NSV - my 13 year old daughter ate my chicken stir fry tonight and said "Mom, you are making all this healthy stuff taste good!"

And then she joined me and my husband for our nightly caramel vanilla shake

Hey everyone : ) I am wondering about sore muscles. I am about a week in. At first I felt like crap and now two days feeling great! But I noticed this morning how sore I am. I'm not exercising or anything and didn't do anything different yesterday. Feel like I could have been at the gym for hours lol. Is this something from being OP? Just wondering. Feel reassurred by others experiences. Thanks!

Jensthree, I had that too in the first week and corrected it by getting in more sodium, ie salt. I used a few dill pickles as part of my 4 cups of veggies. Also make sure to use the IP salt and mineral supplements. After the first week I was fine without pickles, but used a lot of WF dressings which contain a fair amount of sodium.

My IP info sheet said that as you lower your carbs, you lower insulin. One effect of insulin is to tell the kidneys to hold on to sodium. Now that you are doing that much,much less, there is a drop in sodium that can cause muscle aches.

That is a great NSV! I have a very particular way of eating mine as well. I like 1 for breakfast then my second is an afternoon snack. The third is after dinner treat. My mom likes to buy me soups/rotini and I always tell her no because I don't eat my packets as a meal and that's such a meal protein to me! Thankfully my clinic lets us exchange so I always bring the soups/rotini back. They just laugh and say "your mom bought this box yesterday..."

The ya ere good! They stuck a bit to the paper but other wise good. I made 'tacos' with them. Today I going to use the 3 leftovers for mini pizzas.

After two weeks, I finally feel like I'm getting into a groove! Before, I was just eating the packets as they came and very boring veggies so I could get used to the protocol again. Yesterday, I added a pinch of baking powder to my oatmeal and made muffins to have with my tea! It turned out so well, I felt like I was cheating! Today, I put a whole chicken in the crockpot with salt, pepper, paprika, onion and garlic powder. That way, I can enjoy some "fall off the bone" chicken tonight and feed my family too. Cooking and eating what my family eats makes me feel like I am making a lifestyle change and not on a diet!

That's so great! Last week I did a crock pot whole chicken. It was soooo good. When I got all the meat off that I could, I tossed it not thinking about making my own chicken broth! I could totally kick myself for not doing that! Oh well, next time!

My first REAL milestone - I passed the 50 pound mark today! Make it 51 pounds! Feels really good after the struggles of the past month or so.

What is mind blowing about it is the contrast to where I was. We often remark that we never "see" how big we were, that we seem blind to reality.

Last night, I was watching Antiques Roadshow, a show to which I went. All of a sudden, I saw myself standing there in the background (not far enough back!) during an entire appraisal. WOW and sad. I was huge and my stomach was sticking out massively in my jeans skirt.

What a wake up call that was and at the same time, a great thing to see now that I have lost so much weight. Also, a really big reminder of how very important it is to keep going, 100%.

Good morning all! had a fabulous weigh-in on Saturday - I'm less that 2 pounds from my (new) goal! My stats are amazing - fat at 32.8%, VF 7. I'm very excited as I think I'll be moving to Phase 2 on Saturday. I'm also very scared about maintaining. I'm happy we have 2 weeks for Phase 2 and 4 weeks for phase 3 cause after my experience of unconscious eating once I went off plan at the holidays, I feel I really need to do this slow and steady.

I actually thought about doing that, but I've never made stock before Maybe I'll give it a shot! What did you put on yours? I'm thinking about throwing some rutabaga in to be like potato, but I'm not sure how long they will need to be soft, but not mushy and mealy. Any guess?

I filled my bottom with bell peppers and turnips and put the pot on high from 1PM to 6PM. I did put a little bit of low sodium chicken broth. My turnips will still a little hard. Peppers were perfect. My chicken was delish!

I also seasoned the chicken but did it on the skin...which we can't eat. When you cook it this way, the skin doesn't get crispy so you won't want to eat it anyway! I was thinking about taking the skin off next time on the breasts so that I can actually eat the chicken with seasoning on it... ya know?

I seasoned the skin too, but maybe I'll go take it off now and season the chicken. It's only been in there an hour or so. Turnips? Yum! That's a good idea! Thanks for your tips!

I froze my cauliflower extras in one cup portions, so I just make what I need as I need it.

Good morning. Woke up this morning with more energy than I knew what to do with. Needless to say, my house is now spotless except the floors, garbage and recycle are ready to be taken to the curb in the morning, cucumber salad is setting in the fridge for lunch, and all of my Christmas decorations are finally put away! Why can't I be this productive every day?

I am laughing, shrinkingsusie because that sounds like me yesterday! We are preparing to put our house on the market and have tons of packed boxes that need moving and stacking out of the way. I shoved furniture, vaccumed, cleaned whatever.

Well, today my body is telling me to be careful. Actually, it was telling me that yesterday as I hefted a very heavy box, deciding it was going on TOP of the stack. As I lifted it above my head, this little voice in the back of my head is saying "don't be so stubborn, wait for help, this is too heavy".

So, heat pack this morning on my neck which is full of twinges no matter what direction I turn. Guess today I will take it a bit easier and more careful. Should have listened to my body, eh?