I got put on the 17 week plan so I started on the yellow menu.

I must say ... its awful!! *haha*

The one thing that I hate the most about it is no meat at lunch time. Does anyone know after this first 4 days is over, will I be able to start having meat at lunch?? I'm a HUGE meat eater, even if just chicken ... so at first, I suffered from lack of caffine headaches, now I'm suffering from that AND not enough meat!! *haha*

Also, one more question ... do you guys really eat the salad dressings?? I tried to the first day ... could barely stomach it. So I tried again yesterday and ended up throwing half my food away cause I just couldnt get it down!!! *gag* How long do I have to stay on these things???

Yes, you do get meat back for lunch after the first 4 days. If you like cottage cheese, mix it in with your veggies. It makes it like salad dressing. Spice it up with some dill, italian seasoning, whatever floats your boat. Today I just mixed cucumbers with cottage cheese (something I like anyway), added some dill.

My center doesn't even sell the MRC dressing anymore. It was pretty bad. Try a little olive oil & vinegar. Or some of the Walden Farms dressings. Or if you like honey mustard dressing, mix some vinegar with some Dijonnaise & maybe a little splenda (play with it a bit, I haven't tried this yet myself!)

I made the ranch dressing that they have in the cookbook (took me over a month to finally try it though) and it is surprisingly good! I love my buttermilk ranch and this stuff is pretty darn close. Give it a try.

Very cool ... Thanks you guys ~ I'll have to try these things!! I've pretty much decided ANYTHING is better than that stuff!!!! *blah* lol ...

If you have the ranch, it was awful on salad, but I found it made an okay substitute for mayo if I made tuna or chicken salad & added some Mrs Dash lemon pepper. Might as well use it for something.

Also there are several other salad dressing that fit the MRC requirements..don't have the paper in front of me but I know most of the salad spritzers work as do many of the FF dressing. Ok found my notes, according to the center I go to we can have any salad dressing with 3 grams or less carbs and 2 grams or less sugar for a serving!

I just found some Kraft Light dressings in individual packets at Publix this week. I typically use FF dressing with the low carbs, but these are great for meals out or traveling. Much better than the plastic bottle I was carrying in my purse :-)

They are the 'Lights', but the nutritional info looks ok:
Per Packet:
Balsamic Vinaigrette: Calories 25, Fat 1, Carbs 3. Zesty Italian: Calories 25, Fat 1.5, Carbs 2

Just wanted to clarify this fabulous news....they have to be Fat Free?

By the way Magic Eyes, I totally agree with you. I struggled through the first 10 days! You can do it though!

Also after the first 11 days it got a whole lot easier

I also tried the cottage cheese blended with ranch dip mix (the recipe for dressing in the cookbook), and I liked it. It was a different texture (not as wet) as regular ranch, but it tasted good, and it makes an excellent veggie dip. My center won't sell the MRC dressings, either, and they have us use walden farms or the spray dressings because they're so low calorie. The sprays aren't bad, either. I used them before I started MRC.