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From: Bama
Date: 05-04-2007, 06:57 PM (1 of 21)
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Several months after losing over 20 pounds I was maintaining it okay and decided to try and lose the last 10 or 12 pounds. There's a group of us at work who joined together to lose weight and exercise while encouraging each other. I've lost a total of 4 pounds since February.  Last year when I started dieting, it melted off. These last few pounds are sticking around no matter what I eat. I eat an average of 1200 calories a day, only occasionally going over 100 or 200 calories. One week I'll lose a pound, the next week I gain it back. And I'm eating the same way. I walk 2 miles a day at least 6 days a week. Some weekends I walk an extra mile each day.I thought I would really buckle down the past couple of weeks because our final weigh-in is in two weeks, so I started back doing yoga. (Or trying to do yoga  )I've gained 2 pounds since last week.  I know it might be muscle, but this is so frustrating. This time around we decided to split our group into two teams to see which team could have the most people reach their goal. I really hate adding pounds to my team's total. I think we should have measured inches lost rather than pounds.  Any tips on how to lose these last few pounds? |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116 
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From: PaulineG
Date: 05-05-2007, 01:41 AM (2 of 21)
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Does wishing it was being done by measurements mean that you've been taking them and they are decreasing? If so then it would be a muscle mass gain. There are also lots of other reasons why you might have had a bad week. It might have been your hormonal cycle and you were retaining fluid, if you'd eaten a lot of salty foods and drunk a lot of water that could also cause you to retain fluid. And other times (particularly as you get close to your ideal weight) your body just slows down with weight loss. We are the product of thousands of years of evolution (notwithstanding your beliefs regarding the beginning of existence) - and survival of the fittest means that those who held onto their weight the best were more likely to survive in times of famine. So your body is designed to resist you losing weight easily. However if you overdo it and eat too little or exercise too much your body thinks its a famine and resists even more. I'm not sure what 1200 calories equals because I'm trained to think in WW point values so I can't even convert the calories to kilojoules which is the metric alternative but I do remember Kaitlinegan suggesting that she thought 1200 was fairly low. Check your portion sizes - sometimes after a while they creep up a bit and while it wouldn't make a difference to eat a bit of extra salad it only takes a little bit more cheese to make a big difference. You might need to change what you're doing. If you're eating cereal and milk for breakfast, try bacon and eggs with grilled tomato and mushrooms, or toast and fruit or yoghurt. Choose from different food groups but still keeping within your allocated amount. Do this for all of your meals. Try something you might not have tried before. Have a vegetarian week. Cut out the carbs from just one meal of your day (unless you already have). Make sure your body isn't lacking something nutrionally - particularly iron and calcium. A healthy body works more efficiently to lose weight. Try a different exercise - cycling, swimming, yoga (which will help strengthen your muscles and thus burn more calories - but won't burn as much fat while you're doing it). Aerobic or cardio exercise are definitely the most useful fatburners but resistance exercise builds up the need for the body to consume more food to maintain its status quo. If you want to walk - do it differently - vary the route you take to include hills (both up and down), as they use different muscle groups, walk at the beach (if it's close enough) because walking on sand is hard work, walk in water for the extra resistance (but don't weigh in straight after - your body soaks up the water and you weigh more). If you don't mind looking a bit silly try walking backwards - it's a totally different workout. I've gone on for awhile here - hope I haven't overwhelmed you. Most of all you need to remember the reason you're doing this. It is motivating to be on a team but if it becomes discouraging to you it might be of more harm than good. You know you can do this - after all you've done it before. If you kept a weight loss journal from when you lost previously it might be good to get it out and have a look - you could try a previous weeks menu or just gloat a bit over the fantastic results you were getting. HTH Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: Bama
Date: 05-05-2007, 11:18 AM (3 of 21)
Yes, my measurements are decreasing. Just not in the right places.  Maybe I have been getting too much sodium too. You've given me alot to think about. Thanks! I will not give up. 
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User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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From: Magot
Date: 05-05-2007, 11:26 AM (4 of 21)
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I would think a protein rich breakfast would help - it takes more effort for the body to metabolise protein so it kicks starts your metabolic rate into fast mode at the beginning of the day. (or so I understand) so poached egg on toast = perfect breakky!
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626 
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From: Bama
Date: 05-05-2007, 11:31 AM (5 of 21)
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I will try that too. Maybe an egg white omelet. I've been eating cereal or oatmeal most mornings. A friend told me that she thinks I use too much Splenda. Could that stop me from losing weight? I cut out Diet colas, but I drink several cups of green tea or chai tea every day and put Splenda in it. |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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From: Reta J
Date: 05-05-2007, 12:55 PM (6 of 21)
I have given up dieting. I have declared myself in shape. (Round is a nice shape  ) I have also kept this shape for saftey reasons: the grandkids don't hit bone and hurt themselves when they hug me, they have a nice soft "cushion" to hug. lol Ok that is just me for now. lol Sewing Forever
Housework Whenever Reta J |
User: Reta J
Member since: 01-30-2002 Total posts: 136 
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From: Magot
Date: 05-05-2007, 01:05 PM (7 of 21)
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What can I say - green tea is supposed to boost your metabolism as well - and as for me I am the Candarel Queen! Aspartame is a proetin but I am sure you don't eat it in enough quantities to change anyhting. At least I find if I have too much it gives me the runs. I found this out the hard way with a packet of Lo-sugar Fishermans Friends - though I don't think that was aspartame.
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: Bama
Date: 05-05-2007, 01:27 PM (8 of 21)
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Thanks for the laugh Reta. Yea, I thought green tea is supposed to boost your metabolism too. That's why I started drinking it. Now I love having my tea. I got my son and a friend of mine hooked on it too. My friend at work and I call our afternoon break "tea time" now. When my son goes to the grocery store with me, he always has to pick out a new tea to try.The chai tea is great when I crave something sweet. The friend that told me that I use too much Splenda is a diebetic. She said she's not allowed to have a lot of artificial sweeteners because your body can recognize them as sugar. |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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From: PaulineG
Date: 05-05-2007, 04:05 PM (9 of 21)
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Some artificial sweeteners can raise your blood sugar levels in a similar way to sugar. This has been talked about as being damaging to people trying to lose weight because it might cause them to eat sooner than they might otherwise in an attempt (unconscious) to regulate their blood sugar levels. The changes to blood sugar levels could be damaging to somebody with diabetes. As far as weight loss is concerned it's a matter of whether you think it is affecting your eating behaviour adversely. Do you have sweet cravings? Are you hungry more often than you should be in relation to what you're eating? And if yes to either of these, can you manage it without turning to the fridge or pantry? There are a lot of anecdotal side effects of artificial sweeteners. There are a small amount of people out there with a sensitivity to them but I'm sure you'd know by now if you were one of them - apparently it's pretty obvious. To the best of my knowledge any harmful effects have been confined to studies in which the amounts consumed (by the unfortunate lab animals) were much higher than would be considered usual. I have to admit I wouldn't be able to manage my weight at all without artificial sweeteners. Ultimately what you do to lose weight needs to be sustainable - or you won't be able to keep it up. And when it comes time to maintain your weight there will only be a few modifications. Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: dmoses
Date: 05-06-2007, 01:39 PM (10 of 21)
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Bama, I think Pauline may be right...1200 calories is low and your body may be conserving to compensate. I was told that one way to avoid the plateau is to boost the calorie count every fourth day, so the body would not read the diet as starvation. So if you take 1300 to 1400 calories as the diet, then go to 1600 on the fourth day, for example. This sounds weird, but I often found that after a day of splurging while on a diet, I suddenly seemed to lose weight again, and I noticed this more than once. I thought I had ruined my diet by eating more than usual, when, in fact, it seemed to have helped. Just don't splurge more than a day at a time! The 'You on a Diet' has some good tips. Stay away from refined foods...white flour, white sugar, white rice. I forget now which ingredients should *not* be listed in the first five of any foods you buy, but the enriched white 'anything' is one, hydrogenated fats(trans fats), and high fructose corn syrup are others. Also, make sure you get a well-balanced diet, perhaps following the Food guide pyramid. To ensure that I actually included the right foods in my diet, I once made a calendar-style chart with daily allowances, something like this to represent servings of each food group: G G G G G G (Grains) V V V V (Vegetables) Fr Fr Fr (Fruit) D D (Dairy) M M M (Meat) F F (Fats) Each day, I crossed off a letter for each serving I had. Actually, when I used this chart, I wasn't following any other diet other than the 'Food Guide'. I lost a lot of weight, while making sure that I was getting all of the nutrition I needed. Of course, I still had my daily doses of tea, coffee, etc., which I didn't count(even though I took sugar and milk in them), and cheated from time to time...who doesn't??? But I found that if I made sure that I ate the right stuff, I felt pretty satisfied. Oh, I also allowed myself extra veggies and fruit whenever I wanted them...like free food. You know, I think I'll restart this diet...because I know that I often get too much of one food group and not enough of another. This will help me stay on track. Take care,
Donna |
User: dmoses
Member since: 02-22-2002 Total posts: 964 
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From: PaulineG
Date: 05-06-2007, 07:46 PM (11 of 21)
The best way is to work out what number of calories is required for body weight maintenance - this is a combination of factors - height (shorter people need less), current weight (less you weigh then the less you need), gender (men need more than women :bluesad , age (older you are the less you need) and activity level (the more you do the more you need). Most of our calorie requirements are not used on the exercise and movement we do (some are) but on the basic day to day maintenance of the human body (generating warmth, tissue building and repair, digestion, organ function etc.). Having arrived at that figure (isn't it simple so far - LOL) you then subtract about 10% off the top to come to the right number to lose weight. This appears to be the ideal amount for sustained weight loss - some people will get away with lower amounts and will lose faster - others won't. But it's important to remember that at the end of the journey you only get to add 10-15% back onto what number you lost at before the weight starts to come back on. So if you lose at a low number - your body gets used to it and doesn't need quite as much anymore. Then when you go back to your "old" way of eating the weight can start to creep back on. I see this all the time. Probably the best thing about the lower calorie diets is the fact that studies have shown that most of us underestimate how much we eat (and overestimate how much we exercise) so if this is happening it might work out about right. BTW Donna - really good way of doing it - just paying attention to what we put in our mouths is the most important step - and keeping things in perspective probably the second. Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: Bama
Date: 05-12-2007, 12:59 PM (12 of 21)
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I started eating a few almonds for a snack every day and I lost 1 pound this week. I don't know if the almonds helped or the extra calories in them, but I'm going to keep it up.
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User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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From: temom
Date: 05-12-2007, 08:55 PM (13 of 21)
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Hi Bama, I hope you don't mind me jumping in here. I've been downsizing since Mid January, and have downsized 15 inches. When I get stuck, I add a little more fiber to my diet. That seems to help a whole lot. Oatmeal: What kind are you eating? If it is instant, that will be a problem. I have developed my own recipe for oatmeal that you can have ready in 2 minutes, but much healthier than the instant. Also, I put ground flax seeds in it, which adds protein, omega 3's, and fiber, as well as lots of other good stuff. Also, my mood is much better when I have flax seeds, because of the omega 3's. Splenda: I was consuming way too much, and felt like I'd been run over by a truck. I would wake up feeling good, then get more and more fatigued and full of aches as the day progressed. I switched to stevia, a natural sweetner (plant), and it is so concentrated that I use 1/4 teaspoon for my coffee, where as I was using a tablespoon of splenda. I also agree with the others who suggest a protein rich breakfast. The only cereal I would eat would be one with lots of protein and lots of fiber (Go Lean Crunch is one such cereal). It still has a good amount of carbs, though. If I have a lot of carbs (fruit and vegies do NOT count as carbs in my plan) one day, I make sure I don't repeat in the next several days. Today I had a bit of sugar and cookies, so I'll buckle down the next few days. Hope this helps. Theresa
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User: temom
Member since: 01-19-2007 Total posts: 410 
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From: LeapFrog Libby
Date: 05-12-2007, 09:42 PM (14 of 21)
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Bama, I know dieting to lose weight and what I have to do are different.. Change eating habits for good . (diabetic).. But I have learned a lot that I think will help anyone on any sort of diet.. First.. 3 meals a day and a snack is a hard and fast rule.. (no more skipping breakfast) Boy, do I feel better since I re-trained myself to do this.. Next, I love oatmeal , but the instant is not a very good friend.. Personally, I cannot tolerate saccharin (sweet and low) at all. It turns my mouth inside out.. Like a green persimmon only worse.. I use Aspartame. Each meal , I have 45 carbs. I watch my fat intake.. I use olive oil instead of butter.. I still get my weekly fix of peanut butter..I eat salads and raw veggies to my hearts content.. (favorites of mine) When the craving for some sugar sets in, I eat 1 or 2 thin mints (very slowly)... For my snack , I usually have a 1/2 cup serving of ice cream.. I bought those little dishes that hold 1/2 cup servings of jello etc... Now, here is the fact you may find hard to believe... I have NOT been hungry.... I have lost 27 pounds since Nov.. That is about 5 or 6 pounds a month.. Not very fast, but I am having no trouble sticking to my new way of life.. And best of all, I do NOT have to stick my finger every day.. Now a lot of this can be done by anyone, no matter the reason.. Go online and download the new mediterranean Diet food pyramid.. The support group from the Heart Assn recommends it for everyone as being so much more healthy for everyone.. Some good tips there... Good luck to you.. When I overindulge, (not often) I just walk it off.. Our instructer in the nutrition class gave that as part of our new way of living.. That way you can have that chocolate or 2nd helping of potatoes or whatever, once in a while and not suffer a guilt trip.. Sew With Love
Libby |
User: LeapFrog Libby
Member since: 05-01-2002 Total posts: 2022 
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From: PaulineG
Date: 05-13-2007, 04:53 AM (15 of 21)
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Bama, I know dieting to lose weight and what I have to do are different.. Change eating habits for good . (diabetic).. Unfortunately that is just not true Libby. To lose weight and then keep it off you need to change your habits for good. This doesn't mean that you have to deprive yourself forever. In fact deprivation is a bad idea on a weight loss program as well. It's just that some people go straight back to the less than healthy habits when the "diet" is over. The best sort of weight loss incorporates habits that stay with us for a lifetime - small sustainable changes to the things that we do everyday. Slow weight loss is definitely better and easier to maintain (just maybe not as desirable to us in our instant gratification society). Pauline
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User: PaulineG
Member since: 09-08-2006 Total posts: 901 |
From: Bama
Date: 05-13-2007, 01:08 PM (16 of 21)
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temom, I have been eating instant oatmeal occasionally. It's just easier on work mornings. Sometimes I make regular oatmeal with cinnamon and bananas for DS and myself on weekends. How do you make your oatmeal? Most mornings our breakfasts have to be quick. I started using milled flax seed about a year ago. I sneak it into DH's food too.  I also use olive oil most of the time. I rarely buy regular cooking oil anymore. I never fry anything anymore. DH has high cholesterol. I limit his red meat and I rarely eat it at all. In fact I don't really like it anymore. I prefer turkey if I have to have meat. I could be vegetarian if I didn't have to cook meat for DH and our daughter. Our son is a vegetarian. I bought some Stevia sweetener and I really like it. I have a couple of boxes of Splenda left and was trying to use it up. Maybe I should just toss it. Doesn't the Stevia have a natural fiber in it too? This is definitely a complete lifestyle change. I think about everything that I eat now. |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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From: pinkroses
Date: 05-13-2007, 07:29 PM (17 of 21)
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You are not alone. I have lost a lot of weight almost 60 lbs. in 2 years just abuout. I am Diabetic type 2. I have to be on a dite and try to excerise too which is very painful for m I have arthris every fibromyaliga. Severe refluxe disease. suffer from depression I admire you for keeping it up. Continue your dite and do the carb counting and you will soon loose again I get like that too. It is so discouraging when that happens and you are working very hard on it. Hugs to you. and keep it up.
I know I have a guradian angel watching over me. I am very gratefull. PINKROSES
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User: pinkroses
Member since: 11-30-2005 Total posts: 64 
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From: temom
Date: 05-13-2007, 08:54 PM (18 of 21)
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Here is my recipe. I will make up batches and store them in zip locks, so all you have to do is grab a bag, empty it into a bowl, add milk, and nuke. It doesn't get much easier, and it is way healthier and tons cheaper than the instant. Here is my basic recipe for cinnamon oatmeal: One Serving: 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal 1/4 teaspoon stevia* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 4 teaspoons ground flax Place in a large bowl, and add 1 cup of milk. Place bowl on a larger plate (to catch spills). Microwave until done to your satisfaction. Two minutes in my microwave is just right. If you double this, you still only need 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Do not omit the salt, or it tastes awful. I also make this without cinnamon, and after it is cooked add fresh strawberries. This is incredibly yummy. Another variation I have made is to cut up a fresh apple into small pieces and add it to the cinnamon oatmeal before cooking. That was a huge hit with my family. * Experiment and see how much stevia you need. If you are used to the pre-packaged instant, perhaps 1/2 teaspoon of stevia would be better. Also, if you use Splenda, you need significantly more sweetner. When I used the Splenda, I needed 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Splenda . You can always add more sweetner after it is cooked. When I make up packets for my hubby, I double the recipe, and it takes 2 cups of milk. He actually eats breakfast on his break at work, so he takes a storage container bowl with 2 cups of milk in it and a ziplock of oatmeal , and nukes it at work. Let me know how you like it, and what tweeking you make to the recipe. I'm always looking for yummy stuff to eat! Theresa
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User: temom
Member since: 01-19-2007 Total posts: 410
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From: MotherInLaw
Date: 05-13-2007, 11:38 PM (19 of 21)
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Great job Bama, You are doing great. Plateaus are normal and I've had one for about 3 months before I finally quit WW and went way out of control. 9 pounds out of control in 4 weeks. I got back on WW as soon as I felt miserable and lost 5 of the 9 in two weeks. Sometimes you have to reset your metablolism. Trick it into working. Mine was so use to eating the same things it stopped all together I think. Now I have it going again and I actually got my old bones outside this morning and washed the car. Of course my grandson came along just in time to squat down and do the rims on my tires so I didn't have to kneal in the gravel. Snack size 94% FF popcorn, fruit, veggies, oatmeal, cereral with FF milk are all snacks for me. I also use the Weight Watchers snacks but try to not eat a lot of those because they tend to become habit forming to me. I drink my tea at night and my coffee in the morning. I try to drink water instead of Diet Soda. I found that the diet drinks were making me want more soda so I had to give it up. My eating has to be a way of life I can't get off the WW because I tend to go back to my old eating habits. I'm lucky I don't have diabetes or high colestrol the way I ate before. I am on the go all the time but don't exercise daily but my body is moving from the time I get up in the morning till the time I go to bed so I guess that counts for something. I'm regressing back into my youth, I just have to figure out how I'm going to convience my body to come along with me.
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User: MotherInLaw
Member since: 06-25-2005 Total posts: 1118 
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From: GreenDragonLady
Date: 05-14-2007, 01:10 PM (20 of 21)
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We've changed our eating habits here (we don't really say we're "dieting" because we're not going to stop what we're doing). My cholesterol went from 217 last year to 162 in March. I've lost 30 pounds since January. We don't deprive ourselves. We go out to eat 1-2 times per week and order whatever we want as an entree. We just eat about half (which makes us full now!) and we don't order appetizers or dessert. I normally eat 6 times/day, just small amounts. On days that we eat out I'll just have breakfast, lunch and dinner with no in-between snacking to keep my calories roughly the same. I know they're higher on the nights we eat out, but like someone posted (I can't remember who, I'm sorry!) boosting your calorie intake every few days seems to tell your body that you're not starving and to BURN that fat off!
photos.yahoo.com/greendragondesigns
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User: GreenDragonLady
Member since: 07-29-2004 Total posts: 495 
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From: avon4u
Date: 07-28-2007, 03:45 AM (21 of 21)
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What diets are you on? I have been using the apple patch diet & lost 15 pounds so far. http://applepatchdiet.com/ch12303 |
User: avon4u
Member since: 05-31-2006 Total posts: 5 |
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