Hey, Ladies! Hope today went well for you all.

As for my rice recipe with the dressing, I don't use any dressing for the day and put our allotment into the rice. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE creamy food (one of the reasons that I'm where I'm at right now, huh?) so I knew I couldn't live without it. Plus, I found the best ranch dressing...hidden valley low fat ranch with sour cream. My goodness, you would never think it wasn't the real thing. I use that in my rice, and it's not bad warm. I was hestitant at first, but it works.

C Bo - I don't have a specific amount I mix with it, but I just add in corn and black and/or red beans, salsa and the dressing. Good luck with your videos. Can't wait to hear how they go!

Kara - Sorry to hear your plans got switched up, but good for you for not giving in to even just taste it. And I'm very glad that you liked my recipe. When I eat it I never feel like I'm on a diet.

Janmot - Don't worry if you can't last too long right now. Hey! You did 15 minutes longer than you did before you started, right? And with time, you'll be able to do even more. Don't get discouraged, since you're moving in the right direction. Soon enough, you'll be able to add your ticker and then show us how well the exercise paid off! Also, I found that I got headaches, too with detoxing, but I always blamed it on the lack of caffiene. I'm an addict with drinking diet cokes, so it was tough to overcome. I don't even want it anymore, and I doubt when we're allowed to have some again, that I'll even do it. It's not worth going back to that. But that's what I say now...give me a few more days ha!!!

Here's my meal plan today:
B - black cherry yogurt, banana
L - boca burger (vegan) with lettuce, tomato, black beans and pickles and sweet potato fries. (Everyone was planning on having hot dogs today, so I wanted to feel like I wasn't a weirdo, which didn't help anyways. The burger wasn't the best, but the sweet potato fries are ALWAYS great!)
S - fruit salad (grapes, blueberries & watermellon
D - brown rice, black beans, corn, a little hot sauce and a small amount of low fat ranch dressing to make it a bit creamy. Yummy!

Great job today Annie, and good to hear from you! Yeah, I'm really glad that I didn't give in to the food she made last night. Tonight my fiance' cooked his mom's recipe for Kielbasa that has cream of mushroom soup, rice, and muenster cheese with the sausage. OMG it looked so good while he was eating it-just a thick layer of melted cheese on top. I would say that's one of the worst temptations I've had since I started because I love cheesy rice, but I opted for the creamy rice that you make. I'm going to get that low-fat dressing, but you know...I think that might be exactly what I have in the fridge..if not, pretty close.

I thought I wouldn't want to drink diet cokes either, but I did pick some up, and some sprite zero. I had a question about that. I looked at the labels at the grocery today and the Diet Coke and Coke Zero are EXACTLY the same in nutritional value. Is Coke Zero ok? That's what we ended up getting, simply because I think it tastes better and it's the same in the nutrition label. I won't drink one til I get some advice from you guys. I won't drink very many but sometimes I'd just like something to drink with my meals besides water and low fat milk.

Have a good night, everyone!!

Kara, congratulations on the loss! 11.3 lbs in 9 days! That's awesome! I keep cheating and sneak on my weights and I'm going to stop doing that because I know it can go up and down and up and down. Well, I'm almost done with day 4...so hopefully I will see some loss too.

janmot, When I was able to post the tracker, I wasn't a member for 30 days yet. But I did have more than 30 posts. If you have more than certain number of posts, it will still let you post signature, which is where you put the tracker at.

Annie, That's great that you found a new way to eat the rice with. I have a rice cooker and made about 5 cups of rice, and put them in ziplock bag and froze them. I have no problem eating rice as it is...mainly because I grew up on rice. :P If I couldn't have rice, that would have been really difficult for me but I guess because of the rice, it hasn't been that difficult.. although some sweet cookies and stuff would be nice.

Thanks Tara! I'm pretty darn happy about my weight loss!! But I'm even happier that I can go on to eat different foods now!

As for the tracker, I think it is something new that they are doing. Here is what it says under my User Profile:

"In an effort to help curb a recent problem with forum spam, new members will not be able to use the Signature option right away. This will take at least 30 days to appear in your UserCP, and you must also meet the minimum post requirement."

I've got 76 posts and it still hasn't let me add a signature because I just joined on June 8th or so.

As for the rice, I know that has really helped me not to cheat. And the oatmeal. I love being able to have something that is starchy, because that's my weakness. Without a starchy food I think it would've been a lot harder. But I looooove rice!!!

Have a good night, everybody!!

Another day down - whew! I deliberately started this diet while my husband was out of town so that I would not be tempted. He comes back tomorrow night and hopefully I won't cheat too much.
Annie - You are right about the exercise - I lasted 20 minutes today. Woohoo As for missing caffeine - I love my coffee in the morning and that has been hard to give up but since it has been sooooo hot here (Texas) it really hasn't been as hard as I thought.

Kara - If I read the book right we are not to have soda's at all in phase 1 but I don't know about the other phases.

Guys, I really like having this site to talk to each other for support. Knowing that I will discuss my eating and exercise for that day really is making me be more accountable.

Jan

Hi Jan!
Yes, we are not supposed to have any sodas in Phase 1. I am finished with Phase 1 and am 2 days into Phase 2, so I am allowed to have 2 diet sodas a day (if I want them--thus far I have had zero). I just don't feel that need to have soda anymore. It's pretty nice. I think I'll save that luxury for when I'm feeling tempted by something and need something that's like a "treat".

I know you'll do a great job when your hubby gets home-just let your willpower continue to be what it has been, and you'll be very happy with the results. Great job on lasting 20 minutes with the exercise!! It'll build up more and more each time--I know it did for me.

Annie, how was your day? Everybody else? Hope you are all doing great!!! Take care!

Today was a very frustrating day, but I didn't cheat and stuck with it, as difficult as that was. Hopefully this weekend won't be so hard, but I'm not so sure about that either. Tomorrow I'm invited to a luncheon for my best friend's mother's 60th birthday. Tomorrow night, I'm supposed to meet up with some friends for dinner, then Sunday I'm supposed to meet up with a friend for dinner. Wow, it sounds like I'm really popular, huh? Looks can be deceiving! I'm really hoping to get in a workout or two this weekend, but since I've been totally unmotivated lately, we'll see how that one goes. Maybe I can convince someone to go for a hike Sunday morning. Who knows?

Here's my meals:
B- blueberry yogurt
S - fruit salad (I nibbled on it all day long)
L - large salad
D - egg white omlet with lots of veggies and salsa
S - huge bowl of corn with a glass of milk

Ahhh.. I just finished my night workout. I get to do this only during weekend so I try to do it when I can. Good bye day 5.. Hello Day 6. I'm almost there... I weighed today (I know i'm supposed to wait till the phase 1 is over but can't help being anxious..and curious) Well, I was 192.6 on the morning of Day 1. Down to 191.2 on Day 2. Then it was up and down and now I'm at 191.4. I was thinking I would lose little more than that by now, so I'm little bit disappointed in myself and wondering what it is. I haven't cheated once. I do work out at least 30 minutes every day...(which IS down from what I used to but then again, I know I'm eating less than what I used to...so...) Sigh...

I stayed home with my DD all day after getting her from the daycare at noon. Since now I have all kinds of fruits at home, I gave her some strawberries and cantaloupe for snack. Wow, she loved it..she wanted more and more and more. lol. And then she saw me eating left over grilled veggies, soy patty, and brown rice, and she wanted some. She ate grilled onion and grilled peppers no problem. I love this grilled veggies and I'm glad she's eating it with no problem. =)

By the way Annie, I saw that you had your omelet with salsa. Did you make it, or what kind of salsa do you use? Thanks! =)

At home I get newman's own natural salsa, since there is nothing added and are things on the plan. I can't say for sure that the stuff at the diner was all natural (and let's assume it's not), but I figured it was still a healthy alternative to cheese or ketchup or lots of table salt.

Also, I did read on a Q&A with Dr. Ian that the reason you're not supposed to weigh in until the end of the phase I was because your body is getting used to the changed and how it will process the new foods, so your weight will fluctuate for the first so many days and day nine will be what you lost through all this. So....when we all keep "cheating" by looking at the scale before then, it's really not helping us, since it's not necessarily accurate. But, I do know it's so hard. We just want to see what the results are before 9 days.

Hey, ladies I'm still with here. I have been on the go for the past 2 days so I dont think I've been eating every 3 hours like I'm suppose to. I went for a massage yesterday and ended up skipping lunch and eating a large dinner. When I'm hungry and cheating is on my mind, I drink 1 C of vanilla soy milk. I don't know what it is but after I drink it, I always feel satisfied... just wanted to share.

Yesterday, I had:
B: Berry smoothie
S: Mixed fruit
L: None
S: None
D: 1 1/2 C of brown rice, veggies and black beans
S: 1/2 grapfruit w 1 package of splenda

Back on schedule today. I actually woke up this morning and completed 30 minutes of my WW Get in Shape excercise DVD.

Annie, can you believe we're on day 6 already. We're more than half way through phase 1.

Tara, I did alot of research prior to beginning the FS diet. Its normal to not see weight any loss till day 10. Promise me that you'll stay off the scale.... push it under your bed so that you won't be tempted. It will only make you discouraged.

Annie: Sorry that you had a discouraging day yesterday-I hope that your day gets off to a better start today!! And I'm really hoping that you get the job that you're interviewing for on July 1st!!!

Tara: I know how hard it is not to weigh. What's funny is that my fiance' weighs me, but he won't tell me how much I weigh. I always try to get it out of him, but he won't budge. He just likes to see it. I'd love to see it too, but I know how hard I am on myself, and it's just not worth it. I'd much rather see that big 11 pound loss at the end than look one day and not have it go down from the day before-that's too discouraging for me, and I might end up quitting.

CBo: I know how it goes being busy and missing meals-sometimes I have to make my meals into one because I am so busy, and I know that's not always good, etc., but sometimes you just have to. Congrats to you and Annie for almost being done with Phase 1!!!

Have a great, successful day ladies! Good luck to you all!

PS- Did anybody ever figure out what the difference between Diet Coke and Coke Zero was? I looked on the nutrition labels at the grocery store and there was absolutely NO difference. I am wondering if I can drink the Coke Zero, since they appear the same....

Kara, I believe I read somewhere that Coke Zero has less aspartame and a different sweetner than regular diet coke. Both has zero calories. Coke Zero is still considered a diet soda.

Hello, girls! So, today was better than yesterday, since I got to hang out with bestest girlfriend who I haven't seen since April. She's pregnant, and I haven't had a chance to see the big baby belly just yet. She's huge! Ha. The last time I saw her, she didn't yet pop. So adorable.

I had a birthday lunch to go to at a steak house. Unfortunately, we weren't to order off the menu. I ate the salad, even though it was already mixed in dressing. My friend buttered a roll for me which I started to eat then realized I just didnt' want it. The food came out and was grilled veggies, mashed potatoes and filet mignon. I immediately gave someone my potatoes (which are a HUGE weakness for me -- I'm Irish! ), ate the veggies and just some of the steak. I know the steak isn't on plan, but there was no way to get anything else, and I was going to be there for 4 hours. Plus, I passed on the cake and ice cream. They served each person a bowl with three huge scoops of Creamery ice cream, which is from Penn State and is so so good. I passed on it at my sister's wedding, and I passed again today. That my friends, is definitely strength. It's the best. I was pretty full after that, so we didn't eat until much later and got Chinese. I ordered brown rice and steamed veggies. Was pretty good. That was my exciting day. Woo Hoo! I tried really hard to be good and think that I made the best decisions when I couldn't stay on plan. Unfortunately I wanted so badly not to cheat on detox. Oh well, I move on, but I did cancel my dinner date with a friend for tomorrow night and left a message with my trainer that I was coming back.

Kara - I agree with C Bo. Coke Zero should be fine. I really haven't had a craving for diet soda at all, so I'm going to hold off like you were saying, so it will only be a treat...you know, like when we were little. We were only allowed soda at parties and special events. Same with sugar cereal and candy, but not anymore. I would love to have the discipline to go back to those ways. Hopefully I'll be there soon!

C Bo - I'm so excited we're so close to being finished with detox. I'm toying with staying on it another day or two, since I know next weekend is filled with parties and temptations. I figured if I did a day or two more, then it will make up for any slip ups I'll make that weekend. Does anyone have any suggestions on that?

Good night everyone!

C Bo and Annie: Thanks for the advice on the Coke Zero. I haven't even had one yet because I didn't know, but I'll drink them now (when I want, of course).

Annie: I'm so glad your day was better today. GREAT job on your choices today!!! Especially passing on the potatoes, cake, and ice cream. That would've been a hard thing for me to do-I love love love potatoes. I am a carb person, really. That's why I think the rice helps me not to eat off program so much. You did so well, I'm so proud of you! That's awesome that you called your trainer! I am going to one on Thursday-I used to feel so much better when I went to the trainer--for a while I went three times a week but didn't lose that much because I was eating whatever the heck I wanted. But I sure didn't gain any-haha! As for staying on detox longer, I actually have yet to get off detox. And honestly it hasn't bothered me any. So I think as long as you are ok with eating the stuff, it won't be that big of a deal.

I resisted temptation tonight for sure. We went bowling with a bunch of our friends, and the bowling night came with popcorn and soda. Of course they didn't get Diet soda, and I couldn't eat the popcorn-the smell...oh my goodness. It was wonderful, but I couldn't let myself eat it, so I didn't eat any. Ryan (my fiance' went and got me a diet soda from the coke machine so I'd at least have something to eat since we were there for 3 hours). We had offers to go get something for dinner afterwards, but we just came home and ate. I felt so much better for doing that. There were also bunches of pizza and lots of nachos floating around from their scrumptious snack bar, but I said no!! Whew!

Glad to get updates from everyone-talk to you all later!!

Kara