Just a quick little :wave: between power flickers.

Good morning everyone
 

Oh my, all that snow. We were a balmy 24 degrees F this morning - very frigid for us. The dog, Bosco, was not happy about having to go out and was very slow doing his business. Doesn't he understand the longer he takes the longer we're out there? :dizzy:

At the end of Week 1 I've lost 6.4 lbs but that was with a hard fall off the wagon Friday night. :devil: I was so good and ate my L&G before I went to the party but there was just too much good stuff there. I easily climbed back on Saturday and did fine the last two days. I guess it's bound to happen sometimes. I've decided I'm going to go easy on myself Christmas Eve and Day and I'll probably end up eating less than I did Friday night expecting perfection.

I'm getting close to ready for Christmas. We started wrapping last night. Our poor girls - they don't get anything. I tend to start buying late summer and forget half of what I have. It's always a surprise when I start pulling it out of the closets. Now I've got to figure out where it's all going to go after Christmas. We took a load to Goodwill yesterday but we have a lot more that could go.

Have a great week everyone and try to stay dry and warm!

Maria

New Comer!
 

Greetings Everyone!!!

I am so excited to join this site. I have been following your weightloss for a while and that pushed me to get on MEDIFAST. I finally started the program yesterday (12/17/07).

My immediate goal is to be under the 200s. i am at 209 right now... hoping to be at 195 by the time :santa: comes!

I hope it is not too late to be part of the MEDIFAST CLUB!

I am on Day 2 and so far i LOVE the food except for the banana cream shakes... they make me want to throw up... other than that perfect... Chicken wild rice soup, oatmeal w. apples, chili (with a lot of spice), oatmeal bar... Delicious. I am very picky so I am amazed that i really do not mind the food!

Last night my GL was salmon and broccoli... I LOVED it!

Well i weighed this morning and i was down 2 pounds... :carrot:

I am looking forward to getting to know you all! We can do this, We can do this!!!

Hi Floprieto! :wel3fc: and to the Medifast group. It's never too late to join us! It must be very encouraging to see the weight start to drop so fast.
See you in ONEderland! :lol:

Hi Ms Flo!!!!
Welcome!
I feel your pain with the banana shakes -for me, it is the eggs. Don't have a stove right now, so microwave it is, and IMHO they are NASTY. But I'll happily eat them, if I can drop the lbs!
Just had a chocolate shake, and I'm FREEZING! Gotta take a hot, hot shower!
Later,
Maya
:)

Hi everyone -

Hope you are doing well - :)

Welcome Flo - you are doing great :carrot: This seems to be a great group (just found them myself a few days ago!) and it is indeed a great program!!

Waving Hi to everyone else...stay safe...check back a little later!

Hello everyone. It was cold here today. I brought the dogs outside and my bare feet were freezing! I don't expect any tears from the Canadians. ;) Everyone is doing GREAT - well done!

Flop, sweetie, I think you're setting yourself up for sadness and pain! It's only 8 days until Christmas. That's 14 pounds in 8 days. Now maybe I have no say since I haven't started yet, but you have to relax your expectations. :blah: Just my own opinion...feel free to ignore it, my kids certainly do.

So can I have bacardi and diet coke or not? Is it legal? I want to stay 100%.

Hi All,
Having a hard time today, just plain hungry!
Doesn't help that my mother sent 2 lbs of candy in the mail. argggggg
My favorite kind too.
I think that I might stash it in the freezer, don't know.
Trying to stay on plan,
Fab50TX

Hi ladies! I have also been inspired by all of you to try the Medifast thing! I just put my order in and plan to start right after Christmas. I had stopped "worrying" about food a few months ago and lost 10 pounds without even really trying. Then (insert scary Jaws music here) came the peppermint ice cream. As if gaining back the 10 pounds wasn't bad enough, it's now made me obsess about food again. Sigh. I'm hoping that the Medifast will get me back to that place where I'm just not WORRYING about it all the time!

I'm heading out of town for a week, but my Medifast shipment should be waiting for me when I get back so I'll check in then!

Ms. FAB!!! Take the candy and put it in the back of your car! Like, in the trunk! OR better yet, regift it STAT!!! I get how tough it is -- I sure didn't get so big by refusing my favorites!!!
Hi Ms. Michelle -- JUST dug out from 16 inches of snow, in total!!!! It sure is a winter wonderland out there! Just like a Christmas Card! I'd LOVE to have a tropical Christmas, though, and I think it is really easy to become acclimatized to warm weather, so I understand completely about your chilly feet!
Hey Ms. Flo -- Like Ms. Michelle said, weight based goals can be SO disappointing, because in all reality, you can only do as much as you can. The weight comes off when it comes off. It might be super-quick or super-slow, but IF you do the plan, the numbers will take care of themselves. I had to let go of the numbers game, because I have had fast weeks and slow weeks all while being 100% on plan. IF you tie your success to the numbers, you may be disappointed and discouraged, even though there isn't anything humanly possible that you can do to speed things up! Just a thought!
Hey Ms SweetP! Welcome back! Looking forward to reading your posts!
Ms Meowee -- stay warm-- the bad weather is almost over!
Ms Ruthie -- HI!!!!! Are you dug out yet? I hijacked my neighbor's snowblower to tidy up the driveway today! Thank goodness for NO SHAME on MY part!!!
Later, all
Maya
:)

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Michelle 127, you are right... I will not make this goal! I kept on thinking that Christmas was further away than a week... LOL. Even if this program is fast, it can't be THAT fast! I am just gonna use the Ticker as a reminder of my goal in order to stay motivated! I would like to loose fast at first but I know that right now i cannot do it by myself! So i am just gonna stick to it no matter what!

I also realized that i am going to spend a long week end at my boyfriend's parents in Arkansas... Since it is my first time meeting them, i do not want to stick out as the one on the diet so I will try his mom's SOUL FOOD and not overdo it... I will be back on Track on the 26th! Right now i am gonna try to train my body to follow the program so that it will be easier to follow full speed later on :)

I am SO excited about meeting his parents:carrot::carrot::carrot:

Maya: Have you tried some recipes? I have read you can make brownies on the board and i am wondering how they taste! i do not like pudding so i haven't bought any yet... but i think i would need some if i want to make brownies... Any input? I definitely want to see pictures of your new kitchen when it is done!

Sweet P: Great weightloss! Have you only done Medifast?

Fabulous50Texas: what part of Texas do you live? I am in the DFW area...;)

RuthXXX: I am so envious of you to be at the gates of ONEDERLAND! I can't wait to be there again. Before Thanksgiving i reached 198 for about 3 days... Then i went back to 209....

Well let's see how day 3 goes :)

Florence

Welcome, Flo! :hug: Wow, another Texan.
Both Fab50 and I live in Houston. Of course, I'm not too in touch with that right now as I am spending the holidays in rural Pennsylvania. :snowglo:

And here I sit, not having been on a scale in a week. When I last saw the scale I was teetering one little pound above UN-obese. Surely I am now UN-obese. And I have determined that on Wednesday (my original weekly weigh-in day) I am going to march right into the local med center and make my way to a scale. Must get to scale...can't breath...must....weigh....:fr:
And even if they do lock me in the mental ward--I'll still get weighed!:joker:

When I haven't been obsessing over my lack of digital weight info, I've been trying a few recipes. :hungry: Basic muffins were o.k.--I think they'll be perfect for taking on the plane, but perhaps not so much otherwise. Also--for lean and green I made a pretty tasty Mexican skillet with fake chicken strips, zucchini and ro-tel. Spicy but, yummy. I also purchased some shirataki noodles. I'm going to have to work on fixing them well because I am determined to make a soy-cheese version of macaroni with them. What I did make with them so far was a version of fettuccine with Mama Mia (Garden burger) Meatballs. It was only so-so. I guess I've had a little time to get creative being out of school and out of town.

You all are GREAT! Keep going!:cp:
Carol

Hi Maya,
If I was by myself I would probably do that but you know how south texas is humid and I don't want chocolate all over my car trunk. Its a beauty car and I pride myself in keeping it clean and nice. My DH will gladly eat all of this for me, if I can keep from opening the box before he gets home.
HI Flo! from Houston!
Take Care everybody,
Fab50TX

Oops - not Flop, Flo... I'm a freak of nature sometimes!! I hear ya, how did Christmas sneak up so fast? I'm officially 10 days away from starting. I'm getting nervous about how difficult and long this is going to be. All of you are inspirational though.

My daughter asked me why I wasn't on a diet. (I diet, then binge, diet, then binge.) I told her I was going to begin a diet the day after her sister's birthday. She made me pinky swear on it and then she said she'd help me. Awww, it was both sweet and a little sad.

Carol, you had me laughing out loud, literally! I can hear you now, "Hey, before you toss me in the rubber room, can we swing by the scale?" Don't forget to subtract the extra weight of the straightjacket. :crazy: I apologize to all the crazy MFers out there for my trite comments... :devil:

Okay Maya, you seem to be the resident MFing power dieter. Please answer my question. Is it okay or not to have bacardi and diet coke for New Year's? I want to stay on program to the best of my ability for as long as I can. I don't want to cheat on my 4th day for goodness sake! But I don't know anyone and a drink or two would definitely ease me into this social situation. And since there are no carbs.... So, yes or no??

OK, Ms Michelle -- here is the answer about alcohol! As you all know, MF is a diet that puts your metabolism in a mild fat-burning state called ketosis. Ordinarily, your body will use carbohydrates as its main energy source. When carbs are restricted below a certain amount -- around 100g -- per day, your body will have to burn SOMETHING, and it chooses primarily FAT (and some lean muscle tissue, too!) to burn. Ketone bodies are produced as a result of burning body fat and are excreted by your kidneys and can be measured by urine testing strips. (Note: this is what happens to diabetics -- often uncontrolled diabetics lose huge amounts of weight -- they don't produce the appropriate amount of insulin which means that their bodies won't burn carbs as energy -- I could go ON but I won't!)
SO, the goal of MF is to decrease carbs and get your body to burn fat.
NOW, the kind of fat that your body will burn doesn't really matter -- so MF tries to keep the amount of fat LOW so that you will burn mostly body fat. You do need some external fat in your diet anyways, because there are a number of vitamins that rely on fat in order to be absorbed. But, if you eat TONS of fat, although you WILL be in ketosis, your body will burn the fat that you eat first because it is easier to metabolize than your body fat stores.
Ms Michelle is right in that there are NO CARBS at all in alcohol or diet coke. However, alcohol is metabolized as FAT.
SO, the bottom line is that IF you have alcohol on MF, you WILL STAY in ketosis. BUT, the alcohol will be metabolized instead of your body fat. RESULT -- slower weight loss.
ALSO, since the alcohol is metabolized much FASTER than your body fat, and your body is looking for quick sources of energy, you will definitely feel the effects of alcohol MUCH faster than you expect!
That was the long answer!
The short answer is this: MF does not approve alcohol as part of the program. Alcohol won't take you out of ketosis, but will slow down your overall weight loss rate temporarily. I think you can do as you like and not feel too terribly guilty about it, as long as you are aware that you won't lose so much that week and that you may get your buzz on quickly, so no driving!!! Personally, if this is what will make your holiday party season manageable, then do it. Some would say that parties will always be there and so will booze and blah blah BLAH, but I say that this time of year is important to everyone. If this is a strategy that makes sense to you and helps you avoid the really bad stuff, then go for it. Hope this helps answer your question!
Welcome ms js! Look forward to hearing from you next week. I'm sure your shipment will arrive!
Ms Fab - OK, I made a super dopey suggestion!!!! Hahahaha!!!! Goes to show you what 16 inches of snow will do to your brain!!!!! Good luck with the candy!
Ms Flo -I only tried one recipe, and I nearly gacked up all over the kitchen. I made the "tomato chips" -- guaranteed to taste JUST like REAL CHIPS and EVERYTHING. I followed the recipe, which basically means - take a cream soup, add some baking soda and salt and spices, add a little water, make it into a paste, spread thin on a glass sheet, microwave the crap out of it until is it hard and crusty. Then break into pieces. I ate it, but couldn't stomach it! I'd rather just have the soup!!!! Anyways, I don't have much of a kitchen facility here as a result of the reno, so bing-bing cuisine it is for now!!!! There are alot of recipes on the official MF board, but BE AWARE that MF doesn't evaluate any of them, so you may or may NOT be on plan if you use them. User beware, so to speak! Here is a link to the official MF site, where one of the members has created kind of a recipe book: http://web1.mymedifast.com/CS/blogs/...les/30585.aspx
Go to the blog and read until you see "attachements". Click on the link, and the recipe book will pop up. If anyone wants this book, let me know, and I can try to figure out how to send it to you (I might need some administrator help on this one!) via 3fatchicks OR if you pm me with your email address, I can send it as a Word attachment.
Again, use with caution because these recipes haven't been passed by the MF Nutrition people, so they may or MAY NOT conform to the plan.
Ms Cam -- YIKES! the SCALE!!!! Don't forget that scales may weigh differently, so if you take the results with a pinch of salt (mmmmm, SALT.....) you will be just fine.
Hi to all - Ms Meowee, how are the kitties? Are you doing ok post storm? and Ms Ruthie -- are you all dug out yet???
Later, all,
Maya
:)