Congrats! I am going to weigh in today - but I've been terribly off track especially with my teenager in this week - I fear I've probably stalled or gained. I haven't had time to eat let alone stay OP.

Good luck today! My center told me once that even if I'm completly off track, above all, get that water in. Water can do wonders. Not to mention, today is a new day, dive back in and take it a meal at a time. It may not be a perfect day, but it could be a new start. :)

Well, after weigh in this morning...good news and bad news. Good news: I lost 40 pounds (finally) and got to sign the 40 pound board!

Bad news: After 4 days of MetaQuick, I've only lost 1 pound. I was hoping for more. Boo.

Anyway, I'm rejoicing in my 1 pound lost, and hitting the 40 in an MRC official way. I wish their scale was mine at home. Mine at home shows that I'm 167.4, showing 3 pounds lost from MetaQuick....but whatever. I'll take the one pound loss and keep going.

Hooray on officially hitting the 40lb mark! :D

Did you by any chance wear something heavier than usual at your weigh in? I remember when I hit 50lbs, their scale actually showed me at 1.5lbs heavier than I needed, so my consultant had me remove my sweater (I had a cami underneath). I didn't think my sweater was that heavy, but apparently it weighed 1.5lbs exactly!

CONGRATS on the 40lb mark Razor!! A HUGE step towards your goal! :D

I don't go for my first wi until tomorrow, but if my scale is right and I think it is the same as theirs, I have managed to lose 3lbs so far and I have to admit I have done a little cheating. :(

We ate out last night and I tried to stay as op as I could, but there was no fruit at all, so I did the next best thing... I had the strawberry pie. I know... bad idea, but honestly, I didn't know a couple of things. 1) would it have been better to skip the fruit? 2) I didn't know I was going to be in town, so I didn't get my pills in until almost an hour AFTER I ate. And I consoled myself by telling myself that preconditioning is about cutting back, not cutting out completely (yet) the extra stuff.

Please tell me how y'all handle these situations. Also... I can handle the small portions for breakfast and lunch, but how do you avoid cheating when dinner doesn't fill you up? Is that where the drinks come in? (when I get them?)

Thanks

I weigh in this afternoon, and I'm kind of nervous about it. I've done pretty good this weekend, but it seems like every day that I was doing pretty good, I had one little mess-up.

Actually, with all of our talk about rewards, I'm wondering if I've slipped back into rewarding myself with food, after all. We've been too broke lately for me to reward myself with much else. Not just weight-loss rewards, but I-made-it-through-a-rotten-day type rewards, too.

I've noticed that my "transition" jeans (that I bought after -30lbs) are getting a little baggy/saggy on me. If this is a good weigh in, maybe I'll treat myself to a new pair of "transition" jeans to get me through to the end.

Awesome!!!! Congratulations!!!! :cheer::cheer::cheer:

I haven't been out to eat yet, but it appears the way the plan works is that at each meal you either get fruit or bread. So, if I knew I was supposed to have fruit, but there wasn't any fruit, I probably would have had a half a piece of whole wheat bread or a couple of spoons of rice.... some type of whole grain product around 40 calories. This may be completely bad advice LOL, but that's what I probably would have done.

Personally the HNSs don't fill me up. Actually, I feel hungry a lot, however I have yet to get on the ball with taking my pill supplements like I'm supposed to, so that may be the problem. I do try to choose more solid HNSs when I can... like the jello or pudding... I also find the cappuccino mixed with decaf coffee to be very satisfying, although admittedly not filling. Maybe because of the warmth?

I combat my hunger with a little notebook filled with positive, motivational quotes and my list of reasons for losing weight. I never wake up hungry, so I don't think my hunger is real, true hunger, ya know?

CONGRATS!!! this is spectacular! And clothes matter - at home I'm always 2-3 lbs lighter & it is because of the clothes I wear. I can predict how much I'll weigh in at the center because of my clothes.

I think I would have skipped the fruit and ate it later at home. The strawberries probably had been sitting in a gel type filling which might be high in calories and sugar - and the crust as well - especially if it was graham cracker most likely made with butter - have you read the labels yet on some of your favorite foods? You'd be surprised how much fat, sugar and sodium it is filled with!

You're doing great just beginning - don't worry - life happens. Keep on track from here on out & don't lose sight of your goal!

I posted this message and don't know what happened to it, so will try again

I finally made goal today and am so happy. They started me on week one of stabilization.

I want to thank everyone for your support thru this challenge, which I started
the first week of September. This has been difficult at times, as I had many many stalls and many weight gains while OP, but this forum helped me stay focused and I am so grateful to all of you.

Congratulations to all the losers and welcome to the newbies.

Patzi

Thanks unfortunately I barely met the minimum on water - but today wasn't bad at all - lost none but gained none! So I'm completely happy about that for being so off this week.

I think I'm going to try and stick to my weigh in days of Mon & Thurs - today I had a different lady and she wasn't as warm as the others are - we also have a contest going on & she didn't even update my stickers .. I just felt a little off with her .. I guess you mesh well with some more than others.

:carrot:
Congratulations, Patzi! I have been hoping you would meet your goal soon! You deserve it--and you're right, it has been difficult for you at times, but that just makes meeting goal that much more satisfying, don't you think?

I hope you'll continue to visit the boards and keep us updated on your progress through stabilization and maintenance. I think that's the part that we struggle to visualize for ourselves...because if we knew how to do it well on our own, we wouldn't have gained weight after every diet up to now.

Good luck, and congratulations! :D :hug:

CONGRATULATIONS! :bunny2: You've earned it! Well done!

Way to go, Patzi! You must be so thrilled today! :jig:

Please let us know how it is going for you on stabilization. I am curious about the process!

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.

:)

Hi
 

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

What about Sweet and Low?

I think all artificial sweeteners have the "eat sweets, crave sweets" effect. Plus, don't forget, you are already getting some in your HNS daily.

All this talk of sweeteners scares me. I really work to avoid them, except in the HNS, especially aspartame! I wish they didn't have to be in the HNS, but it is the lesser of two evils, so I drink them.

I have switched to Truvia. I love it.

WI day. Another pound since Monday which now puts me at 12.5 pounds in 3 weeks. In addition, I had to drop a size in my jeans. What a great feeling! :)

As for the whole sweetner issue, I follow the Biggest Loser contestants on Twitter and they are big Truvia fans. I'll have to try it. I'm a Splenda girl at the moment.

Sweet N Low I totally avoid. When I was pregnant with my daughter, the OB gave me a list of things to avoid while pregnant, and Sweet N Low was on there. That's gotta tell ya something. I still avoid it like the plague.

Talking about sugars. I use Stevia extract, plus I grow the plant.. I never heard of truvia, but will look into it.

Patzi

Truvia is just the commercialized version of stevia extract.

I've grown stevia for a couple years, and I like Sun Crystals--it's a sugar/stevia mix. Truvia is almost too sweet for me, and Sun Crystals--though it still has some sugar in it--is only 5 calories per packet (1.3g).

Thanks Teacher Lady for info on truvia.
Suggestion for some that eat out who may have a problem with choosing OP.
I was at a meeting out of town last week, and there was nothing there that I could order OP so I did this.. I ordered a garden salad and shrimp, that was available steamed as an appetizer.. I always carry a FF dressing in a packet that I purchase from Diet Direct when I am out, and used that. I also had a HNS Gel and put that in water. No fruit available, but that was ok. I chose the best I could under the circumstances.. So, a salad with shrimp on top not a bad choice. If there was fruit for dessert, I would have ordered some strawberries or cantaloupe, but there wasn't. I always check to make sure the fruit had not been doctored with sugar.
Hope this helps someone..
Patzi

Stabilization.
I am on Meta Slim.. Stabilization for me the first week is adding a starch. There are many choices... Also, I was told to limit my HNS to 2 a day and one creamy. If no creamy, then three a day..
Will report on week two when I get there.
Patzi

Thanks for the update Patzi. I hope it is going well for you. When was your first day of stabilization officially?

Well, they talked to me about stabilization today! How funny! They wanted to start it next week, but after I told them about my cruise in 4 weeks, we discussed it and postponed it. Now it will be a week after the cruise that I will start. I am so excited!

I would not recommend ordering any starches at a restaurant. I do keep 4 pieces of melba toast in my purse for situations like this, that will cover 2 meals if needed. I also have 2 HSN concentrates and a meal replacement bar in my purse to help cover situations like this (if you don't want to eat these in the restaraunt then eat them in them before or after going in. I would probably have skipped the fruit because the plan is based on chemical reactions caused by the food we eat and not just calories in versus calories out.

Hope this helps,
Mariah