The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Alisha]

Hi everyone. I wanted to post this topic because I'm curious to know if anyone has been experiencing the same negativity towards Medifast that I have.

I haven't told many people that I'm on a diet, however I did tell the two women that run my Curves and I also mention it from time to time on another forum I use for support in other areas of dieting.

Despite Medifast being around for SO long and having the endorsement of Johns Hopkins, all I seem to get is negative input (except from my mom) and it really gets me down sometimes.

I told the women at my Curves because I had to cut my exercise routine way back and I wanted them to understand why. But, from that point until now, even after telling them that I over-hit my 20# goal, they have nothing to say but things such as, "Well I just hope you're not losing muscle mass" and "it doesn't sound very safe". I was over the moon at losing 20.5# by my last workout, but when I proudly announced my loss to the woman, she gave me an offhanded "oh, good". I got more excitement out of my cats than that woman.

Also, a lot of women on the other forum make you feel that if you're doing anything OTHER than Weight Watchers or simple portion control/exercise 3 times per week, then you're just doomed to gain all the weight back. My defence is to remind them that MANY Weight Watchers members gain their weight back, which is why they have to keep going back OR they gain so much that they have to re-start the plan from the beginning. It makes me feel terrible that just because I'm opting to do Medifast, people take the same attitude as they would if I said, "Hi, I just lost 23 pounds because I at two beans and a grain of rice for 28 days!"

Does anyone else get this type of discouragement about Medifast? How do YOU cope with it? I generally let it run over me like water off a duck's back, but I'm kind of ashamed to say that I'm running out of patience and I'm getting very cross.

I think this program is a Godsend and I never could have achieved what I have, so far, with any other program. I know this because I'm pretty sure I've tried them all!

So besides telling people about John Hopkins and the vitamins, etc. are there any other tactics you use to diplomatically tell people to get off your back?

Many thanks.

Alisha

[Jan]

Individuals have definite opinions. And they are just that -- opinions. Remember our program is a medical program. We don't go by our thoughts, feelings or opinions. It has been researched and is still being researched for different aspects of weight loss. This research is being done at Medical Institutes among them Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the U of Colorado. Have you noticed the new diabetic announcement? After much medical research and documentation it has been announced that our program far outperformed the ADA diet. This is independent research. We don't do our own "research" and skew the results.
As for the muscle loss comment remember this is a muscle sparing program. That means it has been formulated so that you won't burn muscle tissue. Generally people are speaking from ignorance. They may be "well-meaning" but don't know the facts. I generally just smile and repeat that this is a MEDICAL program -- not a diet. As for regaining the weight-- Everyone will regain their lost weight if they go back to their old habits no matter what program or diet they use. If your best friend is a bag of potato chips -- well I'll see you here again lamenting the weight gain. It has to be a lifestyle change to keep the weight off. As for exercise-- It's good, but there comes a time in everyone's life that it's not enough. That is you can't exercise off the weight. What goes in the mouth is what counts. My daughter found this our at age 24 and she's an athlete (or was before she skiied into a tree ) We teach you to eat small healthy meals 6 times a day. Not only is that very beneficial for weight control, but it evens out your blood sugars. If you continue on in this manner you will be able to maintain weight loss. Once in awhile you can splurge just not everyday. To repeat it's a medical program involving a life style change and it's Take Shape for Life not just till the pounds are gone. I know you'll do fine -- your success and continued succes may silence the nay sayers. You know what is best for you!!
jan

[buffybegood]

Hi Alisha, I have only been on the program for a week now. I too have not told many people about the diet, so haven't gotten any bad reactions yet. But, being a personal trainer, I worked with people who needed to be on diets, my certification required me to use the food pyramid. I was afraid of law suits if someone were to take my advice and get sick....some trainers have been sued because of Ephedra and other things. On the other hand, some of this is probably due to ignorance, they may not have heard about the diet and don't want to sound like they don't know it all and want you to either buy their stuff or take their advice. Some of the trainers I have known in the past have had the worst diets I have ever seen....I don't know if the trainers at Curves are certified or not, you might want to find that out. They may just be sales people, getting a good certification takes about a year, and requires continuing education. If they don't know about this diet, I would assume they are not certified. I read about it in my training books although it was only given by M.D.'s at that time. This is a weight loss diet....if you are wanting to "pump up"....IMHO haha....this would not be the thing to do. I don't think any of us are here to do that. I bet you can do that after....I hope this helps a little. Ask them about their qualifications....haha...that'll get em'.....let me know what you find out....Buffy

[buffybegood]

Alisha...one more thing...that is fantastic that you have lost 20#....if I ever go back to training I will recommend Medifast without hesitation and probably be the most famous trainer in town.....I haven't see this kind of sucess with any "food pyramid' diet or program.....

[martha]

ALISHA--

Ditto to what everyone else had already said.. I haven't told hardly anyone about my diet either.. they just think it's a protein shake type diet.. I feel it's none of their business.. The few who know are mostly the same as the ones you have encountered.. The ones that think it's a protein shake diet think that's okay but not Medifast.. go figure DUH!!! can we say almost the same thing only this one is filled with all of the vitamins and minerals we need to not cause muscle loss....and there is research to back this one up..I have done almost every diet out there and they do work for the most part but like any program if you go right back to eating like you did before-- the weight comes back and then some.. This is everyone I knows concern about MF.. well if you follow the program as it was laid out for us this will not happen.. portion control and when and what we eat are very important factors to this not happening to us once we are off. Medifast walks us through all of these stages and if we see a little gain we know how to get it right back off.. SLURP SLURP I don't really care what anyone else has to say ..I know it works and there are people like Nancy who continue to show us it does daily and they are here to help anytime day or night.. No other program I have ever been on has done that for me--SO for me it's MFast --Martha

[Unca_Tim]

Would someone please show me a "diet", that once you quit it and go back to your old eating habits, you stay skinny?

This is NOT a "diet". It's a total lifestyle change and way of thinking.
(Healthy, regular, balanced meals frequently and lots of water)

When your friends hand you a heaping bowl of cheezo chips to stuff in your mouth, tell them about your "diet"....

[buffybegood]

You can say that again Unca......I think the word diet has gotten a bad rap though....we have a good or a bad diet.....somehow that word has had a change of meaning....just a thought....I am glad to be on a good one....Buffy

[mytime]

Alisha - honestly the only negativity I have gotten is from people who are overweight. I am sad to say it but addicts don't like people in recovery. If someone asks me if I want X to eat I say either no thank you I am full or no I am on a special diet and leave it at that. My endochronoligist told me 95% of people who lose weight gain it back - on Optifast it is 75% with MF I am sure it is even fewer. In terms of the people at your Curves - now remember this is just me - but I would say loudly and looking them straight in the eye - I just want to thank you for being so postive and supportive it is your attitude that makes me want to be here and walk away. WHATEVER - people are motivated to be nasty by all kinds of things including ENVY - your hot their not - SLURP !!! Mytime

[martha]

MYTIME--

Girlfriend as usual I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS!!!!!!!!! trust me I will try really hard to remember that one.. Keep the good ones coming as I am writing them down for future use --Martha

[Rock]

Hi Alisha,
I believe that the negative post you are referring to was from <snip>? <snip>no urls please - Mr. Snippy</snip>
I was a bit miffed as well when I posted my comments there and she shot them down in flames. I can't bear to listen to her so I don't visit that site very often. I was discouraged as well, but after thinking about it, I am not going to let some crazy woman who knows nothing about my life and who lives day to day on a forum for the sole purpose of shooting down every method of losing weight that is different than the way she lost weight. There are a lot of ways to hammer a nail in. Some people use rocks while others chose to use hammers and just because you did it once doesn't make you an expert. Personal preference. Please don't let people who don't know your life shoot you down for using MF. That woman is crazy. We all have struggles with weight loss and they are not all identical. People in general don't like what is unknown to them and this is a prime example. After that post I decided that I would need a plan of attack for what to tell people to explain weight loss. I decided that I would say "I am eating less and exercising more" -which is all anyone needs to know. There is no untruth to that statement and everyone is happy. You are doing great and you should be ecstatic about what you have achieved this far. Don't let anyone take that away from you. Misery loves company.

[24KaratGold]

I read the thread at the link before Mr. Snippy snipped it. It is my opinion that the poster over there who is disparaging Medifast, to the point of stating that its program is "illegal per the FDA," is committing trade libel and ought to be worried about Medifast suing her butt.

[Alisha]

Thanks everyone, for such nice, supportive replies. I didn't see the link to which people referred, but you were probably right. However, it was that, coupled with the two Sisters Grimm at Curves that really got my Eire up.

I always turn to this forum for support with Medifast - the other one is really only to provide support for my disorder. However, I saw the thread and thought, "interesting" so I read it and posted about the wonders of this program in hopes of helping people. Little did I know that it would turn into the debate of the century, but there we go.

I thoroughly like this program and I know first hand the benefits that can be derived from it, so regardless of what people say, I think it's a Godsend. The statement that really got to me, however, was this 'person' saying that the Medifast, which is now being sold over the counter, is NOT the same one that which used to be prescribed by doctors.

I defended it by saying that because Medifast is always doing research, the plan is destined to change as more developments in nutrition and weight loss come to light. I used the change in the 5/1 plan from a necessary 3 cold shakes out of the 5 supplements allowed to the ability to now choose whatever one wants from the selection (due to the study by MF and JHU). I don't know if this was the case or not, but it seemed logical.

I only posted this because, as one person said, people fear what they do not understand and I wondered if anyone else experienced this negativity from their family/trainer/gym/friends, etc. I'm glad to see that not many have. With this in mind, I will just keep my glorious secret to myself until I reach goal and people are stumbling about themselves to find out how I worked such a miracle!

Thanks again all.

Alisha