Welcome Jeanie,

It is so much easier when you bag all your shakes and meals for the week. I find this program one of the easiest to follow and now that the weather is getting hotter a nice cold shake does the trick. I put 10 oz of water in with the shake mix, some ice cubes and then shake the powdered mix into the water. I have a magic bullet blender that I have at work with me and just whip up the shake.

Good luck to you and let us know how you are doing.

Howdy WS-ers! Just checking in to see how everyone is doing! Let's get accountable....what's your day look like today?

Breakfast: Strawberry Smoothing
Lunch: 1 cup garlic sauteed okra w/ diced tomatoes and a creamy cookie bar
Snack: Mocha Shake
Dinner: 8 ounce hamburger (93% lean) with 1 slice cheese with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and sugar-free ketchup (no bun) with 6 ounces of rutabaga french fries and a WS berry blend protein shake
Post Workout: 2 scoops of EAS vanilla whey protein shake
Exercise: 25 minutes brisk walk, 10 minutes jog, 12 minutes abs

Calories: 1093
Carbs: 83
Fiber: 12
Protein: 135
Fat: 29
Sodium: 1730
Calories burned from exercise: 286

irish - missed your post a few days ago... SO FREAKING HAPPY FOR YOU!!!

jeanie - how are you doing so far?

punmama and Nimble - how are you two holding up? Any more exciting losses?

Me...I am kicking this weight loss thing recently. The WOOSH fairy decided to play me a visit and pounds are dropping like no tomorrow. I am literally dropping between 1/2 pound a day! I know this trend will soon cease, but it is nice while it is here! Seriously! 6 pounds in 13 days is no joking matter! And considering my normal loss is 1.5 to 1.75 pounds a week, I'll take it!!! I am moving on down, coming in at a wonderful 238.1 today!

Hope you all are having a wonderful day and looking forward to hearing how you are doing!

Breakfast - WS hotcake with SF syrup and small banana, spray butter,WS
mocha shake
Snack - WS chocolate shake
Lunch - Big Mac in a bowl
snack - WS brownie bar
Didn't have dinner yet but it will be WS soup

20 min. of aerobics, first exercise I've done since starting the WS program.

Down one more pound, so that's 16 lbs. in 4 weeks.

AWESOME! So proud of both the extra pound gone and the aerobics!

Just a word of wise, if you add in exercise, your loses WILL slow or stall at first. THIS IS NORMAL! I HIGHLY recommend getting either some Nectar (you can find it on Diet Direct) or some EAS Carb Advantage Shakes and have a shake within 30 minutes post workout, especially if you burn more than 120 calories. It feeds your muscles, keeps you from losing muscle mass, actually increases weight loss (sounds weird, I know) and keeps you from feeling super fatigued. They don't tell you that in the WS manual, but irish and I both learned the hard way after serious long stalls...eat the extra calories if you work out

Yesterday was day 1 for me. This was my day.
Breakfast: Mocha Cream shake
WS Apple Cinnamon oatmeal made with apple juice and extra cinnamon
Morning Snack: fresh cherries
Lunch: WS Vegetable Chili with beans over lettuce and tomatoes with a pinch of low fat cheese and a Chocomint Shake
Afternoon Snack: Adkins Endulge Peanut Caramel Cluster Bar
Supper: Crack Slaw with corn on the cob
Dessert: Chocomint Bar

Calories: 1255
Carbs: 129
Fat: 48
Protein: 95
Sodium: 1300
Sugar : 57

I have to admit I do not like the oatmeal. It was all I could do to get it down. But I am not an oatmeal person anyway. Got all my water in. I have tachycardia so exercise is difficult. Gonna try to go walking this evening.

The oatmeal!

Most people are not fond of it (I seem to be the exception to the rule!) However, I'll post a few recipes that will help make it more bearable

Have to admit, I have no advise on the tachycardia (had to look it up to be honest.) I DO know about lung issues and exercise, but heart, that is all new to me as I actually have a healthy one of those (one of the few organs that seems to like me, or so it appears.) I know with both my asthma and ARDS, I had to start off SLOW. I am talking only 2 minutes at a time, and just down my stairs and back up. Every two days, I would increase the time by 30 seconds and go just a wee bit further than the day before. Exerting myself can land me in the hospital, or worse, dead. So while not the same condition, I know where you are coming from. But, I started slow. And now, I can do a good 2-3 mile walk/jog a day. Far cry better than where I once was.

My advise? Get a heart monitor prior to exercise (and doctor approval of course.) Seriously. And get a higher quality one that has a high rating so you know EXACTLY where your heart rate stands. I know for me, if my heart rate climbs above 132 during exercise, I end up doubled over unable to breathe and woofing down a few puffs of a rescue inhaler and hoping I can get back home before I pass out (needless to say, there have been two trips to the ER in a back of an ambulance because I didn't make it home.) A heart monitor was the BEST investment I could have made when I started exercising, because I know EXACTLY where my rate is and know when to stop pushing myself well before a disaster happens. And ever since I purchased it, I have NOT had an episode because I can properly monitor myself. Lessons learned, I guess. Lessons learned.

Disclaimer: This is NOT my recipe. I have NOT tried it yet, but keep meaning to. Maybe tonight....

Oatmeal Cookies-
1 oatmeal packet
1 butterscotch or chocolate pudding packet
1/8 cup rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon Splenda or Stevia
a sprinkle of cinnamon, to taste
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla
just enough water to get a cookie dough texture

Directions
Combine dry ingredients, then add the last 3 liquid ingredients to reach a cookie dough texture. Spray cookie sheet lightly with Pam olive oil spray and place 10 cookies on sheet. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 5-10 minutes or until desired degree of moisture. Test center of cookie with toothpick to see if baked.

Makes TWO servings

Calories: 132
Carbs: 17g
Fiber: 4g
Protein: 15g
Fat: 2g
Sodium: 198mg

Apple Cinnamon Oat Muffins

1 pkt WS Hot Cakes
1 pkt WS Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon Splenda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 c Water

Preheat toaster oven to 400 degrees (I used my regular oven). Coat 2 foil muffin cups with fat free cooking spray. Combine dry mixes and water, stir until all powder is incorporated into batter. Divide batter between 2 foil muffin cups and place on a baking sheet . Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Makes 2 muffins = 2 servings

Calories: 125
Carbs: 20g
Fiber: 5g
Protwin: 12g
Fat: 2g
Sodium: 185mg

Zoesmom, thanks. I don't know why I didn't think of a heart monitor. I am actually a heart transplant recipient--11 1/2 years out. Doing beautifully. I've been through cardiac rehab and the entire 9 yards. On top of taking a beta blocker to counter act the tachycardia, my heart has a 5 minute delay in speeding up. Ugh! My doctors would LOVE for me to lose 40 lbs. I am SO far out of transplant that I am allowed to do whatever I feel that I can do. My only concerns with this diet is all of the additional proteins could raise my creatinine level. I get it tested in 2 weeks so we will see. In the meantime I plan on sticking to the plan. Gotta feed the grandson (13 wks). Y'all have a great day!

I had a great weekend. Stayed on program 100%. I also went down a pants size which makes me want to stay on WS. Today is going to be another great day.

What helps me is to have 1/3 cup of brown rice with my mean and green meal.

The oatmeal isn't too bad and I really like the variety of shakes and meal replacements so you don't get bored with it.


I am very happy that everyone is doing so well. Keep up the good work.

It's great hearing the good reports from everyone.

My clothes are fitting well or getting loose. Which means I have a whole closet of stuff to wear after a few more weeks, stuff that's been too tight.

Three weeks from today I have bloodwork done, which I realistically hope will show my blood sugar is in the normal range, with my meds. That will satisfy me. As time goes on I feel like the need for meds will subside, that's how I will measure my progress. A month ago they were out of control with meds. Now normal during the day, sometimes low, and just out of normal range upon waking. That's the one I want to see change.

Jeanie, I didn't like the oatmeal either. (Although the muffin recipe looks good.)

I figured out right quick which things were not gonna be for me, i.e. the oatmeal, the omelette, the fruit drinks, and the chicken noodle soup. I sent them back right away and exchanged them for more shakes, more cheesy mac, cookies and hot cakes. There is no problem sending stuff back and telling them exactly how you want to exchange everything out. I find the customer service to be way above average, and it would need to be, with as much as we depend on them to ship our sustenance!

I knew I wouldn't be cooking every morning so I have my pancake on the weekends and for breakfast each work morning I eat nonfat yogurt with cereal in it and a shake. It's easy to pack and eat at my desk. And I am not tired yet of the crunchy goodness!

If anybody has any good ideas for my WS meal that's not mac or chili I'd love to hear it. The last time I ate my cheesy mac I was a little green...

Taco Salad

• 2 cups of celery, green peppers and mushrooms chopped coarsely or finely, as you wish
• 1 Vegetable Chili
• Sea salt
• Seasonings of your choice
• One portion of your favorite greens
• Fresh tomato salsa
• Fresh raw red onion, chopped
• Fresh lemon and lime, optional
• Hot sauce, optional

Drizzle a little olive oil in a pan. Add chunks of celery, green pepper and mushrooms and stir fry till ‘al dente’
Season with sea salt and your favorite seasonings. I recommend the organic Mexican Fiesta seasonings, a blend made of dehydrated chili peppers, dehydrated onion, tomato powder, paprika, cumin, dehydrated
garlic, cilantro, oregano, red pepper and lemon peel.
Meanwhile, cook the vegetable chili as directed on packet. When both are cooked to perfection, mix
them together and place over a bed of your favorite greens. Top with fresh tomato salsa, more chopped
raw red onion, a splash of lemon or lime and hot sauce, if you like.

Pretty decent (yes, I hate chili. I HAD to figure out what to do with what I have left)

or...do you mean meals NOT using WS packets but in the same caloric range?