I'm recommitting to Medifast starting Monday (or possibly tomorrow). I lost 45 pounds in 3 months in 2012. Met my now husband, never transitioned, and went right back to old/bad eating habits. I've tried a few times to recommit to Medifast over the last few years. Loses were slower, which shattered my motivation. In looking back, I see my head wasn't really in the game like it was the first time around. I played around with my L&G recipes, which works for a lot, but obviously is not for me. Sometimes had wine with dinner, etc., etc. In 2012 I was very hardcore with the program. 5 Medifast meals a day, and one very strict L&G (usually tuna with lettuce). I think I need to go back to that basic way of thinking.
I've been reading this forum, and I think this is definitely for me. I miss the old Medifast community. It really helped me stay on track. Reading other people's advice is so helpful. I already see future plans on how I will transition off of Medifast when I near my goal weight, just from reading posts on this forum.
I desperately do not want another family event to come up, where I start freaking out about what I can wear because I'm too overweight!
So Laura, I am so happy for your promotion! You go girl!!! Everyone here is amazing in their own right and deserves every good thing that comes their way. Starting planning where to go with that extra week! Just thrilled for you. Your hard work was recognized and sometimes that is the best reward.
Sheila
Laura ~
I'll chime in with Sheila's beautiful response to add my congratulations for your promotion and recognition. Both you and Sheila have some exciting and new things in store for you these next coming weeks.
How wonderful that you've decided to recommit to Medifast. The good part is you KNOW from experience that this program works well with full commitment. Several of us have done our own re-starts and we are enjoying the fruits of that as we get closer to our goals.
I think accountability is key! You have to find what helps get you over the hurdles as well as cheers you on. This forum has been that for me.
I, too have never been able to do a little cheat here and there. Never could do wine without it showing up on the scale. AND, that stuff always derailed me BOTH mentally and physically.
Good for you for challenging yourself to get back on plan. If you do that, you WILL show up a slimmer you to your next family event.
Okay I officially passed the three-day mark on day three I had no headache I actually had a good amount of energy. My lean and green was a really good dinner and I'm starting actually enjoy them. I will admit that if I do one and add an extra tablespoon of sugar free barbecue sauce or something like that. I will do that just so that I want to eat it but I don't have any other condiments during the day so at night I may have like 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar free barbecue sauce with my meal so I don't really feel like that it's bad. Like I said I'm someone who has to weigh myself frequently so that I have that encouragement that I'm getting something done and on the morning of day for an officially down 4 pounds so I feel like that is pretty good for 4 days. Thank you everyone for the encouragement and advice that really helps a lot
One more thing and I'm not sure if this helps anyone that is new like me but everytime I do feel like cheating or I walk past something that does look good that my family is eating I just try to remember that if I do go off track and sneak something is it hurting me or is it hurting someone else so I always have to remember that it's going to directly affect my goal if I sneak something!
Last edited by JEN.CA; 03-25-2017 at 10:49 AM.
Reason: misspelled
I decided to start today instead of tomorrow. I already over-indulged yesterday, and gained .4 pounds. I don't want to have another last binge day, where I'll only add on more that I have to lose.
Measured my 1 tablespoon of creamer for my coffee. Blah! I might end up giving up coffee too. I tend to like it a little sweet, but don't want the extra calories and carbs if I use more than a tablespoon. I'll be going through my carb and calorie withdrawal headaches anyway these next couple of days, might as well add on caffeine withdrawal.
Plan for the day:
Vanilla Shake
Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal
Chicken Noodle Soup
Chocolate Crunch Bar
Lettuce w/Tuna
BBQ Bites
Calories - 785
Carbs - 71g
Today will be tough. Step kids are coming over for dinner. I made a big pot of sauce and meatballs, and my husband is making chicken parm for them. These are some of my favorites, and I never grab small portions. I guess that's why I decided to start today. Better to avoid what I can't control.
Okay I officially passed the three-day mark on day three I had no headache I actually had a good amount of energy. My lean and green was a really good dinner and I'm starting actually enjoy them. I will admit that if I do one and add an extra tablespoon of sugar free barbecue sauce or something like that. I will do that just so that I want to eat it but I don't have any other condiments during the day so at night I may have like 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar free barbecue sauce with my meal so I don't really feel like that it's bad. Like I said I'm someone who has to weigh myself frequently so that I have that encouragement that I'm getting something done and on the morning of day for an officially down 4 pounds so I feel like that is pretty good for 4 days. Thank you everyone for the encouragement and advice that really helps a lot
One more thing and I'm not sure if this helps anyone that is new like me but everytime I do feel like cheating or I walk past something that does look good that my family is eating I just try to remember that if I do go off track and sneak something is it hurting me or is it hurting someone else so I always have to remember that it's going to directly affect my goal if I sneak something!
Jen ~ Congratulations on getting over the biggest part of week 1! It can be tough when you are doing that carb detox especially with little ones around I'm sure. You are doing an amazing job.
I found that my taste buds changed over time on this diet. Things I previous ate mainly because they were "good for me", I now really enjoy. I have loved getting away from the carbs and sugars and the way it makes me feel. Don't get me wrong, I could fall back into that trap in a heartbeat if I let myself. I know I have to stay vigilant to keep the weight off and keep moving toward the goal.
I am also a frequent weigh in person. I can barely walk by the scale without jumping on. I do it so often now that I can almost predict my next morning's weight based on the weight the evening before, what I ate that day and how much water I've had. I know that drives some people crazy but it is the one thing that works for me.
Even inside the MF plan, we all have to find those techniques and strategies that suit our personalities and needs. I know you are on the way to finding yours!
I decided to start today instead of tomorrow. I already over-indulged yesterday, and gained .4 pounds. I don't want to have another last binge day, where I'll only add on more that I have to lose.
Measured my 1 tablespoon of creamer for my coffee. Blah! I might end up giving up coffee too. I tend to like it a little sweet, but don't want the extra calories and carbs if I use more than a tablespoon. I'll be going through my carb and calorie withdrawal headaches anyway these next couple of days, might as well add on caffeine withdrawal.
Plan for the day:
Vanilla Shake
Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal
Chicken Noodle Soup
Chocolate Crunch Bar
Lettuce w/Tuna
BBQ Bites
Calories - 785
Carbs - 71g
Today will be tough. Step kids are coming over for dinner. I made a big pot of sauce and meatballs, and my husband is making chicken parm for them. These are some of my favorites, and I never grab small portions. I guess that's why I decided to start today. Better to avoid what I can't control.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Carol
Welcome Willababy! We are happy you are here. It says a lot about your commitment to losing weight to start out immediately. Good luck with kids over and big dinners. It can be hard but like you, I was motivated to lose weight when I couldn't find anything to wear to events. I wasn't feeling happy in my clothes or my own skin.
Let's talk coffee! Coffee was also a huge issue for me. I drink coffee only in the mornings prior to noon. I never have caffeine at in any form after lunch. I started to add a shake (vanilla, chocolate or mocha) to my coffee I save the previous day' coffee in a pitcher in the fridge and have an ice coffee shake for breakfast instead of water. I love it. No more coffee waste and totally improves the shake as well. You could also add it to hot coffee. Additionally, I forced myself to drink black coffee. That is still not my favorite but I can do it. I've kept creamer in the fridge for guests since Jan 1st and have not touched it once.
Good luck with day 1. You'll start to see the results very soon and that is motivation in itself!
Thank you Sheila. Well of course I weighed myself this morning and I was only down .6 so that's a little discouraging but 4 4 full days I'm down a total of 4.6 so I guess that's not bad but I was just expecting a higher number. I will admit that I did use two tablespoons of half-and-half instead of one yesterday and this morning so that could have been my setback but I don't really think so. It is definitely a financial strain with the wedding so I'm going to try to see if it's worth it for another 3 weeks and see if it benefits me enough for the cost. Will keep everyone posted.
Welcome Willababy!
I'm not one to give a lot of advice as I'm only on day 5 but it sounds like you have everything planned accordingly and that sounds great. Just try to hold out on temptations as much as possible especially with kids in the house it does seem to get a lot easier. We got this
It is definitely a financial strain with the wedding so I'm going to try to see if it's worth it for another 3 weeks and see if it benefits me enough for the cost. Will keep everyone posted.
Jen, I was thinking about your financial circumstances with little ones and a wedding coming up and thought I would share something I have started to do and may help with the financial aspect.
In all honesty, I have been getting a bit bored of the MF food after several months so I have started to play around with it in trying to find real food alternatives to change it up and look toward transition. Take a look at the nutrition table on the side of the MF box (proteins, carbs, sugar, fats and calories) and try to eat a similar composition of real food to match.
So for example, this morning I ate a 1/2 low fat cottage cheese (80 cal, 13 gms protein, 1gm of fat, 5gms of sugar) and about 7 fresh raspberries (12-15 calories, 5gm sugar, 0 protein, 0 fat). Total just about what a MF meal would be without the extra vitamins and minerals. I've started taking a daily vitamin just to make sure I get enough nutrients when I eat lesser amounts of MF.
It would take a little more work and planning on your part but you could try to balance your calories, fats, carbs and proteins that way to save money. I do stay away from any extra carbs, processed foods or sugars.
I also use this for lunch; a 5oz can of albacore tuna (packed in water and add chopped celery, red pepper etc and instead of mayo, I'll take a 1/4 or 1/2 an avocado and mash it up. Eat it with a fork and you have lunch for 150-170 calories.
I would recommend staying on plan with MF as long as you can to help your body adjust to this style of eating and help with getting those taste buds to change. Mine have in ways that still surprise me. I really don't even want breads and sugars anymore for the most part. That battle is only psychological now and not physical.
Hope everyone had a great weekend!! I had a bit of a challenge, but came out the other side successful. Friday, we had guests driving down from 6 hours away. I had 'carefully' planned on cooking timing and had used a recipe I found on a medifast site for a lean and green. The meat I bought was slightly smaller than the recipe size and I over peppered it. The recipe called for chopped celery to be cooked with the pot roast in the slow cooker and as soon as I smelled it I knew it was a mistake. I barely like raw celery but really hate cooked celery! They ended up arriving much later than I had planned for, so in addition to the vegetables smelling awful, the meat was overcooked and dried out. I was annoyed but didn't punish myself for a cooking failure. I just knew I could not serve the food I had prepared because it tasted like punishment. It was also not my friends fault for arriving later, they had texted and told my husband who forgot to let me know so I had moved up the vegetable prep as if they were coming at 5:30, not 7. It's just food so I really wasn't bothered.
The problem for me was that my fueling timing was built around eating at 6 or 6:30. I ate some protein to tide me over, but when we got to the restaurant there was still a 30 minute wait. When we were seated, we failed to put in our food orders with the drink order and the waitress returned about 15 minutes later to take the food order. I opted for a salad but threw caution to the wind by having the one with ham and salami (I was at a point in the day and being so hungry that I was in no frame of mind to eat lean). I used to eat the same salad and use all the dressing they provided and was really proud that this time I used half. I knew that there would be a scale bump from the sodium and I was fine with it.
The next morning I was up a couple pounds, as expected, and I just shrugged it off. Our friend's girlfriend accompanied him and I really enjoy her company. She and I set off on a walking adventure as I took her to the funky part of town I had walked the month before. It was so fun to walk with someone else! We went into the vintage store where I had spied a goal skirt that I was totally in love with. I had regretted not buying it last month and she encouraged me to go for it. It was a $80 gamble by buying it, but I realize I'm gambling on myself and now I have a wonderful visual to remind me of what I'm working so hard towards.
That evening I redeemed myself by cooking a wonderful meal. I love being a hostess and I pulled out all the stops. The next morning, I was back down to Friday's weight, so no damage done!
Yesterday, we had the house back to ourselves and I ran some errands to get my steps up. My husband had some car challenges that sent him into an emotional eating spiral. Knowing it would not help, I did not discourage him, but did coach that it was to be a one day event, then back to mindful eating and he agreed. He ordered pizza and I joined in by getting a chicken caesar salad. Didn't eat the whole dressing serving and was still in a good zone nutrient-wise, so I wasn't too concerned with the scale. I ate too early and by 8 I was starving (likely not enough protein), so I had a sixth fueling. My hunger was so intense, I was fighting an internal battle not to have a slice of the pizza and I knew that when you get 'hangry' the best strategy is to have another Medifast fueling, so I did.
Not sure what happened, but I was down another 2lbs this morning which is so unexpected for a Monday with me (the last few Monday's have always shown an increase, plus my TOM ended and that usually shows a bump or plateau); I have the weirdest body, I cannot predict what it's going to do!! Back to regular plan today. I have to work from home because we are down to one car so I have to figure out how to get my usual 10K steps in.
Great to hear from the newbies!! Keep up the good work! It is a challenge, but in the end totally worth it!!
You are an awesome survivor in the midst of challenges set before you. How great that you did not let it derail you and the scale even rewarded you. You are going to do so well in maintenance because it really is just about making the best choice you can. AND there are definitely circumstances where there are no good choices at all so you just pick the best of the worst.
Congrats on the 2 pound loss and all those smiley faces you've earned by all the good choices you've made.
Keep moving and keep your water intake where it needs to be.
Just thought I'd chime in on my weigh-in day to let the group know that I am doing great on transition/maintenance. My weight continues to fall with close to another pound down from last week. So this is working!! I am really watching my plan become a lifestyle rather than the trial and error that I thought it might be. I'll now start 4 regular/whole food meals/snacks with 2 Medifast. This week I am upping my calories to 1400 daily which will be about 100 calories more daily than last week. My 4 regular food meals/snacks I am giving great concentration to eating whole plant based foods which I think is giving me a huge boost of nutrition. I finally feel like I have my full energy back that I had been lacking with the 5/1 plan.
Above all I am glad that I jumped into maintenace/transition with about 10 lbs left to loose. It has really given me the mental boost I needed to get back to REAL food.
Karen! Thanks so much for the encouragement! I love hearing about your transition experience because even though it is a way off, I do have moments of "how am I going to do this with real food?"
I am grateful to be so early on in this journey because my instincts have not yet kicked in. I was really tempted by the pizza last night, more than I was comfortable with, I have to admit. I've been blessed with having 90% of my meals occur in my Medifast bubble. We haven't gone out much recently and rarely with others, so this past weekend was my first real experience eating with others and not being able to fully participate. My friends and husband were cheering me on all weekend, saying how great I'm doing, how strong I am, and it helps to hear.
I had a cool moment this morning when I was thinking about when I am at goal and if I have a slip, bump up, what I would do. I now have Medifast as a forever tool! That's so exciting. In my previous weight loss journey where I lost over 100lbs, I was left high and dry without their tools to use when I had parted ways with them. I love that no matter what, I know that Medifast works and it is always there.
So unfortunately this morning I have to be a Debbie Downer because my wedding was called off yesterday so yesterday was completely Reckless even though I went completely off the bandwagon I still managed to lose 3 lbs in one day. Maybe sympathy loss haha. At this point I'm not sure if I want to continue Medifast or if I need to wait until I'm in a better place mentally. I'm just not really sure right now I'm hoping to make a decision by the end of the day. I know it's something that I need to do for myself I'm just not sure if at this time with everything going on if I can give it a 100%. I guess I will update tomorrow morning and see where I'm at.
On a happy note congratulations to everyone on here that are doing great!
Last edited by JEN.CA; 03-27-2017 at 02:27 PM.
Reason: wrong weight
hi all! I am finally back and checking in. Sorry I dropped off the map for... a week?? Wow. I have had several things keeping me away. I was out of town visiting family from Thursday through yesterday. It was a 4 hour drive each way and I hate driving! I did pretty well staying on plan, though. For anyone interested, here is how I handled it: I told them I am drinking a protein shake for breakfast every morning because it helps me feel better (vitamins, nutrition, etc) and that went over well because they didn't have to worry about cooking me breakfast, lol. I just took my packets with me. I also did a bar mid morning, usually out of their sight to avoid questions. I just don't feel comfortable discussing Medifast and weight loss with family at this point. Weight is kind of a taboo subject with us, for some reason. Maybe because Mom is very heavy and we don't want to insult her? She has made it very clear for decades that she is not interested in dieting or changing and is happy as she is. I do wish she would lose for health, but I am not going to be the one to stir that pot of poop!!!
Also, I brought some groceries: salad fixins, tuna, chicken breast strips that you find in the deli meat section, and hard boiled eggs. Every day for lunch I had a salad with protein. Sometimes I used the protein they were having on their sandwiches. At dinner I just ate whatever meat and vegetables they were cooking and didn't take the starches. It worked out fine. I didn't measure anything but I eyeballed it. Yes, there was butter on some of the veggies. Cheese on the broccoli. Seasonaings and sometimes breading on the meat. I just did my best. We went out to dinner twice. One meal I had steak, salad, and broccoli. The other meal I had salmon, salad, and green beans. I feel like I did well.
Prior to the trip I developed some kind of sinus infection, fluid-in-ear sickness. I saw the doctor but they said it was probably viral and did not give me a prescription. They said to use Flonase spray in the nose, take Sudafed in the day and Mucinex at night. I have been doing that and it is oh so slowly getting better. I stll have some fluid in my ear. I hate feeling so tired and the headache never lets up, but it IS improving slowly but surely.
I am enjoying a tall glass of water and a cocoamint bar while I catch up!
Jen.CA, the cocoamint bar is Wonderslim brand. I use them and any other brands similar to Medifast, along with actual Medifast shakes and drinks. Wonderslim is a great, less expensive alternative! I love the variety.
Okay, now I have to catch up on all these posts! Oh, also, I lost another 2 pounds.
