Here it is: a testament to Karen and her niece that Medifast works through all life situations!

I am reading and rereading these wonderful words!

Reporting in near the end of my restart Day 2! Meals today: hot cocoa, mac and cheese, mint cocoa bar, triple berry smoothie, taco salad (L&G). I have one meal left to have, probably cereal with almond milk. Feeling great about my on-plan day!

Nice job, Steph! Keep up the good work! :carrot: :cb: :broc:

I am so glad to see a thread that is busy!!! Such a wonderful and uplifting thing. We all have a support system for this journey but another one never hurts!!

My first week back on plan I was down 5.8 lbs, I was extremely disappointed in such a small loss. I was expecting it to be like week 1 again and be down at least 8-10 lbs. However, I had my IUD removed in June and my body is just now starting to get back to a normal monthly adventure with Aunt Flo so I had a full 5 days of misery on my first week. It was a daily struggle to not give in to those monthly cravings... Sunday night my fiance and I went to the movies and I caved!!! Not too bad though, a loss is a loss!!!!!!!

Looking forward to being a part of this new thread, I am not super active but I do check in at least once a week :dizzy:

Steph ~

You did it - 100% ON PLAN Day 2 :carrot:Don't look back ---- keep repeating what you've done day after day.

You will be successful!

Karen

Mal2600 ~

:welcome2: So glad you joined us here.

WOW that weight loss is good for week one considering you're in the middle of TOM. I bet you'll drop more than you think this week having that all behind you.

It sounds like you are re-starting? If so, big kudos to you for restarting and moving towards your weight loss goals.

I hope you have a great ON PLAN week !

Karen

hi everyone! I am down another half pound today and feeling strong! I'm not going to weigh again until Friday and then will do once a week.

Today I have had MF oatmeal (not very good, but I only had one packet so I got it down) and MF sloppy joe, also not very good to me but again, I only had one packet so I ate it and got it out of the way. I am having a cup of coffee with a little half and half now. I put some chicken thighs in the crock pot and will steam some broccoli to go with it for dinner.

How are you all doing? I look forward to hearing from you!

Mal - Welcome! We all hope to see you here often! Congratulations on your nearly 6 lb loss. Every pound is a victory especially if you know you "caved" at the movies. I had my cave moment on Sunday afternoon (I did try to keep it to a negligible cave). Hang in there and hang out with us. This is such a great place for support!

Steph - Super kudos for staying on plan! Getting started is always the hardest part. At least for me it is. I don't care for the MF food much myself either but my husband is along for the ride and he says he finds the oatmeal decent. He adds a bit of cinnamon and almond milk and finds that to make it even a bit better.

I had part of my L&G meal at lunch today (I work from home) and I was just starving so I ate a can of albacore tune in water with a half of avocado smashed up and some celery. I guess I'll just eat some veggies tonight with the husband who is having steak! Every decision has consequences we have to live with.I also exercised this morning instead of in the evening so that may have contributed to the hunger factor.

Hope everyone is well and stays strong on plan.

Sheila

Thanks Sheila! You made a great choice with your tuna and then staying true to the plan and just having the Green. Way to go!

I am finishing up a successful Day 3 and I know in the past, it just got easier after Day 3. I am looking forward to less hunger. I had a bar mid afternoon, and my chicken and veggies for dinner. I am thinking I will have a bar for my last meal too because I am pretty hungry. Hopefully that is about to change.

I have been wishing I had some of those Octavia meals. They sound so good! The hot cereals, cinnamon cake, and bars all sound amazing. I wish we could buy them for a reasonable price and not through a coach. I wonder how good they are.

Hey Steph! Good job on making it through day 3. I'm in week two and have found I'm in a nice groove. I've been so tempted to check out the scale early but I am sticking to my guns and waiting until Saturday.

I too wish I could try the Optavia stuff but when I went to check it out after logging in I got a big warning message that if I proceeded I'd nullify my Advantage status and lose the credits earned. Annoying. My mother-in-law shared her thoughts on some of them but it seemed more like we both enjoyed the same Medifast things.

I know it's early, but my husband sent me a calendar invite for Valentines and I looked up the restaurant's menu. There is nothing truly lean and green so I'm figuring out a strategy. It's a farm-to-table type place with a very small menu as it is more of a chef showcase place. I'm thinking that it may be best to just try to keep my carbs for the day under 100 and forego one or two Medifast meals. Anyone have any suggestions? I know that for best results I need to stay 100% on plan, but sometimes that is almost impossible. Ideas welcome.

Hope everyone has a great day!!

Cheers,
Laura

Laura, a lot of restaurants are happy to accomodate changes. You can choose any meat they have on the menu (salmon is always good, or roasted chicken or beef of some sort) and ask for "no sauce" if there is sauce. Then if there are sides, ask for steamed or roasted vegetables or a salad with no croutons. All the places I have asked have been very nice about it. It may not be a perfect Lean and Green (extra seasonings, butter, oils etc) but I find if you just avoid the biggies like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes everything else works out okay. I think some MF meals are lower in carbs than others so check your packets and choose those that day or maybe skip one MF meal (I personally wouldn't skip 2). That's just my ideas and I am sure you will figure something out!

Thanks, Steph! My only concern with asking for accommodations is that this place is one of those boutique places that really highlights the chefs and their food combinations. The closest thing I could find is a roasted half chicken with grits and greens. I looked up the carbs of grits online and they equal one medifast meal and of course I don't have to eat them all.

Cheers,
Laura

Hey y'all! I started back on MF on Monday. Five years ago I did really well, but I have gained back nearly all of the 100 pounds I lost in 2012.

This looks like the type of forum we USED to have on MF. Is it okay if I join you?

Laura,
I understand what you mean about being smaller boutique kind of place. Changes are not really optional and really are insulting to the chef. I would suggest going into it with the plan to take 1/2 of whatever you are served home. Eat as little of the sauce and cheese as possible and none of the bread. Then rave over the chef! Also, make sure you are not hungry when you go to dinner. Have a full medifast meal at the appropriate time before you go so you aren't tempted to eat over 1/2 of dinner. I actually did cut back just slightly the day I went out and ate only 1/2 a bar early in the am and then a whole one for a snack before lunch and was able to stick to my guns. Afterwards, I was full all day and actually had to make myself eat just a little to keep the metabolism moving.

On the Optavia front.... This is an interesting set of comments because my husband and I got involved through the Take Shape for Life program (a friend of a friend) and order our food through her link -same prices. We do have access to the Optavia foods and I can tell you that for the most part, they are pretty good. The cinnamon swirl cream cheese cakes I would call an exception to that rule. My husband Scott calls them the "barnyard cakes." The directions where to make them in the microwave and that was an epic fail. I took the other 6 packets and baked them in the oven in mini muffin tins. There are 3 muffins per packet. We still aren't crazy about them are and are still working our way through them. I think there are 4 or 5 left. The other benefit is, if we have gone over just a bit on the L&G, we can just eat 1 mini muffin, again just to jump the metabolism. I also had the Chia Bliss Smoothie today for the 1st time and wasn't expecting much but ended up really liking it a lot. The bars are great. I was talked into buying the Green Renewal Shake which I have not had the courage to try because it contains kale and that is not a favorite of mine. I'll likely jump into that by tomorrow. The main thing about the Optavia is that it is slightly more expensive and it has a really sharp looking matte finished box that is clean and modern looking visually. Our health coach spins them as containing premium ingredients. Who knows but they are good and made at the same factory in MD.

As far as the health coach goes, she is very nice and trying very hard. I like her a lot as a person. It is just not our thing but I am sure its great for some people. She sends us recipes and motivational videos as well as calling once a week to track our progress. She is available for as much support as you like.

Happy Tuesday!

Sheila

BanTam! Yay, come on in! Love to have you. This is an awesome group with great people. Most of us have just started or restarted recently so this is the perfect time to join in and recommit. How is it going on Day #2?

Sheila

Thank you, Sheila!

So far, so good! It actually feels GOOD to be back on the program!! Maybe because instead of the constant "I need to do something" going on in my head, now that I'm doing it, I feel less stress.

:welcome2: BanTam!! We are soul sisters I think! I lost 120lbs about 6 years ago and over that time it crept back. This past fall I was in a deep depression and felt like nothing I could do was ever going to get this weight off. I feel exactly the same in that I am finally doing something about it!!! Look forward to learning more about you!

Sheila, great advice as ever!! The funny thing is the fish on the menu is fried catfish (it's a very Southern place) and I know that would be worse than the chicken!! I have adjusted my meal plan for that day and may change up my timing so I'm having something closer to dinner time than usual.

I do like the sounds of things like chia and kale which I was trying to get more of in my diet before Medifast.

Thanks again!
Laura

Welcome BanTam, you're in good company! I am on Day 4 of a restart and feeling good!

I woke up starving this morning!! I hope that means the pounds are falling off. I had MF scrambled egg packet, scrambled with 1 Tbsp cream cheese (my extra healthy fat). Just now for mid morning I had a MF dark chocolate antioxidant shake, which tasted pretty bitter. I will get used to it though. Looking forward to another on plan day! I think I will have more leftover chicken and a big salad for dinner tonight.

How's everyone else doing?

That does sound very similar! Thank goodness we are both on the right track and taking charge!!

I woke up hungry, too! For me, it was because I have the day off and I woke up later than normal. If I remember, it did seem like I lost more during the weeks when I felt hungrier.

While I will never be "small" again (I have a weird heart thing that gets worse with too much weight loss), I am looking forward to getting up off the floor without needing something to grab ahold of! Also, I plan to retire in 2018 and I want to be in better shape to enjoy it!

Mal2600 and BanTam ~ :welcome:

I am so glad you can join us!

BanTam ~ I was on those wonderful Medifast threads and remember you! I miss so many of those wonderful people and their blogs. One who comes to mind is SunnyDay. Do you remember her?

Anyway, I digress. Both of you are going to feel so good in the coming weeks.
It is amazing that we have all found each other on this thread and can share our ups and downs and the ins and outs of our lives and this program!

I look forward to the wonderful interaction!

Laura ~ Your Valentine's dinner will be challenging, but certainly doable. As I stated earlier this week, this is the "real" life while doing Medifast. Where there is a will, there is a way.

I went to a "tea" last Friday. It was an intimate setting, very formal. The courses were just presented. First was a mixed salad with a dressing- I ate a bit of it. The a cream of crab soup- stirred it and kept my hands busy with the teacup (boy, did I drink a lot of tea that afternoon!), then there were the sandwiches. I picked about 3 of the cucumber and cream cheese ones and a tunafish salad one. I ate the cucumbers only...cutting them...keeping my hands busy, then the tiny tuna salad. Nobody commented - we were too busy talking and drinking tea!
And then the desserts arrived...I took one, put it on my plate (didn't eat it) and drank more tea!!!

Honestly if you don't mention you're on a diet program....blah, blah, blah...nobody cares.

I just ate a MF meal prior to going. The gathering was totally enjoyable. I also walked around quite a bit, looking at all the lovely furnishings and asking if I could help the hostess in her kitchen.

Now as far as your dinner goes...this is a lovely venue your dear husband chose for YOU. Enjoy the night. Eat well, and do the best you can. I don't worry anymore about "what I CAN have," but rather how I choose to react. Pre-planning is important, don't get me wrong, but the fun part is the atmosphere and the people you are with!

You are going to have a fantastic time!

I copied and pasted the MF oatmeal waffle recipe from the MF forum, just in case y'all haven't tried it. This makes one full round waffle in my flip-style Waring Belgian double waffle maker. This waffle maker is a little smaller than the Kenmore one I had (...and loved *sob*) so I reduced the amount of water down to 2 tbsp.

This is filling and if you hate the oatmeal, this is a great way to use it up. The added egg whites also boost your protein for the day without adding a lot of calories/carbs. Oh, and it's very portable!

Make sure your waffle iron is heated until light or beep goes off before pouring your first waffle.



Maple Waffles
1 pkg Apple Cinn or Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal
2 tbsp. Walden Farms Pancake Syrup
2 tbsp. water
66 grams (or 2 large egg whites)
dash of baking powder, but it doesn't really matter much
Pam spray

Or another option:

Blueberry Waffles
1 pkg Blueberry Oatmeal
2 tbsp. Walden Farms Blueberry Syrup
2 tbsp. water
66 grams (or 2 large egg whites)
dash of baking powder, if wanted
Pam spray

Same directions as above.

Mix all together and pour into a HOT waffle iron. Spray short spray to top and bottom irons. I set my Presto Flip Waffle maker for 6 minutes.

For my waffle maker this makes no splatter mess and no half filled waffles.

If you don't care for the oatmeal try this recipe...you may like it better this way.

(I have a photo but cannot yet post it here.)

Happy Thursday all!!

Joyce, thanks for the strategies you used during the tea. There is a Super Bowl potluck coming next week to work and I'm still on the 'work from home' that day side, but maybe I can pretend to participate without actually eating anything. Interesting.

So, one of the motivations for starting Medifast for me was that most of my work clothes were getting too tight and unflattering and I knew I needed to do something. As I start day 13, I'm happy to report that my clothes fit right again. Next step is too loose, but I'm happy that my options have expanded. A lot of my nicer clothes are a size down as I bought them a couple years ago with the intention of fitting into them by the next season (winter clothes I bought in the early spring for the next winter). I'm almost ready to try them on and see how they look.

It's funny this week has dragged and I am wondering if subconsciously it's because I am eagerly anticipating my weigh in on Saturday. I've wanted to step on the scale all week and it's making me crazy that I cannot. More accurately, WILL not!

Have a great day everyone!! Keep up the great work!

Cheers,
Laura

Happy Thursday!!

Parties and are so tough! At least most restaurants have more variety, but parties are hard unless you bring an OP dish. We had planned a Super Bowl party but Greenbay dashed those hopes a couple of weeks ago when they beat Dallas! :(

Laura - congrats on the work clothes fitting better again. I love the feeling and confidence boost from stepping into a pair of jeans that used to be too tight.

On to a great day!!

Laura ~ Liked the wording : "I'm happy that my options have expanded." And mean while you are getting smaller!
I am so happy you have the WANTpower to stay away from the scale 'til Saturday. It will make the weekend that much more fun!

Good morning! Happy to see so many participating here! I had another 100% day and think I am now on a roll and feeling good! I slept better last night than I have in awhile and have a little more energy and motivation. I'm enjoying my first meal of MF Chai Latte while I check in.

I wonder where TWINCA is? I am hoping to see a check in soon because I enjoy her posts. Hope she is just busy but doing great.

I need to figure out some Lean and Green options for the next few days. I guess I will dig through the freezer and see what types of meat need to be used up. I think there are a few roasts, steaks, and chicken in there. How do we know if a steak is lean "enough" if it is not labeled a certain type? Would you just trim off any visible fat and eat 5 ounces?

Steph, I feel like the best strategy for beef is first going with the leanest cuts and then trimming visible fat.

Per the Mayo Clinic site
Of these, the following are considered extra lean:

• Eye of round roast and steak.
• Sirloin tip side steak.
• Top round roast and steak.
• Bottom round roast and steak.
• Top sirloin steak.

That being said, I'm enjoying tenderloin for dinner, so now I have to go do some research!! ;)

Agreed with you about missing TWINCA, hope she checks in soon!

Cheers,
Laura

Hard to believe another work week is approaching its close!

So, steak is it? Let me weigh in on that. YUM! Actually, we had some filet one night this week and that's basically what we do with steak is cut off the any visible fat and just enjoy. Often, I will cut back to just under 5 ozs to compensate (because it is steak!). I let my husband have the extra.

He does a lot of physical work and if he doesn't get enough protein, he tends to cheat...crazy man, hummus and celery! Just my personal observation but a very active, muscular man, needs extra, over and above what I am having on MF. He has dropped over 25lbs in three weeks and I'm not sure this health coach we have quite knows what to make of him. She tells him he is losing too fast and then tells him he shouldn't be cheating. A bit of a contradiction in terms. When I cook, I give him extra protein and veggies in an attempt to keep him from being too hungry.

On another topic, I had an epic fail with the Optavia Chia Bliss Smoothie last night. I took the blender top out of the dishwasher, made the smoothie listened to the ice crunching and crunching, poured it in a glass, took a drink and..... Good grief, the plastic middle of the blender top had fallen in and been chopped to bits! A mouth full of plastic pieces and chia seeds later...ugh. Fast forward ~ Amazon is our friend. New blender plastic piece on its way.

Stay the course!

Sheila

Sheila! OMG and EWWW! :eek:

omg, a plastic smoothie!!! Yikes!

I am finally in the Zone and getting so much more done around the house! It seems like not having to think about food as much has freed up more time for other things.

Also, the food is starting to taste really great! I had the pancakes mid-morning, with sugar free syrup. They tasted so good! Now if only the triple berry smoothies would start to taste like that. LOL.

Thanks for the steak input. I don't know what the cuts are because we buy in bulk when they are one sale and then re-package and freeze (and the labels just say "steak." So I will cut off the extra fat and do a little less than 5 ounces. I bet steak strips would be great in a stir fry!

Hi!

I'm re-starting Medifast (once my meals arrive that is). I'll be diving back in on Monday. I lost 40 lbs on Medifast back in 2013. Since then, I've gained back that 40 and had our 4th baby. I've been trying to get pregnant over a year with #5 and it hasn't worked yet. I was hoping to have my 5th baby and then re-join Medifast. However, the wait it just too long. I might as well get this weight off and hope I get pregnant or reach goal weight by June! If I don't get a positive pregnancy test, I hope to at least look forward to the numbers on the scale!

I'm looking to get rid of 40lbs. Currently, I'm 180, 5'6 and am looking forward to not wearing clothing that starts with an X.

It's been helpful looking through these forums while I wait to start this journey again!

Continued luck everyone. I look forward to joining with you soon.

-MamaRach

Hi ladies,

Wanted to check in since today was my official 2 week weigh in. So, this morning I weighed in at 168.8 lbs, which is a 1.6 lb loss from last week for a total of 6.2 lbs in two weeks.

Not as much as I had hoped and am losing about half the weight I did the last time while on this same plan. I really cant tell you why since I was heavier to start with this time around and Im not cheating.

Regardless, it is 6.2 lbs in the right direction, and I vowed to stick to this plan for at least 30 days so that is what I am doing.

I will say, I have adjusted pretty well now and don't feel as hungry or as weird. I am settling into the routine. I think I am going to add 30 min a day of light cardio and see if that makes a difference.

Its good to see so many new ladies joining us-WELCOME!! I hope you all have great success!

Hope everyone has a great evening.

Best,
Carmen

:welcome2: MamaRach! You're in the right place! I know what it feels like to join the forum ahead of starting your journey. I bet you're just itching to dive in! Enjoy your weekend!

Carmen! Congrats on the loss! I know how frustrating it can be to lose at a slower rate than you know you've done in the past. I fear that myself. I wish I could offer insight or advice but I have none. Be careful with exercise if you are eating so few calories, especially so early on. Your body may not react the way you want. My doctor was quite adamant about not exercising too vigorously and I can only pass on his advice. You know your body the best, but please be careful!

Cheers,
Laura

It's Friday! Yay!!

Steph - Yeah, just cut off all fat, even inner fat if you can get to it.

Laura - A place where we sometimes eat has filet mignon kabobs and I order them without any added butter. So good and now I want them!!

Sheila - Yuck! You didn't know the "bliss" in your smoothie was plastic, did you?? :D ...and, What did we do before Amazon, anyway??

MamaRach - Welcome and congratulations on your restart! I restarted on Monday and it feels so good to be back on track. We can do it!!!

Carmen - Hey, 6.2 is ~GREAT~! There could be all kinds of things making the loss seem slower; hormones mostly. At the end of 30 days you may be surprised!

I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend planned. My husband works quite a bit OT and this Saturday is no exception, so I it looks like I'll have to find something to do...oh yeah, clean house and do laundry! :D

Carmen ~

You are doing great. I know that weight loss numbers from week to week can be frustrating but you ARE losing at that is really what is key. AND you are feeling better!! That is the best part. Your body is adjusting and sometimes it takes longer for the fat burning mode to kick into higher gear.

On my re-start on 12/12 I held off exercising until I was well into a month. I just started exercising (a brisk walk 30 min per day) so it will be interesting if it affects my weight loss.

Water is key to Medifast. Our bodies have to be hydrated to keep everything moving.

Keep doing what you are doing because it is clearly working! The weight loss will follow.

Karen

STEPH ~

I'm always happy to come on here and see you having a 100% day. You are certainly in the Medifast mode and doing great. Keep doing what you're doing! Staying on plan is the celebration because weight loss always follows.

Karen

Karen - Yes! You are right about drinking enough water! I look forward to less pain in my knees and hips so I can walk better. Currently, I have so much pain when I stand I have to hold myself up until I can get my knees ready to hold the weight. Arthritis...and I think tendinitis behind my knees.

BanTam ~

I really like what you said. We stress when we are looking for something to help us with weight loss and once we've figured it out we can relax a bit. Medifast puts my life back in control, too. It's weird how that happens.

So, glad you recommitted to Medifast!

Karen

Does anyone here like the MF Cappuccino? I do, but as a frap.

This works really well with a Ninja (double blade type) and pretty well with a Vitamix.

1 pkg cappuccino mix
1 cup water (you can also sub out some water for the Torani sugar free syrups)
1.5 cups semi crushed ice or 2 cups cubes
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
I tsp espresso powder

Mix all in the blender until it is frothy and starts rising to the top of the blender. This works better for me in the Ninja (double blade) and will produce about 48 oz after all the air is whipped in. Note: The air makes me burp and too much xanthan gum causes gas and makes the frap gooey. The good part is that it's very filling and takes a while to drink.

Good morning all,

I woke up today feeling kind of ill. Not full blown sickness, but just a little queasy in the stomach. I wasn't sure if I could stomach anything but also felt hungry, so I mixed up a MF Orange Drink and put some ice in it. That was perfect! Light and easy and I am starting to feel a little better. Today might be a perfect day to get some of those liquid meals used.

My one week weigh in will be on Sunday and I am excited to see what my results are. I would be really happy with 5 pounds or more. I hope it's not less than that, but if it is I will keep going. I promised myself I would stick this out for at least 30 days and that's what I'm going to do!