good luck! Im rooting for you!

Thanks!

I'm sure we can definitely figure out some good choices for you so you have some staples in your diet that you can go to easily. I find that even having 5 or 6 meals I can make without thinking about it helps so much. Same with snacks. I think you can tweak pretty easily and get some great results.

Kanga, on day 10 I feel AMAZING!!!!! I've never felt this good in my entire life!

I had an itty bitty headache one day for about 2 hours but that was nothing compared to the migraines I used to get so I rode that one out

I am all about clean eating now and I don't know why I was so afraid of it.

Here's yesterday's menu, for example:

Morning: 1 cup of choffee with a dash of raw Lavender Honey
2 egg whites, spinach and a banana

Snack: Smoothie: Organic berry mix (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries), whole ground flaxseed meal, 1 scoop of Max Muscle protein mix, a splash of Almond Oil and a quick splash of milk.

Lunch: Salad with carrots, tomatoes, and grilled chicken on top - no dressing

Snack: Handful of raw almonds and an Orange

Dinner: Baked Orange Roughy, Rice Medley from Trader Joe's, Artichokes

Dessert: (I eat dessert no later than 6:00pm) Greek Yogurt with sliced strawberries and raw honey drizzled lightly on top.

No refined sugars and loving every moment of it!!!

Now I need to read through this thread and catch up with everyone else =)

Oh! And someone told me the other day I am basically cheating on my "no refined sugars" with raw honey.

I haven't looked into this enough but if it is, I guess I am a cheater! lol

I don't use much of it but I think raw honey is a great alternative to the other options available.

I could and should ask my Mom/nutritionist.

I know my Mom eats raw honey though but then again she recently told me that she doesn't limit anything now. She has everything in moderation.

I wish I could post a pic of my Mom here!! She's 54 and looks like she's 40! It's kind of a weird thought that my Mom is in better shape than I am. Somethingis wrong with that

I was shocked that my doctor thought my weight of 155 on my 5'7 body is more than appropriate. I said I wanted to be 135 and she strongly advised against that. Thoughts?

it's not so much about height/weight as it is about muscle mass and skeletal structure. Some people are large framed, some are small framed. Some people carry a lot of muscle, some people don't.

I wouldn't make it about the number on the scale, frankly.

I think raw honey is more than acceptable, fwiw. High in fructose, but the body processes it very differently (presumably because of the enzymes and mineral content) than other high fructose foods like agave nectar or corn syrup.

e. taylor you rock! Thank you for explaining how my body processes honey =) I am not going to kick myself for it then.

I'm glad you brought up agave nectar because someone was telling me to buy that and now I won't.

What you said is exactly what my doc said. She said I need to focus on exchanging fat with muscle. That being said, I probably won't and shouldn't really see or even focus on any loss in weight. I don't have a scale in my house and my doc said to keep it that way.

I have no idea why I never talk to my Mom about this stuff when she's always there to help and more than educated. What is up with that? I guess just because she is Mom before she is anything else and sometimes I have to hear things from other people to actually listen. LOL

Thanks a bunch, e.taylor!

yeah, sometimes it's hard to go to the people in our own lives that know stuff for some reason! lol!

I am like a one woman personal crusade against agave nectar for SO MANY REASONS. That's like the most unhealthy sweetener on the planet. No joke I'd rather my kids have HFCS. I gave a big lecture to my favorite bakery (in private-not in front of people) when they decided to go "sugar free!" and use agave nectar in every-freaking-thing.

I told them of ALL the people in the world, the celiac disease population should never use it, nor should anyone with liver issues at all. Luckily they did stop using it for the most part. I think they got the message when I started asking what was in everything and if it had agave I was like, "nope! thank you!"

I hate hate HATE that it's considered to be "health food."

Wow E.Taylor, who would have known? They promote agave nectar as healthy! Yikes.

Day 2

Limited cokes, no chocolate. At all. Happy to say I haven't got a headache and the sweaty, jittery feeling I had yesterday passed as well. Had a little chocolate craving but was able to distract myself from it. Ate jicama as a snack, and I know two days is very little time, but I swear my bloated belly feels smaller.

well done!!!