I go OP tomorrow and am excited, I lost 5.5 lbs during preconditioning. I work out pretty hard weight lifting/sculpting at least 2-3 times a week and am used to eating an apple prior to for fuel does anyone know what I can do for fuel? can I still eat my apple? I don't think there are any veggies that would work to keep me from passing out during the workout.

I have been doing well resisting foods I'm not supposed to eat, passed up pizza, & mcdonalds I'm feeling proud of myself for that. I'm ready to get this weight off.

Welcome to all the newbies! Good luck in your journey. It's been a rough week for me but I'm determined to get back on track and started out on the right foot this morning. One meal at a time!

I was a bad girl and had mojitos this weekend. I made them myself, so I used splenda instead of sugar, but still. No gain showing, but no loss either. They were GOOD though!

I was a bad girl too, with some Mexican food... yummy taco salad, but I did the Fat and Carb Blocker before eating and feel pretty good about it. Smaller portions at the church potluck last night... biked 3 miles in addition to Zumba on Saturday... feeling pretty good!

Love that our garden is yielding some yummy tomatoes and cucumbers now! I love fresh, home-grown produce!

rachels77 - What is the fat and carb blocker? No one has mentioned that to me.

Oh... it's something they sell at the center... some take it, some people don't. It's a Fat and Carb blocker that you can take prior to a higher fat/carb meal (I usually take mine before eating out due to not knowing how something is prepared and what kind of oils are still hanging out with my food). It's supposed to block some of the fat and carbs from the body... for my experience it works... I have an "eliminating" affect, usually 20 or so minutes after eating... I know, TMI...

For what is is worth, the 3fc person who monitors these boards once wrote us with a research study saying is no proof that carb and fat blockers work.

Lots of people do swear by them....

Thanks! I has been hard not to see the numbers on the scale move much, but I felt SO MUCH better once the body comp showed I was losing fat. The 3 Day training is pretty rough, but I am actually really enjoying it (except when it is 100 degrees here in Dallas...yuck!) Even my walking partner (my dog) gave up after 1 mile yesterday and I had to carry him home -- wimp. I am just glad he is still a puppy and only weighs 35 lbs so far. Haha (he is a boxer)

AW, welcome! As far as exercise goes, it depends upon your plan. I started on MetaSlim which is very low calorie. When I began training for the breast cancer 3 Day walk, I was switched to MetaBalance which has some dairy, etc. and a few more calories to take into account my training schedule. Your counselor should be able to go over that with you.

weighed in today, down 6 pounds since I started last Monday...

. On vacation for 4 days camping with family. Typical breakfast was bacon, sausage, eggs, and biscuit!! I love biscuits and only had one each am... 2 mornings. Which we would eat around 10:30. Then eat again around 3ish and didn't eat dinner. I took my mini blender,frozen strawberries, Greek yogurt, vanilla bean syntrax powder and had a couple shakes a day. I gave the bread on my sandwich and hotdog to my dogs
Mindlessly ate baby Swiss cheese nips and fritoes one day. -- was not hungry! They were just there. Bad bad bad! We did walk a lot and rode our bikes which was good. Chugging water now!!!! Ok losing power on iPad. More later

AMAZING! i didn't gain over my 4 day holiday! went for a power walk this am w/ DH and my dogs and then got home, stripped down and weighed in. normally i would never do that coming off a holiday, especially with family! (yes, all the comfort food was there!!) but read that Camaswa weighed in after her vacation and was like, ok get it over with! i did drink tons of water and drank at least two HNSs a day. we had fresh veggies from the garden, i didnt eat any of the bread except for a small biscuit 2 mornings. good thing about camping vacations, we are constantly walking the dogs, riding the bikes and even in preparing a meal, running around... being prepared w/ veggies, fruit, greek yogurt and my Syntrax powder really helped. my sister who is on WW kept offering me bananas and grapes and i was offering her grapefruit and strawberries. i made her a vanilla bean torte shake w/ frozen strawberries and greek yogurt and she turned her nose up at it. had cinnamon w/ my grapefruit and she was like yuck! she gave me some granola snack packs and i was like 30 g. carbs? no thanks. told her i don't eat bananas or grapes....anyway,she's successful w WW - lost over 40 lbs. and i told her that FOR ME, eating high sugar foods makes me jittery and want to eat more, that my body requires more protein. she being my older sister was trying to convince me otherwise but anyway, i told her your plan works for you and my plan works for me :-) i almost told her that because of the FAT pictures she took of me last June (and emailed to everyone)!!! was the reason i joined MRC in August and finally succeeded in getting the weight off. but i played nice as always. haha!!!

Bigdog sounds like the camping trip went great and not gaining was even better. Congratulations.

JenKatt 6 pounds is wonderful. Keep up the good work.

I'm feeling bloated and down these past couple of days. I have been eating OK but last week I had a couple of Dr. Peppers. Bad, I know but I really crave them when it's hot out. I feel like I am WAY up and go for maintenance WI today. Hopefully it won't be as bad as I feel like it will be.

Ever since I lost my 50lbs I've been gaining and losing the same 1.5 to 3 lbs . I just can't seem to break past this. It's been so long now I'm really getting discouraged. I know stress with my dad's cancer has a lot to do with it but I'm trying not to let it. When I first started struggling my counselor was helping but then she got another job (so happy for her) and now I just don't seem to have the same connection with the others there. Frustrating because I had just purchased more time. I told them the other day if I keep on like this I will end up quiting. Said it out of frustration more than anything and the response I got was...I understand. Kind of expected a different resonse and it left me even more frustrated and confused. I'm going in on a different day so I can see the other counselor who has been through the program. I'm just so down about the weight loss now that I'm not sure I can pull myself back up. Thanks for listening guys!

Fluffy - I feel bad for you that the center did not seem more caring. I think that you are on the right track, wanting to talk to a counselor who has been through the program. Have you ever talked to the manager of the center? I have to wonder if that person is better qualified to get you back on track and be more sympathetic about your circumstances. When we diet, we don't need people to hold our hands and feel sorry for us, but we do need people who can relate to dieting and maybe especially emotional eating, etc. I have felt myself like MRC is a money trap, but once upon a time, they figured the science behind their diet out and it seems to work pretty well. I guess that we have to pay for that to a point, but they also seem awfully profit hungry. Stick to your guns, girl, and don't give up!

I have been told that I should mix up my diet to break through a plateau. I tend to eat the same things a lot. And I guess that oranges and grapefruit jumpstart something too. Can't prove it by me yet, but it's worth a try to see if you can get past the 1.5 - 3 pounds. Oh, and it was also suggested to drink more water and get in a few more HNS each day. One gal also said that making sure that you get 4000 mg. of omega 3 each day could help too.

A 50 pound weight loss is amazing and you deserve better treatment at your MRC center. Keep your chin up. You don't have far to go now. You can do it!