I love the "fake Snickers," but my absolute favorate is the chocolate chip muffin bar!

I just ate one, and everytime I finish one I can't believe it was "diet" food!

What makes y'all's mouths water?

I love the Chocolate Royal shake and the vanilla shake (with fresh berries) as well as the peanut crunch snack bar and peanut chocolate MOG bar. I've also found some absolutely amazing recipes on the slimfast.com (US) website. I'm using the shakes for breakfast every morning and the MOG bars for lunch every day, but everything else (except the odd SF snack bar) I make at home. I love that I'm never hungry and I feel like I'm eating a lot of food and I'm really enjoying it. I started at 226 on May 23 and this morning I was 213.5. Yeah!

ps...I love the chocolate chip muffin bar with an orange...Mmmmm!

Yeah, I let my weight BALLOON up to 284 because of stress at work. I started Slim Fast in mid-May and this morning I weighed in at 273. My "problems," though are that I still tend to eat out a lot and I have not exercised AT ALL.

I know I could be doing so much better and losing the weight much more quickly, but I'm happy with the 11 pounds, considering that I'm still eating more than I need at times.

I totally credit all of my loss so far to the Slim Fast meals and snacks I've been substituting for "bad" foods throughout my day. Plus, the SF helps me feel like I'm not really on a diet because of all the CHOCOLATE.

I like the French vanilla shake best but also use the cappucino, chocolate royale and strawberry shakes for variety. I haven't tried the snacks or muffin bars because looking at the nutrition info the muffin bars are similar to the muffins I occasionally make at home but more costly. I tried the meal bars last time I did slimfast (many years ago) and found them too sweet. So I mostly have a shake each for breakfast and lunch (and two cups of coffee @ breakfast) then try to stick to fruit/veggies for snacks through the day, then have protein (meat, fish etc.) for supper - usually on the BBQ at this time of year, with salad and a small starch - potato, rice or brown pasta. It seems to be working for me. Other than the occasional homemade muffin my indulgence is a small piece of brie sometimes with my fruit, and once a week when it's hot I make a fruit (usually strawberry and/or watermelon) daiquiri as one of my "snacks" . Not really diet food I know, but I'd rather keep indulgences small and under control than pig out because I feel bored with what I am eating.

That said, this week hasn't been the best because of a couple of ice cream evenings with my boys after hockey games. So it will be a struggle to meet that 2lb goal for the week but I'm resolved to get back onto that wagon today and stay in control of it! Exercise videos are on hold for a little while since we discovered rot in the basement floor so are in the process of pulling it up and putting down lino over the concrete, which is in good shape. Aerobics and weights have been replaced by hauling demolition waste upstairs and swinging a sledgehammer! I'm discovering some muscles that the videos/weights haven't been using. I think the change in routine hasn't helped my eating this week either. It's also caused me to be less careful with fluids, as evidenced by my headache this morning - not enough to drink yesterday.

Congrats to everyone (except me!) on the continued losses this week. Hopefully by the time Sunday comes around I'll be more in control again.

Snuggles to all,
Jax

4myself, 11 pounds is great! Keep going!

I should be honest and say that I'm not actually drinking Slimfast, I'm drinking store brand Slimfast. And instead of Slimfast bars, I've been eating Luna bars for breakfast. I've been sticking to chocolate drinks. I've only tried three Luna bars so far but I really liked the Smores. I should try different Slimfast flavors. The ones they had at the store I was at were pretty limited in terms of variety.

Does anyone use the Optima? Have you noticed if it really does help keep you from being hungry longer than regular SF? DH drinks Slimfast too for breakfast and he hates the Optima, but I'd buy it for myself if it really helps. I just had my lunch and I'm already starving!

Even though I've been on this for a few days, I'm seeing the scale move down a little. This is remarkable considering AF just visited and I usually pack on the pounds right before a visit.

Hi SF's,
Fell off the wagon HARD Back at it again.

I enjoy the low carb ready made choc. shakes. They have the most protein and the least amount of sugar.

Have you noticed that the "new" slimfast site has less options? You used to be able to tweek it much more. I emailed the site to see if I could find out what happened.

I look forward to getting back to supporting each other. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Well I didn't quite make the 2lb challenge this week - down 1.2 lbs according to my Sunday morning weigh-in. So now I'm at 183, but can't be bothered to change my ticker every week. Not so bad as I expected as this has been an awful week in a general sense so not the best for eating carefully. Along with a moldy basement floor (now removed, we need to get the concrete topped then the subfloor and lino in next) our vehicles were broken into and DH's wallet stolen. No money lost but all the ID stuff is a real pain to replace. I'll try for a real 2lb loss next week. Tamara - how are you doing? I know your weigh-in isn't for a couple of days but I hope you make the 2lbs.

Amy8888 - all I use is the optima shakes, since there's nothing else available in Canada. They seem to fill me up and taste OK. We don't have all the things like low-carb etc. One thing I do like about them is that the slimfast shakes (generally) use real sugar, not substitutes. I can't stand the taste of aspartame and am not too keen on sucralose either, except in very small amounts. I'd rather have things unsweetened or just a little sugar.

I tried the muffin bars for the first time this week - not bad, not as sweet as the choc-covered snacks. I think I'll keep them around for when I don't have fruit or veggies - or the time to prepare a better snack.

4myself - I think 11lbs is great too. Keep it up! (or would that be down? )

Snuggles to all,
Jax

Wow, Jax, ice cream is terrible for me--I don't even buy it anymore! I just can't resist it when it's in the house. And 1.2 pounds is nothing to sneeze at! I change my ticker every time I go down--keeps me motivated and holds me accountable!

Amy, there's nothing at all wrong with using the store brand Slim Fast. I've just been using the name brand because it's had two free cans in the box, so I've been getting 8 cans for a little over $5. I do like the Optima. I drink an Optima shake for breakfast (around 7:30) and I'm usually Ok until around 10:00 or so. Not four hours, but it's good.

Tleef, no oranges for me--yuck!

Southerndeb, glad you are joining us--the more the merrier!

Where's Whittlin? I count on her to keep me motivated, too!

Well I kind of met my 2lbs goal. I was 215 on June 11 and by June 15 my morning weigh in was 213, but then on the weekend I was away in the Rockies and ate too much and managed to down 2 Starbucks coffees with all the trimmings. I'm back at 215 so I lost it in 5 days and put it back on in 3! Oh well I'm back on plan and am commited to 2 lbs again by Saturday. I'm going to work out every day this week instead of just Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat so that will probably help. I don't get my measurements done at the gym again for another 2 weeks so I'm excited to see the results of that. So I'm not gonna change my ticker becuase my hope is to be down at 213 again by the weekend! I'm disappointed with myself for putting that 2lbs back on in 3 days, but I also knew that it would be very hard to stay on plan in a touristy place like Banff so I'm not overly surprised. I also know that it's just a tiny setback and that it will be no problem to take it back off and then keep losing as long as I stick to the plan. I'm going to try some new recipes from the site this week, so far I've loved them all!

I do find that the Optima shakes are more filling then the original Slim-Fast. I did the original years ago and remember being famished by the time my next snack/meal was. I'm using the Optima shakes and bars as well as the snack bars and I don't find myself hungry very often, only when I put off a snack or meal for too long.

Cheers, Tamara

Weigh-in was this morning! I'm down .5 pound. I was hoping for a full pound (which would put me at 272), but, once again, I'LL TAKE IT!!!!!!

I've been having a problem lately with my....bathroom habits.... I don't know how to say that politely or not have it be TMI. I'm trying to drink more water, but it's not helping yet.

Hope all the rest of you are doing well!

4myself, you're doing fantastic on the plan, good for you!

I found that when I stick strictly to the plan that my "bathroom habits" are pretty normal (much better than when I was eating McDonalds and stuff like that), but I did find that everything got thrown out when I indulged this weekend and I'm just finally starting to recover. I think when I stopped eating large amounts of veggies, fruit, high fiber choices and very lean meat my digestive system went into shock a little. Also, my water intake decreased substaintially over the weekend and even though I knew I was dehydrated I didn't do anything about it... I would say keep up with lots of ruffage, make sure any breads you're eating are whole grain and keep drinking that water.

I also hear that exercising helps with that little problem, so maybe up your energy output for a few days and see if that gets things back on track.

Cheers, Tamara

Hey Tamara - with you on the weekend/travel thing. Lots of my weeks on this diet have had small losses overall but some bigger ups and downs through the week. I weigh myself most days - it helps me keep on track, even though I only "count" the Sunday morning weigh-in. So I'm sure those 2lbs will be gone again soon.

4myself and whitlin' - congrats on the loss, any loss is a good loss, as we all say.

I've not had any bowel issues while on this diet, although I do find I have to be really careful with drinking sufficent water - otherwise I wake dehydrated. Seems odd when I'm drinking half my "food" but that's how it is. In general though I find bathroom problems happen when I vastly change the amount of fibre in my diet - either up or down.

Well I have an evening dinner meeting tonight - I hope there is something interesting and low-cal to eat which won't kill this week. I'm not one for salads many times because I don't like dressing and often restaurant offerings are poor for house salads since they go for exotic dressings. I've never been to this place (and "steak & pizza" in the name isn't exactly encouraging) but I'm hopeful of something reasonable.

Good morning everyone!

Thanks for the support on my quick gain. This morning I'm back down a full pound so I suspect by the weekend I'll be back on target.

I think it makes a huge difference in how quickly the weight drops when I'm consuming the proper amount of water. When I was away I wasn't drinking as much as I should have been as who wants to tote around a 1 L bottle of water all over the place. It's fine at work if I'm at my desk or at home, but it's hard when you're out all the time and can't refill for free. I have home water delivery so I always fill my bottles at home in the morning and then I don't have to drink tap water which is not terrific tasting here becuase our water is so hard (mountain water) and they add flouride. I much prefer RO water and find myself drinking a lot more when it's available.

I'm going to try the curried chicken with sweet pepper sauce for dinner tonight from the SF site...it sounds yummy!

Cheers, Tamara

Wow, there's been a lot going on here since I checked in last! Our thread falling down on the page so quickly makes me think there's nothing new that's been posted! Teach me to check in more

I think adding all the extra fiber that I get with the SF plan is what's causing this! It's like I'm "bulked up" so much I can't get started (SORRY!!!). I checked my fiber intake one day after this started (it's been a week ago today--a week--I'm miserable) and I'm averaging over 40g of fiber every day--some days it's even closer to 60!

I've not lost any more weight, but my official wiegh-in isn't until Tuesday, so four more days. I definately need to get things "moving" before then!

Sorry for the TMI post!