my diet: week 2

Holy Cow! I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of support I received after my last post! I got the most page views since I started my blog and so many comments on Facebook full of encouraging words and lots of love. I was not expecting that at all. I even received some emails and phone calls from people thanking me for my post because it inspired them to make a few healthy changes in their lives. That feels awesome! Again, thank you so much for all the support and love. You all are fantastic!

Entering the second week of my diet I could definitely tell that I had more energy. Not only did I have more energy I was sleeping better and had no more back pain. I’ve had consistent back pain since I was pregnant with my little boy over two years ago. Every morning I would wake up with a stiff and sore body and it took me forever to get moving in the morning. Now, I am up as soon as the alarm goes off and ready to start my day. I can honestly say that after only one week I can feel the difference a well hydrated and well fed body makes. It’s such a simple concept

I was worried that I wasn’t going to have a successful week. Back way before Medifast, Chris and I bought Cincy Beer Fest tickets for Valentine’s Day. We were so excited to be able to spend an evening just the two of us. It is very safe to say that drinking beer is so not on program not to mention we splurged and purchased the VIP tickets that got us food pairings for our beer. I mentioned this to my Health Coach and asked her if I should wait till after Beer Fest to start Medifast. She told me that I could start right away and I didn’t have to skip our Valentine’s Day weekend. She gave me a few tips that will help me keep the diet going and still enjoy Beer Fest!

During week two I lost three pounds which is a total of 13 pounds lost!!! I am so pleased with these results, especially since we got to enjoy an amazing Valentine’s Day weekend with friends.

Thanks again everyone for your support! This journey is not easy nor is it close to being over, but it sure is more bearable when I have such an awesome support system!

Week 1: -10 lbs

Week 2: -3 lbs

Total: -13 lbs

-sarah

 

time to commit

Alright… what I’m about to say is very hard for me but it’s something that has to be done. I am overweight, that’s not a secret. The secret is how overweight I actually am. I’ve always weighed more than I looked but this time my number and my reflection were extremely displeasing. I’ve tried being more active, eating better, drinking more water, but after a few weeks I found myself falling back into my old habits.

There is definitely something to the saying “Fat and Happy”. Whenever I was lonely, miserable, stressed, or sad, I looked fantastic. But as soon as I was happily in a relationship, happy at work, or had my life together, the pounds started to pack on. It’s about time that I did something serious about my weight and took a step in the right direction for me, my health, and my family.

A friend of mine from church started this diet in the Fall and by January he was down 50 lbs. He looks fantastic. I knew that he was following some kind of program but I didn’t know what it was. I finally got the nerve to call him and see what he was doing to help him lose that much weight, that quickly. He told me he was on the Medifast program. I had no idea what it was, but he was happy to explain it to me. It is a program where they send you pre-packaged food and you eat 5 of their meals a day plus one “Lean and Green” meal. He told me how they assign you a health coach, a licensed dietician, and they help coach you through the process of losing weight. The part that really hooked me was the fact that the program doesn’t end once you lose your weight. That is just the first step. The following two phases are the most important. There is a six week transitional phase that helps you transition back onto regular foods then there is a maintenance phase which is exactly like it sounds. It helps you maintain the weight you have lost. Once I heard his testimonial I was ready to sign up.

I have since signed up, received my food, read their cook book and picked out my first week of meals to make. I think the push I needed was that even though this is a pretty expensive program to commit to, I have a husband who was 100% supportive and was willing to look at our budget with me to make it work. I start my diet February 3^rd (the day after the Super Bowl). I have 3 goals that I hope to achieve with this program. The first is to lose 50 pounds, then 70, then 100. I know that people who know me will say that losing 100 pounds is a little extreme however, trust me it’s not. Once I get the nerve to type out my starting weight I will update all of you will my progress and post pictures and information about my weight and measurements. I am very much looking forward to this diet and ask only for support and positive thoughts. Believe me, I have plenty of negative thoughts running around in my own head, I don’t need yours too.

***UPDATE***

I’ve been on this diet a week now and I’ve had some ups and downs. I was told that the first 4 days are the awful and if you can make it through that you can make it through the program. I was preparing myself for the worst. My first 3 days weren’t so bad but the cravings really hit me on days 4 and 5. I kept floating between feeling excited about the diet, to wanting to scrap the whole thing. The only thing that really kept me motivated was stepping on the scale each morning. The weight immediately started to slip away. I have been on the diet officially a week and I am down 10 pounds!! 1/10 of my goal was completed in the first week. It’s safe to say that some of the cravings are still there (I’d consider  committing a minor crime to obtain some hot wings) but when friends came over Saturday night and brought pizza I was content with my veggie burger and salad. Then on Sunday I went to my parents’ house after church and Mom made a roast and mashed potatoes. Despite it smelling amazing, I was satisfied with a salad and a baked chicken breast with a little tomato salsa.

I think I’ve finally hit that acceptance level I keep reading about. The rules of Medifast are simple to remember and follow. I still miss fried food (which is my go to comfort meal) however I’m making it work and don’t feel like I’m being cheated. Hopefully week two yields the same results and I gain even more confidence in this diet and with myself.

 

-sarah