Okay, I made it through my first day. I can't say it was easy because I was truly hungry after about one and a half hours of eating my Medifast meals. It did seem to get better after lunch. I tried Dutch Chocolate Shake ( very good),
Peanut Butter Crunch Bar ( okay), Macaroni and Cheese ( good, but very small), Pizza snacks ( pretty good), and cinnamon pretzels ( okay.) It has been an interesting day. I had steamed broccoli and asparagus with 5 ounces of lean ground beef for dinner. I am having a hard time with no salt and no fat, but I'm sure I will adjust. I'm wondering what you season your veggies with, or how you cook them. I am doubly impressed by all of your accomplishments!
Susan
Susan, keep up the good work. Have you checked the condiments listing for Medifast? You may find other spice options to replace salt.
I found in the early days I had to have a shorter time between fuelings. I've settled into 2 1/2 - 3 hours, but originally I was pushing 90 minutes to two hours to make it through. Also, water is so important to fill you up between meals. That was the best advise I got in the beginning.
Good morning friends. I finally got a chance to stop in and catch up on reading all your messages. Thank you for the well wishes. I am trying to "get out of my own head" right now, and get back to posting and sharing and responding more. I need the support and surely want to be a support as well! So I apologize for slacking in that regard. Good news is my niece is okay. Bad news is I am not getting better on these antibiotics. I am still working on that. In the meanwhile I went off plan and ate things I should not and went up 5 pounds. That is so disheartening when it was a hard earned loss of that same 5. I will just have to do it again. The off plan eating was stopped in its tracks yesterday when a piece of one of my molars just randomly broke off, leaving a hole between two back teeth. I am so worried that more of the tooth will break off! So I am only drinking liquids right now (Medifast shakes and drinks). I know this is not ideal and I miss my Lean and Green meal last night. Does anyone have any recipes for a liquid Lean and Green meal?? I know that's a long shot, but I wonder if there is a way to do it with soup. I cannot bring myself to chew on that side at all! The dentist can't see my until Monday so I need a game plan for the weekend. I remember that Greek yogurt used to be on the Lean list so maybe I can make it into a smoothie to drink, somehow.
That's all my drama for the day. Sorry I have not had much positive to say lately. I am turning that around NOW and I know this 5 pounds was just here on a temporary visit and I am sending them on their way shortly!
Okay, I made it through my first day. I can't say it was easy because I was truly hungry after about one and a half hours of eating my Medifast meals. It did seem to get better after lunch. I tried Dutch Chocolate Shake ( very good),
Peanut Butter Crunch Bar ( okay), Macaroni and Cheese ( good, but very small), Pizza snacks ( pretty good), and cinnamon pretzels ( okay.) It has been an interesting day. I had steamed broccoli and asparagus with 5 ounces of lean ground beef for dinner. I am having a hard time with no salt and no fat, but I'm sure I will adjust. I'm wondering what you season your veggies with, or how you cook them. I am doubly impressed by all of your accomplishments!
Susan
Susan ~ So glad you made it through Day 1! I try to eat every 2 hours...that works great for me. It looks like you were short one meal, too. The Pizza Snacks (optional) are in addition to the 5 Medifast meals and the one Lean and Green.
For some the first 3 days are tough but after that smooth sailing...just keep checking in and we will walk you through it!
Whoa Steph! You have been dealt a lot of stuff right now! For the liquid lean and green, perhaps you could take some spinach or kale and egg whites to make a smoothie? I've never thought about it before but you've got my creative juices flowing. I remember when I was a kid, my mom would make me a shake with raw egg as the protein base when I was sick. The Greek yogurt may work too. The Yoplait 100 Protein yogurt is really high in protein so that may help as a base. Trying to think what may improve the taste since we cannot add fruit or other sweeteners.
Am I remembering correctly that you use sugar free syrups in your coffee or something? If you have something like that, you could add to your smoothie to take away the harshness.
Never apologize! We're here for each other through the good and the bad. I know you'll erase that 5lbs quickly.
As for me, I have a 3lb gain to erase but I know from reading here that it's literally water weight. Yesterday I allowed myself to have a cheat day and participate in our office's Cinco de Mayo party. I didn't eat a lot but there was more sugar than I've had in a long time and within the hour I was overheated and miserable. I had to go home and work the rest of the day from there. Eventually I felt better but I had a binging moment where I unconsciously scarfed down a personal bag of Skinnygirl popcorn and derived no satisfaction from it - in fact, I was satiated about 1/3 of a way through it and SHOULD have stopped then, but I kept going.
I faced the scale with it's 3lb overnight gain and did not beat myself up. Yesterday was a learning experience. I've learned when I reintroduce foods I used to love, they don't have the same hold over me that they used to. Very powerful and empowering feeling.
The Pizza Snacks (optional) are in addition to the 5 Medifast meals and the one Lean and Green.
Joyce, I think Susan was referring to the Cheese Pizza Bites (my personal fave) which are a full Medifast fueling. I double checked the site to make sure there wasn't a pizza crispers snack I was missing, but there wasn't one. Is there an Optavia pizza snack? Just curious.
Steph ~ So nice to hear from you! I am glad your niece is doing better! As far as being off plan, you know I am the "queen" of straying off plan. However, this article has really helped me:
Falling Off The Diet Wagon
by Jonathan Bowden, M. A.
"One of the most discouraging aspects of weight loss are the inevitable slips. Everyone has them. For some people, an occasional slip engenders an all out binge...followed by guilt, self-recrimination, a sense of powerlessness, and a feeling of "What's the use?"
Sound familiar?
I call it "falling off the diet wagon," and if you can change how you think about it, you don't need to be victimized by it anymore.
Let's start by looking at a simple children's game called "Chutes and Ladders." Here is how it works: you use a spinner to advance from space to space toward the winner's spot. Along the way there are ladders-which leapfrog you over a lot of spaces-as well as chutes-which send you back in the opposite direction.
Some kids play this game with a laissez-faire, "whatever" attitude, taking life as it comes with all its ups and downs, pitfalls and triumphs. They learn the wonderful moral of Chutes and Ladders-half the secret of life is just showing up. Keep playing the game, and eventually you will get where you are going.
Some kids, however, get very upset when they land on a chute. They are ready to quit the game, pick up their proverbial marbles and go home. For some reason, they believe that life isn't supposed to have any chutes. When they land on them, they are very disappointed and feel like giving up.
Weight loss is like a huge game of Chutes and Ladders.
In dealing with hundreds of clients over the years, I've discovered that the biggest difference between the winners and the losers in the weight loss war isn't whether or not people have "slips" and go off their program. It's not really a question of "if" they have them, it is a question of "when."
What really makes the difference is how you deal with the slips when they happen.
Her's an example. You have been absolutely wonderful on your plan for three weeks. You've been sticking to your exercise routine and feeling pretty terrific. You go to your best friend's wedding and have a glass of wine. Before you know it, soemone is insisting that you try those delicious little canapes, and before the wedding singer can say "Tanta Elka Cuts The Cake," you've managed to down about 4,000 calories from stuff you wouldn't have been caught dead looking at during the past few weeks...pates, desserts, breads, stuffings, you name it.
Most people think that's where the action stops. Actually, it's where the real action begins.
First, a reality check. Have you done a lot of damage? Not really. You may have put on a pound or two. Big deal. You can knock it off in no time, and go right back to work on yourself.
So what's the problem?
The problem isn't what we did, but what we make it "mean." We tell ourselves that our "transgression" means that we have no willpower, that we will never succeed, that our efforts are in vain.
Let me suggest something more empowering.
Suppose, instead, that we learn to see life's occasional "chutes" as just that-stumbling blocks that everyone hits on their personal path to personal power, nothing to be afraid of and certainly nothing to give a lot of meaning to.
So you had a chute. On your next spin you might hit a ladder.
Most important of all, you can't win the game unless you keep on playing.
And every minute gives you a new chance for another spin. Take it.
And don't look back.
*this article was found by 3FC member Silence...I thought you all might enjoy it as much as I did.*
So fresh start...up the ladder you go...I will give you that extra push!
Susan, welcome! It is hard the first 3 days but then it does get easier! May I ask about why you say no salt and no fat? I always have use salt (moderately) on my meat and veggies with no issues. I guess technically a certain amount of salt is a condiment but I do not measure salt, just use a sprinkling. Also, try using Mrs. Dash. It is a salt free, calorie free herb blend that tastes great on meat and vegetables. You can measure it as a condiment if you like (using the charts which I do not have on hand so I am not sure how much it would be). Also, if you choose from the leaner or leanest lists, you must add one or two Healthy Fats and can put them on your foods to add flavor. I'm sure you will figure it out! Good job on your first day!
Laura, funny, my mom also used to put a raw egg in a drink for me when I was sick, but I hated that! I think I could do egg beaters. Something about those seems less eggy to me. I will also check the Yoplait 100 protein yogurt when I go to the store today. Thanks for the suggestion! You and I can work at getting the few gained pounds off together. Oh, and yes, I do use flavored sugar free syrups in coffee sometimes and don't count them as condiments so I may be able to use them in a yogurt smoothie. Good idea!
Joyce, thank you for sharing that great article. It is so very true and all of this is a mindset, which can make or break our long term success. We all have off days so we need to stop catastrophizing a few pounds gain and just keep on going to goal! We can do this!
Last edited by StephGetsHealthy; 05-05-2017 at 11:50 AM.
New To Medifast Optavia Starting Tomorrow (Saturday)
Hi there! I am here looking for support! I start the Medifast/Optavia diet tomorrow. Thought I'd wait until Cinco De Mayo was over so my boyfriend and I can enjoy tacos and jalapeno margaritas tonight! I am very nervous to start this but I will give a little background.
My name is Avery and I am 24 years old living in Boise Idaho. I work at an Investment Group that specializes in listing/brokering self storage facilities. I do a lot of proofreading and writing/designing for offering/property packages and am an Escrow Research Coordinator for the company.
I currently weight 228 (no idea how I let myself get to this weight and honestly thought I only weighed 200 until I stepped on the scale last week. Wanted to cry but trying to be positive). I bought all of my food brand new off of Ebay from someone who was trying to get rid of it got a mix of just about everything from Medifast and Optavia. I got 186 meals for $250 total so I thought I did pretty good!
I have everything all organized and ready to take to work. I am scared about the taste of the food because I have read a lot of reviews and forums. I am not sure how strong the soy taste is but I guess we will see! I even bought a magic bullet to make and blend the shakes in the morning.
My goal seems FAR from where I am but I know you have to start somewhere. I will have to take and post a start picture tomorrow if I can.
So currently at 228. My first goal is to get to 200, then to 180, then to 160.
28 pound goal at first seems crazy but I think I can do it.
Any suggestions and tips would be much appreciated! I have read through ALL of previous threads from you guys starting back in December I believe
Avery! You've come to the right place! Like you, I was nervous before I ate my first meal on Medifast. I was concerned at how little food there was. Trust me, you will be fine. Drink LOTS of water and enjoy the initial whoosh, but don't expect it to continue. I lost a TON of weight the first few weeks and then things settled into place.
As hard as it is, try not to put a timeline on your progress. I made that mistake early on and lost sight of the fact that I was losing by focusing on not losing quickly enough. This is such an exciting time for you and it's hard not to be optimistic, but try to temper that with caution that the program does work but our bodies don't always cooperate the way we'd like. Not to say goals are not important, they absolutely are, but remember the SMART parameters: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, REALISTIC, and Timely. I emphasize 'realistic' because that's where I lost sight of my potential for weight loss.
I wanted to be at my goal weight NOW and was so impatient. I still am, but I reign myself back in when I start to spiral.
Take things a day at a time, know that the first few days are the worst, keep drinking water to fill you up between fuelings, and check back in when things are going good and bad. We're here for each other!!
Hi Everyone,
I'm happy to say I felt good this morning- not ravenous! I tried the oatmeal- it is interesting. Not terrible, but not exactly like oatmeal. Avery, Welcome! Yesterday was my first day and I am at almost the same weight as you with similar goals. I, too, can't understand how I got to this place, but I know fretting over that does me no good. I don't know where a condiments list is. I am doing this through a nutritionist at my endocrinologist's office. They gave me a typed sheet with my "rules." It just listed salt free seasonings like Mrs. Dash, not any other condiments although one of my fats, if I choose a leaner protein is 2T. of salad dressing with certain parameters.
Are we allowed to have chicken broth? I was thinking of egg drop soup. Hope you feel better, Steph! Twinca, I loved your posts from your first days. I am rereading them to hear your thoughts from back then. Here's to Day Two. I may post later and let you know how it went.
Susan
Hi Hiker dreams!
I am glad to see someone that is similar to me doing this because it will definitely be a huge motivator for me!
I found a medifast PDF with condiments but it's not letting me post here until I have certain amount of posts. If you google Medifast condiments a PDF should be one of the first few results. Seems like a good guide to me!
Excited to start tomorrow but nervous too!
Laura thank you for the warm welcome! I really appreciate your advice and tips, I will definitely be taking them to heart and hopefully combating this new diet in the best way possible. Drinking a lot of water will be a challenge because I probably don't drink enough but will strive for the 8, 8oz glass goal! More if I can!
Laura is one of our resident gurus with all her wonderful tips, links and advice!
I am so glad Susan and you are starting together. It is so nice to compare notes when you are new on the program. We old-timers will guide you along the way. Any questions, just ask!
Also, another link - just google tsfl.com It stands for Take Shape for Life which is soon to change its name to Optavia. It is the Medifast line which also utilizes a free coach. You are under no obligation to use him/her. You should be able to access all the info on the plan via that route. Don't forget to use the link Laura gave in a recent post.
One other suggestion is to track (Measurable) all your meals for the day - part of the Smart parameters Laura so aptly included (SMART parameters: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, REALISTIC, and Timely).
first day...
Avery! You've come to the right place! Like you, I was nervous before I ate my first meal on Medifast. I was concerned at how little food there was. Trust me, you will be fine. Drink LOTS of water and enjoy the initial whoosh, but don't expect it to continue. I lost a TON of weight the first few weeks and then things settled into place. 
