Biki, thanks for the note of support.
I've tried so many times to take the weight off in the past 15 years but the desire for food always has won. I was successful in taking off weight only 2x before, both times I lost on a low carb/high protein type of diet (Prism & Atkins). I am a binge eater along with daily consuming too much food & calories. Of course I never binge or eat too much of anything healthy.
My thoughts on just sticking with the variety package, even though I don't love every food item it contains, was because I am a compulsive overeater and because I have, in the past, avoided healthy food so that I could fill up on things that taste especially good. I know there is nothing wrong with eating 'good tasting' food, but my goal is to eat for fuel, not to live to eat. If I can get my mind wrapped around 'this is food so that I can keep my body healthy' instead of 'dang but these bars (or shake or oatmeal or pudding) tastes wonderful and I'm getting to eat it again' I'm hoping changing my mindset will help me in the long run.
I know I'm not explaining it as well as I could. But the idea I'm mulling over is to help me break the cycle of 'food for enjoyment' and turn it into 'food as necessary fuel'. I don't mean that I'm expecting (or wanting) to turn food into an unpleasant experience (and no Medifast food has been 'unpleasant' to eat)---I just mean, for me, eating only things that are especially 'delish' to me-- may not be a good thing in my journey of changing my thought processes. I do not know----I'm truly confused about it right now. Thankfully I still have about 3 weeks of my initial food order so I don't have to decide just yet. I'll keep playing mental tennis with the idea for awhile longer.
I did weigh myself this morning even though I was going to try to make it until Sunday. I was feeling 'thinner' and wanted to see how much I had lost since roll call. Well heck, only down .5 in the past couple of days. I was bummed. Isn't that crazy thinking? Being bummed about losing a 1/4 pound per day? Dumb of me to expect more than that. 1/4# per day is pretty darn great even though it may not be as much as many lose and I'm quite lucky to have found a program that allows me to lose that much in the beginning. I do dread the day that the weigh loss slows down (or plateaus) as I'm so eager to 'look' thinner. I need to do some more thinking on that also so that I'm prepared and not feeling down about it when it happens.
I have spent hours and hours reading the forums and seeing the tickers on people who have lost a lot of weight quickly. I wanted to be one of those that just saw the weight melt off when they are compliant. I pretty much knew that it wouldn't be that way (defeatest attitude? realistic?
who knows, I think a bit of both). I am okay with losing 2# a week instead of 5----but 5# a week sure looks good when you calculate it out.
Time to begin the day in earnest. It will be a good one. I will be compliant. I will be proud of myself for starting this and seeing it through to the end without deviation because NO food is going to make me happy, feel fulfilled, content nor proud of myself ---
if it is to be, it is up to me!
TAWANDA!