The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[AJ]

I just made another order of Medifast products and it always renews my commitment to the program. It has been a mixed week for me. I have had some tough days but all and all I feel like I am making better choices for myself.
My sis is visiting and I was worried about the struggles with temptation while she was here. She was fully supportive. I did slip one day while we were making berry jam but I was back in the saddle the next day. Whew!!
The next big hurdle is visiting my folks at the end of the month. My mom loves to feed people and she always has great food. But, with my order complete, I am going with a plan in hand. I am going to do my best. It is very doable!
Though I don't post daily, I do try to check in so that I can get an energy boost for everyone. Thank you so much. Life is good and getting better as I continue to make healthier choices for me.
I am reading a book about running and the author said that you really can't "get fit" because when you become fit, you have to continue to work at fitness. Just like this journey of losing weight, we can't rest on our laurels and decide that once we have reached our goal weight, we can think the journey is over. In many ways, it is just beginning. (Can you tell I am already thinking about maintainance even though I am only 1/3 the way through the first phase of my journey [the weight loss]?)
Enough of my ponderings --
Have a good shaking weekend!
AJ

[Jeanette]

Hi AJ--lots of good thoughts here!

I am sure it does feel strange to already look to maintenance now, but failing to plan is planning to fail.

Never too early to think about the rest of your thin life!

[Sylvia]

I agree with you both. I've been thinking about maintenance almost since the day I started. It strikes me that as hard as this is, maintenance will be harder because (1) you have infinitely more choices, and (2) as AJ said, it is forever.

Everytime I go out or participate in a social event I talk to myself about what I would eat if I were not on the program. I've also been noticing, since I'm not doing the eating myself, how much and how badly others eat. It reminds me that if I don't permanently change my habits, I'll be right back there with them and the weight I'm working so hard to lose wilol come right back.

[explorthis]

I've been thinking about maintenance almost since the day I started. It strikes me that as hard as this is, maintenance will be harder because (1) you have infinitely more choices,

From a maintenance perspective, I can tell you (for me anyway) it is not that hard. Don’t get me wrong, I still have the same cravings you do, exactly the same ones. I cannot reverse 40 years of bad eating habits in 7 months. My goal loss was at 223, and it has been 7.25 months ago I lost the weight. I am just a few pounds over my original goal. This for me is nothing in the general scheme. I am always seeing a pound or 2-3 up, and a pound or 2-3 down. This (and a wonderful scale) is what keeps me on the straight and narrow (I like narrow)

I think once you have lost the weight, a light goes on. This light, the “flame that keeps burning” is what keeps you on the path. I know where I have been, I know where I came from. I know how easily I can gain the weight back.

I know that I am a food-a-holic STILL. I know I will never be able to let my guard down, not for one minute. However, I do not let this stand in the way of eating, or eating properly. I might not make the perfect choices in what I eat, but my choices are pretty simple and with my maintenance in mind. I know the bad stuff, vs. the good stuff. It’s pretty easy, now a habit to actually say NO to the things I know will cause me to gain weight. I choose my food wisely, as I DO NOT want to go through this again, and I have resolved, from the 1000+ diets I have been on, to never allow this weight to come back.

Don’t be scared of maintenance. You learn to cope. You (or at least I do) want to do the right thing.

It’s the small things, like why would I want to have a 300 calorie sugar thing, when I can have a HUGE salad, or to have some overblown bread thing, small as it is, and as full of fat grams, when I can have a ton of fruit. I am no master (yet) but I know that my stomach gets full, not from what I eat, but from how much I eat. I can eat 4+ pieces of fruit, or veggie choices, in lieu of 1 piece of bread product, and look/feel the difference. 15 minutes later, I am FULL from the right choices; vs. I would still be hungry from the 1 serving of bread. I am in no way saying you cannot have bread, I am just making a point. Quantity sometimes is better than quality. Does this sound right? I know these fruits, and veggies, though not as appealing as a serving of bread (again using this as an analogy) will satisfy me, contently, and thus prevent me from going the other way.

Yes, the choices are infinite, but for me, it is not that hard to say no to the things I know will cause me to gain weight back.

Look forward to this, the choices you make, will be the right ones.

also been noticing, since I'm not doing the eating myself, how much and how badly others eat

This is something I do also. Now, thinner than I have ever been, I CONSTANTLY watch what others eat. Weather I am at home, or in public, I watch, watch, watch, everything that others are eating. I look at the size of the person, proportionate to what or how much they are eating, and think this used to be me. Odd, but true, smaller the person, smaller and better the choice it seems. The smaller person (and I am talking weight proportion) the more meticulously they eat, carefully eating, pausing during bites, whereas the overweight or larger person is eating more, and faster, with less or no thought (I am seeing myself here)

Personally, I like to watch, I sometimes wish I could “morph” a thought into the heads of the overweight people, to tell them what I have learned – truly.

-Mike