The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[newsluv]

I'm on my third day. I was feeling really lightheaded and hungry, so I had one of those Medifast minestrone soups. I added some artichoke hearts to make it heartier. After that, I had a medifast granola bar! I'm only suppossed to have one supplement a day right? I'm on the five and 1 program.

Yesterday I had two of those peanut butter bars that are on the plan.
Please tell me I haven't ruined this diet!

[hawaiiwhatnot]

newsluv,

Did you get a copy of the Medifast Quick Start Guide? It's packed with the information you need and I highly recommend getting a copy. I know there's only 1 bar allowed per day, and artichoke hearts are not allowed during the weight loss stage. To make the soups heartier, I added a couple of boullion cubes and more water. You can add celery.

To get your body to burn weight and eliminate fat, it has to get to a state of ketosis. Following the MF plan correctly will put you into a state of ketosis, and you'll experience weight loss that's quicker than any other weight loss plan out there (IMHO). The Quick Start Guide gives you the scoop on how to follow the plan in a nice succinct format. Don't fret. Just read over the info on this forum and keep in touch. We're here to support you!

Camille

[mombarnes]

Newsluv - I am not an expert, just someone on the weight loss journey with you. I agree with Camille about getting the booklet & reading it. It tells about how many bars (one per day) and how many shakes and how many other supplements (like your soup). Plus about the "free" veggies you can have.
I would encourage you to not think of what you ate as "bad". If you had eaten a double order of nachos ...
I would hope that on those first few days, you'd give yourself a break if you have something extra - but my suggestion would be to have a shake instead of a bar for that extra thing.
Once you are in ketosis, you won't have those hunger things happening.
Welcome to the Forum ... I'd also advise that you keep visiting here & asking questions & absorbing the words of wisdom from Nancy & the regulars (not me) who have "been there / done that" on MF for a long time.

[Nancy]

Well, I don't know if you 'ruined' your day but you didn't follow the prescribed plan for maximum weight loss and minimal cravings.

Lightheadedness often happens in the first few days of the program and your hunger will go away once you get into the fat burning stage. Camille and Mom gave you excellent advice. ALWAYS read the book before hitting the keyboards. I know it is easier to just type a question, but it is in your best interest to read the booklet - read it several times the first week and then continue to pick it up and read it off and on to keep your mind focused on the program. It will help you to be successful on your weight loss journey.

Here's a brief outline of how to do it (The Rules):

5 Medifast Meal Replacement Products every day.

1 Lean 'n Green Meal of regular food: 4 or 5 ounces of lean meat, 2 cups of salad greens with 1/4 cup of chopped vegetables or one and one half cups of steamed vegetables (non-starchy vegetables)

Eat every THREE hours; NEVER go more than four hours between meals. NEVER. Do not be a meal skipper – it causes your body to go into storage mode, it stores flab instead of burning it.

Drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water every single day for the rest of your life.

Three of the 5 Medifast Meal Replacement products MUST be shakes.

The other 2 Medifast Meal Replacement products can be soup, oatmeal, chili, hot cocoa, cappuccino, raspberry or peach tea, cranberry mango or tropical punch, pudding or ONE bar. (The other 2 products can be just shakes, if you'd prefer.)

You may eat the products/meal in any order.

It is BEST to not eat a bar for breakfast. Bars have more carbs (which means more sugar) than the other Meal Replacement products, therefore, after having fasted during the night, one should have a shake or oatmeal for breakfast to gradually introduce food to the system. Shakes and oatmeal are lower in sugars and carbs and they are best to introduce into the body after an all night fast.

One of the key elements of Medifast is that it is nutritionally balanced - protein, carbs and fat. The beauty of this perfect balance is that it helps to stabilize the blood sugar levels. Jolts of carbs (sugar) in the morning makes the blood sugar rise too rapidly and then quickly dips. Having a dippy blood sugar level is definitely not good!

NO exercise for 3 - 4 weeks UNLESS you normally exercise. If you do exercise regularly now, cut your exercise IN HALF and lessen the intensity - gentle walking is best initially until your body is accustomed to the fat burning stage.

Your regular food meal can be eaten at lunch time or supper time.

When you add other food to the meal replacements - like when you added artichokes to the minestrone, you changed the balance of protein to carbs...be very careful how you 'doctor' the meal replacements. They are complete meals in and of themselves.

Be encouraged.