I did not forget this thread. Kept meaning to post. Hope everyone is well.

Glasseyes, wow ten pounds. That is awesome. Looks like the Merida is helping but remember you are the one doing it.... I never set weight goals for myself. Isn't that strange? I post on the 100lb club here and most people do set goals for themselves. I set a loooooooong term goal - 100 lbs in a year and I did not make it but so what. I was satisfied with what I did. For me exercise was and is important. It took me a while to get that but I finally did. Still do not really enjoy it.

Froufy gal, glad you are not buying the candy.....it is so easy to snack. Sometimes I find that if I snack I want more and more. I actually found that if I did not snack between meals it was easier for me. I am a strange duck. That sounds like an intense interview. You just got your MBA if I remember. I remember when I first got mine....(years ago now). It hopefully will help you land the job you want.

MauiMama, how are you? Sounds like you are countin the calories. Just remember. 3500 calories=1lb so you have to cut 3500 calories out of your week to lose 1 lb----500 a day. That was easy for me to do at first since I must have been eating 5000+ calories a day. I don't know too much about a rebound effect. I do know that if you cut down too much, your body thinks it is starving and your metabolism slows. That equals zero weight loss. However, you are not really heavy and I think I remember you and I figuring out how many points WW said you could have and WW points translate into calories. 1 point=50 calories. Perhaps you should go by that...and as you lose you need to cut down further. Lot of work, huh??

I have been busy and neglecting my exercise. I feel it. I have lost 105(and some points) lbs.....just got weighed by WW on Tuesday. Now I will not get weighed for another few weeks. Oops I have doctor's appointment on Monday so will get weighed then. Will see what doctor says. Don't think I have lost enough in the three months since I last saw him.

Take care everyone.

Sorry, MauiMama, just saw you had started a new thread

Good to hear from you Nik
don't worry about my starting of a new thread. I just knew 3 pages was to long and if i bumped it up a little,people might post some of their updates!
I am doing ok. I still haevnt' broken the dreaded 200 mark! I was hoping to do it by now, but am still about 10 ish pounds away
I have been faithful on the exercise. I got to Curves for women ( an all women gym) 3-4 times a week and do my stationary bike in between. I am trying to set my halfway goal ( 25 lbs) for august 1st....
I ate a bunch of chocolate today, what can i say, the devil made me do it
I am still on my meridia and doing fine. No side effects and it really helps with my appetite.
Way to go on your 105 lbs Nik...woo hoo!!!
See Ya later All :sheep:
MauiMamma ( that's what i look like working out...k, well maybe the sheep is cuter!!)

Well, it's just you and I for now MauiMama....or perhaps just me.

I had a not so good weekend. I went overboard Saturday night--we went out to dinner with 3 other couples followed up by Mother's Day.....waaaaaaa

Unfortunately I had a doctor's appointment on Monday a.m. and my scale showed me 3 lbs up.....now how is that possible.

Anyway, I have not seen the doctor in three months so he was pleased with my weight loss and the results of my blood work. However, he reminded me that now that I was closer to goal I would have to be more careful with food and would have to increase exercise. Waaaaaaaaaa....this stinks sometimes.

I told him that I was taking Merida every other day and he said as long as I still felt it was working it was fine. We had a long discussion over the Merida scare. He is keeping up with all the news and encouraged me to do so also. He, at this point, does not feel that there is medical evidence to show that Merida factored in any of the deaths.

Hope you are doing well. Keep me posted. Take care

Hi Nik,
It was good to hear from you...I was starting to think i was the only one out here
Glad to hear your doc is ok with meridia,but sorry to hear that you went up a bit...is it maybe a TOM thing? I bet that could nothing but water weight or a hinky scale! I think you are going to get right back on track and do great!!! I mean, c'mon, you have already come so far and you don't have very far left to go, so the battle is half won, right? You'll have that 3 pounds off in no time!!
I have lost about 4 more lbs. I am still very far from where i'd thought i'd be by now, but hangng in there. I am down to 211.5 from 218 in about a month. Not to bad i guess, but i was hoping to break the 200 mark by now *sigh*
Well, hang in there and check in often, ok?
MauiMamma:sheep:

MauiMama.....wonder if you are still out there??????? I am still plugging along. It is hard for me to post since my progress now is very slow so I don't have exciting news.

I am trying to get back into doing this food program. Just ordered two new cookbooks and am going to try at least one new recipe a week. This weekend I made a low fat (almost no fat) quiche.

The long weekend coming up is always a challenge. I am going to a large barbacue on Sunday, so trying to psyche myself up for dealing with the food there.

Hope you are doing well mauimama. Hope others are out there also.

Hey Nik,
I am still here and still doing ok
I am only down about 2 more lbs as of my last weigh in,but that was 3 weeks ago and i am feeling quite a bit smaller
I figure a couple of punds a week and by fall i should be halfway to goal!!!
I don't know where everyone else on this thread went??? It seems to have just kinda died off
I would love to hear from you,even when you have nothing "exciting" to report...
MauiMamma:sheep:

mauimama, glad you are still losing. Even when I was stuck for a while and did not lose at all, I tried to remember that at least I was not gaining........I had gained pretty steadily for six years.

So two pounds is great and if you are feeling smaller now you must be. Pretty soon we will both be in size 6.

This is how this thread has always gone---people come and go...........sometimes I have been alone for long periods of time. I try to keep it up cause it helps me and also because I remember how thrilled I was when I joined the board and found that, wow, someone else was taking Merida.

I have one woman who is in my monthly hospital group that is also taking Merida. She has done so well. She took cruise and did not gain a pound. She swore it was the Merida........I would need my lips glued shut before I would not gain weight while on vacation. Think I told you that when I was in Hawaii in November I gained 12 lbs in two weeks.

Keep up the good work. I will probably get weighed in another week...I try to weigh in every four weeks. Sometimes it is hard to stay off of the scale.

Take care.

You can certainly tell when I'm "off the wagon" as you obviously don't hear from me.....but I am getting pretty scared as to my weight/health status again, so I am back trying to lose some weight yet again!

I am still finding it hard, but this morning, I knew I had a choice to make...pig out or eat sensibly...and frankly I decided to "chill out" and relax with the overeating. So had a cereal bar and coffee instead of something "more damaging". Two xenicals down so far today...no plans for dinner yet....but it is a very busy week as my daughter is in two dance recitals so we are out every night this week (either dress rehearsals or performances)...so eating properly will be challenging to say the least.

I think I might pop some popcorn or pack pretzels for a "munchable" snack along with some fruit juices.

I cancelled my dr's. appt tomorrow as I am too embarrassed to go in and get weighed as I know I have put on some pounds. My next appt is beginning of July for my annual checkup..which gives me about a month to get back in control.

You both sound like you're doing well...despite some minor setbacks....glad to hear the Meridia is still working.

As for exercise, the weather here is finally beautiful and I am SERIOUSLY thinking of instituting an "after dinner stroll" for hubby and me on the nights we are home....may have to bring a kiddie (or two) along....the problem will be trying to avoid getting sidetracked at the playground!!!

I hope to be around for a while and will check in when I can......good luck to all of you and keep up the good work!

Frouf

Hi guys! This is my first post to this website. I have been on Meridia 10mg for the past 3 weeks. I have noticed only minor changes. I think about food every 1/2 hour instead of every 10 minutes. I'm still having difficulty adhering to the 1600 cal. diet my Dr suggested. I haven't lost any weight yet. I contacted the drug co. that manufactures Meridia. The person I spoke to said that the drug doesn't suppress the appetite, but it makes you feel more satisfied/full quicker. She also said you have to take the medication for about 4 days until it begins to work. I have a Dr's appt. next week, and I guess she probably up the dose to 15mg. It seems that side effects are worse with this dose, but I'll just have to wait and see what the doc says.

Ahhhhhhhhhh the Merida thread is alive....good.

Froufy gal, good to hear from you. I really wish I could help you. I know all to well how hard this #$%#% weight thing is. I have many days when I think "This is just too much." but then I remember that I felt shi__y while I was overeating. I try to remember how I felt after eating and eating and eating. It was not a good feeling. The food only made me feel better for a short period of time.

I know too that when life gets hectic (my dd's did not dance but did just about everything else), it is harder to control what we eat. When I shop I plan my dinners for the whole week Mon-Thurs, I leave Friday open, but do plan Sat and Sun. It is a pain but honestly it helps. If I am going out I bring a Kashi Go Lean drink in a cooler and a small bag with pretzels and have that.

For me, the sweet eater of all time, the reward for me is my ice cream at night. It keeps me on the straight and narrow. I always have that to look forward to. Sick isn't it. Anyway keep in touch......and don't be ashamed of falling off the wagon---we all do.

Welcome moonbeam7, it is nice to have you join us. I am sorry that Merida is not helping you at this point in time. I can't truthfully remember when it "kicked in" for me but it was fairly quick. However, I have talked to many people who it took a month to work. Merida, I believe, gives you a feeling of well being. What it did for me is simple.....it stopped (never totally) my food thoughts. I have been taking it now for 17 months and have lost over 100 lbs. Sometimes the 10mg dosage does not work for people and they do have to go right to 15mg.

I am not a doctor and certainly would not presume to tell you what to do but depending on how much you now weigh perhaps you have cut your calories too much. I did not count calories, but counted fat grams but know that many of the people in my group ate 1800 calories and some 2000. It takes a reduction of 3500 calories a week to lose a pound (500 a day). Are you drinking water???? Try that.....it is filling. Good luck and I hope you find that Merida works for you. Check in with us.

I just posted a reply on the previous thread! Would love to join in - have been taking Meridia for nearly 2 months. I've lost a total of 32lb. since March 22 (I had surgery and lost 14lb during the hospital stay). Still have about 70 to go but I'm breaking that down into smaller goals.

Cheers,
Diana

Me again...went to the doctor today and I'm still at 184lb at 5'6". Stayed exactly the same after 1 month on 10mg, so we decided to up the dose to 15mg.
It's funny, I had lost 30lb's previously on WW 2 years ago. I put 15 back on after changing jobs. (I was a nurse in a major psychiatric ER in a somewhat large city and, being the new kid, I was given a lot of night shifts. My body and my sanity was so screwed up!) I finally got a new job last year in a psychiatric clinic and working 9-5. Very laid back, nice people, but my God, the food! Drug reps bring us junk almost every day! Candy, cookies, Krispy Kremes and at least 2 (fattening) luncheons a week. It's so hard to resist this stuff when it's there all the time.
I needed something to give me a kick in the a$$. I found out my cholesterol is high at 253. I was shocked, I don't want to end up like my dad! He's had 2 heart attacks, a stroke, hip replacements among other things. He still is very overweight and smokes heavily. Then, one of my patients asked me if I was pregnant! I said "No, just chubby", but I was mortified! I'll guess I'll use these things to motivate me a little more. Thanks for letting me vent!

I've been slack.

I have not been going too well...I still have the utmost faith in meridia, but I am not doing well...I am eating even when not hungry, I am eating crap I shouldn't be eating. I am not losing any weight, I have gained 5lbs back. I am so disappointed in myself.
I have done no exercise for about 2 months, it's Winter in Australia and It's so cold and it gets dark early and I don't want to go outside..so I don't
I sit in front of the TV or computer, and I eat.
I know it's not out of hunger, because I am not hungry, just bored I suspect.
HELP ME!!.
I can't see my doctor at the moment as he is overseas until end of July...I need a kick in the pants!. I need to get back on track, I don't know how I can do this.
To make matters worse, my husband got a job as a milko and brings a lot of short life milk home...as well as dairy products, which I never really ate much of before...

I went for my check up last Wed. I have lost a total of 17.5 lb in two months while on meridia. Unfortunately though my blood pressure has skyrocketed and I will have to take a break from it. NOnetheless it has given me a good start, I am highly motivated ad enjoying exercising at the gym!!!

Good luck to the rest of you.
Diana