I will chime in because I am not a proponent of dieting . His claims that one can gain 12 # over the course of a holiday and then lose it in 17 days may have a very small bit of truth in it. Weight that is gained that quickly would primarily be fluid from high salt foods. It would be pretty easy to lose it as it would not be long term fat gain. That isn't possible in that short a time. Think about it...if you are a normal weight , you don't have anything that you need to lose ... you then stuff yourself over a week or 2 and gain 12 #....come on...very unlikely that a person with healthy eating habits is going to gorge like this. The person he is appealing to, wrongly I feel, is the person who has gained weight...for example your 20 # ,and wants to lose it. Now think how long it took to gain this weight. Most people pick up a few pounds a year for years. It took time to gain it....it takes time to lose it. Add to that the slowing of metabolism as we get older and you have your work cut out for you. The one GOOD thing he stresses is exercise. He walks with his patients. The bad thing is they say to do 17 minutes of exercise a day. Sorry...that won't accomplish anything...it is a start but it will have to increase dramatically to have any effect on weight loss .Permanent change is what the person has to achieve. Lifestyle changes are the hardest to accomplish and the MOST rewarding. Eating a well balanced and very modest intake of food and increasing your activity is the only way to lose weight and keep it off. Portions are the hardest thing to change. Folks eat WAY more than they think they do and they exercise way less than they think they do...for the most part. There are always exceptions. See your MD first. Get a partner to help you stick with this. Keep a dairy of every single thing you put in your mouth. Start walking. Increase no more than 10 % per week of your activity level. Get good shoes and wear comfortable clothes. Do not weigh every day. Do not expect miracles. Expect to lose no more than 1-2 # a week and expect to hit flat places . Get a partner ! Good Luck ! You are already on the way....you want to lose the weight. c

Hi Everybody! I can't believe how this week has flown by. Tomorrow is weigh-in day again! Other than more demolition on the kitchen, I haven't been getting my exercise. Actually, I should be doing my step aerobics right now, but here I am instead. The days are getting noticeably shorter, but the temperatures here are still warm. I guess we will be getting remnants of Ivan in the form of rain, rain, rain for the weekend. But I can't complain. My heart goes out to those affected more directly by the recent string of hurricanes. Well, I wore a pair of jeans today that I had not worn for a looong time. They fit, and were not tight. I know that the changes in my diet are really working. Yellowhair--I wonder if we will see Bunny Tracks here. I really love the Skinny Cow fudge bars. My DH is now eating them, too. You know, I have never had problems with my feet. But awhile back when I was trying to take long walks, I started having a problem with my big toe. It felt like it was sprained or something. It was very odd, but it just went away. DH has lots of trouble with his feet. I am sure it is just that we are getting older. Anyway, he has heel spurs, which are bony growths that kinda jab you from the inside. he has other things going on too, and has even been through physical therapy. He says they told him that whenever he is getting pain to quit whatever activity he is doing for awhile. In other words, if it hurts when you do that, don't do that! Kathy--When I first got into gardening and landscaping someone, who was a seasoned gardener, told me that a garden wasn't really yours until you had re-invented it about a million times. Well, they didn't say it quite like that, but that was the general meaning I took from it. I was fretting because the year before I had planted a shrub that I now thought would be in much better spot if I moved it just 4 feet. I wasn't sure it was worth it to go to the trouble. The advice I got was to go for it. I did, and I am still glad I did. And that is still my approach to gardening now. I am always seeing something that needs to be improved and gardening is all about the process. So it sounds like a change will be coming to your garden soon! DeeMarie--Talking about your commute reminded me of when I was doing that. Several years ago, I drove 50 miles one way to work. It took an hour and a half on most days with traffic and all. DH says I used to come home in the worst mood. It is interesting how we get ourselves into these things. I mean the trade-off for a job that you love vs. having more time for activities at home vs a nice paycheck vs whatever. I try not to regret the decisions that I make, but it sure seems that life is all about the trade-offs sometimes. On that note, I will wrap up this longwinded post. Eat healthy!!

wooohoooo.....no weight gain from Dec 25th to Jan 1st! I'm having trouble getting the full 30 min movement in during the day, but today will be better!!!! Mainly cause I plan to be walking around Home Depot to pick up shelving supplies for DH to put up in the closet so I don't have to unload all the tubs of fabric to get to the bottom one! He suggested it after the louvered door came off the track while I was stuffing it all back in. Ah, yes, life is good. *smile* SharonG/FL

Hi there, I have finally come around to posting this recipe on the forum. There are some recipes which stipulate this diet should only be done for 2 days and others are saying 3 days. Well I checked with my doctor and he recommended that I should only do it for 2 days at first and the next time I tried it I could actually do it for 3 days. ( Only if my body could handle it!) Also you will notice that the recipe that I used also has an addition of strawberries. KAREN Here is your copy of the "hollywood diet" (please feel free to forward it in its entirety to all your friends!) * 1 C papaya juice * 1 banana * 1/2 C green tea/ strongly brewed * 1 scoop soy protein powder w/spirulina * 1/2 C blueberries (can be frozen) * 1/4 C carrot juice * 1/4C apricot juice * 1/2 C non fat plain yogurt * 1 pack sweet and low * 6 large strawberries Blend all of the above together till smooth. Serve over ice. Recipe yields 2 servings. Drink every 3 hours or less (up to 6 times per day) Try to use juices with no added sugar or corn syrups, as this is the key to losing quickly. Supplement with 1/2 cup of ANY of the following raw veggies between shakes: * celery sticks * baby carrots * green pepper slices * mushroom slices * cherry tomatoes * shredded lettuce * yellow squash slices Use this diet only 2 days. This is meant to jumpstart your weight loss or get off those pesky 5-10 pounds quickly. This isn't to be used continually. ************************************************************ For lasting results, use Extreme power plus! The diet aid that is sweeping the nation! The only one with: * guaranteed results. (you dont lose, you dont pay!) * 95 vitamins / minerals / herbs for nutritional support * A dealer program that is making a lot of people like you and me big money on a product everybody wants! Visit the link below, and start your new life right now! http://www.adminder.com/c.cgi?vendorhelp&aulubp Or Click ************************************************************ Best regards The staff at todayican.com / vikit.com