The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[sweeshelby30]

I do not know why i am feeling so depressed. I have so much to be thankful for. Life is suppose to be what you make it. I have a great career and a wonderful son. I find it so hard to stay focused on this diet. I am sucessful at everything else but why not Medifast? Last week i was so motivated and over the weekend it was pure H*LL! I have to many negative influences around me. What do you when people tell you that you are beautiful just a little "thick".? I know it sounds silly but i need to get this weight off of me. I am a police officer and people tell me all of the time how beautiful i am but why do i feel so ugly? I Have major hangups. How could weight be so consuming in my life? Why is it such an issue? I love myself but i want to feel so confident inside. My family says all of the time that i am so pretty just be happy and content with what god gave me. But i feel so insecure all of the time. How can i achieve 1 full week on Medifast and not cheat? Am ithe only one who is going through this? I am sorry for such a long post everyone! I am just lost, crying as I write this post and feeling so sad and sorry for myself. I need motivation and attention. NoONE is supporting me at home and the police officers think its so funny. How do you cope? I need someone yelling at me everyday and making me motivated.

[Lois]

Hi there,

Believe me, you are NOT alone! I, for one, have been at the point of tears MANY times over feeling SOOOoooo defeated over my weight. We can be "accomplished" and focused individuals in MANY areas of our lives, and still struggle tremendously with our weight and body image.

How we feel about the way we look is complicated, and different for each one of us. I see a counselor every 2 weeks to help me sort out those issues......

But apart from all that, Medifast can help you deal with the weight itself. Seeing a counselor hasn't helped me lose 40 pounds...Medifast has! Seeing my counselor has helped me to understand what some of the issues are for me around weight and body image...but knowlwdge alone won 't take away the excess weight. I chose MF because I couldn't face another "diet". Weighing, measuring, counting calories, fat grams, carbs, WHATEVER!!!!!!.....I was exhausted, frustrated, depressed and at the very end of my rope.

Then I found MF and this forum. I bought the product, started and stopped, started and stopped, and started and stopped again. Then I realized that THIS IS IT. If I don't get serious about this NOW, then I'll live the rest of my life depressed, fat, and hopeless. That did it. I went to an "Overeaters Anonymous" meeting AND started Medifast on June 2nd, and have NOT looked back. 2 1/2 months later, I am 40 pounds lighter and almost halfway to my goal.

I have many people to thank....the folks here at this forum, my husband and kids (my 9 year old prays every night and asks God to "Help Mommy lose weight!"), my counselor, the folks at OA, and God....But all they can do is HELP me. They can't do it FOR me. I had to be ready to committ myself to the program, and I have to CONTINUE to be willing EVERY DAY.

Five days ago I decided to stop playing around with the "Lean and Green" etc. I need to get this weight off, and if you give me an inch, I'll take the proverbial mile.

Sooo.....I am holding myself to 100 days of the full fast, and posting every day to keep me honest and on track. It is amazing what accountability and support can do!

It is hard that you are not getting the support at work....but we ARE here for you! As for needing someone to yell at you everyday....sounds like you're doing a pretty good job yelling at yourself! Do yourself a favor: forgive yourself and move on. Rally the support you need. Set small goals. Post often and ask for help when you need it. Be kind to yourself....you're worth it. The program works. And we believe in you.

hugs

Lois

[hawaiiwhatnot]

sweeshelby30,

Echoing Lois here. WE are here! You've got a WHOLE LOT of CYBER SUPPORT here!

You know, there's skeptism now amongst your family and co-workers, but when your success starts showing as you shrink in size, that will turn to newfound admiration! YOU just SHOW THEM! PROVE them WRONG! JUST DO IT - if I can you can! This diet works! Just follow it, come here when you can, drink TONS of water, and watch those pounds slip off and the smirks of those around you turn to 'WOWs!'. It will happen to you! Hang it there! We're here for you!

A MF Pal,
Camille

[Carrie]

Sweeshelby,
Most of us that eat for emotional reasons have felt exactly what you are feeling on any number of occasions.

For me - I have to work on facing all those things in my life that I covered up by eating. I've started seeing a counselor and I'm also reading every book on the subject that I can get my hands on. It isn't fun, but it's the only way I'm ever going to conquer the behaviors.

It sounds to me like there's more than just food going on for you ....?

It's also very hard to succeed when you are in the middle of a negative spiral. Can you find ways to turn this around and think about it positively?

Keep trying, you're worth it,
Carrie

[Nancy]

Sweeshelby ~

You ARE going through a difficult time and that just seems to be part of the wave of life - difficulties ebb and flow but so do the good times, the great times roll in and through us, too.

Don’t allow your eyes to linger for such a long time on the difficulties before you – look to the horizon and the goodness that waits beyond.

Rainbows are promises that sunshine will follow – why focus on the thunderstorms?

Weight loss is a personal issue. As Lois so succinctly stated, no one can do it for you. One must be ready, and I mean really ready to embark on a program that involves change. If you keep on doing what you’re currently doing, you are going to keep on getting the same results.

Often people ask me what was different about weight loss for me this last FINAL time that I embarked on a weight loss journey compared to all the former failures. I don't know that I can truly answer the question. All I know is that I had reached the very deepest depths of self-loathing and realized that if I wanted to truly get healthier, to be thinner, to look better, and to be able to enjoy life and its activities that I needed to make some changes. Radical changes.

The changes that I made could be temporary or permanent - it was up to me to decide how I was going to use the tools made available to me. Once I found out about Medifast, read about its benefits, I decided that if I were to be successful, this was the tool that I would use to reach my goals.

I then determined that my goals were greater than all of my excuses, all of my fears and all of the negatives that others may throw my way. I decided to Medifast to the letter of the law - I would not try to rationalize any aspect of the program, not try to excuse my way out, not cave in to peer pressure but to Medifast all the way to my goal. I was single-minded during the weight loss phase, I was single-minded during transition stage – determined and committed to do it exactly right and I remain single-minded about maintaining my healthy weight.

Linda Spangle has written a good book and I highly recommend it: Life is Hard Food is Easy. I agree with what others have written – some people NEED to see a counselor. Some people NEED to join OA, or some type of support group. Many hospitals and clinics have wonderful programs that focus on nutrition and health. Form your own small support group.

When my husband and I embarked on our weight loss journey, we started a small group that met Sunday afternoon at our church. We called it "Why Weight?" and we designed it to be a place where people who wanted to take control of their rotten eating habits and lack of exercise could come together and be accountable to one another.

We each told the group what our goals were, we reported weekly about our weight loss or weight gain.

We reported to one another about areas we needed help and then we helped each other.

If someone was not eating their meals on time, a body buddy called them at work or at home every three hours and reminded them to eat. If some one was not drinking their water, another emailed or called them frequently to check on their water total for the day.

I brought a bag of clothes every week – all the stuff that was getting too loose or baggy and gave it to the next person who was on her way down to that size.

Terry and I Medifasted, there were a few others who Medifasted along with us but there were some who used different weight loss plans. There were two people that did not necessarily want to lose weight but just wanted to be held accountable for exercising regularly and preparing healthier meals.

We can all do all that we want to do.

What are your priorities?

What do you want most?

If you are self-disciplined enough to get your buns out of bed each day, to get your body clean, to get dressed, to go to work on time, then you have enough self-discipline to eat on time, to drink water and to exercise.

If you have enough self-discipline and the ability to find your place of employment and to return home each day, then you have enough self-discipline and ability to find your Medifood in the cupboard and to prepare and eat it.

If you have enough self-discipline to not steal or murder someone that honks you off, then you have enough self-discipline to not eat candy, cakes, cookies, burgers, pizza or whatever it is you eat that is not good for you.

You have all the self-discipline you need.

For some reason, you just are choosing not exercising it. Only you know why you are not choosing to do so.

What do you want more?

Sweeshelby, only you can answer that question.

You hold the keys in your hand – you decide which vehicle you want to drive and the path you want to take – do you want to hold on to your old tarnished key, to sit in the well-worn passenger seat of your used vehicle, gas tank half-full and allow someone else to drive you along the continuously dark road that always leads to the same destination or do you desire to accept the new key, to sit in the driver’s seat yourself and take the new well-fueled vehicle along the well-lit road that leads to health, to a sense of well-being and self-satisfaction?

You choose where you’re going to go and how you are going to get there.

As for me and millions of others, we are choosing to Medifast it all the way!

[DutchChoc]

Thanks, Nancy! I loved your samples of having "enough" discipline!! I never thought of it that way, so SIMPLY, and yet so perfectly, so logically. It's often unclear to us whether we didn't "have" the discipline to do this/other things, or whether it just seems that we don't, possibly because there are a few higher-priority "I'd rathers" running in competition. Yes, we can "rather" do it our own way and never turn down that little devilish eat-it-now voice, or we can realize that it's just a matter of carrying out a high priority mission/promise that we have -- and want to keep -- to ourselves. One really DOES have to be prepared to make those sacrifices, and to keep on making them.

[Nancy]

Thanks, Dutch -

It IS a sacrifice to deny ourselves but the benefits OUTWEIGH the alternatives!
Hey, Kid! You are about to cross over to a new weight range!

You are almost to your goal - it is in sight!

[DutchChoc]

You're welcome, Nancy! That really struck me as smart and it still does.

I've been keeping up the good work, alright, though I feel some fatigue setting in. That is, fatigue from speculation over how long it will take and whether I can expect the same good health for the rest of my journey. Well, no doubt I can, I guess, but I still take mental note of the "not eating" facet of doing this. I guess I wonder if I can outlast the amount of time it will take to reach my ultimate goal. On the other hand, as long as I'm still doing it, outlasting, that is, I guess I'll be moving forward to where I want to go. I really do see a better-looking self in the store windows when I pass by, so that's encouraging and will keep the interest alive within me.

Additionally, I'm at a training class for three days and I'm using the lunch coupon not for myself, of course, but to buy carryouts for the other members of my family who are eating. Meanwhile, I suppose I'm not getting the very same level of support from "them". No, I said, this product is NOT the same as drinking fruit and vegetable juice. DUH!!!!

To end on a positive note, though, I will NOT stop here. There are miles to go before I eat.

[Nancy]

Dutch,


Just think of all the exercise you are getting as you hike over to the Food Court for your family and then carry it back! Then you are also exercising self-restraint and self-control as you keep your lips sealed to temporarily “forbidden” grub and fluids!

You are doing the right thing!