I told my husband during day 2 "Why would anyone want to do this to themselves???" LOL. It was rough. I'm only half- doing The Plan right now. I've been eating some things from the book, and some of my normal things that I suspect I'm OK with. So far, so good.

WTG sticking with it! I think the food is actually really good. But I like veggies and whatnot, so I have no problems with the menus. I really love the salads. My new favorite dressing is olive oil, lime juice and lime zest. Wow, it's so good! Especially when there's pear on the salads...and avocado. I don't even like pears, but that is GOOD.

I read The Plan, and for the first time in 10 years, everything about my body made sense to me. I am 46 and have been fighting hormone issues for many years. When I talked to my doctor about the symptoms, he said that I was just getting old, and there was nothing I could do about it. Many of the issues that I have had due to "hormone troubles" or Pre-menopause (according to the doctors), but all natural and pharmaceutical remedies I have tried have only solved parts of each problem, but not all of my issues. It's been frustrating because I have tried just about everything out there. How happy I was to come across this book! Multiple times I have tried to lose weight, only to find absolutely no success, It was SO difficult! (Even though I was exercising and using MFP to track calories.) It's been very upsetting to try and convince people that I'm doing all the right things but having no success. People looked at me as though they somehow "knew" that I was lying and binging when nobody was looking or something. I started the Plan about a week ago, but I haven't been completely true to the cleanse. My kids made chocolate chip cookies, and I had a small one. I didn't wait to add a little salt or have some dark chocolate or wine, but I still lost 9 lbs this week! I crave bread, but every time I take a tiny bite, it doesn't taste very good. I have no cravings for sweets ( my downfall), and I'm never hungry! ! I even have been feeding many of the recipes to my family, and they are enjoying them, too! (Family = Picky husband and kids age 4 and 11), I had looked at the foods in the cleanse and said that there was no way I would be eating any of it, but I decided to give every single recipe one try just to see what it was like. Amazingly enough, I have loved everything! Of course, I love spices, and I add a LOT of spices to every recipe! From day 2 I have added tons of almonds and raisins to the flax, soaked it two days with tons of spices, and cooked it longer...... It is so much better that way! I really enjoy it now, and look forward to it each morning. Tomorrow is day 6,, and I can try fish! Yay! I did test reactive to chick peas, but so far cheese is ok. I love how I feel. I am sleeping better. I started this journey to get my body feeling better, and to get off some meds that I'm on, but I love the weight loss bonus. I'm looking forward to joining you all on this journey!

Thanks for the warm welcome! I am excited about the weight loss success, but it almost makes it more difficult to use my weight to judge toxic reactions. For instance, I was losing 1.5 to 2 lbs a day on the cleanse. I had no loss on Chickpeas .... So does that make it toxic or not? Luckily, I had other symptoms with the chick peas to help me to make the determination. But, my loss for the last two days has been 1 lb and .5 lbs respectively. Still trying to figure out if it's my body stabilizing or if it was a reaction to the food. I did two test days in a row, so that was pretty silly of me. I might just have to cleanse for another day or two and retest. Any advice?

Okay, so I guess I've been doing this long enough to engage with other people, even though I'm still skeptical about why and how it's working

I did the cleanse right after valentines day (because I certainly wasn't going to squander a fancy meal on valentines day). I was SO SICK on day two. I sat on the couch and watched West Wing all day and was surly. But, it has gotten better since then, I don't crave much (though it helps that I know that I can eat a handful of french fries without gaining), I have learned to embrace kale, and I like the immediate response that my body provides.

I don't know if I've ever followed a plan day perfectly, but I think I understand the basics of how to put together a meal/day that's reasonably balanced.

So far, steak was fine but hamburger might not have been (or I might've eaten too much red meat in too short a time span). Aged Cheddar makes my eyes itch (wah), and a couple other foods have been neutral, but everything else seems okay. Now that it's warming up and I can fire up the grill, I'm happier with the chicken -- I just think chicken tastes better when it's grilled on an actual grill. Grocery shopping is certainly easier now than it was a few weeks ago, and I can prep much of my food over the weekend (though I've dyed many of my tupperware orangeish with soup... )

Favorite random treat right now: buying candied ginger in bulk, melting down some high quality dark chocolate, coating the ginger with it and keeping a bag of chocolate-covered ginger in the fridge for snacking.

Oh, I guess I should mention, I lost about 6 pounds during the cleanse part, and about 14 overall in a month. Would likely be more if I didn't take weekends off.

Hi there,

So I am on day 10 of the Plan, and although losing weight is a big part of it, over the last year I have also developed high blood pressure and a lot of food and pollen allergies...so I wanted to see about getting health overall. I have only lost 6 lbs so far, however I am sleeping so much better! I used to fall asleep after work at 8.30 now I can make it through until 11...and I am awake in the morning without feeling horrible...such a change for me since I was never a morning person.

I am working with one of the nutritionists, Dr. Katie, because I am very allergic to carrots and apples, so she has tailored my menus for me. It is working well...also with living in Switzerland there are some things I can't find (for example Kale) so she is helping me find alternatives.

I do have weight to lose and am glad to be back to MFP to try and make it, but am so glad to be feeling better...

Glad to have found some other "planners" on here...does anyone upload the menus? Would be great to share...

Hello, I am on day 2 and lost 1.7 lbs (that is what I weigh morning of day 2). I am hoping that this works.

:bigsmile:

Welcome, group members! Please introduce yourself and tell the group a bit about your experiences with or interest in The Plan.

You in the worst part of the cleanse it gets better after day 2, but to say the Plan is bland would be a true statement, I tried strawberries and felt like I was missing out on some food I absolutely Love, so I added them into my personal plan in moderation. Good Luck! Keep Going!

Hi, my name is Jessica, I just joined MFP and this group. I picked up Lyn's book at the library and I want to try the plan.
I have had reactions (bloating and tummy aches) after eating certain foods in the past, so I think this plan would be really good for me. Right now I am staying away from the foods that I think trigger me like pizza (may be the tomatoes, I hope not though) ice cream, and chili; but it would be great to know exactly what I should/shouldn't be eating.
I am going on vacation at the end of this month so I am trying to get fit for that with diet and exercise. I would start the plan, but I want to exercise to get more toned and (correct me if I'm wrong) you aren't supposed to exercise during the first 3 cleanse days.
So after my vacation I will start!

I just got this book from the library and thinking of giving The Plan a try. I am 61, have been on meds for Hashimotos for decades, am overweight, am at high risk of heart disease. I used to be slim throughout life until mid-life. I wanted to try the thyroid plan, but don't want to go back to eating animal based foods. I see the author's website has options for vegetarian and vegan. I am finding the book a bit too confusing to follow so far, although I think it is a good idea to find out what my reactive foods are.

Kayceeme, I like your advice to get the right ingredients and prep the foods before starting the 3-day portion of the plan. I already eat high vegetable/high nutrient content foods , so it will be interesting to discover which ones actually have been stalling my weight loss.

Thanks for starting the group.

Renny