The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[VTGirlie]

hi guys!

I haven't been around for awhile. Honestly, I think that if I wasn't checking in every day or so I could convince myself that little "cheats" here and there were okay.

I'm doing... okay. I've been stuck at 174 for what seems like forever. I'll go down to 171 and then back up again. Never up to 175- I just won't let myself!

I've been on the plan since May now, and I just feel sort of... unmotivated! I really want to get to 130. Or do I? I just can't seem to re-motivate myself to get 100% back on the wagon. The worst of it, the nay-sayers are sort of circling the wagons, asking me "why I'm so hard on myself" and "why 130 is a magic number?" Well, 130 may NOT be, but 174 CERTAINLY is not!!! I'm still way overweight.

Can anyone help? I can handle negative forces, but I can't seem to get back on the wagon. Eek!!!



Thanks.

Bets

[JeepGirl]

Huggs Girlie it seems there are a few in the same boat right now..me included!

I have found naysayers to be ppl who have Their needs in mind Not Yours and YOU are who needs be your prime focus right now!

I will be sending Happy-Get-Back-On-Track Thoughts your way!

[loriannk]

I'm with you 100%. I started Feb. 28th and reached 60lbs early this summer. Well I got too darn comfortable and stopped MF. Gained some weight back from eatting like crap. My fault. Tried numerous times to get back on the wagon and just couldn't because I didn't want to. I wasn't motivated. For some reason 8 days ago I decided that was it I need to do this and been on plan ever since.

I guess what I am saying that no one can make you get back on plan. You have to do it for yourself and when you are ready. If you are not you will just waste your money like I did. We can do this. We just have to want it bad enough.

Good Luck!!

[Unca_Tim]

How bout we all look at this as getting healthy.

Use goals as shorterm milestones, but don't dwell on them or feel you've failed if you don't achieve them.

This is a journey towards better health, which includes positive choices in every area of your life, not a race towards a specific weight loss goal.

Small slips are inevitable (we're all human), but if we're constantly aiming at good health, sticking with the program will be one of the bi-products.

[VTGirlie]

Here's the part I don't get. Since I started the MF program I feel better than I have in years. I'm not plagued by horrible daily headaches. I have energy. I enjoy DOING instead of VEGGING. I look better!

So, why on earth do I do things that won't make me feel this way? I think it truly is some sort of addiction. When I eat sugary foods I feel TERRIBLE. Almost instantly. one would think that would be enough....

Anyway, thanks for the kind words. I'm looking forward to being back on board. it helps me to be accountable to someone other than my evil twin.

[DogMa]

My only advice is the same as Nike's. Just DO it. There's no magic way to get inspired again, although often looking through the Studio or reading a book or magazine about health and fitness can help.

But the fact is sometimes you have to focus on your goal and just MAKE yourself stick to the plan. For me, it's sometimes hard for a few days, but the longer I stick with it, the easier it gets.

The health thing is great if you have health problems. Some of us were pretty darn healthy to start with, though. Just fat.

You can do it, VT!! You might just have to force yourself for a few days. Take it a day at a time, or even a meal at a time. Maybe look for patterns in why you're having trouble. Do you start the day off OK but then cave in the afternoon or at dinner? Are you fine when you're by yourself, but succumb to temptation when you're around other people?

For me, part of my success on Medifast was finding my triggers and using my time on the program to work through them. Because if you reach goal but have the same food issues you started with, the sad truth is you're just going to gain it all back (plus probably more). It's not all about the magic number on the scale; it's also about the process, and working through your issues and figuring out better ways to deal with them. So the times that you're struggling are a PERFECT opportunity to learn.

[bdg]

All good tips! Ultimately you have to make the decision that you are ready to jump back on and realize that you are in ultimate control. Maybe you need to look at why you got on the program in the first place. Look at your reasons, look at everything that got you to that point and remind yourself why you started your journey. Sometimes we all need that reminder to get us back on track in anything we do in life. A Journal is a good way to keep those things and remind you down the road when you need the pickup.

[Unca_Tim]

The health thing is great if you have health problems. Some of us were pretty darn healthy to start with, though. Just fat.

The health thing was the whole point of my post. I respectfully disagree with you here. If you're fat, you're not healthy. It may not show up as a serious problem now, but down the road it will.

Meeting a goal of x amount of lbs in a given time period is fine, but if we strive to get healthy we'll realize it's not over when we meet our weight loss goal. This is why most "diets" fail.
This is an ongoing life-long process.

[Diana]

Heya, Girlie!!! Good to see you again!!

An author, Robert Fritz, talks about motivation in a couple of his books (I'm currently reading "Your Life as Art").

If our motivation is to NOT be in some situation, then as soon as we get some space between us and where we DON'T want to be, we feel better and lose the intensity and urgency to act. Eventually, then, we have a tendency to move back to the state we were in previously. Then, when we're uncomfortable enough again, we take action again, but only until we feel a little relief, then we stop again. He calls this an oscillating system. In our real-life experiences, we know it as (among other things) yo-yo dieting.

On the other hand, if we are motivated by something we WANT, somewhere we DO want to be, the tension that serves as a driving force will sustain and motivate us. (Fritz calls that structural tension.)

It all comes down to one deceptively complicated question: What DO you want?

Once you've got a destination clearly pictured, it's a lot easier to keep moving in that direction.

Hang in there, and we've got your back, your hand, and whatever else needs holding to keep you moving.

[Serendipity]

I'm a good example of what "healthy overweight" means. I went through my 30's and early 40's telling myself that I was healthy. I didn't have any health issues except that I was fat. I held on to that....telling myself it was ok to be fat because I was healthy.

Well, let me tell you......I was so wrong! Carrying around all of that extra weight works on your joints, causes extra stress on your heart, stretches your skin out of shape.....on and on. I developed high blood pressure, sore knees to the point that it was almost too painful to go up or down steps, acid reflux that required daily medication. All of these things just creeped up on me and my denial kept me from believing that the fat was the reason......alot of people have high blood pressure, right? Guess what, mine is gone and the sore joints are gone, and the acid reflux is GONE! All due to weight loss.

You may be "healthy" now, but given time, your excess weight will wreak havoc on your body.

[VTGirlie]

Thanks guys!

For me it is definitely a battle of my health over my addiction. And I have resigned myself to a lifelong "challenge", although the challenge is getting easier. As my hubby pointed out, my bad choices this month are NOTHING compared to the bad choices I would have made before.

It's good to be back and to hear your lovely supportive voices, though!

Bets

[Amber]

Nice to have you back, VT; you've been missed!

[DogMa]

I'm in my mid-40s and had none of the problems you mentioned. Would I maybe develop those problems when I reached 60, if I hadn't lost the weight? Maybe, maybe not. With such a strong family history (in parents and other relatives who were NOT overweight, by the way), I still might.

Frankly, my blood pressure went up while I was on the program. Not enough to trigger any alarms, but enough that I was getting concerned. I was around 120/80 on the program - normal for most people, but much higher than MY normal. My blood sugar went up, too - fasting level was 99 after about six months on the program. It dropped to the 70s after a couple of months in maintenance.

Maybe some see that as denial. I see it as evaluating empirical evidence and reaching a logical conclusion.

If health problems are an issue, that should be your focus. But it's simply not the case for everyone here.

[Serendipity]

We have no way of knowing the effect of the added weight. Yes, you may not have high blood pressure, but the truth is that your heart is stressed more than if you are at a healthy weight. Your joints may not hurt, but they are stressed more than at a normal weight and the cartiledge (sp) is wearing thinner with that added stress. The long term damages are unknown, but our health is effected by the extra weight whether we want to admit it or not. Believe me, I was queen of denial.

That doctor who wrote "You - the owners manual".....I forget his name.....he says that any woman with a waist measurement of more than 32" is over stressing her heart and should work to decrease her waist. 32" ain't that many, and you certainly can't be very overweight and have a 32" waist.

[DogMa]

I agree with him. Did I mention the worsened waist-to-hip ratio because I seemed to lose everywhere BUT the waist? I'm a size 4-6 and my waist is STILL an issue. My doc says the carb content's too high for me, and I tend to agree with him, given my previous experience.