arb34

Hoping to take the extended family on a cruise next Thanksgiving so have lots of time to plan but found this morning that Carnival is offering a 50% reduced deposit for the next 5 days....is this something that they offer often? Would love to take advantage of it but not sure that I shouldn't wait until it is offered again? Opinions? Thanks!!

I liked Steve Cassel on the Paradise last year. He sure can play that fiddle!

I agree....he was CD on the first cruise we took on the Holiday...sure miss that little ship!! Would love seeing him and his amazing Fiddle again on what ever ship he now sails....

I am enjoying this so much, and really don't want it to end, just as I won't want our cruise on the Legend this coming March to end. We have a group of family and friends...a family reunion with relatives we have never met in person before coming all the way from Sweden to go with us so I am excited to share this review with them and let them see all the fun that is in store~~~ Thank you so much for taking all the time and trouble to do this!!!

Had them a few years back on the Holiday...a 5 day to Cozumel and Progresso....in fact have had them on every cruise since.... the last time was last January on a Fantasy 5 day to the Bahamas.....wanted to try them the first time but just didn't think I could do it until some young college boys at our table gave me the confidence...now I love them and look forward to them every cruise.

Looks like everyone here is doing well and hanging in there. Good for all of you!!!

I'm sslowllyyyy still there... to slow for my taste but showing enough occasional losses that I don't want to give up. (Although I have been tempted) Today I'm thinking that if I could avoid weighing every time I get near the scale but instead only weighed once a week or so I might be more impressed with the loss I see rather than the up and down stuff. But I can't!! Everytime I pass the stupid scale I want to hop on in hopes of a whoosh. Oh well, just call me obsessive I guess...

Summer has been busy and I have FINALLY started following the walking part of the plan so evenings have been dedicated to that. Sticking to the plan and finally started seeing the scale go down on a more regular basis instead of the frustrating up and down thing that had been going on for so long....I guess it's the walking...should have started that part right from the get go instead of being lazy.

How is everyone else doing?

I make it the same way I would have before.....chicken, onions, celery, sugar free relish and fat free cottage cheese rather than mayo....havent tried putting the cottage cheese in a food processor before adding it but that might make it blend with the other ingredients better.....less lumpy chicken salad LOL!!!

for Attack you would have to stick to the lean ground beef and onions....no mushrooms till Cruise....I have done the same basic think with cubed chicken cooked in chicken stock or boullion and it is good too...

...is Stroganoff I use 90% lean ground beef browned with onions in a little cooking spray...add low sodium beef broth or bullion and low sodium worchestershire and bring to almost a boil and then thicken the sauce with some corn starch (called Corn Flour on European Dukan sites and a tolerated item) mixed in cool water and stir til sauce is thickened..... add a ton of mushrooms rather than noodles .... reduce the heat and when no longer bubbling add 1/4 to 1/2 cp of fat free sour cream and stir in well..... soo good that my whole family likes it

I'm still trying to acquire taste for fish (that isn't fried or a stick LOL) but I'm thinking about trying the savory DD pancake with a crumbled salmon patty mixed in for a type of fish crocette (sp?) maybe come up with a yogurt sauce to top it with? anyone have any thougts, ideas or suggestions on this?

Yay for Coleen!!! It's so good to hear that someone has actually gotten there and I can't wait to hear all about your next phase. Let us know the tricks and tips of it. Bet you are grinning from ear to ear, as well you should be!

Litewait, you are doing great!!! I use Heinz Reduced Sugar Ketchup (only 1 gram of carbs in a tablespoon so if you don't use a lot of it or have it too often you should be good).....add some horseradish to this to make your own Cocktail Sauce. Also I have found that FF cottage cheese makes an acceptable substitute for mayo in egg salad or chicken salad....that with some sugar free relish, a little mustard and it is ALMOST like the real stuff.....also I have started making my own Fat Free yogurt....so much easier than I would have thought and so much less expensive....I can control how tangy I want it to be and also how thick I want it to be.....if you want the recipe, just let me know.

Have a great story to tell...... A customer walked into my shop yesterday and briefly glanced my way while shopping....she said "Oh, you must be the owner's sister, you look a lot like her." I said, "Uh, no, actually I don't have a sister" With that she took a good look and said "Oh my God! It's you! You look so different! You have lost weight and a lot of it!" You can imagine how wide my grin was! She definately made my day!!! Talk about encouragement!!!

Was stepping on the scale this morning an amazing experience? Hope you are finding this easy. Do expect to feel rather lethergic and headachy this week.....and probably consitipated.....it goes with the territory for the first few day but hang in there and by the end of the 1st week or so you should feel GREAT!!!

Best of luck,

Althea

Way to go lady!!! How does that feel? Are you ready for the next phase? Congratulations!!!

Glad you got home safely and only 1 lb while on a trip is amazing!!! My daughter works with Special Needs clients so I know you have your work cut out for you in the next couple of weeks.....sounds like attack is a good plan, much easier and very little planning. You will have enough to think of without planning several different menus each day. Get some rest and enjoy your brothers visit!!! And let us know how you are doing!

Congrats to you and keep up the good work!!! You will make it and what a fun cruise that will be in all your new skinny clothes! Where are you going and when? Congratulations again!

FINALLY!!!! Finally I spent time reading the book (due to a 3 hour roadtrip) and now it makes sense!!! No cheating means NO cheating! Okay, now I get it! And Walk every day means Walk EVERY DAY!! Okay, now I get it!!! Although eating out isn't easy, it is doable and YES, I CAN DO IT!! And although I can find lots of excuses not to walk, I MUST WALK ON~~~~IF, I really want to lose this weight!!! I can play the games and make the excuses and keep on weighing what I weigh or I CAN DO IT and LOSE IT!!! It is up to me and no one but me so all the excuses in the world to not follow the plan exactly, WILL work and I WILL NOT lose it or I CAN JUST DO IT AND actually LOSE IT NOW!!!

Thanks Girls for being here!!! LETS WALK ON AND LETS DO IT!!!

Althea

isn't that the Jerry Lewis MD telethon song? I need to find the lyrics and sing it to myself as I walk....that is the last part that I haven't put into practice yet.....my days seem to just spin out of control and then it is either tooo hot to walk or raining....okay, excuses, excuses I know....today is the last day of school and tomorrow we leave for a weekend trip to take youngest son to the airport....he will be spending the summer in Oregon so I know that my life will be much more peaceful and relaxed and I intend to spend it walking on!!! Gee, I am even getting excited to walk now!! Walk on, walk on, We can do it!!! Hope you all have a wonderful Dukan Day!!!

Althea

Colleen, your wardrobe sounds fun and colorful....it is so much fun pulling out clothes that didn't fit and now they do!!! ;) I'm trying to be very very strict with myself in order to get tle losses showing up again, maybe tomorrow we'll see improvement....yes, it is fun coming up with new ways to eat flavorful food while still staying on plan....I had some great oat bran pancakes this morning and they left me feeling filled all morning...I still want to try your 'mayo' with my relish in some yummy egg salad~ now if I only had some good crackers to eat it on....maybe just slather it on cucumber slices? Hey, that might be good, have to try that!

Joan, have the cravings let up for you? I get the 'fruit' fix by putting Crystal Light powder in my greek yogurt....sooo good and if you freeze it, it tastes like sherbet. Maybe some cocoa and splenda and vanilla in the yogurt for a chocolate fix?

Welcome Sophie W! I live in NC also, over in the western mountains. A little town named Franklin.

Coleen, your salad dressings sound great, I'm still searching but maybe a trip to the Health Food Store would help.

Sorry that you are having a tough day Joan!!

I am still getting nowhere fast but decided that I need to make sure I walk EVERYDAY and NO CHEATS AT ALL!!!! I have read many messages from others who lost a lot and still enjoyed a nightly glass of wine or whatever but I am not them so I have to do what is going to work for my body and apparently that has to be strict adherance to the plan.....(shucks!!) I guess having been on another weight loss plan for so long and already losing 50 lbs means that my body is seriously trying to hang on to what it's got LOL

I was very happy yesterday to find that I CAN make my own Greek Yogurt by just straining out the extra moisture in regular yougurt and it comes out thick and creamy just like the more expensive Greek style. Amazing how much liquid is in that stuff!! Just flavor it up and freeze and it's just as good to me as any decadent dessert.....

And I found a replacement to the sweet relish that I miss in tuna salad.....I bought sour dill relish (no fat, no carbs) rinsed it in a strainer and then stirred in a little Splenda....had a nice sweet and sour flavor that will go great with many things....

Okay, those are my newest finds, anyone else?

Joan, thanks for asking~~~ I'm still hanging in there...up one day down another but just not making any headway~~grrrr!!! So frustrating but from what I have read on other sites apparently it is not uncommon and IF I can just hang in there it should take off again....

Colleen, so glad that you liked the stroganoff...I did a version of it with chicken and enjoyed that too......made a fiasco though last night....meatballs made of very lean ground beef and equal amount of ground chicken....just dried onion flakes and seasonings....didn't want to use eggs because 19 month old grandson who is highly allergic to eggs was here so just formed them and baked in the oven......they were NASTY!! And felt like I had eaten cannonballs.....my stomach still feels bad from it today so I will not be trying meaatballs again for a while LOL!!

And....still haven't been able to get out to walk.....soooo hot this week!!! May have to go after dark and take a flashlight to walk the track....haha, bet I won't be the only one!!!

Anyone found a way to make salad dressing from yogurt? Just tried adding Ranch Dressing powder to the yogurt but it wasn't too good... or maybe I'm just still not over the 'CivilWar Meatballs' from last night..... ; )

Thanks for the welcome!! I look forward to trying the muffins. I really don't miss or crave much except for just snacky type of munchy food....and for now the turkey pepperoni is filling the bill. 3 different friends who wanted to do this diet have all dropped out finding it too hard so I am very happy to find you guys who I can do this with! Maybe someday we can meet on a Skinny Girl Cruise??? LOL!!!

I am excited to try your 'mayo'...had been thinking I needed to come up with something for that....egg salad would be great!!!

have you tried the Atkins Stroganoff recipe? you can search for it online ~~ it works very well for this as it uses lots of mushrooms instead of noodles....I did a chicken dish using the same idea, cooked the chicken and then added chicken broth and 1/4 cup or so of fat free sour cream and a little fat free cream cheese....makes a nice thick sauce so it tastes like 'comfort food' leave out the mushrooms for a PP day

I'm reading on Dukan message boards that too much dairy can cause stalls so I'm trying to eliminate my reliance on yogurt/cottage cheese multiple times a day but somehow just dropping a big ole hunk of beef on my dinner plate (when I have cooked lots of side dishes for the family) seems lonely...have to find some alternatives for PP days... anyone have any non-dairy Dukan friendly sides?

oh and for those 'need a munchie times' I have microwaved turkey pepperoni for 1 minute 45 seconds (on paper towels to absorb any fat) and they turn nice and crispy crunchy....try to only do a few though because the sodium is higher than I want...

I started Dukan on the 9th of May and those first 5 or 6 days were tremendous!!! Lost 8 1/2 lbs but then everything slowed down and it became a game of up and down although I was sticking to it faithfully....now this week I had 2 birthdays so I have strayed a bit but am hoping that if I do a couple of days of Pure Protein maybe I will get the loss kickstarted again. I really feel good and don't find it a hard diet at all but the stall is just so discouraging after such good results at the beginning. And I actually enjoy the oat bran, put it in yogurt with half of a little packet of Crystal Light....soooo good~~ I also make pancakes with an egg, tablespoon of yogurt, oat bran, some of that wonderful Mexican Vanilla from Cozumel, little cinnamon and Splenda....then use fat free cream cheese instead of butter and a little sugar free syrup....very good and filling.

Anybody want to share recipes or menu ideas? I need all the help I can get to get me back on track!!!