The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Sylvia]

Hi Everyone,

I need a little pep talk. As many of you know, I started the program in May with 75 pounds to lose. I have now been doing this a bit over 5 months and have lost 60 pounds. Only 10-15 more to go to get to my goal. For the first time, I feel like I am really losing my motivation. I look pretty good - most people are surprised I am still trying to lose more weight. I know I still need a GOOD 10 pounds, but feel myself being more and more tempted to say where I am is good enough and move on to maintenance. Of course, I am not helped by the fact that I am in my slow weight loss phase right now and have lost NOTHING for 10 days. I should be kicking into high gear any minute now and am hoping that will help motivate me for my final run.

Anyway, just hoping for any words of encouragement you might have. Never really needed them before but my have never felt this ambivilent about continuing before. I need an additional dose of determination to see this through.

Sylvia

[hawaiiwhatnot]

Sylvia!

Don't you even THINK about getting off this train! I'm right about where you are - starting month 5 I've lost 56 pounds of the 70 and have 14 more to lose. It's the phase where we are getting bored, and it's common.

I just finally got a copy of Success in a Shaker Jar which I should have read when I first started. It motivated me, and also gave me the heads up as to what's in store for maintenance which you will be on soon too. It's a slow transition to normal food.

You can't jump off now with still 10-15 pounds to lose. You're gonna get there. Don't just start eating and not go on transition. All of your hard work will be upset, and your body is gonna revolt too. Metabolism is a key element to maintenance, and you have to introduce foods slowly to keep it in check. Otherwise, you're gonna gain crazily and feel awful. You've made a big investment so far - it's paid off somewhat but not to it's full extent. Don't you dare bail out!

Go get a new Sugar Free DaVinci Gourmet Syrup flavor for your shakes to get some new taste and variety.

Don't worry. Your body is just readjusting right now thinking you're trying to starve. It will rebalance and you'll continue losing. There's no way you can't on this plan unless you have a medical problem.

You are worth it, and you deserve to be where you want to be weightwise - let's go the distance and be jubilant at that finish line!
Camille

[elle4nelly]

Hi Sylvia!

You won't stay on that plateau forever! I know how depressing this can be! But take a deep breath and hold your head up. You've come this far and you won't let this stalling throw you off course!!!
Change your routine!! Up your cardio time! add a shake to your daily intake. The body can addapt to any routine you submit it to. If you were walking 20 minutes a day..then go for a walk /run for 35 minutes or 40 minutes. If you were having 5 shakes..then go for 6. Definately increase your cardio!!!!Add 20 minutes of weights training twice a week and you'll fall off that plateau in no time.
And ps. "interval Training" like the walk /run thing is a known Plateau buster.
You've done really good so far and lost a lot of weight. It's time to shake things up and mix them up to wake up your body again. You'll see....
you'll be at goal soon! Whatever you do don't get discouraged!

Nelly

[DutchChoc]

Hi, Sylvia!

Smart of you to ask for help at this time. Timely for me, too, because I am in a similar mental state.

It's fatiguing, YES, but we did decide where we wanted to go and if we're not there yet, I'd say we aren't going to feel like we've accomplished the mission until we make it -- know what I mean? YES, there are plenty of people out there who'd be happy looking just like you do now, I'm sure, but if you're not one of them, then keep going until you're sure you're where you want to stay. That'd be my advice.

Even you realize that we're not too likely to be losing more for a while after stopping this -- because of your excellent post to N2S a while back on the subject of "Is there a better way?" (or whatever). I'm sure you recall it. By that I mean that I can only "assume" that it's going to be hard enough holding onto whatever weight we disembark at, not to mention wishing we could miraculously descend further "afterwards".

You've been a guiding light for me, by the way -- remember, November? Not November yet, dear.

Only you can decide. Maybe a small breakthrough on the plateau is all you need to get the courage and tenacity going again. As for me, I'm holding on by fingertips at times -- reason? the food is looking really good now, folks!! Really tormenting sometimes.

Good luck, Sylvia. We care about you and are proud of what you've done and of what you've contributed to this group. Keep us informed.

[Sylvia]

Thanks to all for your responses - of course I know what you've told me is right (and have probably said the same things to others over the months), but sometimes you just need a little reminding.

This has been an interesting journey. Sometimes I'm in the groove. Food doesn't tempt me at all. At others, like now, I'm just so sick of this. There seems to be a huge correlation between how fast the pounds are falling off and how easy/hard this is to stick to. I've dealth with these feelings before but since I knew I still had quite a bit of weight left to lose, there was no way I could justify quitting. Now that I'm looking and feeling pretty good, it is much easier for me to justify in my mind - hey, maybe I've come far enough. Thanks for not letting me get away with it!

Hopefully, I'll kick in to weight loss gear again soon and put this mini crisis past me. Maybe I'll try some of your plateau-busters Nelly and get things speeded right up!

I'll keep you posted both on my continuing losses and my mental state.

Thanks Again!

S

[Guest]

Hi Sylvia!

Do you have access to a threadmill?? And a fax no.? I can fax you some interval training example i've got from Health magazine. 2 in particular work well.

Let me know.

Nelly

[Sylvia]

Hey Nelly,

I know just what article you're talking about - I believe I actually have a copy of that article...somewhere. If you don't mind faxing, that would be great - I will PM my fax number. Also, if you have tips on the most effective ones, let me know.

Thanks!

BTW, my scale was down a pound today so hopefully the plateau is over and the pounds will be melting off!

[Carrie]

Sylvia,

I was thinking about this very thing earlier today. Plateaus. I have been very fortunate to have 2 big loss weeks in a row, and as happy as I am for them, the knowledge that a plateau is sure to follow at some point is a frightful thought.

As I was thinking I began to realize that the next time I have one I am going to have to look beyond the scale. The simple physiological truth is that when you are ingesting a low calorie amount like this - you are losing weight and burning fat. It's impossible not to. Maybe the body rearranges things and stores some water for awhile, or muscle is being built in the place of the fat coming off. All of these things can cause the scale to stall when in fact you are getting closer and closer to your goal every day.

I would suggest altering your routine. Drink more water than usual, have a couple days with only shakes, or switch your soup to earlier in the day (if you're using it), as Nelly said switch up your exercise. I went out dancing last Saturday and scale dropped 3 pounds the next day!! I was stunned. But apparently the 'anomaly' of dancing really shook up the old bod.

Be patient and remind yourself often that you are STILL BURNING fat every day. You will get there.

Carrie

[Nancy]

Hi, Kids ~

I just happened upon this post this weekend. It is months old - just wanted to make a comment that may be of help to someone out there in Cyberland.

Sylvia, the author of this thread and HawaiiWhatNot who jumped in and encouraged Sylvia are now BOTH at their goal weight and well into maintenance. Perseverance paid off for them.

I SO know how it feels to be sick and tired of dieting, sick and tired of denying myself, sick and tired of sucking down a shake when others around me are tanking up on French fries, burgers, bread and pizza.

I’ve had so much poultry, my head bobs, my arms flap and I look for bugs when I walk.

I can eyeball a serving of green beans or broccoli and know exactly how many beans or florets over 1.5 cups a particular serving is…

I can stir up Medifast Pudding in a minute, I can lick the inside of a Multi-Grain or Garden Vegetable cracker package faster than you can rip open a protein bar!

The trunk of my car has a case of water and RTDs – there’s hardly any room for my shoppage!

My husband’s tee- shirts are stained with Dutch Choc dribbles and do you think I would ever give up any of that to go back to my formerly foody weighs? Heck, no! ( pardon moi, is that all right for a pastorette to say?)

I went to a 40th birthday party last night for a friend who is also a business acquaintance. Her family and friends were there and it was a great party – “Over the Hill” decorations everywhere!

There were about 50 people – many of them were overweight. One man weighed over 400 pounds and I watched him as he searched for and then selected a chair that would hold him. I wanted to tell him how Medifast has changed my life but I couldn't. If someone had approached me at a party when I weighed nearly 270 pounds about my weight, I would have been mortified. I knew I was fat. It was no secret. I was morbidly obese as was the very nice-looking man at the party last night.

I have thought about him this afternoon. Maybe I should have given him my card. I want him to know that when he is ready, I am able to help him. I am thankful for the day my friend told me about the little soy shake that changed my life...

The party was a blast! The garage was set up with games and the tables were close together and the stools and folding chairs were small. I had no worries about whether or not I could walk between the people because I knew that I would fit. I knew that I would not break the chair and I knew that my buns would not hang over the stool excessively.

A relative had created a lovely digital photo album of the Birthday Girl’s Life and it was on display as a PowerPoint Slide Show throughout the night. It showed her as a young girl, a teenager, a bride, preggers, on camping trips, etc. She is a beautiful woman and her body size has always been normal. Many people made comments about how her hair style, her make up and clothing had changed but all in all, the comments were so positive and uplifting. She looked beautiful throughout her whole life.

On-looking relatives and friends made comments about their own appearance and body size in the pictoral display. "Oh, look how fat my thighs were!" "Quick! change the picture, I don't want my chins to show!"

I thought about myself – had someone made a photo journal of my life, what would they see? Oh there would be the happy photos of me as a child with my family, my college years and my wedding day and that’s about it because I always ran when the camera came out – I suddenly had to go to the bathroom, or check on something in the oven, or help someone with their coat.

You know the drill. Chubby people do not like to have their picture taken. I felt good about having my picture taken last night at the birthday party.

There was a major food orgy going on the kitchen – pans and pans of cheese and chicken enchiladas, all the fixin’s for soft tacos, bean and guacamole dip, artichoke parmesan dip, chips and salsa, Coors and Tecate beer with fresh limes, flan, a huge mocha iced sheet cake with cappuccino filling, chocolate mousse cake, chocolate cheesecake – it was a chocolateria in there, Folks.

Did I want it?
Oh, yeah! Of course I did! I am still alive, breathing and I wanted it. I wanted it all and I wanted a whole bunch of it. I wanted it bad!

What did I actually select?

A plate with 2 cups of shredded lettuce, ¼ cups of chopped tomatoes, a heaping spoonful of salsa and a lime squeeze over the top of it all. I slugged down three bottles of water.

Did I want more? Oh, yeah! I waited for a while and then had another go-around of the same.

[By the way, I had a Banana Blitz shake before we went into the party. There was no meat without cheese and sauce or eggs, so I just had the veggie serving. When I got to the car a couple of hours later, I drank a Chocolate RTD on our way home.)

Could I justify eating some of the stuff in the buffet line?

Yes. I look good but I am not at my fighting weight.

We went out the other night and I had Cheddar Bay Biscuits and pie…I don’t overeat two days in a row and I make healthy choices for today because what I eat today also affects the years to come.

I love my thinner life and I want to keep enjoying it a lot longer, should the Lord see fit to keep me on this side of glory for a while longer.

Life is full of choices, choose wisely.

Like Sylvia, sometimes I get sick of it, too. I DO get weary of watching every morsel but then I also like the freedom of being at a healthy weight, looking better in my clothes, being able to sit on any chair or on the floor if I want to! I like being able to wear my wedding ring without my finger turning blue, going swimming – in daylight hours – in a regular bathing suit – without a skirt that goes to my knees!


Medifast has made it possible for me to choose what I want to eat and when I eat it.

I know what enchiladas and tacos taste like; I have had enough guacamole to fill a bathtub during my formerly foody life and enough chocolate to make my blue eyes brown…giving up and giving in does not get you to your goal.

Discipline is training your mouth to remain closed until it has had a deep conversation with your mind.

Don’t allow your emotions and the social interactions of the day have more power over you than they should. Much of this IS a mind game.

I did not let the enchiladas or the cheesecake win.

Victory is mine in the weight loss game! Sick of shaking? Ooh, that could be a double entendre – I was sick of having my belly, booty and woadies shake when I waddled about so I started shaking my Medifast shakes and I shook off that shakage – now I can do a whole lotta life shaking when I walk into a room!

[raederle]

I can lick the inside of a Multi-Grain or Garden Vegetable cracker package faster than you can rip open a protein bar!

LOL!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one who does that!

Thanks for this awesome post, Nancy. I happened upon this thread recently, too, and started to wonder whether losing the last few pounds is worth it. I posted elsewhere that I sat through a football party yesterday, to which friends brought pounds of chips, dips, cheese logs, and mozzarella sticks. I sat there, slurping my water and eating my salad, wondering why I seemed to care so much about getting to goal when other people just seem to wander through their days without obsessing about how fat they are. I won the battle yesterday (yay!), and this post reminded me that the battle has just begun, and that it IS worth it. Those mozzarella sticks would have tasted great, but the next day (maybe even the next hour), I would have felt guilty, ashamed, and desperate. No stupid cheese sticks are worth that. I WILL reach goal, and I WILL stay there! Maybe someday I can have a couple cheese sticks, but only when I've figured out how to reincorporate some normal foods back into my diet WITHOUT falling back into the pit of fat despair...

Anyway, thanks, Nancy! I needed that!

[Nancy]

raederle ~

You are welcome! Once you get to your goal weight and your exercise routine has become just that: routine, you will be able to add back cheese sticks and other things that you enjoy - you just won't have a whole package of mozzarella cheese sticks. You'll remember how hard it was to earn the prize and you won't want to let go of it.

Also you will learn to plan ahead for those special social engagements and then stick to a somewhat modified 5 and 1 during the week leading up to the Football Game and then enjoy in moderation the foodiness of it and the next day, get right back to business.

It is a balancing game - you choose what you want more - remaining a healthy and fit weight and size with eating restrictions in place or wanton reckless eating and a unhealthy state of body, mind and emotions.

It is easier to stay in control all along the way than it is to be totally out of control, have a HUGE task of a long weight loss project on your hands, like many of us now are expereincing and restrict everything every day for months at a time.

Choose wisely (wise food choices + exercise) = weight management for life and I'm all for lovin' my life!

[hawaiiwhatnot]

Nancy,

Thanks for bringing this thread back up. It's inspiring to me too. All good things come to he or she who waits and perseveres. I get so many looks now I think my slip is showing or I have toilet paper stuck to my shoe! But it's because I'm healthy and fit looking. That's an unusual sight I guess speaking of the population in general. My self esteem is sky high and all the sacrifice, denial and saying no to cheating as I lost that burdensome weight is paying off 100 fold in compliments and feelings of self worth.

Camille

[Nancy]

Oh, yeah - it keeps the emo tank filled at all times!

Imagine! I got pinched at the grocery store, at my age!

I can just see the heads turning to look at skinny you - you are blonde, svelte and a head-turner for sure!

Sashay on, Camille!

[Sylvia]

A funny story along these lines.

I went down to the fitness center at work a couple of weeks ago, changes into sweats and was walking toward my favorite exercise bike when I saw this REALLY nice looking guy (a rarity around here to be sure!) So of course I was looking at him, waiting for him to turn and face me so I could see of the full face lived up to the potential (I'm happily married but not dead, after all). Anyway, I got the full face, confirmed he was in fact hot and made my way to the bike.

Well, it turned out that he was using a machine right in front of the bike I was on and whenever I looked up from the bike I was staring at the side of him. The first time I looked up, I caught him looking at me and figured he had just glanced over to see who had started using the bike. The second time I glanced up (and I am not checking him out, he is simply right in front of me when I look straight ahead), he is again looking over at me and looks away quickly. I think, hmmm, that's odd, I wonder why he is looking at me. When the same thing happened a third time, I grinned ear to ear and realized that he was actually checking me out! This kind of thing used to happen a lot but hasn't really for a long time. Hard to believe it's happening again, but there you have it.

This stuff works miracles!

[mindovermatter]

Oh there's just nothing better than someone else looken at how good thin feels.