The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[alohacate]

I've never felt hungry before today!

Oh my dear, I was hungry every day for the first two - two 1/2 months!! The whole ketosis thing was a mystery for me. I struggled with my hunger and had to reason if I was in fact truely hungry or if I had to deal with a deeper issue I had with food. It turns out my addiction to food was HUGE and I had to "deal" with some harsh dishes of reality..........Kinda of like what Manly was serving you up with. The question is are you ready to commit to success or are you committed to fail?

[hulagirlfromhawaii]

Hey Medimama!

I know I'm jumping in a little late here but I think most of us are giving you these comments because of our own experiences and struggles thus far with MF.

For me, this is my "hundredth" time starting MF. And I paid the price for my cheating through hundreds of lost$$$ and gaining 20 extra pounds on top of what I already had to lose. I was not committed the first through 99th time. It wasn't until this last time when I really and truly" made up my mind" to do this until I reached my goal, did I start to succeed. That is the key or the magic bullet for me..... You have to burn all brideges and committ!

As far as the weight taking a long time to come off.... If you are on plan, your body knows when and how much it wants to lose and how long it will take. All you have to do is stay on plan. It took a while for me to get that through my thick skull so I wouldn't get discouraged and cheat!

I am sure that when you Hubby sees how committed you are and sees the kind of results you are getting, when the time comes he will help you find a way to continue getting product. That's what happened for me!

So girl, keep shakin' it! We are here for you, even if sometimes we seem a little harsh.... We are just very serious about this program, as should everyone who commits to the plan!

Aloha!!!

[kmr]

medimama,
You CAN do this if you really want it. You've already lost 20# so you know you have it in you. I have a husband and kids to cook for also like many of us on this forum, and that does make it harder, but if you can just hang in there long enough to get over that "hump" then you will be fine. Once you get into your new eating routine and ketosis, it gets easier. We are here to support one another and give some "tuff love" when needed too, but we all are striving for the same goal...WEIGHT LOSS! All the best to you.

[medimama]

so, can you all physically tell when you are in ketosis? aside from my constant sleepiness going away since starting MF, I haven't noticed any other differences! the last time I did MF I had TONS of energy, not this time around! I've been doing MF for seven and a half weeks now, I think I already mentioned that, and even in my month of only one cheat I never had that energy like last time - and last time I did it only for two months and cheated constantly! another thing I don't get is exactly how the ketosis thing works, I know of folks who have cheated nearly every day and still lose weight ... yet my "bites" seem to have really affected and slowed my weight loss, is it just a difference in metabolism? I'm now loving your comments and advice ... even the initial harsh comment, right this moment I feel more committed than ever! a few more questions: how much water do y'all usually take in, do you drink the acceptable diet soda or other drinks? what's your typical l&g meal? do you weigh and measure precisely? what type of exercise do you do? if walking, do you power walk or walk leisurely? I'm just trying to get some ideas to kick it up and notch and add some variety to my plan! thanks all

[Nova]

I'm coming in late, but since you've asked more questions, I thought I'd give you my perspective.

When I started, I was hungry for 6 weeks or more, and I never got that bump of energy everyone else talked about. During that time, I was doing 5+1 and exercising by lifting weights and doing some cardio. I finally decided I was exercising too much, so I dropped it for about 4 months. I've just started doing cardio again, but I limit it to 30 minutes, and I have an extra meal on those days.

I can tell I'm in ketosis by the sweet aftertaste in my mouth, but I don't taste it every day. each day, I make sure to drink 4 bottles of water, minimum. As long as I get that in, I allow myself to drink several diet sodas and coffee. Usually I have a morning coffee, an afternoon soda, and an evening soda. I'm still sleepy a lot, but that's probably because I only get 6-7 hours of sleep a night. I need more, but I'm just too busy.

I try to get lots of variety for my L&G. Hamburgers on the grill, shrimp, smoked salmon, grilled chicken, pork tenderloin. I experiment with lots of spices, and the green is usually steamed broccoli or salad with low sugar salad dressing.

I decided when I started that I'd be strong for me. I have the allowable snacks, and sometimes I have 2, but no fries or sweets. When i'm tempted, which is often, I drink some water and think about my goals or my new clothes. Sometimes, I just have to say "No" really forcefully to myself and make myself walk away from a temptation. I could never do that before, and I'm still not sure why I've been so good on MF. Maybe it was just the right time for me. This forum has also been really good, keeping me motivated or seeing the problems others have had.

Good luck and stay strong!

[Sarya]

People can enter ketosis at a variety of levels depending on how their body works. I have to be careful about my carb intake if I want to enter ketosis. I have to say it, but from experience I will tell you that those little cheats you have been having could very well be keeping you from getting very far into ketosis (if at all). It's very hard with prepared foods to know what is in them, but I'm sure some of the breading chicken things have tons of fillers which usually just add up to carbs carbs carbs. And well.. you know about the potato products.. again too many carbs. And if you are eating some of the higher carb supplements, and higher carb allowable veggies.. well you're going to have a harder time reaching ketosis. Not to mention if you also add in carb-y snacks like soy crisps or crackers.

Give it your best shot and avoid those cheating episodes! If you absolutely need a "cheat" then let me make a suggestion. Make some chicken and beef strips, cook them up and put them in the fridge. Make up 1 ounce cubes of low fat cheese. Keep sugar free jello on hand. Celery sticks, cucumber slices, raw broccoli. I always reach for the protein snacks first (for me it is usually cheese or sugar free jello). Second to that is usually cucumber. Very rarely do I eat my crisps or crackers which is why I still have a ton!

So there you go.. try to exchange those extra eating episodes with different types of food.. or if you can do it, a huge glass of water and a distracting activity.

Make sure you are getting in enough water, and see if that helps with the cravings and hunger.

[GucciGoo]

People here are very defensive about Medifast. They swear by it and will defend it to the bitter end. MF is taken very seriously around here. There are people who have never cheated and never will. For some, it has saved their life by getting them off insulin or blood pressure meds. For others, it has provided a much-needed lifestyle change and made us feel better about ourselves.

A lot of times we see new people posting questions similiar to yours. They want to know why they do not lose weight if they only ate one cookie. Or a small handful of popcorn. Or they only have 3 glasses of water a day. These people get frustrated because they are cheating and not losing weight. So they automatically assume that they should start exercising. Or they blame Medifast and say "It's not working". They are blaming everything else for their non-loss, when they should become accountable and blame themselves.

I know you wanted sympathy and for everyone to tell you it was ok to cheat. But you will not get that here. I have admitted to cheating before and have gotten yelled at and told to start behaving. I needed to hear that. Sympathy would have made me think it was ok to cheat.

I hope you decide to stick with this program as it is wonderful. Just put your mind to it. We are all here to answer questions for you as they come up.

[kendra_m]

Men ARE from Mars, yanno. Just keep that in mind

Seriously tho, I think that this weight loss journey is much more emotional-laden for women than for men. We beat ourselves up about every possible facet. We feel guilty about a plethora of things... and we're very sensitive about all kinds of things related to weight & the loss of it.
It is an expensive program, no doubt. I actually went back over a couple of pre-MF months and looked at my debit card receipts for restaurants, junk food purchases at the gas station, snacks at various places, and all of that, combined with changes in my family grocery bill (cuz we're all eating healthier).... exceeded what I spend per month on MF.

You have been successful overall, you've lost 20 lbs and thats great! It's been hard for me to get thru my thick head that , for me, part of this journey is going to be how to deal with wanting to cheat, how to get back on plan and in the mindset if I've fallen off. I'm changing a pattern that I took years to create... I know it's not going to happen without some struggles!

My best to you~

[Jen]

This is not specifically in reference to you or your situation.

I can only speak for myself, but I am guessing a majority of board members are very understanding of the occasional cheat. What becomes annoying and what I lack sympathy for is the person who constantly cheats, complains, and does nothing. Being "good" all day and then eating a Big Mac for dinner, or staying on program for 3 days then off 2, etc... just tells me that he/she isn't ready for MediFast... yet.

If someone isn't prepared to follow the program exactly, then look for something less strict.

I don't mean to rant or offend anyone, but this is how I see it.

[JeepGirl]

Well said Jen well said!

[cyberghost]

I had to struggle with cheats myself - mostly because it's so difficult for me to imagine that a bite of cake will turn into a pound of fat. Best advice I got about cheats involves three things:

1) log everything you eat - carry a small notebook in your purse, or in your pocket, or even in your wallet (like those bendy telephone book thingies) and write down everything you eat. I know someone who knit a little Water Bottle purse that has a pocket for her notebook and pen - it's hella cool

2) When/If you DO cheat, make sure you write it down, and then write down why. For me it's usually "needed something sweet after a salty dinner" etc.

3) after a week or two, you'll begin to see a pattern, ie, when are you most likely to cheat etc. So the next time you feel like cheating, you'll probably have a good idea of what triggered it and as they say, knowing is half the battle So you can modify your behaviour accordingly.

As for the money thing - my way of looking at it is that me paying this money now is better than me having to pay a large hospital bill down the line because of my obesity. Maybe that arguement can work for your husband?

[medimama]

I agree with ALL that you're all saying! I do want to make it clear that I am not that person, who constantly cheats - although it did probably appear that way by my first post. I am not perfect and obviously weight loss is a hard thing for me ... I get very angry at myself for cheating, each time it has come on so suddenly that I don't even stop myself before popping something in my mouth - but after that first bite it's hard to not have a few more ... I'm very disappointed in myself and not proud at all that I've cheated - I am, however, proud that in nearly 8 weeks I've cheated only four times ... I know some won't understand, cause -YES - a cheat is a cheat, but that's AWESOME for me personally! I've decided that I have to just eliminate the word "cheat" from my weight loss vocabulary, it just has to be set in my mind (like it was the first month) that there is NO CHEATING - PERIOD! am I right!!! Trust me, if I was gonna be wishy washy I wouldn't stay on MF - that's no way to accomplish anything, I do feel constant cheating is absolutely pointless and I feel I'm no where near doing that overall ... I've just had a couple difficult weeks - but no more excuses, no more blame (although, also I do blame myself - nothing else) I asked about exercise only because a few people who have done MF have said that I need to start exercising - they have a more "lax" attitude about MF and said those cheats shouldn't have affected me so drastically - I'm glad to hear the truth from some die-hard MF people - love y'all, keep the advice coming - I won't get tired of it!!! thanks again

[medimama]

oh, and fyi - I wasn't looking for sympathy at all!! I was looking for the truth, and I got it - I just wasn't emotionally prepared for it - I guess!!