Jibelle/Lorrie,

My modification was similar. Because I don't have fruit on my plan, I get an extra starch. One of the things I was doing was having two starches at lunch (sandwich). They recommended I move one of those starches to dinner. I was a little peeved at first, but now I enjoy having the starch at dinner, and eating an open-faced sandwich is not the world's biggest deal. Since I also have 3 milks, I also try to space those throughout the day and not eat 2 milks at one meal (Sometimes I do, but usually I don't). Finally, I was initially having a snack after dinner of whatever I had leftover from the day, often cheese, a starch and a fat. They got me to move these up in the day and have an LA Lite instead after dinner. I've been much more successful since then.

I didn't go weigh today because of yesterday's naughtiness. I hope I'm back down tomorrow when I weigh. Just had a yummy chicken salad. Scrumptious! Oh here's something for review. I hate fat free salad dressings, so now I get regular dressings and do that thing where you dip your fork tines in before spearing any lettuce. I find that I eat *maybe* a teaspoon or two this way, and it makes me a lot happier than scads of FF italian. Oh, and if it's honey mustard, I'll count it as a fat and maybe 1/2 a starch.

Making the plan work for me... is what I'm all about.

Wow...look at all of todays posts!!! WOOHOOO

Diane-
Your sister is doing great on her own!! I am sure you will beat her to goal though. A little sibling rivalry should be good motivation for you!

I am going out for dinner tonight....wish me luck!

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to pop in and catch up on everyone... looks like everyone is doing pretty well. Keep it up ladies and good luck with your plans!

has had me being a little naughty... trying to get back on plan... i did the 2 day takeoff last week & didn't get back to the center... i had the worst headache & i nearly died... i don't care for the 2 day takeoff... anyhow, between work & classmates coming in for the reunion... there was no time to go to the center... i weighed at home... while my scales are different from the center... i didn't note much of a loss after the 2 day takeoff... certainly not worth the expense nor nearly making myself sick... i'm beginning to feel discouraged with the center... it's more of a money grubbing place than a couseling place... sorry... not intending to spoil anyone's outlook.

Guess it would be more helpful... if i hadn't gotten off plan this weekend... while i really didn't eat OP... i really didn't overeat... doesn't look like i can get to the center until late in the week... got to finish reports due by tomorrow... Yipes! better get to work.

Kick my butt ladies... & get me remotivated... PLEASE!

Thanks!
Nancy

I know how you feel. Sometimes I just want to say "If you would just stop hard-selling me on everything from joining the plan to trying to push these damn supplements on me, I sure would trust you a lot more."

But I just take it with a grain of salt. It's a franchise that someone has opened in true patriotic American capitalist fashion for the express result of making moola . But hey, I'm losing weight. I said going in, "how much would I pay to lose this durn weight that is driving me crazy?" And so I had decided before I walked in. Their nutty sales pitch did nothing but deter me, if anything -- it certainly wasn't why I joined. But, overall, it's nice to have someone looking after my weight, I like the plan, I feel like we're probably doing a lot better on plan than most of the freestylers, I'm definitely motivated to not have thrown that money away, and I feel like I'm definitely saving money by not eating out so much any more.

So, I refuse the supplements, snack, whatever the hard-sell item of the week is, over and over because I have a different counselor every time, andf just focus on the weight loss plus how great I feel to actually have found a way to eat healthy that I enjoy.

Oh, another thing. I was getting frustrated with the ups and downs caused by weighing so often. One of my counselors taught me a trick. Don't look. So, I only look when I want, and tell them not to tell me if I don't want to know. I only look when I know I'm going to be down.

Hope that helps Hang in there!

Bunny-

I totally agree with you about weighing so often. The ups and downs do nothing but frustrate me. I have always only relied on my Saturday morning weights as the real ones....I go the same time of the day and wear similar clothes. I think I will try doing what you do and hide my eyes on the other weigh ins so I dont get discouraged when I have on a 2lb pair of jeans and it looks like I gained.

I have to go to the center today or tomorrow...so I will try your trick.

Nancy-

Good luck getting back on the wagon! It is hard to stay on plan all the time, but so far we are all doing better than I ever would have expected. You cant change an eating lifestyle overnight....as we all know!!!

Drink lots of water and eat those veggies.

Take care all

Nancy:
Once in awhile we all need a kick in the butt. I got mine during the summer. Our center had troble with staffing over the summer and they had alot of different people coming in. Well anyway there was a Manager in from CT., who at the time I thought was nasty, she asked why did I spend all that money on a program if I was not going to stick to it and if I did not get my act together I would have to pay extra. I actually did see her a month or so later and said thanks. I would probably still be kidding myself with the same cycle of eating. I know we all need a cheat sometimes but it sounds like you are having trouble breaking out of the pattern you are in. So Nancy if you really want to lose weight get over it and stick to program. You can do it.
There is your kick in the butt. Good luck
Diane