Hi all! I am new here, but I have been reading from this site for several years now. I have steadily increased my weight over the last 16 years (since I started having children) until I have reached my highest weight as of yet, at 328lbs at 5 feet 6 inches tall. I am almost in tears typing that, as it is a place I could NEVER have imagined myself ending up. But here I am. I'm 39 years old so I am entering the age group where it is said to be more difficult to lose weight. Also, since I am so overweight I will be left with a lot of excess skin. I would like to learn exercises that might help with that, but I am realistic and do know that a great deal of sagging skin will be unavoidable at this size.
At the end of this journey, I would like to have lost at least 140lbs., and have gained a much needed boost in self esteem, self value and respect, and a lot of knowledge for living a healthy life! I want to learn how to eat!!
I have tried several diets, but I have never stuck to any and have never lost more than 29lbs. After researching a few different diet plans, I decided to go with Medifast because it mirrors a program at my local hospital (which I cannot afford! ) My Dr. even said it was a good program for my situation.
I see there is a Medifast forum, so I will go there and introduce myself, but I wanted to give my little introduction here, too! I'm glad to be here, and I hope I can find lots of inspiration through all of you great people who share you experiences!

Welcome to the forum and best wishes on your WOE.

Hi Essie

I know how crappy you must be feeling but i think its sort of driving you to making desperate decisions.

Warning, massive post following.

By all means if you've laid out the money already, carry on but prepare for the time when you get bored with this system, by devising your own diet using seriously healthy and sustainable alternatives rather than just giving up altogether. If you start thinking about it now and planning your transition, you've got a great chance of succeeding. I would actually suggest you do the plan for one month and then move over to your own plan on which you eat proper meals you've prepared only and no more packaged diet foods. By that stage you will be more motivated and your mood will be better which i think is important for starting and staying on a diet.

I think you are better off saving the money for surgery to take away the excess skin you think you will have than on buying diet foods which you will soon get bored with. There are no actual exercises to tighten skin I'm afraid. Exercises build muscle. Calorie reduction reduces fat. Surgery can cut the excess skin away. But you don't need to focus on the skin part of it now. Just save the money for the surgery. If you find you don't need surgery or decide you don't want it, you've got the money for a whole new wardrobe of a holiday or something else really great.

Lat why do you always give up you diets? Your rules about dieting should, i believe, take into consideration the reasons why you usually give up. I didn't usually give up on my diets but in the past i've always regained. Reasons i found that brought me unstuck was because a) my weightloss came about considerably because i did a lot of exercise and then my life would change and i would stop exercising b) circumstances made me depressed and i just let go and stopped caring c)a new routine from a new job or change of location.

So this time, my weightloss does not depend on exercise. i've hardly done any but intend to do some more - i've only recently started a running program but have stalled on it already meanwhile my diet is still solid. For me its all about eating the right things all the time. Devising a style of eating that i can do forever so that means a wide variety of foods and no sweets, regular meals and tons of vegetables but i have to work at increasing my protein intake. I also get plenty of sleep at night, and avoid stress and manage my life problems with means other than food, usually by talking to a counsellor sooner rather than later and deciding on a course of action to resolve the problem.

Here are two strict rules that i live with on my diet and which i believe are what makes my journey so far easy.

1. No artificial sugars and no refined sugars but fruit is unlimited. I get all the sweetness i need from fruit which is a lot less sweet than manufactured sweets and sugar so this is a key reason why my diet is sustainable. It takes no time at all to let go all the sweet foods. After three months i reintroduced dried fruit but only in strictly limited servings. Dried fruit is a danger food for me too if i am inclined to a binge and i give myself permission. To do this, I knew in my heart of hearts that I had no control over my weight and food intake so long as i was eating sweets. I have tried moderation. Can't do it for longer than say a month. I don't crave sweets. its not that i can't have sweets ever again. Its just they are strictly limited to certain situations where risk of relapse is minimal and i do a lot of mental preparation for those situations to make sure i don't stray. ( can tell you more about that another timePThe thing is sweet foods are sooo soo much sweeter than fruit that it triggers a major response in me which i find hard to manage. So i reduce the situations when that can happen. I don't ever offer myself rewards on a diet it hunk that's unhelpful. Losing weight and feeling good are reward enough for me.

2. Avoid getting very hungry. So in the beginning i reduced my calories as little as possible. and i still lost weight at a steady pace. I had three meals a day all quite close together. My last meal was usually over before 6.30pm. I was more strict in the beginning about avoiding snacks but lately i've been eating more fruit between meals and now i've stopped that again once i started my success diary with hunger and satiety ratings. Its better to have a bigger meal than to be turning to snacks all the time. But if you have to go for long stretches between meals then a snack or lighter but healthy meal is essential. Its so important to avoid sitting too long with a big appetite because its hard to make good decisions and it becomes too easy to give in to eating the first thing in sight which is usually something unhealthy. Also one tends to overeat when you do get to eat the meal you need. I would only have about 3-4 hours between meals. But the evening i was fine if i went to bed at a reasonable hour. I do however top up my calories with instant coffee with a dash of fresh milk all day long. This helps me avoid hunger too and it doesn't trigger any sort of desire for more. I find it satisfying. If i wasn't drinking coffee, i'd probably suggest hot water with a dash of milk. Avoid eating to a state of being full and avoid leaving the table still hungry. Develop this skill.

3. Another rule i don't even have to think twice about but which it seems to me the majority do is work on reducing the amount of processed foods and move your diet steadily towards whole foods. So no energy bars, no frozen dinners - eliminate these things from your diet gradually, etc but lots of meals you've made from scratch with just a few bought condiments.


There are systems you can follow where you don't have to count calories if the thought of doing that seems arduous. Look for systems like that. Two books i really like that teach you how to eat better and lose weight at the same time are French Women Don't get Fat and The Don't Go Hungry Diet (which is not actually a diet but you will lose weight doing it. Even if you don't try to do all the things they suggest in their books, you will be miles ahead in terms of learning how to eat well and nutritiously and enjoy your food whilst losing weight. Both important in different ways.

If I were you i would reduce my calorie intake just minimally for as long as you need to get most of the weight off. Eat solidly nutritious food at every meal with tons of fruit and vegetables because they are filling, nutritious and make dieting a lot easier.

Another book which has excellent meal plans and nutritional information but which came to realise did not provide enough calories was the CSIRO total wellbeing diet books. I learnt a lot about eating healthy nutritious meals from trying to follow something like this system. I'm not suggesting you follow this system closely but they do have a good simple alternative to counting calories but keeping track of eating the right amounts of the right foods. Very easy. And the recipes and meals plans are good for inspiration.

That diet is generally a high protein, low fat and low calorie diet but there are no prepackaged foods. The recipes and meal plans show you how to eat yummy healthy meals.

I think its too low in fat though. And as i said too low in calories. I got hungry when i tried to follow it. In the second book i think they realised it was an issue and told people how to increase their calories whilst still following the diet. So i would recommend following the types of foods and meals in this book and using it as a good source of nutritional information. It also has a nice layout and is written by scientists so they are not gimmicky people. Generally their advice is sensible and smart.

Greetings Essie!
I lost weight and I did it by identifying myself as an addict.
There I said it again. I am an addict. I can not eat any food with sugar or simple carbohydrates.
I can not drink booze. My body/mind behaves differently when given sugar/simple carbs.
Yes I can and I do eat fruit. But I can only eat real friut and veggies. Infact that is how I finally entered recovery, by eating only vegetables, fruit and raw nuts/seeds.
I no longer purchase or eat Lara bars or anything that is a pretend food. For me, that is the key to freedom from the nasty life sucking vortex I was stuck in.

Hi Essie,
this is my day one also! I am using Medifast for starters, and will go to another diet as soon as this one is not working for me. I hope to lose some chunks of fat with this plan first....I actually like it so far. But as I said, this is day one! My husband lost weight with Medifast. He went off it on week-ends with Atkins. Actually enjoyed that.

Welcome to the forum! I think you have really great goals. Sticking with any plan is the hardest part, but just hand in there. This forum is great support so post whenever you are needing a boost in motivation!

Wow, lots of well wishes and great advice! Thank you all!

Pattience - Thank you for your message. You bring up so many great things for me to ponder. I appreciate you taking time to share.

Lucinda - I am so with you on identifying as an addict. Without getting too off topic or involved, I have a cousin who has been battling addiction to drugs. I don't know how I didn't make the connection prior to this, but once I started going through this process with her I immediately saw that I was exactly the same as she was. Right now our family is in great distress because we realize she is not getting better, and we fear she will die soon. I consider myself to be at this point with my addiction to food, as well. I am at a very unsafe weight, and every day until yesterday I was continuing to "use" even though I knew I was hurting myself. I feel it's critical for me to make this change in my life right now.

Pattience I agree with you on this program being something that can grow mundane after a short time. My focus now is on keeping myself in the state of mind I am in now. I have a very strong personality and like with quitting smoking, it just clicked one day. I decided I was quitting, I stopped cold turkey and have never looked back! I want to keep myself in this determined mindset. I feel that using Medifast will help me see some results quickly to help keep that motivation. My original goal was to do it for 30 days, but I have now decided to do 90 days and evaluate everything at the end of that 90 days: How I look, feel, what I have lost, the cost, etc. If I'm enjoying it I may continue until needed, but if not, I will transition back to food with another plan. I have done Weight Watchers in the past, and even though I lost each time I just always quit. That I cannot answer. I don't know why I always quit, and I guess that's for a therapist to help me sort out. But I feel if this does not turn out to be a fit for me, I would likely return to the weight watchers system because of ease.

BUT!!! Day 2 on Medifast has been great and I'm still very excited! I am in the "honeymoon" phase of this diet, so I know I will hit days that are a challenge, but right now I'm in a good place and I'm going to run with it!

Thanks again all!

I quit smoking cold turkey 17 years ago too. Although i hadn't done it without some mental preparation. However i had not picked any day. The day picked me. I had only decided that "this year" i will quit smoking.

I have found my quit smoking experience, everything about it, very helpful with my quit sugar experience this time. I mean i have used that experience.