*Make that 12 pounds

that's fantastic!!! make sure the pants have spandex...:-) so they will adjust to the smaller you! congratulations!!

when you do this plan at home, do you weigh in at all at the center? (that's the part i hate, having to make sure i don't drink water that am, wear light clothes, etc.) plus the closest center is an hour away so it's hard to get by there ) i do go once a week - unless i'm on holiday or vacation...
how does the at home program work?

It IS super nasty! I have it sitting here (staring at me wondering why I don't drink it anymore).. I just can't handle it..so gross!

Yes, very gross!

Great job on the 12 lbs! WOOHOO!! What pants do you like so much that are on a big sale today?

bigdog-I do not go to the center. I weigh in on my scale in the morning and call in around noon. They ship me my HNS's (I went to the center this weekend since I was in that down shopping). I don't get to do any of the classes (which would be fun). When I stopped by the other day I was really happy I was doing it from a distance (the drive is over an hour)...many of the workers that day seemed to be young, don't know if I could take them seriously

rocki-Worthington dress pants from penney's. They come in "short" which re the perfect length for me. They are $15.88 today (and I think free shipping).

I just did a trying on clothes session and am back in my prebaby clothes...I had gotten rid of most after I got pregnant with #2, but held on to some...now I'm back in them! Was pumped that I am back in the little black dress my husband bought me for our first Valentine's day when we were engaged.

thks for the info...i wasn't sure how that worked. so when you reach your goal, do you have to go to center to weigh in to get stabilization/maintenance info? i'm just wondering if i haven't reached my goal by the end of my 17 weeks (Dec. 17th) if they will give me the maintenance info anyway. guess i can ask....but if anyone knows, please feel free to share :-)

I don't have to go to the center for anything, ever. i don't know if they would give you the stabilization/maintenance stuff if you haven't met goal...doesn't hurt to ask. Anytime I got information (the yellow menu, green menu, etc.) we talk about it on the phone and she emails it to me. I basically paid for one year...in that time I should reach my goal and go through stabilization and maintenance and ability to buy the HNS (if desired). You should ask about it...I only had to pay $129 for a year's membership.

Attached you should find a copy of the Maintenance Exchanges (I apologize for the writing .. it was specific to my maintenance). There is no menu. You are now counting calories. I prefer to follow my green menu while adding some stabilization additions.

Once you meet your goal, its important you go thru all five weeks of stabilization (to determine what your body is sensitive too) then maintenance. You learn so much about your body. I know that my body needs lots of fresh vegetables, fruit, a good bit of lean protein, some carbs, a little fat and lots of water. And Exercise! In moderation, I can have anything while on maintenance. I will just increase my exercise and go back to MRC green menu strictly for a week or so.

MRC is a way of eating long term (whether we like it or not).

Today is my first day 100% back on program, minus yesterday's Metaquick (thanks to bigdog & Tamikl for helping with that.) I am amazed at how much better I feel without eating processed foods. When I went off program at my parents' house, I was tired and sluggish all the time. I attributed it to the fact that we traveled 9 hours to get there, but I slept well every night and still needed a nap every day. I only got 6 hours of sleep last night (versus my regular 8) and I feel really good today, and I really believe it has to do with what I'm putting in my body.

I planned on weighing in today but I got busy with paying bills and putting my house back together after traveling & putting Christmas decor up. I may go after my son's gymnastics class and before I pick the other kids up from school, or else I'll just go tomorrow morning before work.

Haha! Yeah, bigdog, I notice that, too, with my pants when I lose weight. It's like our but isn't big enough to hold them up anymore, so they suddenly get longer.

I'm in the process of buying new clothes that fit better to slowly rebuild my wardrobe. Unfortunately, since I'm still losing a few pounds a month (not intentionally, but I'm not sad about it, as my "healthiest range" is actually still about 5-10lbs away), the clothes that I bought in August/September for work are getting a little baggy on me. I only say unfortunately because now I have to spend money to buy more clothes, and even though I like that I have more variety and cuter things to choose from, I hate shopping when a) money is tight, and b) the selection is now overwhelming and it ends up getting stressful.

Patzi-- I'm the same way. If I overindulge a bit too much one week and go up a couple pounds, I just go back to the green menu for a few days and then I'm back where I should be (sometimes even a little lower than I planned on, because I become so extra-cautious when I'm trying to lose the little I regained). One thing I'm learning--and truly appreciating--is that it's WAAAAAY easier to catch it when I'm only up 2-5lbs and then lose it quickly over a few days as opposed to not paying attention and going up 10+lbs, at which point it becomes a longer ordeal to lose it rather than a minor adjustment over a few days. That's a huge motivator to stay on top of things!

Please, please, please, save the MODs some work and use Edit feature to respond to multiple posts using the QUOTE and /QUOTE features and copying from within the post rather than the whole post.

See? No need to quote the whole post, just copy what you are replying to. I see many posts in here made one after the other that need to be merged.

Please cooperate to enhance readability and save us some work - we are volunteers, you know.

Now I'm off to merge many consecutive posts in this thread. Hold onto your hats!

Gina - way to go on the weight loss! That's awesome!

i just use Quick Reply, should i be clicking on Quote to reply? not sure what you mean..... actually when i clicked on Quote, it gave me an error message...

you are so right about that! i have too many times gotten close to my goal or at my goal and slowly got back to my old habits and next thing you know have gained back all the weight and more. i apologize for posting so much but i need you guys to keep me accountable!! i'm depending on you all :-)

you are right, happy to get back to my "clean" diet...won't eat a casserole for a long time...bleah! carbs now make me feel like a big fat slug... i felt thin this am waking up and i like it!!!

Thanks!!! you are awesome!!! this is a long term plan for me and i am so glad to have found MRC and this board. no sugar cravings or hormone surges...i'm not bloated w/ this diet. i just love it!!

that's fantastic and a good price. i've already paid $300 (even w/ a $100 off coupon) and i think i have everything menu wise. (yellow, blue, green menu) that's it right, besides the stabilization/maintenance stuff..i bought the cookbook and order all the HNSs from Diet Direct... now that my DH is on board, he helps me too. i was at a party the other night and snuck over to the dessert table. i was looking around for him when i snuck a brownie and he was right behind me - i jumped a mile! haha! i turned around, took a small bite and said i got this for you! and stuffed it in his mouth. LOL!!

BigDog: You do not need to quote the whole previous post. Just highlight the part to which you are responding and paste it into your reply with quotes around it.

For example: using the
{quote} and {/quote} but with square brackets. I hope this helps. Quick reply is for responding to a single post only.

A lot of this information is in the Forum Help Section in the main forum.