HMR Fifth Official Weigh-in Result (Thursday, May 26)

I have lost 37 lbs.
My weight the previous week was: 275.4
My weight loss for this week was 13.2 lbs and my new weight is 263.2 lbs!

Due to tornado warnings, HMR was canceled on May 25, so the weigh-in happened on May 26.

Can I say that I have literally been working my ass-off?  Yeah, I can say that in all honestly.  I have stuck to the HMR program with a few minor changes so that it works better for me.  So, was I in the box?  Yes, I was in the box, but there is a little elasticity where the HMR box is concerned, at least for me.

I'm not expecting to lose as much weight next week (I simply don't know if I can work THAT HARD all of the time).  I will be happy with losing a reasonable amount of weight each week.  No more weight gain, which shouldn't even be possible on this low-calorie diet (assuming I don't cheat!).

What I've been doing:
Exercise and lots of it.
My goal for each day is to burn off more calories than I consume. 
Exercise has been indoors for the last week because of terrible wet weather.  I have mainly been doing the treadmill and something called "Adaptive Motion Trainer" or AMT.  The AMT is made by Precor.  I couldn't do 5 minutes on this thing when I first tried it a couple of weeks ago.  Now I can do the entire 60 minute program with the 5 minute cool-down.  This machine burns calories faster than the elliptical.  This machine has 20 levels of resistance and I'm only doing it on level 5.  I like the AMT better than the treadmill because it is so low-impact.  I cannot jog to save my life on a treadmill because my shins start to hurt after 20 seconds - I don't have this problem on either the AMT or an elliptical. 

HMR Diet
As I mentioned, I've stuck to the plan pretty well and generally my calorie intake has been in the 500 - 800 calorie range.  It just depends on how hungry I get or if I start my day off with an HMR cereal (210 calories as opposed to the 100 calorie shake).  I consistently take the two multi-vitamins and have managed to drink lots and lots of water.  The last thing I want is to become dehydrated with all of the exercise.

Other Foods
Though not on HMR, I tried this recipe for Fettuccine Alfredo (without the chicken) and it was pretty good.  You have to prepare the Tofu Shirataki noodles properly -- if you do not rinse them thoroughly and make sure they are really dry, the dish could turn out to have an off-putting texture.  Some people heat these noodles in a skillet to dry them out (after they have rinsed them under running water and patted them dry).

Tonight I tried the recipe for something called "Slaw and Order".  This dish was AWESOME and doesn't have many calories or much fat.  I used Muir Glenn Italian Herb Pasta Sauce instead of tomato soup.

When I felt the need for something sweet (as if shakes aren't sweet enough), I've been skipping the HMR Benefit Bars and just going with the Kellogs Special K Protein Bars.  The Special K bars taste better than the HMR bars.  You can also get a very similar protein bar at Aldi (of all places), but it may be a special buy that they don't always carry.  Both options are cheaper than the HMR Benefit Bars.

**Again, all typos are my own, I'm not proofing these entries that closely!  :-)