook chicken and veggies (celery, red pepper, mushrooms, etc.) in water, then add the chicken boullion supplement towards the end.

After a while, you'll be ok with eating veggies again. You just have to keep trucking through this. Try to get as many as you can, but don't stress yourself out too much about it.

One thing to keep in mind is that there are studies showing that having a habit of frequently eating/drinking something sweet--even if it's sugar-free--can send signals to your brain to start producing more insulin, which then will eventually throw your system out of wack and cause insulin resistance. See the articles below.

Also, Splenda does have some side effects if used frequently. Personally, I have found that it "irritates" my bladder--I tend to need to urinate more, and occasionally get symptoms of a bladder infection if I drink to much stuff with Splenda in it (I discovered this the hard way when Splenda came out and I fell in love with it). The side effects of Splenda and various other sweeteners are explained in the first article I listed below.

http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx

http://www.wellnessforce.com/trainin...-make-you-fat/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-There-a...rs?&id=4722858