Life gets in the way . . .
sstratto01
Posts: 23
I thought I would share to let others know the challenges I have been facing to keep the weight off.
I lost over 80 pounds on Medifast and have sworn not to regain it. Life happens though. I have been holding my weight in about a 3 pound range over 3-4 months. I am back to eating regular food, tracking what I eat and watching portion control. I focused primarily on calorie intake. My target is about 2000 calories a day and that seems to work really well at keeping the weight around my new level (which is about 10 pounds below my Medifast target weight).
Between going to Cub Scout camp with my son, a new job, numerous visitors here plus a death in the family requiring a trip to LA for a funeral I found my weight drifting up a bit since I was not able to be as diligent on what I was eating. I found my tracking slipping and my ability to plan meals ahead of time challenged. I was fortunate not to fall too far back into old bad food habits though.
I returned home on Monday after the funeral and several weeks on not being diligent. I found I was up about 10 pounds (to 197 pounds) from where I was holding steady. First thing I read from numerous posts - DON'T PANIC.
I immediately resolved to watch the calories and try to reduce my intake by about 200 - targeting 1800 a day for the next week. I knew from my not too long ago weigh in (I usually do daily and track it on a spreadsheet), I did not magically put on all this weight in a few days. I knew a bunch was water weight as my body was freaking out from the new and different food makeup that I had been eating. By Wednesday morning and several days of 1800 calories (plus my water - about a gallon a day), I was already down to 193.
I am going to keep working at 1800 calories a day for the rest of the week. See how things go from there.
I think this is where people can get discouraged or just say, it is only a few pounds and I am still below my Medifast target - I do not want to start too far down the slippery slope. I am also going to pick up my physical activity, but again from others experience, I am not going to over do it.
I will update the post in a few days - let's see how it goes.
Stan
I lost over 80 pounds on Medifast and have sworn not to regain it. Life happens though. I have been holding my weight in about a 3 pound range over 3-4 months. I am back to eating regular food, tracking what I eat and watching portion control. I focused primarily on calorie intake. My target is about 2000 calories a day and that seems to work really well at keeping the weight around my new level (which is about 10 pounds below my Medifast target weight).
Between going to Cub Scout camp with my son, a new job, numerous visitors here plus a death in the family requiring a trip to LA for a funeral I found my weight drifting up a bit since I was not able to be as diligent on what I was eating. I found my tracking slipping and my ability to plan meals ahead of time challenged. I was fortunate not to fall too far back into old bad food habits though.
I returned home on Monday after the funeral and several weeks on not being diligent. I found I was up about 10 pounds (to 197 pounds) from where I was holding steady. First thing I read from numerous posts - DON'T PANIC.
I immediately resolved to watch the calories and try to reduce my intake by about 200 - targeting 1800 a day for the next week. I knew from my not too long ago weigh in (I usually do daily and track it on a spreadsheet), I did not magically put on all this weight in a few days. I knew a bunch was water weight as my body was freaking out from the new and different food makeup that I had been eating. By Wednesday morning and several days of 1800 calories (plus my water - about a gallon a day), I was already down to 193.
I am going to keep working at 1800 calories a day for the rest of the week. See how things go from there.
I think this is where people can get discouraged or just say, it is only a few pounds and I am still below my Medifast target - I do not want to start too far down the slippery slope. I am also going to pick up my physical activity, but again from others experience, I am not going to over do it.
I will update the post in a few days - let's see how it goes.
Stan
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Replies
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Thank you for posting this! My biggest fear is what happens after Medifast.........because the journey continues!0
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Well it has been a week. I have been able to reduce my calories by 200 a day to around 1800. I have attempted to pay closer attention to portion sizes and exact calorie counts (many times I just use estimates - I try to live my life and not have it ruled by my food choices, yet realize how important they are - especially after this little reminder). I also worked to eat following the Medifast plan of small meals every 2-3 hours and I drank all my water (over a gallon a day). I was getting a bit of grief at my new job for it, but then I dared someone to match me and see how they did. They all declined.
Turns out my efforts were rewarded. I am down to the upper part of the 3 pound range I was in (189 pounds). this is down from my first panic weigh in of over 197 last Monday. Again, remember if this happens to you, a lot of this is water weight as your body is freaking out at all the different foods and changes you are inflicting upon it (or I was inflecting upon myself). I also made sure to walk more but to not over do exercise - I have read that this can have the opposite effect as your body continues to freak out. I just tried to go back to the old normal (not a complete Medifast diet, just reduced calories like when I was in transition). I will say, had this not worked, I would have tried to go back on Medifast for a few weeks. Fortunately, I do not have to do this.
I am still intent on working myself down to the 186 level to give myself some room. I think that 190 is my line in the sand.
Again, I write this to let everyone know that even when you are done with Medifast, it continues to require effort to maintain our hard fought successes. I hope this is helpful for you.
Stan0 -
once I got into a groove then loosing the weight has been EASY. Maintenance on the other hand scares the crap out of me!0
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I too was really scared of maintenance. Especially since the program is so easy to follow. You eat their food when they tell you and you only really have to worry about 1 meal a day. Transition and then maintenance was really frightening. Once I got used to the new "me" - I really surprised myself a couple of times walking by my reflection (who is that?). But now - I know I want to stay where I am at. Not just for me, but for my kids and to do the stuff I want to do. This has been my first post program challenge (where the weight came back on - a bit). I am going to get back down into my 3 pound range while still living life.
Tomorrow I go to the Rockies game and am bringing some leftover Medifast meals to have alternatives to stadium fare. I think the key to maintenance is to keep thinking and planning ahead. I would be interested in hearing how and what you found were the keys for you.
And for everyone else - please visit the official Medifast forums - they have tons of suggestions and ideas for transition and maintenance. I would not have been able to bounce back or be prepared for the shock of how much weight popped right back, if I had not read the numerous posts on transition and maintenance.
As an update, I am still in the upper part of my 3 pound range I had been holding at prior to my slippage.0 -
This is such a great conversation! I was terrified of transition and maintenance. In the end, I did fine. It took me a looong time before I would eat any kind of a treat (sugar was my addiction before I did the program). I actually had assignments from my health coach to go to a nice bakery, buy one perfect little cookie and sit down, take my time and enjoy it. She saw that I needed to learn that I had control over my choices in maintenance. I needed to face that demon and realize that just because I had one small treat it would not mean that I was going to start buying Skittles every single day again. My weight has stayed within a three pound range since I transitioned. My only struggle was learning to partake in things that I have had little control over in the past. Like eat a piece of my own birthday cake.0
