Yet another newbie with more ??s

[mas]

Hi All,

I've been on the program for a week now. I've been reading all of the helpful information posted here for the last 3 weeks . . . so I decided to jump in!

I'm really embracing the program. Haven't been hungry at all, in fact I have found this program much more appealing then the programs that want you to eat tons of rabbit food – way too much for me! I have spent a fair amount of time with food "prep" and I can't believe the delicious enticing meals I’ve been able to come up with - mostly thanks to all of the recipes and tips I’ve found on this forum – so thank you all. I thought it was important not to get bored early on (didn’t want to dread meal times) so I’ve been making the extra effort and so far it’s working great. After only 1 week, I can’t believe some of my previous food choices. Although I’m really not a “big eater”, I can’t believe what I thought I needed for portions. I’m quite satisfied (but still will be happy when I’m finished for the occasional indulging)!

One of my challenges will be eating out. While my husband knows restaurants are off limits for awhile, I do have to attend business dinners, etc. Other than smart ordering and eyeballing portions, I don’t want a setback. How do others handle this?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also keep posting your questions and tips, it’s great help and motivation for those of us who are just starting!

mas

[Lolox4TS]

Welcome aboard Mas! It's great to have you along!! :) I just wanted to say ~ your challenge of "eating out" is definitely one of mine as well. I am one who usually ate out more than I ate a home cooked meal. I would go out almost every night at work and then on the weekends, our family would go out too. It got to be like a weekly Saturday afternoon activity with the family ~ going out for lunch. I've only been on the 1PD for one week, so I've only faced one Saturday where we didn't do as we normally did. We stayed quite busy, so that helped tremendously!

I'm with you in looking for advice when you are put in the position of going out. We, as a family, have always gone out to eat when one of us has a birthday. The person who is having the birthday gets to choose where they would like to go. We have a child's birthday coming up in another week, and I don't want to disappoint them by saying we can't go out. It's not their fault I have chosen to go on the 1PD. I know I could opt to have a salad and chicken/steak....but how do I judge the portion sizes? I want to be able to continue this family tradition but don't want it to set me back...Anyone have any advice? {praying}

Well, again...welcome, welcome! I wish you much success in achieving your weight loss goals. There's a great bunch of people facing the same issues here in the forum :hug: and they are very open to sharing stories and ideas. You will find this forum very inspiring, motivating and informative!

Take Care ~
Traci{tweety}

PS ~ You ought to get you a ticker going so we can all see your wonderful progress!!

[AmandaJane]

This is always hard. My boss was the one who got me started on this diet because she lost 60lbs. on it. I went to a dinner with her for work and she brought her own food. The dinner was servig a salad so she ate that, but everythig else was from home. It is alittle uncomfortable at first, but you get to the point where you either can go and bring your own food or stay home and eat there. I have gone out with my family a couple of times and each time I brought my own. It may be hard with all the smells but it can be done. I have only been on the diet for 3 weeks but from what I hear after awhile you will be better at eyeballing your portion size. I know I haven't reached that point yet! I know when your new you think how am I going to do this when my family still wants to go out and I have parties and such. I had the same feeling. Now that I have been on for a few weeks I have found that it doesn't matter what my family wants to do, I am going to stay the course and I can. It gets to the point where you say who cares if I have to come in with a bag of my own food, my family will order their food and I will have my chicken and salad. I have yet to run into a restaurant that said they would not allow e to eat my own food.

Good luck! Keep us posted on your progress. You guys are off to a great start!:flirt:

[Bronwyn]

Hi there folks! Good advice, Bitten, and I'm glad to hear that you've already been making the wise choice of taking your own food with you. That is probably the best choice until you are better at eyeballing your portions. The truth is, you should really try to limit eating out as much as you can, but of course there are times when you will have to. I order a salad (make sure you ask the waiter what comes on it so you aren't surprised by something that might not have been listed on the menu) with grilled chicken. If they bring it to you HUGE (like most restaurants) I ask for a smaller plate right away so I can portion my food out to start with. Either take your own dressing with you, or use balsamic vinegar. It's not exciting, but for me it's a real treat these days to eat something I didn't have to cook and I've almost never been set back by eating out.

Two main things to remember: Almost everyone either is on a diet or has been on a diet so restaurants are used to unusual requests based on diets. AND If they do act weird (which hasn't really happened to me yet) use the phrase "I'm on a doctor prescribed diet." as that alludes to the fact that if they don't help you maybe something horrible could happen (like an allergic reaction).

Eating out is definitely do-able. Other good options are steamed asparagus and filet mignon (with no butters or sauces), fish, etc. Just be wise and have fun. I have attended parties, functions, and even a weekend in Vegas and managed to stick to the program AND have a good time. Especially once you start seeing and feeling the results, you won't want to deviate and the other food/smells won't bother you.

Good luck!

[Bronwyn]

Sorry AmandaJane - I thought Bitten wrote that. You're both gorgeous blondes and I haven't yet had my cup of coffee this morning... Good advice from you & I'm very glad to see that you've got your bosses support and that you're off to such a good start yourself.

[SPDeRosa]

This was one of my big worries as well, as I travel a lot for work and will have to attend "functions" which aren't your typical business dinner, but in reality are like a wedding dinner.

What I've found helps is this:

HOTELS: Order a fridge for your hotel room (if you're on the road). Many places will give it to you for free if you say it's for medical reasons. You are on a physician prescribed diet, so that may suffice. And even if they charge you $10 for the small fridge, it's really worth it. Save the receipt and write if off as a non-reimbursed business expense (Check with an accountant first though, or just cross your fingers and hope it falls under "travel expenses".

BREAKFAST: I found bringing some hard boiled eggs and some cut up veggies is very helfpul. Add some salt/pepper packets to your travel bag for flavor. These travel well in a collapsible cooler/lunchbag with a frozen ice pack. If travelling with precut veggies is too much, then you can always find a local grocery store and buy a green pepper, celery and some baby bella mushrooms. Low cost AND it will likely last an entire week! :) Of course, stock up on some apples and oranges as well, so that you have enough for your fruit allowance. Your other choice of course is an approved yogurt, but if you're like me and can't stand fat-free yogurt, you'd likely have to use a fruit from your allowance to make it tolerable ... and why waste a fruit when you might need it later on in the day?!

FLAVOR: Even when at home I premix spices into my standard "Italian" format. Using all dried spices, I put rosemary, pepper, garlic salt, oregano, basil, and parsley into a spice grinder and grind it all up. It then goes into an empty spice container labeled "My Spices" (I kid you not, I actually do that). Then whenever I need a dash of flavor, I can just sprinkle it on rather than having to get out all the spices one at a time. Toss the container into your bag and you've got instant spices for the road.

RESTAURANTS: They will custom-cook anything. They want your money, so they're fine with doing whatever you want - although many servers will have to "ask" if it's ok. Don't worry, it's fine. But you need to be very specific and say it's for medical purposes otherwise they might use olive oil or something on your food that you can't have. So if possible, you can order a chicken breast, grilled with no oil, and maybe a little black pepper and salt (if you like salt). Select a veggie from the approved list and ask for it steamed. Then when it gets to the table, whip out your handy-dandy spice pack and you've got instant flavor! But watch out, you can't eat the whole chicken breast. You'll likely have to cut it in half (or slightly smaller). Typically they say the serving size is about the size of your palm. I'm finding that to be very true in "guessing" the weight. As to the veggies, that's a little bit harder so what I do is automatically separate 1/2 of the veggies out. Then I eat the meat with the occasional veggie until the meat is gone. If I feel "satisfied" I stop eating the veggies. Who knows, maybe I've gone over or under my allowance, but it puts me in the ballpark. After a while you'll get to know how much is enough to make you satisfied but not feel full. Of course, you then have a nice doggie bag to bring home for your next day's meal (as you're likely to get enough on your plate for two full meals!)

ALCOHOL: No easy answer. Plan ahead and don't use up your Diet Soda allowance so that you can at least have something sparkly at the table.

CHEESE MEAL: I have a friend on the program who travels with celery and the fat-free cream cheese pre-measured. She reports that this travels well and helps get through a meal on the airplane or on the road.

Hope these ideas help! If anyone has any others, I'd love to know!


- Shawn

[mas]

Traci, AmandaJane, Browyn & Shawn - thanks for the support and the great ideas!

Traci, I'm planning to avoid all of the family dinners (my family will understand) it's the business issue that I'm having a hard time with - and plan to limit as much as possible. AmandaJane, although your boss doesn't have a hard time bringing food, this is definately not within my confort level (although it certainly is an option). So far, I don't think other foods/smells at the table would bother me (but give me another week & I may be singing a different tune!) I'm comfortable ordering as suggested (steamed veggies on the list, dry fish, filet mignon) and I'm pretty confident that I could eye "reasonably" but a lot I have read on this post seemed to indicate this is a definate NO. Just didn't seem reasonable that no-one else was faced with these issues - so thanks for letting me know I'm not alone!

Shawn, good idea on mixing spices (for both home and going out). I'm going to try this as well. I do the yogurt in the am (quick & I'm not a morning eater) but I only use 1/2 my fruit allowance - so not wasting the whole thing. I've used less than 1/2 an orange & blend for a drink (the juice makes it liquid enough to drink).

Browyn, you mention filet mignon . . . I was actually going write a consultant questioning that. Is that OK even with the high fat content?

Thanks again all - I'll continue to follow your good ideas.

Here's to all of our weight loss!

mas

[Shasha]

{hi} there Everyone

A very WARM WELCOME TO MAS :bighug:

I’m very impressed with ALL YOUR TRAVEL TIPS! {goodjob} Everyone!

Shawn – you’ve got some great stuff going there :clapping:

YES Bronwyn: using the words: “I’m on a Doctor’s diet for my health or a prescription diet from my Doctor” is very wise and very true! Clients who do go off the diet and suddenly eat a rich or fatty meal report feeling nausea, having a runny tummy, feeling bloated etc. and the hormones get out of balance (see Have you fallen of the bus? Thread in Support).

YES, most people have major empathy with Dieters and A WHOLE LOT OF RESPECT FOR THEM TOO! The restaurants are most often more than willing to bend over backwards – you can take your scale with you and ask them for 100 grams of fish and 110 grams of veggies for example. You can make special arrangements before going if it’s for a function etc.

Here are a few more eating out or travel tips:

Your personal diet program is made out of the precise food items and weights you need to take. When travelling or eating out etc, the best would be to have a kitchen in which you can prepare your food just like at home. Unfortunately, this is not always practical and you may need to eat the available foods en-route. Therefore, a setback of your diet is unavoidable but you can try and minimize the setback by eating smart.

Try to find food items that are allowed on your diet (plain yogurt, hardboiled egg, vegetables, canned tuna and the likes). Eating these foods – even with no scale to weigh the foods – is better than eating a sandwich or a hamburger.

Eating out while you on a personal diet program where all your food intake is calculated carefully, might be a challenge. Some brave customers take their kitchen scale with them to the restaurant and order just a green salad. Others go out with friends but eat at home first, then just drink coffee / water. Eating out while on the program will set your progress back and we strongly recommend trying and avoiding this. If you have to go, just order a small green salad with a low-fat dressing on the side. This will help in having a smaller setback.

Hopefully, by eating smart the setback will not be as bad! Always remember, you have the RIGHT to do what is RIGHT for YOU!

[Hugentobler]

I too was not comfortable with bring my own food in the beginning and didn't want to "bother" the cooks with my special request....so I just choose not to eat. I ordered a black coffee and water and drank them while everyone else ate.... After several weeks when I thought I could eyeball portions I ordered steak and asparagus...dry!!!! Now I am known to take my yogurt into Bob Evans (my kids love to eat breakfast there) and drink my coffee and eat my yogurt. I just got to a point that slowing down my weight loss was not an option and I just had to get over my "uncomfortableness". Gook Luck.

[Bronwyn]

Hi Mas,

Actually Filet Mignon is considered a pretty lean steak. If it has any fat on it, it is easily trimmed, but it is not marbled like a rib-eye or a NY steak and it is so much more tender than sirloin. It's been my steak of choice on the diet (not that I eat a lot of red meat) and my weight has gone down steadily (between 2-3 pounds) per week. Curious to see what the consultants say so please do share if they answer you. Thanks!

[mas]

Thanks for the welcome Shasha - yes everyone has good suggestions!

Kugentobler, I don't mind "bothering" anyone, but in a business situation (sometimes I'm doing the entertaining) I think it's rude to not eat (something!) with my guests. With family or friends -no problem, guess I'm just a little more sensitive when that's not the case. Don't want to make anyone uncomfortable - while it is "all about me", guess I feel it shouldn't be during a business situation.

Browyn, thanks for the clarification - I just submitted my question so I'll let you know if I hear back anything different. I had seen a list of low to high fat content in meat and filet (tenderloin) seemed to be on the high side, but I believe you are right, there is little marbling. I also inquired about grade (choice vs.prime - which I think has the highest fat content).

Any comment Sasha?

You two have done a great job with you weight loss . . . so I guess I better listen! Congrats to you both . . . you are almost there & I hope to follow your footsteps!
mas

[LesKiya]

Before I started on the diet, we were a 3-4 meal a week eat out somewhere family. My dad is older and single and eats all of his meals out and he always went with us as well. We've really cut that back while I'm on this diet but usually every Friday we still go out. Well, they go out and I go along! I save that diet coke allowance and throw and orange in my purse (sometimes with my crackers) and go sit with the family while they eat. I figure if I'm going to get this done, I'll survive watching them eat. The waitresses are always very nice to get me a water and a diet coke and when I say I'm on a very strict diet, sometimes they ask more about it. When I get to say 35 pounds gone, they are always like, "oh honey, you go for it! No food for you this meal! , and where is that diet from...?"

We've also saved more money on eating out then this program has cost me.

Good luck and the small bit of suffering watching all that food will be erased when you go try on a bathing suit this summer.

[bitten]

that's great leskiya-

we eat often too. but i have really toned that down. being in NYC it is very easy to get a piece of dry grilled fish or chicken and steamed greens or a dry salad.
i never eat more than 1/4 of the plate and after 3 weeks on the program i feel pretty good that i can eye ball certain things well. fish is the easiest and the lightest so i always order that when possible.
it is better to eat at home, but sometimes life needs to happen.
i also take fruit and crackers EVERYWHERE, just incase i get stuck.
and iced tea and black coffee are my new friends....i will NOT drink diet soda ever.
sorry, i just cannot believe that it is OK to drink that if i am trying to be healthy.
so, keep up your great work 35 lbs is amazing.
when did you start?
amazing-
bitten

[Shasha]

{hi} there MAS & Everyone

Dr Cohen does not give any specific meat cuts that should or should not be used on the 1st Personal Diet Program, the only recommendations regarding meat are in your New Customer Guide and they are as follows:

BEEF Lean (any steak without fat)
VEAL Lean (any steak without fat)
GAME Lean (any steak without fat from Buffalo or Deer Meat)

�� Do not buy ground beef off the shelf, as it is often not pure and contains fats. If you want ground beef, select a lean steak with no fat, and ask the butcher to mince it for you.


Happy Slimming {cheerleader}

[mas]

Thanks for the note Sasha, Browyn, I got basically the same answer from the consultant so I'll stick with your recomendation! Filet is the only steak I eat & it's a good meal when I want something "more".

Leskiya, what motivation . . . you're over 1/2 way there congrats! Had my first "party" this weekend -since I was only eating the shrimp cocktail - one of the passed appetizers (no sauce) and salad I had to sneak up the shrimp bowl several times to get my allowance without looking like I was eating all the shrimp! First resturant lunch this week also, went well with grilled shrimp & spinach salad. Was pretty comfortable "eyeballing" although I think I didn't get my full fish allowance. Ate only part of the salad - with balsamic vinegar (my new best friend). Didn't ask for the grilled shrimp dry (so I probably had some extra marinade, etc.) but overall I think I did well.

Keep up the good work all . . . and sharing your experiences!
mas

[Shasha]

{hi} there MAS

I really had fun reading your post :jumping2: and imagining you going up there to take 5 shrimps at a time and hoping someone else doesn't do the same thing and eat up all them shrimp's before you've reach 100 or 120 grams etc... {bighug}

Well done! :flirt: Next time though, I would caution you to please try to be careful of the marinade - they often contain sugar and other not good stuff, if you were to go for a blood test today, this would show up as a deviation from the program, meaning it slows down your results.

The less slowing down, the better your progress in the long run... In any case, I'm very proud of you for shrinking on the shrimps...

And, yes, fillet is 100% perfect meat! Though, not all our Diet Buddies could always afford this - especially if they had larger families - so, any lean steak is fine. I personally believe that most Dieters save money on their food bill - so can afford to buy the better cuts - lets face it, it's not a lot of food, so it might as well be nice...

[SPDeRosa]

I have to agree. Last week there was a sale on meat at the grocery store, and trying to save money to offset rising gas prices, I stocked up on steaks by buying the family packs and then cutting into appropriate portions. It was a lot of work, but for $11 of steak I got 16 portions of meat to freeze, totalling $0.69 USD per portion. Sixteen servings of meat will last me two weeks, having steak once a day. It took a while to cut up the meat into the right sizes, weigh, and then individually wrap but I thought it would be worth it.

Then just yesterday I went shopping for fruits and vegetables. Since I'm only purchasing for myself, I only needed two green peppers, 8 jalapeno peppers, 2 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, a tomato, 2 bags of spring mix salad, 3lbs of apples, 4lbs of oranges. I'm thinking that will last me at least one week if not two. The grand total: $26 USD. I couldn't believe it. $26 for a week or maybe more of food! Normally I'd be spending two to three times that amount! I was so excited I had to call people to let them know how much I saved!

So when all is said and done, my food bill went from over $200/month to probably $100/mo (or slightly over if I add in fish, diet soda, etc.). That's about a 50% savings in food costs. And given that I'm not eating out while on the program, I'm saving MUCH MORE! So now I'm thinking why bother buying the bigger packages and cutting them up, trimming the fat, weighing them when I can buy the "better" meats and STILL be saving money on my food bill?!

[Shasha]

{hi} there Shawn


WOW, how carefully you have worked all this out! {goodjob}

I'm impressed!! {wave}

No doubt your 1st Personal Diet Program is paying for itself!


...Don't get too excited too soon though...

I feel it my duty to WARN YOU about the HIDDEN COHEN COSTS!!! OOOOoooops!

Many of our Diet Buddies are already experiencing this... OOOOoooops! again!!

HAVING NOTHING TO WEAR!!! Because their pants keep falling down!!!! {elmo}

[Bronwyn]

It is true Shasha!! I was just trying to figure out the other day why I haven't managed to save any money when I'm eating so much less, not eating out, etc. and then it dawned on me.... I'm having to buy a whole new wardrobe, one piece at a time. I'm getting close to the end of this diet journey now so we'll see where I land. I was a size 12 or 14 when I started in January and now I'm in a 2 or 4. It certainly is a wonderful problem to have.

[Shasha]

{hi} Bronwyn

WOW!!! That is FANTASTIC!!! {cheerleader}

I'm so very happy for you and very proud of your wonderful progress!


{wave}

A HUGE BIG WELL DONE from me for going from a size 12 / 14 right down to a size 2 / 4!!! Talk about becoming a MINI-ME!!! :clapping3: OH YEAAAAH!!!

[ScorpGirl99]

One of my challenges will be eating out. While my husband knows restaurants are off limits for awhile, I do have to attend business dinners, etc. Other than smart ordering and eyeballing portions, I don’t want a setback. How do others handle this?
mas

MAS - I'll keep watching the posts, because this one is a challenge for me as well - lots of clients, lots of travel, and lots of opportunities to be creative. I had an easy challenge on my first day of the program with my business partner. I looked at the salad bar and noticed the cantaloupe and honeydew. I ordered the salad bar & a Diet Pepsi.

One time I wasn't feeling well after traveling to a business conference. I remember sitting at dinner with a short stack of saltines and a soda. Now I realize THAT would have worked as well.

Good luck & I hope some really good ideas come back...

[Katra]

Hi Mas!
I just wanted to say hello. I am new on this board and getting to know everyone by reading. I hope you don't have too much trouble with eating out. I don't do it all so I can't be of much assistance but it looks like you have gotten a lot of excellant advice already. That is what's so great about this forum!

I wish you well on your journey!

[mas]

Thanks all for your support & advice! I've been managing quite well (birthday parties, graduations, client dinners, etc.) I'm quite happy with my barbeque parties (hamburg no roll with some tomato, onion & lettuce). BBQs have been the best for my water (had my family counting the number of water bottles I consumed - think I was more expensive than the "drinking" guests!) Restaurants have been a little more challenging . . . I haven't been perfect but have made excellent choices (balsamic vinegar for salad dressing, lobster no butter, the bread basket stays away from me, steak & veggies, hamburger no roll, grilled shrimp with salad). My downfall - haven't asked for everything dry (not condoning this - just stating). My big cheat over the holiday weekend was an ear of corn (no butter . . . my small lobster just wasn't satisfying enough)!

May not have been perfect eye-balling, but think I did a good job & worked within my comfort level. It is doable - just wanted to encourage others!
Best - and keep up the good work!
mas

[Shasha]

{hi} there MAS

Sorry to hear that you've deviated a bit from your program. Do you find that you become hungry?

I know it may not always be possible, but I'd like to encourage you to please always try your very best to follow your eating plan 100% - remember your foods are calculated to specific grams in order to get your hormones balanced and in order for you to maximize your results...

Not weighing foods will slow your progress down and I'd like to encourage you to please try to minimize how often you do this. Nobody wants to be on diet for longer than what is necessary so a big please to avoid the corn on the cob... Corn is high in starch and it will trigger insulin, your fat storing hormone and we don't want that to happen :crying:

I'm saying this with all the love in my heart, :bighug: but the bottom line is that if you are not eating your plan 100%, you are in fact not following Dr Cohen's 1st Personal Diet Program because your hormones will not be able to come into the required balance for you to be able to have the maximum benefits of your body producing more human growth hormone...

Well done on staying away from the bread... I'd recommend having an extra DIET FRUIT any day before having corn... and I for one am looking forward to seeing your results in the coming weeks... {cheerleader}

[mas]

Hi Sasha,

Thanks for the reminders and support. I actually haven't been hungry on this diet . . . and I'm really not a big fan of corn on the cob . . . but my lobster portion (ate 1/2 the salad) was small, and I actually was still a little hungry. Seemed like not such a bad choice at the time - guess I still have a lot to learn. I'm actually eating more than I normally do (but clearly better choices!!)

I know the weighting issue is an issue. I've been good for the most part -eyeballing only when I go out.

I took my follow-up blood test this week, and I got an e-mail saying my liver function results were elevated and suggesting I send the reports to my primary health care provider immediately! (I took the full test vs. the U+E and Creatinine). Prior results were 17 & 20 (reference range 0-40) new results were 126 & 125!

I'm following up with my doc, but I also did a little research on the internet today. I've been using Stevia (after seeing it mentioned on this website as sweetener alternative). Did check and it out and found it was not FDA approved in the US as a sweetener, but was approved as a dietary supplement. Seemed like a good thing to use something more natural vs. chemical. Additional research today indicated that the reason that the FDA didn't approve it as a sweetener was b/c it cause liver problems in rats and they were concerned regarding too much use.

The other thing I found (internet research can be dangerous and give wrong information - although the FDA info is pretty clear) fatty liver can develop with too rapid weight loss. "Too rapid" wasn't defined.

I e-mailed my consultant, with questions, but they referred me to my doc. They said elevated liver results were not part of the program, but again they normally don't take the liver test as a follow-up.

Has anyone else had this problem? I'm going along well . . . 1 lb less than Cohen's goal weight for the last few days . . . would still like to continue for a couple more. Afraid my doc's going to say stop (my husband is already on my case). The reality is I've never eaten better in my life!

I have a whole new wardrobe (didn't toss my old clothes)! Don't want all the good to end with health problems!

Sorry for the long post (I am long winded)! I don't want to discourage anyone else, just looking for guidance from anyone who may have had this experience. I'm stopping the stevia and hoping this is the issue.

Thanks!
mas

[MrsPeel]

Mas, it is possible you have a slight allergic reaction to stevia. Perhaps your health care provider can comment on that. Stevia is a natural plant derivative which should not cause any problems with normal usage. Long before I was on the 1PD, I was switched over to stevia by my nutritionist, who was responding to the very real dangers of Splenda, aspartame, Nutrisweet, and other artificial and chemical sweeteners. I have never experienced any heightened liver values from its use, but you are wise to check things out.

[Hippychick]

Hi Mas,
That sounds a little scary. :( How many packets of stevia have you been taking? I have also been useing stevia since joining which on Monday will be my four weeks. What made you order a different blood test to begin with? How much weight have you lost? Has it been four weeks for you also? Sorry for all the questions. I'm just concerned. Please keep us posted on what your doctor has to say. Maybe it's just a false positive thing? You'll have an other test and things will be fine. :praying:
Take care,
Lynett

[mas]

Hi Mrs. Peel & Hippychick,

Agreed, sugar substitutes do have dangers, which is why I tried stevia. I wasn't using packets, had a bottle & used about 3/4 in 6 weeks. Don't know if this is excessive (it didn't think so) but I never measured-just shook on. Don't know if this has ANYTHING to do with what's going on, but I'm stopping it for now & will see what my doc has to say.

I read on the boards that the 4 week test (what I took) only showed bun & creatinine but you could order the original test again (same price). I did that just to see if anything else changed for my own knowledge & glad I did! Still hope it is a false positive!
mas

[Shasha]

{hi} Mas

{oops}{sorry} to hear about the higher liver function blood test results. I'm not a doctor so have no idea what this indicates but recommend that you discuss this with him or her ASAP.

All I can think of is what did you eat the few days or the day prior to your blood test? If you suddenly after being on diet for a while, ate a rich meal or drank alcohol I would expect your body not to be happy with this. Other than that I don't know what could be the matter.

Have you been feeling okay? Are you experiencing any symptoms of being ill or have you taken any medication?... Sorry for the questions, I'm just wondering cos I'm worried about you :comfort: Please do keep us posted on what your doctor says.

As far as I know, Stevia is a much preferred natural sweetener option to many and I'm really not aware of any side effects on humans...

I'm very happy to hear that you are 1 pound away from your goal and that you are almost ready to begin Re-feeding - even if your doctor were to tell you to stop, I would recommend explaining that the Re-feeding Program will introduce foods back into your eating plan gradually and in a controlled manner so that your body is not shocked and that it is very important to your continued success that you do do the Re-feeding Program, with his supervision of course...

[bitten]

hi mas-
sorry to hear about your liver issues. i wish you all the best health.
also, congrats on reaching your cohens goal.
how much have you lost and how long did it take?

i have used stevia everyday for 2 years. my liver function tests have all been fine.
the FDA does not WANT to approve stevia because it is a natural plant sweetener, like sugar, it cannot be OWNED (like fake products splenda and equal)so no one can cash in on it. i am not a big fan of the FDA...

all best wishes-
bitten

[Bronwyn]

Hey Mas! Have you gone to your doctor yet? We are all going to want to know what he/she says about this issue. My husband had "fatty liver" after one of his blood tests from a physical a year or so ago and his doctor acted like it was no big deal. He said very minor variations (improvements) in his diet could make it go away very quickly. Still, you want to get to the bottom of why your test results came back like that. Must be espcially frustrating since you're eating so healthy now. Please keep us posted.

P.S. I made my husband get a new doctor after seeing that one. I called him Doogie Houser... Looked like he was 12 years old and told my 40 pounds + overweight husband that he could try to lose weight if he wanted but that it's not a big deal. I wonder if he'd have given the same advice to his father or brother. Fatty liver and overweight and "no big deal" - "You can try to lose a little weight if you want to..."