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Issue
13 |
MakeMeThinner August Newsletter |
August 2004 |
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--->Feature |
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Conference Update
Summertime and the sippin’ is easy – that is, it’s easy if
you’re sippin’ on an icy Medifast shake!
It is sizzling in our backyard and I feel so blessed to be
wearing a bathing suit BECAUSE I CAN!
Our regular Newsletter Readers are aware that Terry and I, and
our Make Me Thinner Team of Health Advisors attended the annual
summer 2004 Take Shape for Life Conference in Baltimore,
Maryland.
We had a blast! It was our first time to visit the home office
for Medifast and we toured the facility where the products are
manufactured.
Here are some of my observations regarding the tour: That place
is spotless! It has to be – many of the Medifast products are
kosher and Jason Pharmaceuticals has maintained its Orthodox
Union Kosher Approved status since 1982.
Before we could enter the facility we had to don those ‘clean
room’ shower cap-type head coverings and shoe bonnets. I can
just tell you this, when a group of men and women are wearing
those shower cap affairs, it certainly levels the playing field
a bit…I am just happy to report that I did NOT have to wear a
covering over my mouth and chin as did some of the guys with
facial hair.
As a menopausal woman, lemme tell ya this: I am glad that the
door keeper did not look too closely at my chinny chin chin.
Menopause is when the hair growth on our arms and legs slows
down so that all of our grooming efforts can be concentrated on
dealing with the newly acquired moustache and chin furs…Uh, oh,
TMI for ya, eh?
For those of you who are not internet savvy, here’s a handy
guide for you so you can decipher LW’s lingo:
TMI = Too much Information
BTW = By the way
AKA = Also Known As
BM = Before Medifast
AM = After Medifasting
LW = Leopard Woman (AKA Nancy Pettit)
FYI = For Your Information.
TSFL = Take Shape for Life is a two year old company that
features Medifast products. We are a physician-led network of
independent Health advisors committed to helping others get and
stay healthy.
BTW - BM, I was livin’ life large – I was actually larger than I
truly desired to be! I wore boring non-trendy large-sized
clothing. Two years AM, I now wear trendy size 6 clothing. I
LOVE leopardy and other animal print clothing and I frequently
can be spotted wearing leopard print clothing or have leopardy
jewelry! Because I can. Therefore, I am AKA LW!
Back to the Awesome August Newsletter…
There were 160 people in attendance at the four day national
TSFL summer conference. The events included Health Advisor
certification training by Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen, the Medical
Director for Medifast Diet and also TSFL; keynote speakers;
workshops; a recognition banquet and a tour of Jason
Pharmaceuticals, the Medifast product manufacturing plant.
Our personal tour of Jason Pharmaceuticals was conducted by none
other than former Marine Colonel and President and CEO of
Medifast, Bradley McDonald!
We met Brad during the TSFL Summer 2003 Conference when Terry
and I received advanced Health Advisor Certification. We were
part of the very first certification group and received our
certificates and National Health Institute pins. Brad was
excited to see us again at this summer’s training institute, to
show us the home office, his personal office and to walk us
through the plant.
We are so blessed to have such a variety of products available
for health and disease control and for weight management.
Since I started using Medifast, the company has added many new
items. Brad told us all about the NEW Medifast Essential 1
Meals. These new meals are of the highest quality (naturally!)
and are highly portable. Essential 1 meals include Grilled
Chicken Breasts, Grilled Beef Patties and Chicken Salad. Soon
Tuna Salad will also be available.
According to our President, the chicken for the Essential 1
meals is bred to be extremely lean and may be used as part of
the “one” meal on the Medifast Five and One weight loss plan.
They are great products for diabetics because they are low in
sugar and carbohydrates.
The Grilled Chicken Breasts are packaged two servings per box
and sell for $9.95 per box. They do not need to be refrigerated
and are vacuum-packed and come with a shelf life of two years.
The Grilled Beef Patties sell for $8.95 for a box of two
servings.
When used as part of the Lean ‘n Green Meal, the chicken breasts
(or the beef patties) MUST be eaten with a 1-2 cup serving of
green salad AND a 3 cup serving of cooked non-starchy vegetables
in order for the meal to be considered complete.
Didja get that? You have the Essential 1 protein serving, the
1-2 cup green salad (and up to ¼ cup of chopped non-starchy
vegetables) with 1 teaspoon of oil added to your dressing, AND
the 3 cups of cooked veggies. Your bod needs the balance of
protein, carbs and fat to supply its essential needs.
Do not wimp out of the cooked veggie serving. Your weight loss
will be consistent and sure if you eat all the essential
macronutrients. Over 23 years of research and clinical studies
ensure the success of our plan.
The Essential 1 Chicken Breasts have 120 calories and the Beef
Patties have 90 calories. Because they are both so lean, they
have less fat than typical store purchased meat.
The Essential 1 meal does not replace a Medifast shake or
soup, etc. It is NOT a meal replacement in and of itself. It
is to be used as the protein portion for the Lean ‘n Green Meal.
One can consider adding a teaspoon of heart healthy olive oil to
their Medifast Caesar or Medifast Creamy Italian salad dressing
mixture to provide the needed dietary fat.
The Essential 1 Chicken Salad is considered to be Ready to Eat –
just open the sealed pouch and serve with a green salad. Whee!
It’s an MRE (Meal Ready To Eat) my military friends in the
Middle East will wish they had!
[BTW, we each got a box of the new Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
with Vegetables while we were in Owings Mills, Maryland. I
was so excited about trying it that as soon as we got back to
our hotel room, I ran some water through the coffee maker and
‘cooked’ it in the pot as best I could! It is delicious and now
that I am home, I added a snort of curry, some Mrs. Dash™ Tomato
Basil Garlic seasoning and we’re lovin’ it!]
I’m going to let you in on a teensy little secret…Shh! Brad told
me that a new puddin’ flavor is in the makings…can’t wait
to have that delightful butterscotch pudding and we will be sure
to letcha know as soon as it is available!
Thursday evening and Friday morning found the MakeMeThinner
Health Advisor Team auditing the certification sessions as we
just can’t seem to get enough of Dr. Andersen’s excellent
instruction! This is the third time for us to attend the
certification training and we value his knowledge of nutrition
and his passion to get America healthy. He is a board certified
Anesthesiologist and Critical Care Specialist. Believe me; Dr.
Andersen has seen his fair share of people in ICU and on the
operating table that failed to take good care of their health.
He is committed to helping others to get and to stay healthy.
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--->News, Articles and Special
Offers |
My Story
In addition to Brad McDonald, Dr. Andersen, Coach Dick Vitale,
and other Medifast “losers,” I had the privilege of speaking
briefly at the kick-off event.
Here are my notes from the Friday night, July 23rd event.
Exactly 2 years and 8 days ago I was fat, frenzied & frumpy.
Tonight I’m wearin’ size 4 leather pants - Because I can!
And lemme tell ya, tonight I feel anything but fat and frumpy!
(You can bet there were cheers and applause at this point in my
presentation and I LOVED every moment of it! I did a pirouette
wearing those leather pants and a one-shouldered knit top that
Terry had designed and made for me at a little boutique! You’ll
have to check out my photos in the Studio on the
MakeMeThinner.com/Forum)
For most of my adult life I have been a foody and a professional
dieter. During college I took Rx diet pills.
In my early twenties my weight really began to fluctuate. I took
Rainbow pills - a type of diet pill with amphetamines and herbs,
and at one time, I had injections made from horse wee wee.
I joined WW, I followed the WW plan most days, lived for
weigh-in day, then right afterwards went around the corner to
Baskin & Robbins 31 Flavors and I’d have a double dip Jamocha
Almond Fudge ice cream in a sugar wafer cone.
I joined and lost weight three times at the Diet Center and ate
Ak Mak Crackers by the case. For breakfast I had a cup of hot
water with the juice of one lemon and lunch and supper were
always the same: shrimp and lettuce. I was constantly hungry.
I attended the Weight Loss Clinic and ate my fill of MORE shrimp
but never reached my goal weight. My complexion was slight
pink-tinted, my fingers grew little webby conectors and my back
was curving and jointed from ingesting so much shrimp – JK (Just
Kidding!)
I did a couple of stints with Jenny Craig, but found it
difficult to make it to their clinics with my weird work
schedule and when I was on the road, it was hard to keep freezer
foods in a cooler. For a couple of summers, I was training
teachers in San Antonio and living in a hotel. My teensy hotel
refrigerator/freezer did not permit me to store a week’s worth
of food so I ate out and alas, I filled out.
I did the Beverly Hills Diet, I tried The Zone Diet, the no
carbohydrate eat-all-the-meat-ya-can-hack diet but I craved and
caved and ate all the high carbohydrate foods I could manage to
stuff into my chubby little cheeks.
On nearly every vacation we’ve been on, I was dieting. I hated
not being able to enjoy special family meals and exotic flavors.
I hated my life and I hated myself.
Many looked forward to Y 2 K with anticipation as the new
millennium began; others had fear of what might happen
technologically and financially when the clock struck midnight.
To me, the new millennium meant another decade of fatness and
self-loathing, another decade of feeling, looking and being
grossly overweight.
The year 2001 of course, was supposed to be the Space Odyssey
and for me, my weight was definitely outta this world! I was FAR
OUT, Man!
In January 2002, I was 53 years old, miserable, matronly and
morbidly obese.
I didn’t exercise – I couldn’t. The most exercise I got was
walking down the hall to the sandbox, opening and closing the
cupboards or the refrigerator door.
I ate bags of Butterlicious microwave popcorn and drenched it in
cubes of melted butter.
The Dieting Diva had become a Diet Drop Out.
I had totally given up ever reaching a normal weight or wearing
clothing from the misses department in a regular-size store.
In the beginning of 2002, I had managed to diet myself up to 265
pounds and discovered that I was extremely undertall for my
weight.
My BMI was 43 – I was nearly half butter!
I was over weight and I over wrought.
After years of searching for the perfect weight loss plan and
after spending thousands of dollars and virtually all of my
self-confidence, my health care provider referred me to a
bariatric surgeon and I began to explore the possibility of
gastric by-pass surgery.
Surgery seemed like an easier route to me than spending the rest
of my days continually dieting but then I learned about the
ramifications of such drastic surgery. We didn’t have the money
needed to finance the surgery unless I sold my car and then
there would be no money left over for the body lift that I would
surely need to remove the pounds of excess skin that nearly
always follows stomach surgery.
And then… a wonderful friend cared enough to tell us about
Medifast and his success – he lost about 35 pounds in a month.
That sounded like a miracle to me.
On July 16th I weighed 258 pounds and my husband Terry and I
started drinking Medifast, in preparation for an upcoming family
vacation in October. More than anything, I wanted to be able to
wear a real bathing suit, not one of those knee-length bathing
costumes. I wanted to wear a real live bathing suit. In public.
During Daylight hours.
I lost 59 pounds in 12 weeks on the Complete Program and
was thrilled to go to Hawaii weighing in at 199 pounds. In my
clutches was a brand new leopard trim bathing suit. It was a
size 18. From the Misses Department at J.C. Penney. I felt so
proud of myself and my self-confidence was returning.
I continued my weight loss journey until I reached my goal on
Valentine’s Day, 2003.
Since I began my weight loss odyssey, I’m half the woman I used
to be! Losing 135 pounds is truly a dream come true!
I not only got my life back, I got a life!
The best part is that I have been able to maintain my weight
for 18 months.
Medifast changed my life, one shake at a time.
One shake at a time, I went from flabulous to fabulous!”
I do hope that my experiences and writings will be of benefit to
you – I want you all to be as successful as Terry and I.
Medifast is true and time-tested. Medifast absolutely works,
Folks.
To be successful we will provide the product and the tools you
need.
To be successful you will need to adjust your current eating
habits.
To be successful, you need to have the desire, the dedication,
the discipline and the determination to reach your goal.
Got Buns?
Oh Brother, What’ll they come up with next?
On the latest episode of television’s Inside Edition,
Deborah Norville described the hot new fashion find. They are
specially engineered and constructed pants designed by Alvin
Valley to do for your buns what the WonderBra does for your
cleavage.
They are called WonderButt – designed to lift and make your
‘pillows’ appear firmer…Depending on the fabric, they cost
between $375 and $800 a pair.
Lemme tell ya, you could purchase a whole lotta Medifast shakes
for that amount of money. The way I figure it, drinking between
180 and 390 Medifast shakes can do wonders for your buns! Terry
and Unca love my Medibuns in my leather pants.
August Medifast Price Busters
We’re rolling back prices!
It’s a good thing because some of you are trying to budget for
new school clothes and school supplies as well as for a last
minute summer vacation.
Take Shape Bio-Engineered Food
(Chocolate flave only)
Take Shape Bio-Engineered Food is designed for men who are
serious about exercising. These clinically formulated shakes
will provide all the energy needed to participate in a marathon,
to do power lifting or play a mean game of racquetball or
tennis. Contains 42 grams of protein, 250 calories and less than
1 gram of nasty fat. Promotes loss of body fat without
sacrificing those hunky muscles.
Was $27.95 for box of 7 shakes
NOW $9.99 Such a deal…
Diabetic Bars and products aren’t just for diabetics, ya know!
Some folks actually prefer the lower sugar products but our
Diabetic Peanut Butter Crunch Bars are specifically
formulated to meet the low glycemic level. Medifast Plus for
Diabetics Bars are tasty with only 6 grams of sugar and provides
a healthy option to help you to improve or maintain your health.
Regular price is $16.15 per box of 7 bars
NOW $9.99
Stock up now for Back to School Lunch boxes or for sudden Kid
Snack Attacks! Many of our Fit! Products are on sale this
month. BTW, these products may be used by grown-ups, too.
Virtually the same formulation as the Medifast 55 shakes with a
snort more potassium; these cute kid-friendly packages are
available while supplies last at a considerable saving. Fit!
Shakes in Chocolate, Vanilla, or Creamsicle
Regular price $13.65 per box of 7 shakes
NOW $10.99
Fit! Chocolate Pudding
How can something so chocolate-y rich be allowed on a weight
loss plan? Mix with 4 ounces of cool water and get ready to
smack your lips! Enjoy this good stuff as a meal replacement -
one of your Five Medifast meals on the Five and One plan
certainly can include a serving of Fit! Chocolate Puddin’ – it’s
low fat and of course, it is also cholesterol free.
Was $12.75 per box of 7 servings
NOW $10.50
Fit! Bars – 2 fantastic flaves to choose from:
Oatmeal Raisin or Chocolate Mint
Well, what can I say? The kids‘ll love them, that is, IF there
are any left after you open the box…
Regular price is $14.95 for a box of 7 bars
NOW $11.50
Fit! Display Pack Peanut Butter
Okay, Folks this is really truly pock-a-dooly a great deal! The
regular price per bar is about $2.14 when you order a regular
box of 7 Fit! Peanut Butter bars but with this special Fit!
display pack, the bars cost about $1.60 each! I know I
plan to order some of these while supplies last…Fit! Display
Pack Peanut Butter Nutrition & Energy Bars, packaged 24
stick-to-the-roof-of your mouth bars per pack…
Regularly $51.25
Now Only $38.50 per pack of 24
Woman's Wellbeing for Comfort & Regularity – Choc &
Vanilla
(Same formulation as Medifast Plus Women’s Health – it has a
natural appetite suppressant. I love this to keep my personal
saunas at bay. I have three servings a day.)
Reg. $16.95 per box of 7 shakes
NOW $9.99
All Specials are while supplies last…don’t miss out.
I hate it when grown ups pout…
Voices of Victory
From our MakeMeThinner Support Forum:
We're pleased and excited to welcome one of our newest forum
members. This is a little snippet of Gerald's story:
"By then I had "sat" my way to a high of 523 pounds. My doctor
said I would die before I made 50, and I was 42 at the time. I'm
about to turn 45 soon! I was in a bad situation. I couldn't
exercise. Can't walk with bad hips. Can't cycle with bad knees.
Can do the gym with torn rotator cuffs and carpal. Can't do a
thing, except diet! So I did the OptiFast thing for a while.
I've posted a bit on that. Short story is I lost 90 pounds, but
got bored and left the program. That was in December '02."
Here’s some more from Gerald:
"I stepped on the scale. I know, I know, it’s only starting day
6 for me, but I couldn't resist. I am weak. I stepped on my
enemy, Mr. Scale and he bit back. He told me I've lost 12 pounds
already and I've only finished day 5. I know he lied. I stepped
off, wiped the sleep from my eyes, and mounted him again. Still,
he insists I've lost 12 pounds."
No lie! Gerald LOST 12 pounds in 5 days!!
We're looking forward to a long-time relationship with Gerald
and are dedicated to do everything we can to help him meet his
goals and maintain a healthier lifestyle.
DutchChoc in her 3rd week of the program writes:
"Yesterday completes my first (consecutive!) three weeks of the
shakes-only plan, and, guess what? Today is just another in the
line of fire I'm waging to get this work acomplished. There's no
better time, and I THINK I'm strong enough to do it. With that
thought in mind, let me say that it's working, and working
almost beyond my expectations. In the third week, I lost five
pounds!! WHO would think there'd be sufficient oomph in my body
or in this diet to accomplish that in a worn, 46-y/o metabolism?
Yet, it's true, and it's worth every day that I invest in making
it happen. So I won't be stopping today, or this week. How 'bout
you?"
Close to 4 weeks into the program now, Simmshe writes:
"Congrats on your success DutchChoc--looks like you will reach
your goal in no time! And I'm right along with you--won't be
stopping any time soon. Seems like I want to eat something
everyday--not strong cravings or anything, but the brain,
naturally, is still stimulated by food and misses it! But I know
I won't eat anything--I'm just about four weeks in, so I don't
expect a big disconnect so soon.
Well, after Aunt Flo packed up and left, the scale started
moving again. I'm down 4.5lbs this week, and hoping that by my
full week, on Tuesday, that I will be down another 1.5lbs so I
can become a member of the 30lb club!"
RavenKat made a big decision this month:
"I'm going to be weighing on Saturdays because that's when I
started Phase 2 (yesterday). I had been playing around for a
month and decided (with help from you all) to get in gear and
lose the last 35-40 pounds. I can do it in 10 weeks, or ten
months => I decided 10 weeks.
It's amazing how great I feel drinking the shakes. Energy to
burn. Light and healthy."
One of our newer members (Susanna) reports in on her 1st
week:
"I'm not sure I've EVER looked this forward to a weigh-in,
especially since I'm trying to break my habit of hopping on the
scales every day--SIGH--BUT this morning I weighed in 10 pounds
lighter than when i started, and it hasn't been a full week yet!
I just wanted to get on track with the board weigh-in. I'm
happy. Hubby lost eight pounds...he is doing this with me
experimentally, but he really does not have much to lose (darn
him! LOL) and will probably be doing the modified plan within a
month (or so we think)!"
Fantastic job Susanna!!
Triskets in her second week signed in:
"Hip Hip Hooray to all of us for having the COURAGE and
DETERMINATION to be on the MF plan. Monday was the end of my
second week and I am down a total of 13 pounds! YAHOO! That was
5.5 pounds in one week. Good luck everyone! One shake at a
time."
We couldn't be prouder of everyone!
The MakeMeThinner.com team of certified Health Advisors strives
to constantly improve our humanness and to build lasting
relationships with you, our clients.
We know what it feels like to get to your lowest low point
emotionally. We have all been overweight, over-medicated and out
of control with food. It is our sincere desire to help you
successfully attain improved health and wellness through good
nutrition.
It is not easy to eat healthy in today’s society. People are
getting sicker and dying sooner. We eat foods that are calorie
dense, high fat and high in sugar. These factors promote wide
swings of blood sugar. Type II Diabetes is rampant. Research is
being done right now regarding low calorie diets and longevity.
So far, it shows that eating 30% less calories results in a 30%
increase in longevity. I love my family and friends and I wanna
spend more time with them and I want the time to healthy time –
not time spent in the waiting room…I always leave a little
something on my plate these days…
Have you seen the August 2004 National Geographic
Magazine? In an article entitled, “Why Are We So Fat?” author
Cathy Newman reports that there are as many overweight and
overfed people living in the world today as there are
underweight and underfed.
There are no longer starving children in China. Like us, the
Chinese people are eating more and exercising less. They getting
fatter and also experiencing an epidemic of Type II diabetes.
Americans are living at the crossroads, Folks. Two of every
three adults are overweight. One in three adults is obese. Our
children are following close behind us and so are our pets. Have
you seen the television commercials and the print ads for
reduced calorie pet food? There are profound health implications
for us all!
Medifast is our product. We have the programs, the protocols,
the years of research and the clinicals to back us up.
MakeMeThinner.com provides the support and encouragement you
need to help you reach and maintain your healthiest best weight
and level of wellness. Let us customize a program to help you
meet your goals. The MakeMeThinner Forum and Newsletter are
designed with you in mind.
We stand at the ready to help you, a loved one, a friend or
co-worker with weight loss, improved nutrition or health
intervention. Just give us a call; we’re waitin’ for ya…
Shake on, Dudes and Dudettes!
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