The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Aquarian]

Hi all,
First off, I want to say thank you to all for being so supportive of each other...I was up all night reading past posts, and feeling really glad to have found this forum...each one of you is a personal inspiration to me and I know now that I can do this.

So, my name is Nico. I'm a 29 year old guy (30 in two weeks!?!) who lives in San Francisco and weighed 247lbs 6 days ago. Today, on day 6 of the 5 & 1 plan, I weigh 241.5lbs. My goal is to weigh about 175lbs, and we'll see from there . Anyone else in San Francisco?

I have to admit that I cheated on my second day and had the equivalent of two Lean and Green meals...bad boy. Since then, no slips, and no desire to so far. This isn't easy, but it's not as hard as I thought it would be either. I was really afraid of feeling starving!

I have two questions that I hope people can answer...the first is that I am missing Mexican food something terrible...being a native to Southern California before moving here five years ago..Mexican food has become a daily habit for me. I have already learned to spice up the Medifast Soups with cumin and oregano...when I used to make tortilla soup, I could easily use the majority of a bottle of cumin! My question is this: There is a chain called Rubio's that makes a HealthMex chicken salad that I have always adored containing lettuce, shredded cabbage, grilled chicken, salsa, and a fat free serrano grape dressing. The nutrition info is as follows: Calories: 220, Fat: 3g, Carbs: 27g, Fiber: 2g, Protein 22g, and Sugar:16g. If I measured out not more than 7ounces of the chicken, and two cups of the lettuce, cabbage, salsa, dressing mixture...could this count as a viable Lean and Green? I don't want to screw up the ketosis! In my mind, this sounds perfectly reasonable..but I want to hear it from the experts...wasn't sure if the sugar content was too high.

The other question is about eggs. I did a search and found posts where it says they are not allowed, but then a post from Nancy dated 1/14 of this year that says two egg whites or 1/2 cup egg substitute for those on the 5&1 can be in place of the meat portion...wanted to check in before I did this...one of my favorite meals has always been egg substitute mixed with a bunch of spices and cooked with veggies. Alas, no cheese this time. If this was an option, I would be as happy as a clam (also allowed!).

Well, I guess that's it for now....hope you all have a wonderful day today and enjoy your slimmer, healthier selves to the fullest extent possible.
Nico

[raederle]

Hi Nico, and welcome! Sounds like you're already doing terrifically, and I hope it keeps up!

As for your questions, I would go with Nancy's most recent post about allowing eggs/whites as your protein in the 5 & 1 plan meal. They *are* good sources of protein and are low- (if not no-) carb. They're a bit high in cholesterol as you probably know, but I wouldn't think that having eggs a couple times a week as your lean protein would hurt at all-- especially if you're using egg substitute anyway, which is low-cholesterol. And spicing them up with veggies & spices sounds grrrreat! You should post a recipe!

I think Nancy's earlier post about not allowing eggs was likely meant to be a warning to people not on maintenance who would want to add illegal garnishes to their green salads. (Wouldn't it be tough to add some egg chunks to your salad without wanting to pile on the bacon bits, croutons, cheese cubes, olives...? )

About the Rubio's salad, it sounds to me like the sugar content is a bit high, but the sugar is probably all in the fat free dressing. Lots of fat free dressings make up for the loss of fat by adding in lots of sugar for flavor-- a fat free dressing can end up having almost as many calories as a full-fat version if you're not careful! If you could order the salad with the dressing on the side, you could try using just a small bit of it, or none at all. (Maybe pack on some more salsa instead, or buy your own spicy dressing that has fewer grams of sugar in it?)

Hope this helps. Others might have some thoughts on this, too... Anyway, welcome-- I'm glad you found this forum! It certainly gets *me* through the tough days!



Rae

[Aquarian]

Rae,

Thank you so much for your quick reply and great answers...I was so excited to "make contact" with someone else on this diet...I'm using the salsa on my lean portion of the meal and it is helping a LOT...

Today I definitely needed my celery and pickles and boullion or I would have completely lost it. Monday's must go! My coworker and I went to the grocery store today on lunch break so I could get some celery and pickles and she could get her Smart Ones (she is on Weight Watchers and started the same day I started Medifast). It was all we could take to see people gleefully loading up their carts with all kinds of goodies. I turned to her and said "What are they all so frickin cheerful for?". Ahh well, on a positive, I feel a lot better than I have in a while...and my asthma seems like it is lessening! I wish I had done this long ago.

Well, hope everyone is doing well and shaking along....
Nico

[hawaiiwhatnot]

Ola Nico!

Bienvenidos! I relate to your love of Mexican food. Being born and reared in New Mexico, I grew up with it. If you haven't tried the MF chili yet I recommend it since you have a flare for spicing things up. I put in twice or three times the amount of water, a couple of beef or chicken bouillon cubes, salsa, and chili powder. Makes it a nice huge bowl of chili soup that's quite filling. Great you picked yourself up right away after a small stumble, and are back in stride! Well done!!! Don't ever quit giving it another best effort, and you'll be at 175 so soon it will absolutely floor you. As Nancy says, the food you love will be there when you reach goal. It IS great that so many restaurants are catering to those of us watching our diets by creating special healthier dishes. You are on the right track (aboard the train to thinville!!!) by carefully evaluating beforehand what you are about to eat. You're gonna get there Nico!

Chili and peace,
Camille

[explorthis]

Nico – welcome. I am from California also, and a semi-regular patron of Rubio’s. The answer is NO. You may not have Rubio’s period, while on Medifast, not even a measured portion. Make your own lean green portions, you know for a fact what is in them. Just like Rae said “SUGAR” is a no-no period. I know your love of Rubio’s, trust me (there is one 2 minutes from my work location here in Southern CA.

Eggs – just like you said (like Nancy said) 2 egg whites, can be used in place of the meat portion. This is the whites only.

It will take a short while for you system to be accustomed to Medifast, but if your religious about it; I promise you will become a pro in no time. Once you see some progress, trust me, Rubio’s and your Mexican food (I also WAS a huge lover – and still am on a LIMITED basis) will take a back seat.

Good news is ALL of these items will be available to you once you hit your goal.

Remember, it was the Rubio’s, and all the Mexican food we had in the past got us here in the first place….

Post and read often, we are here for support.

-Mike

[Nancy]

Good Day, Nico and welcome to the MakeMeThinner Forum. I am happy to meet you and to hear of your success.

I chuckled about your field trip to the grocery store - sheesh! You are rather brave to venture into a foody's favorite forage site so early in your Program. However, venturing into seemingly dangerous territory with a fellow dieter may have been a good strategy. Medifasting will be way cool for you, Nico - you are gonna leave your WW friend in the dust as you stick with the program. This is NOT easy but if you are program-compliant, you will soon be out of the hungry stage, into the powerful fat-burning state and you'll find new energy and your resolve to get the job done will increase. Again, you will reach your goal way before your WW friend reaches hers. Stick to the Program - it is so worth it!

The salad dressing you mention is a definite NO. Rae, you got it right - way too many sugars. Sugars=carbs=stored energy=flab.