HMR diet phase 1

Are you still doing the HMR diet? I am just starting next week.
-Kate

I start orientation tomorrow.

holy zombie thread!

I started April 6, 2017. I have lost 14 lbs. I am doing the Decision Free HMR. This means all my meals are from HMR: HMR shakes, HMR soups, HMR bars, HMR oatmeal, and HMR entrees. I do no grocery shopping. I have several tips that have helped me, so far.

1. Stay in the box - whatever you do, stay in the box. If you get hungry or tempted, drink water first. Then drink a shake (with ice is best because you get more volume and filled up). Only eat or consume those foods that are allowed for your program.
2. I have a great chart that shows the number of meal replacements you want to stick to under "More is Better". Not sure if anyone else has this information. Basically, the chart shows how many meals you want to eat, per week, to maintain a certain weight (Shows # of meals for women and men. Shows the Decision Free and Healthy Solutions). For example, at 190lbs, I can have 74 HMR meals a week. That equates to 10.5 shakes, soups, entrees, bars, oatmeal/a day. However, I want to get down to 130 lbs. At that weight, I can have 51 meals per week, or 7 meals per day. So I try to make sure I stick as close as possible to that number of meals. I have to do at least 5 shakes/soups/oatmeal. Anything over that is considered, "More is Better".
3. I try to create the most volume/density to my meals. When I make shakes, I use lots of ice. When I eat the oatmeal, I use a whole cup of water and let the oatmeal sit so that it fully cooks and expands the oatmeal. When I eat the soup, I add an entree to it.
4. Be creative with your meals. Use extracts, sugar free syrups, and spices to bring some different flavors and tastes to your meals. I first started off just doing the shakes. That got old fast. I went on YouTube and got more ideas to bring some variety of cold and hot choices to my meals. It helped a lot. I follow a guy named Sean Foreman on YouTube who did the HMR program and documented his weight loss there. He has some great tips but use what you can. You may not agree with everything but his videos were really helpful and motivating. I still watch them to keep me motivated.
5. Drink lots of water. I try to get in at least 80 oz of water a day and I try to get that in before 5pm. I don't want to have to wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. I wake up and I have a 16.9oz bottle of water at bedside. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I drink that. I have a 32oz water bottle that I put time marks on so that by a certain time of day, I make sure I consume that amount of water. I refill the bottle around 12pm finish the rest of my water before I leave work. In the evening I sip water, as needed. But I have already drank my water for the day, so I don't have to sweat trying to get all my water in for the day.

The one week that I was out of the box, I didn't lose any weight. I didn't gain either, but that week was an opportunity lost. I find the program is a bit expensive. So I want to lose this weight as soon as possible. The week I lost 5 lbs, I did a more PA (Physical Activity) than the minimum prescribed. The only PA I do is walking. When I do less PA I really try to keep the number of meals low because I don't always feel like exercising. But the more PA you do, the faster the weight comes off.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to lessen the sweetness of the shakes? I am not a sweet person at all and I am afraid I won't be able to stomach the shakes. Thanks!