For the sake of brevity, I came here looking for some advice on the L&G. I just placed my order for my first month of Medifast but I'm still a little confused on the program. If I wanted to eat all bars, pretzels and puffs one day, could I? That may seem silly, but I work long hours and they seem the most travel friendly.
For the L&G, do I have a specific amount of calories I'm suppose to stay under or do I just strive for the required protein and vegetable serving sizes? Also, where can I find the list of approved condiments? I found it once and can't find it anywhere!
Basically, the plan seems really simple but then I find myself questioning it's simplicity!
Next is the ***LONG*** part, so feel free to skip it and at least comment on the L&G! :-) lol
So, here's a little background since I haven't had a chance to really blog about this experience at all. I'm a graduate student studying neuroscience with a specialization in reward pathways... I know food can be highly rewarding (and addicting!) but I can't seem to apply the principles to my own life.
For the last year I was working 50-70 hours a week. Yes, it is possible, I was finishing collecting data for my thesis and also writing it up. On top of that, I was teaching a senior level college course at a large public university. I was also applying to PhD programs as I found out a year into my adviser was retiring.
Fast forward to May of this year: I gave a final exam to my students and mentally prepared myself for a two week break (FINALLY!). When I got home, I realized there was ponding water in the downstairs bathroom of our (me and my husband's) condo. Yep, our upstairs neighbors flooded us!!! (We live in a townhouse facing one way and they live in a townhouse facing the other way and above us). WIthout going into great detail, I will tell you we had to live in a hotel for two months while we waited for repairs, asbestos abatement, and the flooring guys messing up our tiling TWICE. Crappy timing because while this was going on I was finishing up writing my thesis. So incredibly stressful.
Fast forward to July: I finish my master's thesis, finish teaching the summer term, and now it's time for vacation! Whoo! My husband and I had planned a trip to Vegas, New Orleans, and then ending in Houston to see his family. It was fabulous except for one minor detail: I broke my fibula in New Orleans on the first day we were there (no, I wasn't drunk! It's a really sad story lol). BUT I walked on it for 2 days without realizing it was broken. It felt like a nasty sprain. When we made it to Houston I went to a doctor and had it put in a splint, flew back home to DC with it (and had our luggage fall on it after a shuttle driver took a sharp turn) to see a doctor only to have him tell me it was "too swollen to do anything with".
GREAT! Especially because the following weekend I had to move to Philadelphia to start in my PhD program. Sooo, I moved to Philadelphia in a splint. I didn't have to do any heavy lifting, at least! lol! Finally got the hard cast and then had it taken off about 2 weeks ago (total of 2 weeks in the splint, 4 weeks in a hard cast, and now I have 2 months of an airsplint).
Anyways, throughout this time period I have literally BALLOONED. Thus begins my Medifast journey. I feel like crap, I can't fit into ANYTHING, and I normally beat stress by exercising but I can't even do that right now. So, I will continue posting and finding strength in these forums.
ONE LAST THING: I actually moved away from my husband to pursue my PhD. We're still happily married but I use to do all of the cooking and would have felt EXTREMELY guilty if I had done this while we were still living together. Now I have a roommate (a girlfriend I've known since we were 12) and she relies on me for homecooked meals. I don't mind cooking for her (since I don't feel the need to do it everyday) so this should be an interesting dynamic throughout the next few months.