3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community - New here, on Medifast 5-1 plan

Hi, I'm new to the forums and wanted to introduce myself. I've struggled with weight for nearly 20 years (pretty much my entire adult life). In the past I've been able to get into relative shape pretty quickly with vigorous exercise, slim fast and/or weight watchers.

About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with arthritis and exercise has been sporadic at best ever since. In the meantime my eating habits have continued to deteriorate and the pounds just keep inching higher on the scale. About 9 months ago my orthopedic specialist told me that if I have any chance at being pain free again my only hope was lapband surgery. I think I had been in denial up until that point about how bad things had gotten.

The idea of lapband surgery terrifies me, and the more research I did, the more scared I got, so I went back into denial for awhile. In December I started researching again, seriously contemplating lap band, and considering weight watchers again (even though I'd failed at it many times), or BodyBugg (also failed twice), when I stumbled upon Medifast. One of the lapband sites I was stalking mentioned trying Medifast before lap band surgery because it's a good indicator if you are truly able to change your eating patterns.

After careful consideration I decided to go the in-clinic Medifast route. I think the key for me is going to be the one-on-one weekly counseling sessions to keep me on track. I just didn't think the online Medifast program would keep me accountable and I'm willing to pay the extra $ to be successful. I'm currently on program 3 days and it's going great so far.

Anyway, I didn't mean to write a novel! I will sign off for now. Feel free to ask me any questions about starting out on Medifast - I'm happy to answer any questions my 3-days of experience allows ;)