Time for a new one.

Kathy:
I was trying to do the three day express when I came back from the long weekend. I did o.k. with it but not great. I will join you though and have a good OP weekend. There is an old 2-day express that I like to do, i will join you with that. I am just looking foward to find some kind of balance. I feel like all I am thinking of is trying to stick to this program.
Marcie I am glad you did not have time to cheat let us know how you did. I seem to find the time lately to cheat know matter how busy I am.
Diane

Joy:
I am also on the gold plan and I find very hard some times, especially when they start taking things away.
Sometimes what has worked for me in the past is having a bar and a shake instead of two bars. They say to try the drinks but they are not my favorite. So I do the shakes.
I know they also say no frozen food but sometimes I do really well with having a frozen dinner at lunch and on these days when I have the frozen dinner, I have a bar and a shake.
Some times you have to do what works for you. Bread and water doesn't cut it for me either. the way the center does it sometimes is so boring.
Should I ask you if you are measuring sometimes that makes a difference and are you eating everthing? Some have switched to other plans because they felt the gold plan it not enough.
I hope something I said helps
Good luck
Diane

OMG, I had the roughest week. I was so strict on my plan, but it paid off. I lost the water weight and an extra pound of "real weight" to boot, but I'm convinced it was because of the MASSIVE amounts of water I drank, working out daily (normally I work out 3-4 times a week tops), and strict diet. You guys were so right! It was water retention from the Chinese food. I'm now watching my sodium intake like a hawk.

Joy - I'm on the Gold plan too, and it disturbs me that I don't often take in 1200 cal/day. It usually hovers around 900-1000. I cut out my starches this last week and it seemed to help. Maybe you could try adding more exercise to your day or something I have stopped taking my car to work (it's about half a mile away), I walk more briskly and swing my arms, I take the stairs whenever possible... My downfall was sodium. Maybe there is some hidden high-sodium food you're taking in. That would be a quick fix. Personally, I am lucky to lose 1-2 lbs/week. It's very slow for me, too.

I can't remember who asked, but I'm teaching at a boarding high school this summer. It's a little too much for me at times and in three weeks the semester ends and I get to go home to my and my boyfriend's house. I live in a dorm with 30 teenage girls, so I'm "on duty" 24/7. I also coach volleyball, so that adds some exercise. PLUS looking at skinny teen girls all day really makes me want to lose weight They have weekly dances, and I go and dance with some of the other young teachers. Not only does it encourage the kids to dance, but it's like a 3-hour aerobics class. Sometimes the situation is far too depressing for me and I just NEED to be around other over-21ers. It's better now that the water weight is gone. I wasn't fitting into my CLOTHES I gained so much water! I didn't know that could happen!

Anyway, keep plugging away ladies. We'll make it together. It's so hard to socialize without food, and there is dessert at every meal here... I just look at it and think: "Now, I could have this cupcake and be momentarily satisfied and guilty for the rest of the night... but it's just a cupcake, and it doesn't have the power to make me break my plan!" Then I reach for a Luna bar.

BTW: I have lost weight using Luna instead of LA Lites. It DOES work, even if the center doesn't want you to know. I think they taste better, and they're much cheaper. They're sold cheap on eBay, too.

Can I add one more depressed weight gain story to the pile? I went to my center this morning and I gained 1#, i'm just going now where buy up these days! I did get my period last night so I know that has just about everything to do w/ it, but i'm tired of not seeing the scale go down! I'm really gonna stick to the program today and try to remember that everything counts! I always think "what's one bag of chips gonna do!" but I have to remember it does count! Well, i'm looking forward to the express program this weekend, hopefully I can have some good news come Monday.

xYTx- congrats on the weightloss! I'm glad it was just the chinese food and nothing else!

Joy- i'm also on the Gold plan, it's the only plan i've been on and it's so tough! No room for error! I'm with ya girl! Try not to stay depressed, we don't want that depression to take away your will power or your motivation. That happens to me all the time, I get down about things and the next thing you know, i'm saying "ah, who cares! I"m gonna just eat it anyway!" and when i'm done eating, that's when I care. LOL Cheer up, just think of your fellow friends on the board who are also struggling. We can do it together!

Diane- what's the 2day express that you like to do? I feel the same way. All I do is think of sticking to the program, but it never sticks, if you get what I mean. Well, i've been doing "ok" not great! I have one slipup daily, but not enough to make me gain a whole pound! Chin up, I have a feeling that by Monday, some of us would have shed at least some ounces!

kathy

Thanks, everyone, for your encouragement.

Diane, I am currently taking one bar and one shake per day as well. I, like you, don't care too much for the fruit drinks

I could exercise more, though. Generally, I do aerobics and/or pilates 2-3 times per week, but that's about all I get in. I'm also a little concerned abou the sodium. I don't get too much, but everything "diet" has so much - salad dressing, frozen dinners, low fat cheese, everything. It's really difficult to avoid.

At this point, I think I'm just going to try and stay motivated. One other concern I have is that I have noticed that I'm losing inches, but doing pilates on a regular basis builds muscle and replaces fat. Muscle weighs more than fat, so there is some consideration to be taken there. Does LAWL ever take that into account?

I think I'll try more walking and aerobics, and let go of the weights with pilates for a while. We'll see if that makes a difference. Once I get down in weight, I'll pick up the weight training agan to tone at that point.

Thanks again ladies. I haven't been to weigh in this week, because I'm too embarrassed, but I'll let you know the results when I weigh in.

Joy

Joy, I would tell you to not be embarrassed but I know exactly how you feel! I lift heavy weights and am sometimes afraid of how i'm building muscle and thinking i'm heavier when I clearly look small in the mirror. I can't stop though, I love lifting weights. I've never tried pilates though, I should pick up a pilates for dummies video or something. LOL

Kathy

Joy:
I think they do put you on a different plan if you do exercise a lot maybe you should check into it.
Kathy the express I do often is discontinued at La but I kept the paper and I still do it. With this express you can do it once a week. Joy you might want to try this also. When I am stuck this works really well or when I have a cheating weekend I do this on Monday and Tuesday.
You have Three La Lites instead of two and you also add (one) express protein.
The Express protein list:
Egg
Chicken liver 1oz.
Tofu 1/2 cup
Canadian bacon 2oz.
Vienna sausage 1oz < 5 grams of fat
Prociutto 1oz
feta cheese 1 oz
ricotta cheese 1/4 cup
process cheese spread 1oz.
string cheese 1oz
Camembert 1oz
Mozz chees 3/4 oz
american cheese 3/4 oz
Monterey jack 3/4 oz
Swiss chees 3/4 oz
cream chees 1 oz
peanut butter 1 tbs
morning star breakfast links (2)
But you have to omit 1 veg
2 fruits
2 starches
and 1 fat
I find it easier than doing the two day juice express.
So when I do the express days I have 2 veg 1 fruit 3 La lites,
Dairy and my two proteins one express protein. I find it easier sometimes with out the starches, somtimes they set me off.
Diane

The cheapest I have found the luna bars here in St. Louis are $1.89 each...that isnt any cheaper than LA.

I just went to weigh in and I was the same. It is that TOM so I am guessing I will be down next week. I am just going to be careful to stick to the plan and really watch those starches! Those little devils always get ya!

Is everyone enjoying the seasonal fruits? Plums, peaches, nectarines, cherries...mmmm...yummy....I am sooooo sick of the apples and oranges I ate all winter!

Jibbelle:
do you use the luna bars? Those starches set me off also.
I've been enjoying the cheeries, I find them easy to grab.
I weighed in today, I was only down a little bit.
I was actually drying my apples, drying them when it is not humid gave a nice crunch that I was looing for.
I am just looking to stick to program also this weekend the day is going good so far.
Have a great day
Diane
04/06/01 201
07/13/02 149.2
goal 135

I have not used the luna bars. I bought the LA bars in bulk when I started and I still have 3 months worth. I just looked at the luna bars when I have been out shopping.

My mom dried apples when we were kids...yummy! Maybe I should do some like that....I didnt really think about it.

Ok...back to writing my research paper! Semester is over in 3 weeks! WOOHOO

Hi Everyone.

I am just checking in. I'm not down any yet, but I've been sticking to the plan. Diane, thanks for the advice with the express proteins. I'm going to give that a try and let you know how it goes.

Joy

Luna Bars: I got them this week at Wal-Mart for $0.98 a piece, but that was a sale. Normally they are about a buck fifty. You can buy them by the box (15 per box) for less than $19.00 on the Luna bar website, and they're cheaper than that on EBay. I just wait for a sale and stock up I still have 10 boxes of lites to go, too... but I hope I won't have to buy any more after that.

Ladies,

I think I've finally found something that works for me. The afternoon of my last post, I went to a dietician who suggested I compliment my low calorie diet with a mild supplement to help speed my metabolism since that seems to be my obstacle. So, I went to a health store and purchase a product called Xtreme Slim. You can purchase a liquid or gelcaps. Bascally, I take two of the gelcaps in the morning before breakfast and two in the late afternoon. All it does is speed up my metabolism, but it does so without the jitters and high caffeine. Plus, it's not as expensive as the LAWL supplements - I spent $50 for at three month supply plus a bottle of the citric juice ((Xtreme Slim PM - tastes like the LAWL take off juice). The juice can be used to speed up metabolism at night. The only problem with this is that you may have to use the restroom 2-3 times more than usual at night.

Well, I began adding this supplement Saturday afternoon. I did have KFC and two pieces of cake this weekend, but I figured I'd give it a try. When I weighed in this morning, I realized that I have once again lost the last 3.5 pounds I gained back last week.

This supplement can't be used alone and be effective, but with the LAWL diet and moderate exercise, it seems to be very fast. I haven't noticed any side effects yet, but I think I will continue to use it for a few days, and see if my results remain positive. The lady at the store offered me a full refund if I'm not satisfied, but I think this may be the answer for me...and perhaps a few others.

Just thought I'd share since you all share such good information with me. I'll keep you posted.

Joy