Aschooley,

It is hard, but not too hard, and definitely worth it. My kids & husband are so proud of me, because they know how hard I worked at it. My husband ran into one of my friends at Costco yesterday, I wasn't with him. Anyway, her comment to him was that she never realized how petite I was before I lost the weight! And that she sees now how our younger daughter is built like me. Wow, that was cool to hear.

The other thing that is cool is now the younger daughter & I can share clothes. I borrowed a pair of her shoes the other day, and am taking a shirt of hers on my trip next week that is perfect for one of our events. Last night, she came home from work, and had one of my new sweaters and brand new boots on... I had left for work before she was even up for school, so didn't know she borrowed them. She loves telling her friends that we share closets, except she wears 00 jeans & I wear a 4...

There is a sticky thread here with recipes, check that out. Also, ask Carrie to send you some, I have a whole stack they sent me. They have a cookbook, but I didn't buy that.

Finally, I occasionally use a cooking website (forget which one, but think there are several) that allow you to put in some ingredients and it will find recipes that use those ingredients. You just have to look at them to see if it works.

I got really creative with some spices, cumin & chilli pepper, as well as garlic & onion powder are standards now, and I have a few others I also use. Just check out that aisle in the grocery & read what the suggested uses are.

Thank you so much for the info. I think it is wonderful that you can share clothes with your daughter. I want my family to be proud of me, but more important I want to teach my daughter how to eat right. She is only 5 but she does not have good eating habits, and she is getting a little belly. I start the green menu tomorrow. We will see how it goes. Do you know if we can eat salsa? :wave:

aschooley

My daughter is 17, and in HS. She unfortunately doesn't have very good eating habits either. I was slim in HS too, didn't have much problems with weight until college & after... Particularly after I had my 2 girls. I keep telling her to eat better now with not much success. Maybe you'll have better luck starting at this younger age.

I used salsa on occasion. Figured it was mostly tomatoes & cilantro. I would use the serving size and measure that. Just watch that it doesn't have a lot of carbs/sugar/sodium, as some do. Or ask Carrie, but I used it as part of my veggie portion.

Hi I'm surprised that she didn't give u metabalance menu that is for diabetes and people that exercise alot. Draw back is u won't lose as many pounds a week like with the green menu.

I think she wanted to see how I do on the green. She also told me if my blood sugar drops, at any time, to eat half a fruit and a protein. That is in addition to the regular meals. I would like to see the metabalance menu, just for my curiosity. I wounder how different it is from the green?

I am excited to say that since starting on the diet a week ago I have not had any blood sugar drops. And since Wed. the pressure in my eyes has stopped, and my head aches have gone away. (I had been having head aches everyday do to the pressure in my eyes) :carrot:

I am doing meta- balance, and my sister is doing meta-slim. The differences we can tell are, I eat more often that she does. I have 3 meals and 3 snacks. I also only eat my HNS with my snacks - while she has hers with her meals.

As for the amounts, that changes with your weight.

She has been told she should loose an average of 3 lbs a week and I should loose only 2 lbs a week.

Thanks for the info. It is so great that you can do this with your sister. What a blessing. I have the option to eat snacks if my blood sugar drops, so I guess I am on a combination of the two plans :)

I weight in this morning...(nervous) I will let you all know how I did this first week :dizzy:

Hi all! I'm so excited as I hopped on the scale this morning and am down 3 more lbs!!! I think I fell out of ketosis for awhile and I've gone back to 4 HNS's per day and am back in ketosis. We'll see. I'm pretty motivated right now as people are commenting and noticing the trimmer, leaner me. My clothes are falling off of me...just haven't had much time for any shopping.

My new favorite since the temps dropped here...a piping hot cup of herbal tea with mixed berry HNS poured right in. Totally hit the spot last night and again this morning. I even skipped my morning cup of coffee because that satisfied me. That never happens.

Congratulations on your loss!!! :carrot: What is ketosis?

I lost 5 lbs this week!!! Yea!!!

Here is an explanation on ketosis....

Question: What is Ketosis?
Answer: A lot of people are confused by the term "ketosis." You may read that it is a "dangerous state" for the body, and it does sound abnormal to be "in ketosis." But ketosis merely means that our bodies are using fat for energy. Ketones (also called ketone bodies) are molecules generated during fat metabolism, whether from the fat in the guacamole you just ate or fat you were carrying around your middle. When our bodies are breaking down fat for energy, most of the it gets converted more or less directly to ATP. (Remember high school biology? This is the "energy molecule.") But ketones are also produced as part of the process.

When people eat less carbohydrate, their bodies turn to fat for energy, so it makes sense that more ketones are generated. Some of those ketones (acetoacetate and ß-hydroxybutyrate) are used for energy; the heart muscle and kidneys, for example, prefer ketones to glucose. Most cells, including the brain cells, are able to use ketones for at least part of their energy. But there is one type of ketone molecule, called acetone, that cannot be used and is excreted as waste, mostly in the urine and breath (sometimes causing a distinct breath odor).

If enough acetone is in our urine, it can be detected using a dipstick commonly called by the brand name Ketostix (though there are other brands, as well). Even though everyone is generating ketones continuously, this detection in the urine is what is commonly called "ketosis."

The higher the concentration of ketones in the urine, the more purple the sticks will turn. The Atkins Diet, in particular, advises people to monitor ketosis as an indication of fat burning. Other reduced carbohydrate diets don't pay much attention to this, or aren't low enough in carbs to make much of an impression on the sticks. (The latter type of diet is sometimes called a "nonketogenic" low-carb diet.)

Since officially starting back on my menu (last Friday)... down 3.5 lbs...sweet goodness... Hopefully weight in on this Friday will be just as good! Thanks everybody for your support! It never gets easier....but its worth it..

Gained a pound last week despite not cheats :( Remembering the struggles I had the first time on was on plan now. I started a new med for high blood pressure so wondering if that had anything to do with the gain. I cannot remember if I mentioned this previously - I went to see a new MD/naturopath about my blood test results. He had a different perspective than my usual dr. He said my vitamin D was too low and wants me to take a supplement to get that up. Also, said my progesterone is very low and I am estrogen dominant. Anyway, as soon as we get more test results back he will write me a script for bio-identical hormones. He thinks this will help with my weight loss (or lack there of).

That was last week this is a new week, you will get it all figured out! :carrot: