The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Zinkette99]

Well I am so happy to make this decision to get back on the Medifast track. It feels good to know that it will be possible for me to be a different person in 6 months and not only salvage my marriage but salvage my own self. WHICH IS SO CORNY. But I need to do this. I have needed to do it for a long time.

So here it goes! First official weigh in a week from today. Can't wait.

[falisamarie]

I am so proud of you!

[ChiNut]

Zinkette, we can do this together!

[Zinkette99]

Falisamarie and ChiNut, thank you for your kind words!

Well today has been a good start to the week. I woke up late this morning. I love sleeping in. I ate a meal of chicken and brocolli and walked my dog. It rained last night so the ground was soft and smell of grass was nice. I love that smell.

I gathered my Medifast packets and went on to work (where I am now.) I discovered that if I add the Cappucino to cold water and set it in the fridge for an hour and THEN drink it, it tastes JUST LIKE a frappacino. I was delighted to learn this and will be drinking this twice a day!

For me, it becomes harder at night when I come home from work. That's when the hunger pangs set it in badly. Last night when they hit I just treated myself to a Pay-Per-View movie instead. I watched the movie "Waiting" with my husband. It was ok. But by the time the movie was over I was tired and didn't even think about eating. So that really worked for me. Hopefully tonight won't be as hard.

Oh and I am SUPER excited because my good friend Patty is starting this diet with me! (she is newbie bookgirltrish) It will be good having someone else at work to do this with me. Isn't she gorgeous? Exciting stuff.

I hope everyone is having a great Monday!

[Nancy]

Zinkette ~

re:

but salvage my own self. WHICH IS SO CORNY

Nope, not corny at all. Truly, the only reason we ought to do this is to salvage ourselves.

When we feel good and improve our heart health, when we feel good about how we look and improve our self-worth and self-image, when we look good and are treated with respect and honor, it makes a big difference in all aspects of our life.

I am happy that you are here and on your way to your goal. How cool that you avoided snacking in the evening - you are establishing new habits and they are healthy and wholesome!

[Zinkette99]

Nancy, thank you so much. I have missed you!

Tonight went... ok. I was right on at work. I was perfect. But again, I get home and I get panicky. I did have some extra "lean" today. A can of tuna. I also had a fat free mozarella stick. Whatever, I am not going to let it get me too down but I GOTTA figure out a way to be able to handle this nightly hunger problem. It's BAD.

BUT I did drink 100 oz. of water today which is a huge feat for me because I hate water. I didn't even put Crystal Light in it, I drank it pure. So I feel really good about that.

Even as I write this I so badly want to go down to the kitchen and put a big spoon in the jar of Peter Pan peanut butter and devour. But I won't. Ugh. I know I can do this. I KNOW IT. But it's so overwhelming sometimes.

[Nancy]

Zinkette ~

Woo Hoo for you – you drank a swimming poolful of water! Yeah!

Nights were and are troublesome for me, too. When we are at work, we are busy, no time to think about food plus there are the 'watchers' - people that would see us eating. The sun goes down, the hungries come out.

I made a note of the times my hunger seemed to increase and it was always in the evening. I realized that I had to make some changes to my habits so that I would not be plagued with the hungries for the rest of my life.

Some things that helped me then and now:

I made a rule to never eat while watching TV, that way; the TV would not be associated with grub. In the beginning stages of my weight loss phase, I purposely limited TV viewing and I refused to watch commercials. I don’t watch them now and I don’t watch much TV.

I spent a lot of time in the closets and drawers. I cleaned them out, arranged my clothes in size order so I would have sets of clothes to look forward to wearing. I went to Barnes & Noble and looked at the magazines to see what people were wearing these days – I was used to wearing big shirts and pull-on pants, granny shoes and grannypanties…I was giving up my whole way of life for a new life and I wanted to live it up and live it cool!

I read many books focused on healthful eating and positive thinking. I changed my thinking about myself, I changed my thinking about food. I love Ruth Fishel's book, Change Almost Anything in 21 Days.

I journaled.

I avoided the kitchen after supper except to make my final shake for the evening. I did not open kitchen cupboards. I kept/keep my Medifast in the breadbox on the counter. It has several days' worth of Medigrub but only one bar...the other bars are kept in the pantry in the mudroom. I cannot trust myself with bars…

We have no junk food in our home. None. Junk makes me feel like junk and look like junk. I worked too hard to lose weight. It took days to lose one pound, it takes minutes to gain a pound. Junk benefits no one but the manufacturing companies.

No chips, no cookies, no bread, no crackers, no PB, no mayo...the veggie drawer in the refer has lots of green garden fresh veggies, the refer door has several jars of garlic kosher dills, homemade garlic hot pepper dills & Splenda sweetened Bread and Butter pickles, a variety of stuffed green olives, a variety of mustards, low fat/low cal dressings and marinades.

We have a few cans of diet pop, a Britta pitcher of water for making shakes and tons of bottles of water.

There’s a tub of Fat Free Cool Whip, sugar-free Jello cuplets (I sometimes make bowls of sugar free Jell-O but the serving size is too nebulous for my husband and he’ll eat the entire bowlful so I buy the individual ½ cup servings. Yes, they cost more but it is not a good idea for Terry to get into the habit of eating a huge amount. Yes, it is sugar-free but the idea here is to keep our portions smaller, to not permit our subconscious to think it can go hog-wild with serving sizes gain. That got us into waistline trouble before and we’re not going there again…) and we have a package of pork chops for tonight's supper.

The freezer has jumbo prawns, skinless boneless chicken, halibut steaks, sugar-free popsicles, and a quart of marionberries. There's nothing damaging in the refer or the cupboards.

I ate only by the clock, not by what my stomach told me - it lied to me for years, I could not trust it. I still eat by the clock.

Change your evening schedule. Go for a walk, get out of the house. If you have kids, ask them to be the guard and to not permit you to enter the kitchen alone. If you must keep junk food or things that taunt you like the jar of PB, have your husband put Peter Pan in the garage somewhere or the basement. Engage the help of your family – this can be “Project Mom’s Health.”

This is so much more than losing a few pounds, People. We are not on a diet. This is People Improvement Project here – we are improving our health, we are preventing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc. Visit a hospital…see where we are headed if we do not make major changes in our eating and living styles…this is serious business.

Zinkette, we live near a hospital and the ambulances come roaring off the highway heading for the emergency entrance a dozen times a day. I see families assisting loved ones in and out of vans with wheelchairs, crutches, etc. Some of them have difficulty helping because the person is so heavy. I pictured myself as being one of them and the burden it would place on my husband or my daughter. It made the cookies I wanted so badly seem not so needful.

There is a diabetic supply store near where we have coffee. We see the people going in and out with packages of special diabetic socks, diabetic shoes, and other foot care products – some people have scooters because walking is difficult. That scares me – it could happen to me if I didn’t make permanent changes in my eating habits. The docs and nurses come into Starbuck’s on their break and I hear them talking about patients. Gulp! It could be me they describe. Once I realized how important it is to eat healthy foods, in healthy portions, it made it a lot easier to choose to do the right things for myself.

I still want cookies, ice cream, pop corn, pizza but just because I want something doesn’t mean I gotta have it!

“I don’t gotta even if I wanna”

You are stronger than the PB – Peter Pan does not have control over you because you are in charge of your health.

You are making good choices.

With every shake you make, you are getting closer to your optimal weight. You are eating healthy foods and feeling great!

[Zinkette99]

Nancy, I swear... You need to write a book. Every time I read your words it's such a pick me up.

You know, I am really fortunate. yes, I am fat. But I am young. And I am really healthy (despite the weight issues). I have the fortune of doing this early as opposed to waiting until I am diabetic or have high blood pressure (which runs in my family.) I am so fortunate to have found this so early in my life. Sometimes I feel like 25 is old. I am sure when I am 35 or 45 I will think that thought was so stupid. But I know that I am not getting YOUNGER. I know when I lose the weight I will hate myself for not doing this in high school or college. I think it takes a wake up call. My wedding was one but for some reason barely fitting into my wedding dress was not enough. I am just so tired of settling. I don't want to settle. I want to have everything I want out of life. And I have so much life to live. I don't have kids yet, I have a great husband. This is the time to be selfish. We have the whole world right now. And I am letting the fat stop me. And I can't do it any more.

Those thoughts and these forum make my Oatmeal Raisin bar (microwaved! So awesome.) taste that much better.

Today is going to be a good day.

[Nancy]

Okay, Little Darlin' let's rephrase this...

And I am letting the fat stop me. And I can't do it any more

These are the tapes to run through your mind and out your mouth today:

I am taking good care of my body today.

With every shake and glass of water I drink, I am getting closer to my goal.

I am a vibrant young woman and I love my life!

Zinkette ~ You are on your way, Kiddo! You made the decision, you drew the line, your new day is here and a new you is in the making!

[Zinkette99]

Well today has started off rough. I woke up to downpour. My dog was outside all night and was playing in the mud. His paws were black all the way up to the elbow. He greeted me with a very muddy hug and kisses. I love him but this is not what I needed. So I have put him in the sun room out of the rain and there is mud all over the place now. Blah.

I am off from work today and for some reason this diet is easier to do at work then it is at home. I had a little extra lean today. I was just starving. And I ate some greens and then later on some medifast tomato soup. So I am already at like 525 calories for the day and I haven't even had my other 4 meals yet! I don't know. Blah.

Good news is, I get to move to Florida in 2 weeks. I am excited and scared because this move has come about suddenly but I am excited to be near the Gulf of Mexico (even if it IS Hurricane season.) I love Virginia but it's been rough on us the past 6 months so I am ready to start new... again. Me and my husband have moved 4 times this year so its frustrating. I just want to move somewhere and STAY.

Good luck to everyone today.

[Nancy]

The key to not starving and not eating off plan is to eat all 5 Medifast meals on time - faithfully. We must treat each packet like a dose of medicine - eat all five packets plus just the right amount of meat/fish and vegetable. If we start adding extras then it throws us out of the fat-burning state which results in craving and hunger.

If you get hungry, Zinkette, then have another shake or a packet of oatmeal, soup but try to avoid eating anything other than the packets. It may take you a few days to get back into the fat burning state. You may also consider having a Pepcid - you might have excess stomach acid that is making you feel 'hollow' as it is easy to mistake a growling stomach for hunger.

Your move sounds like an interesting future!

[Crystal]

Zinkette~

I can totally relate to where you are! I have been there myself. I find it much easier to stay totally compliant when I am away from home, particularly in those first few days. Don't give up! Just keep trying, and you'll get through this.

Where in Florida are you moving? I love the Gulf, it is beautiful where we are, and we have just learned to live with the Hurricanes. I hope that this move will be a good one for you, and that it will be your last for a while.

[Zinkette99]

I know. I really suck at this, huh? I don't care, I am just going to keep doing it until I get it completely right! I think part of the BIG problem is that the only medifast meals I have left are the ones I HATE (and that everyone else hates) and I can't order more until Chris gets paid tomorrow. We thought he was getting his check today but it didn't arrive. I am really running low. I hope it doesn't take too long for it to arrive once its mailed. Maybe I will upgrade the shipping if I can...

I am moving to Bradenton, Crystal. I have never lived in that part of FL but I lived in Panama City Beach for 2 years (in my wild single days... and thinner days.) and absolutely fell in love with it. I wish there was more industry in the PCB and Destin area because I would live there forever if it was easier to find a job.

I drank 100 oz of water today and I stepped on the scale and have lost 2 pounds since Sunday. So I am psyched. I am promising not to step back on it until Sunday again.

[DogMa]

It usually only takes mine about three days to arrive here in Texas. Same story when I was in California, so I think that's pretty standard.

And you don't suck at this!! There's a learning curve for everyone. And I also have an easier time on workdays than days I'm home. I think it's the routine, for one thing. And that I'm not sitting around a house full of food when I'm at the office. If I find myself getting the munchies before my next mealtime rolls around, I try to find something else to distract me. I get out, I get online, I grab a book, I start vacuuming - whatever I can do to distract myself. It works - and my house is cleaner!

Hang in there. You don't need to be perfect. Do the best you can, and you'll STILL be doing better than you were before.

[Nancy]

Zinkette ~

Good for you! You had a super day today - wowee! 100 ounces of water is commendable.

What do you have left - maybe we can think of ways to make it taste better for you until your fave flaves can come in.

Two weeks ago we were down to a bare pantry and I had to drink French Vaniller powdered shakes and I thought I'd croak because I had no oatmeal or Chai latte. It was until our Medigrub arrived.

You are off for an adventure, Zink. When you pack for your move, you can organize your clothes by size and when you get to your new home, the boxes of thinny clothes will be all ready to go into your closet!