The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[monkeegirl]

Well, I am pretty new to MF, and terrible at journaling, lol, so I thought I better start out right and begin my journal too. (scary!! I've never shared my life before like this, so I hope I don't bore you all to tears!!!)

I am 35, and have a wonderful husband and three gorgeous children, 16, 14, 10, that I also homeschool. My kids are awesome---my oldest, Zach, and his little brother, Logan, have been taking Martial Arts for almost 6 years, and Zach is already a teacher at their school. Pretty cool! My daughter Hannah, is a beautiful sweet girl that loves to act and sing and dance. She is just precious, and everyone tells us she is a pretty talented young lady, of course we agree! Logan is a sweet little guy, he is shy and pretty quiet, which is so funny considering he is a Martial Art wizz that can kick and punch and knows how to use nun chucks---he tells everyone he plans to be a Ninja when he grows up! Too much fun.

Anyhow about myself...that is hard, where do you start? Well I am the baby in my family, my two brothers and sister were all teenagers when I was born, so it was pretty fun for me. No sibling rivalry for me. When I was in the eigth grade I broke my back, and that was when I started having health problems. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and and had about 5 operations between 8th -12th grade. My doctor also discovered that my body does not produce antibodies properly, and I have about 1/4th of the antibodies the average healthy person has. I have always caught everything that goes around, and I end up taking twice as long to kick it. It has been a real challenge to have these issues most my life, but it has also been a blessing in many ways. I have learned to appreciate the little things that many people take for granted. To me just getting through the day sometimes is a reason to celebrate, lol!

I have never had weight issues until the birth of my third baby, when I re-injured my back. That was really interesting, bedrest with a 6 month old and two pre schoolers, lol, but with the help of my family we made it through. Logan was a very sweet baby and he was a breeze to raise during that time, Thank you GOD! Slowly over the years I have lost and gained weight, but it seemed to slowly climb up the scale. I opened a Scrapbook store in the mid 90's and that kept me pretty busy, I have always loved art, and wanted so much to be able to do something like everyone else does---so against the advice of my parents I opened my store. We had a great business, but the work was so tiring and I started having health problems again---which ended up turning into Cancer. I think during the store days, I skipped so many meals, I really ended up screwing up my metabolism, and of course I was not eating right, either. Come on, we were in a mall, and I was never prepared ahead of time! LOL
So my precious husband and my mother ran my store while I was home on bedrest. I had customers come forward that volunteered their time to help run things for me too, it was just amazing to have such an outpouring of help during that time. Later on, they told me they wanted to keep it going until I was able to come to grips with the fact that I had to close. Pretty touching, and I will never forget their love and patience with me. We closed the store in 2001, and that was when I started my home businesses and building websites.
During this cancer scare I was having these terrible chest pains, but I have always dealt with lots of pain so I didn't really realize how bad it was. It ended up being gall stones, and I had an emergency surgery--100 stones was the end count, and the surgeon said in another week it would have burst and could have killed me. After that surgery, my cancer went into remission and I have not had any more issues.
I especially noticed after the gall bladder surgery that my weight climbed the highest it had ever been. Many friends told me they experienced the same thing when they had theirs out, too. I don't know if it is harder to lose weight after you lose your gall bladder, or just an excuse for the weight gain. Either way, I did gain about 20 lbs after I had mine out. Not sure how, as I was still skipping meals all day, and forgetting to eat....

I now am a Creative Memories Consultant, of course--gotta fill that scrapbooking desire! I run an online candle company, which is pretty exhausting and we also breed and raise Ragdoll Cats and Schnoodle puppies. It is a wonderful business as I can do it from my home, and I am not constantly getting sick from being out in the public, like when I ran my store. I also started a non profit organization to help Sexually Abused Children. My goal is to be able to help these kids with counceling costs and provide a way for them to make photo albums to showcase the good times in their lives. My dream is to be part of changing the laws for stricter punishment for sex offenders. I have been working locally and would like to take it national.

So anyhow, how did I find Medifast? Well, it is funny, I was chatting on the phone with a wonderful candle customer of mine in Fl, and I was sharing with her that I was having a hysterectomy in a few days, and when I am recovering I want to really focus on losing weight. She told me she just lost a huge amount of weight and it was easy. I asked her what program she followed, and she said Medifast. She was like me---tried them all, and said this program truly does work!!! Something just told me to give it a try. I am very new to it, but I am excited to get control over my weight. I am not happy with how I look, and I spend way too much time thinking I need to do something about it. I think it is silly when you stop and think what positive things you could be doing with all that time you waste with the negative self talk. I am never one to voice my negative thoughts out loud, because I want to be a good role model for my teenage daughter, but when I take a good hard look at myself, I do need to be more optimistic about myself on the inside.

I know it will be hard at times, holidays are coming up, but I also know I can do anything I put my mind to. Thanks for the forum and letting me use this arena to better myself and journal.
God Bless

[blondeangel7782]

Wow Where do I start, I guess first I should say GOD BLESS YOU totally you are such a strong woman and never lat anyone tell you different. I'm young and couldn't imagine having to go through all that??? Congrats on finding medifast I too have tried EVERYTHING and it gets really tiring and I have fell off the MF wagon a few times but keep running back and everyone tells me just watch what you eat only eat half if you go out to eat well with me that's not so simple self discipline is out the window for me so MF is perfect! You will have great success and maybe some down falls but as most of the ladies here say just keep shakin it... I wish you much luck and happiness along the way and also I pray that your health continues to get better... I'm always avaiable via PM if you have any questions or need someone to chat with...

Nikki

[monkeegirl]

Wow Where do I start, I guess first I should say GOD BLESS YOU totally you are such a strong woman and never lat anyone tell you different. I'm young and couldn't imagine having to go through all that??? Congrats on finding medifast I too have tried EVERYTHING and it gets really tiring and I have fell off the MF wagon a few times but keep running back and everyone tells me just watch what you eat only eat half if you go out to eat well with me that's not so simple self discipline is out the window for me so MF is perfect! You will have great success and maybe some down falls but as most of the ladies here say just keep shakin it... I wish you much luck and happiness along the way and also I pray that your health continues to get better... I'm always avaiable via PM if you have any questions or need someone to chat with...

Nikki

Thank you so much, your words are greatly appreciated! I am excited about this program, it is really going quite easy for me this week, which is refreshing. Usually the first week on a plan I either sink or swim. I will definitely PM ya, nice to have a buddy online!
Hugs,
Julie

[monkeegirl]

Ok--
All this recovering from surgery got to me and I was pretty sick for a few days. Ended up on antibiotics for a kidney infection and my doctor had me go off plan for a few days so I could try to get my strength up again. BUT, that said I still lost weight last week! Woohoo.

Today my order with the rest of my food came and I finally get to eat oatmeal, soup, etc. I am so glad to have more than just bars and shakes! I really like the oatmeal and the chicken noodle soup was pretty good IMO. I doctored it up, and it was pretty filling for me. I am so excited to lose more weight and be back to my normal size. I have really hated being overweight, it doesn't seem like it is me when I see pictures of myself! Already friends and family can tell I have lost weight, and that is so encouraging.

I had a hysterectomy, and for some reason I am feeling blue today. I think it is hormones, as there is really no reason to feel sad.....just been a rough few days. I will be so glad when I am feeling better---and can get out of the house again!

[kendra_m]

Julie~
So sorry to hear that you were sick and had to go off plan. Sounds like things are on the upswing tho... and congrats on your weight loss!

Hope this coming week will be better for you!

Kendra

[monkeegirl]

Thank you so much. I guess sometimes life just throws you a curve ball, but it's all good :P I am deterimined to lose this weight!!!

[monkeegirl]

Well, I had a lovely stay at the hospital, again. I was having sharp pains in my right side, nausea, fever, sounded and felt like appendicitis. Soo, they kept me in the hospital for a day to monitor everything. This surgery is really a bummer to recover from! I am hoping to be feeling better soon, but I am still following the plan for the most part. I have been eating one off plan meal a day, just because of where I happened to be (hospital) or whatever. It has been a pretty rough week, so far. The thought of having to have another surgery while I am still not recovered from this one is a bit depressing! At this time they are not going to do anything about it, so that is a huge relief. The doctors think they aggrivated the appendix during surgery and hope it will simmer down in a few days if I completely stay off my feet. So, here I am again, with a really good excuse to lay in bed! LOL Fun times.

[kendra_m]

That bites, Julie... am sorry to hear that your body isn't cooperating. Just follow the doc's advice, which isn't easy I'm sure, with all life's responsibilities. Better to rest up and really take it easy for a while, so that you'll get all recovered.

I had my doc appt today... I was very pleased with this new GYN. He ordered an ultrasound and then will talk in detail about options. He mentioned endometrial ablation, which sounds promising to me. Gets rid of the heavy periods but not as risky as major surgery. But, we'll see what happens. I just felt really happy that someone was actually listening to my concerns.

Hang in there, girl! Get your body better

Kendra

[monkeegirl]

Hi Kendra!
I am so glad you had your appointment. I really hope you will get to the bottom of what is bothering you. I can totally relate! Truly, this surgery was a good thing for me, I just started having other unrelated issues, but that is not unheard of for me. I have always had health problems. Thanks for the good wishes---I'm hanging in!

[monkeegirl]

I am finally starting to feel better! I had a good day today and was able to stay on plan for the first time in a bit. I am sure my weight loss was hindered by my hospital stay, but everyone is already noticing I have lost weight. Can't wait to weigh in next week. I am going to hold off until I have a full week to dedicate to the program before I see how I did!

[kendra_m]

Julie,
So glad to hear that you're feeling better!!