Ouch! - yes, TOTM won't help at all... Maybe prepare yourself not to have lost a massive amount this week, hun.
I lost 5lb on my first week, which I was chuffed to pieces about, actually! I hadn't discovered this forum at that time, though, so I didn't really have any expectations. I've seen some people on here say they can lose a whole stone or more in the first week, and then because of hearing those stories, other people feel frustrated when they "only" lose 8 or 9 lb! You must remember, though, that the reason we get that massive loss at the beginning is because of all the water we retain, that's bound up with our glycogen stores. Sorry if you know all this and I'm sounding patronising... Anyway, since we all seem to retain water around our totm as well, (even once we're well into ketosis) then please, please, please don't worry if your loss is not as good as you'd hoped.
I don't for a moment want to have you feel rotten, so I hope to goodness I'm wrong and that you'll do marvelously anyway, but the point I'm blunderingly trying to make is to stick with it and keep posting.
Oh, and yeah - I think most people will agree the chicken soup is freaky! :8855:
They're a bit of a marmite love/hate thing... My bf's daughter (who introduced me to LT) tried about a mouthful of it and never ever had it again! I managed to get through my first one, but it was pretty rank. My second one was better. The third was almost acceptable!
I had it every day or two for the first 3 or 4 weeks but then really went off it. I had a break from 100% for my holidays and now that I'm back on, I've discovered it's ok again. I have it pretty much every day! Weird stuff. I think maybe it's because the longer you're on this, the more your tastebuds change.
Dry mouth I think is pretty common. I actually had a weird lump in my throat that started about 10 days in - constantly felt like I had something stuck - I tried gargling, sticking my fingers in the back of my throat and allsorts - I was so convinced it was real... It went away when I had my break and (fingers crossed) hasn't come back, but it must have been some bizarre side-effect of the shakes or the ketosis or whatever.
Oh no - I feel like I'm being really scaremongery or something - I don't mean to be. There's annoying things you'll find along the way, but they are NOTHING compared with how brilliant it will feel to start losing the fat and start getting the old you back. It's wonderful - stay strong.
Have you read the "Non-scale victories" thread? That's such a laugh, and will hopefully help with inspiration - the benefits you'll find along the way can be so unexpected, but so beautiful...
Mx