Hey MrsJim,
Congratulations to you on your success years ago! ..and thank you for your words of wisdom!
I did my research, and I know all about the failure rate... the risks... I have to visit my physician (a board-certified cardiologist on the upper east side) once weekly for monitoring and vitals. I do not have any serious health problems... even with 3 years of smoking my pulse and blood pressure are normal. My EKG and heart sonogram were both normal. So, I'm not jumping into some crazy diet without professional advice and monitoring. Being under a physician's care while dieting is not only a great way to make sure you stay healthy while you lose... but, its almost a motivation... I was PROUD on Thursday when I visited the doctor... and my physician, the nurses and office workers praised me for my success. It felt great!
What I like about OptiFast is... basically... unless you lose your willpower and eat... you really almost can't fail, unless you have some sort of inborn hormonal problem (which, unfortunately, is true for many people). There's no portion control (which can lead you to overeat, whether or not you intend to)... and no specification of what you can and can not eat...its a very simple formula.
Its purely psychological for me... whenever I crave anything, I either coach myself in my head, or I,
<forgive me for sounding vain> fantasize about myself thin again... and I weigh my desire to reach my goal versus taking a bite of food. I even keep a small photo album of myself (I was thin my entire life until 3 years ago)... its truly inspiring. I also keep a journal... and I maintain a spreadsheet where I plot my weight loss... and I set short term goals for myself. My sister has promised to take a photo of me every Sunday when she comes over...this way... if my weight loss ever slows down... or I start to lose my willpower to continue dieting... I can review how far I have already come. When you look at yourself in the mirror every day --- you sometimes lose sight of how far you have already come...
My approach to the diet is... I just have to do it... that's it. And no matter how long it takes me... I will succeed.
tellymonster
218/206.5/155