MRC December Thread
 

Well it's december already and hard to believe, getting ready for the holidays again! I'm on week 3 of stabilization and doing great! I can't believe all the foods they add back in so quick but they tell me this is the transition to take your body out of the fat burning mode!!! so far i've maintained my weight which is good. I got to drink milk for the first time in 4 months since i've been on plan!! Sometimes i can't eat all the foods. I'm excited that im finally here and moving forward and it's working! :carrot::carrot:

Congrats on your success skelley!!!!

I have had a hard time staying on plan this last month. It started with just a little bite of something here and there and then snowballed a bite of something almost everyday. The first couple of weeks I still lost weight which just let me allow myself to continue the bad habits. So as of today I am strickly back on plan! No more cheats!

skelley I'm so excited for you! I love hearing how your transition is going with your stabilization on your way to maintenance. Congratulations on your success!

pam good for you for halting that snowball in its tracks and making the choice to stop those extra little bites! Looks like you are very close to your goal. How does that feel?

Last night I did something I've never done before... I tried on skinny jeans at the mall! I didn't buy any, I'll wait until I see if these last few pounds I'm trying to get off will come off my thighs which should drop me down a size (I'm wearing a 10 now), but I also didn't leave the dressing room near tears! My ultimate goal is to be able to wear skinny jeans with the tall boots like all the gals are wearing nowadays. I'm getting close so I'm excited!

Grats Skelley!

Good Luck Pam :-)

Going4fit...YAY, skinny jeans! I love going to try on clothes now. I don't buy them either...but it sure feels good knowing what size your in.

Thanks, oh i've had my cheat days too but I always make sure to get back on plan right away! :)

LOL: I just went shopping saturday for my husband christmas party friday night and I bought a pair of Miss Me skinny jeans and tall black boots, first for me but it feels so good to be able to wear them and look good in them!!! :cp:

Hi everyone…I’ve been MIA. :o Time for me to face the music and admit that I totally fell off program 6 weeks ago. I don’t have a good excuse. Really, I don’t. I took the easy route and ate what was easy. I’ve gained 8 lbs. back according to my scale.

The manager at my center called me today to check in. She said she wants to see me succeed and wants to give me back those 6 weeks on my program. I thought it was very generous of her to offer that. She was not judgmental at all.

So what’s holding me back? I just need to get my butt in to my center and start eating right! Someone kick me in the butt, will ya?!

Meazie: Okay now let's get you back on track, listen to your center and let her help you! You came a long way and you can do this, remember you eat to live not live to eat and we are all here for you! Look forward from now on!!! :carrot::carrot:

Thanks all for the words of encouragement. Today was a good day!

Meazie, I understand and I would give you a kick if I wasn't already giving myself one, LOL! I agree with skelley, go back to the center and let them help. Good luck!

Oh my goodness! I was hoping to debut the skinny jeans and boots for my husbands Christmas party too! I ordered boots from Zappos and they came today and fit great. Can't believe that's me in the mirror! My first tall boots! I don't think I will have the guts to do it but his party is still 10 days off so we'll see. Since it looks like I can do a size 8 in some brands, I may be able to borrow some skinny jeans from a neighbor at the last minute. Don't want to spend more money on me right now with all the Christmas spending I'm doing.

(BTW, Miss Me?! Wow! That must feel pretty good!)

Hi meazie, I'm new to 3fatchicks. I've been doing MRC since beginning of August. Welcome back! Don't waste time feeling sorry for yourself about the gain. You're still way ahead from where you started and how great that the center is letting you keep those weeks! If you can afford it, do MetaQuick for a week - you can call it your week of chocolate! I finally tried it and loved it, and my averages in the two weeks since then have been much better than usual, so you'll get those eight pounds back in no time. Good luck and keep us posted!

Hey Meazie...just jump back on the wagon...we all fall off sometimes..Babe Ruth Struck out I don't know how many times before he made a home run..we've got to get up and keep working at it!

Skelley...girl..you r dropping those pant sizes quickly...:carrot:
Pam.. glad your back on plan!
Going for fit...your doing great gal....so glad your joined us here!
They want me to pay them for more weeks but I think I'll pretend like Im going to stabilization and just keep dieting .. I dont want to spend any more money!
Its been really hard since I dropped off for a few days during Thanksgiving....But I am going to keep on keeping on until I lose all the weight I want.Then I am going to send you girls the transformation pictures. I look foward to that day!
.I go weigh Friday! WHo knows? I have lost inches for sure!

Meazie, and everyone else who fell off the wagon....i fell off and fell hard!!! back on plan today and will continue taking it one day at a time. i just drank 4 bottles of water in the last 2 hours and i'm sure i'll be running to the bathroom all night but that is activity, right?

i feel so bloated and cant wait to get light again and not have that tight pant feeling....
WE CAN DO THIS!!!! :)

Cmarty: that's what i did, i didn't pay more money as they would have liked me too, but i'm starting week 4 of stabilization but i'm actually still following the green menu, i have to admit i've cheated a little here and there but so far it's not affected my weight, i go friday am to weigh in and get my week four menu, I know i'm still losing inches because my size 8's i just bought 2 wks ago are now getting loose!! goodluck friday, i will look for your update and i will post mine also! I bought some Miss Me skinny jeans last sat for my husbands xmas party friday night, it was awesome shopping with my daughter on saturday she is so proud of me!! i"m actually in a size smaller than her LOL! :carrot:

Congrats!
 

Fitting into those skinny jeans is awesome! Not leaving a dressing room feeling depressed and crying is also GOOD! :) Congrats also surviving the holiday parties and all the temptations.

I want to extend a personal congrats to those that fell off the wagon, but are getting back on. It is encouraging to hear your resolve and also the support from the centers you are going to. The accountability is what is making me stay on track I think right now.

I'm going to be on the Green menu starting Friday. I'm looking forward to having a bit more variety. I've been going by my home scale since weighing in at the center has to many variables (how much I've drank/eaten, what clothes I'm wearing that day). So far I'm down 9.2 lbs since Ive started keeping track. I think the supplements help as well as the food limits. I'm learning portion control all over again!

Back on the wagon
 

lost 3 lbs this week, getting back on the wagon, and focusing on eating my veggies, protein and more water! and 3 HNSs a day.

Woo hoo!!! back in control again and loving it. :-)

I need to jump back on the wagon again too! I have been doing pretty well in maintenace until recently - jumped on the scale this morning and I am up 3 pounds (never made it to my original goal of 160, but 163 felt pretty good - just cannot let it get out of control at this point!) Anyway, I definitely get motivated coming here jumping back in.

Great job to all you losers and gotta love skinny jeans :D!!!

Good for you Faery for getting back on it now rather than later! Its only gonna get harder as these weeks go by.

Congrats Big Dog!

You guys won't believe this...I lost 4 and half pounds this week and I didn't do anything different! I guess it is just melting off!
I have lost almost 40lbs and 40 inches total!:carrot:

cmarty, that's so great! I had a pretty good week last week too but added four to six extra cups of water at the suggestion of one of the consultants. Was worried I'd spend the entire day in the bathroom since I'm already drinking twelve cups a day, but it didn't turn out to be too hard. I'm wondering if it's true about how our body is so much more efficient at burning fat once we get to that 27% body fat range the center sets for their goal for us. But then again, I only had 1 pound this week. *shrug*

Is your 128 goal you mentioned on the other thread official with the center, or do you plan on trying to get lower while on stabilization and maintenance so you can stop paying for the program? Just wondering, since the goal under your avatar is a higher amount. I had picked 135 for my goal even though they chose 147 because of my height. I told them I'd been 140 pounds a few times before and still had lots of extra weight on my butt/thighs, so no way was I going to settle for 147. Kind of odd - some of the consultants fuss at me about it, saying that 27% body fat is where they want me to be and they want me to start stabilization. There's no way a single one of those ladies has that much body fat - they are all size zero's and two's. I told them I've come this far, paid this much money, I'm not settling for good enough. I want to be fit and active and I want to see it through until I'm comfortable with my body. They finally agreed to let me try for 24% body fat. I don't know what that weight will end up being. I'm only a few pounds from my first goal of 135 though, and I don't think it's going to be it.

bigdog and faery - congrats to you both for coming back on and getting back on the wagon! bigdog, it's paid off already! How cool is that!

faery, how long have you been on maintenance?

You go girl, congratuations! I start wk 4 today on stabilization, i'm loving it! Lost 1.5 lbs yesterday!! :carrot:

My skinny jeans!!!
 

Attachment 43601

Yeah this is me in my skinny jeans, we went to my husbands xmas party last night!!!!:carrot:

You rocked it! Love the whole look - great top and blazer, great boots, perfect! Thanks for sharing the pic!

I went back to the mall without the kids and had time to try on more jeans. Bought some size 8 skinny's to wear with my boots but haven't found a top yet. Definitely want something sparkly or metallic since that's the trend and it's a Christmas party after all. I still don't know if I'll have the guts to wear the outfit even if I do find a top. Party is Thursday. We'll see.

Skelley .WOW!.you look fantastic ...Thanks for sharing the picture

I finally made it to a size 8!!! WOO HOO!!

Going 4 fit...Yes, I had a lower goal than the center! They said 142.. I want 128..I think i am 26 percent body fat...so we will see Are you trying to lose much more? I see your almost to goal...Congrats!!:carrot:

Going4fit: I have been in maintenance since the end of July, so not very long. I have been worried about gaining around the holidays - I think it was actually easier for me when I was on plan just to completely stay away from sweets and the traditional holiday foods.

cmarty congrats on the size 8!!! I see everyone has a really low body fat percentage, at home mine stays around 34-35%, at the center it shows 36% but thats later in the morning, i'm one lb away from my goal weight so i don't understand why my body fat % won't go down???? I still want to lose about 5-10 more lbs.:carrot::carrot:

Looks like it was a good week! Congrats everyone. I worked hard this week to stay on plan and I lost 3 more pounds! My original time was up so I signed up for 10 more weeks. I'm close to my original goal, but I want to loose a little more. I think I'll just see where I end up at the end of this 10 weeks.

Wow - everyone is doing so well!

faerychic, I understand about it being easier to just be on plan. I'm slightly terrified of going off the green menu! But dealing with life after the diet is exactly why I decided to join a weight loss center this time around. I'm looking forward to the maintenance support. You put in the time and money to get there, they owe you that support. They can coach you through this holiday season and get you back on track!

pam, congrats on staying on plan and a 3lb loss! Woo-hoo! Ten more weeks will get you another twenty pounds for sure if you work your menu - won't that feel great? I'm excited for you!

cmarty, I don't know pound-wise or bodyfat%-wise what I'm going to do! I just know I want to stick with this until the extra flab is gone off my butt/thighs. There's been a couple of promotions at my center where I've earned extra weeks, so I'm not out of time yet. Gonna see what happens this month. For sure each five pounds now is making a noticeable difference (whereas when I first started I had to lose twenty pounds before I could finally go down a size!) so it could just be that the last five I need to lose comes off these thighs.

I'm jealous of both you and skelley in your size 8's. Goodness, we're all about the same height and I've gotten into the 130's and I'm only just now fitting into a size 8, but sticking with my 10's until they get baggier.

Skelley, what do you use to check your body fat % at home? I bought an Omron handheld and when I tried it a few weeks ago it had me at 18% which is very low and was nearly 10% off from the center, so I don't think it's very accurate. The center's scale now shows me at 26%.

On the discussion about body fat %. I posted several months ago about the discrepancy between centers scale BF% vs my doctors scale. The center was off by 10% with me with more!! I'm going with my doctor since I know his scale is routinely calibrated and not sure about center. In fact, when I mentioned the difference to my counselor her comment - "I'm not surprised. I don't know the last time it was calibrated".

I've fallen a little too. I'm having a chronic problem and my doctor commented that I might have to go gluten free - oh my!! With all that is going on between now and first of year, I decided to watch the amount of gluten. I asked my center for assistance on this two weeks ago but no luck so far.

Willpower to all who are struggling (this is a tough time of the year) and congrats to all losing or maintaining.

Hi lovetofishandrun: I use a digital scale by healthometer, i bought it online about 6 yrs ago and t shows me around 35.1 to 35.6% depending on what time of day i weigh, i've been down to 34.2%, I always weigh myself in the nude (TMI lol) after i get up in the morning, the center always shows me at least 1 to 1.5 lbs more and 1-2% more body fat when i go there. I went on Fat to Fit website and put in all the calculations it asked for and it shows me at 26% so I don't really know! The only really fat I feel i have left is on my lower back on the sides. :?:

just ordered from Vitacost and am trying the Walden Farms Caramel Dip to eat w/ my apples for a treat. OMG, all i feel like eating are snacks and not complete meals..
i figured the apple w/ the Caramel dip (0 calories, 0 fat) would be a good treat/dessert. Vitacost has a 10% coupon on their site so it was $3.50. also ordered some protein bars (South Beach) 5 bars for $2.78. (haven't tried them - 9 g. protein) a little low in protein but low in cal. too... 140 cal.
Free shipping for $49 purchases... not as fast delivery as Diet Direct but the Syntrax Vanilla Bean Torte is a few dollars cheaper...

am fully stocked w/ salad fixings, eggs, greek yogurt, cheese, etc. so i have good choices on hand.

went to a Christmas party this past Sunday and the cool thing was alot of people bought salads and fresh fruit and cheeses so i was able to stay on plan. had water and a glass of champagne to toast! Tasted a chocolate dessert (2 bites) and did try the ginger snaps w/ pumpkin dip (my favorite).

i love when you go out to dinner at someone's house or party and they have healthy choices. :hat:

that's fantastic!!! woo hoo! just reading this made me refill my jug of water and eat my salad for lunch :)

bigdog, thanks for the reminder about the Vitacost website. I've been looking for the Walden Farms pancake syrup and it doesn't seem to be sold locally anywhere so was going to have to resort to ordering it. I don't have anything to use it on yet - can't figure out how to make a pancake type thing on program. But my grandmother is diabetic and most sugar free syrups have yucky side effects (gas). People say not so with this one, and it tastes great too.

Well I was up half a pound at my weigh-in yesterday. I've been overdue for a plateau and I know it will even out in a week or two, but it's still disappointing when I was hoping for two more pounds off this week for that extra bit of confidence before debuting the skinny jeans and boots for hubby's Christmas party. I did everything right though - followed my menu 100% and did my exercise. Just gotta keep plugging along.

I pulled out the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD and tried it again this morning. I thought it might be easier now that I'm 20lbs lighter. I think it was easier, but I was just as dizzy and lightheaded afterwards, which I why I stopped doing it before. I'm plenty hydrated before I start, and chug an additional 2 cups of water plus an HNS immediately afterwards, so all I can figure is it's too intense of a workout for how low the calories/carbs are on this plan.

Don't beat yourself up, i went thru the same thing, seemed like i couldn't lose not even 1/2 a lb but then found out i was losing more inches than lbs!!! So they measured me that day and i had lot 5 1/4" WOW!! My counselor told me that sometimes your weight will stall while losing inches. Hang in there!!!:carrot::carrot:

Hey All, I am a returning MRCer, I lost all my weight 4 years ago but tried to stabillize myself. Ended up gaining all my weight back plus some. I've tried over the last few years to get back on it but with no success until now. I've been on program for 2 1/2 weeks and have lost 13lbs so far. I feel that this is it. I'm graduating nursing school in May and I want to start my career healthy. I know I will still to it this time and be successful. I love reading all your accomplishments. I too want to wear skinny jeans and tall boots sooooo badddd!! Good luck to all, have a great day on program!!

Yay! Welcome back 1 thinner me! Aren't you a smart one for getting back on program now instead of after the holidays! You get to start the new year way ahead instead of further behind. You go girl! :carrot:

What is wrong with me!
 

Okay i need some serious feedback, i have done so good for 5 1/2 months and i'm even in stabilization, but the last few days i've been going crazy with cravings, and today i went off plan and ate three cookies, ice cream with carmel and nuts, and chips, I feel like i'm spinning out of control and i don't know why i'm scared!!!!! :?::?::?::?: It's like i tell myself no no no but still eat!!!

skelley, first of all I'm so sorry you had a bad day with your eating. You're in stabilization and so close to being on your own and "eating in the wild" and I think maybe you're scared because you just got a picture of how quickly your old eating habits can sneak back up on you?

Have you done any of the connection classes at your center? The lady that does them at mine puts a diagram up on the board at every class - a circle showing that our thoughts, feelings and behaviors are all connected and drive each other. In the middle of that circle she writes the word "choice". We can choose what to dwell on (our thoughts), which affects our feelings, and our feelings affect our behaviors. With this thing rolling along through this cycle, we've got momentum. That momentum can carry us towards our goals or away from our goals.

Yesterday you made food choices that weren't on your plan. Feeling out of control and scared about it means you've begun a cycle of negative momentum. You can correct that! You can make the choice to accept that you ate some things off plan, but that you aren't going to let that de-rail all of your hard work. Spend some time thinking about what choices you can make to create positive momentum in that cycle that get you moving back towards your goal. For instance, you can choose to do an extra workout today to burn off those extra calories that you regret eating. With that choice, you may begin to feel empowered instead of regretful. An empowered feeling will drive your behavior. You can do it!

Have you thought about what got you overeating in the first place? Maybe you subconsciously thought you deserved a break after all your hard work and debuting your new look at your husbands party? Understanding what you were feeling when the cravings started can help you make different choices next time you're feeling that way. Of course, it could just be you stepped on that slippery slope and discovered it's much harder to stop eating than to just not start in the first place! Chalk it up to lesson learned.

I've been fighting cravings really bad this week too! I've decided it's because I keep hearing the message everywhere I turn about how hard it is to get through the holidays. It's making me cranky! And when I'm cranky I like to eat.

Going4fit: Thank you for your support and feedback, my center has not mentioned anything about connection classes, it's hard for me to go there in the evenings because of my work, But i understand what you said about "choice" and momentum, and i believe you are right that i was just scared and also thought i deserved a break, it was like i take all these pills everyday and eat the same things everyday and I just lost my way.

But let me tell you that thru the night i got up twice to go to the restroom and each time i got dizzy and felt the room spinning and then the same thing this morning when i got up and I felt HORRIBLE, i know it was because i put so much sugar in my system that it went into shock! So i started drinking water like crazy and it started flushing out the toxic right away, i feel much better now but i will not go thru that again, i don't even want to look at a cookie or chips now!!! Lesson learned for sure!!

I did feel guilty to the extent that i went down in my basement last night at 9:30 and did 30 mins of walk away the lbs DVD!! I think that's what helped me not gain anything this morning, now it may show up tomorrow but i am back on track today and staying on track. I again appreciate your imput! Thank you so much :hug: