TWINCA so I suffered through the Chili Nacho Cheese Puffs. I didn't know what to expect based on your review. They're...weird but I can handle the weird. They were filling enough!

As for being in the right state of mind, I could not agree more. I remember when I lost all that weight last time, the mantra: "nothing tastes as good as thin feels" was on a loudspeaker loop in my mind. Over the last few years, it disappeared. A couple weeks ago, just before I decided to take this journey using Medifast, the mantra returned. It was very quiet at first but the last couple days I noticed it more. I ate less mindfully as I knew Saturday was the start and I have to admit the junk that I ate was not as satisfying as I got closer to Saturday. I have a feeling it will get louder as the days continue.

Truly appreciate your insights into the food and the strategies you offer!

Thanks again!!
Laura

Originally Posted by LauraRVA42011:
Joyce! We must have been posting at the exact same time because your posts weren't there earlier.

:congrat: on the pound down! Do you know if the Medifast site also shows the comprehensive condiments?? That's surprising about the almond milk. I think that's what has been feeding my anxiety about my lean and green. I am a creative cook and feel restricted by a perceived lack of condiments to pump up my dishes. I'm going to do some research!

Your maintenance plan sounds very solid. So pleased that you're going there in your mind and planning.

Cheers,
Laura

Yes, Laura, never even thought to google it. Tried to post link but couldn't. However do a search: medifast condiments. The first one that pops up is medifast media and it gives you the pdf!

Reviewing it there are other things, too, like the Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges that we can have. Wow, you learn something new everyday!

Thanks for the accolade!

You mentioned mantras...on another site, a woman was worried about the ice storm coming her way and was nervous and ready to binge, then she kept saying over and over "food isn't going to turn the electricity back on." Just made me laugh.

Thanks Joyce! That was the trick! I'm printing it out now. This really gives me less anxiety. I have a counter-top herb garden and I had just planted some new seedlings that I thought were going to go to waste. :woohoo:

Originally Posted by MorningGlory1950:
on another site, a woman was worried about the ice storm coming her way and was nervous and ready to binge, then she kept saying over and over "food isn't going to turn the electricity back on." Just made me laugh.

THAT is so much AWESOME! I love it!

Originally Posted by TWINCA:
Hi ladies-

Reluctantly did another weigh-in this morning, and still trending downward:

Medifast Center weigh-in: 246
11/30/2016 - Medifast Day 1: 244
12/03/2016 - Medifast Day 4: 237
12/11/2016 - Medifast Day 12: 233
12/20/2016 - Medifast Day 21 (Week 3): 230
12/27/2016 - Medifast Day 28 (Week 4): 228
12/31/2016 - Medifast Day 32 (Week 4.5): 226
01/03/2017 - Medifast Day 35 (Week 5): 224
01/14/2017 - Medifast Day 46 (Week 6.5): 222

So I'll take the "yay" for another 2 pounds. Still coming off my bloated / travel week, so I am cautiously optimistic that next week will be a bigger loss. I also have major cold/flu thing happening today. Yuck!

I think I need to refocus my attention on my water consumption. I haven't been drinking my "usual" gallon, so maybe that is the reason for the slow down...

Here are my menus since last post:

01/11/2017 (Day 43) - TRAVEL DAY - Oatmeal raisin crunch bar, cinnamon pretzel sticks, chocolate crunch bar, smoked chicken breast with lettuce, mixed Greek olives and buffalo cauliflower. 664 calories, 64 g protein, 46 g carbs, 12 g fiber, 24 g fat. This was a rough day eating-wise because I had a reception and client dinner. Made wise choices

01/12/2017 (Day 44) - TRAVEL DAY - peanut butter crunch bar, cinnamon pretzel sticks, airtport sliced grilled chicken breast sandwich w/ cheddar, lettuce, tomato and pesto mayo (deconstructed, no bread), chocolate crunch bar. 662 calories, 72 g protein, 40 g carbs, 12 g fiber, 30 g fat.

01/13/2017 (Day 45) - French vanilla shake, cinnamon brown sugar cereal, Optavia wild blueberry almond hot cereal (NEW), Optavia spinach pesto Mac & Cheese (NEW), peanut butter crunch bar, L&G taco salad (shredded beef). 848 calories, 82 g protein, 81 g carbs, 25 g fiber, 26 g fat.

Thoughts on NEW (to me) food:

Optavia spinach pesto macaroni and cheese - I prepared this in the morning, and let it hydrate in fridge until lunch. Cooked in microwave for about 30 seconds longer than instructions. Overall, it was pretty good. I LOVE pesto, and I LOVE macaroni and cheese, so a pretty perfect combo in my book. Would definitely order again.

Optavia blueberry almond hot cereal - Ok, wow. This was not very good on first few bites. I think I was expecting sweeter, like the apple cinnamon oatmeal, which I really like. It grew on me, though, by the end. Probably won't order again, but will eat the rest of the packets.

I got my Medifast shipment #3, and half of my Optavia foods on Wednesday, so the 69 day bag assembly process is already underway. I have them in their respective ziploc bags, which are then stored in a big reusable grocery bag in my pantry. Will do the rest this weekend as the rest of the Optavia products should arrive today. For me, this is going to make things so much easier!

Carmen - The first 3 days are the worst. I had headaches due to low carbs (I think), but after that there was no looking back. Cravings gone, energy up, all is well. You seem like you have a great, realistic plan in place.

Shiela - WELCOME to our little corner of the virtual diet universe! It makes me insane that men drop weight SO much faster than women? My hubby is the same way. 8 lbs in 9 days for you is AMAZING! Keep it up!

Joyce - One pound is one pound in the right direction. Just remember it is the trend. I, too, seem to lose big fir a few weeks, then lose 1-2 lbs, then back to 4, etc. again, the downward trend is what is important!

Laura - Glad to hear your doc is on board, and your mini-goals are very realistic. From all your posts, you seem to be on the right state of mind to make this work. It is a long haul, but will be completely worth it in the end! For me, I needed to be in a place where I was ready to be 100% committed, and that happened 6.5 weeks ago. I am on a serious mission now, and no slice of pizza or pie is going to get in my way! As you can tell from my posts, I eat taco salads almost every night! I LOVE THEM! You should use ground turkey (healthiest) if you can. I use Del Real shredded beef, and it is yum (and faster). 1 package can be used for 4 days of taco salads. I have to say, it is truly the only way that I'd get my required amount of greens as I'm not a lover of the vegetable. Rather, I am more if a (high carb) fruit kinda girl. Plus, I just don't have time to cook. I'm in a very intense, high stress job with long hours, and the last thing I want to do is cook when I get home. I used to hit the fast food drive-thru or order pizza-->major weight gain. BUT MF + my daily taco salads are just SO easy!

Curious--How old is everyone? I am 45.

Looking forward to the continuing updates!!

Yes, two pounds awesome, especially since you were post air flight and sick to boot!!!

Your menus continue to astound me....and you did as best you could eating out - the documentation proves it!

TWINCA ~ Since you asked "Curious--How old is everyone? I am 45."

As far as age, I am a young 66 (I really don't know where the time has gone)! My husband is 13.5 years younger than I! ;) In 1970 I was married the first time at age 19, right after an 80 pound weight loss using Metrecal- a limited weight loss product like Medifast - (former husband only knew me at 100 pounds, never knowing my binge history). Boy, was he surprised when I gained 65 pounds back in a short amount of time after the marriage. He did not like me fat. I even had a stomach stapling at 210 pounds (1981- new procedure which only lasted 6 months, then staples loosened and no longer was the surgery effective. In 1985 the marriage failed after 15 years and 3 children later.
I have 3 sons (42, 38 and 36) , and 1 grandson (19) and 2 granddaughters (14 and 3.) Two of my sons live with me as well as the teenage granddaughter. My husband and I purchased a large house in 2009 with an address that is numbered 911! That was certainly a predictor of what was to come! We are here for emergencies! Never knowing a fire would necessitate one son and his daughter needing a new home and the other just wanted to save money for a home purchase (he just put offer on one last week, finally!) I also had the middle son, his wife and newborn live with us also for over a year until he finished Physician Assisting graduate school. So it was quite chaotic here.
Plus never having had a teenage daughter lends itself to quite the array of mood swings: both hers and mine!
I can handle all 100% better now that I am on Medifast!

That is just a brief scenario of my life...my husband loves me at any weight, has seen me through all the diets I've tried throughout our 31 years together (22 married) and only encourages me to do what makes me happy.
I married a winner. He loves his stepchildren and their children as his own. Story to be continued:book2: .... (at a much later date!) Aren't you glad!


May I ask what line of work you're in?
(I was a site administrator of a large medical practice in Baltimore, Maryland. I am retired now.)

I am a young 51. Been married only 5 1/2 years. No kids as we're both kids at heart. Moved to Virginia from Canada to marry my husband. I work in the Technology side of a major Bank.

Cheers,
Laura

Originally Posted by MorningGlory1950:
May I ask what line of work you're in?
(I was a site administrator of a large medical practice in Baltimore, Maryland. I am retired now.)

I am a corporate attorney. Long hours, lots of stress, but a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding career.

I was looking for L&G alternatives, and found the 'Sandy's Kitchen Advantures' site. Might need to try some of these on the weekends when I have more time on my hands. http://www.sandyskitchenadventures.c...t-recipes.html

TWINCA ~ Now I understand why you work so many long hours, travel extensively and deal with stress!
And to think, that through all that, you are able to handle the Medifast program so well! If you can do it, anyone can! Thank you for sharing!

It is so funny that you posted sandy's kitchen adventures! I was just going to do that! I wish I could say that "great minds think alike," but you definitely have me beat!

I am SO GLAD we are talking about US!! It is fun to hear the tidbits of our personal lives.

I am 51. Married to my high school sweetheart for 31 years. I have two boys ages 12 and 16. We spent the first 15 years of our marriage traveling and doing all the fun stuff before we decided we wanted kids. We are a fun family that enjoys spending lots of time together. I really love them all....most of the time :-)

I'm an oncology nurse. Super stressful and crazy hours but I LOVE what I do. Recently I took some time away from patient care and have been working for insurance company auditing charts for them. It has been great to work from home and enjoy normal people's hours and be there each evening to kiss my boys at bedtime. It was also the perfect window for getting started on Medifast...especially with all the water I drink!

So fun to be doing Medifast with you gals!

Karen

Joyce ~

Congrats on the weight loss. :carrot:

I so admire your ability to be so grateful no matter how many pounds you lose each week. You have a great mindset to be already planning what you'll be eating once you are in maintenance. Planning really is key to this. I'm glad you'll figure this maintenance phase out for the rest of us before we get there! HA!

Love you newly added picture.

Karen

Happy Sunday all!

I was really tired by about 9 last night. I was struggling to watch a movie after my husband had turned in early (he wasn't feeling well). I ended up going to bed at around 9:30 and fell asleep fairly quickly. I slept in until 6:30 (which for us is sleeping in). A restful sleep all in all.

I was tempted to check my weight, knowing full well that there is the immediate 'lifestyle change' drop. It was almost 3 lbs. I know that I stacked the cards in my favor though because Friday I ate a lot of take away and figured I was retaining water from all the salt. Still it was nice to see it working, even if it's only because I front loaded my start weight.

Joyce! I love your profile pic! You look fantastic!

Taking things much easier today on day two...

Cheers,
Laura

Originally Posted by MorningGlory1950:
Sheila ~ :wel3fc:

What a great story! Your husband's competitive nature has spurred you to join the Medifast bandwagon, too. I know you are serious. You will succeed.

May I ask how you became so muscular and strong? For a such petite woman, you are amazing!

I can't wait to see your progress and your husband's!!

You may want to join the New Year, New You Challenge under the support thread "Chicks Up for a Challenge". There is a spreadsheet on the first page. Friendly competition and who knows, you may just win the 1st Place banner. Wouldn't that be cool to show your husband!!! (This contest goes for all of us, you can join at any time - just add your start weight and your goal for the week of March 9!) Karen, TWINCA and I are already participating.

Yes, the party is on...every day, every minute, every moment!
:celebrate:

Joyce,

Thank you for the warm welcome! I think my muscles are just one of those god-given gifts. I was born that way and it runs in our family. I love to watch my beautiful, strong 21 year old niece. If only she wasn't so hard on herself because she isn't tiny and slender like the girls in her sorority. I tell her all the time, strong is beautiful.

Ordering my food today from my TSFL coach. Of course I have to give some of it back to my generous husband since I've been poaching his for the past 4 days! We were both challenged last night with our youngest sons birthday dinner. He turned 19 (his last night home from college winter break) and wanted steak and potatoes. We each had a 5 - 60z portion of steak and vegetables. We didn't eat potatoes nor did we open the wine a neighbor gave us! However, we both succumbed to garlic bread. I ate 2 bites and he ate 1/2 of a good size piece. Gosh, this morning we admitted the mistake, congratulated ourselves on not opening the wine or eating dessert and are moving forward! Here is to a health 2017!

Joyce,

"BTW, I asked for a more detailed condiment list. Did you all know that 1 cup of Silk unsweetened vanilla or original almond milk = 1 condiment?"

I was so happy to hear that for some reason...just gave me another option for daily variety!" This is really great information. Going to show it to my husband. He wants to believe if its not in writing in front of him, its a free for all! Hard to argue with success though since he has lost so much weight in under 2 weeks and is wearing pants he hasn't worn in 2 years (UGH! men, how do they it?)

Sheila

Originally Posted by MorningGlory1950:
Hello, dear friends.

I lost 1 pound today.:spin: I am very pleased with that number considering I lost 4 last week and 2.5 the week before. Perhaps this is the pattern for me. Lose less for 3 weeks in a row, then more the next 2 weeks. I will check my records. Or it could just be, as I approach my goal weight, it will be a slow go from now on.

No matter....I am in this for the long haul. I asked for the booklet on transition and maintenance today. I am mentally preparing for the next step.

It seems that at my goal weight of 125, then factoring in my age, height and exercise level (sedentary), my target number of calories to maintain this weight is 1274! Of course if I increase my exercise, the number increases!

Therefore, they are recommending 2 MF Thrive Bars (200 calories each) plus 2 Lean and Green plus 2 Options called a Balanced Meals (they are lean proteins, fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy and healthy fats or regular MF meals which equal 100 calories each). There is a tapering off of the regular MF meals and adding new foods that actually equals 10 weeks of transition. There is a wonderful chart which simplifies the whole process.

I like it! It is sustainable and easy!

Honestly I am so happy with the meal plan now, I will probably utilize regular MF foods for the Options. I am NOT going to use starches or sugars to fill the void. That is where I got into trouble in the past.

BTW, I asked for a more detailed condiment list. Did you all know that 1 cup of Silk unsweetened vanilla or original almond milk = 1 condiment? I was so happy to hear that for some reason...just gave me another option for daily variety!

So there you have it. It is so much fun to update my ticker and the stats on the New Year, New You Challenge!

Oh, I changed my weigh in day to Saturdays at the Medifast Center. This works well with my schedule.

Joyce-Congrats on another pound lost! You are doing so great and will be at goal before you know it! I wish I had a Medifast center near me as well, that's pretty cool, for accountability. At least I have you all!!