Recommended by a friend of my mum's, I went on this diet that is sort of like Medifast/Optifast- It's called EDMARK, you take a "shake" like supplement 4 times a day and one meal that comprises of any amount of veges, 1 egg and 1/2 bowl of rice. With all this liquid I find it hard to down an additional 8 glasses of water, and I usually manage 5 or so, but still.

The plan says that an average person should loose 5-11 lbs in the 1st week.

It's Day 6. and I've been going to the gym for an hour everyday (for two weeks) to top it off. And I haven't lost any weight.

The diet doesn't even call for exercise and I've been doing it anyways. I still feel breathless when I climb up the set of stairs to the women's locker.

I don't know what to do. I packed my gym bag today, but don't feel like going at all, but that could also have to do with PMS- even though I've never really experienced that in the 14 years.

I feel bloated and miserable and if it's not yielding results is it worth it? The diet. I think I'm going to continue on the gym even though I'm not seeing results there- it's good to be active.

I wanted to start Medifast when I went back to the US in August, but this is making me unwilling- or hesitant. I was really excited about it- I found really great L&G recipes and I was willing to do whatever it took to be able to cook in the ResHalls, even if it meant waiting at the frontdesk for kitchen keys for hours.

I've been looking at the Accomplishment thread for motivation, but then I came across all these bloggers who at one time weighed a lot more than me, but look like I do right now. My mom look at one of them and she said how much did she weigh in that picture? I'm like ### (approx. 100 lbs more than me) and my mum goes- that's what you look like right now (and I do). Maybe I have a smaller frame? By my fingers barely touch when I circle them around my wrist- so it can't be that.

But now I'm really disappointed and dejected. And I don't want to keep going. Not on the EDMARK thing, and not to the gym, and not on Medifast.

But I want to do Medifast and go to the gym and take control of my weight and my life. I'm out of my depths here.

See, I'd feel better if I was loosing inches or looking like I'd lost weight, but that isn't happening either. Usually I managed loosing about 10 pounds a month at the gym, even if I had just started.

I dont do that or no exacly what it is your drinking. Maybe try somthing eles? Fresh fruits veggies good stuff. Im really sorry im not to much of a help. Didnt want to leave you hanging... Dont give up stay strong!! *hugs*

You're following a new plan, and it's been less than a week. Their average member might lose 5-11 lbs the first week, but that does not guarantee what you will lose. You're going to have to give it the full 7 days before weighing in and see for yourself. I'd probably suggest at least two weeks with any new food plan to give your body time to adjust to ...for you... not only the new foods, but the new activity.

For a lot of people, when they start exercising, their muscles can retain some water...which often looks like a stall or a gain, but isn't truly, and in the long-run the weight comes off and then some.

Again, you've only been at this for 6 days and only had 2 days at the gym. This isn't really enough time to see any sort of patterns or even gauge whether it will or won't work for you.


That's ultimately up to you to decide whether you're willing to put up with the side effects in order to give the plan a chance or not. You might be. You might not be. There's nothing wrong with either choice. It's your life and you get to decide what fits into your life.

Activity is good for everyone. So I don't think anyone is going to tell you -not- to go to the gym. Go, be active, have fun!

While we can look for tips or inspiration... we can't really look for comparison. First of all, you're only 5'3" where some of those people who might way 100lbs more than you could be much taller, or carry their weight differently. We just can't compare! We can't change how we look overnight, we can only find a plan that works AND that is livable for us and stick to it.

The Goals area is good for that. People who slowly, but surely made changes, found what worked for them, and followed through! Showing that we can do the same. Make a plan, stick with it, succeed! Every person has it within them to do that.


Then do it! Join up for Medifast. Follow the program. Give it an honest month to see if it fits your life. Go to the gym. It's not all or nothing. It's just one day at a time.

Eating healthier is your reward. Going to the gym, and after a month finding that you might not be so out of breath taking those stairs... that's your reward.

Keep at it. And you'll find what works. =)

I've been going to gym since 6/8 (that is two WEEKS not DAYS) and I only skipped one day. In the past, I lost about 6-7 lbs in the first two weeks of going to the gym, no diet, just eating what I usually eat, which isn't a lot, but still. With one week of a low calorie diet, you'd think that would get expedited. No such luck.

I will go on Medifast once I'm back in the US. My mind's made up. I have it down in my schedule, I've set meal times, I haven't created weekly menus yet, but I have time to do that since I won't go back till 8/4. I can't start before that because I can't find any distributors nearby. I also have my workout schedule planned out. I can't start that till my gym membership kicks in on 8/16, but I will try to start running or something. I really need to get my stamina up. I've already started being able to walk at 5.0 for 30 minutes without wanting to DIEDIEDIE. I don't think I could do that without the treadmill though.

I don't usually compare- like I said before, my parents do/say weird things that make my motivation tank like the titanic. Maybe someday it won't do that. For right now. I dunno.

I apologize, I misread.

Can't compare too closely what "used to work" to what works now, either. Bodies change. In the meantime, you're exercising regularly which is a positive thing.

It sounds like you have a plan set up for the future, so best of luck with it!

I'm 22, and while my body is probably going through a lot of changes, I'd hope that it doesn't work that much differently from when I was 20 (which was the last time I seriously went to the gym regularly). Anyhow. I'm really hoping I don't tank.

Anyhow. Thanks for listening, Lovely.

Hi, I'm sorry you're discouraged. I have been on Medifast--I don't know about EDMARK. But on Medifast, one is cautioned NOT to try to work out at the gym at the same time one is starting the program. The reason is that metabolism is changing. With Medifast, if you are used to exercising, you are told to do only light workouts for the first two weeks--as in just going for a walk for 30 minutes each day. Nothing strenuous!

This is really important. I've seen more than one person on the Medifast site forum who exercised anyway and stalled themselves from losing.

After you have been on the program and gotten into the metabolic groove, you can begin to exercise more strenuously.

That's what I'd suggest.

Jay

Lord.. please don't waist anymore money on these things. i used to do the same thing.. try all these different plans and then get so upset when i didn't lose as fast as the advertisment said i would. its just not worth it! you will lose weight. just by eating a lil less and moving a bit more. i have been losing around 3-4lbs each week since i started my diet.. and all i do is.. go to the pool for a swim( easiest excersise for my c-section) and keep track of what i eat.. i dont cut out whole food groups, i don't deprive myself of anything. if i want a piece of cake. im going to have it, just a smaller piece than i used to have you gotta have patience more than anything..and coming from me thats saying something, because i have like NO patience. one day i just woke up and said i need to do something that i can do for life. not what has worked for OTHERS.. just what works for me. and if the weight comes off a lil slower.. oh well at least im happy. so here is a super big for u and please put the money u were going to spend on medifast in a savings account. use that money to celebrate when you hit whatever goal you set for yourself. well. thats the end of my dr phil moment.

Six days, hon. This is your life. Six days is nothing. My advice is to try something more sustainable. Drinking shakes instead of food is not something many can keep up long term. Commit to eating healthy, nutritious foods for 30 days, then reevaluate, but you cannot gauge any weight loss plan in six days, except maybe to say heck no i cannot drink liquid crap for the rest of my life, let alone six days.

Make sure you are getting ENOUGH calories, especially when going to the gym. If you don't, your body will hang onto weight and you will lose it more slowly. Not to mention your metabolism will be lowered making weight come off even more slowly. I've read numerous accounts of people upping their calories and then they started to lose weight faster. It has helped me in plateaus.

Well, I'd just say NOT to compare the plan you are on to Medifast. Not at all the same principle. It may seem similar on the surface, with the meal replacements and then one meal with a lot of veggies, but the rice is making it NOT low carb, and one egg is definitely not enough protein for Medifast (not saying anything about the diet you are on, just that I hope you won't think Medifast would be similar, because it really isn't). Regardless of what you decide, we each have to find a plan that works for us, that we can live with, that teaches us good habits and nourishes our bodies. For me and with my doctor's approval that is Medifast. I wish you all the best in whatever method you choose for better health!

Too low of calories + too much exercise is causing cortisol levels to go up massively causing water retention.

You're losing fat at a rapid clip but the scale isn't reflecting it.

Keep it up and you'll quickly run into health problems. Our bodies can't handle the kind of stress you're putting it through without serious consequences. The good news is you've only been at it for two weeks so whatever damage has been done will quickly reverse itself once you lower the cortisol levels.

Regardless - I'd highly advocate finding a real dietary plan. I'm strongly against mostly liquid diets. My guess is once you stop exercising and start eating some real food the scale will drop 10lbs over a couple days.

If you don't want to count calories I'd suggest Atkins or strict paleo. Goodluck.

The caloric value for each packet of shake they provide is 250. x4 = 1000 Calories (this is all primarily soy protein). + my meal which is maybe between 100-250 calories.

I think the only thing cut out of my diet is fats.

Which means I intake about 1250 calories. Every other day I take a fiber rich mix made with oat husk and stuff which is an additional 200 or so calories.

I drink a lot of chlorophyll to balance my pH levels.

This is more than I usually eat. I'm a very small eater. The egg and veges I eat is more than enough to sustain me for half a day on what I was eating before. Admittedly, my carb intake was probably higher, I'm asian, we eat a lot of rice and wheat.

I have given up trying to understand how my body works. Medicines don't help me like they do normal people either: Ex: the only medicine that helps with my headaches is an anti-inflamatory. I don't have any allergies, I am Insulin Resistant though.

Also, while people often follow it for longer, the actual thing only last two weeks. I was only going to do it for two weeks. And I am going to finish off this week, and then I'll be done with this at least.

I know this EDMARK thing isn't for me now. I spent $350 on it, I might as well finish what's left of the program.

Thank you all for your advice and support. I really like this place for that.

I think some of the demotivation regarding exercise has to do with PMS. I think my hormones are acting out a little bit. This happens occasionally, and I get depressed, but I won't let it get me down or throw me off the wagon.

I recently got 30 day shred, so I was thinking of starting that once I finished this plan. And then when I get back to school I can start on Medifast. I can't wait to start cooking real food and such.

Cheers!

I've just run your stats through this calorie calculator, and your calorie intake is way too low. With your activity levels, you should be aiming for 1840 calories per day, and never go lower than 1760. Yes, really. There is no point in going lower, it's counterproductive.

Any diet that promises 5-11lb average weight loss in the first week is a scam, and living on basically soy protein powder is a bad idea too. With the lack of solid food and the worrying absence of fats (fat is essential in the diet), you are setting yourself up for constipation and no end of other health problems. No wonder you're feeling discouraged. I know the diet promised an easy, quick fix, but there is no easy quick fix for dieting, we'd all have used it long ago if there were. If something sounds too good to be true, it is.

And of course no wonder you're feeling miserable, you've been led to expect a miracle and nothing actually happened, not to mention that the diet sounds very unpleasant to be on. I'd have trouble sustaining that sort of thing for a day, let alone long-term.

This forum is full of people who are losing weight safely, consistently and happily. I've just reached the 10lb mark (though I estimated my starting weight as I didn't buy scales for the first month, it may have actually been higher than I think), and I am absolutely thrilled. I am severely disabled with a medical condition which messes up metabolism and prohibits exercise, and I'm still managing to lose 1lb or more every week. It is absolutely possible. Yes, it's a slow journey, but you should start to see differences in the fit of your clothes in a few weeks, and I am now really enjoying having people telling me how much better I look. I'm also not afraid of keeping it up long-term, because I've given myself a plan which I should be perfectly comfortable with even after I've lost the weight, rather than a restrictive and unrealistic crash diet.

I'd suggest calorie counting, using some nice friendly software such as MyFitnessPal or FitDay to take the hard work out of it. I was nervous about calorie counting at first, I thought I'd get obsessive and miserable and always have to be doing calculations, but to my surprise, it's quick, easy, and rather fun. It's also magically prodded me into eating more healthily, not that I was doing badly to begin with. Vegetables are so low-calorie that I've ended up eating more of them almost without realising. Beyond the obvious things like avoiding junk food, don't worry too much about exactly what you're eating or your protein ratio or what have you to begin with, just start monitoring your calorie intake and see how that's going, and then try to adjust it so that you're eating approximately 500 calories less than you're burning every day. The most important thing is calories in, calories out.

I'd also suggest that you stop discussing it with your mother, she sounds like a born diet saboteur. Most people avoid discussing their diet with pretty much everyone as people tend not to respond well, and family in particular can be very weird about it, especially if they have weight issues themselves.

As for PMS, one of the unfortunate things about dieting is that it can make your hormones jump up and down a bit, and especially with this sort of crash diet which is a big shock to the system. My PMS has been a mix: breast swelling gone, migraines in hiding, but anxiety and spotting worse. Anyway, we all learn the hard way that you have to be forgiving of yourself when you're premenstrual, and accept that the scales may not move in the desired direction that week. I had a nice little ten-day plateau over my last period, but it balanced out afterwards and I am continuing to lose weight at the same rate overall.