Hi guys,

I'm such an emotional eater. A few things that has been on my mind. For one I want to move to a bigger place but can't afford it. I'm continuing my education at the age of 35 but I know it is never too late. Once I get home I tend to fall off plan most of it is because of emotional issues, little things.

For starters: A friend of mines owes me money and I assumed that he wasn't going to pay me back. and then all these negative emotions started coming on.

Next: I make 36,000 per year and can't afford a 1 bedroom for me and my 2 year old daughter with no help at all. I'm a little stress right now. Plus I ran out of shakes.

I used to (well still can be at times but am working on it) be like this- anything that upsets me I would eat. If I was happy, I'd eat, and so on.

I finally started telling myself, am I upset or am I actually hungry?!

Okay you said your friend owes you money? Don't just ASSUME he isn't going to pay you back- how much? Have you asked him "hey okay so when were you going to pay me back? I need that money back, my kid needs.... (insert whatever here, braces, shoes, medicine). Even if she doesn't need it- just say it so he knows you are waiting for that money.

You can't control if your friend is going to pay you back, but you can control what you eat- so if you start stressing out- do something to take your mind off of it- read a book, take your daughter out for a walk, play with some toys with her, something, anything to keep your mind off of the issues.

And in the future don't let people borrow money without signing a paper that they owe you and it should indicate by WHEN they will pay you back- that way if they lag you can always take them to small claims court (just assuming you haven't had him sign a note- see if he'll sign one now).

Beerab,

Your right..... I did jump to conclusions today, my lunch break my friend paid me back my 420.00 I loaned him. I'm feeling much, much better now. I did have him to sign a note saying when he was going to pay me back, I just didn't believe him. I will never do that again because I really couldn't afford it. Thank you for your advice.

I'm glad he paid you back- yeah I don't let people borrow money cuz I had a problem before with a friend borrowing and NEVER paying back and I swore after that no more help from me.

My husband's brother is terrible with money and he asked my husband to cosign on a car for him and I told my husband NO WAY- we plan on buying a house this year or next year and all I need is for his brother to screw up his credit! He bought a brand new car and decided he didn't "want it" anymore so turned it in and still owes 9 grand on the car- so this other company wouldn't give him a loan without a cosigner- my husband kept insisting his brother wouldn't "do that to him" but I didn't care- I was like sign that and you can sign divorce papers too lol

lol now I'm just ranting- but you can do it!

Where you from?
I'm from san diego, I see our goals are pretty similar

Oh I agree completely. If he didn't pay his bills he not going to pay his brother back. He doesn't care about his bills he just want people to keep on helping him through life. Good for you.

I have learned my lesson about lending money! I wont even lend to family anymore as they have been the worse. If you are out of shakes you can try this:

1)the best suggestion would be to stick to the lean and green meal parameters and try to keep your calories, carbohydrates and protein as similiar to the Medifast 5 and 1 meal plan as possible (800-1000 calories; 80 to less than 100 grams carbohydrate; >72 grams of protein).

This may mean having approximately 12-15 ounces of lean protein in a day (consider having 3 meals with 4 ounces each and two "in-between" meals of 1-2 ounces each). Given your circumstance it seems reasonable to allow 9-12 servings of vegetables from the recommended vegetable choices. These very loose guidelines may need to be adjusted to stay within the nutritional parameters listed above. This was sent to me by Medifast Nutrition Support.

2) You can get the Walmart Oatmeal and have 1 serving, then 2 EAS Shakes (low carb) and 2 South Beach Bars. And have 1 lean & green!

These 2 plans will yield the same results as Medifast and save you a lot of money. I would take a multivitamin each day with either plan if you decide to try it.

Hello,
I am new to the forums and I am considering Medifast. I love the idea of the two plans you wrote about. Could you tell
me what an EAS shake is?

Thanks...

Nogames, I'm an emotional eater too. I found that when I used medifast exclusively if I felt like I was falling off plan, it was better to "overeat" the medifast food by having an extra shake or lean and green meal than eating other items. This kept me with the right ratios of protein/fat/carbs and didn't trigger further overeating.
Some substitutes I used when I ran out of medifast were:
-- egg whites scrambled in no-calorie cooking spray
-- cottage cheese
-- Hood low-carb milk mixed with any low-carb/low-sugar protein powder
-- New Lifestyle Diet protein shakes and meal replacements (New Lifestyle is a liquid diet similar to medifast but the shakes/meals are cheaper)
If you do substitutes be sure to watch your intake of nutrients since medifast has the necessary vitamins, minerals and fiber built in.

The February 2, 2009 issue of Women's World featuring Genie Francis and Medifast gave thier supermarket version of the plan. You can have 5 mini meals per day plus a dinner of lean protein and non-starchy veggies. The mini meals are protein rich. Here are some examples:

1 oz. string cheese and 1 small apple
1 protein or Fiber 1 energy bar and fruit
1 packet low sugar oatmeal and 1 cup ffree milk
100 calorie pack almonds and fruit
1 bowl of canned soup - 125 calorie
1 mini can tuna and 10 All-Bran crackers
etc. plus your evening meal.