**Merrily Making our Way into a MWL March**

[cheftrish]

Kristine29
I was never told not to have cheese or yogurt during acute phase, but to try to limit the cheese to goat, feta or mozzerella if possible (they are lower in fat)and they suggested having the Dannon Light and Fit Carb Control or Chobani Greek Yogurt. And the nurse at my clinic who is also doing medi (she's lost 60 lbs!) suggested the EAS shakes and bars as an alternative during acute phase. I think the Atkins have a lot more fat in them. Funny how all these clinics are slightly different.

[lins]

Just remember that every clinic is different. If you have a question about what you can and cannot have call your clinic. That's what they are there for. I was allowed to eat Adkins bars and count net carbs during acute. And I ate them several times a week. When I started running I would never test in ketosis the next morning. So after awhile my clinic told me to just top testing, because it was stressing me out. So I haven't tested for ketosis since last summer. I still lost weight, and I am losing weight this time, and I have never tested for ketosis. So don't stress about the little things too much. Just stick to this WOE, drink lots of water, and get some exercise. It does work!

[tydreamer]

Originally Posted by Kristine29

I have been logging my food on self.com for months now..when I started a diet eating the amount of calories for a gal my size....that didn't work, so now I am on to this and hopefully this is the last. I shook the magic eight ball and it said this diet will WORK! Yippie!

How long have you been on this? I am 225. I want to get down to 180 and see from there. Heck I just want to see a 1 in the front within my lifetime !!!

This is great!!! I still have my magic eight ball tho I think its fluid has dried up a bit.

Keep with this program - it really does work. My highest weight was 226. I started Medi at 210 and have been in maintenance for 7 months.

Good luck to you and keep posting!

[grfxgrl]

Originally Posted by cheftrish

Kristine29
I was never told not to have cheese or yogurt during acute phase, but to try to limit the cheese to goat, feta or mozzerella if possible (they are lower in fat)and they suggested having the Dannon Light and Fit Carb Control or Chobani Greek Yogurt. And the nurse at my clinic who is also doing medi (she's lost 60 lbs!) suggested the EAS shakes and bars as an alternative during acute phase. I think the Atkins have a lot more fat in them. Funny how all these clinics are slightly different.

Oh yes! Sorry I guess I misspoke. I meant no cheese or yogurt during the first week. Second week and on I can. Sorry for the misunderstanding!!!

[Tessa17]

So today was my week 2 weigh in and I only lost 1.7lbs. I am a little disappointed with the number, but everyone at the clinic said it was a good number for the second week. Then they went on to tell me I should start eating more carbs everyday, but I was wondering if this would make my weight loss slow down even more. I followed the 2 veggies a day for week 2 and I'm worried that increasing my daily carbs to 25 will cause my weight loss to be even lower next week. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm just nervous about keeping the weight loss going.

Thanks everyone for the great posts. They have helped with a lot of questions I have had and help me get through these past 2 weeks.

[toodles]

Morning,
I had my weigh in on Monday and I lost another 4 lbs. total of 30 lbs now. I feel great and so excited to be getting closer to my goal.
I don't stress over what I eat. I just eat it and hope its the right combination. Some days I don't make quite 500 cal. of protein but I still lose. My nurse says not to stress over it but try to get closer to 500. and something must be right if I am still losing.
This dry mouth tho is driving me nuts but I guess all worth it to lose the weight.
Have a great day all, see you around, Lynn in Piqua,Ohio

[grfxgrl]

Originally Posted by toodles

Morning,
I had my weigh in on Monday and I lost another 4 lbs. total of 30 lbs now. I feel great and so excited to be getting closer to my goal.
I don't stress over what I eat. I just eat it and hope its the right combination. Some days I don't make quite 500 cal. of protein but I still lose. My nurse says not to stress over it but try to get closer to 500. and something must be right if I am still losing.
This dry mouth tho is driving me nuts but I guess all worth it to lose the weight.
Have a great day all, see you around, Lynn in Piqua,Ohio

I notice i get dry mouth when I havent had anything to drink in a while. Im finding that when I add things like crystal light to my water, I drink it more often. Maybe up your flavored water so you'll want to drink more and thus less dry mouth?

Nice job on the 30lb mark! You are doing fantastic!

[betty_going_85]

Originally Posted by grfxgrl

I saw those brownies too! I plan on making them this weekend for sure! They look AWESOME!

The sugar free fat free pudding with sugar free cool whip mixed in? Friggin BRILLIANT. I almost licked the bowl, but I didn't.

I did think about it for a sec though

That's really funny. I have not tried the sugar free fat free pudding yet. What flavor is the really good?

[ericak44]

Had my first WI since falling off the wagon in January and doing week 1. I lost 7 of the 7.5 lbs. that I gained while off the medi wagon. Most importantly I feel in control of my eating again. I am trying to train for a 10 mile race in early May but my knee is doing some funny things. It doesn't really hurt, just kind of "slips out" occasional. Feels like it is going to buckle then is completely fine. I used a knee brace to run today and it feels better. Who knows!

My birthday is this week. Trying to embrace it without the usual food celebrations. So far, so good.

Congrats to everyone on their losses. Sorry I don't have time for more personals.

[cheftrish]

Just back from weigh in. Down 2.6 happy dancing!!

[losing in Ftm]

I am a little jealous of all you new runners out there. I have thought about taking this up but since I'm 52 this year I am nervous of injuries that would effect the exercise I am already doing. I think I will continue cheering you 'youngsters' on from the sidelines.

[GatorEng2007]

Had my weigh in last night. I am down 5.4 pounds from two weeks ago, making for a total of 46.8 lbs

I talked to the counselor about the increased activity and told her i wasn't reading in ketosis. she said that I probably was in ketosis because I was still losing, and I was losing fat (I also lost a pound of water weight).

So, I am going to stop stressing about whether or not I am in ketosis. What I am doing is working... why stress about it? I will eat normally for acute (and in all honesty i rarely get up to the 25 carbs allowed anyways).

I was also told on workout days to go to the high end of the range. Depending on what I am doing, that is not always enough it seems (ie running a 5k and then playing volleyball and then doing a Kenpo X workout, lol). So I can have more so long as it is protein and I am not overdoing it.

Like I said, clearly this is working... All I really need to do is keep doing what I am doing :-)

16 lbs from my original goal of 150... though in my mind I have already changed it to 140 instead of 150.... We will see :-)



Doing Yoga x from P90x with the boyfriend tonight and it should be interesting. Last time he tried it alone he ended up cursing like he was watching a football game and pulled the disc out half way through it and almost snapped it in half. Apparently he is not flexible enough at this point for it lol. We will see how it goes tonight

[lins]

For those of you running with knee pain you might look into getting new shoes. I was having knee pain and I went to a local running store where they watch you run to figure out your pronation. I got new shoes and haven't had knee pain since. I highly recommend it.

Oh and my mom is 62 this year and about 6 months ago she started running. She only does 1-2 miles 2-3 times a week, but she's doing it. I am so proud of her. It's never to late to start (unless you have medical reasons of course).

[SonoRoo]

I was just put on a one week regimen of prednisone and forgot that it makes you crazy hungry!!! I was craving stuff like crazy last night and wanted to cry. I finally gave in and ate some mac and cheese with smokettes in it. It was like this horrible compulsion and I absolutely could not make myself quit. I even tried eating something healthy protein-wise to get rid of the craving and it just didn't work!!! Today I feel under a lot better control but I haven't taken my meds yet. I am terrified...I'm working at the hospital so I am actually praying for once that I'll be too dang busy to notice any cravings. I need prayers please!

[cheftrish]

Shelley, Prednisone is the worst! Are you on a dose pack? If so remember it's only for a week or so-I can totally relate to the fear of taking this med, it is powerful! I had it for pneumonia and then it(the pneumonia) started this vicious cycle of bronchitis/ prednisone, and I swear I felt like the prednisone was weakening my immune system. I never had weight problems until I started taking this 10 years ago. Now when my doctor mentions it I BEG her not to put me on it. That said, it was prescribed for a reason so you have to take it, I am thinking of you, and praying for you! (Is advair an option??).

Congrats to all those on Weight Loss!

Started incorporating Biggest Loser Boot Camp CD and Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga into my daily excercise...Has anyone else done these?? I thought I was in pretty decent shape until I tried these! I can barely move!! I want an ice pack for my whole body!

Lins, excellent advice on the shoes! Like car tires they only have a useful life for so long.

[grfxgrl]

*sigh*

Coldstone Creamery day here at work

and I caved.



(it was really really REALLY good tho)

[kbhayward]

Originally Posted by grfxgrl

*sigh*

Coldstone Creamery day here at work

and I caved.



(it was really really REALLY good tho)

Coldstone is the best!!! I would have caved too!! Life is full of temptations. We just have to accept it, don't beat ourselves up and move on.

BTW, where do you work? I'm in Charlotte and after all, I love Coldstone!!!

[Not Giselle]

Coldstone is SO HARD to resist............. I don't think anyone will fault you for that one.

I barely have time to scratch myself lately, so I can only get on here sporadically. I'm pages and pages behind. Thanks to all of you who answered my question about the qualification of the Consultants at Medi.

I'm in Maintenance, and while I feel like I totally need the accoutability of knowing I have that weigh-in every month, I'm thinking I can't justify the expense right now....when I'm not getting any "added service" from the consultation.

I see a lot of people had great losses this week. WOO! And lots of cravings --- which I know about. Four of my friends went on and on and on and on about how delicious the Banana Pudding Shake is from Chick-Fil-A, and I want to try it so bad.... I am thinking about it constantly.... I don't want to go down that slippery slope, though, because I know it will be magically delicious, and then my car will start involuntarily going through that drive-through several times a week like it used to in the old days.....

Tells myself -- DON'T DO IT!!!

I tried two recipes that I found online last week and LOVED THEM. Can I post a link to them in the recipes thread -- or do I just put in the recipe and credit the website? One of them is on a site that rhymes with "darkpeople" and the other one is a blog. I obviously want to give credit to these sites but wasn't sure about the protocol for doing it on here....Usually I'm taking recipes FROM the LCF website.

Oh, and I agree that Predisone is the WORST thing when you're trying to lose weight. The bloating and the cravings. UGH. My neuro had me on it for 9-days to try to bust a migraine cycle. More power to you if you can resist while you're on it!! Thankfully it's only a one-week regimen.

[Swirveegrl]

Congratulations to all of you doing so well on your weight loss this week

I have my weigh in tomorrow 11am. I'm starting to get ants in my pants and nervous. I don't think I lost much this week. We ate out a couple of times over the weekend (I only had protein and veggies), so I'm not sure what kind of loss to expect. I'm wondering if anyone knows what the total calorie consumption per day is supposed to be while in the acute phase? I mean we all know protein is 500-700, but what about the other calories or total fat grams? I plan to ask my clinic tomorrow, but this thought has crossed my mind many times this past week.
Thought I'd share that I had an Atkins strawberry shake today for a midmorning snack, only 2 carbs. It was fairly decent, and kept me full until lunch.

[Kristine29]

OH I really like the Atkins shakes....it's a great thing to have if you are craving chocolate.

Which Trish...I can relate...I have wanted a peanut butter sundae from Carvel for about 3 weeks. Luckily the Carvel is not near me and to try and satisfy this I had some almond butter the other day. Not really close because I wanted that chocolatey goodness too, but it will have to do.

OKay so today I decided to stick to the 500 cal. protein- just to see what might happen due to the fact that during my first week I was allowing myself lettuce and I don't want to hinder my start into this. I went to the gym and burned 860 calories running and I think I sweated about 2 gallons Sorry people who were running next to me.
I think this diet makes me sweat more than usual. At any rate I am enjoying my final protein meal of the night...cod. I am imaging vegetables with it in my mind (I really love veggies.)

I have lost inches, this I can tell by putting on the "test pants" I can't watch the scale too much as it doesn't move as fast for me.
Good luck everyone on continued success!

[Baysidegal]

Originally Posted by cheftrish

Just back from weigh in. Down 2.6 happy dancing!!

Congratulations cheftrish. You should be dancing... Congratulations to everyone else who lost weight as well.

Cravings??? What are they?? LOL I have to make dinner for my Mom and Husband everynight. Neither need to lose ANY weight. So, I try recipes that are at least pretty healthy for them usually. Tonight though, I made a horribly calorie-ridden dinner involving pork chops, onions, mushrooms, gravy and egg noodles. OH why did I just type that! It actually made my mouth water LOL. I was pretty good though. I only dipped my fork into the onions and mushrooms and "tasted". It wasn't even a swallow, but I felt guilty..like I ate a whole spoonful. It is hard to control cravings, and so many of us have families that we have to feed...so do your best and if you must cave, just get right back to the diet and keep going.

[Kristine29]

I have a question that I don't see on the list for the acute phase....
is soy/ soy products allowed? LIke morningstar farms sausage patties (love those crumbled in my omelet)

[chocolatefan]

Originally Posted by Swirveegrl

Congratulations to all of you doing so well on your weight loss this week

I have my weigh in tomorrow 11am. I'm starting to get ants in my pants and nervous. I don't think I lost much this week. We ate out a couple of times over the weekend (I only had protein and veggies), so I'm not sure what kind of loss to expect. I'm wondering if anyone knows what the total calorie consumption per day is supposed to be while in the acute phase? I mean we all know protein is 500-700, but what about the other calories or total fat grams? I plan to ask my clinic tomorrow, but this thought has crossed my mind many times this past week.
Thought I'd share that I had an Atkins strawberry shake today for a midmorning snack, only 2 carbs. It was fairly decent, and kept me full until lunch.

I was told to stay between 600-800 TOTAL calories a day during Acute. Brutal, but manageable. I've added an apple every day around lunchtime (or some strawberries), and then veggies at night with dinner. And I've also added mushrooms and onions to my egg white omelets in the morning. I was also told I could have as much iceberg lettuce (wooohooo ) as I wanted. But believe me--it has come in handy! Just to chew something other than meat is a blessing. Total fat grams/day I wasn't given, but I was told to stay under 30 grams of carbs a day. Some things I've tried that make life a bit more bearable:

1) chicken fajitas (chicken breast, fajita seasoning, peppers and onions, and just a sprinkle of cheese). I stir-fry it all and throw it in a bowl. The rest of my family wraps it in a tortilla.
2) Lean hamburger patty with a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese spread over the top and melted in the microwave--Yummy!
3) Deli meat, Laughing Cow cheese, mushroom and onion egg-white omelets.
4) Egg-salad: Two boiled eggs, 1 tbs. reduced fat olive oil mayonnaise (really, really good and only 2 carbs). Mix and use as a dip with celery stalks.
5) 3 oz. grilled salmon over a bed of lettuce and a few small tomatoes with 1 tsp. no oil dressing (from Whole Foods). Just had this tonight for dinner.

My problem is that I don't always drink enough water. I really need to get better at that. And I'm still dealing with food memories and craving the good times that came with a big bowl of ice cream! :blush: Really really hard sometimes.

[chocolatefan]

Originally Posted by grfxgrl

*sigh*

Coldstone Creamery day here at work

and I caved.



(it was really really REALLY good tho)

Who wouldn't??? My favorite is when they mix a big Snickers or Heath Bar into it. That's the best! Hey, it's life! So you caved today... I think we're all going to have to be able to enjoy a treat once in a while. I can't imagine life without ever tasting Coldstone again! Sounds like a prison sentence, and I actually think the point of this plan is to teach us how to eat 95% of the time. So, when we do cave, we just get back to work the next day and move on.

[Ronism]

Just wanted to tell everyone hi and CONGRATS on all those pounds you have left in the dust this week!

I've been busy shopping for and cleaning for a St. Paddy's Day party we're throwing on Friday. I'm going to make some of the low carb brownies from the recipe thread, and the sugar/fat free version of a green, layered, Jell-O salad for myself and my friend who is doing the HCG diet! So we won't feel left out of things. I was excited to find a low-carb, slow cooker recipe for Corned Beef! Yippee!

Hope everyone continues to have success and any injuries heal this week!
~Roni

[SDC2]

Originally Posted by Swirveegrl

You all are cracking me up with your hangover stories, due to MEDI. I haven't experienced this yet, because I've been avoiding having more than 1 drink. My favorite is RUM and coke, so I had 1 friday (diet coke and captain morgan's spiced) I didn't notice any strange effects; however, I only had 1. I think I will stick with 1 for a while, which is a huge cut back. It's kind of hard for me to feel social while on MEDI, because most of the activities with friends (even Skinny ones ) revolve around food and drink

I hope all of you have quick recoveries from the many injuries You have to respect the limitations of your body, and try not to push it so far beyond too often. Lins if your ankle isn't swollen, I recommed a warm compress. Makes sure you don't apply directly to the skin, but wrap with a towel. Paraffin Wax is a wonderful treatment for injured joints, believe it or not people do use it on their feet. I have to use it on my hands 1-2/week due to tendonitis in both hand. I'm a dialysis nurse so my hands never get a break, from twisting, turning, etc.

I'm fighting major cravings for Peanut Butter cups today. So I came home, had a small serving of peanuts, and made some hot cocoa after supper. It definitely helped. I think all the girls talking at work today about Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Easter eggs, did it to me
When you guys CRAVE chips or fries, how do you satisfy it, or replace it with?

Fries were a big part of my weight gain and what I missed most. To satisfy that craving I used the recipe for butternut fries from Hungry Girl, but substituted turnips instead. They definitely needed the 1c ketchup to help disguise, but my whole family was willing to eat them and I could never make enough.

[SDC2]

Originally Posted by Swirveegrl

All this talk about cravings, I may as well confess mine. I shared earlier that I have been craving chocolate ridiculously. Well, today it was really awful. So this is what I did. I had 1/2 a serving of Ghiardelli 86% Cocoa bar. It cost me 125 calories, and 8 carbs. BUT, I'm not feeling like a CooCoo Nut Job craving chocolate now. This week has been TOM, so I don't know how much I can contribute these feelings towards that. I'm not feeling too terribly about this because, I really thought about what I should have. I compared nutrition label, upon nutrition label and did not have an Atkins (because my clinic advised not to use "net" carb counts while doing acute), or a Peanut Butter cup :blush:
I hope you are all doing well. Congratulations to all of the continued weight loss!

I think what you did was perfect. You incorporated what you wanted within your calorie and carb budget. Kudos! Moderation is key, especially in maintenance. Once in a while, IMHO, as long as you have control, this is the perfect thing to do.
.

[SDC2]

Originally Posted by grfxgrl

*sigh*

Coldstone Creamery day here at work

and I caved.



(it was really really REALLY good tho)

Not to sound harsh because I truely feel for all of you and want you all to experience the success I experienced. grfgrl, as I recall this is only your 2nd or 3rd week and you already caved in week 1 or 2. You said that you had lost 20 pounds almost effortlessly last year, but quit because money was an issue.

Every time you cave, your cost goes up and your sticktoitness goes down. Everytime you cheat (and that does not include a planned divergence within your calorie and carb budget), your willingness to cheat in the future goes up too. The plan loses its effectiveness because you are not seeing the results you should have, you end up spending more and more money, and eventually give up because of the extended costs.

Did you indulge when you lost 20 pounds on Medi before? Every time you are tempted to stray, ask yourself if it is worth the additional $70+ dollars it costs to extend the program another week.

I hope I didn't offend you. I just want you to take an honest look at what straying from the program costs. You might want to ask your clinic why they think this is happening. Your meds might not be quite right or you may still have carbs in your system and need another purge.

I started the program a week before Thanksgiving, but was so motivated that by Christmas was down 25 pounds (best Christmas present to myself ever!)

Pull out your journal from when you were so successful last year and try to recreate your feelings and motivation. Good luck to you and feel free to post or message me any time.

[lins]

I do the same thing that Susie does. I now see food as money. If I had to pay $70 for this brownie at the store, would I buy it? Because every bite of food that I shouldn't be eating means another week of me in the acute phase. It's really just not worth it.

[AnnK]

Originally Posted by SDC2

Pull out your journal from when you were so successful last year and try to recreate your feelings and motivation.

Thanks, Susie ~ well said. Who has extra $$$ to throw away?? And this really hit home... re-creating those feelings of super excitement in the first weeks of the program... I've been thinking about that a lot lately. When I get on the scale & am up a pound, it gets me down... instead I need to remember all the tools I learned early on that made losing so easy!!
Another issue with me is health ~ with my lighter "me" I don't have to take my BP medicine, my cholesterol is down significantly, and I might just live longer. I have to shield my eyes when I walk past the Breyer's ice cream at the grocery... but I'd rather be a healthy old lady one day than the alternative .