Bonnie-- You Rock!!!!!!!!!! Yay

Congrats!

Look at you girl! Your pic looks awesome!

Way to go Bonnie....the weight is just melting off of you

You're off to a great start! Keep going. In terms of the ketosis, you are in a very mild ketotic state, so not to worry about organ failure, etc. That happened to people who followed the Atkins for long periods of time and I think it was the combo of no carbs and high fat that stressed the pancreas.

Do keep an eye on the activity. A little is good, but too much could put you in starvation mode and actually cause your metabolism to slow to conserve calories...it can be counter productive. The center I went to suggested no more than 2 hours of strenuous exercise per week. I think daily light exercise is a good idea, but if you notice a stall in weight loss, try backing off on the strenuous exercise.

Laura, I know exactly how you feel. I've been in the same pattern for 2 months. It's so frustrating.

Here's a couple of things that have really helped me (I've been totally on plan for 6 days with the exception of a small piece of chocolate and a couple of white choc chips 2 days ago)..and I even considered that day a success because I left the cheat at that and didn't compound the damage.

1. I gave myself a diet vacation. I planned it in advance. 3 days, no more. I ate whatever I wanted. At the end of 3 days, I felt ready to go back on plan. I wasn't obsessed about the foods I couldn't have. I really felt gross by the end of day 3. Everyday I recall how gross I felt and compare it to how great I feel when I eat on plan. I find I just am not craving the bad stuff the same way.

2. When I start to mindlessly reach for the nuts or the choc. chips as just stop in my tracks and ask myself these questions: Hey, what's going on? What are you doing? Are you even hungry? If not, then what is this about? Usually it is in response to some stress or anxiety about something. Once I've identified the real issue I realize that food isn't going to fix it and isn't going to make me feel better. I then no longer even want the snack.

I also do what keepinonandon does. I remind myself that this isn't forever. The closer I stick to plan the faster the process; but even if I 'm not perfect, I'm still losing and will eventually get to goal. So, I hope to stay perfectly on plan, but if I don't, so what? That seems to remove the feelings of "what's the use, I blew it, the day is shot" that used to happen.

It's all about keeping a positive attitude and not being so hard on ourselves. This is truly a journey and a time of self discovery. You can do it. Enjoy the travel rather than just looking for the destination.

6 days on plan and 6 days at the gym. Whoo hoo!! The scale refuses to budge, but the clothes are fitting loser all the time. I expect to see the scale drop in a big way one of these days...until then...I'll just keep pulling up my loose pants

Good job! I've had 3 days on plan with not as much time at the gym as I would like but that will happen. Exercise has always been an on again love afair with me! I'm ready for the wind to quit blowing and evenings to be nice so I can just go walk!

Have a fabulous weekend. My plan for tomorrow is MRB & Shake for breakfast & Lunch b/c I have a birthday dinner that consists of beef stroganoff for dinner. The plan there is a huge salad, and just the beef, no noodles, and as little sauce as I can do! It's an all evening poker party so it will be a tough evening but we'll see how we do!

Cya sunday!

This is my first message board "gig". I get so excited when you all answer my messages. I start to feel like I am putting this out there and that is the end...but I am getting so much back! Just from reading your responses to each other is helping me more than I can express. Thank you.

I did "cheat" last night and had a bowl of frosted mini wheats. My weakness is and has always been cereal. I believe, though, that I was under 1200 cal before that point, so hopefully, the harm will be minimal (???). I was tired...and I tend to eat unnecessarily when I am tired. I should have just GONE TO BED!!!!!

On a positive note, I jogged with my 14 yr old daughter 2 miles!!!! I jogged 1 mile - walked a few minutes and jogged the mile back home. My daughter is in athletics and she was talking me through it the whole way. Toward the end, I kept wanting to walk - I kept telling her "I'm ready to walk....auuughh", but we kept going. She told me when it gets this intense, she focuses on the rhythm (sing a song in your head and move to it). So I did.

For some reason the first song that came to mind was Morning Train (Sheena Easton) "My baby takes the morning train...he works from 9 to 5 and then...he takes another home again...to find me waiting for him" - before I knew it, I was home. I could NOT believe it.

My daughter hugged me and we celebrated (once I could get my breath).

I've seen runners' bodies. Running just does "it" so I decided whatever I have to do to get there...even if it is a slow and painful process...I decided to do it. I also figured, if it were easy, everybody would be doing it.

Same thing with MRC - if it were easy, and didn't require work and dedication, then everybody would be doing it.

We are, even though numerous, still the minority. It's the success and determination in ADDITION TO the plan that makes it awesome.

Even if you've cheated, you are still in the select few, who have found something that truly works that you can use for the rest of your life.


I also

live2ski: Congrats on the 3 days OP and way to go making a plan on how to handle the poker party. I find that if I make a plan in advance, it's easier to stick to it. A couple of other suggestions for tonight: byob several special diet sodas or sparkling waters. If you like gin and tonics, I suggest diet tonic water. I like the bitterness of the quinine. Great idea about the stroganoff. I find it difficult to get enough protien when I try to pick it out of caseroles, dishes, etc. Maybe you could bring some rolled up deli turkey or roast beef. Another thing I have done is just eat my protien and carb portions before I go to the event and then just have the salad. Sometimes, though, the salad is already dressed and talk about calorie challenges. The salad dressings can add up quickly, like 500, in no time. Sometimes it is just too hard to fight the pressure of the food that is available. Last year, when I was doing the program for the first time I would just tell my hostess in advance that I was on a very structured diet and would she mind if I just brought my own food. The hostess was always very supportive. Finally, bring some extra muchies/crunchies or gum. Do you have soy crisps? Munching on celery, green peppers, etc., even though not tecnically OP will be better than having the pretzels/chips/nuts, that will be there tempting you. I don't mean to be preachy, just offering some support and suggestions. Good luck!! I know you'll do great and I'll be sending supportive thoughts your way.

Discoveryjoy: Welcome and thanks for posting. It took me 9 months of visiting before I posted anything. The support I get from coming to the site is fabulous. I'm always disappointed when there hasn't been any new posts for awhile. The more posts, the more support. Not to worry about the little "cheat". It's over and done with. Don't give it another thought. You might see a blip up in weight, but that's just your body retaining water to help process the extra carbs. If it happens, it will release in a couple of days. Great job on the jogging. Way to go.

Happy Saturday to everyone and wishing you all motivation and strength during the weekend, 2 of the most challenging days of the week.

Raven-
Thanks for the tips! Yeah luckily the party is at my best friends house and she and our other good friends have been around me plenty with this diet to support me! I'm not much of a drinker but do have a diet Mikes in the garage and will take one if I feel like I need one. I'm taking a spinach salad so will pull some out for myself before I load the dressing on although it's made with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and I'll use splenda instead of sugar so it shouldn't be too bad! I can usually resist all the other stuff! Wish me luck!

Took my walk this morning and have spend the next 3 hours cleaning my house, so hopefully I'm burning some of those extra calories!

Have a great Weekend!

I just wanted to chime in a say how much all of your successes has encouraged me to jump on the MRC Bandwagon. I'd been thinking about joining for awile, and when I found this forum, I knew it was a diet that would work for me.

I am still adjusting to the idea that I am overweight (actually obese-ugh) because for years i was underweight and starved myself to get there. I got help with my eating disorder in college, and when I stopped starving myself, I found that I really liked food- especially cookies and fried. My weight came on relatively slowly, like 10 pounds a year for the past 4 years, and I was in denial because I never got on a scale. I had a lot of emotionaly turmoil over the past four years and I know I turned to food to help. I was dealing with three miscarriages (most recent in Jan 09) my father's death, moving three times, hubby's alcohol abuse and rehab stay and being pregnant during that time. I had my beautiful daughter almost a year ago and still weighed the same as the day I gave birth until I joined MRC.

I joined a little over a week ago and today is day 8 of the program. I am already down 9.1 pounds! I can hardly believe how fast the weight is beginning to come off. I am sick today and have to eat off plan because all the veggies upset my stomach, but I'm going to drick TONS of water to hopefully counteract the extra sodium that I'm having with soup and crackers.

I just wanted to introduce myself and tell a little about my journey... I know I'm going to need support over the next few months!

Bonjour!

Well Monday was the beginning of my pre-conditioning and I weighed in Friday.....I am pleased to share that I have lost 9lbs!!! Oh my goodness I just could not believe my results in under one week. Congratulations to everyone on your success. You all have been motivation for me to start MRC and I don't plan on ever looking back with regret.

Congrats on making that first step! I think we all live in denial! Hubby just showed me a picture of me on my 40th birthday and I couldn't believe that I let myself get that out of control! But with the help of this wonderful diet I have made soooo many changes in my eating habits and lifestyle!

Good luck with the journey!

Congrats!

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the "new folks", I too am still new. I have read and hung around the boards a while but only recently started to post.

Congrats on everyone dropping the pounds. Yesterday (Friday) I went in for my WI...it was day 12 I was down 1 more pound then Wednesday for a total for 6 pounds in 12 days.

I have a question for you MRC Veterns, the ground turkey breast is OK, but I saw the store sells ground chicken. It doesn't specifically say "ground chicken breast" just Ground chicken. I was wondering if this is "lean" enough. I don't know if it is chicken breast or all chicken parts. I just thought if I could have it, I might like the taste a bit better then the ground turkey.