The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[katesmom]

Hi All,
Let's put an end to this ever so painfully quiet forum and get it going again..........

Here is a shout out to all of our old friends that have left...

WE NEED YOU BACK !!!!


PLEEEEAAAASSSEEEEEE ???????????????????????????????????

Sojourner
Biki
Jo
Holberry
Lauren
Lizabette

to name a few..............

This used to be such a fun and supportive place to be..........

[DogMa]

Lauren hasn't left; she still posts, just not regularly (but I don't think that's actually changed). Lizabette's around again, but very little. Biki got angry and left. Jo just disappeared one day without a word (but last I heard, she was OK).

I'm surprised there aren't more newcomers, actually. There used to be a steady stream of 'em.

[Sablebaby]

I am stunned at how slow this forum is. When I was posting it was a happening place!

I may have to start posting here again than the mymedifast site. That place is too big.

[katesmom]

Hi Robin,
I just don't understand it....Don't people want to get this weight off and help each other? I am speaking for myself included....I feel abandoned-sort of...

Yes, Rodeomom.............I am Wilson on the beach drying up here daily without any life here.....

Mike are you still here???????????????


What's up????????????????????????

[DogMa]

A couple of folks are having some personal issues, I think (Nancy and her parents, Mike and ... something). Still, though, it's very strange. I know it always picks up in January, after the holidays, but that's a long time from now.

It's weird. My other forum (for the other weight-loss program) is huge and always very active. I guess like the main Medifast one? Which is nice, but I kinda liked the smaller, friendlier feel here. This is a little TOO small, though. Ha.

[Lauren]

Thanks for letting them know I'm still here, Robin! And no, I never posted all the time, although I do suspect I post a little less now than when I was actively MF-ing.

But I think this is an awesome forum and would love nothing more than for people to chat it up old-school style! I think one of the issues is that there had been a few folks who were super chatty, about things not necessarily related to weight-loss, so the conversation was constantly flowing...and those folks are no longer around. So, if you want to be chatty, just do it, and hopefully someone else feeling talkative will jump in, too!

XOXO

Lauren

[katesmom]

Thanks Lauren !
It's really nice to be heard ! Maintainers really help us struggling to get by each day to "do this thing" !!

Have a great day !

[Lauren]

My pleasure, and I used the "just do it" philosophy the whole time. If you ever read back in my posts (not that I'm suggesting it, as I can be way too verbose!), you'll notice that I recommend everyone just stop overanalyzing everything, stop trying to be their own psychologists, stop thinking too far ahead, and just DO IT. Just eat the damn meals. Just exercise. Turn the brain and the heart off it helps (which it truly can), as there is plenty of time for self analysis, now is the time to lose the weight, and I PROMISE that the self-awareness and grand life insights will come.

People have a tendency to make things harder on themselves (in general) and especially those of us who "feed" our issues feel robbed when we're dieting. But instead of feeling robbed, feel lucky. Feel fortunate. Feel like you've been given a gift. Because it is. And the gift comes in cute little blue and white packets! :-)

Cheers!

Lauren

[nickieluv]

Make things harder? Who, me? (none of the smileys looks quite innocent and guileless enough to put after that)

I am the queen of making excuses about why I can't 'just eat the damn meals' today or yesterday or tomorrow or next week. You make sense - it would be more fun to work on my emotional issues in a sexy bikini next summer than in yucky sweats and t-shirts now because it's all that fits.

Is there any cure for someone who wants to be thin but doesn't want to do the work? Short of expensive fat-sucking surgery, that is?

Yeah, I didn't think so. Thanks for being so blunt. I need you to come to my house and hit me upside the head every day. Want the job?

[DogMa]

Um, even with expensive, fat-sucking surgery, you need to do the work. Especially if you want to keep it off. Sorry.

As for analyzing, I'm the opposite of Lauren, I think. I had lost the weight before - more than once - by just following a plan. What I didn't do those other times was any work on WHY I was eating the way I was. The way I've kept it off this time is by really looking at what I was eating and why, and finding other ways to cope with emotions and stress.

It may not be true for everyone, but for ME, just following the plan was fine for losing weight, but it wasn't a long-term solution.

[nickieluv]

No, you just have the fat-sucking surgery every six months, see?

The way I read Lauren's comment, it seemed she was saying that the mental and emotional work needs to be done, but that for her doing it while dieting was the wrong time. I can see that. You need to learn new ways to cope, but if you can be single-minded enough to 'just do it,' then you can power through and do the finesse work afterwards.

I can imagine being stressed out and reaching for a doughnut because 'what does it matter, I'm fat anyway.' Thin, I might have the doughnut and think 'what does it matter, one doughnut won't hurt,' but if I'm paying attention to myself and I see that it leads to even more junk food, then I can catch it before it gets out of control and work on the core issue. Then I have just 5 pounds to lose, not 100, and it's not so daunting a task. Sometimes, to think that I have all these wounds to heal and on top of it all you're going to take away my sure-fire coping mechanism, it can be overwhelming.

It seems like, for me, thinking too much is the enemy. I rationalize and I am an expert at making what I want in the moment seem like the right thing. I know when I hit the groove, I'm golden (if I don't get too cocky), but I think this power-through strategy may be my friend for a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow is a new day - tonight is a new night, even - no more junk!!!!

[Lauren]

Happy to see you read this one, Nickie, because I had you in mind while I was typing it! :-)

Robin, I certainly agree with you about figuring out the WHY, and I assure you (and Nickie and anyone else) that I did in fact do a lot of that WHY throughout the process. The difference is that I didn't search for the WHYS, I just did the program, and the other stuff found me, at appropriate times, and when I was able to process it more clearly. I have been on so many weight loss plans and to so many "experts," read the books, and did so much analysis into my "why" in the past that, sort of like Nickie mentioned, it became paralyzing. It was almost like I had been giving myself a free pass on the weight loss UNTIL I figured it all out. Well, the truth is that I may never figure it ALL out. And to keep pushing off the weight loss until I did was no longer an option. MY reality is that I eat. I used to smoke, too. And bite my nails. And one by one I have addressed these vices, and replaced them with healthier choices. Because MY reality is that I may never "solve" my issues, but I can at least deal with them and approach them while I have a healthier body and life - because I know, for me, my issues seem a lot less offensive/overwhelming now that I'm thin than they felt when I was fat.

So I guess my point was not that you should NEVER address the issues, but that if constantly analyzing them was stunting the weight-loss, why not just throw them out the window for awhile and do something that you CAN figure out easily, you CAN achieve success in, and then be able to enjoy the successes you've achieved in the weight loss. That success did so much for my morale that I was able to deal with my life with a whole new outlook!

Lauren

[DogMa]

Like I said, we're all different. My point was just that I had done that before, and I'd lost the weight before, and I had figured I'd deal with those issues afterward. But that didn't work for me, because in the end I gained the weight back and I still had the same issues.

At the same time, working on that stuff didn't paralyze me, and it didn't get in the way of my weight loss. If it does, then sure, you should try just powering through and sticking to the program. But I've also seen a lot of people TRY to do that without success. If you fall off enough times, then maybe you need to look at why. Because I also think the reason most people on ANY program don't succeed is because they're not ready and they don't want it enough. If you really, really want it, then you find a way to make it work. But until you want it enough to make it a priority and really WORK for it, you're going to struggle and find a million reasons not to do it. I've seen it here, and I've seen it at Weight Watchers, and I've seen it on my low-carb forum and I've seen it on the other forum I'm on my right now. There are a million reasons to go off plan. Your reason for staying on it has to be even stronger.

[nickieluv]

Thanks, Lauren, I am reading everything and trying to take it all to heart.

I can't put my finger on what was different a couple months ago, why I felt so strong and it felt so easy to get and stay on plan. I went off for that whole breastfeeding deal and since then, I can't get it going.

I did walk on the treadmill for 16 minutes over the weekend. That actually felt good. At the end of all this I might be one of the exercise converts. You can't say enough for how good it feels to have a strong, powerful body to take you through life instead of a marshmallow-y one. My excuse there is that there's so much fat covering my muscles, it's a waste of time to exercise because I won't see any results from it. But there is no denying that I would FEEL results!

Oddly, I feel really strong at night. Easy then, because the day is over and I have hours and hours before I have to face tomorrow's batch of choices. Is it wrong to go 6 and 0 just because you can't think of anything to have for dinner? I keep thinking there's nothing to eat so I should just wait till we buy some groceries before I start.

AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH! I'm serious, someone needs to come over here and kick me in the butt or slap me in the face or something daily. I'll look stupid trying to do it myself. I'd ask my husband but he'd enjoy it too much. No, I need a professional a**-kicker, definitely.

If anybody reads this, can you just shout out 'just do it!' right now, while you're reading? Maybe I'll hear you and it'll help me make it to the end of just one day on plan.

[Lauren]

JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHACK!

(that was the sound of me slapping you)

Lauren