I'm so glad my kids' "good" candy is all gone! :dizzy:

Today is day 3 of pre-condition for me and despite being TOM, I'm down 3 pounds. I'm going to Food Instructional today and anxious to see my meal plan!

Tonight is the dreaded lingerie shower--one of my very good friends is hosting it and was asking my opinion on her menu choices and I just thought, "I'm screwed." However, I woke up today with a better attitude and hoping to get more motivated at the meeting today.

I had maintenance weigh in today and stayed the same, 5 pounds under goal.. I have decided with Thanksgiving coming up, I will stay close to the green Meta Slim menu, vs. maintenance, so I can enjoy myself on the holiday.. So I will not try anything new and will stay OP .

Congrats to all that lost weight, and congrats to any new comers, in the event I have missed anyone.

Have a wonderful day and remember stay focused, stay OP as it is all worth it.

Patzi

Bogdog, don't forget that just last week you were on vacation, too. I would suggest using this weekend to buckle down. Fish, lots of water, etc. Plan your meals for the week and keep to your plan. I bet you will soon see a nice drop. I have gone off plan a number of times lately, so this is also my advice to myself!

camaswa..
On another posting subject you mentioned wanting to make soups without using supplements.. I have never used any supplements on the recipes, or in anythng I ever cooked while on the diet. I always substituted.. If you are not sure what to substitute with, come on this forum and ask, and I am sure one of us can help you.

When I boil veggies, I always keep the broth and put in fridge and use that many times for my base. I use tomatoes lots, and herbs to spice the soup up. One of my favorite spices when I make soup is the Herbs de Provence. Not too sure of spelling, but that is great.. Use any herbs for flavor, even Mrs. Dash. I put leftover chicken in many of my soups. Can you have beans on your diet? If so, you can add the beans in there, also. But don't worry about the supplements, just exchange with something else.

Hope this helps
Patzi

i'm debating about driving over (an hour away) to the MRC center to weigh in. i'm down 2 lbs on my scales but prob. on their's nothing. as soon as i got back from vacation, started drinking tons of water, was back OP, eating eggs, cheese, lean meats...did have fish and squash last night.

i meant to ask you guys, does any one take fiber supplements? if so, which ones?
Ok, guess i'm getting in car and driving over....hope i can get a good pee in when i arrive before i get on the scale.!! LOL and TMI!!! :)

Hello!

With the creamies, I like the double chocolate pudding... I make it and pop it in the freezer for a fake chocolate ice cream... I also like the cappuccino, but I'm not a big coffee drinker anyway. We also use the creamy chicken with veggies and chicken boulion for cooking...

On the clothes sizing, I've lost 30 pounds and have gone down one to two pants size (20W to 16 now), but some dress pants are still a little tight! Also, I think it may be different, based on your body type, starting weight, and other things...

I don't take fiber, but haven't had a problem with that issue... yet! Although, the Fat/Carb blocker seems to get things "going" for me, if I have to use it before a restarant meal!

Good job on the weight loss guys!

Hi ladies,
Just got back from WI and I'm down a pound. I am .5 away from signing the 20 pound board and 1.5 away from goal. My weigh loss has been slow. I think I'm to an average of 1.14 pounds per week. I don't care. I'd like bigger numbers, but I want to keep it off for good.

I also got headaches at first and I was very tired. After about 2 weeks, that went away. But now my hair seems to be falling out. I'm totally taking my oil, what do you think is going on?

I do take some, just the Equate Fiber Therapy caplets. It's methylcellulose which is synthetically produced. It works for me, but when I'm out I'll try to find something more natural. I have diverticulosis and need the extra fiber.

I went to Food Instruction today and asked if the extra fiber would be a problem and she asked me how many calories were in it. Well, it's not listed. I assume that means it's miniscule? She said it was probably fine.

I got my menu--yellow! And I was wrong; just when I thought my menu couldn't be worse than pre condition, I got yellow! I'm sure there are worse, but I was really looking forward to something different. It seems I am more restricted now, but they reminded me I would also be drinking the HNS now so I should feel better.

It does make me want to skip the alcohol tonight at the party so that I can get started tomorrow instead of Monday. I figure the sooner I get it over with, the better.

My official weight loss was 3.5 lbs.

Just weighed in and am down 3 pounds - halfway to my 30 pound goal. I ca finally see it, too. Although no one else has commented... Oh well. The center went over my saliva test today and tried to sell me a ton of stuff. It is hard to say no, but I did. I told them I will take the results to my naturopath and see what he says.

I'm planning to have a NON-social weekend. Getting meals ready for next week and plenty of exercise. I always feel better when I do that. Have a good weekend, all!

:carrot:

1bighog-I just got done with yellow yesterday. Not going to lie, first day is tough, but it did get better...and I was so ready to be on blue today. I did a lot of "heavy" veggies for my salad: cucumbers, green peppers, celery...I don't do so well with lots of lettuce.

camaswa-congrats!! Halfway there!!!!

Did you do the olive oil/canola oil dressing? I can't believe those are my only options! I just called and asked if I really couldn't have any of the dressings listed on pre conditioning and they told me they'd prefer if I wait until green to add those.

I did. I actually made a big shaker of it so I didn't have to make it each time...then just tried to have my portion size be small.

Another thing you can do is put cottage cheese (a big carton-16 oz) in a blender/magic bullet with 1/2 pack of the ranch dip mix (just the mix-I like flavor so I'd probably use the whole pack) and then add water to it to make dressing. My sister did that and loved it. I just did the cottage cheese and some dill/garlic/parsley and used it as a dip. you just have to figure out how much cottage cheese of the dip/dressing you are using and figure that as part of your 1/2 cup allowance at noon. At noon I did 1/4 c cottage cheese and 1 oz cheddar cheese...so 1/4 c dip & 1 oz cheddar (I figured since you can do 1/2 cup cottage or 2 oz cheddar I'd just do half of both).

I did use the wishbone spray a few times. I had asked and she said that was okay. I don't like it real great...I liked the oil/vinegar dressing better.

Thank you, Patsi! It's definitely soup weather where I live! And like I said, I don't like those soup supplements.

that's fantastic Bighog! definitely drink the HNSs (clear) and the one creamy a day. i have at least 3 to 4 clear and they really keep me full and energized :-) i buy the pink lemonade in the big container from Diet Direct so mix that up in a blender w/ ice or just shake up in my blender bottle... you can do this!

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

haven't tried that one but love the chocolate caramel wonderslim bar! and chocolate peanut butter... i'm always on the road and will have a bar for lunch and keeps me filled up (to avoid fast food!)
just got back from the oyster roast, had oysters and they actually had grilled chicken and collard greens so had that and skipped the red rice, mac n cheese, corn bread and choc. cake! one of my friends was like, arent u going to eat? i was kind of picking at the food.. then she said, you've lost weight, do you eat anything? she asked if i was on a grapefruit diet, i thought that was funny. i did have a few beers, lite beer but am really full! so will have to do damage control and drink tons of water :-) it's so nice to be in control though w the food.

Exactly how I felt last night. :) We are better for it.

Thanks for the advice on the clothes. I feel better since I got it out. That's the great thing about this forum.

Bigdog - let me know if you have any luck with Mary Poppins. I need her to visit Arkansas also. :)

she hasnt arrived...if she does, she'll be here at least a week!! it's terrible that we havent put our summer clothes away and bought in the winter clothes...i guess we are in denial and refuse to believe Fall is here! it feels like 80 on the deck so think i'll hang out and read some chick lit! LOL the dogs are already snoozing in the sun. just bought an early Christmas present - GE Single Serve Blender (upon recommendations from this forum) planning on a Vanilla Creme strawberry shake for lunch! yum!

Hi Ladies!

Well, I don't know what has gotten into me, but I decorated my house for Christmas yesterday! I guess I am looking forward to it this year!:tree:

I am being weird about my clothes lately....most don't fit me anymore, so I have been picking up an item here or there...but not getting rid of the others!? I don't understand why I am doubting myself by keeping them. That is obviously what I am doing, because I truly don't plan to ever fit into any of them again...I can't help but to get so discouraged when I hear of others who gain it all back...yet I am me, and it doesn't mean I am personally doomed to such a fate. It is my decision how I handle my weight going forward...and I know this, while at the same time, I hold onto my big clothes? What is the psychology in that? LOL

By the way, is the "Stabilization" class a celebration type gathering or just a simple class? Just curious.

Well, thanks for letting me vent...I always appreciate any insights from you all into feelings I am experiencing.

Have a nice Sunday....I plan on having "Blackened Salmon" over a big salad for dinner tonight! Sounds yummy to me!!! Sorta salty...but I will drink LOTS of water:)

That is awesome, and very well said! Not sure how I ever missed that back in October?!?! Her motivation is to be admired for sure. So glad she shared this, and you reposted it! Thanks!

Shoppermom - Welcome! You are in the right place. Give the supplements you bought a try and if you find that some don't work as well for you as others, you are under no obligtion to buy them again. What we've learned here is that while some supplements work great for some people, they don't work as well for others. This forum will provide great morale support. Hope to see you here often!

Tami - Must be something in the air. I can't wait for Christmas either. I haven't decorated yet, but that is coming very soon.

Welcome Shoppermom. Wish you the best on your new challenge.. This diet does work .

Bigdog..
Have tried both bars you mention and they are delcious.

Do you have any idea what the following replaces in MRC. I was given them by a friend.Bari Wise Wild Berry Drink(plus other flavors that are available). It says high protein fruit drink. Protein is 15 gr. and fat is 0. I thought it would be a drink similar to the powdered HNS drinks.. All you do is add water to it.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day. It is beautiful weather here in the south ..

Patzi

menu
 

Hi guys. I am new to this site. I was hoping that I could get a copy of the pdf file with the different MRC menus and instructions. I'm looking to make tomorrow the start of the rest of my life.:)

email me at steelergirl at att dot net. I will appreciate anything you can send.

the Bari Wise is exactly what MRC sells...clear HNS...lucky you! wish someone would give me some :-) i buy Protidiet from Diet Direct and it's the same as MRC sells (Bari Wise is the same too)