The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[oksoonergirl26]

This is day 3 of my Medifast journey. It has not been as difficult as I anticipated, but I am having a hard time coming to terms with no bread, no pasta, and no alcohol for the next four months. Pizza is my second favorite food (after steak, which thankfully I can still have) and bread is my third. I have been overweight for the last 13 years-guess how old my son is? In the last six years I have managed to pack on about 60 pounds. There is a lot to be said about being "fat and happy". I wasn't too fat, but I was on the divorce diet. However I met a wonderful man and he is now my husband and in our happiness our waistlines have expanded greatly. We bought a boat last summer and I was devestated when I discovered that I could no longer slalom water ski because of my weight and lack of fitness. I also had to buy a men's wakeboard because they don't make women's board large enough for a 220 pound woman. I enjoy the water and being in, on, and around it-that was one motivation. Second, I love clothes and more specifically designer clothes. Diane Von Furstenburg, Rock and Republic, Chloe and other designers do not make plus-size clothes and I am tired of not being able to shop at Neiman Marcus. I am also tired of not being able to shop in any regular size store. I hate walking into Lane Bryant to buy bras and panties because I can't find anything cute and sexy elsewhere. Finally, the final motivation (other than all the failed diets before) is my health. I have been on blood pressure medication for the last 18 months. My new husband and I want to have a baby. I was 19 and in perfect health when I became pregnant the first time. Despite that I had toxemia and gestational diabetes while pregnant (I gained 80 pounds-120 to 200 in 7 months). I am now 33 and overweight, another pregnancy may kill me, so this is what I am trying to improve my health and my life. Now about the past three days on my new life.

Day 1-I had a cocoa packet mixed into hot coffee for my first meal-not bad the taste was actually good. About 3 hours later I had a chocolate crunch bar, no so great at first, but it got better. Then, I had the chicken noodle soup. I followed the directions, but ended up with more of a paste than anything. I will definitely add more water next time. For my next meal I couldn't decide so I picked up the white cheddar crisps. OH MY GOODNESS!!! They were amazing-I couldn't believe I was eating "diet" food. They even filled me up so I didn't eat again for three hours and then I had my lean and green meal-tenderloin and mixed veggies. I ended the day with the yummy vanilla pudding, made with almost a cup of water-it still gelled up just fine. Then I went to bed and wasn't hungry.

Day 2-I screwed this day up royally. I started off the day with cocoa and the coffee. Then I was just wasn't that hungry. Four hours later and during a movie-I had a packet of the cheddar crisps along with a medium sweet tea. Not good-I know...thankfully it wasn't a jumbo. After I got out of the movie I was starving, but I just ate a S'Mores Crunch bar (yummy-my favorite so far). Then about 1 hour later I had a packet of garden vegetable crackers. For dinner I fixed my husband's favorite meal-roast, mashed potatoes and gravy. It was absolute pure torture making the potatoes and gravy. I only gave into to temptation long enough to taste the seasonings for the potatoes and gravy (about 1 tablespoon of each). I had a 5 oz portion of the roast and 1 1/2 cups of steamed broccoli. Before going to bed I ate a sugar-free jello cup. I felt crappy for most of the evening, but what did I expect with only 2 of the 5 prescribed mean? I will not do that again!

Day 3-I woke up and decided to try something different. I fixed the scrambled eggs in a skillet. I added about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and that helped with the taste. Then I decided to try what I had been dreading-the shakes-I had the chocolate appetite suppressant and it was good! I ate another chocolate crunch bar for mid-afternoon. For dinner I had chicken breast, salad, and dressing. I am now getting ready to have either another crunch bar, shake or pudding. Even with that I will be at only four meals. I am on Spring Break-so my schedule is screwed up. I am sure when I am getting up earlier I will be able to get all of my meals in.

[nickieluv]

Welcome!!

The first three days are tough, but it's even tougher when you don't get in all your meals. Really try to have all 5 supplements and your lean and green every day.

At first when reading your post I was afraid you thought the crisps and crackers were meals - sounds like you know they're not, though. Make sure you don't treat them as one, though, in terms of your timing, like you did on day 1 (eating the crisps and then waiting 3 hours to eat again).

It's OK to eat more often than every 3 hours if that's what your schedule dicatates. Just go at least 1 hour between meals, and be sure to have your first meal within 1 hour of waking up. There's no reason to avoid eating in the evening with this plan, either, so if you're staying up late you can eat even a minute before you go to bed with no ill effects.

Are you getting in water? I aim for 3 to 4 liters a day, but that's excessive for some people. It really helps with the hunger, though, not to mention how great your skin looks when you're hydrated like that!

Keep it up!! You will feel great in no time, and the weight will come off too. I am a bad example lately but I do know what I'm talking about.

[nickieluv]

Well I'm observant - I just wrote you in another thread about starting a journal, and it was AFTER I'd already written 'hello' in your journal to begin with!

As to your March madness commercials - yes, at first it's amazing how much more you notice the food commercials. I remember my first time on the plan, suddenly it seemed like every commercial was for a restaurant.

It's so nice to have you here - it's always nice to have fresh 'ears' to listen to all my inspirational anecdotes, ha ha. Keep it up, make sure to get in all your meals, and keep posting! We're all here to help.

[oksoonergirl26]

Thanks for the kind words. I do get in plenty of water-it is one of the few healthy things I have always done. I am not sure exactly how much I get in day, but judging by the fact that I put a five-gallon bottle on the cooler Wednesday afternoon and I have already had to replace it. I am pretty much the only person in the house that uses it. At first I did think the snacks were meals, but once I read the nutrition information I realized and then I read the other side of the box! I had went back to the center on Tuesday and they encouraged me to go ahead and eat before bed if I had an extra early dinner. I am not weighing myself daily because of the fluctuations. I am hoping that when I go in on Thursday I will see progress. One of my friends lost eight pounds the first week and has lost 15 in the past three.

[brandy820]

Hi there! Congrats on getting started I'm going to be starting on Monday and will start up a journal this weekend.

I'm glad there's another MF newbie here with me. I share a lot of your disappointments and reasons for doing this. I tried WW, but it was so slow that it was almost painful. And since the weight loss is so slow, say I lost 5 lbs in a month - it was extremely easy to undo an entire months worth of loss in no time flat!

Hmm. I wonder if I can find a place around here to get snacks from. I don't think I ordered any from MF! I didn't realize there were any, actually.

[nickieluv]

Yep, MF has two snack product lines - the crackers and the crisps. You can also use store-bought stuff - two dill pickle spears, a serving of sugar-free jello, three celery sticks - there might be others but those are the main ones. And if you're feeling light-headed or just need something with flavor, you can have a boullion (spelling?) cube dissolved in as much water as you want - sort of a fast soup, and the salt can help the swoons some people get from time to time. Only one snack per day, though.

oksooner, that's cool that you have a center near you where can weigh in and get support. There's nothing like that around here that I know of. My health advisor is in California for Pete's sake! (But if you're out there lurking, Mike, you're great!) Great job on the water - that will help so much. Water and sleep - the secret weapons to keep yourself losing.

[brandy820]

So, does the bouillon count as the one snack?

I'm going to see if there's a Medifast place around here. That would be nice!

[Stihl]

Hey SoonerGirl - I'm also new to this forum (though I've been on Medifast for a few months now), and I'm glad to see another person starting to post.

There were a couple of issues with your first couple days that I thought I should point out -

Its super important to eat 6 times a day, even when you're not hungry. I know it seems counter intuitive - isn't eating when we don't need to what got us to our overweight state? - but without the 6 a day, we don't get the proper vitamins/nutrients/calories that we actually need. Not getting 6 a day actually slows down your weight loss - its similar to going anorexic - your body doesn't think its getting enough food, so it holds onto what its got even more.

Nickie already said it, but the snacks are not a meal - you should have them in between meals when you feel quite hungry, but by no means feel obligated to have one a day. If you need it go for it, and it doesn't hurt to have, but if it isn't necessary you may want to skip it. No biggie at all though.

Also, you want to have only ONE snack a day (I think I count 3 on day 2).

One thing I would recommend with the soup - mix it in the shaker jar, and keep it in the fridge overnight. Cook it after its been left in the shaker jar overnight - it tastes better/the noodles are more tender. One thing I would recommend is mixing in some sort of hot sauce into it as well - I don't know if hot is your cup of tea (soup?), but it always made it taste better for me.

Anyway, congratulations on starting your journey! Good luck to you!

[sidrah]

I was on Spring Break last week adn this week that ended was out first full week back. I agree.; that completely throws the scheudle out of whack.

I alwasy have done better when I am working (teaching) than the summeritme or at home. I've had people tell me jsut the opposite, but not for me. I have to get back to doing this full time. I start with good intentions each day and just run out of time or choose to sleep longer.

Therefore, I have no time to throw food in the bag or have a plan when I am starving at lunchtime and they want to go out for lunch quick. I usually get not horrible food, but still...I know where you are coming from.
Good luck. You will do well and also, you have made me think twice about re-writing in my own journal again. I think I will go do that now...Thanks and have a great day.

[oksoonergirl26]

It depends for me-during the Christmas and Thanksgiving breaks I always struggle b/c of the amount of food available. I haven't actually had a summer "off" in like 5 or 6 year. I usually teach summer school and last summer I was working on my master's degree online, which took up pretty much all of my summer free time. My problem when school starts back is bringing something for lunch and then craving something else by the time lunch gets here. I decided to start while on spring break, hoping it would be easier if I am already in a routine. Good luck!

[oksoonergirl26]

For some reason the last 3 journals I have typed would not post, and a couple of those were really good! Darn it all. Anyway I weighed in on Thursday and to my surprise I have lost 5 pounds in 8 days! I know that others usually put up larger numbers the first week, but I am totally okay with it! I have decided to stick with primarily the liquids and not so many crunch bars. I am hoping to lose another 5 this week as well. I still can't believe I have waited this long to try this program. If I would have had any idea that it was so easy. convenient, and most of the foods are tasty. I would have done this sooner.

[Lauren]

Sorry for my delay in welcoming you, Oksoonergirl! I'm crazy busy wrapping up this business quarter, so time has been limited.

FYI, my first legitimate clothing purchase when I hit goal (I say legitimate because I was essentially donating old and buying new clothes every 2 weeks the entire time I was losing weight) was a Diane Von Furstenburg wrap dress. Always wanted to look good in it, and I did! In fact, I think some of the pics in studio of me with my family I'm wearing it! It's a brown wrap.

Anyway, I don't enjoy the act of shopping, never have (has nothing to do with weight issues, just find it mind-numbing). But I DO love beautiful clothes, and I live in Manhattan, so between internet shopping (thank god for that), and lovely little boutiques like DVF, I have been able to enjoy all the fashion that goes with being thinner!

Welcome, keep on keepin' on, and you'll kick butt!

Lauren

[nickieluv]

I hope your journal posts don't keep getting lost in cyberspace. I want to know more about you and I'm sure others do, too. How is the second week going so far?

[oksoonergirl26]

I have been on the program 13 total days and I have lost 7.5 pounds! I went and weighed in today was pleased that I had lost 2.5 since Thursday. I switched to all the liquids for the last five days and I have not grown tired of the shakes, I still really enjoy the cocoa with my coffee, and the creamy chicken soup is perfect for my lunch! For the longest time I would drink 2-4 quarts (no that's not a typo) of sweet tea a day. That would be up to 2 cups of sugar a day. The first day on the program, I cheated and had 1 glass and I had another on the next day-that was my last sugar-sweetened drink. I was missing it so I purchased some diet Sweet Leaf Tea to try to satisfy my sweet tea tooth. However, I decided that I wanted to not have any type of sweetened tea at all-so I stopped. For the last ten days I have only had 1 glass of tea with 2 packets of Splenda. This is huge for me. I have never been able to go without the sweet tea. Even when I was in Europe one summer I would drink hot sweet tea just to have it. This one little thing has given me so much hope for success.

[nickieluv]

Victories like that are really important - just to know that you can go on without that comfort food. Good for you - you're losing almost a half-pound a day, and that's awesome!!