Happy Thursday MF chicks!

Our little corner of 3FC seems a little quiet lately. How is everyone doing?

I'm plugging away, telling myself it's no longer OK to cheat every weekend just because I got away with it for 6 weeks in August/September. Losing less than a pound a week is too expensive and slow. So I am struggling a little with staying on plan 7 days a week. This week was going good until yesterday. I got a migraine and maxed out on my prescription meds, so I resorted to the Irish cure - 2 Jameson's, neat. Effective, but not how I planned to end my day. Oh well, back on the stick today.

Time to make a cup of tea and my brownie. I seriously love those brownies.

So, let's talk! How are you all?

Hi Riddy.

I'm doing fine/OK. I still want to eat all the time. I wouldn't say I'm hungry all the time - I just want to eat. Doesn't help that work is really dragging. So I sit at my desk counting down the minutes until the next meal.

I lurk on the mymedifast boards a lot. It is some kinda crazy over there sometimes. There are certainly differing opinions on what the approach to medifast to should be. I haven't quite figured out what my approach/philosophy will be. I just what to try my best.

Hi Maurene!

I know what you mean about wanting to eat all the time. I didn't realize how much mindless eating I used to do until I started medifast. I feel like I'm learning a lot, though. Since I have so very few food choices, I'm aware of all the times I used to eat but I wasn't hungry. I'd eat for boredom, for thirst, just because someone brought it in to work, to be sociable, etc. This is the first time I'm learning about myself during a diet.

I have a hard time at work, too. I have a much easier time on my days off than work days. If I'm off, running errands, sometimes it's been 3-4 hours since my last meal before I think to eat. If I'm at work, sometimes waiting 2 hours is a struggle.

Here's my philosophy, if you're interested. I'm not sweating condiments. If I want 2 coffees with splenda, AND parlsley in my soup, AND salsa on the eggs in the same day, I do it. I don't really worry about how much salsa I eat at all. I don't measure my veggies, either - I eyeball them. And I decided from the beginning that if I wanted to cheat, I would. However, the cheating must be deliberate and planned. Now Wednesday's whiskey was planned on short notice, but I did make a deliberate decision a couple hours before I had the drinks. I've been at this for 6 months, and probably have at least 6 more months to go, so I'm doing what I need to do to stick with the program. If that means a pinch of shredded cheddar on the eggs, I'm doing it.

I promise myself every day that if I'm really just STARVING, I will allow myself an extra medifast meal. I think I've done it twice in 6 months. I think sometimes just knowing I can have it makes me not really need it.

I also log all my food on the tsfl website. Seeing the calorie total in black and white seems to help - I didn't really know how many calories were in anything before I started this. It's amazing how fast it adds up when I cheat.

Sorry if this was too wordy! Thanks for listening! How is your day going?

I'm still hanging in there (week 16 for me).

I'm doing the same thing as you with regard to condiments. I don't mind logging every bite of food, but I just can't get excited about whether or not I used one splenda or two. I eyeball the veggies, too but I still measure protein. Otherwise my {5 oz.} serving of steak weighs more like 9 ounces.

I am trying to stay with legal snacks if I'm just starving. Unfortunately, I'd rather have a tablespoon of peanut butter than a sugar free jello (in who's world are those equal, anyway?)

I really do love Medifast. While I have my hungry days, I'm not controlled by cravings the way I've been on other plans.

OK, so don't tell the Medifast police, but some days I have a sugar free jello AND peanut butter! I agree, how can 10 calories of jello or pickles count the same as 90 calories of peanut butter? I used to take yogurt to work every day for dessert after lunch, so those little jello cups satisfy that desire for me. I am hooked on peanut butter on the brownies - that is my favorite medifast meal, by far!

I'm really loving medifast, too. I think it's the combination of lots of structure, but I get 1 meal a day of real food to learn how to eat right. It's definitely right for me since I'm still motivated 6 months in, and I'm actually learning about me and how to eat.

Keep up the good work!

OK, so don't tell the Medifast police, but some days I have a sugar free jello AND peanut butter!

OK, I won't; as long as you don't tell them that I have whipped topping on just about everything! LOL. OK, not everything just the Dutch Chocolate shake, brownies, cherry pomegranate shakes, pudding, soft serve, and choc. chip pancakes, lol.

DH and I use to get frozen yogurt frequently. There's a little place up the street from us so we'd walk or ride our bikes. We theorized that the calories didn't count because we exercised to get there and back, lol. Plus you always hear about how frozen yogurt is SO much better for you than ice cream or custard. Well, I went to the company's website one day and yeah, it's only 10 calories but that's per oz. The smallest serving size they have is a 16 oz cup so 160 calories; which isn't bad but then they have a whole slew of candy and various toppings just staring me in the face - yeah, like a fat girl can resist that! So it was probably easily making my "healthy" frozen yogurt into a 400 calorie bomb. And I won't even talk about the carbs/sugars. So the whipped topping is sort of my fix for the yogurt craving. If I feel like I wanna run to the yogurt shop; I top with whip cream. I figure the 20 calories and 3 carbs in 2 tbsp is MUCH less damage than cheating - even if I'm really craving and have to use it 2 or 3 times a day.

Hey EvilPink, I like how you think. And your secret is safe with me.

If some people can be 100% on plan with medifast and stick to it, great for them. I knew I would need to cheat a little in order to stay on medifast for about a year. I figure I'm still doing WAY better than before I started. And I doubt a SF jello and peanut butter will bump me out of fat burning. I really have to tell myself only 1 tablespoon of PB, though. Too much of that probably will kick me out of fat burning.

I don't think I will ever police myself too much on condiments. But, I do think logging all my food is going to be key for me. I like seeing those calorie deficit numbers. But I still seem to fight logging food sometimes.

Yesterday I totally binged. I was having a great week last week but my DH kept throwing temptation in my face. Wednesday, it was "lets go out for DS's birthday." We went to a pizza joint. Friday, it was a call on my way home from picking up the boys at daycare/school, "you want to meet somewhere for dinner?" Usually we go out just once a week for dinner on Saturday. I actually did well (making going choices on what to eat) those nights. But then on Saturday night I let it fall apart. I regrouped on Sunday but that birthcake was taunting me. Monday, I just gave in when I saw a 0.4 lb gain (and I weight in just once a week). Now I'm regrouping again.

Right now I'm just thinking, "I dunno." I don't know what I need to take/learn from this. I don't know how stop falling off the wagon. I don't know if I should try to be all gung-ho 100% on program or be a little more flexible. My DH did Medifast last year- going the hard-core 99% OP route. After gaining a bunch of it back, he's on Medifast again now but is doing being much more flexible.

Thanks for letting me vent. I'm not going to give up.

I hear ya, Maurene.

That's my struggle right now, too. I spent all those weekends going off plan and "got away" with it. But I still have a lot to lose, and unless I want the next 50 pounds to take a year, I need to stay on track. I did good this past weekend. This weekend I'm going to a Halloween party at a bar with pizza and wings. I think I need to decide ahead of time how many drinks and how many wings I'll let myself have.

Someone here once said that she avoided temptation by reminding herself that if it's not on her plate, it is NOT HER FOOD.

As I approached my goal weight, I went on a plateau that would not break.

So, I gave up the 5&1 Plan, went low-carb instead, and so far it seems to be working. I still use the MediFast products once a day (they have too many carbs to use more than that on a low-carb diet).

I can honestly say I love MediFast, even just as a supplement to my low-carb lifestyle. The brownies and pancakes satisfy my sweet tooth and I can still stay on plan. Not to mention they are very nutritious!

I plan to continue to order MediFast products on an ongoing basis for use in my everyday maintenance life. Obviously not the $300/month plan, but here and there I plan to continue using my favorite products. They are awesome! They keep me from feeling deprived and I have headed off many a binge using them. Especially the crunch bars, brownies, chocolate chip pancakes, and puffs.

Also everyone I know has commented on how great my hair looks and how fast it is growing. My hairdresser is amazed, she says she's never seen anything like it. It just got all smooth and silky and grew sooo fast. I am 100% sure it is because of the excellent nutrition I got through MediFast.
you MediFast!

That is exactly what I keep telling myself. I don't mind the MF foods but I don't want to be eating them 5x a day (and paying for them) a year from now.

shr1nk1ngme - Thanks you sharing how you're using the MF products now. I was thinking that a few (like the brownies) should still be part of my diet once I'm on maintenance.

Speaking of brownies...have you all heard that they're coming out with soft bake cookies this month? The other new products are an orange drink and vegetarian sloppy joe.

No, I hadn't heard about the new foods. Cookies sound good, I'll definitely try them.

I DO know that scrambled eggs are being discontinued - I got an email about it yesterday because they're supposed to be in my next shipment. I guess I'll find out if I like the original eggs!

I will have to check it out. I bet the vegetarian Joe is great! And I will definitely want to try the cookies. My next order will be in mid-November.

Oops...I meant they'll come out in November (next month).

What...discontinuing scrambled eggs? I think those are the ones my DH and I like best. Bummer. I've gotten used to the southwestern ones though because my DH bought like 5 boxes and doesn't like them at all so I'm eating them.

Rats! I loved the Southwestern Eggs.