January 12, 2010....The official "First day" with Medifast. I actually had started to watch what I was eating on January 1st as part of my New Year's Resolution, but by the time I met with the Medifast folks and got all my stuff together, got my food, books, journals, etc and did all the research on the program...I had set up my beginning weigh-in on January 12th. which gave me the weekend to get prepared. After meeting with the Clinic, it was determined that I needed to lose 150 pounds to obtain a healthy weight based on my height and current weight...I thought the weight they suggested would be hard for me to stay at once I completed the program because it was my weight during high school. I was 49 at the time I was starting this and thought there was no way a 50 year old could be at that weight again and stay there. I wanted to be realistic with myself and not set too high a goal. I agreed to set my goal at 100 pounds with the understanding that I would extend the program to lose more weight if I saw it differently once I got further along in this. So for now, I was working to lose 100 pounds.
See, I'm the type of person that has to have a full understanding of what I am doing before I start. I actually went the Medifast Weight Control Clinic and got signed up, got my food and my books a few days prior on the Friday before and crammed like someone getting ready for an exam. I spent hours reading over everything, checking posts on the web, reading blogs, etc. I even had went to the store to get everything I needed before hand. I cleaned out the fridge, removed all the bad stuff that we wouldn't be eating anymore, and had the house all "fail proofed" before the big day.
I believe that behind every success story, there is someone else who was instrumental in helping that person reach their mark. In my case, I enlisted the help of my husband, and our two boys (ages 9 & 11). It was important that they knew how serious I was about wanting to beat this weight issue, because they (like many others) have watched me speak the words with no actions to back it. I sat down with the entire family and we talked about how this would work. I knew it would be hard to work long hours and ask my husband (yes, he's the chef in our house) to prepare 2 different meals every evening. My husband had just found out a few days earlier that he was pre-diabetic. We already knew he was gonna be eating differently now. We just had to figure out how to mesh all of us together now. It was a time for BIG changes in the Nehring house. This was a lifestyle change. If you could see how skinny my husband is, you would never believe it. He is active in Karate too. I was shocked and thought to myself, if he is having a health issue looking like he does, imagine what I am doing to myself being overweight. That made this journey more of a necessity for my health than just a desire to look better. I needed this bad...we all did.
So anyway, we explained to the boys that Mommy and Daddy needed their help and that our family was not eating right. We allowed this in our home for many years which has greatly affected us...but could not allow it anymore or we would put their health in danger too. I must say thankfully none of my kids have weight issues and we don't want poor habits has kids to shape them as adults. The buck has to stop here and we know we are doing the right thing for them. We explained that as a I start this plan, we would start to change our entire household because being healthy needed to take priority. I wasn't gonna make them all diet at the pace I am doing, but we explained that we would start making healthier modifications for them as well doing it more gradually as to not shock them. Pizza, hamburgers, Fried Chicken , etc was normal eating in our home... Pastas, Beans, and Potatoes were pretty much at the meal table too.. Not alot of salad or veggies unless in was dripping in sauce, cheese, butter, or fatty dressings. We were to start the change at the dinner table to help me with my lean and green...The plan was to prepare a protein that we could all eat, but give them some of the adds-ons they were used to eating for right now incorperating healthy veggies too. The kids agreed and with everything in place, we were now all ready to go on Monday morning. Everyone was ready to help make this work, my mind was in the right place, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I was scared to death of failing again. I just knew this would be hard even with all the preparing. Only time will tell, but I felt better about it this time....I think I really wanted it more this time.
Day 1: January 12th. 2010
I got up in the morning to go off to working...I had an early morning appointment at the Medifast Clinic to weigh-in....I had prepared the night before and had my food journal, shaker, food, and my vitamins (B-12, B-6, Omega 3, and Digestive Health) ready to go. I headed off to work. For those of you who are not familiar with Medifast, we have 5 Medifast meals that we can interchange.. Soups, puddings, bars, shakes and Brownies to name a few. We also have one meal we prepare ourself called a Lean and Green. It consisted of a Lean Protein and Low Carb vegetables following a food list provided by Medifast. You are also allowed some healthy fats based on your protein choice, and a snack you can choose from a list. That's what is referred to as the 5 & 1 Plan. It is really nice because it is flexible to your schedule. You can mix and match your meals, and eat your LG Meal when you choose. You can even split it up and make 2 meals out of the LG. It makes it more your program because you have flexibility. My starting weight was now in the books and I was ready to go...no looking back.
I had tried the Medifast shakes before but not for very long. It was suggested to me at the clinic, that I start out with mostly shakes at first and then slowly substitute other items as I feel comfortable... Doing mostly shakes the first week would give me a great jump start at the beginning they said or whenever I needed a boost in loss. So, that's what I did for days 1-3, along with my LG (Lean and Green). I can say that the first few days for me were a little confusing. Figuring out what time to start eating, what to eat, keeping everything logged, etc...I wanted to do everything right. I had never been a breakfast person, I always ate a huge lunch and huge late dinner. Never snacked much in between unless it was something bad they were passing around at work like cakes, cookies and such. The program wants you to eat every 2-3 hours once you begin your first meal. I knew that would be tough for me. I was never a big sweets eater, my problem was quantity of food, kind of food, and what time I was eating it. Everything the book said that we could NOT have, was everything I ate every day of my life. What did I just enlist myself in?! No wonder I was overweight..I ate everything bad and nothing that was good for me. This was sure to be the challenge of my life. Oh, and I did I forget to mention that I don't drink water...well, not much anyway...not until now. I now needed to drink 64 ozs. of water a day. OMG, I am gonna drown(or puke)! Well, as the day went on, I was right on time with all my meals. I struggled with the water, but other than that I was doing this day like I knew what I was doing. I was managing ok. Of course, the normal donuts and cakes were all over the place at work, but I was determine to be focused and decided I would just take each day and work for victory one day at a time. My work day was almost done and I was very close to my first day victory.
I did get thru the first work day ok and it really went pretty good. I had no issues with hunger other than because I had drank shakes and water all day, I swore I could hear myself sloshing about!:)....I was so full, I really didn't want my meal but went home to prepare it anyway. I won't forget the first MF meal...I had planned it out for days so I would not screw up and went over my checklist to be sure I was OP (On plan). It looked like alot of food. I had Eggbeaters, and a salad with Shrimp, cucumbers,and grape tomatoes. It was alot of food and quite yummy. Funny, how I was eating a meal larger than what I normally ate, but it was all healthy and good for me. I finished my evening using my snack allowance of a 1/2c. of sugar-free Jello. I was very content and not looking for anything else to eat. Before I knew it, day one was on the books as OP. I had finish my first day water and all. You would have thought I was Rocky Balboa doing the dance at the top in Philly. I felt I had conquered the world!
The next blog will hopefully move a little faster to get me caught up since I starting my blogging adventure late into the program. Right now I am just trying to get this up to speed. I will try to get thru the entire first month. What I felt like...my victories, and my challenges....all part of My Journey to get healthy once and for all. so far so good....I'll keep ya posted :) Oh yeah, and my first Meltdown! You'll wanna read that one..it will make you laugh.
See ya soon!
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