Hey Nwcgina,
Welcome back! Same w me- lost 35 on the MRC diet, went back to old habits and gained it back and more - just rejoined again ($79. For 17 weeks) a couple months ago. I'm taking it day by day and really trying to stick with it and at least lose 20.
My counselor is not the greatest and I just go into center to weigh in and tune out her sales pitch . She told me today that she lost 5 lbs on the meat lovers diet but didn't need to lose any more weight. Then told me again I need to buy the magic 3 pills- ummmmm- NO for the 10th time!!!!!!
Anyway, I depend on these wonderful ladies on this post to motivate me and get great tips and ideas for staying on plan.
We can do this!!!

Ok, -2.5 pounds for me last week. I am really proud of myself for not giving in to temptation several times last week. I almost ran out of veggies on hand to eat - which never works when I am starving, so will be better this week with planning. Yesterday I made spaghetti squash and cauliflower rice, shredded red cabbage, and cooked a bunch of chicken for grab-and-go lunches, so that shouldn't be a problem.

bigdog - woot woot on the loss! Sounds like all of your meal prep is paying off!

nwcgina - welcome!

I am off to a morning meeting. Everyone have a great day!

Congrats on your loss this week Selway! It so much easier to stay on track when I am prepared with the fridge full of veggies. I am on the road with my job a lot so lunch is always a challenge. I think what makes the salads so hard when starting is the absence of tomatos. Scale bumped up over the weekend, but going to stick with it this week and back to exercise, I found some new exercises for the menopause tummy, hopefully they will work!
Have a great week everyone!

This week is going to be the ultimate in self control for me. It's my daughter's "birthday week." We had a huge party for her on Sunday. Didn't eat the cake. We went out to dinner last night. Kids eat free on Tuesdays, plus the wait staff sang happy birthday to her and gave her an ice cream sundae. She couldn't finish it, and I didn't attempt to. Tomorrow is her birthday. I'll be making brownies w/M&M's tonight for her class tomorrow. Not sure what we will be doing that afternoon, but it'll be something fun I'm sure. Then on Saturday, we're going to Disney for the weekend. I've lost weight at Disney before so I know I can do it. I just have to stay strong.

Good morning! Well, my scale is moving back up . I had taken several days off from exercising last week to rest a back injury and feel better. I started working out again on Monday and the weight gain must be due to either muscle inflammation (not unlikely because this workout is a good one), or from muscle addition (not as likely because of the short time frame). Hopefully my body will adjust quickly to the workout and I will start losing fat weight! I am proud of myself for not eating a piece of Halloween candy last night. I had it in my hand, almost opened it, and then put it back.

JenB72 - WOW! Sending resistance vibes your way, what a tough week! Disney as in one of the parks? What a great birthday week/weekend! Good luck, you can do it!

Audrar - are you almost done with the blue menu? Will you be joining me on the green menu next, or you do you prefer a different one? How is it going?

bigdog - When will your counselor get the message? NOT interested in the Magic 3, move on. If the company is truly dedicated to helping people learn about food and managing weight, the counselors should have several strategies to support people (supplements or not). I'm glad you don't let them discourage you. Having a good week?

nwcgina - Just FYI (I promise I don't work for one) - the centers have great re-enrollment deals. They start with as short as 4 weeks for $49 if you just wanted some help getting started. I think bigdog said she enrolled for 17 weeks for $79. I was tempted, like you said, for the accountability....

Hello to everyone else that is out there but maybe not posting. Everyone have a great day!

End of week two, weighed in this morning, still at 150, no change from last Friday. I should be starting the green menu tomorrow but wondering if I should keep with the blue menu for a few more days to see if scale moves. I forget how much I love carbs until I can't have them, but that is how I gained my weight back, just a bite of this (no calories in a bite) has been so hot this week, so not as much exercise as needed.

Selway good for you dodging the Halloween Tricks!

Happy Friday! Epiphany last night. I have been struggling with a sweet tooth over the last two weeks and have been able to resist temptation by chewing sugar free gum (Spry made with xylitol). I order it from Amazon in a large container because it much less expensive than buying it at Whole Foods, etc. I am almost out and had to think back to when I recently ordered - it wasn't THAT long ago. Although the gum is sugar free, it has 0.72 g of carbs per piece. That might not sound like a lot, but I was chewing A LOT of gum. Maybe my gum intake was throwing my carb balance out of whack! I am limiting myself to two pieces/day and see if that does anything.....

Audrar - ugh, I feel your pain. I am +0.2 pounds from last Friday. Hang in there! If I had to guess, I would think that the MRC counselors would tell you to move on to the next menu. It seems like the yellow and blue menus are meant for short term use for a reason. Maybe too much time on them and your body will start holding onto energy/fat rather than releasing it? Just my $0.02. You know your system, do what you think works for you. As I sit in my office, I am jealous of your warm weather. My office is waaay too cold. I don't want to complain, however, because I am afraid that it will flip to the waaaay too warm version and that isn't good for me (get sleepy, etc.).

I hope everyone is having a great day and have a great weekend!

HI Selway -
Crazy challenges this month!
Helping my DH cater some events and open bar at all. Yikes!!! I'm hoping the activity will even out the cocktails!! Lol! Also attended a wedding and even though I stayed on plan w the entree I had too many vodka sodas. Good news is I Danced ALL night! Family is visiting this weekend and an oyster roast -
Planning on a lot of extra activity-

I need to remember if I'm drinking I need to alternate with water- I know if. I'm trying to lose weight - I probably shouldn't drink

Hmmmmmm- reality is I love to go out so my plan is to nurse my drink, drink more water and dance!
Good luck everyone and have a great weekend!!

I started using my metabalance plan again today. Because of my distance from any center I would be an at home client, which I may do yet. I'm ready to get back to healthy.

nwcgina - woot woot! Starting is the hardest part

bigdog - I like your reality. I think if we deprive ourselves too much it leads to disaster. I experienced this yesterday. I think if I just would have allowed myself to eat one thing, I would have been OK - but struggling all week and weekend, I fell off of the wagon yesterday and in a moment of temporary insanity ate probably 20 little Halloween candy bars....in about 10 minutes. I'm paying for it today, I feel awful. Back on track today.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Let's have a strong week!

I survived the Magic Kingdom & Epcot!!!! I lost weight!!! Woohoo!!! Wasn't totally on plan, but made the best choices possible. I didn't even obsess over sweets. I'm actually proud of myself.

Way to go, JenB! That's amazing and encouraging.

The scale already started moving down. I know initially it's losing the water puffiness, but it was so encouraging to step on the scale this morning and see it go down. Nothing else I have tried works as well or as quickly. Also I haven't been crazy hungry. I have my plan, I eat what's on the plan and don't think about it beyond that, removing the crazy mindless eating I had been doing. I'll be getting my HNS drinks in the mail today so yeah! I had just been using some not good tasting protein powder that I had on hand.

JenB72 - AWESOME! Losing weight during that week you described is a major success!

nwcgina - WOOT WOOT!

You ladies are inspiring! I am back on track after my Sunday eating disaster and starting to feel better. Wow, don't know why I keep doing that to myself - I feel awful for days. I am proud of myself for not eating something last night when I was in a late night stress mode and looking through the kitchen.....

Have a great day!

So, I was so angry and sick of protein that I ragequit a couple of weeks ago and went full-on HCLF Vegan. Didn't lose an ounce but my mood was much improved with the addition of carbs. In order to lose, I do need to limit carbs in some way, but very low carb is simply not a viable option for me. Have an appointment tomorrow to see what the options are for increasing carbs while staying on plan.

For those who have done this in the past, do you recall any of the older menus allowing more carb choices than the current plans? If not, guess I'll just have to tweak on my own.