Yuck.
 

Grapefruit HNS= Yuck.

Anyone else have any yucks today?

I haven't ate anything today but I agree, not a fan of grapefruit...it has a strong after taste :p YUCK.

It's the only one so far that I really don't like. Although the green tea has a bit of an after taste too.

Don't you get CRAZY hungry when you don't eat? I turn into a dragon!

I thought it would be like Fresca, but not so much. If you drink it hot, it's kind of nice, though. I only drink it at night or if I'm not feeling well (like hot tea).

So far I don't care for the Blue Raspberry, I'm finishing it off first to get rid of it.

I really like the peach mango, last night as a dessert I added my peach to it with ice and blended, it was a nice smoothie.

Good news, my counselor called today to check in with me and see how things are going, a nice friendly catch up. Anyways, she said I get to have a creamie today so I made the 'Almond Joy' chocolate I mentioned in the other thread... it is good, the chocolate leaves a bit of an after taste. I think I'll play with the recipe some and add a little more extract next time BUT it is a nice chocolate treat.

Yay! That's wonderful! I won't be having any creamies until 2/1 when I can afford more HNSs. LOL. Oh well.

After I seen the other post about adding the extract..I tried it. Not to bad but I need to play with it too. I loved the coconut flavor but not so sure about the almond...maybe I put to much. lol Do you measure yours?

I used to love the grapefruit when it came in a foil packet. I hat it most every morning at the gym. When they switched to the paper packet the taste changed do much that I traded in my packets.

I did measure the extracts, I put 1 tsp of almond and 1 tsp of coconut but I don't think it was enough because I could barely taste them so tomorrow night I think I'm going to double the amount and see if it's better. I got my cookbook tonight and it has some wonderful recipes that call for different kinds of diet sodas like diet chocolate soda, diet raspberry soda, etc... unfortunately I can't find any of them in my area. :(

I'm going to trade in the three I have left to try some other ones. At the center they made all of them sound SOOO good. LOL.

I use these La Croix flavored waters for my smoothies and when I drink my HNS. It just gives it a little bit more flavor and the fizz that I love. http://www.lacroixwater.com/

Thanks Keylani, I'll look for those. On a side note, I did increase the extract amount to 2 tsp of each and ick...too much almond, it was so overpowering I couldn't even taste the coconut and barely stand to drink it (held my nose and drank as fast as I could lol). I think I'll keep almond at 1 tsp and increase coconut to 2 tsp to see if that helps.

I made the chocolate mint smoothie from the recipe book last night. Yuck, yuck, a thousand times yuck! No way did that need an entire teaspoon of mint extract. Wasted a dbl. choc. pudding HNS (could NOT finish it, even tried watering it down with twice as much soda). Wasted the diet soda. Aaargh!

I hear you Going4Fit, I tried the 'Almond Joy' again tonight and played with the recipe reducing the almond extract but still no luck (the almond is still overpowering) so I think I'll move on to something else. I love the Root Beer Float by using diet root beer and the vanilla pudding, that is just awesome.

Going4Fit
OOOOH NOOOO! That's horrible! I'll be sure not to try that one.

WorkinProgress
I just leave out the almond now...even one drop is to strong for me lol. Maybe vanilla and coconut would taste good...gonna try that soon.

Here's my favorite morning smoothie..I have it every morning for breakfast and it's huge

My blender breakfast:
1 HNS pudding (van or choc depending on mood)
1 HNS orange
1 scoop MRC super fruit powder stuff..can't think of name atm
5-6 small frozen strawberries
1 teaspoon Ceylon Cinnamon
1 can orange flavor LaCroix sparkling water
1 tsp sure-gel (for my hair and nails)
sometimes I add ice cubes

additions that I add sometimes to the choc one to change it up:
coconut extract
waldens farms chocolate syrup (makes it extra chocolatey)

Keylani - I never thought about trying the Walden Farms syrup in the mix, great idea thank you! I think you are right about leaving the almond extract out too, I decreased it last night to 1/4 tsp and it was still all I could taste, yuck.

I try to keep my creamy for the evenings, use them around the time I would normally snack on stuff while watching tv and unwinding before bed.

I'm drinking that right now with the blue raspberry HNS in the cran-raspberry La Croix. It's very refreshing.

I tend to only like the concentrated (clear) HNS. The powdered ones have an odd texture and after taste. Plus I'm out and about a lot for work so I don't have to carry a shaker bottle for the concentrated kind. I just add them to whatever water bottle I have going.

I thought I'd like the Cappuccino so I tried that initially. Gag! Same with the Tomato Basil. They continue to sit in my cabinet.

Love the Tomato Basil - one of my favorites! First time I didn't like it so much, but was grateful for something different. Second time I added sea salt and liked it much better. Third time I did just a little sea salt and now I have them as-is and just love them. meazie, do they have a swap bucket at your center? So grateful to have learned about mine - don't have to be stuck with expensive HNS's that you don't like.

I haven't seen a grapefruit option here - is it a concentrate? The concentrates are really yummy with the flavored sparkling waters, and I bet that would help with the aftertaste if you try it again. The powdered lemon and pink lemonade are two of my favorites. They are also my go-to's for taking out and about, since they are the most bearable to me at room temperature if I can't find ice anywhere. I just take my shaker bottle with me and have it in the car.

Walden Farms products are REALLY hit and miss. They are either good or just plain nasty it seems. I was excited to see the caramel dip at Fred Meyers, our local grocery store. YUCK! Tasted like pure chemicals. Tried it plain, dipping apples in it, and spreading on the pudding "brownie". Overpowering chemical flavor no matter what. I had to scrape it off the brownie and wash the top of it off so as not to waste another HNS. Also bought the pancake syrup and it's really good! Yay!

FWIW, the recipe for the coconut almond drink thing in the cookbook has you add 1/2 tsp each of almond, chocolate, and coconut extracts.

I've added 1/4 tsp peanut butter extract to the chocolate pudding and could barely taste it, and yet I think more would be too much. I only tried the vanilla pudding twice - once plain and thought it was just awful, and the next time I made the rootbeer float and it was tolerable but the pudding part just tasted so much like a vanilla SlimFast. I traded the rest in. The vanilla pudding might be better with an extract as the chocolate pudding is such a strong flavor already it's hard to add to it.

The smoothie sounds pretty good! I haven't had any yucks today but I tried sauerkraut the other day and that was definitely YUCK. I tried adding sweetener even and it was still gross. I wish I could stomach it because it is on our vegi list but nope not going to happen for this gal

I tried banana and coconut extract in my choc smoothie this morning...it was pretty good actually! Going to make a vanilla one tomorrow. I also bought caramel extract to try.

I LOVE the Waldens Farms Pancake syrup!!! It's my favorite product they sell. Put your egg and a morning star sausage patty in a bowl all chopped up and pour the syrup over it, mmmmm...one of my favorite treats!! Just fyi..I hate the sausage by itself..yuck!

The other Waldens Farms item that I really love is the Raspberry Vinegarette Salad Dressing!! It's delicious!

Last night I took my 40 cal bread, put a little waldens farms peanut butter and waldens farms marshmallow on it...wasn't to bad. I don't like either of them by themselves...eeew. I like to dream stuff up lol.

I change my apple up too by slicing it up like apples for a pie. Sprinkle cinnamon and truvia on them and put in the microwave until warm..mmmm!!!

The Waldens Farms ketchup is gross!!!

I like sauerkraut but I don't love it however I use it every so often to make a 'Ruben sandwich' for dinner. Here's how I make it...

toast 40 cal bread
spread dijionaise on toast
place turkey burger or sirlion burger (prefer sirlion) on toast
top burger with Walden Farms Russian dressing or WF Thousand Island dressing
place sauerkraut on top (4oz is quite a bit but it does equal out with the meat)

The combination of all makes the sauerkraut not so overbearing.

I'm going to ask my center when I go in next b/c that would be great!

I used my swap bucket to trade those yucky grapefruits for wildberry and pink lemonade. I really wanted some creamies- but I have decided to wait until February. I really want to kick my fat burning into gear. :)

oooooooh this morning I put caramel extract in my vanilla smoothie...it was really delicious!!!

I've started using lots of ice in the drinks when I can. It makes them much easier to drink. I recently tried the cranberry grape powder and I like it, that and pink lemonade are the most tolerable to me. At my last weigh in I needed more and the consultant asked me which were my favorites and I said "none. They are all gross." haha! I am on the breastfeeding plan and I do get to enjoy the wafers or bars once per day if I choose and I actually really like the chocolate wafers and the chocolate mint bars. They are like eating dessert.

I wouldn't stress about this too much. The difference between a clear and a creamy is only between twenty to forty calories depending on variety and 5 grams more carbs. Consider that many of the recipes in the MRC cookbooks have you cooking with McCormick's low sodium taco seasoning, which contains whey and potato starch. Half a packet (the amount called for in some single serve recipes) gives you 60 calories and 12 grams of carbs. That's way more extra carbs and calories than if you chose a creamy over a clear.

Now you may say, "but I don't cook with that so I'm doing even better - ha ha". I'm just pointing it out. My first few months on program I used to only choose all the lowest fat and lowest carb options off the green menu and not utilize any of the "only 1x a day or 2x per week" or whatever options. Wouldn't allow myself any dessert (the puddings) or diet sodas. Then when I hit my first plateau and was given a plateau buster menu, I realized there was nothing I could change! A visiting consultant told me I needed to utilize those options - the more variety in my diet the better for my metabolism.

Anyway, you gotta do what feels right for you, and I understand being "in the zone" and feeling in super control. Keep up the good work!

Thank you so very much for that thoughtful response!! I really appreciate it! I definitely am going to use the puddings! I hope I like them! LOL. I also think I would die without beef and salmon! Haha.

I really like the idea of "the more variety- the better metabolism." That definitely makes sense!

She is totally right about the creamies! I am very thankful for them because late in the evening I get hungry and want chocolate or something and these really help to stop my cravings and munchies!!I really enjoy the hot chocolate. For the vanilla pudding, I don't like it plain but my consultant suggested to put pumpkin pie spice in it..I do that and add extra cinnamon and some nutmeg and it's really good. My center also suggests to eat sugar free jello if you ever get hungry

So I asked today and they do have swap basket! Yay! And she said if they don't have anything I want then she would open some boxes too. So I will trade in a few next time I go in. :). Thanks so much for suggesting it!

Yay! :D

Hey that's cool they'll open some boxes for you too! I don't understand why they don't tell you about it when you do your first HNS purchase. I learned about mine when there was a bean bag toss for Labor Day weekend fun, and one of the prizes was a pick out of the swap bucket.

Oh, the hot chocolate was a yuck for me. I tried it several times and finally traded in the last two packets. I just ordered the ProtiFoods Hot Cocoa to try their brand instead! It gets really good reviews and one of the reviews I read was from an MRC'er too. They were saying MRC had changed the hot chocolate and they didn't like it anymore and they were glad to have found this brand instead. Can't wait to try it! All the stats (calories, carbs, protein) are the same as the MRC brand. I decided to trust the reviews and bought the canister. Way cheaper per serving than buying the seven pouch box.

Hey that's a great tip about the vanilla pudding! Can you tell me how much pumpkin pie spice you add?

Just to taste, I don't measure it or anything maybe like tsp. Yeh they did change the hot chocolate when they added fiber into it and changed the packaging also and it does taste a bit diff. I will have to try that other kind thank you. Also I ordered from americanbariatrics.org and I LOVE their butterscotch pudding and the banana is good too. The cheesecake on there is gross though. dietdirect.com I heard is a good place to go for products too.

Walden Farms Peanut Butter......Hugh YUCK. Wasted that $3

At my center- they said to add vanilla extract. ::shrugs:: makes all the difference, apparently.

I don't eat any of that stuff. It kind of freaks me out. The ingredients in the "peanut butter spread:"
Triple Filtered Purified Water, cellulose gum, salt, corn starch, xanthan gum, natural fresh roasted peanut flavoring, natural peanut extract, caramel color, lactic acid, sucralose, sodium benzoate.


No peanuts. ::shrugs:: I will just wait until stabilization or maintenance when I can start eating stuff like that again.

Other Walden Farms yucks I've wasted money on: Caramel dipping sauce and chocolate syrup. I forked out the bucks to try these when I saw others on this board were using them. Both were promising at first lick, but second taste yielded nothing but a chemical flavor which got stronger with each try. Honestly by the third attempt I remarked to my husband that I may as well be trying to eat a spoonful of shampoo. Down the drain they go. Yuck!

I must be the odd one here. I love the grapefruit. However, I do mix it with VERY WARM water. I don't use as much water as I do with other HNS's. Try it, you might like it. I also warm grapefruit in the microwave as my favorite way to eat GF. I'd be willing to take the GF HNS's off your hands.

I tried the vanilla pudding HNS again with the pumpkin pie spice. I added 1/4 tsp. Yummy! What a simple fix - so good! Will definitely be making again.

That does sound good...I'm gonna try that ;)

Glad you tried it and liked it! I also have taken the chocolate pudding and put it into pudding molds and they are like fudge pops! I didn't put the same exact water as the package says, I just guessed by the thickness.