The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Amanda]

Hi Everyone- Last time i posted i was determined to do my final do-over and restart my program and obviosly from my lack of posting I failed. Yes i was success ful for a day or 2 but then i was back to my old ways. I still come to the forum almost every day and read- but i stopped posting because i'm embarrased. I'm embarrased that i have come here telling you all that i am going to start over and then I fail. I don't want to be viewed as one of these people who says they are going to start again then can't. I know that none of you here would ever hold it against me or view me that way either- i just feel like a failure for saying the same thing so many times - and making myself yet another promise i can't keep. I do have the best intentions when i start and it goes good for a bit then- i don't know what happens, but i stop. I was reading posts today and someone who started the same weight and was losing at the same rate is now 30# lighter than me. When I see this I don't understand how others can just start again and keep going, and when I do I end up failing. The first time i started this program i was at a point where i was disguisted with myself, and i am at that point now, and i'm hoping this is the push that i need to really give 110% once again and do this. I am lucky to say i haven't gained any weight back (give or take 4 lbs) and once i see a loss its motivation enough for me to keep going. I just need to be on long enough to see the loss and use that as my motivation. Thanks for listening to my ramblings and I'm going to try and post more because posting helps me get my feelings out and not hide from this issue i need to face.

Amanda

[Nancy]

Howdy Doody, Amanda ~

I've been wondering about you. We've missed you.

Yeah, well I can understand how you feel. I have been embarrassed so many times for regaining weight in my lifetime. It got to the point that I felt so lousy about myself that I stopped leading workshops, speaking at women’s retreats, and preaching with my husband.

While it may be embarrassing to admit that ya took a detour from the journey, your Forum family cares only that you are here now and ready to climb back on the road to optimal health.

Amanda, it is hard to change eating habits but it is not impossible.

If I remember correctly, pizza and chips are some of your major negatory food attractions.

Make a rule for yourself to NEVER buy them while you are on the weight loss phase; never enter a pizza shop and absolutely never ever call the pizza dude.

Before Medifast, popcorn with a half a cube of butter was my favorite evening snack. When I began Medifasting, I made it a personal rule to not buy and to not eat popcorn. I did not go to a movie for over a year to avoid being tempted. I did not shop at Target or Kmart or Wally World for nearly a year to avoid the smell of popcorn. It has been 27 ½ months since I have had any popcorn.

I didn’t eat pizza for 16 months. I had two slices when my Daddy was in ICU last year. I had two slices and haven’t had any since – it’s been one year.

I do not have any super human powers or a mega helping of will power. I made up my mind that I wanted to be thin and stay thin more than I wanted to taste popcorn and become a pizza junkie.

Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

Amanda, we are convinced that this is your time. I have confidence in YOU.

You can do it, you know how to use it and you know that Medifast works!

Here’s to your successful Medijourney to Thinsville!

[Amanda]

Hi Nancy- you are right Pizza is my downfall- I LOVE pizza, and this weekend went fairly ok until i decided to order pizza which i did on sat night. I don't know what it is about pizza but once i get it in my head - i cannot stop thinking about it, and i always end up giving in and ordering it. I was 100% faithful on my medifast diet for weeks then one night i gave in ordered pizza- and from there it was much harder. I think it would be so helpful and healthy for me if I did give up Pizza. My 2 biggest cravings are pizza and chocolate. The medifast dutch choc takes care of my choc cravings, and I need to do the same with pizza. Thanks for your post Nancy -I know I can do this if I put my mind to it, I know it works if you work it correctly. I'll make sure to keep you posted.

[Sylvia]

Amanda,

Pizza is my very biggest downfall too. It has been the single hardest thing not to eat while I've been doing MF. It is also the one thing I'm worried about overeating now that I'm getting ready to transition. I wish I had a magic bullet for you but all I can say is that you need to make your mind up that you want thin more than pizza and then absolutely refuse to give in to it.

Now I've got to start figuring out how I can go back to it and have 1 or 2 pieces instead of 6! If anyone has any brilliant ideas about that - let me know!

Sylvia

[explorthis]

I've got to start figuring out how I can go back to it and have 1 or 2 pieces instead of 6

6? That’s all you had? I could anytime put away almost a large from a brand name delivery… Anytime, and still feel I wanted more.

Here is the trick, and some thoughts (for me anyway)….

You can still have pizza. If you chose to have pizza 7 nights a week, you can do this. It is not against the Medi-law. How much you can have is obviously the problem.

Gerald (Spidey to most of us) and I email very regularly. We actually emailed before he ever joined our Medifast crew. We have become VERY good friends. (for which I am very glad) Recently he has been emailing me some of his tried and true recipes. He used to be a cook! I can see why, his ideas are great. I even emailed him a finished photo of one of his recipes this past Friday. One of his comments last week, at the end of a few recipes was “See why I am so fat?” My comment is yes I understand. It is easy to overdue it on the great vast amounts of items we can have. There is no end. My comment back to him was: you can have A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G you want everyday of the week, (after Medifast of course) the problem, our problem, MY PROBLEM, and probably all of our problem is portion control. P-O-R-T-I-O-N C-O-N-T-R-O-L

As I am still fairly new to this maintenance thing (coming up on a year early January) I am slowly learning I can eat what I want, as long as it is within reason. I have settled in on this 103-105 pound loss It used to be 114, but I gained back (differs day to day) about 9-11 pounds – HOWEVER what I am eating now, and the exercise I am incorporating is fine. I am maintaining with no real effort 232 pounds. It is portion control. Bottom line, I feel GREAT.

Once you transition back into regular food (and this does not mean ordering a pizza while your on Medifast) you will learn (or re-learn) how much food it takes to make you comfortable, and to make you feel satisfied. We no longer need to shovel in 4 loads of food, only ½ hour later to lay on the couch and feel like crap because we overdid it. Anybody know this feeling? You will realize, as your stomach shrinks, and that once you eat a REASONABLE amount of something, yes pizza is included, you will feel comfortable. Not gorged like before. (anyone seeing themselves here?) The immediate gratification is fun for oh, about 5 minutes. That 5 minutes it takes you to shovel in 6 pieces of that pizza. If you learn (as I am – and this is TRUE) to eat slowly, you actually become content, not gorged full after only a small portion. Think about it, truly, 20 mins after you consume a regular portion, or a few small pieces of something, you are not starving, but comfortable. Isn’t this what it is all about? We want satisfaction, which we can have, with discipline. Again, you’re going to find out, losing the weight in the long run is the easy part. It takes true discipline to maintain it, BUT – IT IS WORTH IT!

I know it’s easy to write this down, and easy to read something like this, but you say, No way can I do this. How can I ever stop at 2 pieces of pizza? Well you have 2 options…

1- Continue on your path, lose the weight, not learn what your body needs, and go back to be fat.

2- Eat anything you want, basically anytime you want – within reason, enjoying all your favorites, and keep the weight off.

Trust me folks, I am a fat guy. I lost a butt load of weight, and it feels better being thinner, as opposed to being fat. It is worth it to consume small quantities, and enjoy, rather than sitting on the couch, as we all have, feeling gorged and guilty.

It takes time to learn, but why exert ALL this effort into such a short stint on Medifast, only to ruin it with something as trivial as pizza?

Your choice – mine is to remain happy, yours needs to be also.

-Mike

[Sylvia]

I'm right there with you Mike. Pizza is not worth gaining this weight back! Not to mention that if I gain weight back I will be a naked fat lady since I have gotten ris of all of my fat clothes and WILL NOT buy any more.

I more need to decide if I want to eat pizza in moderation or whether it's easier to forego it entirely. I'm going to try for moderation along with a big salad or some veggies. If I'm not satisfied with that, I might just need to write it off.

[Nancy]

Carbolicious

You've got it down, Mike.

You certainly can have whatever your healthier little heart desires ONCE you reach your weight goal.

Like you, Mike, Sylvia and Amanda, Terry and I love pizza and before Medifast used to snarf a load of it down. Our favorite place is in Portland, The Flying Pie and is made with hand-tossed super thick dough, tons of garlic and pounds of meat and cheese.

Portion size is what weight maintenance is all about.

You CAN have it all, you just cannot have ALL of it or you WILL return to your former flabby self.

It is a choice, a carefully monitored choice. I dunno. Perhaps someday it will become automatic, that foodies will be able to automatically choose to consume the right amount of food but for me, 21 months out, I still THINK before I consume it.

Not eating Pizza 'n Popcorn is a personal choice for me right now. Mostly the pizza has to do with the cheese and the heart issue. I think I mentioned that our good friend Steve and my Daddy had serious heart attacks. When I began to think about how difficult it is to rinse cheese off of a dinner plate, I began to realize how difficult it must be for the body to deal with arterial plaque...thus I have chosen to not eat much cheese. I like feta, Asiago, Bleu Cheese, Roquefort and Parmesan so I use it to satisfy my desire for some cheese. I love popcorn drenched in butter...again...butter is not that good for me and for now, I can live happily without popcorn.

That’s the beauty of Medifast – we are learning how much and how often to eat while we are on the weight loss phase. Daily we are learning life-giving and life-saving lessons. We can choose to learn it for a moment or for a lifetime. Choose the later for a lifetime of healthy living and for living thinner!

Drink it up and drink it in.

[fedup]

My oh my... all these fellow pizza lovers. Yup... my number 1 tempation too! One of my big motivators is that pizza (and other foods) are not gone for good, merely "on hiatus!" When I start eating again, I plan on following that advice of Mike's. Portion control. I think a good way of thinking about it is that before, when I gained weight, I usually overate because I was planning on dieting "tomorrow or Monday or whenever..." so I'd scarf up a lot to make up for my future deprivation. On maintance, it'll help to think of it in the new light... I no longer need to "store up for the winter " If I have a couple slices of pizza, and want more, well I can have it again in a few days. For me, there's no real reason to gorge if I know it's going to be there... like back when I always "planned" to diet and would gorge before... but this cycle was non-stop for me. Until now.... now it has STOPPED! I want to enjoy the flavors of food again, not abuse food till I ruin my body. And I CAN enjoy the flavor of pizza in 1 or 2 slices. (Lets be honest, after that you don't even taste it much, it's just scarfing!)

Good luck fellow pizza lovers... we're all in it together!

[gr8views]

I no longer need to "store up for the winter " If I have a couple slices of pizza, and want more, well I can have it again in a few days.

What a concept! I can have it again in a few days. I swear, a bag of chips with dip and my mind says 'you'd better eat it all right now'. I don't know why... Hmmm... Sounds like something I'll need to journal about while dieting...

Thanks for the 'food for thought'! (Much less calories than a bag of chips...)

Diane

[Nancy]

I also look for healthier alternatives.

If I am at a 'build it yourself' function and I want a sandwich, I make it w/o bread- use lettuce leaves and eat it 'sandwich' or 'burger' style.

If I want pizza, I make some and use Soy Sation cheese on it - a healthier choice for me.

Or I just have what I want and get it out of my system!

I just don't pork out and eat an entire deli any more!

Nothing tastes as good as thin feels!

[explorthis]

use Soy Sation cheese on it

Called Pizza-Hut – tried ordering 2 large 1-topping with soy-sation?!?

The teen behind the phone said, with “soy sauce”? No, soy sation, it’s cheese; he said “ya don’t soy. I said no, S-O-Y.

He called me an S-O-B and hung up… Yeesh, how rude…..

Guess I will just pass on the pizza for now, easier!

[Crystal]

The pizza thing is hard for me, too. Friday nights are family night at our house. Of course, pizza has been the chosen dinner for the past 3-4 years! I am having to remind myself that this is only temporary....but it is no fun right now! Still, I will be much happier with myself when all of this extra weight is gone, and will not have to feel guilty about eating my slice! So, for now, I will just have a shake, or maybe even a bar instead.

[explorthis]

Friday nights are family night at our house. Of course, pizza has been the chosen dinner for the past 3-4 years!

Crystal. We have the same thing. Saturday evening is the “take out night” (Used to be – no lie, 4-5-6 nights a week) seriously though, they all know (the family) that I do not partake (except rarely) in this sort of stuff. I know it is good, but it is not that hard to give it up. You will find as you progress, it is good for immediate gratification, but 20 minutes later, your belly does not know the difference from a bread item, or a bed of greens. I am the grocery shopper, and lest it’s delivered, my wife generally calls in the order for the “take out” and I with teen in tow go pick it up. My wife always asks me first, now OUT OF HABIT, instead of “what do I want”, but “should I get your lettuce ready”?? It’s just a common thing. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE pizza as much next as the next person, but it is just an easy choice now.

Salads are a regular part of life for me. I remember early on getting to know Unca-T, he told me “lots of chicken and salad in the Petit house”. Well guess what, LOTS of chicken and salad in Mike’s house also. Interesting though… I can and do prepare some pretty tasty salads, and I find that both kids, the 3 y/o and the 13 y/o are constantly in my face, nothing sacred in the food department when you have kids. They are coming. “IWANNABITE” is my 3 y/o’s standard saying, she will munch a piece of pizza, then slide right over to Dad’s bowl, because it is pretty dang tasty. Alix my teen is eyeing the bowl as it reaches the bottom “gonna finish that Dad?” Dad has gotten pretty smart, and fixes a “biggie” cause I know it’s gonna be shared. I am creating GOOD habits, and learning them myself.

The pizza is still there. Crystal, it will become second nature, your food of choice will be something that will make you feel good. Trust me. A hefty salad with all the trimmings can be more appealing than pizza. Take if from a fat guy that has “been there done that”

[Crystal]

Thanks, Mike. I know that it will get easier, but for now, I will just do whatever it takes not to give in. My goal is to be at my desired weight by the end of January, so that I can fit back into my snow suit when we go skiing in February. My husband bought it for me on our honeymoon 6 years ago, and this is the first ski trip (there have been 3) since then that I haven't been pregnant. So I want to ski!!! And, I refuse to buy a bigger suit!!! That is my motivation to not give in to the pizza!! I know I can do it!!

By the way, I know what you mean about food and kids. It just tastes better off of someone else's plate. I just had to laugh...I thought it was just our kids. My kids are upset because I won't share my Medifast shakes and other products!!

[Sylvia]

Crystal - my kids are the same. I've got my 4 year old eating the MF bars. Kind of expensive, I know but she likes them as well as candy and they're good for her!