I am definitely losing inches faster than lbs.... and I am totally ok with that

I dont take any of the vitamins from MRC. I take a vitapack from GNC which has a multivitamin, an oil pill, a calcium pill, a probiotic, B vitamins pill. I also take GNC apple cider vinegar pills, echinesia (sorry that is spelled wrong) and vitamin C for my immune system.

Ok so I went to WI today and down 4 lbs! Woohoo! I asked when I get a different menu and she said once I am under 200lbs. I am on the beige menu right now, what is the difference between the menus once I am under 200lbs?

Welcome back! I have trouble balancing my social life with the diet, too. Thankfully, most of my friends are gone for the summer. You've already lost a lot--I think you are doing great!

1. The EB curvy fit jeans rock. They are my favorite and I wish there were a regular store within a 100 miles of my place.

2. I take Caltrate plus Vitamin D twice a day--with the two meals that I don't have my multi-vitamin at. I think I read in one of Dr. Oz's books that there was an absorption issue with taking a multi with your calcium.

3. I have a little salsa occasionally as my salad dressing. You have to be careful, though, because cooked tomatoes aren't on the diet. Are you talking about Tabasco or salsa?

4. Someone mentioned iron and anemia. I am always hovering slightly above the cut-off for anemia, so I take a prenatal vitamin as my multi-vitamin to get the extra boost of iron. I really like the Stewart brand at Walgreens. They are a little pricier than some of the other prenatal vitamins out there, but I could tell a difference in my energy level when I switched to a less expensive brand, so I just stick with them. The pharmacist told me that if I got a prescription for pre-natal vitamins, I could get 3-months of a generic for $10. Haven't tried that yet, though.

I hear you, girl!

Way to go! You will switch from the beige menu to the green menu when you hit the 200 lb mark. The main difference is that you can cut back to 2 HNS a day if you want to and you will go from 6 oz. of protein to 4 oz. of protein. I don't remember anything else changing, but I still have an HNS with every meal, and sometimes one mid-day or in the evening. You'll probably want to have at least one extra one on days when you exercise. My favorite is cranberry grape.

Good evening everyone....I have a question...I've heard twice now about cooked tomatoes...what is up with that? Not that I eat them because I love sliced fresh tomatoes...but very curious. Oh, and that was interesting about calcium and multi vit not taking at the same time...does anyone have more info on that? I always take a multi-vitamin in the morning with a calcium pill and another one later in the afternoon. Thanks if anyone can shed some light on all this.

WAY TO GO! That is wonderful! Keep up the great work!

I think the reason is when they cook they produce a lot of sugar.

I had gastric bypass surgery 4 years ago. They also told me that due to proper absorbtion that you should take them (I can't remember) but I think at least 4 hours apart because if not they'll bind together and you might as well have not taken them. I also use to cut them up in to 4 pieces but that got to be a lot of pills (and I thought it was bad back then...lol!). That was nothing compared to the pills i'm taking now. I really should probably get taking that again.

Awesome and the previous poster said it correctly about the difference b/t the beige/green menus.

Had to eat in restaurants this weekend as we were away from home and the food I pre-packaged didn't get put into the cooler! (I also weigh turkey, chicken, or fish on Sunday and package it in 4 oz. baggies; I take 8 oz of fresh raw veggies, usually celery, cauliflower, radishes, and green pepper, and a fruit for lunch daily). I tried to be "good" - shrimp salad for lunch, with dressing on my fork, an omelette for breakfast and one piece of toast, but I feel so bloated! On this diet I've learned that restaurant food is full of other stuff that's not natural & my body is super-sensitive to MSG and sodium. I never knew this when I ate crap all the time! Drinking lots of water, which is easy because it's hot here, and hoping that bloated feeling goes away!

Good job to everyone who's had a loss this week! Planning to go WI on Thursday. Wish me luck!

This is from You: The Owner's Manual by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz:

To keep your bones young, men should take 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day; women under sixty should take about 1,200 milligrams--best broken up twice a day in the form of 500 or 600 milligrams (that's because most of us cannot absorb more than 600 milligrams of calcium at a time). Over the age of sixty, women need 1,600 milligrams of calcium a day to keep their bones the youngest and strongest possible. Page 137

...avoid things that have iron in them (iron inhibits calcium's absorption, and you typically get enough iron from food; if you're anemic and take calcium, take the iron two hours apart from the calcium). Page 138

This doesn't specifically address the interaction between a multi-vitamin and calcium, so I may have made the leap to taking them separately because my MV does have a lot of iron in it. The authors go on in greater detail about how to choose your calcium, too.

: Best of luck to you. Stick with it.

We all have such busy lives these days that it is very hard to stick to a diet, but do your best because we are worth it.

I went in for WI today and I was down 3 lbs. YEAH!!!! Its about time the scale went down.

Thank you so much, this was great information.....I will do some more research.

Congratulations....great loss!!!