Aqua Eyes ReFeed Experience

[Aqua Eyes]

FINALLY! I'm here! It will be a challenge to try to figure out when I will add the extra protiens and veggies, because from what I understand, if I add half of the amount of the additional protien, I also must enter half of the amount of the additional veggie portion as well. Tonight I am going to add more shrimp and spaghetti squash to my Meal 1 for my dinner. It was a thrill to be able to buy blackberries and pineapple to have as additional good fruit.

I have to tell you... there are some folks I know that don't think I'll keep the weight off. Can you believe it?! They actually told me that! They think I am going to throw all of this hard work away and go back to my old bad habits. I've been doing this for a full 6 months now and it has become habit. It ain't going to happen... me putting on weight again! :aint: I was so miserable with being fat that I will never forget how that felt. I am looking forward to a body that will be in shape and enjoying life. :weights2:

My first adventure is a day bike riding in Monterey with a group, staying the night and then going kayaking in the bay the next day. I can hardly wait!! That's the weekend of Oct. 10th. I will still be on refeed but I think I will be able to plan around the restuarant meal and bring some prepared meals for myself as well.

In December I am going scuba diving for the week in Roatan, Honduras! I'm so excited about that trip! On a dive trip, I never gain any weight. I can't eat a lot during my diving but have healthy dinners to make up for it. It's so much fun!

[Aqua Eyes]

Here is what I learned in some of my first questions about refeed to the consultants:

When it comes time to mix proteins, you select the original diet option and onto that ADD the new extra proteins. So, if you wish to have cheese, you select your cheese and veg option from Meal 1 or Meal 2, then onto that ADD the new proteins. New proteins do not include egg, cheese or yogurt, so you cannot ADD these. You will not be able to eat egg and cheese, but can have egg and steak OR cheese and fish OR yogurt and chicken. After you have completed your Re-feeding Program you may have cheese and egg in the same meal.

On the Re-feeding Program, cheese should be: once a day only. After the Re-feeding Program you may take a cheese portion (your Meal 2 allowance) and have this any way you like over the day ie: cheese and crackers and later some in salad etc.

"Old" protein is: the meat, chicken and fish that you were allowed to eat while being on the diet.

Of course I would LOVE to have more cheese somewhere but NOPE... it ain't happenin' during refeed. So when I add additional protiens, it will have to be with what they say.

[KMac]

Congratulations on getting to the refeed section- good luck and I look forward to reading about your new food adventures in redeed land :)

[Dayanira]

Wow Marie,
You're in Refeed!!! Congratulations! :party1:
Keep asking questions to your consultant, keep "the team" busy. Once you're following the programme you get to understand it better. While in refeed is when you get to know your body better. Go through it recording everything in a diary, so you can go back while in maintenance and review it.

How may days did you get? I did 18 days.

[Snip]

Congrats Marie, can't we switch places and weight seeing as we share a name? haha
The re-feed looks a little confusing, but seeing as I have a long way still to go, I wont worry about that too much.
Sounds like you have a great weekend planned! Enjoy it! And you WILL keep your weight off... Just look at your busy w/end schedule! Keep it up!

[Aqua Eyes]

Dayanira... my refeed program is 20 days. I am doing days 2 to 10 and then 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26, 29, 30.

I was perfect on my program yesterday. But I went up .5 pounds and I know it is water weight. I drank quite a bit of water last night on top of the shrimp I ate. I did go dancing last night, but I don't think that makes too much difference. This morning I'm going to do a bike ride. I'm splitting the additional amounts in half to cover 2 meals today. I get to have an additional fruit. Yay! I like the fact that I can have a mixture of 2 fruits. I think I will try pineapple and blackberries together.

[Samantha]

Marie,
This is fantastic, on refeed!!! How I wish I was already there, and not only 16 days into the diet!!!! You are going to do so well at this, and your new active life will be great. We will be reading alll about it, so keep us informed.:)

[Aqua Eyes]

I am amazed with refeed. This is only my second day to do this and I am already feeling full at each meal. Tomorrow I get to have a slice of bread. But a serving of crackers goes away. So one slice of bread and 2 crackers and an extra fruit will be my optional stuff.

I like to cook up my fish and chicken in advance. So I had to figure out what meal and portions I was going to add the additional protien amounts. It meant planning the week of what I was going eat and write it down. Bummer. I don't like planning the whole week like that but thank goodness it will only be 20 days or maybe less if my body doesn't like the increases and additions. The other plus side of planning the whole week, I don't have to think about what I'm going to be eating. It's all written down.

[Shasha]

Hi there AquaEyes

I’m so happy to hear that you are on Re-feed and doing well :bighug:

Just to make sure that you are not making any mistakes, from Day 4, you lose ALL your diet crackers and only have 1 slice of bread + 2 crackers. You may still have your original diet fruit and then on top of that you can add the good fruit ie: berries :drool:

The point of Re-feeding is to train your body to cope with more foods – and, this may go hand in hand with feeling a bit uncomfortable or feeling “too full” – but now that the excess fat is gone, you NEED more food… proteins and vegetables (slow on the carbs/starch, which programs your body to store food as fat!)

Should you decide to stop increasing your proteins, you must also stop increasing your vegetables – but you should still continue on with the Re-feed, adding in the new foods, mixing foods until you reach the last day of your Re-feeding Program.

I also wanted to say: {noway} should you listen to any doom prophet who says you will go back to “old ways” – YOU are in control of YOUR life and of what YOU put into YOUR mouth!!

All the best! {cheerleader}

[Aqua Eyes]

Thank you sooo much Sasha! That was very helpful to me. Here is something else I just learned from the Consultants:

You may increase your tomato and your onion allowance again after you have completed the Re-feeding Program.

On the diet we encourage you not to use more than 2 tablespoons of vinegar per day as more than this could slow your weight loss down. After the Re-feeding Program you may use as much vinegar as much as you like.

I'm up another .5 pounds but I feel sure it is water retention. Let's see where I am at tomorrow.

[KMac]

Sasha's the best :)

[Chris68]

Can you split your piece of bread between 2 meals?

Chris

[Aqua Eyes]

Hi Chris, I thought about doing that today with my bread... splitting in 2 pieces. I never thought to ask the consultants that question. I don't see why not if you really want to. I just might do that. It will feel like I didn't give up my crackers. ;) Today was the first day I could have bread. I toasted it and had it with my lunch. I wonder what garlic spinach and chicken on toast will be like? :thinking: I'll miss my crackers tonight with my Meal 1.

[Dayanira]

Wow! 20 days, somedays I wish I've had more days in Refeed. Try as many different foods as possible while on it, without forgetting to apply the guidelines.

[Aqua Eyes]

I got the 24 hour notice today from the consultants "Pay up or you lose the use of your personal page". I thought they would answer questions for me while I was still doing re-feed, but I guess not. I did ask them some more questions, just to see if they will answer them for me. I do want to share this with all of you, though... I've been a little deceitful with my persona. My mother confessed that she was age 73 and lied about her age to the consultants because they wouldn't have let her on the program at that age. She did marvelous on the program and it literally saved her life! She is pain free in her back, able to walk miles for many hours at a time without stopping, and her acid reflux has virtually gone away. They have an age limit of 62 for this program. Well, this is what I shared with the consultants today:

I just want you to know that originally when I applied to go on this program, you turned me down. I obviously said too much about what one of my doctors recommended to me, but he didn't know about this program. Also, I said I didn't like cucumbers or green bell peppers. I never ate them the entire time on this program. I created a new name and email address to get accepted into this program because I believed in balancing hormones, since I practice bio-identical hormone therapy (thus all of the supplements I take that may have messed with the blood results). I have been looking for a way to balance the Human Growth Hormone in my body. I am very grateful to have gone on this program and lose the weight I've been battling for more than 10 years. My mother, who is 73, also did this program with me and it literally saved her life. I understand you have to be careful of who gets on this program, but I think you should let people make that decision for themselves. I am spreading the word to my friends about this program. I love being a Size 6 and doing all the activities that I so love to do! Thank you! JoAnn Marie Reed ;)

Marie is my middle name. When I started this program I had just recovered from major surgery that was done in the first week of January. It was a full 90 days after the surgery when I started this program or close to it. The surgery was done to correct my colon but I was having issues with the food I was eating. This program totally corrected the problems I was having. I can't tell you how pleased I am to be at this weight and to feel as good as I do!

Back to the re-feed... I did want to know if any of you that did refeed, when it says 80g of additional veggies, did you split that between 3 meals and how did you do that to match up with your protein?

I also want to know... what if once you complete the re-feed, you put on a few pounds over the weekend... do you follow your original plan that you did before re-feed a few days or do you just cut back on the carbs (eat crackers instead), fruit, and reduce the quantity of protein and veggies to lose the extra pounds? What is working for you now?

[Key]

Hi Marie,

I appreciate your honesty, it always feels good to come clean. I also think your drive to regain your health and lose weight - the thing that forced you to create a second identity - is awesome.

You and your mother have been inspirational throughout my time here. I love how you have traveled and lived your lives but still remained true to the program.

And thank you for the valuable information about our personal page - I had no idea that there was an end to it, but I suppose it figures. I need to make it to Maintenance in this session so I'll have their support through Refeed.

So, do you prefer we call you Marie or JoAnn?

Key

[KMac]

Well Hello JoAnn!!!! :)

[looseitall]

Joann, you are awesome! Good for you on following your gut knowing this diet was right for you. You are the only one who knows what your past is and what will work for you and your body.

[mommabear]

I think you and your mother's stories are amazing! I am so happy you are both healthy and happy.

Sometimes we just need to do what is best for us and figure out how to get around the red tape!

Congrats and best wishes!

[Aqua Eyes]

Thank you for your support and understanding. Both my mother and I do not like to deceive but we both knew on a gut level that this was the best program for us and that we could keep the weight off for life by following it.

Speaking about my mother... she has been travelling since the end of August. They first went on a 19 day cruise to Nova Scotia, Greenland, Iceland, Shetland Islands, Norway and then to London. They have been touring the UK, driving from London to Wales and now into Scotland (where I lived for 3 years!). She got to weigh herself on a British scale while in Scotland and she was happy to report to me that she is one pound under her goal weight and is VERY pleased about that! They have been doing a ton of walking and with her new "rocker" shoes, she has been able to keep going for hours without stopping to rest. Before this program she was in constant pain with her back and feet, but now... well now she feels like a young woman again! I pick them up after work Oct. 19th and then the following weekend, she and I are going to Monterey to celebrate our diet success with that bottle of Cabernet Saviougnon and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. :party5:

[Aqua Eyes]

Now to share some more answers to my questions about re-feed.

In terms of the additional proteins and veggies, I can't split 80g of extra veggies evenly 3 ways between the 3 meals. So I can do 20g of protein for 3 meals to equal the extra 60g of protein, but how would I split the 80g of veggies for that day?

If you wish to divide your protein between 3 meals, you may do so, in this case simply divide the vegetables as well ie: 80 g divided by 3 = 26.6 gram per meal. It would be easier to add 25 gram to 2 x meals and 30 gram to 1 meal. This will be fine.

May I cut my piece of bread in half and use the bread in 2 seperate meals, instead of having it in one meal?

You may have your bread divided any way you like, so long as you do not eat more than you should.

May I mix the fruit as one serving? For example... If I mixed blackberries (max 100g) with pineapple (max 120g) but only took 50 g for each, would that be o.k.?

Your good fruit list is as follows: Blackberries (100 g) Pineapple (120 g) So if you want to, you may have 50 gram of Blackberries and 60 gram of Pineapple = 1 good fruit portion.

I am liking the 5 fruits a day! WooHOO!

[Aqua Eyes]

I'm up to 2 breads a day and 5 fruits a day. Wow! AND... I'm at goal weight. :party1:

Tonight I'm going to a social meeting with friends that is a pot luck. Someone is bringing Buffalo. I am going to try the buffalo for my dinner. I'm going to this potluck with a red cabbage dish from our recipe files and I will take a couple of fruit to snack on. Buffalo with red cabbage saute'd in raspberry vinegar ought to be yummy... followed up with a combo mix of fruits of pineapple and blackberries. YUM!

Tomorrow morning, I'm going on a long bike ride and I'm going to a party in the afternoon... another potluck. :rolling eyes: Challenges, challenges... but I'm beating them. :)

[Dayanira]

Wow! Marie (I'm so used to called you Marie) what a story!! I'm so pleased that you trusted yourself to do this journey and I that our paths crossed in this forum. You and your mom are such a great example that when there is a will, there is a will.

My programme ran out 2 weeks before I started Refeed and they answered my questions until a week on maintenance.

In regards of how to split your veggies, what I did was this: Since most of the time I had an egg and veggies for breakfast I added 10g of beggies and 35 g for lunch and 35g for dinner. When I had yoghurt in the morning I only split them in half (40g for lunch and 40g for dinner).

Enjoy your Refeed girl, you deserve to be here with us!!

[Dayanira]

Oh Marie, I missed your question:
what if once you complete the re-feed, you put on a few pounds over the weekend... do you follow your original plan that you did before re-feed a few days or do you just cut back on the carbs (eat crackers instead), fruit, and reduce the quantity of protein and veggies to lose the extra pounds? What is working for you now?

I don't follow the original plan, I cut back on the carbs (added on Refeed) ONLY. I don't reduce the quantity of protein and veggies and the pounds come off in 2 or 3 days. I guess that when or if the time come when my weight is so high up I'll need to go on the original plan. If the pounds don't come off after doing it for 2 weeks I'll need to do Refeed again as said by Shasha somewhere here in the forum.

I hope this helps.

[Aqua Eyes]

Thank you Dayinara for the answers.

I'm finding the Re-feed is difficult to prepare in advance for it. I like to cook my chicken and fish up in advance, but in order for me to do this I had to map out daily for the entire week ahead, how many protiens and veggies to add each day, even to the point of what I was going to eat that day. It was a lot of figuring out. It caused my brain to hurt just trying to get the amounts right each day to add the additions on. It's simple if you only have one choice of chicken or fish for a meal but I have 2 choices of each for my Meal 3.

I indulged a little extra at my Potluck Saturday night. I paid the price and had to go back 2 days on the refeed. {scream} Live and learn...right?

So now I'm being really good again. But this weekend, I will eat in a restuarant with my biking buddies and I'm staying the whole weekend in Monterey. I have Friday off to think how I'm going to manage the food portion of it. It's a bit scary because I'm not completed with re-feed until the end of next week. I'm just wondering what to do about Sunday, mostly.

I really don't like eating the bread. I'd rather have oatmeal or sweet potatoe or acorn squash instead. I am eating the bread per the instructions though. Do you know all of the icky ingredients in bread... like wheat gluten and sugar or honey??? When I finish with re-feed, I will stop eating the bread and go back to the crackers or just substitute with some high grain carb like oatmeal. The end of this week I get to have new protien and I am looking forward to having some salmon. Seeing this much vegetables added... it's quite challenging. I might have to make 2 veggie dishes to give me the extra veggies the plan tells you to add. It's a lot of extra work! I just want simplicity... just asparagus or just garlic spinach. But have you ever cooked up 145 grams of garlic spinach?? That's a lot! I don't think I can eat that much. Do we have to eat that much? O.k... I'm going to ask the consultants, since I have just this last week to ask questions.

All I know for sure is that I am holding onto Size 6 and I'm not going back to Size 10!

[Key]

Hi JoAnn - I'll be thinking of you eating that salmon this weekend... lucky you!

[Aqua Eyes]

Hi Key... you will be sooner than your think! My mom ate a serving of salmon during the program when she knew she wasn't supposed to and it didn't cause her to gain weight, but she was good the rest of the time.

Here is some more interesting facts from the consultants:

Please remember that now that your excess fat is gone, you need to eat more foods and we recommend that you eat more proteins and vegetables instead of eating less of these at meal times, then becoming hungry between meals and being tempted to snack on unhealthy, fattening starch.

If you wish to stop adding proteins, you may do so, but we recommend that you try your best to eat as much food as possible on the Re-feeding Program. If you stop adding proteins, you also stop adding vegetables at the same time.

On the Re-feeding Program you should eat the bread, after Re-feeding you may leave bread entirely and then you will have trained your body to cope with starch so you can then eat oatmeal or brown rice in moderation.

Please try your best to add the extra fruit these will train your body to cope with more sugars it's not just about the fruit itself.

If you find that the foods become too much from day 16 onwards, you may begin mixing proteins in this case, you may select the yogurt from Meal 1 for dinner, onto that add all the extra proteins and vegetables this way the food will not be so very much.

You know what I miss... I miss almonds and healthy, salt-free nuts. Can't have those until after the re-feed. I have more questions to ask and I will share the answers tomorrow.

[Aqua Eyes]

Here is some more enlightening information. I hope it is helpful:

Yes, if you add proteins to one meal, you must add vegetables to that same meal. If you add the proteins ie: into 50 grams over 2 x Meals, you also divide the vegetables in half and then add that over two meals. Your meals should not be high protein or high vegetables, they should remain balanced.

We recommend that you look at the sizes of your portions on the last day of your Re-feeding Program ? that is the amount of proteins and vegetables your body requires.

Then I asked this:
I am taking a bike ride this Saturday and it would be less expensive to bring my own lunch... like making a sandwich that is easy to pack in a fanny pack that I will be biking with. I will be on Day 17. I just don't know of any veggies to pack with the sandwich enough to make up all that I need to go with my chicken. Will it be o.k. to get more veggies for my other meals of the day to make up for the lesser veggies on my sandwich?

The answer:
You may swop your meals around if you like, that way you can select egg from Meal 1 ? it has less vegetables. Alternatively we recommend that you take a small salad with you. Bear in mind some vegetables weigh more than others ? if space is confined we recommend that you select the heavier vegetables ie: 100 gram of lettuce provides a lot more bulk than 100 gram of cucumber. If you select the heavier vegetables there will be less food to take with.

Well... I really can't be riding around with a salad in my fanny pack... that was the point. Maybe I will take some raw cauliflower to make up the difference of veggies for my sandwich. I can put cauliflower in a sandwich bag and it doesn't have to be refrigerated. I'll figure it out.

[Samantha]

Well done JoAnne, you and your mum have undergone an awesome journey!!! I thought the refeed was included in the price, so I'm suprised that the consultants won't talk to you now you are on refeed!!!! Interesting insight. JoAnne you are doing so well and you thoroughly deserve the bottle of wine!!! Cheers!!:party7:Sam

[Aqua Eyes]

Hello fello 1PDers! I missed you all but I don't have much time to say much.

I had a FABULOUS weekend!! OMG! It was totally fun! I did a 30 mile bike ride Saturday along the coast. I made fruit and yogurt and a piece of bread for my lunch and lots of water. We had SAG cars following us so I put the yogurt in a cooler in one of the cars. It worked out really well! I started my day at Denny's and ordered a Top Sirloin steak, side salad without the goodies but bring tomatoe slices instead of doing cherry tomatoes, and an order of dry toast... which I ate only one piece of. That held me over until Lunch. I had my yogurt for lunch. Then at the end of the bike ride, we stopped at a brewery. I was ready for that beer. NO... I wasn't supposed to have the beer, but I couldn't resist after doing so well on the ride. I never trained or was in shape for this ride and the folks that I was riding with were very impressed with how well I did. I didn't cramp up nor was I sore the next day. After the ride, I went back to the hotel, got into the jetcuzzi and my friend gave me a glass of wine. Yum! I'm thinking to myself... o.k. I should watch the carbs. Then we went out to Bubba Gumps for dinner. I ordered ala carte again. I got grilled shrimp on salad with mango strips and basalmic vinegar and had some sourdough bread. Someone bought me a glass of wine after I already bought myself one...so that was 2 more glasses of wine! I'm such a lush! Well, after dinner, we went dancing and I danced a good 30 to 40 minutes to work off some of that wine.

The next morning, I had the same type of breakfast at Denny's before we went out kayaking. Kayaking in the Monterey bay was wonderful! We got to see sea otters up close eating and diving for their food. We were out for a full 3 hours or more. We were back in time for lunch and I had another one of my yogurt and fruit with a slice of bread lunches. Then I took a couple of the girls into the Monterey Bay Aquarium and gave them a quick tour. Before we left to go home, we went into a winery and got complimentary tastings of the wine. I know... MORE wine! LOL! And I'm not whining about it either.

Would you believe... I only gained one pound from this weekend's food blunders. I am back on track though, following the plan and I lost 2 pounds from water weight in one day.

That was the best weekend! More fun to come! Pictures ... I need to get pictures posted here for you all.

[KMac]

JoAnn, that sounds like such a great weekend- I am so happy for you. I remember when I started DC & I think I was posting how much I missed wine or something & you posted about Monterey & the winery's and how when this diet was over you were going & now you did it~ Way to go!
You inspire me!!
Thanks and I so glad you had a great time. :)

[Key]

What a great time, JoAnn! You are an inspiration to me, too! Save some wine for us, okay?

Key

[Aqua Eyes]

It is so amazing to me to be an inspiration to anyone. Thank you. {bighug} I know that I have inspired many people here around me from this weight loss. My friend that needs to lose over 100 pounds before she can have knee surgery has done really well with Weight Watchers and has lost 31 pounds. She didn't start doing this until she saw my 12 week progress shot. I promised to take her to Cozumel when she reaches goal and can hold it at goal for 6 months.

I'm going to Monterey again over the weekend of Oct. 24th with my mother. We are going to celebrate our weight loss and will be enjoying this very expensive bottle of Cabernet Sav. wine that I have been saving for a special occasion. That was the trip I talked about before. This bike trip I recently took was something I found out about after I had made the other plans. Now that I know about what the kayaking is like, I think I can talk my mom into doing it with me. If the weather is nice, maybe we will take the bikes down there too and do some riding along the beach. I know that losing 62 pounds is why I did so well on that 30 mile bike ride. I have so much more energy now.

This week I am enjoying eating salmon. This is my last week of re-feed. I actually get to put butter on one of the slices of bread today.

I've got to stop by a store on the way home and buy some sweaters. I have nothing for colder weather to wear. I am glad to see a good sale at JC Penneys this week.

[Dayanira]

Wow JoAnn! I had a big smile on my face as I was reading your post about your weekend! What an adventorous time you had! Congratulations!

[fitby26]

You sound so adventurous!
I am wondering as someone just starting out...did you become more active as you lost the weight, or were you always so?
I could never imagin in my wildest dreams ever wanting to go on a 30 mile bike ride...let alone for fun. But that just might be my extra 80 pounds talking:hypnotic:.

[Aqua Eyes]

LOL...Fitby26...I was always adventurous! I was brought up with an adventure seeking family. I have travelled 3/4 of the world with my father's career in the Air Force and later, me doing 5 years in the Navy, we just experienced as much as life threw at us. I was born in Japan and lived in Germany for 3 years and Scotland for 3 years, plus all over the U.S.

I have walked across hot coals bare footed, did tandem hang gliding, did rip lines in the canopy of the rain forest in Costa Rica(100 feet off the forest floor!), went scuba diving among sharks (the dive was called the BIG SCARE)... a 30 mile bike ride is nothin'. My mother and I would try to one up on each other with adventures. She's got me beat by miles though, now that she's retired and has the time to do stuff. She's done a tandem paraglide adventure in the Alps in Austria, rode the ultralights across a wildlife park in South Africa, swam in the Antartica sea off of Antartica (yes... she's been there too!), she's touched every ocean in the world and been to every continent. We are both going to Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Moorea next year...me diving and her snorkeling. This, in my opinion, is living life to the fullest! :D We hope to die with our boots on (o.k. not literally).

When I was overweight, all I would do is go scuba diving, snorkelling and swimming. I didn't have the energy, nor did I want to be seen doing anything else as fat as I was. Now I want to do it all again like I was doing before I got that overweight. That has been one of my driving motivations... to have FUN again in my life for the rest of what I have left of it. I had a scare with having breast cancer (Stage 0 and I accepted no treatments other than the lumpectomy), but that was enough to get me started in changing my lifestyle forever and taking better care of myself.

[Key]

You are an amazing woman, JoAnn! I love learning these incredible things about everyone here. I'm sorry it took a cancer scare to get you back to where you want to be but, as it's been said, when the student is ready the teacher will appear. I'm sure you learned a lot about yourself going through cancer; I bet you had to stand up to people who thought your treatment should be more aggressive. You're incredibly strong! I'm glad you shared so much of your life with us.

[Aqua Eyes]

Thanks KMac. When a woman has to take care of themselves without anyone to help you along in life, you become strong and fearless out of the experience of life that is given to you.

Well folks... tomorrow, Saturday, is my last day of re-feed. Then it is on to the Wild World with Dayinara. I'm finding out what I will and will not do after re-feed. I did not choose to buy a package of plain cookies to add to my re-feed program because I know me... I can't stop at just one cookie. That's too dangerous for me. I want to stay away from sugar. I also will probably quit the bread once this loaf is done and go back to crackers. I will probably always weigh my food and stick mostly with Cohen type of veggies. I will probably add good carbs that are high fiber, like oatmeal and brown or wild rice and eat healthy potatoes, such as yellow sweet potatoes without butter. I just sprinkle cinnamon on them. I will stay away from all processed foods and take care of what I order in restuarants. Most importantly is to watch myself around foods at social gatherings... don't eat at them at all or just choose the healthier choices.

One thing that I learned was I have eaten the brownie before... I know what a brownie tastes like... I can have a brownie anytime I want to... but why have the brownie when I know it is a short term tasting pleasure that adds long term negative affects on my body. Pretty much any bad foods like that I'm going to use this type of talk with myself about it. I've been thinking of ice cream and Starbuck's frappacinos. I have to tell myself that it just is not worth making that a part of my life again since it wreaks such havoc on my system.

I want to stay detached from food. I want it not to be so important that I'm focused on it all the time. I want to be focused on other things in my life and not have any addictions. Some foods are addictions to me, like chocolate.

If I don't post anything tomorrow, then the next time I post will be on Life after Cohen.

[Key]

Congratulations, JoAnn. You've got a ton of reasons to be proud. I like the way you think about food choices, I'm sure I'll live with that kind of sensibility for the rest of my life, too. For example, I'd much rather have a glass of wine than dessert... before it would have been both but now, I'll choose the wine and be happy. And, of course, I'll have to learn how to stretch that glass of wine - keeping up with others as they drink has always been a problem for me, even though I have always held a quiet respect for people who can nurse a glass for hours.

Thanks for paving the way for us - anc again, congrats on entering the Wild World.

[KMac]

I love you gals, your so wise. Joanne I love the line in your post a short term tasting pleasure that adds long term negative affects on my body., that is so, so true- its going on my refrig!
Key, I to was a quick drinking winer--lol I drink everything quick, soda, water and so I would drink my wine, beer quick- and secretly admired the people that could nurse a drink too. Boy we have all learned a lot, and I'm sure there is more to come and I look forward to learning it all, with all of you!
Have a great day,
Joanne my heart is so happy for you!

[Aqua Eyes]

Key... my humblest apologies to you. I meant to be thanking you in my last post ... got you and Kmac mixed up. And like you both, I drink and eat everything fast too. I can drink a half bottle of wine in the same time that most people nurse one glass of wine. I need to learn to go slower on the drinking.

Last night I went to a TGIF with my "Rusty Bindings" club... a singles ski club... we do more than just snow ski. Anyway... I ordered a top shelf margarita and ate some chips and salsa. I was careful with the chips. I didn't want to over do... and yet, I could see how potentially dangerous they were for me. I had only the one margarita with no salt and I realized that it wasn't even all that enjoyable to me. I would have done better to order a $2 glass of soda water, I think. These things I'm learning as I go along... Mark that off my list of things to have. Also, I took note that Chevy's, what used to me my favorite restuarant, must be avoided at all costs. I left right before 8 PM and the party was just getting started for most of the folks that arrived for this gathering. I knew there wasn't anything on the menu that I could safely eat and I didn't want to buy another drink. I actually looked forward to getting home to my yogurt and fruit (I do my Meal 1 for dinners most of the time). I felt like I was dodging a bullet. One part of me was sad to leave the fun so early and the other was happy that I was doing the responsible thing for my body by getting me out of the sea of temptation. If I had my dinner prior to going, I would have stayed longer... so I'm making note of that for future TGIF's. This was good practice for me.

Ahhh... today is my last day of re-feed. I woke up not even hungry. I am not going to eat what they are asking me to eat today. I just don't feel like eating that much. I'm backing off on some of the things going forward. I won't be eating the number of fruit (5 fruits a day) most days. I'm going to eat them if I feel the need for a snack. I'm definitely going to change my carbs from bread to something higher fiber. I might snack on crackers.

Tonight I'm going dancing. I will enjoy a glass of wine tonight. I think that is do-able.

I want to thank ALL of you for being here for me and supporting and applauding me all the way. I promise you I will get more pictures of me as I have been talking about it. I just have to make time with my roommate to take them for me. I will be checking in with all of you and letting you know how I'm doing afterwards. BIG GROUP HUG to all of you.

[Dayanira]

I can't wait to see you posting in the Wild World! Yap! It is wild my friend! All newcomers into that World need to enter carefully (tip toeing!!).

You keep us amazed by all the things that you have achieved in the past and the new things to come! Please keep posting all your adventures! We love to read them!

[KMac]

Hi Joann
I read through your posts, thank you-
I picked up some great tips!