| Steadfast perseverance. That is how I would describe my Medifast journey. The change has happened in my brain, and that change is the change of commitment. On previous weigh-loss journeys, somewhere along the line I dropped (or never had) that. I would count on the daily or weekly drop (registered by my scale) or the way my clothing was fitting that day to keep me "motivated". When stress would enter the equation, life events, etc, I would "lose" my motivation. You see, motivation is fickle. But commitment is not. I think of it as a long-term relationship. If I relied on how I "felt" every day to determine whether I was going to stay with my husband over the long-haul, well, needless to say we don't always "feel" like it! LOL! But I don't wake up every morning and say "Wow, I'm just not feeling it today. Sorry, honey!" But we DO tend to do that with our weight loss journeys, don't we? "I don't FEEL like it today. I feel DISCOURAGED today. I don't feel MOTIVATED today. The EMOTIONS aren't there." Well, so what? What does that have to do with staying on plan or not? So I am committed to myself, my health, and have chosen Medifast as my tool to get me there. I will not change horses mid-stream, I will not redefine what it means to stay on plan. I will STAY on plan regardless of how I felt when I woke up this morning. Happy Medifasting! Rinse and Repeat! |
| I went to a garage sale this morning to help out a friend whose sons are going to the Ukraine this summer for a month on a Missions trip. She is my son's kindergarten teacher and I wanted to help her out by dropping of some items from MY garage for her to sell to raise money for the trip. What I DIDN'T expect was to come away with a cool Raleigh cruiser bicycle! I brought it home, my hubby bought new tubes, I washed it up, and then spent an hour applying swarovsky crystal "bling" to the handlebars. The smiles I received while cruising around on my new bike in my neighborhood were well worth the effort. And the fact that I'm even able to ride a cruiser bike, comfortably, in size 12 jeans, is a miracle seeing that I was 268 last summer. My handlebars look like a million bucks and I FEEL like a million bucks! Attachment: Bicycle Bling.jpg |
| I am three days in to my decision to stop weighing. And strangely enough, I'm not going crazy OR obsessing about numbers. My size 12 capri jeans slipped on today with no effort and no muffin-top, and I am drinking my water and at peace. I can hardly write it without grinning. I am AT PEACE. I have no tenth of a pound up or down to taunt me. I have no fleeting thoughts of "what if this stops working for me". I have let it all go. I trust the plan. I trust me not tweaking the plan. And that adds up to success, PERIOD. I have discovered that I am my most severe critic. I am also the only variable in this adventure of mine. And when I am consistently following the tenets of the plan, logging my food and being honest with myself and my intake, this works beautifully. And I can let the weight of the scale be gone. It is a beautiful feeling. |
| For anyone who knows me, both personally and on the blogs, you know I'm a daily weigher. That is why today marks one of the most momentous and potentially transformational events of my life. I did not weigh this morning. I am attempting to internalize a lesson on Motivation from Dr. A's Habits of Health. What that means for me is that I am focusing on doing what I know will serve to further my goals of becoming a healthy weight...no matter what the scale says. How is that possible? Isn't it ironic that the very measuring instrument of what I am trying to accomplish is actually hindering my mindset? It in itself has become a negative factor which plays with my emotions and with my motivation. I have been on a plateau for 2 weeks now. While I am convinced that plateau will break, and I will be continuing on down to a health weight, I have decided to put the scale behind me for now. You see, I have faith in the program. I have faith that when I do what I am supposed to do, my 5&1 using the approved food lists and the adequate number of healthy fats while not going over the prescribed number of acceptable condiments, that I WILL attain a healthy weight. The only variable is me. So I will no longer obsess over every tenth of a pound. Obsessing only brings my focus onto the numbers and my focus needs to be on the long term. So wish me luck! I am currently in size 12 jeans. When I am close to my goal I'll know by my clothing sizes. When I get to a size 2-4 (my previous goal-size) I'll know I'm cleared to begin transition. When my 2-4's are getting snug, I'll know I need to hop back on the 5&1. I will no longer be captive to a little piece of metal and plastic with a battery in it. Life is much more than that and I intend to fully find that out! Have a great day y'all! |
| I was musing today on where I was 10 months ago, and realized that although today I am *almost* into my size 10 jeans, I was at a size 26 just last July. Many people are just starting out on Medifast, and to you I have this to say: YOU WILL GET THERE. The time will pass anyway. Let's continue On Plan and let's just see where we are and what we are doing in 10 months! I'll bet many of you who have just started out in the last couple of months will be AT GOAL and MAINTAINING! Kudos! Happy Medifasting! One day, one Medifast meal at at time. |
| I'll watch it more tomorrow. I'll be better tomorrow. I'll start measuring and weighing my Lean and Green tomorrow. I'll be on plan tomorrow. Starting tomorrow. Honest. How many times have I had this mentality? One day I finally realized that "As you are NOW, so shall you BE." It is TODAY that matters. Line up enough "Today's" and whatever I am doing today to further (or NOT further) my health and my weight loss will show results. Stay On Plan today, and after 7 months of "todays" I will be at my goal. Tweak and eat what I want today and after 7 months of "todays" I will have little or no benefit/change and will still be wearing the same size jeans or most likely bigger jeans. If we are waiting for a magic "something" to come along and change our attitude, give us that extra little "umph" that will (someday) keep us on plan and doing our best as regards our health goals, well, we will be waiting for a very very long time. There is no magic. There is only commitment. The choice is ours to make. What are we doing TODAY to meet our goals? Happy Medifasting! Rinse and Repeat! |
| It takes about 21 days to establish a habit, whether it is a good habit OR a bad habit. Making a habit of staying On Plan, therefore, takes 21 days. Once this habit is established, it WILL carry me to success. Because I KNOW that staying On Plan works. All of the time. Oh sure there is anecdotal evidence (ie. heresay) that you can still lose when you have a glass of wine every night with dinner. And more people will swear that your losses will be just as good if you incorporate off-plan foods like laughing cow cheese on a daily basis. There will be those who swear by NOT weighing and measuring because it works for them. And to them, I say hey, whatever works for you. As for me, though, I will stick with what is proven and what is recommended as On Plan. When done for 21 days, it becomes a habit after all. And I want to be in the habit of losing weight as directed. Once it IS a habit it is automatic. When I am in control of my food and not the other way around, when I surrender fully to the plan and its tenets and recommendations, my $$ is well spent and my path/success is pretty much assured. I take the guess work out of it when I stay on plan. I take the one variable OUT of it that has single handedly managed to sabotage every weight loss/maintaining effort I have EVER tried. And that variable is MY judgment. I am a wily one. I will talk myself into just about anything to get what I want. So I am changing my wants. What I want NOW is optimal health. What I want NOW is long-term successful management of ME. And to do that, I will remain on plan AND on purpose. Today. Because after all, the only thing I need to worry about IS today. Today I will remain on plan. Not on my little tweaked plan that MAY or may not work over time. But on the Medifast plan. Happy Medifasting! Rinse and Repeat! |
| My True Religion jean shorts came in the mail from my Ebay purchase, and I am looking at these thinking it will be a miracle *when* I fit in to them! I will post a picture of them to my page in a day or two. These babies are size 30, but fit like a 28. They are truly my "goal jeans" in every sense of the word, because I am a 12 now (on my way down from a 26!). Well, just thought I'd share! |
| But I really really wanted it! But it looked so good I simply couldn't resist it! But the smell just got to me so I had to have some! But......... How many times do thoughts like that interrupt our good intentions? What do we answer when it seems like food has almost a supernatural pull over our behaviors? What do we do? We recognize that we need help. We recognize that Medifast is but a tool, that if we don't use it in the way it was intended we will end the year 2011 the same was we started it. Down. Defeated. Demoralized. Overweight/Obese. If you have 80 or less pounds to lose, you WILL be at your goal come January 1st, 2012, provided you work the plan and stop making excuses. Whatever it takes to only let pass through your lips what is supposed to pass through your lips. It is our decision, it is our commitment. No one can do this for us. But how do we do it? Simple. It is so simple. It really is. The entire answer is: Stay On Plan TODAY. That's it. That's all you have to do. Nothing else. It's not complicated. TODAY is all you need to worry about. I will worry only about today, I will stay on plan today. If I feel the tug of other things I will run from the temptation and not succumb. I will make the choice to choose right, knowing that there is no temptation too large that we cannot overcome it. Today I commit my day to my Lord, knowing that He will give me HIS strength to back up MY good decisions. Have a wonderfully Medifast day! Rinse and Repeat! |
| How many of us, myself included, have totally MISSED out on the present, on living fully today, because we are planning that mythical "someday"? "Someday" I'll lose the weight and be able to...... "Someday, when I'm thinner, I'll"........... Well, I'm here to tell you that SOMEDAY is TODAY. If we don't make SOMEDAY TODAY it will remain an elusive dream. What am I doing TODAY to make my dreams for myself and my family come true? I'll tell you, because it is pure and simple. Are you ready? I am making TODAY an ON PLAN day. Just today. I'm not worrying about tomorrow or next week, or Aunt Biddies Garden Party in May. Line up enough of these suckers and I'll be at my goal weight in no time at all. Or at least by December 1st 2011. Whichever comes first. Happy Medifasting! Rinse and Repeat! |
| I, for one, am done with "dieting". I'm done focusing on food, I'm done with the deprivation, I'm done feeling sorry for myself because I "can't" partake of all the yummy stuff. Boo Hoo. I'm done. Am I quitting Medifast? No, on the contrary. I am choosing to achieve optimal health through attaining and maintaining a healthy BMI. Whatever that takes. I'm in it for good. I tried doing Medifast once with the attitude that it was temporary, that once I lost the weight I COULD go back to eating "normal". That I WOULD be able to indulge in my favorites again. But, having lost 140 lbs in 14 months and gaining it back in just as much time, I learned the hard way that Medifast isn't "just" a diet. Medifast is a tool I am using to achieve my primary goal of Optimal Health. That is one of the reasons I'm not focused on the intricacies of the food, and how to tweak it and manipulate it to taste yummier. For me it's not about yummier. It is about creating optimal health. I am doing just that. Happy Medifasting! Rinse and Repeat. |
| There are loads of things I do because I need to, not because I feel like doing them. Medifast is no different. I don't have to wait until I "feel" like eating my first Medifast meal when I wake up in the morning. I just eat it. I don't wait until I "feel" like drinking my water. I just do it. Neither do I wait to brush my teeth until I "feel like it". These things are automatic to me. As is Medifast. Waiting for an elusive feeling of motivation isn't, for me, what is required to do the program. If I waited for that feeling, I'd be waiting a LONG time. Probably to my grave. An early one, at that. But it IS about commitment. And I have committed to doing this program with all of my strength. And I am. But most days I don't "feel" like it. =) Just some thoughts on this beautiful Easter day! |
| I cannot believe how incredible my little run felt today. I haven't run in almost 2 weeks, since I have had one heck of a cold. Last time I ran I weighed about 192. This time I am 188. That is 4 pounds difference, but to my knees it may as well have been 40! I just felt lighter. I felt almost lighter than air! Now, maybe it is because my shoes have been sitting in the closet for 2 weeks that I felt like I could go forever and ever today. Maybe it was the pent-up energy just waiting to be expended. But either way, I blew past my 1-mile mark and kept going another 1/2. And I felt I could go longer, but I didn't want to push it being my first day back in the running shoes! Wow. Who knew 4 pounds could make such a difference? Happy Easter everyone! |
| I can't have any of that, it's not on my diet ** I have plenty (of my food) for me I wish I could have dessert ** I am stuffed and couldn't eat more Maybe a little of that won't hurt, I can always get back on tomorrow/afterwards ** If I go off plan I will delay the goals I have for myself I've already lost a pound or two this week, if I have XXX maybe I'll break even ** I have to remember I'm intentionally choosing to stay on my weight LOSS program, my goal is not to maintain. Nobody will know, I just won't change my ticker ** This isn't about everyone, it is about YOU. This was your business when it started, it is STILL your business, but how is eating off plan going to help YOU???? This is just some random dialog that I know go back and forth in people's heads, it has gone back and forth in MY head on holidays before. I am choosing to have MY dialog this Easter be "I am doing this for myself. I am the ONLY one who can do it for me. No one BUT me is responsible for what I put in my mouth, and I choose to remain on plan." Simple. Simple but not easy. Happy Medifasting! Rinse and repeat! |
| Spring is definitely here. And I have recognized something about myself. In all areas of my life I have been a collector, someone who has WAY more than she needs of just about everything. So much so that when I go to the store sometimes I'll get "two" of something I need because you just "never know". Well, Medifast, and the Habits of Health is changing that. I have also come to understand that my weight issues are directly tied to the tendency in me to get/have/accumulate much more than what I need. My body has stored all those extra accumulations as fat. And I am de-fatting my body as well. I am currently cleaning out my garage, and had a garage sale last Saturday. I am preparing for the Mother of All Garage Sales on May 1st, and in so doing I have decided NOT to spare the contents of my HOUSE from deep and purposeful, intentional scrutiny. Nothing is safe from my "new attitude" gaze, the "I don't need 20 coffee mugs, teacups, bath scrungies and trial lotion" new mindset I have adopted. This attitude is a direct result of my re-evaluating what I need as opposed to the excesses of my past wants. I am excited to simplify my life and my mind in the process, and plan to feel MUCH lighter at the end of the process. Wish me luck! |
| My second cup of coffee is black. My first cup? Let me tell you about my first cup of coffee. When I wake up in the morning, I look forward to my very first cup of coffee. In fact, I'm even thinking of it as I drift off to sleep the night before and I'm SURE I dream about it! The first two sips are so divine, so rich and creamy and PERFECT. And I thoroughly enjoy it. I have a vintage Fire-King collection of PERFECT sized coffee mugs, in blue and green milk-glass. They are the old style coffee mugs, and hold exactly 5 ounces of liquid filled to the brim, and 4 ounces with a bit of room at the top, which is how I like it. Did I say I love my coffee? I love my coffee. I weigh out 30 g of half and half, nuke it for 10 seconds so it isn't cold, put 1 packet of splenda in it and then pour my just-brewed French Roast in to the cup up to about the 4 ounce level. It is, if I may say so myself, the PERFECT color. Sort of a camel hue. Then I enjoy. I thoroughly enjoy. I mean REALLY REALLY love it. Every morning, without fail, I feel a tinge of despair when I drink that last sip, because I ALWAYS want more. And I mean ALWAYS. Every morning, after that last sip of coffee is drained from the mug, something in the back of my mind says...."Go on, you can have another...you know you want it!" Every. Morning. Pre-medifast, I was in the habit of indulging that voice. I'd go and pour myself another cup, throw that half and half in there again without thinking, another splenda, and down that cup too. Heck, forget the 4-5 ounce old-style cups, pre-medifast I'd pull out the mega-mug. You know the one I mean, the coffee mug that these days passes as "normal" and holds at a minimum 16 ounces (which, incidently, is only a "Grande" or medium at Starbucks), I'd splash enough half and half in there to make my coffee the color I like it (which would be 8 TBSP or 1/2 a cup for that much coffee) and drink it down. Then I'd have another, meaning I'd consume 1 cup of half and half with my morning coffee. 320 calories, or the equivalent of 3 Medifast meals, of mostly fat. JUST for my coffee. So it is no wonder that my brain, every morning, tells me that I should have another 4 ounce cup, that a little more half and half really won't matter in the grand scheme of things, and really why not since it is a very innocent indulgence that wouldn't REALLY make much difference in my day, provided I compensated for it later, but would make me very happy momentarily? I'm sure I could work the numbers in, I mean look at it this way, 2 TBSP of half and half is a healthy fat, and then I could count 1 TBSP per condiment. I could ease back on the splenda a bit, and maybe have 1/2 packet with my first cup and 1/2 packet with my second cup, the 2 TBSP half and half with my first cup and the 2 TBSP half and half with my second cup and call it a day! Yes, I could. But that is not the point. Here is my point (finally, for those who made it this far). I TRAIN myself every day to be content with the one perfect cup. I TRAIN myself every day to pour my second cup black (to have with my brownie, or pancake, or oatmeal), because it is a habit I have ingrained in my head to put that little sabotaging pre-teen little brat voice in it's place early in the day, so it stays silent for the rest of the day. If I QUELL the inner-brat's first request instead of COMPLYING with her first request, she is surprisingly silent for the remainder of the day. It seems like a simple concept and it works great for me. Here's what would happen if I complied with her first request early in the day. She won't shut up after that. She would turn a simple day on-plan into an agonizing day of decision making and temptation resisting. I don't want to set my day up for that. So, if I make my second cup BLACK, she stays quiet. If I give in, she makes my day difficult. I choose quiet. Therefore, my second cup is decidedly and intentionally black. |
| This is a story that still makes me laugh, it happened on Friday night at Costco. There is a moral to this story, and I will get to it after I explain what happened. I was walking toward the restrooms having already put my groceries in my car....you know the common feeling on Medifast where you aren't sure you'll make the 5 or 10 minute drive home without having a BLADDER ACCIDENT so you go BACK into the store you just left to use the facilities....anway, I digress... I was walking toward the restrooms, checking my Iphone text from my hubby, and a (younger) man was walking toward me looking down. About 5 feet away, he looked up, and our eyes caught eachothers, and I smiled as I usually try to do because my sister tells me I look mean if I'm not smiling (thanks sis!). He visibly "started" and stopped in his tracks, exclaiming "Well Hello! You look Good!" I thought it an odd thing to just "say" outloud in Costco to a total stranger, but I figured maybe it was the first thing he thought of and he didn't have time to filter it socially? Either way, he said it, which caused me to stop as well and say "well thank you!" He then went on to ask me what was a good thing to do on a Friday night, do I shop there often, and oh yes, was I married? I smiled and held up my ring finger (WITH my wedding ring on) and said "Why yes, I am, 20 years now!" So I almost got asked out in Costco, and would have had a really awkward moment saying no to him if I had not had my wedding ring on. Moral of this story, as you are losing weight be SURE to put your wedding ring back on at the first opportunity (I had not been wearing mine for a few years because it didn't fit and I couldn't bear getting my husband's grandma's ring sized up!) because if you DON'T you will be in danger of unsolicited date requests at Costco! =) |
| Ever have those vague "someday" dreams? For much of my life I have been a "day-dreamer" with no particular day attached. I don't know if it is a lack of self-confidence, fear of disappointment, or laziness or a combination of all three that had kept me from putting dates on my dreams. But I've done it. I've written down my one-year, three-year, and five-year goals, and have put actual DATES to them. You see, for me, in the past, the GOAL has always been "to lose weight". Which is one of the reasons that after my initial 140 lb loss on Medifast in 06/07, I had met my "goal" of "losing weight", and not having a goal OTHER than that goal left me, well, with no goals left! I have written out my 1-3-5 year goals now, WITH dates, and although many of them have to do with health, only ONE of them has to do with reaching my target weight by a date-specific (December 1st). The rest of them have to do with personal development, optimal fitness, and optimal health. This gives me something to shoot for AFTER reaching my target weight, so that I am always a work in progress and reaching my target weight is only the FIRST STEP in that process. I am excited at what the future brings, and I'll share some of my goals with you! May 1st: Garage will be clean and organized, able to park 2 cars in it. July 21st: Meet a particular Business Goal of mine December 1st: Be at my target weight, in midrange of healthy BMI, begin transition. April 2012: Run the Paris Marathon April 2012: Meet a particular Business Goal of mine December 2012: Achieve 22% Body fat (or less) and be fit and toned. Overall I want to be an inspiration to others. My whole life I have been pretty selfish, and even being 268 lbs and 49.9 % body fat and 47.5 BMI was an extreme form of selfishness. I am ready to give back. I am giving back. I love to encourage others to reach their true God-given potential, whatever that may be, and stop hiding under their rolls, as I had been doing. When we are in prison, we are not free. When we are in a self-imposed prison of fat, we are not free. To inspire you must be inspiring. And I intend on being others oriented by first putting on MY oxygen mask to give me the ability to help others. And I continually thank my God for backing up my daily good decisions with His strength! Happy Medifasting! Rinse and Repeat! |
| There are two ways we can approach Easter Dinner with the family. Firstly, we can look longingly at the food, sigh heavily as the potatoes are passed under our nose, and exude a "poor me" aura. I'll tell you what this will invite. This will invite EVERYONE swarming on you telling you to JUST ENJOY YOURSELF and have a little THIS and a little THAT. They want us to be happy, and if we are sitting there looking all miserable, well, they will want to cheer us up with food. After all, it's Easter. The second way we can approach Easter Dinner is to be "others oriented". Being "others oriented" means just that. Come out of yourself. Stop focusing on yourself. Be interested in OTHERS. Ask them questions. Keep the focus off food and what you may be or may not be eating today. Prepare in advance a short list of questions for each person who will be in attendance. If you can keep them talking about themselves, they will be much less apt to focus on you and what is on your plate. Does Uncle Henry have a hobby? Ask him about it. Does Aunt Mary love to cook? Compliment her on the ample spread set before everyone. Does cousin Loius play the trombone? Ask him how that is going. Come out of yourself and be genuinely interested in OTHERS. START the conversation. No one will even notice you aren't eating everything! Now, this strategy is tried and proven, but there still may be the occasional "why don't you have XXXX?" thrown your way. Here is how to deal with that. Aunt Mary, having spent 300 hours painstakingly preparing the lamb for the feast says "Honey Bunches (presumably you), why aren't you having any lamb?" Moment of truth: "You know, Aunt Mary, it is the oddest thing, but I have found that Lamb gives me tummy troubles these days....how did you make it, though, it looks delicious! Is that Rosemary you used, or Thyme?" Bingo. She's back to talking about what she loves to talk about, her food! And you are safe. Uncle Bob "You haven't had any potatoes yet, why don't you try them? It is Aunt Bee's family recipe!" And here is a response: Well, Uncle Bob, I can see that they look delicious, but I am so full I couldn't eat another bite. How is that model train going that you are building in the basement? I'd love to see it sometime!" So, here is the point. Be armed with questions. Answer questions with a question, to deflect the attention AWAY from what you are eating or not eating. Works like a charm. Happy Medifasting! Rinse and Repeat. |
| I am starting to get to know the cashiers on a first-name "howz your family?" basis! LOL. Today I picked up a great Ann Taylor Loft green linen shirt in a size L. Can't get it on, yet, because apparently I'm not yet an "Ann Taylor Loft Large". I am, however, a Talbots Large because I also bought an elbow-length pink T-shirt from them and it fits GREAT! Also added to my "goal jeans" collection a Lucky Brand jeans, sized 6. They may be a little roomy when I'm at goal because I will be able to wear 2-6 at that point, but everyone needs a good pair of "baggy jeans" around! I also bought my Easter Dress for $5.00. Yup! It is a beautiful purple ankle-length dress with a matching purple crochet cardigan top. It is in size 11-12, and with a little help from SPANX it will look FABULOUS! Onward and downward! Rinse and Repeat! |
| We all know the feeling...that little feeling of dread in the back of our minds for the Monday morning weigh-in. I don't dread them anymore because I am committed to staying On Plan through the weekends. How about you? |
| Change is hard. It is wicked hard. I'll be the first to admit it. But change IS possible. Otherwise where is the hope? Here's the thing: Change is NECESSARY in order to be successful on Medifast. We cannot expect to be able to mimic our past (obese) life while we are on Medifast. We just can't let our guard down and have that "free-for-all" day with food an alcohol. We can't feel "normal" with the girls "just once" because we are feeling sorry for ourselves eating out of little white packets. Well, we CAN, but we won't meet our weight loss goals if we continue to do that. To BE different we must DO differently. Are we ready? Or are we pining for the days we could eat what we wanted whenever we wanted? I am ready. Sitting here in my size 12 jeans with NO muffin top, I am ready. My size 26's are in my closet to save for posterity sake so I will always remember where I came from and take NOTHING for granted. But I've got a pair of size 10's, 8's, 6's, and 4's in that closet as well, which are just BEGGING to be worn. Onward and downward! |
| Whatever it takes, right? I find it a great comfort and distraction to come to the boards and read all the blogs/discussion board posts late on a Friday night. And to write a little blog myself. So here it is. I got all our garage sale items out and will be taking them to my sisters bright and early tomorrow. I hope to make a couple hundred bucks, then it's on to Goodwill with the rest! G'night, all! 6:00 on a Saturday morning comes awfully early! |
| Going into the weekend, let's "Live like no one else, so we can live like no one else!" Being on a structured "meal-replacement" diet program such as Medifast on the weekends is not the easiest or most exciting thing in the world. It is a sacrifice. It is sometimes inconvenient to our social agenda. So why not just chuck it on the weekends and eat what we want? Two reasons: You will become a "weekday dieter" which is someone who is strict from Monday through Friday afternoon, and then falls off the wagon, repeatedly, every weekend. Secondly, it stops working. Yup. It stops working. Medifast does NOT work when you only do it 4.5 days per week. So, let's all live like no one else (stay ON PLAN over the weekend) so we can LIVE like no one else (be in a healthy weight range someday....soon!). The obesity epidemic is so rampant in American society that we hardly even recognize it anymore. Seeing a fit and healthy person is an anomaly these days, so much so that we seem to have permanent "fat goggles" on. For me, my fat goggles apply mostly to ME! I look in the mirror and I don't see an obese person staring back at me, I just don't. But I know I AM obese still, and will be obese until I hit 169. Here is another challenge, how many of us have goal weights that are still in the overweight zone for our height? I challenge everyone to rethink your actual goal weight, and if it isn't set in the healthy weight range, then change it. There is no reason we can't all be healthy! So let's LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE this weekend, and every day, so we can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE. Happy Medifasting! Rinse and Repeat! |
| I started a discussion thread about this, and thought it worthy for a blog so here I go! I know I've touched on the subject before, but I want to flesh it out a little! When I first had the idea of starting Medifast, I was all about hoping. In fact, I was a professional "Hoper". I hoped all day long! I hoped for this, I hoped for that, I hoped to be a better mom and wife, I hoped to get my garage clean, I hoped to lose weight, I hoped to feed my family better, I hoped to run a marathon some day, I hoped hoped hoped hoped! I love hope! Hope is what keeps me going some days. I was hoping there was a better version of myself out there that I really hoped I'd find someday. Someday soon, I hoped! Something is changing in me along the way. I have turned my hope into a strategy. We can do this consciously or unconsciously, but at some point the strategy part HAS to become conscious or we will fall back into our old ways of all hoping and no action TODAY to get there. When Medifast arrived, I read the materials and I put my hope into action. 80 lbs later and I know my strategy is working! It is a daily plan of action where all of my decisions line up with my goal. They move me toward my goal and not away from my goal. I will remain On Plan TODAY. That is my strategy for success in the weight loss area. I have begun putting dates to my goals. For example, I WILL stay on plan TODAY. I will clean out my garage and be able to park 2 cars in it by MAY 1st. I will run the Paris Marathon in April of 2012. My dates need to be reasonable and rational and realistic given the tools I have to accomplish them. That is KEY. I know I can lose 8-10 lbs a month when I am ON PLAN every day that month. So, I WILL be at my goal by December 1st, 2011. Sometimes we stumble into a strategy, and when we do we need to KEEP DOING IT! I see so many times where people lose heart. Their hope fades because they have disappointed themselves for so long and can't seem to stay on program for a day. I've been there. But it is at those times that all you HAVE is strategy, and at THOSE times all you can do is IMPLEMENT your strategy. The hope will return, it is not gone forever. You may just be having a down day! Or a down week! But keep your STRATEGY going, the staying ON PLAN day in and day out, and you will get to your goals! Our primary goal on this program is to lose weight and keep it off. So, our secondary goals, the daily life decisions, have to SUPPORT that primary goal, even if we don't really "feel" like being on plan. We do it anyway, because we have a Primary Goal. Dr. A's Habits of Health has really helped me distill these things into a life strategy. I recommend it for anyone who is struggling with focus or motivation or commitment. Meanwhile, Happy Medifasting! Rinse and repeat! |
| It was time. The 12's fit with no muffin-top, and although they ARE tight, they are wearable. So, I took the scissors to the 14's. I could have Goodwilled them but I bought them used from Ebay and they were threadbare in a crucial place or two, so I took the scissors out and rendered them incapacitated. It felt good. I do love the feel of baggy jeans on my bod, but now I can look forward to the 12's becoming baggy. Just had to update! |
| It's funny how that one little word, "Hope", can make all the difference in the world! Before Medifast, I felt I really had no hope of wearing "normal" sized clothes ever again. I felt defeated. I felt like a prisoner in my fat suit, silently screaming to every and to no one in particular that this was all just some big nightmare I was sure to wake up from, that I really DIDN'T and COULDN'T be morbidly obese. Every time I looked in the mirror I saw a stranger staring back at me. My mirror was a funhouse mirror. My clothes were clown clothes. Surely, this is not what I had let myself become. Part of the depression I felt as I began to lose the weight was that my mind was slowly letting its defence mechanism down. You see, my mind had developed a highly complex ruse that I actually believed which was that I wasn't "that big". I'm sure it was a self-protective mechanism in my brain which wouldn't allow me to see the full extent of the damage I had done to myself through the years. But as I began to lose weight, 30 lbs, 40lbs, 50 lbs, and now 75 lbs, my brain has let glimpses of reality in. Not too much at a time, because it is still in self-protection mode. But enough. Enough so that when I see a body-shot picture of my CURRENT self, I still cringe....and I wonder....why? Why did I do that to myself? If I'm this "big" (still obese) NOW, how in the WORLD could I delude myself that 75 pounds ago wasn't "that big"? Back to the Hope. There is hope. And I see glimpses of that too, more so now than ever before. I sit in my size 12 jeans and even though I don't like the size I am right now, still OBESE, I know that TODAY I am doing everything I can, to the BEST of my ability, to change that. I am becoming the best version of myself. I'm not there yet, but it is the HOPE of things to come that keeps me faithful to the plan. Happy Medifasting. |
| It is amazing how pictures can snap us back into reality. I thought I was looking pretty good until I saw a recent picture of me (by recent I mean "just snapped" digital). I still have 75 pounds to go and, well, it shows. But onward and downward. |
| Headed into the weekend, I am reminded of the illustration about obstacles. For me, obstacles used to be walls. I'd slam into them, they would stop my forward momentum, and eventually, after hitting enough of them, I would take my ball and bat and just go home, giving up on whatever dream I was trying to accomplish. Medifast has given me the ability to look at obstacles in a different way. They are no longer walls. They are hurdles. Baby Shower? Sail over it. Wedding? Sail over it. Vacation? Sail over it. Obstacles are no longer walls for me. They are hurdles that, if I choose to handle them correctly, will NOT stop me dead in my tracks or hurt my momentum. What is the choice? The choice is to stay On Plan. I don't care if people are looking at me wondering why I'm not eating. In fact, people probably AREN'T looking at my wondering what I'm eating, they are too busy focused on what is on THEIR plate and hoping I'M not noticing this is their second serving of cake. Everyone is concerned about what people think of them, so much so that people are usually NOT looking over your shoulder wondering what, why, when, and how you are partaking or not partaking in the food. So live your life. Stay on plan. Do you have an event or two this weekend? Perfect! Eat before you go, and then tell them you ate before you came! Tell them your tummy is giving you trouble! Tell them you are sugar-sensitive. Tell them whatever you like, but odds are they will be more concerned with what is on their plate that what isn't on yours, or that you don't even HAVE a plate. Just some thoughts going in to the weekend! |
| Setting goals is something I find VERY easy to do. I can set goals all day long, every day, in my sleep, in the shower, in my dreams. SETTING GOALS has never been a problem for me. ACHIEVING goals, now there's the rub. Yesterday I did little exercise with my mentor in goal setting. She noticed, and rightly so, that I had my goals very well written down in terms of 1-year, 3-year and 5-year goals, however I had not attached any sort of actual DATE to them. Yup, that is me! Vague generalities, the "I'd love to__________ in the next year!" with no clear path to get there. It was a real wake up call to me. So, one of my goals was to have a clean and tidy garage that we may be able to even (GASP!!) park a car in! She had me think about what would be a realistic and achievable time frame to have this project completed, and I thought about it and wrote "by May 1st". Guess what? This morning I have a DESIRE to get in the garage and begin sorting. Before I put a date to it, it was always in the BACK of my mind, a someday maybe when I get the time sort of thing. Once I put a DATE to it, an achievable, realistic date, it brought that desire to the FOREFRONT of my mind, and on this beautiful Arizona day I have the garage door open and am about to begin the process! ACTION. For me, and I suspect for many others, the difference between an IDEA and ACTION is a verifiable date. Now, I am not a proponent for setting unrealistic goals and then disappointing yourself because you didn't climb Mount Everest after training for 2 months, or run a Marathon 2 weeks after you could barely run a mile. Nor am I a proponent of setting unrealistic weight loss goals of 20-30 lbs a month every month. HOWEVER, while speaking to my mentor I DID run down my goals list and put a date after everything. She asked when I would get to goal, so I calculated 10 lbs/month for 7.5 months, and wrote down a date....December 1st. I am a slow loser, so I may only lose 8 lbs some months, but I do know what I am capable of with focus and clarity, and it IS between 8-10 lbs/month so I am going for it. Just as I am going for cleaning the garage this morning. I have the tools, the desire, and the time. Time to get 'er done. Have a great day y'all! And remember, you can either view obstacles as WALLS or as HURDLES today. |
| Deprivation vs. Empowerment How do I go about my day? Do I begin by grieving over the waffles I couldn't have, followed by the coffee cake at Starbucks, then salivating over the BBQ ribs in the lunch line followed by frowning at 3:00 because my co-worker is eating munchos and I can't? Then at dinner do I glare at the pizza my family has ordered? Can I do this every day for the next 9 months!?!?!?!?! HELP!!! Or does my day look like this: Wake up...hmmmm....back doesn't hurt anymore! Sit on the side of the bed thinking "Wow, I've got so much energy, I am truly refreshed and renewed" while I get in the shower realizing I can reach ALL my parts! Head into my closet and bypass the XXXL tops, reaching for the "L" top instead. Then on to my jeans, catch a glimpse of my old size 26's on the top shelf tucked away for posterity sake, reach instead for my size 12 Levi's and slide them on. Button. Zip. No muffin top. Nice. On to washing my face, noticing my now-visible collar-bones which can be seen without coaxing them out, noticing the line of my cheekbone and how different it makes my face look. I like it. In to the car, the seatbelt glides effortlessly around me and clicks without any hesitation. I get to work and my co-workers are smiling and I am smiling. It is a beautiful day. Medifast may not be all "Pony-Rides in May-Sunshine", but from where I'm sitting it looks pretty good today. I GET TO DO THIS EVERY DAY FOR THE NEXT 9 MONTHS! HOORAY!!! |
| I woke up completely parched this morning, and silly me only drank about 1/2 cup of water between then and now... What was I thinking? I am SO behind! Water is such an important part of our program, it is necessary as a component in breaking down the FFA (free fatty acids) that our body has released into our blood stream to be used as energy. If we aren't drinking enough water, no matter how many FFA's the body takes out of our fat cells and places into our blood system for use, our bodies can't use them and they just end up getting stored back into the fat cells, and the body giving out hunger pangs like crazy. The limiting factor is usually water! It definitely isn't lack of FFA's, that is for certain! Not for me! If I drink 500 mls as SOON as I wake up, guess what? NO HUNGER! I have to REMEMBER to eat my first meal within 1/2 hour of waking! If I keep up on my water all day, and I'm one that drinks half her body weight in ounces, then my hunger is minimal and I have to set my cell phone alarm to eat. So are you hungry all day? Try drinking 500 ml of water before your feet hit the ground running, and then remember to drink 500 more with every Medifast meal. You will be less hungry, and you will be optimizing your fat burning capabilities! It's great for your skin too. =) |
| Inspiration? I got nothin'....... What do we do on the days we don't feel inspired? The days that come and say "Ho-Hum, I'm here...." What is our first thought? Is it to go of-plan because we need a little excitement in our lives? Is it to go off-plan because we feel a little bored? Does our first thought upon encountering a Ho-Hum Day involve spicing it up with food? What do we do? I made a list today. I'm a big list-maker if you haven't caught on by now! I made a list of all the reasons I wanted to lose weight. Sure, I've done it before. But as I continue losing weight, those reasons are in flux. They are always evolving, ever changing, and I want to be able to continue to tap into the BEST and MOST RECENT goals and dreams I have for myself, and to document them. The bottom line is that it helps to reinforce my commitment. I don't want to be a fair-weather Medifaster, who is on-plan or off-plan depending on which way the wind is blowing that day. My staying On Plan can NOT be dependent on how I feel when I wake up. It is much bigger than that. I'm going about the daily business of building myself into the best version of myself that I can be. God made me, He is responsible for my genetic make-up, my personality traits, etc...but I am responsible for my character and whether I am eating responsibly on a day to day basis so as to mold my body into what HE designed it to be. I doubt Adam and Eve were obese. I think we have a certain responsibility to honor God with our bodies, and I intend to do just that by not shoving junk into it or pushing my fat cells to their limits. Just some things I was thinking about today. Sorry if it was rambling! And on that note, I will go have another On Plan day. |
| There is a super-short answer for this: NO. You will not get similar results with a "real" food based diet with identical calories. Don't take my word for it, read the study: http://www.dailyfinance.com/rtn/press/medifast-s-meal-replacement-program-more-effective-than-a-food-based-diet-plan-study-finds/rfid373370788/ Have a great Medifast Day! |
| I took a big gamble and ordered a CASE (you got that right, 12 boxes!) of Cranberry Mango Iced Drink. The 10 carb count appealed to me, as I seem to do better when I have a few "lower carb" MF meals during the course of the day. I'll have 1 oatmeal -or- brownie, then the rest of my meals will be shakes or creamy soups or iced drinks. I LOVE THE CRANBERRY MANGO DRINK! I blended it in my HealthMate Blender with 3-4 cubes of ice, and WOW is it tasty! Just in time for Arizona's hot hot summer! |
| Yesterday: 194. Size 12 Levi's not able to be buttoned, let alone zipped. Today: 194. Size 12 Levi's buttoned and zipped. Sitting in them now. SITTING in them. Now. Priceless. |
| Fast forward to Monday morning. Alarm goes off. What will be my first thought upon rising on Monday morning? Will it be that all-too-familiar guilt stemming from the fact that "I blew it again over the weekend?" Then I ask myself this question: Am I addicted to feeling BAD about myself? Is my comfort zone emotional state actually.....GUILT? When I DON'T feel guilty do I seek behaviors that will allow me to feel guilty again because it is my default state of mind? Is that why I sabotage myself time and time again? These are thoughts I've wrestled with in the past. Thankfully I have decided that I refuse to live in Guiltland. How do I accomplish this? Well, the way I DON'T accomplish it is trying to redefine the program so that I "accept" deviations and be "ok" with modifications and "not classify them" as cheats. Because I know, having done that in the past too, that the only place that gets me is denial. And denial is what got me back up to 268 lbs and a size 26. How DO I accomplish waking up on Monday morning with NO guilt, and feeling absolutely FREAKING EMPOWERED about my life and the direction it is heading? How do I wake up with a smile on my face and a song in my heart and a.....OK enough with the Disneyland Fairytale description....but really, the birds do seem to sing a happier song when I wake up on Monday mornings without the dreaded guilt. SO. This weekend I will set myself up for another guilt-free Monday morning by staying ON PLAN and IN CONTROL. I will not stay on MY PLAN, but I will stay on the Medifast Plan as written. Am I a 100%-er? I guess I want to be 100% guilt-free, so I've gotta do the work over the weekend to ensure that happens. Here's to a successful weekend! |
| I have this theory about myself, I've tested it, and it seems to be true. If I HAVE to do anything, I will rebel against it. If I WANT to do something, I embrace it! And so it goes with exercise. The Medifast program works, it works with or without exercise. I'm not an advocate of including killing myself at the gym 5 days a week as part of my Medifast routine. For me, if in my mind it is PART of the deal, then the day I don't do it I will feel like a failure in ALL of the program and it sets me up for defeat, or makes me vulnerable for Off-Plan eating. Medifast doesn't set a "minimum amount consumed" of exercise in their guidelines, but they DO give a "maximum recommended" of 45 minutes per day. The first time I lost 140 pounds on Medifast, I was running just about every day. I also trained for, and completed, a half-marathon right as I got to goal. I felt great, and I love to run, but that level of commitment wasn't sustainable for me, and when it was over and my life in turmoil, I wasn't doing it at ALL. Why? Because for me, again, it was unsustainable at that level, therefore I could not incorporate it PERMANENTLY as a lifestyle change in my life. People ask me now "what about exercise?" My answer is, do it if you want to do it. If you have an activity you really enjoy, something that leaves you smiling when you're doing it or when you're done, something you look forward to a few times a week or even every day, I say go for it! (Provided it falls within the MF Guidelines on the 5&1). But if you DON'T have something like that RIGHT NOW, don't sweat it! (No pun intended). Keep an open mind about what you may THINK you might enjoy in the FUTURE, and when you feel you have so much energy you will BURST if you don't start doing something with it, then explore some of those options you think you might enjoy. I see time and time again the vigor with which people attack exercise and the MF diet at the same time, and I'm not critical at ALL about that by the way, but it isn't for me. And it is true that I do see some phrases sometimes of people feeling GUILTY that they didn't make it to the gym 5 times this week, or GUILTY that they didn't kill themselves with exercise this week....and that GUILT snowballs sometimes into a ditching of the entire MF process, even if it is a temporary off-plan eating splurge. My deal is that I have decided NOT to set up exercise as a requisite for success, and really it isn't. Several veterans on these boards lost ALL their weight with ZERO exercise. So physiologically it is possible, and the Medifast program works purely on the eating program front. But I run because I WANT to now. I love the way it makes me feel. And, I have begun doing it 3 times per week approximately, because, again, I love it. And someday perhaps, when I'm on maintenance, I will train for a Marathon, and I will run a Marathon. I hope to. Someday. Have a great Medifast Day! |
| My best living is now, and in my future. I used to think this was not so. Sitting, depressed, on my couch, with aches and pains, sore joints and knees, sore back, morbidly obese, no one could have told me that in 8 months I'd be running a mile without stopping. That I would be well on my way to a healthy BMI. That I would be able to play on the floor or out in the grass with my 6-yo son. I thought my best days were but a memory, and a vague one at that. Now I see my collarbones when I look in the mirror. I think I felt a hipbone while laying on my back last night. I was convinced I had neither, that I was just a blob of flesh and fat. It's tragic how much we self-loathe when we have 150 lbs to lose. OF COURSE I was depressed. When you are that large, it would take a miraculously overzealous sanguine to fight off the blues on a daily basis. Just waking up at 268 lbs every morning was cause for a downer day when I wasn't doing anything to change that, without even setting my swollen and already-sore feet onto the carpet. Those thoughts of despair have been driven away by thoughts of hope. Hope, faith, determination. I am beginning to embrace life and live each day fully and completely. One day at a time. One Medifast meal at a time, I am unwrapping my destiny, which is to be the BEST version of myself that I can be, FOR myself and for my family. The cool thing is that I felt the change right away. Once I began Medifast, hope crept in. No, my best days are NOW. My best days are in FRONT of me. Not behind me. Happy Medifasting! |
| Where is my focus? Somewhere along my journey, after some dear friends reached out to me and encouraged me, I finally realized something. This may be a lifetime change, but I must think of it in 24-hour increments. If I start saying "I'll need to _______ (insert ANYTHING!) for the REST of my LIFE!", that statement alone breeds instant resentment in my heart and I want to rebel against it. Why? Simple. I don't like being told what to do. I don't like having things pre-determined for me, taking the choice out of it (on the surface). I'm a little rebel at heart. I'm not saying that is good or bad, in fact I don't attach a value judgment to it, it just IS. (Of course at the root, there is always a choice. We choose life for ourselves or we choose destruction for ourselves daily!) So when I think about Medifast, if feel myself starting to panic, beginning to obsess over the (perceived) limitations on my life that being on Medifast inherently brings, I divert my thoughts in two ways. Firstly, I focus on the POSITIVES that portion-controlled, healthy eating (which Medifast provides) brings to my life. The health that I am building, one day at a time. I think of the extended life I will enjoy with my loved ones. I think of the activities I will be able to do with my son and husband. I think of the model of health I can be for my family and friends. Secondly, I stop thinking about "forever" or "the next 6 months" or "the next year" and think about the next 24 hours. I only concern myself with today. Today is all I need to worry about, and I can do anything for 24 hours. These are invaluable concepts that I have learned recently, and I am forever thankful for the friends on this site who took their time to care about me and my life. Thank you. You know who you are! |
| It comes up every once in awhile, the calorie question. And it is a good question! After all, our brains have a hard time wrapping themselves around *only* consuming 800-1000 calories per day! After all, we say to ourselves, that CAN'T possibly be enough for what I do every day! And to this I say the following: If you were not eating 5 nutritionally complete Medifast Meals and Lean and Green, and were *only* eating 800-1000 calories of "regular food" you would NOT be getting enough NEW nutrients (newly consumed daily) every day for what your body needs. But that is why Medifast is SO COOL people! First off, it was formulated by a bunch of Cardiologists at Johns Hopkins University, specifically as Complete Meal Replacements in order to set up the body to optimally burn fat! In order for an average person to get enough macro and micro-nutrients per day to maintain optimal health while wishing to lose weight, you'd need to to consume a minimum of 1200 calories of "regular" food. Granted, that food would have to be pretty nutrient-rich even at that level. But we are consuming 800-1000 calories per day of specially formulated foods in little white packets which contain ALL of the micro-nutrients and, when combined with our Lean and Greens, all of the macro-nutrients we need in a given day. I'll let you in on a secret: The human body can live, or be sustained minimally, on 400 calories per day. Yes. 400 calories per day. This is called a "starvation diet" and yes, you will starve, but you will not die. I heartily recommend not testing the limits on that one. We are getting 800-1000 "new calories" a day. "But Stacy, Stacy, how can that be enough?" Let me tell you how. I'm so glad I've seen this on several blogs today, and I've also had some PM's on how this actually works so I'm glad to explain it! Take how much weight you'd like to lose: I'll use myself as an example, I would like to lose 79 more pounds. 79 pounds of fat contain approximately 3500 calories each pound of STORED CALORIES. So, that means my body has very efficiently (and naughtily as far as I'm concerned) stored 262,500 EXTRA CALORIES on my body to use at a later date, in case of emergency, etc etc etc. Now these are calories I don't WANT there, thank you very much, which is why I'm on Medifast! Once I'm done with Medifast I'll weigh 118 lbs and my desire is to be at 22% body fat which means I'll let my body keep only 26 fat pounds (after I lose 79) for emergencies, hormone production, cushion for my organs, and something for my hubby to squeeze. Sorry. Had to throw that in LOL. OK to continue the lesson...... Where was I? Oh yes, the fact that I have 262,500 unwanted calories stored on my body in the form of fat. This is the beauty of Medifast, and the mild ketosis that eating the prescribed 5&1 gives us. In order to coax my body into using up that 262,500 over the next 8 months, I need to allow it to BE in ketosis so it can RECOGNIZE that it has those calories stored and available for it's use. When I AM in ketosis, I am rarely hungry because my body "sees" the fat AS excess energy reserves, that it can dip into and gradually use up. Here's where I shoot myself in the foot: If I "mess up" and drop myself out of ketosis. When this happens, the body FAILS to see the reserves as extra usable energy. It shuts OFF the process of being able to sense that it is OK, and sends out hunger signals because it panics. There is now a WALL between your fat and your calorie expenditure so your body is DEMANDING new consumed calories and you feel like you want to eat an elephant. When we keep our calories and carbs just ABOVE the range of being able to get into and stay in ketosis, we are going to feel like this EVERY DAY. So my advice is this. Decide what you want, then know your body. Do what you need to do to achieve your goals. Stay in mild ketosis by working the plan as written. And you will find success. Hope this helped anyone today. |
| Part of my Saturday routine is to leave my little family for 2 hours in the morning and camp out at Starbucks with my tall Pike's Place (1 splenda), a bottle of water, and whatever book I am currently studying. This month it has been Dr. A's Habits of Health, and I must say the material I covered today was SUPER insightful, and VERY helpful to me. He talked about Primary Goals and Secondary Goals, and that many times our Secondary Goals are just daily habits that incrementally will lead us to our Primary Goals. These Secondary Goals, in and of themselves, are usually not fun. They are small disciplines that we do because we want to achieve the Primary Goal. He used the example of seeing Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman at a practice green once when he was golfing with a friend (Dr. A.). It was early in the morning, and the two golf pros were hitting balls at a flag down the green on a practice area, and they were hitting every shot within 1-2 feet of the flag they were aiming at. Pretty impressive, thought Dr. A! Near perfection, every time! Here's the thing. A few hours later, when Dr. A came back around for a cold drink, there they were, in the same spot, still making the same shot, with the same results. He was amazed that for 3 hours they had been simply hitting their ball with accuracy toward their goal, in the hot sun. It could not have been a cake-walk, it was probably hard work. They were tired. And here, they had been making that same, successful but monotonous shot for 3 hours. Dr. A illustrated that they were doing that because it was a secondary goal to their primary goal of being world-class golfers. The same shot for 3 hours. Not exciting. No cameras. Hot sun. Probably rather be doing something else. But the reason they were doing that was so they could continue to execute the SAME SHOT under the pressure of the game no matter how big the stakes got. I thought of that in my own life. Medifast is sometimes boring. The food isn't super exciting. My lean and greens are nothing to write home about, but they always meet the guidelines. At the end of the day, my golf ball is usually a foot or so away from my intended target flag. Awesome day. Awesome shot. Then I wake up and do it again. Why? Because my primary goal is to be the fittest version of myself that I can be, for myself and for my family. And I will get there, one day at a time. Today I will stand out in the hot sun and swing that club in the same way at the same target with the same results, and be successful. Again. And one day I will be at my goal. |
| Today, Chris (Lealonnie1) blogged about something that got my mind working overtime. She blogged about the allure of the binge. No matter what degree of food addiction we come to Medifast WITH, we can ALL relate to this. It's the feeling of a slow build up (sometimes fast) of tension in our inner being which seems to only resolve itself if we give in to whatever we have been craving. I put some thought to that, and to addiction in general, whether it be to food, alcohol, etc. Sometimes when we enslave ourselves to something else it (falsely) takes the burden off (we think) our shoulders for awhile and we collapse into the arms (the treacherous arms) of something bigger than ourselves. The voluntarily homeless are a good example of this. My Grandfather was a voluntary homeless person in Fresno California for years and years, up until he died of cirrhosis of the liver. He had the MEANS to have an apartment (the tools, the know-how), but every time he'd get into one he would do something to get himself thrown out. Build a fire in the living room, on the carpet, for example. This was his way of resolving the stress of having a roof over his head. He did not want any responsibility. None. His "most comfortable" and relaxing, stress-free place was sleeping out on the streets of Fresno. As long as he had his bear claw and his fifth of vodka for breakfast, he was happy. He was content with his life and FULLY enslaved to his addiction. He never became the person he might have been. He never did the hard work of getting sober and staying sober. And he died alone, in a hospital room, which was the first roof he had over his head in years. His choice. What is our choice today? We may feel the pull towards the _______, or the _________, or we may use any excuse we can to have ________ because it is a special occasion of ________. Kinda sounds like my Grandfather's old excuses to me. If the sun rose it was cause for a celebratory fifth. I will not be that person who lives in a state of submission to her addiction. I will be master of my addiction TODAY. Because today is all I am responsible for. I will shoulder the tension that may come today, that uncomfortable tension that exists when there is a disparity between my wants and my choices. But every day that I choose to be committed to my recovery that tension lessens. It lessens to the point that many days it is a tiny voice in the back of my mind. It is those days I need to be MOST vigilant, because it is those tiny suggestions that I may confuse for my own rational thoughts. I have to learn to discern between what is best for me and what is my inner-brat whispering sweet nothings in my ear. So today I will pray to be discerning and wise even in my thought life. I will take my thoughts captive, and if I begin down that road of obsessing over ________ or a bite of ________ or having just a glass of red _______, I will nip that in the bud. If I don't those thoughts grow and create that tension which only surrender will relieve. And I will not surrender. I never want to wake up in a stupor with a bear claw in my hand and a fifth of vodka by my side. And I also never want to wake up back at 268 pounds and say "how did I get here? AGAIN?" Have a great Medifast Day! |
| "I don't want to be anything other than what I've been tryin' to be lately...All I have to do is think of me and I have peace of mind...I'm tired of lookin' round rooms wondering what I gotta do, or who I'm supposed to be....I don't want to be anything other than me....." - Gavin DeGraw I am at peace with the process. I am living an abstinent day today. I pray to repeat it tomorrow. It is truly one day at a time. I love waking up every morning 100% guilt-free, knowing in my soul that yesterday I did everything I could to walk this path I have committed to with honestly and integrity. And then all I have to worry about is today. Today. When I say I am living an abstinent day, I mean abstinent from sludge. Abstinent from eating any food that will bring me harm, will start the cycle of overeat*repent*repeat. This is not easy. Anyone who knows me personally knows I am easily distracted, and a master rationalizer. But I am single minded on this issue, the issue of my health and my life. This is it. This is my shot. And by the grace of God I walk one day at a time. I do not have nerves of steel, or a resolve of iron. But I have decided and committed to myself and my God that I will do everything within my power to walk away from temptations....today. I downloaded the above song onto my Ipod today and the chorus really rings true. I don't want to be anything other than what I'm trying to be lately. For the first time in my life I am content and at peace with this process. Happy Medifasting, it is time for bed! |
| My body is "different". My body, since I was in 4th grade, has taken every "extra" calorie I give it and stored it as fat. I have always laughed at the "suggested caloric intake of the US Guidelines. Laughed and cried. I will gain weight on 1200 calories/day. No, I will never be able to eat whatever I "want" to eat and not gain an ounce. So, I am changing what I "want" to eat in order to fit my body's way of handling calories. Medifast is a lifesaver in that way. It allows me to limit my calories to around 850 per day, still get all of my vitamins/minerals/nutrients necessary, and it allows me to lose weight consistently. I will never be one of those who can lose 4-5 lbs a week, and I'm ok with that. My average is 2. But 2 pounds a week over 12 months is 104 pounds! And I'm coming up on my 1-year anniversary in July, being down 70 so far. That is an average of 9 lbs/month every month. No other diet would allow me to do this, as I pretty much maintain on WW and South Beach even while doing it 100%. Now, back to the title of my blog. I will never BE that fit girl/lady who can eat whatever she wants and not gain an ounce, but I am determined to LOOK like her. You'd be surprised at how many of those people that we perceive are able to have "whatever they want" actually limit THEIR intake also! Sure there is the odd mutant who actually CAN eat whatever she wants because genetically she has the metabolism of a hummingbird. But most fit and healthy people actually DO self-regulate, they just never make a big deal about it, nor do they ever say "I'm dieting...so I really really WANT that slice of pie, but I'm denying myself Ho-Hum Poor Me." No, they just do it (eat healthy) because it is a habit. I am learning how to be THAT person through Medifast and through Dr. A's Habits of Healthy Living. Because at the end of the reducing phase I actually WANT to be that fit girl who can eat whatever she wants (healthy, on plan, in control) and not gain an ounce. I am determined to be her. And I will look like her too! It's just that my "wants" will line up with my goals, and I will be content with my limitations and view them as opportunities for health...instead of deprivations and impositions on my lifestyle. Wishing you all a great MF day! |
| Every once in awhile I try to take a step back and redefine the "whys". Why am I doing this? I did the math, and I have spent 1/20th of my life on Medifast. I'm 40-ish, so that is saying quite a bit, that I have decided it is important enough for my health and happiness to say that certain things just are NEVER going to be a part of my life again. Ever. I have lost, now, just about 210 pounds using Medifast. In 2006/07 I lost 140 lbs, and it took me 14 months. Now I'm back to finish this, and am just *just about* 70 lbs. down in a little over 8 months. Yup, it goes slower the second time. Why am I doing this? Because I, my husband and my 6 year old son deserve me to be the BEST version of myself possible. End of story. So that is my focus, that is my goal. To be the best me I can be, to be a model of good health and good choices for my family and for anyone else who may cross my path. At 268 pounds, I was not that person. But I had the potential to be. And I have tapped that potential, and with the help of many people along the way, have DECIDED and COMMITTED that this IS the last time I'm doing this (losing weight from morbidly obese to healthy BMI). How do I accomplish this? I don't bring the junk into the house. I don't look at the dessert menu. At a restaurant I immediately go to the salad section and ascertain which salad will be the closest fit for my Lean and Green, then make a mental note of which ingredients in that salad to have the wait-staff hold. Dressing on the side BTW. But it's deeper than that. It is an ordering of my day, every day. In the morning I roll out of bed with an already-positive attitude because I don't have any feelings of guilt from the day before. I take out my little moleskine black book, log my weight, then write out a list of which MF meals I will eat that day, in addition to what my L&G will be, what time it will be, and what healthy fats I will incorporate into my day. If I'm going to choose a snack or condiments that day, I write it down. If I'm going to have a diet coke that day, or tea, I write it down. After that book snaps closed, my day is set. I will not deviate from it. I am as unswerving in the exercise department. When I go out for a walk or a run, I plan in advance what I will do, what route I will take and for how many minutes I will run, or how many miles. Once I've decided, it is set. I will not stop until I have met my goal. Do I make sure my goals are realistic? Yes I do, I am not an overachiever I am a realist. Let me say a few words about impulse control. It is probably my biggest weakness, which is why I have formulated the system I have. My inner-brat is a whiner. My inner-brat is also a terrorist, because she is always trying to sabotage my efforts and sometimes she succeeds. One of the reasons I am SO stringent on not eating off plan foods is because it unleashes my inner-brat, and gives her strength. And I know if I do that she will overpower me and I'll wake up in a year having gained most or all of my weight back. So, my inner-brat is a terrorist. And I don't negotiate with terrorists. The first time I set out to run a mile, I knew that physically I could do it. I had the knowledge of my capabilities. So I began to run. Wouldn't you know it, about 1 minutes in to the jog, my inner-brat piped up. She said "you can stop now...you aren't feeling so great." I said "no." She said "Oh come on, you got your heart rate up, you've done better than yesterday already! Just stop, you know you want to." I said "no." She said "Oh man, come on! Do you know how ridiculous you look out here at 200 pounds attempting to be a runner?" I said "no." She quieted down for a few minutes. 3 minutes into the run she piped up again... "OK really, this is enough. You know you want to stop." I said "no." Do you know, that now when I go for a run, I barely hear a peep from that inner-brat? Every time I said "no", she got quiet. Then she went longer and longer without saying a word. But let me tell you something. The FIRST TIME I deviate from my routine, the first time I respond positively to that inner-brat's voice and follow up on her suggestion, she will become more vocal. It is the same with my eating. That is why I'm a 100%-er. Because when I'm NOT, when I do give in, that inner-brat grows stronger and she wants my destruction, not my health. That self-indulgent impulsive destructive inner-brat wants what she wants, consequences be da**ed! And I'm not giving control of my life over to a terrorist. She's wreaked her havoc in my life for too long. It's MY turn to shine. |
| I saw this post from a fellow Facebooker and adopted it as my status for a few hours last week. It really gave me a chuckle. And JustPraisin's Blog today really highlighted how many excuses we really give for not sticking to a program and finally getting the weight off. What has your excuse been this week? To finally BE different, we must DO differently. Are we skating by on a wing and a prayer, holding our breath at weigh in and taking out the elastic in our hair hoping last Thursday's "minor indiscretion" won't beat us up too badly? Did we exhale when we saw we didn't "do too badly...at least I didn't gain...." Really? REALLY? At least you didn't GAIN? Yeah, I know. I've been there, countless times. And let me tell you at some point, it's GOT to be different. YOU'VE got to be different. Or this is just another diet with the same ole' view. A big ole' bu** making our excuses look fat. Happy Medifasting! |
| The only way anyone on this earth would convince me that taking a "break" from my Medifast Plan is an "OK" thing to do (and they still wouldn't because of the mind issues involved...but just for argument's sake....), would be if that person could guarantee me that for that "break" my body would metabolize food differently for the same time frame. It won't. My body metabolizes food the way it does and there is nothing I can do to change that. Not for a minute, not for an hour, not for a week of vacation. My body, as do many of yours, takes any excess calories I give it, that is anything over and above it's current needs, and stores it IMMEDIATELY as fat. I don't get a break from this. I can't have an "out of body" experience that will allow me to eat "what I want and crave" without dire consequences to my health and my body, let alone to the goals and dreams I have for myself. Not only that, but think of it this way, from a body composition perspective. As we lose weight, we are losing fat AND some lean body mass (read: Muscle). If we lost 10 pounds, and 1 or 2 of those pounds is muscle, then we go on vacation and gain 10 pounds, we have just LOST 8 pounds of fat and then GAINED 10 back. Thus, we have altered our body composition in an extremely negative way. Do this time and time and time again, even with just a day off here and a day off there, and we are actually increasing our % body fat and in essence promoting flabbiness. And that is just from the physical perspective of my BODY. Now let's talk about the mind. Giving in to my temptation and feeding my addiction (yes, we ARE all addicted in one way or the other, or else we wouldn't be here) only reinforces that it is OK to give in to temptation and feed my addiction. Imagine a crack addict saying "But I'm OK with having crack only occasionally, for special occasions, and all of you 100% "abstainers" can just keep your advice....." Yeah. Not. Just some things to think about today. |
| So here's a little teaser to Dr A's Habit of Health: Motivation. I really think everyone needs to run out and buy the book, as it is so essential that we actually CHANGE our way of thinking about ourselves AND food if we want to be successful long term. I really identified with the Chapter 3 that I read today at Starbucks. In the past, having been a yo-yo dieter, I certainly can appreciate being motivated out of a sense of conflict. What Dr. A says is that if we are motivated because of what we DON'T want to be anymore, once we begin making those changes, even if the changes are slight (losing 5 pounds even), since we are feeling better and not horrible anymore we tend to lose our motivation because our motivation was that we DIDN'T want to feel HORRIBLE anymore! Now while I think this is just a fine way to be motivated to BEGIN a program, somewhere along the line our attitudes need to shift to what we DESIRE to be instead of what we desire NOT to be. Looking FORWARD to optimal health instead of always BACK from where we came just to say "I'm glad I'm not THERE anymore". Now, don't get me wrong, I AM glad I'm not THERE anymore. Life seems so much easier. But to leave it at that drains my motivation because I'm NOT that heavy anymore. Problem solved, right? Nope. Because if I'm not focusing on what I want to accomplish, and if I don't set before me who I WANT to be at the end of this process, then I will certainly have a hard time getting there! If my goal is only that I want to be off my medications, or that I don't want to be wearing my 26's anymore, well, having lost 70 pounds, theoretically I've met my goal. But now the danger is that since I've not replaced those negative motivators with positive motivators I am in danger of stalling out and staying at 200 for an indeterminate amount of time because I'm NOT who I DIDN'T want to be anymore. But I'm not who I MIGHT'VE been either, and now I am shooting for THAT. I want to live in the full potential of who God created me to be, and that does NOT include being in an obese, or even an overweight BMI. I am embracing my destiny, not just congratulating myself for narrowly escaping sickness and disease by losing 70 pounds. Anyway, just some thoughts. Have a great Saturday everyone! |
| Yesterday I spent a bit of blog time talking about the fact that what we FOCUS on will be the direction we go, the thing that our heart pines after. Today I wanted to say a little bit about dwelling on success. I love Tony Robbins. He is an awesome motivational speaker, and has experienced much success in his own life as well. Without getting all motivational-speaker-guru on y'all I just want to highlight a concept that I really was able to grasp when watching one of his videos. It is simply this..... You must have faith in the process to have success in the process. The faith actually comes first, which is why those who sign up for Medifast and aren't encouraged/don't follow it after the first two weeks don't generally continue on to success. Once you have FAITH in the process, and you commit to the tenets, you start seeing results, which then reinforce your continued faith. But the faith is first. I've been there. I remember ordering Medifast for the first time, and although I was a little skeptical about my past failures, I dove in headlong after reading so many success stories because I KNEW it could happen for me, and to me. If only I followed the program. I devoured everything I could get my hands on to ensure that I was actually doing the successful program successfully. I emptied my mind of anything that would not get me where I wanted to go. In short, I stopped dwelling on them. What did I stop dwelling on? 1) My past failures. 2) The food I was "missing out on". 3) Other people's opinions of the method I had chosen to get to my goal. I found that to dwell on any of the above undermined my FAITH in the program. Dwelling on the food I could no longer have misplaced my affections, transferring them on to an idol made out of carbs and fat. "But wait," you say, "How can I have faith when I've lost and gained and lost and gained my entire life?" To this I say don't dwell on the past. I've done that, too, even with MEDIFAST! If anyone has cause to have their confidence in themselves rocked to the very core, it is me, having lost 140 pounds in 14 months and then gaining every ounce of it back over the next year or two. Yes. But I am not dwelling on that, because I am BECOMING the person I MIGHT HAVE BEEN. The only regret I will have at the end of my life is if I give up on my journey to good health and fitness. And I refuse to live a regret-filled life. So I am doing what I need to do *TODAY* in order that I might accomplish my goal. My faith in myself is not gone. It was a tad bit challenged, but when I rejoined Medifast last July I put every ounce of faith I had in the PROGRAM, and then did my very best to stay on the PROGRAM one day at a time. Each day that passed renewed my confidence that I can do ANYTHING for 24 hours if I set my mind to it and have a plan. And I have lined up enough of those 24-hour periods to have lost almost 70 pounds. Yes, I am on my way. |
| As someone who has put many many miles on her "frequent loser's club" card, I am always amazed at how I really am the only one who is completely responsible for my attitude. There are days that I pine for the old times, the evening glass of red wine, the cheese that often accompanied it, the daily chocolate, and eating WHATEVER I wanted to eat at any time, any place. Yes, there are days that I do think on those things, about what I am missing. Those are the days that I find I struggle with thoughts of deprivation. However, there are many MORE days these days where I find I am focusing on what I am gaining. I look at my closet which has all my beautiful smaller-sized clothing that I am not *yet* in. I lay out the jeans that are just the next size down, and try them on every once in awhile. I take a long, hot bath and feel the bubbles on my every-shrinking body. Those days I find that staying on plan is a snap! So what am I saying? I am saying that we should be mindful of what we are placing our focus on, for it just may be the difference between having a miserable "why do I have to even do this?" angry day or having a wonderful "I'm so excited this is working for me and can't wait to achieve my goals and dreams" day. I like those days best. |
| The only thing we are responsible for is today. Our success on this program, our dreams of getting to goal, of finally being fit and healthy some of us for the first time in our lives, is only dependent on what we do *Today*. What choices will we make today? Will we push the limits of our program with extra condiments and apprehensive logging of our food to see if we've somehow managed to barely remain within the program guidelines for calories and carbs? Will we massage the measurements, add an extra meal, eat two brownies at once, add peanut butter AND cool whip to both, take that one "little" extra teaspoon of peanut butter in the process, after all, what will it hurt? Or will we line up day after day of 5&1, limited condiments, limited snacks, drink all our water, and finish the day knowing in our hearts that we did ALL WE COULD today to contribute to and continue our successful journey? Every person can only answer this for himself/herself. Let me ask this. What did we do yesterday? Because if we are not finding success on this program like we'd hoped, and yet "today" is a repeat of "yesterday", we will continue to bang our heads against a wall and chalk up Medifast to yet another failed attempt. BUT THERE IS HOPE! We can control our "Today". That is all we need to worry about. TODAY. Yesterday's failures are behind us, tomorrow is not yet here. Today is the day we win or lose this battle. So what will YOU do differently today? Or, for those who are finding success and ARE doing the program as written, will you continue today? I know what I will do. I will worry about today, and be honest with myself and with the program. Happy Medifasting! |
| The question of the day is this: Why are we so gosh-darn easy on ourselves, and why do we just assume we are going to fail? Medifast, on all of its ads, states "*Results not typical". Why is this? The diet works, the problem is that sometimes WE don't. Take Super Bowl weekend. For many people this was their first real challenge since starting the diet. There are a few posts of successful people having gotten through it, but a "typical" posts admits utter and complete failure where food is concerned. There is some wisdom to not beating ourselves up, and putting it behind us, and starting over, and today is a new day, etc etc etc. But for some of us, maybe it is time to take a good hard look at why we are doing this. What is our motivation? Is this just going to be another failure like every single other diet we've tried? Is it? Can we do the program half-heartedly, or "mostly"? How many times can we eat "almost perfect" until we decide to do it for real? I think we are too easy on ourselves sometimes. We just assume we will fail, so we are almost relieved when we do. After all, isn't success in this area scary? I mean, really, what would we do with the extra attention from people who never noticed us before? How would we handle it? For those of us who are married, I'll bet the idea of an affair never even crossed our minds because we never thought someone else would be attracted to us in that way. What if they were? What if we actually had to DEAL with the contents of our HEARTS and do some self-rennovation in that area? No, most of us are perfectly happy (although we moan and complain about it) being fat and unattractive. Then we can focus all of our efforts on trying to lose weight and deal with the outer, and gloss right over the INNER, not realizing it is the INNER person that needs the work. But instead, we "sort of" diet, so we can keep avoiding the real stuff of life. We insulate ourselves. We've done a really good job of it. Some of us have more insulation than others. When I started this program back in July, I had 150 lbs of "insulation" to deal with. Now I have about 80. And I have fought for every pound. So whenever I read that people "just had to" or "couldn't resist the urge" or "mostly ate on program" etc etc, I read "I'm not willing to deal with my stuff, so I'll keep flirting with diets and never get to the nitty gritty of why I keep sabotaging myself." Which keeps the Medifast Asterisk on all the ads. Because the typical person doesn't want to deal with their stuff. And let me tell you something, until you do, or until you have a motivator that forces you to do it, you'll be stuck in the grouping of people who don't lose their weight. Medifast is only a tool. It will not do it for you. It will help you do it yourself. More than once my husband has said he is proud of me for sticking to the program like I have. I know he would be silently grieving if he saw me eating chocolate cake, or cookies, or pizza, or anything that is not on the program, because he would think to himself he has a fat wife, and as much as he would like me to be a desirable weight, he knew I didn't have it in me. No. That is not me. I refuse to have that be me. I was that way for 18 of the last 19 years, so I have been on the other end of this coin. But not anymore. He only told me a year ago that it mattered to him what I look like. He said it mattered to him all along, but he didn't want to tell me that because he didn't want to seem shallow. I wish he had told me that 19 years ago when we got married and I was thin, because I would have worked that much harder to stay that way. I wish he would have said something 10 years ago when I was obese, I would have worked that much harder to get back down to a desirable weight. He says if he had to do it over again, he would have let me know earlier. Well, at least he told me finally that it WAS important to him. It is part of my motivation to lose the weight. Part of this post is to encourage any of you who HAVE been sticking to the program. It can be done. And when it is done, you WILL have results. You WILL have the asterisk next to your name, saying "results not typical." My question to everyone would be, do you want to be "typical" or "not typical?" |
| I used to think that my happiness would begin once I reached goal. I have since learned that it isn't true. My happiness began the week after I began MF, when finally I could say "I'm doing everything I can to be a fitter, healthier ME!" My attitude changed immediately. As the weight peeled off I became even happier, were it possible! One of the things that had the potential to discourage me at the outset was how LONG I thought it was going to take to get my weight off. I thought I wouldn't be "happy" until I was at goal. Boy, was I wrong on both counts. Firstly, as I said, I'm happy now because I'm doing everything I can and it is a state of mind. Now, regarding the "time it will (has) take (taken) to get to goal", I look at it like this: THE TIME WILL PASS ANYWAY. What does that mean? It means that whether or not you commit to the program today or don't, in 6 months you will be 6 months older. You can't stop it. The time will pass. One day you'll wake up and POOF, it will be 6 months from now. At that time, you will call it "today". But in actuality it will be....6 months from now. Now how many times have we said to ourselves (usually while beating ourselves senseless with guilt) "If only I had started this program and stuck with it 6 months ago....I'd be AT or ALMOST AT goal." Well, use that concept for good instead of beating yourself up after the fact. Start now. In 6 months, it WILL be 6 months from now, it WILL be "today", and if you are diligent now, you will be that much closer to your goal. You could be down 3 full sizes! How does that sound? Would you like to have woken up today and have been 3 full sizes smaller? 50-60 pounds lighter? For sure! So don't let the time it will take for you to get close to goal put you off from doing something about it today. The time will pass. Do you want to be 6 months or a year older in 6 months or a year and be heavier? Or not have done anything and stayed the same weight? Will you be closer to your happiness then? Not me! SO! What does that mean? It means that whatever you need to do today, just for today, do it. Do you need to drink more water right now? Do it. Do you need a MF meal? Do it. Right now. Because all you have to worry about is today. Tomorrow will take care of itself...you will wake up tomorrow and it will be "today" again. And all you have to worry about is today. Don't carry the burden of the next 6 months in your head and let it crush you. Just worry about today. |
| Could be as soon as the end of the week, perhaps a week and a half at the latest. But Onederland is coming around the bend, the moment where I step on the scale and it no longer reads "2--" but reads "1--" instead! ONE-DER-LAND! Yay. Today is a good day, I will worry only about today today. Having started at 268, I must say it feels pretty good to *just about* be stepping across the thresh hold where my new life is waiting for me. From a size 26 jeans to a size 14, and I had my 12's yesterday, buttoned and zipped. Not safe to wear out of the house yet, but give it another week or two and I'll be saying goodbye to these 14's that I've barely even broken in. We can all do this, but it is an individual journey. Happy Medifasting! |
| I often wondered why we needed to love ourselves. How could I, I asked, when I am so ____________ ? (Fill in the blank). One of the reasons I used to struggle with sticking to weight loss programs is because I hated myself. Now if I hate myself, where is the motivation to HELP myself? I need to start from a place of love and forgiveness. So, I forgave myself for gaining my weight back. I love myself and I love my body and only want GOOD things for it. Which is why I don't put junk down the hatch. Now I take every day as an opportunity to nurture this body that the Good Lord gave me, and I take care of it with proper nutrition and occasional exercise. I stay hydrated. I log my foods. I take time to meditate, in order to bust the stress. Just some things I have learned, and am re-learning daily. Happy Medifasting! |
| I've been studying the success stories on this site. I've often been guilty of looking at their photos, reading their stories, and deciding it must have just been easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy for them the whole way through. That they didn't struggle. That they just barreled through on sheer willpower and always found success. I mean after all, look at them, they are all beautiful! I look at myself, and compare, and get discouraged because I think that since I DO struggle, since I don't FEEL like I am always succeeding, that somehow that translates to some erroneous thinking that therefore I will never be a success at getting this weight off. I remember my week 1, week 2, and week 3, and I remember how I felt. Thankfully, my fat doesn't care how I feel. Success on this program comes by DOING the program. All the successful ones had their week 1, 2, and 3. They had their ups and downs in terms of confidence, emotions, etc. They are us. So listen here and listen good. It's ok that we are frustrated, disappointed, angry, these are all emotions we have to work our way through, as I'm sure all the successful ones did too. We are angry at ourselves for years of abusing our bodies. We are disappointed the weight isn't coming off overnight. We are frustrated because sometimes food seems to have the same (or more) of a hold on us than before we even started the program. But we are more than the choices that we've made, we are more than the sum of our past mistakes, to steal a line from a Christian song. WE ARE BECOMING THE PERSON WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN. Now, the choice is ours. Do we work the plan today or don't we? Have a Successful Sunday! |
| I have 4 more pounds to go until I can purchase my Tiffany Sterling Silver Charm Bracelet and the first charm (reaching "Onederland"). I am so psyched, it will be awesome. The first charm is going to be a little circular Tiffany & Co. Logo with blue enamel. I will be purchasing 1 Tiffany charm for every 10 lbs after that, all the way down to 118 for a total of 9 charms on the bracelet (including the one I'm getting with the bracelet). I've already picked out the charms, and the order I will get them in. I will be getting two locket-charms. In the "190" charm will be pictures of my husband and my son. In my "120" locket charm will be MY before and after pictures. |
| DENIAL-I don't have a problem. I'll start tomorrow. I'll start after the party next week. I'll start after my birthday. I'm not really THAT big. I'm not getting on a scale. ANGER-I'm so angry I have to deal with this every day! "Normal" people don't have to watch every single little thing that goes into their mouth! Why do I have to do this? I'm sick of it! I'm sick of the soup. I hate the shakes. I can't stomach the chili. BARGAINING-How 'bout if I "sortof" do the program. I'll give up my soda. I'll eat a snack instead of a meal. I'll have an extra bar/meal today because I exercised so much. It's just a little taste. How 'bout if I just have this and get right back on track tomorrow. It's such a small piece. DEPRESSION-I can't believe I did that. I'll never lose this weight. I'll be fat my whole life, I may as well deal with that fact. I can't understand how I got this way. Why am I this big? What did I do to deserve this? I can't see a way out. Why me? I'll never do this. I'm hopeless. ACCEPTANCE-I will do the Medifast Program as written, and enjoy the success that I deserve and that so many people who have stuck to this program are enjoying every day. I will do this. I can do this. I am doing this. I think the emotions we go through on Medifast, although unique to us, are indicitive of the same pattern in the 5 stages of grief. After all, we are "losing" something. Our weight. Some of us have had a relationship with our weight our whole lives. The fat has been a friend, just as food has been a friend. It has made decisions for us. It has dictated what we wear, where we go, whether we sit in a booth or a regular table, what rides we go on Disneyland, whether we can go through the turnstiles at Disneyland or have to go through the gate, how many seats we need to buy on an airplane (you know your fat is like a person to you if you need to buy an extra seat for it...what an appropriate analogy). Our fat tells us whether or not we can go to the beach or wear a bathing suit (NOT!), what section of what store we can buy our clothes in. Our fat dictates whether or not we can buy life insurance, or health insurance, and eventually, our fat dictates when we die. Many of the adult diseases that become fatal are more likely to happen to fat people. Diabetes. Heart disease, and certain cancers are closely tied to weight. So our fat dictates how and when we will die. It may be our friend or our closest companion for years, but it is a treacherous one with your ruin in mind. Get rid of it. It's not worth keeping. Some of us are as comfortable with our fat, and unwilling to get rid of it, as someone in a physically or emotionally abusive relationship. Our identities are so wrapped up in us being fat, we can't see life without it. Please, please, do this for you. Do it for your health. Mourn the fat, yes, maybe, but get through it and get rid of it. You'll be better off, I promise! Have a great week! |
| A hearty congrats to Freya for reaching goal. 9 months and 25 days ago she set out with a single purpose in mind. To get to goal. She took one day at a time, and she lost 100 pounds. Today is her goal day. It really inspires me to see others reach goal, because we will ALL have our "GOAL day" if we only stick to the program and line up our compliant Medifast days, one after the other after the other. Sometimes it seems so far away! But one day, our "today" will be our goal day. If we work the plan. Freya's was today. I look at it this way; the time is going to pass anyway, and in one year I will be one year older. But I refuse to be one year fatter. I will have my goal day, and whether it is in 6 months or a year or somewhere in between, it doesn't matter. One day I will wake up and title my blog "Goal." Happy Medifasting! |
| I am reading Rick Warren's book entitled "God's Power to Change Your Life", and it has some great tidbits in it. Yesterday I read the following: The interesting thing about how God uses circumstances is that the source of the circumstances makes no difference to Him. We often bring problems on ourselves by faulty decisions, bad judgments, and sins. At other times our problems are caused by other people. Sometimes the devil causes things to happen to us as he did to Job. But God says the source of our circumstances is irrelevant. "I will still use it in your life," He says. "I will fit it into my pattern; I will fit it into my great plan for your life, to make you like Jesus Christ.". So there is no circumstance in life from which we cannot learn if we'll just have the right attitude. Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways. in other words, we are not as likely to change when we see the light as when we feel the heat! Why? Because we change only when the fear of change is exceeded by our pain. (Or the "work" of change is exceeded by our current pain). The first step in change is usually discomfort. He goes on to say that we have to change our thoughts first. We have to change what we think about. Then our emotions will follow, as will our actions. Willpower is important, but it will only take you so far. If your "autopilot" is set on eating whatever you want, unless you change that, your "willpower" will only get you so far before the tension created between your autopilot mentality and your actions has to resolve itself, and it usually does that by reverting back to the autopilot thoughts. So we must change our self-talk, change our thoughts and what we dwell/think on. Eventually, our autopilot (as mine has become) will be set to Medifast, and the willpower will not be necessary to maintain at such high levels, which frees us up to concentrate on other positive changes we hope to make in our lives. Again, the willpower, for me, was only temporarily necessary until my autopilot could be reset. The next two positive changes I hope to tackle are my housekeeping and my finances. Resetting the autopilot from a messy-messy to a clean freak, and from an impulsive spender to a frugal saver. I am encouraged by my successes on Medifast that REAL, GENUINE change IS possible in anyone's life. How does God come into it? He gives me the strength to back up my good decisions. |
| I see this phrase every once in awhile bandied about on the boards or on the blogs, and I have to say, I agree wholeheartedly. But I don't agree in the way that people might think. There is no magic in the Medifast Plan. It is a plan that, when followed, produces amazing results. When it is not followed, the results are not the same. Ever notice the little disclaimer at the bottom of virtually all of the Medifast ads? It says *Results Not Typical. Now why is that, do you think? I mean it's a GREAT program, with CLINICALLY PROVEN results, that in my estimation make it an obvious choice for those who would like to lose weight relatively quickly, which is a huge factor in stick-to-it-tiveness. At least for me it is. But there is no magic in the powdered meals. Meaning, if you buy the products, they get to your house, and you end up opening a few packets here and there, there is no "magic" fairy dust that will float out of the packets and give you results simply for having the products around and trying a few every once in awhile. There is no magic in the powdered foods that will undo your poor decisions on the weekends. There is no magic in the brownie mix that will rewind time so you can make a better choice at that restaurant you went to. In other words, there are no "magic points" for "trying", unless that "trying" is resulting in remaining on plan. If any out there advocate going off plan regularly to remain "sane" or to feel "normal" I would challenge that it is actually INSANITY to try the same thing over and over and expect different results. It is actually GETTING TO and maintaining a normal weight that will help you feel, well, normal. We can't take a weekend break from our bodies. If we do we become weekday dieters, who gain and re-lose the same 5 pounds weekly. And we will be miserable. We can't let the product sit in our cupboard and expect results. So let's do this thing, because there is no "magic" in Medifast. We do the work, we lose the weight. |
| This is so cool, and it really speaks for itself! http://ir.medifastdiet.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=488620 And I did want to add a sidenote here, I'll bet the participants in this study actually did the program as written. |
| Nothing really prepares you for how you will feel on this program. I am referring to the constantly shrinking clothing sizes. I mean listen, we go about in denial in our size 24/26 stretch women's jeans, thinking they must be shrinking in the dryer. It can't be US who are getting BIGGER. We start wearing sweats more often than not, because it just takes too much time to "restretch" those jeans after they come out of the dryer, or we just stop washing the jeans. Then we make the comittment to change our lives with Medifast as a tool. We would never dream in our wildest dreams that the next time we go jeans shopping we would fit into a size 22. Then a size 20. Then a size 18 from a "regular" store like Costco. Then a size 16. Then a size 14. At some point we emerge from our shellshocked state and realize "this is NOT my imagination, I am SHRINKING!" How often have we dreamed of this? Then the sizes get too mindblowing to even conceive. 12. 10. 8. 6. Perhaps even 4 or 2 depending on our body size and height. Who knew? **The writer is sitting comfortably in her newly-received Levi's 515 Bootcut jeans she purchased last week from Ebay, in a size 14. **Last July I was wearing size 26 women's Stretch "Just My Size" brand jeans, which isn't "just my size" anymore. |
| Yes, it's true. My fat called me this morning. I wasn't available to answer the phone, but I pulled the following off the machine: "Hey! I hear you are trying to get rid of me. Well, I'm not going without a fight. After all, I am a virtual storage-house for the emotions of the past 2 years. Remember when you were sad that your mom died? And instead of pushing through and processing the grief you ate it away? Well, that grief is stored up in your fat cells now. Remember your son's kidney transplant and the worry and pain and apprehension you began to feel...so you ate it away? Yup, that is stored in your fat cells too. And your miscarriage...where exactly do you think the heartache of that went? You stuffed it down with a Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake, and...you guessed it...it is stored in your fat cells. Even your fear of failure and your disappointment in yourself is tucked away in those layers of excess fat. Because you insulated yourself from your emotions by eating them away. So now that you are planning on LOSING me? Just a word of warning, all those emotions are IN HERE. And as you LOSE me, stripping away the layers upon layers of emotion, they WILL come out. Sometimes they will seep out in ways you don't understand, giving you a general feeling of rage or sadness. Sometimes you will snap at your family because a bubble of emotion will make it's way to the surface. It will make it difficult, because the first thing you'll want to do is to relieve yourself of the unwanted emotions, by eating. It's what you've always done." ****Wow was I surprised to hear from my fat in that way. But a take it as a warning AND a challenge. This isn't just about losing the weight. It is about dealing with life in a way that doesn't use food and the good feelings associated with eating food as a crutch. Because those emotions that we are eating away? They don't go away. They get stored. And as we lose the fat, they come out. So we have to deal with them now or deal with them later. So here goes. I am prepared for the onslaught of emotion. |
| When I am off for a week or more, and eating what I used to consider "normally" I can gain up to a pound a day. It is super scary. If I go off ONE MEAL I am usually up 3-4 lbs the next day. I will never be able to eat "normally" or "take a break" because I can't take a break from my body, until I'm dead, (and I don't plan on that any time soon) it is impossible. And it is what it is. I've examined the 5 stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Resignation. Us medifasters are usually cycling through the first four interchangeably on our journey, but we all have to reach the last stage which is Resignation. Those who don't, become "Chronic Medifasters" so to speak, always gaining and losing, gaining and losing, sometimes for a lifetime. I used to be the classic "Yo-Yo Dieter." I think it is important to know we can never go back to the old ways. And we are grieving that. If I never reach resignation (also called acceptance) to and of the new limitations WILL continue to gain our weight back time and time again until I accept that my body is just different, and to have my goal of being fit and healthy I HAVE to surrender and accept this. Denial is I don't have a problem, or I can do it my way. Anger is I'm so mad that I even have to do this. I'll take my anger out on myself and/or others (we see this on the boards quite a bit). Bargaining is I'll just go off for the holidays, or the wedding, or because I'm having a rough day or because I deserve it. Depression is the weigh day afterwards, after gaining weight back over a day, a week, or a year. Resignation/Acceptance is working the plan, getting to goal, transitioning and maintaining because we know it is the only way we will reach our goal of being fit and healthy for the rest of our lives. When I think of the last stage, I think of Lealonni and JustPraisin'. Read their blogs and you see a quiet acceptance, a peace about the process. I have decided to stop the cycling, and to stay in the Resignation/Acceptance phase. I do that by working the program day in and day out, and there IS such a peace about that. Knowing that I am doing everything I can, every day, to reach my goal. Happy Medifasting! |
| The following is an excerpt from Dr. Phil's book: The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution which I just picked up from Goodwill for $1.99 "Typically, faulty thinking, especially about weight and weight control, runs along predictable lines. In my work with overweight patients, I have identified ten of the most common self-defeating messages that can undermine a person's weight-control efforts. Obviously, if you know what these messages are and become aware of them in your own life, you can change the course of your weight-control efforts. The ten most common self-defeating messages I have identified are: Externalizing/Internalizing Your weight locus of control (WLOC), which we looked at earlier, orchestrates and guides the content of your self-talk. If you tend to be externally oriented, for example, a lot of your internal dialogue might sound like, "I can't lose weight on my own. I'll have to take a diet drug." Or if you have an internal WLOC, you might be telling yourself, "If I'm going to achieve my goals, I've got to work out harder each time." With a chance WLOC, you might tell yourself, "Being overweight is just in the cards. There's nothing I can do about it." Whatever primary locus is at work in your life, it tends to be an influential force on what you say to yourself. Too much thinking in any one of these three dynamics-internal, external, or chance-can create outcomes you don't want. Thus, if you've acknowledged that you're inappropriately internalizing, externalizing, or being too fatalistic (chance), then you must stop letting yourself be pushed and pulled by that dynamic. Realistically asses what you can control and what you cannot, and take action to make a difference in your life. Labeling Labels are self-descriptions in your internal dialogue that reflect certain conclusions you've reached about yourself. Many of these labels came from within you when you observed yourself messing up in life, or they have come from other people. Maybe you have been ridiculed all your life for your weight, or have been the brunt of cruel fat jokes. In America, if you are overweight, you are stereotyped with labels such as "lazy," "sloppy," and "ugly." That's not fair, nor is it legal in certain employment situations, but it is a grievous part of life if you are overweight. People are going to be insensitive and treat you badly. Fair or unfair, it's the way things are. But whatever their source, you tend to internalize these labels, believe your labels, and live by your labels. They can become the definition of yourself if you let them. People dealing with weight problems typically label themselves as "failures" when they can't lose weight. Once you accept such a label as valid, you annihilate your self-confidence, your self-determination, and your longing for a healthier, more ideal weight. If you believe a negative label, then you'll absolutely miss evidence to the contrary. Frustration Thinking Many of you, when faced with going on a diet or starting an exercise program, tell yourself that you cannot tolerate the frustration and discomfort of not eating your favorite foods or having to haul your ample rear to the gym (*Bloggers note: Or taking your food to work, etc). Unable to stand the discomfort of changing, you have a low frustration set, expressed in thinking that goes something like this, "It's too hard. It's easier to stay fat. I can't be bothered with exercise." So to protect yourself, you convince yourself that any type of dietary or lifestyle change is just too difficult. This type of internal dialogue is marked by constant pessimism, and you upset yourself with these limiting thoughts. One reason you persist in it is its payoff; you're avoiding frustration and discomfort. But in doing so, you're cluttering up your mind with all kinds of BS, so every time you think about losing weight, you quit before you even get to the starting line. Fortune-Telling Like an internal psychic, your self-talk makes predictions about your performance, and when negative, this prediction tends to be a doom-and-gloom type prophecy. Your internal fortune-telling might run the gamut from "This won't work; I'll never lose weight; I will fail; I've got too much to lose" to "I'll never drop those last five or ten pounds." When this type of internal dialogue is really active, rationally confident thoughts get shunted out of your mind because they aren't as dominant or demanding. In essence, this negative internal dialogue can become a vicious cycle of self-fulfilling prophecy, controlling your thinking and predicting the outcome you will have. The smashing of the four-minute mile barrier in 1954 is a classic example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. People all over the world believed that running this distance in under four minutes was physiologically impossible for any human being, and so it never happened, until a young physician named Roger Bannister believed he could do it. And he did. In his legendary, record-breaking race, Bannister sprinted across the finish line in a time of three minutes and fifty-nine point four seconds. But what is truly instructive about this story is that the very next year, twelve more runners broke this previously unsurpassable mark, and today athletes do it all the time. If you're working at managing your weight, tune in to whether you are making predictions about your performance. If you are, you could be setting yourself up for an outcome you don't want. All-or-Nothing Thinking Suppose you step on the scales after you get out of the shower and the news is not good. If your internal dialogue tells you, "I gained weight again. All my attempts are useless," you're engaging in all-or-nothing thinking. You're saying to yourself that the situations, circumstances, events, and results in your life are all good or all bad, black or white, with no shades of gray in between. That dialogue, with all of its self-defeating messages, is particularly damaging because it can reactivate unwanted behavior. Look at it this way: you ahve dinner one night with your family and decide to have a small piece of pie for dessert-that's fine, but then your internal dialogue kicks in, and you say, "What the heck, I've blown my diet. I might as well eat the whole pie." With all-or-nothing conversation with yourself, you entertain thoughts that because you ate a piece of pie, all was lost so you might as well go from a bite to a full-blown binge. It is this type of distorted self-talk that often precedes addictive relapses among alcoholics, drug addicts--and over eaters. Catastrophizing when you evaluate events, do you exaggerate their meaning or significance? For example, does your internal dialogue ever chatter along these lines: "If I don't lose weight this time, I'll never do it." "I gained two pounds. This is horrible." "My boyfriend will hate me if I gain weight." If your internal dialogue sounds like this, you are catastrophizing--expecting the worst or making a melodrama out of everything that happens to you. For you, none of life's events, even the everyday ones, are ordinary. Every pound you gain is the most you've ever gained. Every slip up you have or mistake you make is a disaster. Every comment made to you is the rudest or most devastating you've ever heard. Like all forms of negative self-talk, this internal dialogue is self-defeating because you are reacting illogically toward a certain situation instead of viewing int rationally. When you talk to yourself like this, it can lead to a loss of self-control over healthy behavior. Pipe Dreaming Maybe thoughts of wanting to look like a fashion model or a Hollywood hunk are passing through your mind. Your internal dialogue is daring you to entertain fantasies of having the perfect body. Or maybe what you hear is a message that you can drop two sizes in two weeks. On the surface, this kind of talk may sound like positive, "I believe in myself" dialogue, but in truth it is very negative because the messages are unreasonable and unrealistic. Imposing unattainable goals on yourself leads to feelings of failure because these dreams do not materialize. If you're chasing after impossible pipe dreams, you're bound to be disappointed. You have to get real about what you can really achieve. Gut-Level Reasoning Sometimes to toxic inner environment that your internal dialogue sets up stems from transient, unreliable feelings that you may experience at any given time. For example, the belief that "I feel fat" gets translated by your internal dialogue into "I must look fat." You accept a feeling as absolute truth, and once you begin believing it, why would you continue to process data to the contrary? You might have a heap of evidence that runs counter to your looking fat, but your data-processing ability is so out of whack that you don't see or hear the more accurate, reliable information. Self-Downing When you come down on yourself, your internal dialogue cranks up its volume, becoming so loud that it crowds out other, more relevant and truthful information. If you're depressed about your weight, for example, your internal dialogue is likely to scream out put-downs such as "I can't lose weight. I don't have any self-control." You start condemning yourself for not succeeding, or obsessing about what you didn't do or could have done better. I'm sure you've said these things to yourself thousands of times. The problem is, if you treat this internal browbeating as gospel truth, it becomes reality for you. Understand that much of this dialogue, in which you put yourself down so persistently and destructively ,has been told to you by others in your life. It may be that your parents, partner, or relatives have verbally assaulted you with remarks like "You can't get thin," "You don't have what it takes to lose weight or be attractive,," or "You'll always be as big as a house." their words have gotten inside your head poisoning your thoughts and distorting how you see yourself, and have been a major determinant of your internal dialogue. But hear me out on this: it's bad enough if people in your life put you down, but it becomes disastrous if you internalize their put-downs, take over for them, and wind up kicking your own butt. You've got to acknowledge that this may be happening in your own mind, and blow the whistle on it. Only then will you have the power to change these highly destructive internal responses. Poor Me Thinking Another particularly treacherous form of self-downing is "poor me thinking," born out of feeling deprived or out of the fear of getting hungry. It can surface when you go on a diet that is restrictive. You find it hard to envision every being able to enjoy a party, go on vacation, eat what other people are eating, and so forth. This is a conversation in which you start feeling sorry for yourself, and a lot of your self-talk might sound like, "It's not fair that other people can eat cream puffs all day, and I can't" "I hate depriving myself of one of life's pleasures." I"i shouldn't have to work this hard to get in shape. It's easier for other people to do it." "I'll get too hungry." "I can't go to any parties." What can take this self-talk (or any self talk, for that matter) from a whisper to a whoop is poor nutrition. If you're indeed following an unbalanced diet that is low in nutrition, this can alter your mental state for the worse. (*Bloggers note: Or if you aren't getting in all your Medifast Meals and Lean and Green). Poor nutrition throws your physiological balance off just enough to create a depressed mood, and with it, its underlying negative self-talk. The end point of this type of thinking is highly destructive. For example, you may overeat or binge in order to compensate for your feelings of deprivation. Feeling sorry for yourself, you embark on a feeding frenzy in an attempt to cope. But what you fail to rationally take into account is that you can still go to parties, you can still go on vacations, and you can still do anything you want to do. You just need to focus on the camaraderie, the scenery, the activities, and the "battery recharge" you get from relaxation and recreation, rather than center every occasion on food. Think about deprivation another way: by overeating, you're depriving yourself of a healthy weight, an attractive appearance, self-regard, and peace of mind. These are some classic types of internal dialogue that may be sabotaging you. I hope you've recognized from this discussion that internal dialogue, when negative, is relentless, and can be highly destructive. If you're demeaning yourself, your body, and your personal control, and your internal dialogue shows it, you'll be compromised. Everybody criticizes their bodies. Everybody has self-doubt. Everybody has anxiety. But when any of these kinds of messages get their hooks in you, when they infiltrate your thinking, it becomes more difficult to get closer to what you really want to have and do. If you passively accept the messages of your internal dialogue, if you let it speak to you unchallenged, you have just stonewalled your chances of getting your weight under lasting control." |
| I am getting extremely close to crossing over into the 100's and I'm very excited at the prospect. One day at a time. Today I will stay on plan. Today. |
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
February 16th 2011 - May 16th 2011
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