Jason's Weigh In Day

So because we were out of town Saturday, we had to reschedule our weigh in for Monday after work.

well, they confirmed I am in the "fat burning" phase and I lost 10.8 lbs last week.
Regan lost a little over 8lbs.

not bad for the first week. very good for motivational factors.

Jason's Weekend From HELL

In terms of food cravings of course !

So when I post this I will be on day 8, I go tomorrow to be weighed so we’ll see if the results are worth the diligence I used to fight my cravings this weekend.

It started on Friday, when my future father in-law decided he wanted a pepperoni pizza for lunch… even though I made our lean and green meal for lunch (knowing I’d be too busy for dinner on Friday) it still didn’t stack up, here I was eating chili-lime chicken kabobs with peppers and mushrooms, and he was eating a pepperoni pizza…. Fast forward to Friday night, we’re in Longview for my soon to be niece’s birthday, I end up running to sonic to get everyone who is eating food…. Does anyone have any idea how hard it is to go thru a fast food drive up when you’re on a diet… painful but I prevailed?

Saturday morning, everyone makes pancakes (Regan and I sat in the living room while everyone ate), then McDonald’s for lunch for the kids (Regan and I went shopping while everyone else ate), then it was time to prepare for the party. Regan had to help make the cake and decorate it (didn’t even get to lick the spoon), I had to watch. I couldn’t even have any of the lime sherbet / sprite punch that was made. Everyone at the party kept giving Regan and I weird looks because we didn’t eat any cake, only drank water and then both ate two little bars… then when they found out, seems everyone always has to have an opinion about a diet. In fact one person, who could stand to lose a few pounds herself, felt the need to say “you know what the first 3 letters of diet are right? That’s what’s going to happen to you”. I went outside. A few minutes later Regan and her sister joined me to help hang the piñata.

Saturday evening we went to Cotton Patch for dinner, this was our first time trying to eat out while on the diet. Let me tell you… NOT easy. I ended up getting blackened tilapia, steamed veggies, and sautéed mushrooms. While I drooled over my future father-in-laws chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and dinner rolls. Don’t ask me how, but I somehow found a way NOT to eat a dinner roll with butter… I’m not sure if what I ate was completely on the diet, I think it is, but frankly I didn’t really care because I knew I was eating a lot better and a lot different then I normally would so I still chalked it up as a success.

This morning before heading home, the final challenge was to skip donuts that my future mother in-law decided to bring for the kids…

And people wondered why I was ready to go home…

The Meal Plan

Soups are out, none of them taste good and frankly, too much time is involved with making them. Shakes, Bars, and Snacks it is going forward.

Shake recommendation of the week 1 - Carmel Dutch Chocolate - 2tbs Carmel zero syrup, with 4 ice cubes, 4oz of water, and the Dutch chocolate shake

Shake recommendation of the week 2 - Carmel Swiss Mocha - 2tbs of Carmel zero syrup, with 4 ice cubes, 4 oz of water, and the Swiss mocha shake = yummier

Bars I'm digging at the moment - Fruit & Nut, Lime, and Mint Chocolate.

Snacks at the ready are Parmesan Cheese Puffs, and Cinnamon Pretzels

That’s all for now

Jesse's Day 7 - S-T-R-E-S-S !!!!

So I got up and weighed myself this morning, and was down a total of 13 pounds - not too bad for the first week of a tough diet! Then we went to the Medifast offices for our weekly whiz-quiz, weigh-in and counselling. The quiz indicated that I was definitely in ketosis (evidently a desireable state for weight loss, though I am thinking it synonymous for misery!) but the weigh in was disappointing - the Medifast scale showed I was only down 8 pounds from the previous week.

WTF?!?!

Their scale must be made in Vegas. Of course, their fee is based on how long they have to treat you to meet your weight loss goal, so it makes a certain amount of sense that they would want to drag things out a bit. Screw them - I will go by my scale, and they can bite me.

Meanwhile, I told my counsellor that I am not looking forward to attending movies if I cannot enjoy some popcorn - she told me that I have to develop a game plan in advance to help me deal with those situations, and eventually I would overcome such "bad urges".... "Bad urges"?

Whatever.
I feel I need to make something clear - if only to myself: I am undertaking this diet in order to lose weight so that I can lead a better lifestyle - NOT so I can learn hot to "eat better". It wasn't the foods alone that got me where I am today - it was the sedentary lifestyle, constant stress, and super-sized portions.

I am going to start making a list of all the foods I miss, and I am going to make eating those foods again (albeit in healthier portions) part of my overarching goal.

Period.

Take THAT, Medifast!!!

Jesse's Day 5 - 11 pounds down!

So the weight is really coming off - it had better be, because I can use the inspiration. Yesterday, I was doing just fine. I was so busy at work, the day flew by. Then when my older son got home from school, he wanders into my office munching on some popcorn. I was instantly in hell! I don't know why, but of all the snacks I used to eat, popcorn seems to be the one I am really craving. I had a bit of a struggle before going to my pantry and getting a sugar-free lifesaver to suck on - that helps me with the occassional between-meal cravings, and it helped me deal with the popcorn. When sanity returned, I strongly suggested to my son that he not eat popcorn in front of me anytime soon.

Crisis averted.

So yesterday, I had only lost 1 lb from the previous day - a bit of a let down this early in the diet when the weight is supposed to drop quickly- so this morning when I weighed myself and was down another 3 lbs, I felt better.

The meal substitutes:

Soups. So far, I have tried 3 of the soups - the Cream of Tomato needs help, the Beef Stew is not so good, and the Chicken with Wild Rice is okay, albeit rather bland. Think the soups are going to fall off my grocery list for awhile.

Shakes. I have tried the banana, swiss mocha, and dutch chocolate shakes - all are pretty good. The banana is particularly good if you add a touch of fat-free, sugar-free chocolate syrup! YUMMY!! I plan to add strawberry to my list this week.

Oatmeal. I have only tried the maple and brown sugar flavored oatmeal. I won't speak of it again. Ever.

Meal Bars. I have eaten the chocalte crunch, caramel crunch, and fruit and nut meal bars - all are good, and will likely become a significant portion of my diet in the remaining weeks.


I live for my lean-and-green dinners!

That's good for today. So far, so good!

Jason's Day 3

I started this blog with the expectations that I'd write about my experiences on the medifast diet along with my brother Jesse. Seems I might have been a wee bit too ambitious as it’s already day 3 and this is my first post. Oh well, on with it already!

a friend / former coworker of mine actually is the one responsible for turning me onto this diet, he started it because he had major health issues, and I took a look at my future and realized if I didn't do something now, I'd be on the same track as he. So after listening to his results over the last two months I finally motivated myself to look into it. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was on the diet. My diet is way different than the normal 5/1 plan. I have Gout, and because of that, I have to have a certain amount of "other" things a day outside of the medifast supplements. For me, rather then it being a 5/1, it’s a 2/2/2/2/1 plan. a bit of a headache for me now, but I have a feeling as we get down the path a bit, I'll be getting leers from the others as I eat real food :)

I haven't weighed myself yet, I keep making excuses not to. I think I'll wait and be surprised rather than risk being let down.

Here is a brief run down of what I've had on the diet already

Day 1
I wasn't prepared for my version of the diet yet, so I stuck to the 5/1 plan

· Morning - Dutch chocolate shake make with a shaker (it was "ok")

· Mid Morning - chocolate mint bar (it was "pretty good")

· Lunch - Dutch chocolate already made shake (it was "blah")

· Mid Afternoon - Parmesan Cheese Puffs (it was "pretty good")

· Dinner - boneless / skinless chicken breast with fat free mozzarella, green leaf salad with Kraft zesty Italian dressing (fat free of course) and Zucchini.

·After Dinner - Dutch chocolate shake (used blender with ice) with 2 tbs of sugar free, fat free, carb free, basically everything free raspberry syrup. (it was "yummy")

Day 2
Following my version of the diet today

· Morning - 2 cups of whole wheat cereal with 1 cup of 1% low fat milk.

· Mid Morning - 1 apple

· Lunch - Revisited the Chocolate Raspberry Shake recipe from the night before... yep... still yummy

· After Lunch - 10 large green olives stuff with pimento, 10 peanuts

· Dinner - Roasted herb chicken (minus the skin), green beans, and green lettuce salad with the zesty fat free Italian dressing, sautéed mushrooms.

· After Dinner - enhanced chocolate mint bar (it was "yummy")

That’s all for now :)

Jesse's Day Three - 94 Pounds to Go

So day 2 passed acceptably - the shakes were good, the oatmeal not so good. I tried the chicken with wild rice soup - prepared it per a blog I'd seen, rather than the directions: boiled the water first, then added the soup mix and let set for 10 minutes - came out okay (a bit bland, but not bad). The fruit and nut bar was also pretty good. I've found that I go between two-and-a-half and three hours before I start feeling hungry - which works well on the 5-and-1 Jump Start plan. I have been saving my fifth meal substitute for a dessert - so far, chocolate pudding has replaced my nightly Ben-and-Jerry's. Again, an acceptable substitute.

For now.

No terrible food cravings so far, though I have had to fight down a few minor temptations - all within my capabilities. The end-of-the-day lean and green meal is worth the wait. Last night I had stif-fried chicken breast, a cup of green beans (yeah, I am a little veggie-limited at the moment) and a whole tomato. I borrowed a lesson from high school physics to measure the volume of the whole tomato - I put it into a measuring cup, then added water until the tomato was submerged; remove the tomato and voila! I had the delta volume - right at one-half cup. Cool, right? I love being a geek.

So we come now ot day 3: I step on the scale as soon as I awake - down to 316.4 - awesome! I know this pace won't keep for long, but still, I like a having good start. No oatmeal today - Swiss Mocha shake for breakfast - made it with 1 part crushed ice, 1 part water - blended to a nice frothy brew and down the hatch! Pop the morning vitamins, and off to work. More later!

Jesse's Day 1 - 100 pounds to go

Okay, today I started my new Medifast diet - specificaaly I am on what they call the Jump Start program. It basically invovles 5 meal substitutes (shakes, soups, protein bar, etc.) and 1 meal with lean meat and healthy green veggies.

Before I go into the details of the diet, let me first explain why I am dieting in the first place. For the last 16 years, I have been steadily gaining weight - as much as 10 pounds per year at one point. I am now at least 100 pounds overweight. I have managed to maintain my current weight pretty stable for the last 2 years, but haven't managed to drop any and keep it off. That has to change.

In the past, I have tried several other diet - Atkins, Weight Watchers, Zone... all had some limited positive effects, but no significant weight loss, and nothing that lasted. Of course, my lifestyle doesn't help - I pretty much work a desk job and lead a fairly sedentary life. I have had years where I worked out religiously, but during those periods, I didn't lose weight - I just built stamina. My clothing sizes have gotten progressively larger over the years, until I can no longer buy clothes from the "regular" size selections, but must revert to the "big & tall" fashions, which are fairly limited. That, too, has to change.

My goal with this new diet is to lose about 100 pounds in the next 35 weeks. I will do this through a combination of the strict diet reinforced by weekly weigh-ins and counselling at the local Medifast center. If all goes well, by next May I will have gove from my present 324 lbs to a much healthier 224 lbs. Along the way, as another means to "hold my feet to the fire", I plan to blog about my experience; I plan to talk about the things ranging from the meal substitutes that I try, what I cook for my "lean and green" daily meal, the cravings I have to endure - all of it. Wish me luck!