Hi all!
Well, day ONE is officially OVER. My very first day. So, here's how things went.
When I got my package, I opened it to find all of my meals packaged in foil packs in boxes. The Medifast meals are basically powdered items that you reconstitute with water. They do have granola and chocolate bars, but you are limited to one per day. So, I divided up the boxes into five foil-packed meals per day for 28 days. I put each day in a baggie, so all I have to do is grab and run. I've also decided that I will eat EVERYTHING, even if I don't like it, because I think it will take time to change my tastebuds.
So, today I had peach oatmeal, a strawberry creme shake, chicken noodle soup, a vanilla shake, and chocolate pudding. On top of this, you are allowed REAL FOOD (SO important for someone like me!) for one meal, which was 6 oz of cooked chicken and 1 1/2 cups of green beans, topped with teriyaki sauce.
All in all, I am pleasantly surprised. I started off my morning with the Strawberry shake, because I absolutely HATE everything that is fake strawberry. This is due to an unfortunate incident involving Frankenberry when I was a kid . So I was prepared for an absolutely evil nasty drink. BUT, I MUST say that I didn't hate it. I didn't LOVE it. But I wouldn't hesitate to have another. Which is amazing!
The peach Oatmeal was also all right. I don't generally like fake fruit flavors at all -- and I don't like fruit in oatmeal!-- but again, I wouldn't hesitate to have another. Even though I mixed up this meal in a blender. It kind of turned into an oatmeal-ly puree, which my friend so kindly noted looked like "baby poo". THANKS. AFTER reading the instructions again, I found that you are specifically TOLD to NOT BLEND this meal!!! Hahahaha!!!
I ate it and the flavor was surprisingly fine!
The chicken soup was also good - a little bland, but nothing that a little pepper didn't fix.
The vanilla shake was really good, too. I was surprised that the shakes were actually smooth, and not fibery or gritty or chalky, which some other diet shakes tend to be.
And FINALLY, the chocolate pudding, which I give a 10 out of 10. Not that I like chocolate, or anything.
SO, my first day went really well. My only concern is that I can see that even though I have a sweet tooth, the majority of my meals seem to be on the sweet end of the spectrum -- shakes, puddings, bars...This is just an observation, because I chose the sample start-up pack which I knew at the beginning had these items. After I'm done this round, I will order each box of 7 meals individually, so I can turn over from a sweet spectrum to a warmer, spicy spectrum of food selection!
All in all, very positive!
Talk to y'all tomorrow!!!
Maya

Go, Maya! I'm so proud of you for trying everything. You must be super committed. You'll probably be posting your first lost in another day or so. Are you going to weigh in every day or every week?

Hi there!
EVERY WEEK!!!! If I weigh in more frequently, I find that I become obsessed with the numbers. If left to my own devices, I turn into a FISH - on and off and on and off the scale, 3, 4, 5 times a day. And KATY BAR THE DOOR if my weight fluctuates UP! I get frustrated and often quit. I was on a medically-supervised "diet" through a diet center a while back, which was effective, but very very expensive. When I stopped losing weight, I would be under further dietary restrictions, and my exercise would be upped, and by the end of it, I had gone almost a month on 452 (exactly!) calories a day, and was walking 10 km a day and doing core/strength training 3 times a week (imagine that on 452 calories) and was STILL not losing. That program had me weighing in 3 times a week, and I found this demoralizing.
SO, my vow this time around is to check the scales ONCE a week. Period. I think that will work for me. I wish I could track my daily progress because I know others are inspired by daily weighing, but for me, well...not so good!
Maya

Wow, Maya, that supervised diet sounds like boot camp.

I understand about not wanting to weigh obsessively, but now I would like to obsessively weigh YOU. I'm up half a pound this morning, but I am not going to update my ticker with that. The thing is -- I've lost 19 pounds in a month, and I'm trying to concentrate on that loss instead of tiny fluctuations upward and downward. It's more confusing since I am using a balance beam doctor's scale and it really depends on how I interpret the little floating thing, which seems to depend on what angle I look while I am standing on it.

Holy CRACKERS!!! 19lbs in one MONTH!!! You are such an inspiration!!!!
Yup, the last diet was effective, but absolutely horrible. I really feel like Medifast will be a relief, quite frankly, from the weighing/measuring/obsessive counting of food and the overwhelming junk food options available!
I'd love a balance-beam scale. I find that the dial ones are really easy to manipulate (shifting weight, jumping on and off, re-zeroing, OVER AND OVER AND OVER! - my husband says that my OCD is a terrible thing to waste...), and the electronic ones, in my experience, just don't give me a reliable weight (unless you spend $$$ for an MD-grade one). Just me! I guess all scales can be open to interpretation, and the trend is what is important...
Keep it up!!!! YOU ROCK!!!!
maya

Oh boy MAYA . . . I totally agree with you . . . I would soooooo love to have a balance bar scale but they are just so terribly gigantic. I also agree about becoming too OC to weigh everyday. Right now I'm forcing my scale to live in the corner and I only let the little come out once a month.

Have a great MEDIFAST day, Chickies . . .

Yes, I know I got a great first week boost in my weight loss, but I sure would like to lose 26 additional pounds by New Year's Day. I realize that sounds terribly ambitious, and I have yet to face the holidays. But maybe with a strong, super-ambitious holiday goal, it will be easier to swig down a shake instead of munch on a cookie. Another possible thing to do in December would be to maintain the current weight loss, ie, go ahead and eat one bar a day or an extra LG meal and then pick it up again in January. I'm not sure yet, I'm still a newbie at this.

Regarding the huge scale -- I have a huge master bathroom and still barely have room for the gigantic scale. I tried moving it to the closet, but it's carpeted and there was no hope for consistent readings.

Hey, meowee! Hope your dr gives you the OK once you stabilize! Medical issues are NO fun. Glad to hear I'm not the only numbers-obessed person. I'm even debating the UNTHINKABLE and weighing in ONCE A MONTH. But I probably won't be able to help myself! In fact, I'll probably hit the scales RIGHT AFTER I POST, if I don't get a grip, and its only been two days!
Ms Slender, I hear you about Christmas. It is probably the toughest time of the year for most of us, because of the OFFICE parties and the NEIGHBORHOOD parties, and the FAMILY gatherings, and the CHRISTMAS dinner. I'm surprised no-one has come up with a MF recipe for turkey -- maybe you could puree the oatmeal like I did, but use only 1/2 the water, cook it up, and then mold it into the shape of a turkey! Wouldn't surprise me in the least!
HAHAHA!
It's horribly late, I'm losing it, so I'm off to bed. I'll post again tomorrow after
...DAY 3....
Maya

Newbie here ! I'm going to order the month's variety pack. I'm so tired of being this overweight (300+), and it's no longer vanity. I'm tired and achy all the time, etc. Like a lot of people, I've been on most diet plans, losing and gaining over the years. I'm just too tired (and lazy!) to cook, so I think this will be a good plan for me. Also, I've heard a lot of pre-surgery patients go on Medifast before their surgeries because their doctors insist they lose some weight.

Anyway, I searched around and found this board. I wanted one about Medifast that wasn't trying to promote it, but has real people and opinions. So, this is great!

Please keep us posted on your progress, and good luck everyone!

I'll do my best!!!
collbn, I completely understand how you feel, because it is hard as a consumer sometimes to get the real dirt on a plan. I tried this primarily because of the review that Suzanne from 3FC did. Being the skeptic that I am, I always take ANY review with a grain, but I know that the 3FC gals are straight up, and have been honest about other diet plans in the past. Besides, eating costs money, and whether it goes into my grocery store for junk food or into Medifast for my diet, it still costs the same. So, here I am.
Any diet takes committment and you will face challenges along the way, but if you say you'll do this 100%, and stick to it for a few months, I'll bet you'll have great results!

Maya

subbing b/c I'm seriously considering medifast for next year while Dh is in Iraq. I am wayy too much of a stress eater and left to my own devices without a reason to stick to a plan, {like laying out the money for meal delivery} I would probably weigh more than my start weight when he comes back. I've already signed up for the YMCA and am looking for personal trainers, but I know myself well enough to know that long, lonely days and nights of tension and worry aren't going to be easy. So I'm exploring my options

Mkat, I notice we have the same exact weight and same exact goal. Imagine how fun it would be to greet him when he gets back from Iraq at your goal weight! Plus, you could surprise him and rid the house of all tempting goodies.

Well, I dropped another pound, must go update my ticker.

Morning MEDIFASTERS . . .

from me, the wannabe, for the time being -- oh I know my doctor is right.

Anyway . . . glad to see some more 'real people' . . . :Welcome: COLLBN and MKAT . . .

Have a great OP day, gang . . .

Hi guys!
Mkat, my hubby is away too in a Middle East country which cannot be named but DOES rhyme with Flapchapiblan!!!! He's gone until at least May of next year, and he left the second week of October. Without him in the house, I did nothing but order and eat junk food! Because I could. Because without him there, I have absolutely no-one to be accountable to, except of course myself. And it is much easier to call Domino's if you don't have to TELL anyone that you are calling Domino's, and if you order a LARGE pizza with TWO Cokes, they'll think it's for TWO!!! But I digress...
With my DH away, and my complete lack of desire to plan meals for myself, I thought, WHAT THE HEY! Let someone else balance my meals nutritionally! I don't have to deal with the issue of "real food" for someone else during this time, so I can just focus on ME.
Dang, Letting! Another POUND!!! Yippee! And Meowee, when you are ready, you'll have some of us around who can give you support because we've been there and are doing it. So just think of yourself in a prepatory phase, so when you go for it, you'll be ahead of the newbie pack!
Well, the leaves aren't raking themselves, so GOTTA GO!!!
Maya

Allright you guys, you gotta help me,
I am on the second day of Medifast, and I am climbing the walls.
I dreamt about pizza last night, and someone left halloween candy around the office and I had 2 small pieces.
I really had such ambition, and now beginning to doubt myself.
But I did exercise very lightly for 15 mins this morning for the first time in months.
I have had my byetta and my medifast oatmeal today, please give me strength!
Fab50TX