Had a lovely weekend and did lose 2.6 pounds last week. I feel like I am in a good rhythm and look forward to keeping up the momentum! My total is right at 10 lbs for 3 weeks!
Still finding the plan pretty easy and have not had any big moments of weakness.
This Thursday, however, the story gets more interesting. I am leaving for a week long vacation to San Francisco with my sweetie. Roaming a beautiful foreign city known for its food and wine is going to be a real challenge. I have been planning how I would manage this while staying on program. There will be at least one meal that I can eat out. The rest of the day will be bringing food with me and hopefully still enjoying being out and about with my sweetie and not seeming awkward. The last thing I want is for him to feel bad about needing to eat out every meal while I cannot. But...I also do not want to be tempted all the time.
So that is the deal. I am trying to remind myself that staying on plan is not just about backtracking. It also will negatively impact how I feel on the trip and possible create bathroom issues...who wants that! To prep I have ordered a ton of MF food, an electric kettle, and have learned that I can stomach most of the meals without any added flavor. No need to enjoy the food...just need to get it down :)
Food, kettle, cleaning stuff, thermos food jar, etc is going to take up half my luggage! The good news is that I can fill it with shopping finds on the way home :)
Off to make a delicious shake.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Ending Week 3 - Medifast
I am pleased to say that even though I have not been blogging, I am happily cruising through the Medifast program. Clearly I am a food robot, because I have had no issues with eating their replacements. Not once in the last 3 weeks have I had a craving for anything. Nothing. The closest thing to a craving was when I was driving around the parking lot of a shopping center where I would have lunch or dinner at Chick-fil-a a few times a week. I felt like I should be driving there...and that started me thinking about my usual order "3 piece chicken strips and a small ice dream cone". But, I reminded myself that those things are not in my life right now ... and that was that.
My weight has been coming off...but pretty slowly, which I do admin is frustrating. In my mind I think that I should be losing at a more rapid pace given my following of the program...but it isn't happening. But it is coming down, so I need to chill out about the pace!
Let me fill you in on my typical day with Medifast:
Exercise is not really steady right now but I do occasionally take a walk during the day. They (Medifast) says wait 3 weeks before starting. Believe me, starting next Thursday I will be getting a work out as I am going to San Francisco. Nothing but exercise there!
That is it for now. I feel like I have a lot to say, but I also feel like I need to finish getting dressed and run my emergency pre-vacation errands!
Total loss right now is about 9 lbs in almost 3 weeks. I know that is a great loss, and if I were on Weight Watchers I would be over the moon. So ... I think I will just need to adjust my expectations a bit and be please with any momentum I have. I am on pace to be in a much better place weight wise for the summer, and that makes me happy. It also means finding another bathing suit...but that is a small price to pay!
My weight has been coming off...but pretty slowly, which I do admin is frustrating. In my mind I think that I should be losing at a more rapid pace given my following of the program...but it isn't happening. But it is coming down, so I need to chill out about the pace!
Let me fill you in on my typical day with Medifast:
- 9:30 am - shake/bar (whatever quick meal I can guzzle at home or in the car)
- 12:30 pm - eggs/shake/cappuccino (still feeling breakfast)
- 3:00 pm - soup/shake/pretzels (generally want savory by this point)
- 5:30 pm - shake/bar (by now i am not wanting to prep anything, so its quick)
- 7:30-8 pm- Dinner of lean protein and veggies (most night i have the veggies, i am still struggling)
- 9:30-10pm - brownie/cookie/shake mixed with 1 tbs of Peanut Butter
- 12 am - if i am up late i have a little something to keep my body happy, maybe a wedge of Laughing Cow
Exercise is not really steady right now but I do occasionally take a walk during the day. They (Medifast) says wait 3 weeks before starting. Believe me, starting next Thursday I will be getting a work out as I am going to San Francisco. Nothing but exercise there!
That is it for now. I feel like I have a lot to say, but I also feel like I need to finish getting dressed and run my emergency pre-vacation errands!
Total loss right now is about 9 lbs in almost 3 weeks. I know that is a great loss, and if I were on Weight Watchers I would be over the moon. So ... I think I will just need to adjust my expectations a bit and be please with any momentum I have. I am on pace to be in a much better place weight wise for the summer, and that makes me happy. It also means finding another bathing suit...but that is a small price to pay!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The Voice
Just a random thought ... I never want the tiny hat to ever go out of style.
Blain Edwards lives on...chesticles and all!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Week 1 Medifast
I am very happy to report that I made it through the first week...mostly with flying colors! The plan itself was not hard to stick to...for me anyway. The only issue with the first week was finding ways to prepare the Medifast meals in a way that was appealing without blowing through my daily condiment allowance of 3.
The Internet is an amazing tool and I really enjoyed reading other peoples blogs...those very passionate about Medifast and those with helpful tips on how to make the food enjoyable. I also learned that every one's tastes are different. An item that one blogger or reviewer like or loved, someone else may have reported it to be gross. An example is the Medifast oatmeal. The first blogs I read talked about how gross it was, etc. So I took their advice and made muffins out of the oatmeal packet. The muffins were good ... but finally I realized there was no reason not to try the oatmeal au natural...and when I did ... it was okay.
I think the secret is that a lot of the food (soups, oatmeal) need to be rehydrated and mixed well so that they are not lumpy and hard. With that I just learned to let both of those items sit for a while before preparing.
For the soup I tried these approaches, both with equal success:
Tip for the Blender Bottle -- Add VERY cold water (I usually drain ice water), then add powder, THEN put the ball in and shake like hell! It only took about 20 seconds to get it good and blended. NOT ONE LUMP. It was great.
So ... how did I feel? The first few days were not great. I was light headed a bit and had a headache. Nothing unbearable, but it was noticeable. On Medifast you are eating every 2-3 hours, so it isn't hard to look forward to your next mean and never really get to a point of being really hungry. On about day 5 I noticed I was feeling pretty energetic. Most days I don't even have morning coffee...I don't need it! I do sometimes have a cup in the afternoons as a treat and a way to get a boost. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT a big coffee drinker. I like one perfect 8 oz cup of Sumatra Reserve or Dark Magic (k-cup) with one packet of Splenda and a tiny bit of non-dairy creamer. If I were drinking 8 cups a day, I would probably not be as pleased with my occasional cup!
Dinner, or my Lean and Green meal has been the most challenging part of my day, this I anticipated. I am not a planner so several nights I was left trying to figure out what to eat. I made some icky dry chicken that I didn't love and ate a few salads, but I managed. To be honest, I had a lot of canned green beans. If they were regular (meaning not reduced sodium) I would drain and rinse them before cooking. This works for me. It isn't exciting ... and most people would not dig it ... but it works for me.
So ... weight loss for week 1? 5.3 lbs!!! I am very pleased with that number. Many people have a huge loss in the first week due to water weight ...but given I have been dieting since Jan, I don't think I did. The next few weeks will be the test, however.
That is all for now. I could write a book, but not sure any one is reading ... and I will have something to go on about next time I sit down.
-allison
The Internet is an amazing tool and I really enjoyed reading other peoples blogs...those very passionate about Medifast and those with helpful tips on how to make the food enjoyable. I also learned that every one's tastes are different. An item that one blogger or reviewer like or loved, someone else may have reported it to be gross. An example is the Medifast oatmeal. The first blogs I read talked about how gross it was, etc. So I took their advice and made muffins out of the oatmeal packet. The muffins were good ... but finally I realized there was no reason not to try the oatmeal au natural...and when I did ... it was okay.
I think the secret is that a lot of the food (soups, oatmeal) need to be rehydrated and mixed well so that they are not lumpy and hard. With that I just learned to let both of those items sit for a while before preparing.
For the soup I tried these approaches, both with equal success:
- Add water ( I would add just enough water to make a smooth paste or rue consistency...then slowly incorporate the rest so there are no lumps) and just keep in the fridge overnight and heat when ready. This approach worked very well...it just involves pre-planning .. something I only did once!
- Follow the same "rue" technique as above but blend the soup with boiling water (make rue with cold, then add hot to get the full 6-8 oz) and let it sit for 30 mins or so. Reheat if needed. This worked pretty well for me and did not require much prep on my part. Perfect, as I am not a great planner.
Tip for the Blender Bottle -- Add VERY cold water (I usually drain ice water), then add powder, THEN put the ball in and shake like hell! It only took about 20 seconds to get it good and blended. NOT ONE LUMP. It was great.
So ... how did I feel? The first few days were not great. I was light headed a bit and had a headache. Nothing unbearable, but it was noticeable. On Medifast you are eating every 2-3 hours, so it isn't hard to look forward to your next mean and never really get to a point of being really hungry. On about day 5 I noticed I was feeling pretty energetic. Most days I don't even have morning coffee...I don't need it! I do sometimes have a cup in the afternoons as a treat and a way to get a boost. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT a big coffee drinker. I like one perfect 8 oz cup of Sumatra Reserve or Dark Magic (k-cup) with one packet of Splenda and a tiny bit of non-dairy creamer. If I were drinking 8 cups a day, I would probably not be as pleased with my occasional cup!
Dinner, or my Lean and Green meal has been the most challenging part of my day, this I anticipated. I am not a planner so several nights I was left trying to figure out what to eat. I made some icky dry chicken that I didn't love and ate a few salads, but I managed. To be honest, I had a lot of canned green beans. If they were regular (meaning not reduced sodium) I would drain and rinse them before cooking. This works for me. It isn't exciting ... and most people would not dig it ... but it works for me.
So ... weight loss for week 1? 5.3 lbs!!! I am very pleased with that number. Many people have a huge loss in the first week due to water weight ...but given I have been dieting since Jan, I don't think I did. The next few weeks will be the test, however.
That is all for now. I could write a book, but not sure any one is reading ... and I will have something to go on about next time I sit down.
-allison
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