I haven't felt this UP in a long time - my self-esteem is roaring back to life - watch out world - I'm headin' back to the top!!! I found a way to blow the plateau thing - I took myself off program SLIGHTLY - not in a big way because I'm still adhereing to the calorie count - but I got inspired by a wonderful salad I have been treating myself to on weekends - it's a chicken peanut soy/ginger dressing in a nice restaurant overlooking the ocean down in Ocean Beach (San Diego) - so I came home and said "wait just one minute - we can duplicate this salad with NS guidelines" - I took a NS Grilled Chicken Patty (prepped according to directions) and at lunch (3pm for me) went to Wendy's - got their small side salad ($1.99 and not so small but healthy) and dumped it into a larger bowl (a Martha Stewart Salad Taker - it's really neat - it has a separate dressing container - keeps the dressing from wilting the salad before you're ready) - put 1/2 container Wendy's Mandarin Orange segments (99cents), slivered almonds (free) and chicken over the top and then the 2T dressing and mixed it up - SO YUMMY!!! I'm eating the NS brkfst and in between meals a piece of fruit or a Yoplait Yogurt and I account for everything - still well within the caloric allowances - so here's where the "off program" part comes in - I ran out of the NS Grilled Chicken - so I bought a pkg of 6 chicken thigh fillets (no bone), salt (lightly) and peppered them and marinated them in a bowl with Oriental dressing overnight - the next day I put each fillet between Saran Wrap and pounded it to be 1/8" thick - repeating for each fillet - brown them in 2T olive oil - then poured in the marinade and allowed to simmer for about 1 hour - on a LOW flame/heat. When they were done I patted each fillet dry of the marinade and wrapped them in a new piece of Saran Wrap (wrap each individually so they are ready to grab and go). I've had 3 salads (one per day for "dinner" and so far dropped 3# - I'm beyond happy!! The food is YUMMY and my goal is just 3#s closer!!! Do I get bored with the same thing every day - no way - I change out the breakfast and lunch (I have been eating the lunch bar option) - lots of H2O - and a positive attitude!!! I'm really close to breaking a # I haven't dropped below in YEARS!!! Color me HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!