Hi everyone! I'm Tammy and I've been doing flex for about 6 months now. I was doing pretty well and have lost about 32 pounds. However, in the past month I have been sitting unhappily on a serious plateau. I've decided to try Core for a bit but I'm feelings all out of sorts with the changes in food and all.

I went grocery shopping today, Food Companion in tow. It took forever because I was looking up practically everything. It's very difficult to change over! Still, I bought lots of fruits and some things that are on the lists. Somethings, I just didn't even know what they were. And some were things that I SHOULD know. For cereal- puffed wheat and puffed rice. I could find the wheat but is puffed rice like Rice Krispies? The generic thing that was called puffed rice was the generic rice krispies but looking up Rice Krispies in the name brand (food companion) list said those weren't Core. But then I settled on Kellogg's Organic Rice Krispies (never heard of them but they taste exactly the same!) hoping that was appropriate.

Also, looking through some of the daily menu/snack lists that you guys post, there are things that I was surprised were considered Core. Or maybe people just ate them and used points for them? Some that I questioned are things that would make a picky person like myself very happy to be able to have- mashed potatoes, taco salad, yogurt, kielbasa, bagel, graham crackers. You have to use points for breads, right?

Have any of you been successful with Flex, plateaued and switched to Core, like I am? Did it work well? My former leader says it worked pretty well for her but I'm sure it depends on the individual. I'm sorry for all my babbling and questions. As I said, I think I'm just feeling unsure of myself because it's all unfamiliar territory and out of my comfort zone. I know I sound total newbie and all but I want to do it right. I SO appreciate any help you can give me! Thanks and I look forward to getting to know you guys!

Tammy, a lot of us don't eat strictly Core all the time. Usually I put a * by foods that aren't Core. I'm sorry if I confused you. Bagels, graham crackers and the like are not Core. I use points for them. You are right. However, you can make mashed potatoes and taco salad Core. For taco salad, I use salad mix, 93% lean ground beef with taco seasoning, tomatoes, and ff cheese. Voila, all Core. And mashed potatoes, as long as you season them with Core appropriate things, like skim milk, ff sour cream, ff margarine, you're fine when you have them no more than once a day.

As far as yogurt, I know several of us have foods we consider Core enough. I dislike yogurt, as a rule, so I'm know I'm not going to binge on it. So, I consider the flavored ff stuff to be Core enough.

Welcome, and keep on with Core. It takes some getting used to, but when done right, it really works.

Angela

Welcome Ms. Sassy, alot of the items on our menu thread we use our 35 wpa. I make mashed potatoes using skim milk & ff margerine, I believe there is a recipe for the taco salad made without tortillas, you would have to count points for graham crackers ,bagels,bread and I believe kielbasa, also no bread is core, check out the recipe thread it is really great. I am not to sure about the cereal, the only cold cereal I eat is shredded wheat, but I am sure someone else can help you with that.

I personally find I prefer Core, I have done points numerous times and never succeeded. It is definitely a way of life, eating fresh fruits, vegetables,lean protiens,ff dairy and healthy oils. I feel all the cravings for sugar have diminished, if I want something sweet I will eat a mango which I would never have done in the past. I hope this helps you some.

Oh yeah, yogurt is core only if it is nonfat plain yogurt. I usually add a little splenda & fresh fruit and it is great.

thank you for posting
I decided yesterday to switch to CORE for a bit.
I was not aware that you could use points too.. i guess the 35 flex points you can use through the week while on CORE?

Well, I see your questions were answered, Ms. Sassy. I just wanted to say welcome to our little corner of the world. I've done flex several times in the past and was successful but couldn't keep the weight off. I'm SO happy on Core eating healthy foods that I would never spend my points on! We get 35 points a week to use for non-Core foods such as bread. I use mine mostly on light margarine and some bread here and there.

Losingitin06, Welcome to you too! We have several Canadians on our Core board and look forward to getting to know you too.

Both of you come hang out with us on our daily chat thread. I think we are on number 48 now. We also have a profile thread where you can learn about us and maybe post your own profile too so that we can get to know you.

Ooops, I forgot to mention that I lost 45 pounds on Core. For a variety of reasons, I haven't been able to exercise much lately. Just by continuing to eat Core, I've managed to keep off 37 of those pounds. I'm back on the treadmill and ready to lose the weight with both of you.

Wow, thanks so much for the welcome, girls! I was thinking a lot of those foods were used with flex points but thank you for clarifying. Very helpful. On one hand, it's a little hard knowing that there are things that I just can't eat with charging points. On the other hand, from skimming through the recipe thread, I can see that it's not as restrictive as I assumed.

It is weird, though, eating without having to measure each little thing and counting it up. I made dinner for mom and me (she's also WWing) and everything she was putting on her plate was "Now how much of this can I have? How much of this?" She was VERY happy hearing that she wasn't restricted. Of course we didn't go hog wild and had normal sized portions, but it's a whole different feel.

Now I have to let myself let go of the guilt feeling. I'm full, not uncomfortably, but quite satisfied. But full enough to feel like I ate about 30 points today (that's where the guilt feeling comes in). However, when I added everything up just now, I'm just about right on with the points I should get on Flex anyway so that's a good feeling. I'm going to post what I ate over in the menu post that y'all have. I think I've figured things correctly and attributed points to all that I needed to. I'm going to try to save about 5 points per day for a bread and a little chocolatey sweet (I'd go nuts without one!) but I think the hardest part will be really rationing those 5 points each day! Thanks again to everyone for your welcome and help!

Losingit- I saw that you'd popped over here. It's nice to know there is someone in the same boat, learning as I learn!

Ms.sassy, maybe we can help eachother learn as we go along.. if you'd like a buddy Pm me

welcome to both of you. we're anxious to see what you think of core and our little group.