The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Nova]

Today's starting off not so good. I had to give a training this moring at 7:00 am, and I don't do mornings. Thanks goodness it wasn't on Monday morning at 7, or I never would have remembered it over the weekend.

Yesterday, my schedule was all messed up. I went over 5 hours without eating in the afternoon, then I went 4-5 hours without eating at bedtime. I chugged down a RTD at midnight right before bed. This this morning, I weighed more than I did at bedtime last night. How did that happen? I'm trying to get more sleep, but somehow I never manage to get to bed any earlier. This morning, I had a last minute meeting at 9 to go to, and I ended up snoozing through at least 20 minutes of it. I feel better now though.

And my stomach is still bothering me. It's trying to tell me it's hungry, even though I ate just 1.5 hours ago. I don't know if it's because my schedule was so uneven yesterday or if it's something else. Stress, maybe?

One good thing. A coworker gave me a copy of a picture he took of me at a ribbon cutting ceremony last Friday. It's nice that I can finally enjoy looking at pics of me, whereas before I would have looked once, and tossed it in a drawer never to be seen again.

[Arklahoma]

Looks like you're getting more comfortable in your own skin.

[Nova]

Looks like you're getting more comfortable in your own skin.

Thanks.

Okay, so I just wrote a whole long whiny post, then I went and did something constructive about two of the things I was whining about, so I deleted the whole thing and started over. It's good not to push the submit button immediately.

I've been looking at pictures of myself over the last few years, trying to decide what pictures I should take back to my reunion to put in our class scrapbook. Wow. Was I ever in denial about my weight and my looks. Maybe that was a good thing because I feel I was always a pretty well adjusted person.

Still, I need to keep those pics and the next time I get the urge to have seconds or have something I don't need, I need to look at them and remember how fat I was. I love my new body, and I can't wait to get to my final body, the super sexy, svelte, curvy-in-all-the-right-spots new body. Hubby's looking a lot better too, and between the two of us, there's a lot less cushion for the pushin', if ya know what I mean. Not that I mind, because suddenly, some of the kama sutra positions don't look quite so impossible. (It must be late, I'm getting quite silly.)

[Nova]

Busy day. Didn't manage to get everything done at work, and that bothers me. especially because I've got some equipment coming in in a couple of weeks, and I'm not going to be at work for a week and a half. Took off at noon today to take hubby to the dentist, but he wanted to be stoic, so I went shopping instead. If I'm going to take off a half day, might as well have fun with it. Went to a VF outlet and got a pair of jeans, a pair of denim capris, and 2 shirts for less than $20. Score! And the capris are a size 10. Supposed to be relaxed fit, but they aren't. Heh. I didn't care. they're a size 10. it was hard to find a regular pair of jeans though. The style now appears to be low riders, and I'm too old to be flashing my undies to the world every time I sit down.

Hubby won $500 today playing blackjack, so he finally had enough to buy the HDTV he's been jonesing for. I will say, it's abolutely gorgeous. Even with a regular signal, it's gorgeous, and watching HD signals is unbelievable. Wow. And the cats thought the box was just the best thing ever.

Hubby had Taco Bell for lunch, and I lamented to him that i missed regular food. He said I could quit any time I wanted to, since I've already lost 65 pounds. I thought about it and decided pretty easily that I enjoyed losing weight more than I enjoyed Taco Bell.

I'm reading about tummy tucks in other journels with great interest. I'm thinking, sadly, that I may need such a procedure in the future. on the other hand, I've been hearing a lot about medical tourism, so maybe this would be a good excuse to go to Brazil and get the same operation done cheaper, with a vacation thrown in. Something to think about.

[Nova]

It's been a mixed week for me. Really busy at work (don't I always say that?) and I didn't get some stuff done that really had to be done. But my personal life had more important committments, so that's just the way it played out. On the plus side, I'm on vacation for a week and a half! Wooo!

I'm getting really tired of my current plateau. I've been hovering between 181-183 for 2 weeks now. My official weight this morning is only 0.5 pounds less than last week, and I've been completely compliant. I tell myself not to worry; I'm probably losing inches.

Had my doctor's checkup this week, and she was so thrilled that I'd lost 65 pounds. Plus my bloodwork all looks perfect. The only thing she said was that my cholesterol ratio was a little on the bad side because I'm not exercising much at the moment. So I bought a pedometer last night and I'm going to start tracking my steps and increasing how much I walk until I feel more like doing a regular exercise plan.

Best of all, it finally hit me this week that I'm only 25 pounds overweight. That sounds so good to me, which might sound silly to others, but all my life, I've been 80 or more pounds heavy. Now I feel like being thin is actually within reach for the first time in my adult life.

[Nova]

Not such a good week. We were supposed to be in Illinois visiting my parents, but my husband got sick, so we cancelled the trip. He felt awful physically and guilty at the same time, even though there was nothing he could have done. Oh well, we'll just reschedule for next month, hopefully.

Bought a pedometer the other day, and I like it. It's good for someone competitive like me, because I have a goal. And it's easier to add in 500-1000 steps some times instead of trying to get to the gym when things are crazy. I walked almost 12,000 steps on Monday when I was off work, compared to 5000 when I'm at work. I wasn't even doing anything special Monday. i was just doing housework, gardening and a bit of shopping. It's sad to realize how much of the day I sit on my butt at work.

[Nova]

I'm liking my pedometer. Yesterday I got up to 13,000 steps. Not bad for working and sitting at my desk during a lot of the day. I made it a point to walk across campus at lunch to get some extra steps in. Shopping is another way to really add in steps, although it has the downside that you tend to buy stuff.

One of the guys at work cornered my yesterday and badgered me into walking the stairs with him as exercise. I work on the 7th floor, so we rode the elevator down to the first (because he said going down stairs was hard on the knees), and we walked up 7 flights. I was ecstatic. I walked up and was only a little out of breath and I didn't have to stop. Before I started Medifast, I'd take the stairs to try and exercise, but by the 4th floor, I'd be gasping and my heart would be pounding. Now, even without doing serious cardio training, I did the stairs so much easier. It's amazing how much you can do when you aren't carrying around 65 pounds of dead weight.

[Nova]

5000 steps yesterday. I'll aim for more today.

Went to a pub last night for a friend's birthday party. I wasn't more than mildly tempted by the pizza bites they were passing around the table. It had been a long time since my last meal so I had a bag of soy crisps while we were waiting to order.

One good thing about L&G; it really limits your options when you go out, so you don't have to spend a long time scanning the menu. I usually find I have 1-3 choices, which makes it easy. Spinach salad with grilled shrimp and dressing on the side. They forgot to put on the pine nuts and gorgonzola cheese, and I wanted at least a little bit for extra flavor because otherwise the salad was very boring. So they brought me out a couple of small cups of nuts and cheese. Oh man. I could resist the pizza, but I ate all the pine nuts and half the cheese. It did fill me up though, and I ended up having a 4+1 for yesterday.

I guess I was feeling guilty because I had an eatmare last night. I dreamed I gave myself permission to eat a little bit of vanilla ice cream, and ended up eating 3/4 of a 2-gallon container. Erk. I was sooooo happy when I woke up and realized it was just a dream, because I was getting ready to go running for 3-4 hours to make up for it.

[Nova]

I keep waffling back and forth on a couple of issues. On the one hand, I want to go back to eating normal food and cooking with all sorts of fruit and veggies. I'm feeling very 'home and hearthy' lately, wanting to can, pickle, bake bread, preserve food and such. Usually hubby cooks dinner for us both, but I've been cooking this weekend because I've had the bug. I've also been having a lot of trouble with dizziness when I stand up. I know if I see the doctor, he'll say it's MF/VLCD and to stop the MF and see if it goes away. I have a feeling he's right, too. But it's not bad enough that I really want to quit Medifast.

I like the simplicity of my meals, and I'm not sure I'm ready for any sort of transition/maintenance. I think I'd fall off the wagon in a short time. Besides, I still have over 20 pounds to lose, and I don't want to take a break in the middle of it. I feel like I'd be letting myself down.

So I considered it, but I decided to stick to my guns and keep doing MF for at least another 6-8 weeks. Then I'll re-evaluate where I'm at and where I want to go. Hopefully, that'll put me at another 12-15 pounds lost.

[Nova]

Lots of good news today. My dad called and he's riding his motorcycle from Illinois to Texas to visit for a couple of days. I haven't told him or Mom about my weightloss, so it'll be interesting when he shows up.

On another note, my inner female shopping gene made a sudden appearance today. I bought 4 pairs of new shoes! And all of them had heels of some sort. My excuse was that my current pair of sandals are getting too big. I can't tell if my feet are shrinking or my sandals stretched, but I had trouble walking in them today. So I stopped on the way home and found a pair of sandals, a pair of business pumps, a pair of dressy heels and a cute pair of boots to wear with my boot cut jeans. I can't believe how easy it is to walk in 2 inch heels now.

Edit: only 6000 steps today

[Nova]

I'm excited because I'm moving off a little plateau the last couple days. I can go back and look at my chart and see the little drops that keep happening over the weeks, but sometimes it's hard to keep that perspective when you're in the middle of a plateau. It's like my body just gave in over the last two days and said okay, I'll stop holding onto this weight and drop down to my next set point, and we'll have a discussion then.

Last night we went out for dinner because the salmon was still frozen solid. Went to a BBQ place because I can get smoked turkey by the ounce and a salad bar. Well, they had creamy potato soup with bacon on the salad bar, and they gave me a bowl. So yes, I put a scoop of soup in my bowl and then I had two spoonsful of soup. And yes, it was tasty, and creamy and very yummy. And I stopped after two bites and started eating my salad.

I debated for a long time afterward if that was a 'cheat' or was it a substitution for my soy crisps, which I didn't eat yesterday. Or was it simply a swerve between the borders of my new meal plan? I honestly don't feel like I cheated. Yes, I had a bite of potato for the first time in 6 months, but I didn't have a bite of hubby's baked potato with cheese and tons of butter and bbq pork on top of in. I showed considerable self restraint in only eating two bites, and I finished my 'mandatory' meal of greens and smoked turkey. (The turkey was good, the salad not so much because I ate it without dressing.) I think I had fewer calories and carbs from the soup than I would have with the soy crisps, and it satisfied a longing for potatos and creaminess I haven't indulged since I started. I won't make a habit of a bite here and there, because I don't want to start down the slippery slope, but I think there is room to move between the borders on my Medifast road trip.

Plus I got in 11,000 steps yesterday and cleaned the house.

[Nova]

Happy, happy, joy, joy! I've lost 70.5 pounds. Felt so good I even made a post all my own about it in the Weight Loss Room.

And just for extra special happiness today, I bought a new pair of pants because my 12s are getting big. I've worn these a grand total of 4, maybe 5 times. I thought they were just getting big in the butt, and I was afraid I'm getting a flat butt. I don't want a huge one, but neither do I want a flat one. Gotta get back to doing squats. I bought my first long sleeve, button-up shirt too. It's still a little snug across the chest, but by the time it gets chilly here, I should fit into it nicely.

Will someone please explain to me how I can wear a size 10 pants, and an XL button-up shirt? I'm losing my muffin tops, but not my cupcakes, so I guess it's not all bad. I guess I'm natually blessed with what other women pay thousands of dollars for.

Haven't been posting lately because I got Legos Star Wars II! It's absolutely eaten my brain. I'm just over 80% through and aiming to get the last few things hidden in all the levels. It's a hilarious game, just as good as the first one.

My dad showed up for a quick visit this past weekend. He lives in Illinois, and decided he wanted to go for a short motorcycle trip, so I told him to come visit Texas. It's only 1100 miles. I hadn't told my parents about Medifast because I wanted to surprise them when I went home. When he saw me for the first time, he just couldn't believe it. He kept saying how good I looked. He promised not to tell my mom so she'd be surprised when we visit in October.

He had a great visit. I know a friend at NASA Johnson Space Center, and she gave us a tour of the building with the shuttle and station mockups and trainers. So my dad got to sit in the Space Shuttle Pilot's seat, and I took his picture. We also got to visit Mission Control while the astronauts were doing a space walk. He bought his grandsons the obligatory rocket t-shirts from the gift shop, and I got them some NASA pencils and a holographic ruler. They were so excited with the shirts that they wanted to wear them to get school pictures in, but mama didn't like that idea so much. The older grandson (age 11) took the picture of Granddad in the space shuttle to school for show and tell. All in all, I think it was a pretty good visit.

[kmr]

Nova.......70.5 lbs. is AWESOME! I hope I'm just as successful! My 7 yrs. old twin boys just bought Legos Star Wars II, after mastering I. They play it all the time! Keep up the great work and may the Medi-Fast force be with you!

[Nova]

Thanks, KMR.

We went to the gem and mineral show in Houston today, and I got all kinds of interesting mineral rough to make cabs. Coludn't find any synthetic sapphire though, and I was kinda bummed about that. After the show, we went to Spring Texas, and ended up at a classic auto show. Would have been more interesting except it got broiling hot outside this afternoon. I'm still not used to it being so incredibly hot here in September.

Went to one of the cute little clothing boutique stores, and they had a duster hanging up. I've always had a fondness for dusters, so I tried on a Medium, since it was in front. I expected it to be too small, and it was too big. Okay, granted, it's steamy hot summer, so I had on a tshirt and shorts, not jeans and a sweater, but still. A medium? Neat!

It was a long day though. I'm ready to chill out in the lovely air conditioning at home with a nice big glass of water.

[Nova]

What an incredible storm we had last night. Just wow. Yesterday when we were out, it was broiling, and I made a comment about it not being too terribly humid, even though it was so hot. Hubby said yeah, all the moisture's up in the air waiting to rain on us later.

I usually don't check the weather except to keep an eye on the tropics once a week or so. When it started to rain in the evening, I was pleasantly surprised. Rain means I don't have to water my plants. Then it rained harder and harder. Then it started to lightning and thunder. Okay, a typical summer thunderstorm. I like those. I was playing Legos on the Xbox until around 11:30, and then the intensity of the storm started picking up. I decided to rush through to a save point and turn the system off. Turned off my computer just in case. Yep, about 20 minutes after that, the power went out. And kept going out every 10-15 minutes for the next 2 hours.

I can sleep through anything, but I love thunderstorms. So I was laying in bed trying to stay awake watching the lightning, which was continuous. Sort of like the awful movie with Tom Cruise, War of the Worlds. At one point, the sky glowed green and red. Very freaky. The lightning was so strong the house was shaking. And it did that for 2 hours. I'm not used to storms being that strong for that long. Wow.

Got up this morning and it's positively sopping outside. And the kicker? Our eucalyptis tree by the kitchen blew down last night. It rained so much and blew so hard it just slowly toppled over. Maybe I can get in touch with the zoo folks and see if they can take it and save it.