Hi guys,

I was wondering if any of you would be able to provide some advice for me. I’ve been trying to lose weight for the last 7 years and all I do is gain. I tried calorie counting and found it too hard right now, maybe when I’m at a lower weight.

So I’m trying to do Medifast which I’ve tried before and I know that it works. So today was going to be my first day on Medifast. I packed my bag with 4 MF meals to have at work so that I wouldn’t go hungry… YET I bombed it already, it’s not even lunch time. There was a breakfast meeting at my company and I overdosed on pastries. I had a chocolate croissant, an almond croissant, and a slice of blueberry muffin…. Oh and I saved a bagel for my lunch later.

WTF am I thinking??? Seriously. I feel so hopeless. And I’m not hungry but it’s like I can’t NOT have those pastries if they’re there and they’re free. WTF I hate my life…. At this point, should I just give up or just continue on my Medifast “diet” for the rest of the day. I feel like such a failure….

That's too bad about the pastries--I always take free food if it's available. You should just feed the bagel to the birds and get back on track.
They don't have free pastries regularly, do they? If it just happens rarely, I doubt it is a real problem. Just get back on board.

The pastries are free? You may need to redefine what free means. Sure, they didn't cost you any cash, but what else did they cost you?

They certainly cost you your feeling of self worth if you are now feeling like a failure. What value do you place on your happiness? On your wellbeing? Your health? I would think those things are worth way more than the cash value of a few baked goods.

Throw the bagel out. Get back on plan. You are worth it.

I have a hard time passing up free food, and also not finishing what's on my plate. I grew up really poor in a big family so food was kinda scarce sometimes, I think it has been ingrained in me since.

I am 32 now and haven't had to worry about that for a long time but I still have to fight those feelings.

I have to remind myself constantly that throwing something away or passing it up is NOT wasting it. I have to have more respect for my body than to consider it the alternative to the garbage can.

Whether I pass something up, throw it away, or eat it-the result is the same in that it is gone. The difference is that with the first two choices I am not harming my health and making myself miserable.

You aren't failing unless you give up. The fact that you're here posting about this and looking for a way out tells me that you havent. This is just a matter of getting the right mindset. You just have to value your body and health more than a croissant. Get a game plan for how to distract yourself when you're faced with this situation. You can do this!

Love this!

True story. No bagel is worth it, they only make you hungrier later, and crave more bagels. Once you start cutting these things out, little by little, the cravings really do disappear.

Oh I feel your pain my boss loves to bring in donuts and homemade goodies all the time and I feel horrible to just let them sit there. My parents raised me to never leave food on my plate never waste and all that which I think is good but at the same time I think it is part of the reason I have such a hard time losing weight. Don't give up you slipped it happens just dust yourself off and toss the bagel and keep moving forward. You can do it!!!

Thanks, everyone! Your comments are very encouraging. I just sprayed the bagel with windex and threw it in my garbage can LOL...

My problem is that I know that I'm going to feel terrible and disgusted after having the pastries, I know that now and I knew it earlier today when I saw them. I knew that last night when I packed my meals for today. The thing is that my mind seems to go blank when I see those delicious pastries, I dont think about being Obese, or my doctor telling me that if I keep eating as much as I do I'll be 300 lbs, or that my knees have inflammation. I completely forget those things and all I want to do is eat. Just writing these things make me feel like crying because I know that I'm doing my body, and my life, so wrong. Yet I dont remember these things when I want to eat...

I can relate to the not wanting to pass up free food but you just have to say no which believe it or not is very empowering. Try it next time and good job in tossing the bagel.

You say you don't want to count calories and that's fine but I will tell you this:

If you want to lose weight and keep it off you need to create dietary habits that are sustainable long term. Medifast is fine and dandy for losing weight but it is not a sustainable plan long term.

I like counting calories myself because it makes it easy to say no to pastries and bagels. Each pastrie depending on size could have 250-500 calories. EACH. A bagel without anything on it runs around 250-300. No way I can hit my numbers for the day and afford a calorie bomb like that.

Other people like rule based dietary programs like Atkins or Paleo. The rules say you cannot eat the bagels or pastries so you must say no.

Goodluck

I disagree, JohnP, Medifast is a sustainable plan. They do have a Transition and Maintenance plan in which one learns how to eat so as not to gain weight.

Fatsincebirth, I started Medifast last week. I can't imagine what you were thinking when you scarfed down those pastries, and probably you can't, either!

Unless you want to repeat this every day, you have to plan to have a Medifast meal BEFORE you go to the breakfast meeting, or even have it DURING the meeting. I suggest one of the shakes--they are sweet and satisfying, and you can sip it slowly.

You simply have to understand that if you're doing Medifast, those other things are Not Your Food. Free is not free. And, those are not the last pastries on the planet, I assure you!

Good for you for tossing the bagel. Have your Medifast foods for the rest of the day. Start tomorrow sticking with the 5+1, and this time, do it!

Good luck! It can work for you, but you have to be able to say No.

Jay

Jayell is right. Remember Medifast is easy to follow but hard to do! I'm also on MF and I can tell you how hard it is at times to watch people eat the food you want!

At meetings I take my meals! I'll take either a hot drink or a bar or puffs and wait to munch on that as long as possible. I also will sit far away from items and walk in at the last minute if I can. It totally helps. If you enjoy the oatmeal you can double up on meals and take an oatmeal and hot drink or bar and hot drink and eat with everyone else I double up now and then on my meals.

You messed up today- think about what and why (which you are doing) and what you can do tomorrow to NOT repeat that process. Even if you have to sit through meetings and chug water then do it!

Medifast is a very sustainable plan IMO because it helps you not have to worry about meal preparation while at the same time teaching you better habits.

Don't give up on the MF! Get back on it. Today finish out the day as if you hadn't messed up (eat your lean and green and 1-2 MF meals for the rest of the day and GIVE THAT BAGEL AWAY).

Remember too you don't have to eat that food- somebody else WILL.

You will feel so much better about yourself if you pass on the pastries and lose 5 pounds... and then the 5 pounds turn to 10 pounds.... 15 pounds... no pastry is worth how good it feels to lose that extra weight.

Thank you, guys! The fact that I threw out that bagel and had my medifasr meal DOES make me feel good. I'm definitely going to try harder to say NO. People are sometimes a little pushy when it comes to food, but I really do need to remember that I'm doing this for me. I didn't spend money on those Medifast meals for nothing!

I definitely think that Medifast is a wonderful weight loss plan, and as jay said there is a maintenance plan where you start adding back more food. My goal is to lose at least 20 pounds on medifast and then start weaning off medifast into calorie counting, which I did like but it was just too slow for me. I'm having a lot of problems with my knees because of the weight and the faster I can get a couple of pounds off the better.

=) thank you all so much!

I saw the site of this Medifast thing and it is EXPENSIVE!!!
If you simply buy healthy groceries it is like 1/10 the price omg. From the day I started my healthy plan I have actually SAVED over 2000 euros in eight months and it actually helps me eat less and healthier to think of all the money I save.
I doubt this mealplan is really worth it for life... This is like eating in fancy restaurants every day and getting half a serving. It would be better just to prepare meals on the weekends for the whole week.

Chubbykins, any meal delivery program is "expensive" compared to just buying groceries and cooking them. Look up Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, etc.

But some people want the convenience of not having to calculate, go shopping, cook, choose, etc. Also, the Medifast program is nutritionally structured so that you get necessary nutrients if you follow directions. It's not for everyone, but so far I like the convenience.

You still eat 1 meal a day that you make yourself or can get in a restaurant, so it's not all packaged.

I counted calories in the past, but that is just not working for me anymore because I can't make myself do it. I'm trying this, and so far it's OK.

Jay