I drove over to the center this afternoon to weigh in, lost a pound! woo hoo! after my 4 day vacation i wasn't sure what the scales were going to register! they also measured me and i've lost a total of 24.5 inches!!! wow, very cool. the counselor said i'm doing fantastic and she was amazed at the inches lost...she did mention that only a couple inches less in my stomach and again suggested Cortitrim but i just ignored that..told her i was PMSing :0 she did a reading and said i've lost fat and today registed water gain. prob all the seasonings my DH is putting on the veggies and the flank steak...we have Mrs. dash so need to use other stuff than the sea salt we use especially before weigh in. so glad i made the hour drive. i have an oyster roast to go to tomorrow but planning on exercising more, drinking tons of water, eating some veggies before we go, and eating some oysters, hot dog w/ no bun, small chili and drinking a couple Vodkas w/ club soda w/ splash of lite cranberry juice. Sunday, i'll have eggs, fish, salad, salad, salad! and drink 1,000 gallons of water on Sunday and Monday to flush the bad stuff out. :-) :dizzy:

hmmmm....maybe i shouldnt ask them if a low sodium V-8 and cheese stick is ok for lunch on the road then...LOL! or mixing the pink lemonade HNS w/ sugar free margarita mix w/ tequila on vacation is a good idea! ROLOL!!!! i lost 2 lbs on vacation and had protein magaritas!!! :-) i understand being OP but also when i can't, making healthy choices works too!

my fitness pal
 

just logged in My Fitness Pal what i'm planning on eating today...and drinking @ the Oyster Roast tonight :-) when i plugged in Bud Lite, 3 beers is 330 cal., i changed that to 3 oz. Vodka and it's 193 cal.

my total calorie count is 945 for the day. i haven't added in any HNSs so i'll probably have 1 or 2 @ 70 cal each. what i like about Fitness Pal, i can track protein, carbs, fat, sodium (you can add what you want to track)
here's what i'm having...
Bfast-
lite wheat bread w/ colby cheese melted on top
1 boiled egg
Decaf.coffee w/ 1 tsp hot cocoa protein mix

Lunch
Tilapia 4 oz
salad w/ lettuce, cukes, green onions
Greek dressing made w/ garlic, seasonings, lemon juice (DH made it)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (thawed) (sometimes i'll add 1 TB lite cool whip -12 cal.)

Dinner
6 oysters steamed
1/2 cup Chili w/ hot sauce
1 hot dog w/out bun
2 or 3 Vodka/Club Soda/Pink Lemonade protein mix or maybe i'll add V-8 and hot sauce to vodka for a Bloody Mary to get my veggies in for dinner :-)

Anyway, that's my plan... i do know i'll drink alot of water tomorrow becuz Alcohol does make me retain water. Planning ahead seems to work for me and i may eat a whole bowl of chili and skip the hot dog (better choice)
i always make White chili @ home (chicken, northern beans, garlic, onions, cayenne, cumin, jalepenos (optional), canned tomatoes w/ green chilies) i add lots of jalepenos and cayenne - i like Heat! :-) but i'm sure they'll have traditional chili.
and i'll ride my exercise bike for 45 minutes today while reading chick lit.
House is a wreck, winter clothes need to come in, summer clothes out! thinking i'll email Mary Poppins and see if she can pop in and lend a sister a hand

you just reminded me of the cottage cheese dip i can make for Thanksgiving w/ cut up veggies... i'll have to look it up again but i think it's cottage cheese w/ the ranch dressing dry mix...

Snickerdoodles!
 

making snickerdoodles this am. this time using chocolate creme pudding mix and the old fashioned oatmeal (last time i used Wonderslim oatmeal)
makes 2 servings.
2 pkgs chocolate creme pudding mix
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
2 beaten eggs

usually i mix cinnamon in when i used vanilla creme pudding mix but this time, mixed splenda and cinnamon together and sprinkled on top of some of them. if i had cocoa powder, i'd mix splenda and cocoa and sprinkle on top.
haven't tried yet, but i think w the vanilla, the pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon might be tasty!
mix and drop on cookie pan
bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes. makes about 18 balls (i made them small about 1")
(we are supposed to just have this for breakfast....)
did not realize that old fashioned oats have 5 g. protein! and 4 g. fiber

(these are more like little muffins, not really crunchy like cookies.) the cinnamon/splenda combo sprinkled on top caramalized and made the top a little crunchy :-) will def. serve these as little desserts for Thanksgiving.
will experiment w/ the pumpkin spice and vanilla for next go around

Bigdog, Yay! That's a lot of inches! I bet you are looking and feeling so much better! I hear you on the sea salt- I love that stuff! My blood pressure is low so I never worried about salt, untill this water retention became obvious. That is probably why weighing everyday made me crazy too.

Impressed with your plan! You go!

hey, you're down to 175 - way to go!! that's what i'm aiming for next week- i'll catch up to you soon! :-) just downloaded some pics of the camping trip...a little thinner even under all the layers of sweatshirts but need to lose more, more, more! my DH is pretty happy too...he's lost weight too! he's 6'3" and full of muscle (hmmm...isn't that a song?) got into some jeans he hasn't worn in awhile... i was hoping he wouldn't lose so when i'm with him, i look smaller...haha!

my blood pressure is low too so i don't worry unless it's weigh in day... i really don't have any health problems except for excess weight and can't fit into clothes! but my parents had high blood pressure, mom had diabetes so hoping to avoid that stuff as i get older... my DH has high cholestrol and high blood pressure but not overweight....before this diet, i ate mostly carbs so guess that kept everything low but my weight. my DH eats more meat...so this is helping him having more fish, chicken, lean meats...

from Discoverjoy
 

this is from Discoverjoy that was posted in October thread. i think it needs to be repeated :-) so here goes...

Originally Posted by discoverjoy

you have to mentally separate yourself from the diet and the salespeople selling stuff to keep the diet going and make a living. It's two different things.

The diet is actually incredibly good for us. The food is good and nutritious and our bodies are happy bodies.

The salespeople are greedy sometimes, so you have to be firm, and then let them know that you are aware of what they have and you will let them know when you are ready to try something new or different.

I, personally, can't do this diet without my supplements. The supplements make it exciting for me. I look forward to my semi-frozen chocolate pudding balls and my chicken soup with my salad.

I am excited about the creativity required to eat healthy, not get bored and still lose weight.

It is definitely a huge challenge not to get sucked back in to the rest of our country's way of eating...The American diet sucks. It makes you miserable and puts you in a perpetually dieting/binging situation.

This girl is fighting back. I'm fighting for it and I'll never quit! EVER!

Mrc is the best nutrition/weight loss plan I've ever done. It works the absolute best, but requires a lot of perserverence. Something I have trouble with.

Go get em' today ladies....

WOOOHOO

I was at out of town at for a business meeting this morning, and they bring food in and I will not eat any of what they offer, so I brought a bar and an HNS for my lunch.. Well.... You ladies that order from Diet Direct, if you have not tried the peanut butter and jelly protein bar you are missing something. It is very very good... Filling also. One guy said to me, you are not still dieting , and I said yup, and went on to another subject.. There is always that one that will bring it up, but it does not bother me.

Patzi

To bigdog and camaswa......looks like we're pretty close in height, weight and goal weight. I started in mid-August at 192 and today at home weigh-in I was 174. Haven't seen those numbers in a while. My clothes feel ever so much better! It also appears we have similar off program choices. For example tonight is the Oregon/Stanford game....I'm a huge Duck fan.....so I will be indulging in vodka and seltzer water. I also work out a lot so I make sure I plan a good workout session if I'm going to have a healthy cheat or two. :-) It seems to be working okay. I'm losing each week, slowly but surely, and that was always my goal. 3-5 pounds per week was never realistic for my lifestyle.
I also find it a bit humorous when I show my food log and they call me on small things like a couple carrots or salmon for lunch (too much fat for lunch they say......really? A few carrots and salmon? If they only knew........anyway, it is a great program and it has definitely worked for me. Like you say, it's OUR journey, not theirs and we have to do what's best and what works for us.
Sounds like you both have it figured out and are doing great. Congrats! Bigdog....Enjoy the oysters...yumm! I see a chicken wing in my future. It is game day after all!

I did it! I stayed strong at the party last night and I did not stray from the pre condition menu! It was hard when I was there, but on my way home I was so proud of myself and realized I didn't miss anything by not having a piece of cake or alcohol. And it paid off because according to my scale, I was down another TWO pounds! Makes 6 pounds down (I did weigh naked this morning which I haven't done the other times I've weighed.)

I went ahead and started the yellow menu today and it hasn't been bad at all! I would have liked more variety, but the HNS drinks helped SO much and I did not feel hungry once today.

Good job, Bighog

My inlaws invited us for a campfire tonight...so I took my veggies, mother in law had the bread, and ended up having a hot dog instead of my chicken (on the bread with mustard of course)...but did stay away from the smores. It kinda sucked at the time, but now that home I'm glad that I didn't cave. In my stage right now, I just need to stay focused and on track. There will be time for me in the future to venture into some small treats, but for now...its working and I'm not going to sabatoge myself like I usually do.

Just joined today and this is my first post. Not sure if this is really where it goes....

I'm really excited and start preconditioning on Monday. I broke down and bought everything except the multi-vitamin. I just want to give it 100% and get back to "ME"!

I love this forum and all the info. You are all very inspiring!

Amy