I didn't check my scale this morning, but my WI is today. I don't think I'm going to have great results :(

The 4th was way too much salt and vodka (not together) and last night, we were running around trying to buy a car for me and ended up at a Mexican restaurant. I resisted the chip basket but ordered this shrimp/steak/bacon platter and ate the whole thing. No carbs, but a booty load of FAT.

Let's hope I didn't gain, at the least!

Hey all - I have asked my MRC why we can't have onions and they have not given me a scientific answer. Have any of you asked the same thing? Green onions are OK, but not big onions. Too much starch in the big ones?

I usually only drink 2-3 HNS per day. Yesterday I drank 4 and felt like I was starving!! The HNS are supposed to help you with hunger pangs, right? And help speed up weight loss, right? Can any of the old timers help me here? How many do you drink? And what are the results?

Some of you have voiced how tired you are of same 'ol veggies day in and day out. I just posted a recipe on the Metabolic Research Center Recipe thread - Fresh Vegetable Skillet Dinner. It is great this time of the year with the selections of fresh veggies. I'm having it tonight! Hope all have a great weekend.

I wondered that too. Onions have a surprising amount of carbs. I have them anyway sometimes. It's challenging to cook without them.

I lost 2 pounds this week, even with the 4th of July! Officially changing my goal today to 155. Home stretch for sure now! July is DEFINITELY my last month before stabilization now. I am so excited!

Loveto, That is awesome!!!

I've often wondered about that so I did some research. A lot of it has to do with the glycemic index. Green ones are lower and yellow ones are in the medium range. I found this quote at Livestrong:
As for the HNS drinks, I've always done 4 drink. As you can see (click on the link below about when I reached my goal weight), it worked for me. ;)

That's awesome!!!! You're doing great!!!

Congrat's! that is a great loss!
Just an FYI since I know you are on metabalance like me. There IS a different stabilization menu for the plan. I have been so frustrated with my center as they have insisted that all plans follow the same stabilization menu. I finally called another center yesterday and they confirmed there is a different menu for meta balance stabilization - they even sent me a copy. I cannot wait to go into the center tomorrow and show it to them all and see what they have to say.

Thanks, JenB72. I'm really missing onions, but will continue to stay away from them I guess. Several of the foods that past diets included are not allowed on MRC, so I have to know the reason for each one just to satisfy myself. I hadn't found that explanation in Livestrong, so appreciate you passing it along! I'm also looking longingly at the fresh cherries in the store. . . . .

at WI yesterday I lost half a pound :) but I completely sabotaged myself today at lunch, had to unexpectedly take the kids to the doctor & my loldest hadn't eaten anything yet & was hungry so I let her eat the eggs & edamame out of my salad & whatever salad she wanted (you know kids always come first) then my parents invited us out to lunch & I ate off program, were talking 3 pieces of fried catfish (not whole filets though), 3 french fries, 2 small cake size pieces of meatloaf, a slice of pizza, and a small piece of pie :( I did eat a salad first but with the resturant dressing :( but on a plus side I didn't let it put me in the "ive already ruined it today so I might as well eat what I want" mode & ive gotten back on track for the rest of the day.

faery, yes, I was told the stabilization for metabalance is only 4 weeks (MetaSlim is 6 I think?) but so far that's all I know. It IS frustrating when they dont have the correct information, isnt it? like we have all said many times - the diet works, but there is such as wide variation in the counselors and their training that it can be maddening.

also maddening - this business of being out of stuff. I have wanted to get a certain bar for 3 weeks and its always out. they said its because of the switch to the new formulations. Meanwhile I went to The Vitamin Shoppe and found a bar i really like and showed my counselor the nutrition. Its called Quest bar. 20 gr. protein and only like 4-6 grams of non-fiber carbs. It I were on Metaslim, I dont think she would have "approved" it, but since metabalance is caloric, she said just dont overdue it. (which I seem to do with ANY bar)

aw, Really great that you got right back on the bus later in the day! Sometimes when I eat way off program like that it sets up a pattern I find hard to get out of. While it can be very hard to do, its really better for me to white-knuckle it and not get started in the first place. Also to ask my family for their support. I find that REALLY hard, because they have seen me fail before and I have often felt ashamed about that. But when people know I am dieting, I tend to feel more accountable not to overeat in front of them. Have you asked your parents for their support?

Saw Magic Mike last night w/ some girlfriends and oh, my! :-) wonder if my goal should be to be at a weight where if Magic Mike threw me over his shoulder, i wouldn't break his back? if i thought that would ever happen, i think i could lose 5 more pounds in a week!!! or maybe in less time :-) hey, a girl has to have goals!

Happy weekend everyone - Gorgeous and hot here in Sunny SC!
P.S. after the movie, my friends wanted to go out and eat..i didn't order anything, i wasnt hungry. wow, i love this new way of thinking....i wasn't hungry so didn't eat. amazing i never thought of that before. LOL

thanks!!! i love new recipes and that's what keeps me on program...i swear when i'm eating salads, sometimes i feel like i'll fall asleep w/ all the chewing! did a survey for MRC and one of the things i told them is that they needed to provide the members more recipes and food tips...i think people fail on diets (any of them) because they get bored w/ their food choices and go back to old habits. when i asked my counselor what he ate, he said the same thing every day and he even weighed his salads. lettuce and cukes...really? said chicken, salads, eggs and HNSs and pills every day.. JOY. again, so happy i found this site and all the tips and suggestions for meals and real food to eat :) and motivation. YAY

I haven't said anything to them yet about what I'm doing, my mom tends to be very pessimistic & she would immediately go to the "that is way to much money you can't afford that" mentality but I can't afford to let my health get worse either, I know this program will work for me, I feel like I finally have my mind in the right place to get this weight off so after I get good results I will share with them what I am doing (and hopefully my mom will try it out too since she has gained back quite a bit of weight since her gastric bypass surgery) on the other hand my bestfriend is completely supportive and helps back me up when we have been out to dinner, sad that I have to defend my choice not to drink when out with friends but as much of a lush as I am/was the other friends just aren't used to me not drinking, but that was just the first 2 times we went out or got together so hopefully it is sinking in with the rest of our group :) & I won't have to explain that I'm not pregnant either lol, funny that my husband talks about getting rid of his gut but refuses to quit drinking lol guess that gut is staying. I've told him to do program with me & he can but so far he isn't ready, oh well he is only like 20 lbs overweight anyway & he still supports my plans.

That's my problem too - I get bored eating the same ol', same ol'. That is why I love summer when we have more choices both in veggies and fruits. This skillet recipe is so good because you can use veggies you really like, add chicken or whatever meat and/or rice.

We took 2 months off from running - he had patellar tendonitis - plus on vaca. So training starts up again 7/9 - hubby will run half marathon 10/27 and I'm running half marathon relay that day:running:. Counselor said I might have to change to Meta Balance since exercise will increase. Not sure I want to go that route again - gained the last time I did MB:( And when I went to my MRC Thursday there were a lot of new faces. Manager and few veteran counselors are gone yet they kept some of the counselors that don't know answers to questions without checking with someone else:rolleyes:

CAMASWA - thanks for the congrats and congrats to you and all of the others that have maintained or lost this week. It has been over 100 here for over a week here but cooler weather - lower 90's and possibility of rain are slated for next week. With no rain in almost a month it looks like fall here with all of the trees shedding leaves to conserve moisture. Take care all and make wise choices

Adding to what Bigdog said... I wish MRC would provide us with more recipes and not only more recipes, recipes that don't include all their supplements. I never use their supplements to make the recipes in their cookbook, I substitute to what I think is the best choice..

lovetofishandrun..Don't know if I congratulated you, but if I did not am doing it now.. Glad for you.

Now on maintenance, I make the WW old recipe for Sloppy Joes, which my hubby eats on whole wheat buns, I just eat with a salad, as you know me with the carbs. If I have a bun, it is half of one. I try to take recipes and make them OP for MRC and healthy, so I don't eat the same thing all the time..

Hope everyone is having a great day.Hot and humid here in Florida with loads of mosquitos..
Patzi

i'd love to have the Sloppy Joe recipe. my DH would love it. he loves when we do taco night:-) what a kid! he has about 5 fully loaded and i have one hard shell broken up w/4 oz. of the meat mixture piled high w/ shredded lettuce, green onions and homemade salsa.
we had lean grilled hamburgers last night...i eat mine w/out bun and had grilled squash and fresh tomatoes from the garden. did have a small portion of corn too. hesitated re: the corn but haven't seen a gain, so yay!
i cannot make myself eat a hot dog or hamburger bun. first of all, even if it's whole wheat, i don't care for them. now if it was a Hardee's biscuit? that's another story! when we get chicken and biscuits from Hardees, i take the skin off and have one biscuit then down a bunch of water!!! i'm programmed if i eat something off plan, i chug water. in my mind i'm flushing it out! haha! don't you love my logic?
Patzi, when we first vacationed here in SC from VA, (before we moved here) we were fishing on the beach. covered w/ mosquitoes (from a recent storm) i noticed my DH wasnt being bothered. i'm like WTH? he said, drink more tequila! no see ums (sand fleas) are very annoying here when it cools down (everyone wears Skin So soft or bugspray) Lowcountry's curse -- we really dont have mosquitoes unless there's a storm..

Congrats everyone for your successes... i'm just trying to maintain and not gain - it's tough even doing that but i can do it!

I'm wondering if this works. . . . so if you've tried it, let me know please -

I've cheated twice this week, once at a 4th of July party and last night at a wedding. At the party I had several bites of homemade vanilla ice cream and homemade red velvet ice cream and then a taste of cherry pie and another of raspberry lemonade bars. The calico beans called my name and also the cheesy potatoes (only a few teaspoons of each). At the wedding I had a few steamed carrots in with other safe veggies, some mashed potatoes, and a piece of wedding cake with a few nuts.

After eating, I feel pretty guilty (not to mention, weak), so the two days after the 4th I ate on the Metaquick plan and am doing it today. Do you think that this actually helps get back on plan or is it just helping to ease my conscience? I don't have a scale at home, so don't really know if I gained after my cheats, but don't know if Metaquick helps either. I had tried it for two days over a week ago trying to break a plateau and it didn't really speed anything up then.

It's amazing that we cheat on things that don't really taste that good. I guess that they just look good after seeing mounds of chicken and vegetables! The red velvet wedding cake was not worth eating, but I ate the whole piece, greasy frosting and all. Today I say, YUCK!!

I think it does help to do Metaquick after eating off plan - at least to get you back on track (and chug a lug the water as Bigdog would say!) I am in the same boat as you today...........went out for Mexican food last night and instead of getting the salad with grilled chicken like I planned I had chicken enchiladas :barf: It was so not worth it! My stomach feels horrible today, plus they did not even taste that good.

I went to go WI last Thursday and I was down 4.5lbs! I was so excited! I am trying my best to follow this plan to the "T" I also get motivated by watching "Extreme Makeover Weightloss Edition" I love that show. Congrats on the losses ladies, keep it up!

Per my home scale, I have lost 19 lbs. Hoo-ray!

I was naughty this weekend and had wine...couldn't help it; I had a craving that had to be satisfied. It was wonderful, but I know I can't make a habit out of it. Unlike chips and cake, I did not feel guilty the next day but just knew I had to eat super clean and it worked!

Also, just bought a new car today. Stressful and exciting!!!

WI today and was up a pound. My counselor wasn't concerned while I was bummed. She said I lost so much at the last WI, my body caught up with it and basically balanced it out. I've been spot on with my eating and I've run 3 times in the past week. Just gotta keep chugging along, I guess.

Just wanted to thank everyone for listening to me whine for the last week and a half about the scale not moving.. I stayed on track, even went to the mountains ,stayed on OP best I could and the scale finally moved today.. Whew!!! Hopefully the momentum keeps going for a while and I promise no more whining!

I got my first 10lb stone and I've lost 13.5 inches total in about 2.5 weeks OP (not counting preconditioning)... super exciting.. although to be honest I don't "feel" the loss.

@JenB keep on chugging!
@sonnyrae- congrats on the total loss and new car!!!
@lolabunni- congrats!!!

Today is my official start date after going to the food education meeting last Friday. I ate on plan Saturday & Sunday and lost two pounds since Friday and 6 pounds when I originally signed-up (pre-conditioning). Needless to say, I'm pretty thrilled. :)

I look forward to getting to know everyone & getting healthy along the way!

WI today and lost a pound, I also got my 2 week OP measurements, I have lost 15 pounds since my consultation and 14 3/4 inches in the last 2 weeks. good motivation to keep on going! :)

That's fantastic!! Congrats!! :carrot:

sonnyrae - We started MRC at about the same time and you're kicking my butt! Way to go! Do you exercise? Drink lots of HNS each day? Do tell!

It sounds like everyone is doing great on program! All I know is that it's a good thing that there isn't another holiday coming for quite a while! Or wedding. Or birthday (other than my own, but I can control what we eat at my party!).

JenB - Don't be bummed. You have lost so much weight! You should be proud of yourself and be happy that you are still losing. I'm guessing that have lowered your goal since you are still going to weigh in and are worried about the scale.

faerychic - I went back to the green menu from Metaquick. I was starving while I was on Metaquick and I wonder if my body was going into starvation mode or feeling like it was stressed because I don't think that the scale was moving. I'll give it some food and see what happens. I have found that I have to stay away from restaurants because everything looks good, whether it tastes good or not, and my plans for sensible eating go out the window.

I don't remember who said in their post that it takes 21 days to form a habit. I've been on program for more than 21 days and I think that I could go back to my old way of eating. So I'm guessing that it takes more days for us junk food junkies! But let's keep at it, everyone. Here's to will power!! :)

Thanks:D

[QUOTE=jlpnebraska;4399685]sonnyrae - We started MRC at about the same time and you're kicking my butt! Way to go! Do you exercise? Drink lots of HNS each day? Do tell!

QUOTE]

I don't know, but I'm staying mostly on-plan. Adult beverages are my weakness, but I don't use sugary mixers. I walk a lot but not anything else major. I play volleyball once a week and I swim/play with my daughter in the pool 2-3 times a week as well. I guess it adds up! Winter is tough for me though, since I don't have the pool and there's no volleyball. I'll have to come up with a plan before it gets cold (hard to believe that will ever happen right now!).

I go to the farmer's market every weekend for fresh veggies and fruit that I love also. Maybe it's the pesticide free food? :):carrot:

Can any one explain to me Ketosis and how you get into this mode?

Basically, it's when you are burning fat for fuel instead of carbs. I found this explanation over at about.com. You can Google Ketosis and a million websites will pop up explaining it better than I could. ;)

Ketosis is a natural process that occurs when fats are converted into energy by the body -- usually when there is not enough glucose (carbohydrates) to provide for the body's energy needs. Instead, the fat is broken down into energy, and "ketone bodies" are the molecular by-products of this metabolic process.

Ketosis may occur during fasting, after an extended period of exercise, or when a high-fat/low carb diet is followed. It can also happen during an illness when nausea and/or vomiting make it difficult to keep food down.

Ketosis in and of itself is not a harmful process and occurs among diabetics and non-diabetics.

However, when ketone levels become excessively high, a condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis, aka DKA, can occur.

Woohoo!!!! Congrats on moving into the 200's!!!! Definitely something to be proud of. :cheer:

Hi...
I had maintenance weigh in today and maintained. I am back to 5 pounds under goal.. I will now go off green menu and back to maintenance..

Patzi

congrats aw82797!!

thanks everyone, my clothes fit so much better now LOL, I can't wait until they don't fit at all :)

oh and my name is angela, I will add that to my signature when I'm allowed on LOL

Oh I had the best breakfast this morning cottage cheese with chopped strawberries & a pack or 2 of splenda omg tasted like strawberry shortcake it was soooooo yummy

WI at lunch at lost the pound that I had gained back on Monday. That's a relief. I figured out what I was doing wrong. I'm so into my maintenance mentality that when I reviewed my food journals, I realized (cue DUH! moment) I was still drinking my milk. That's my only guess as to the gain. Go figure. Hopefully by cutting it out and going hard core Green Menu, the remaining few pounds will be gone sooner rather than later.

Can anyone tell me the different between the green menu and the level one menu as far as the food choices? I will be on the green menu once I get under 200lbs and wanted to know the difference. I know you only eat 4oz of meat, but what else??

Good for you! Today is my first official start day also. I did well on pre-conditioning, lost 4 lbs. Went to my first class Friday also. Told the counselor I was going on a sistechick 2 day trip and she said to wait until today. That did it--I couldn't stay on pre-conditioning. Had a cinnamon roll and 2 glasses of milk. Also, bread and amish peanut spread. My scales only show 1/2 lb gain. I go Friday for my WI and so I'm hoping staying strictly on plan blue menu today and from now on will be rewarded by a loss!