My First Two Days

Hello, again, everyone.

Well, I have been on my Medifast meals for two days now. I thought I'd let you know what I ate and how I liked it. I thought you might be curious.

So, Day 1 ( Wednesday) I  went to work with my baggie full of my products.

7:30 -
I ate my first "meal"-- it was a French Vanilla "shake." I have that in quotes, because it was closer to the consistency of milk than a milk shake. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't taste bad. It had good flavor, but maybe a SLIGHTLY chalky after taste. I also started on my 64 oz. water requirement.

9:30--
Time for my second meal. I had a meeting at 9:45, but figured I had plenty of time to microwave oatmeal. I was wrong. The cleaning crew just so happened to choose that morning to clean the office kitchen, so I couldn't get at the microwave. Not to be deterred, I walked down to the Home Ec room. I tried two different microwaves, but they were too "high tech" for me. So I now head off to the faculty room where the ancient microwave is more my speed. I heat up the oatmeal with no problem, except I am just about late for my meeting. I took a taste-- it was Peach flavored and pretty good. BUT, since I'm late for a meeting ion another building, I decide to take it with me. It was in a mug, so I thought it might be okay. Well, when I got there my boss was a little late, so I ate a bit more oatmeal-- still good. In he comes. We go into his office and I take another bite, but since this is a meeting for y annual evaluation, I don't feel comfortable eating during it. The meeting is over at 11:15.  I have a few errands to do in that building and had some things in my car to take in. I decide to try to finish the oatmeal while I'm at my car. This was a mistake. I was eating too quickly and started gagging. So, I stop eating, complete my tasks and go back to my building where I finally finish this (ONE CUP) of oatmeal at 12:05. My next meal was SUPPOSED to be at 12:30! Still drinking water.

1:30
Delayed my lunch and had Chicken Noodle Soup. I thought it would be an easy task to microwave this since the cleaning crew was now gone. Well, I should have read the directions first. It actually takes nearly 10 minutes to do it. Two and a half minutes on high. Take out and stir. Let sit one minute. One minute on high. Stir. Cover. Let sit @5 minutes. That wasn't the only thing. The office microwave is a super-cooker! The soup kept boiling over and I was upset that I was "losing"  entire teaspoonfuls of my precious one cup portion! However, the soup was surprisingly good. Instead of being a clear chicken broth it was slightly creamy. A bit bland, but pepper is a condiment I can have and a dash worked wonders. Had Crystal Light lemonade too.  I was behind on my water!!!

4:00--
On the way home I start feeling hungry so I decide it is time for my next "meal." I have a Lemon Meringue Crunch Bar with me and this seems the perfect time to try it. I take the first bite and the flavor is good, but it is so "dense" that I am sorry I don't have a bottle of water within reach. So, I decide after the second bite to wait to finish it until I get home and get water. I did this and I have to admit, I was sorry to get to the end of the bar.

6:30-
Time for my "Lean and Green" meal-- the "real" food of the day.  I had grilled tilapia (7 oz.) with blanched and seasoned  fresh green beans and a salad with romaine, a touch of collard greens, a little tomato and mushroom and a dash of Newman's Own Sun Dried Tomato dressing. It all tasted pretty good, but 7 oz of protein is a lot to get through. It felt pretty much like I was eating the same thing bite after bite. This was the only meal of the day that didn't "stay" with me, also. Still drinking water.

6:45-
My health coach called to see how I did and if I had any questions.
8:00-- A little early for my last meal, but I felt hungry so I had a Banana Creme shake. This was very good.  I could have had a snack-- 1/2 cup of sugar free jello, 3 celery stalks ( WOW!) or 2 dill pickle spears, but I decided to do without the snack.

I was pretty tired, so I decided to try to sleep without a sleeping pill.  This was a mistake. I was up 4 times during the night going to the bathroom.  This wasn't good  as  one of the early issues in going on this diet is feeling tired. But, surprisingly I got through the day okay, even though I had a lot of detailed computer work to do on the schedule. My health coach, Gretchen, stopped in today to review some more of the program.  She gave me some recipes and helped me with the online website. She took my weight and some "before" pictures. We set up my initial consultation with the physical therapist for Monday after work.  She asked a couple of times how I was feeling. This just reinforced the idea that it takes your body a couple of days to adjust to this. She mentioned headaches, but I haven't really had that yet. I did feel a little light headed, but that could have been the lack of sleep. The only thing I really seem to be doing is burping.

Today's food preparation went a lot better. No silly gaffes or problems.

7:30-
made AppleCinnamon Oatmeal at work. This was good, but the Peach was better. Starting the water!

10:30
Forgot I was supposed to eat again and am just making a Mocha Chocolate Shake when Gretchen comes. You know I don't really like coffee, so  after the first sip, I added a 1/8 tsp of peppermint extract and it is really pretty good.

12:30
I have Chicken and Wild Rice soup. This was also good, but I liked the Chicken Noodle better. ( Hmmmm am I just getting more discerning?)  More Crystal Light lemonade and water.

4:00
Time for a meal bar-- this time Mint Chocolate Crunch. This is very good and I have my water handy this time.

6:30
My "real meal"  tonight was 6 oz grilled mustard tarragon turkey tenderloin, 1/2 cup seasoned zucchini, and 1 cup romaine lettuce with a combined 1/2 c tomato and cucumber.

8:00-
Orange Creme Shake. mmmmm this was delicious.

I was a little hungry going to bed last night, and I think I will be again tonight, but I am going to try to do without the "snack."
My challenges today were at one meeting there were three large containers of candy and nuts in the middle of the table. Then, when I stopped at a store to pick up some sugar free mints (to stave off that halitosis my sister told me is a side effect of low carb diets) I completely forgot I would have to go to the candy section. I was eyeing the red licorice but resisted.

So, one or two more days to see how I adjust. So far, so good, I guess. It's only been 2 days and already I have had 10 of the 70 products available and some of those are specific for diabetes and other things, so they really don't count. I can see it could get boring!

I Get Started on Medifast

I had been wanting to lose weight for a long time. I would try and have some success.  But, all the weight would soon come back and THEN SOME. I am now 100 pounds over where I should be. I discussed this with my doctor  (I have an ICD implant that I got nearly a year ago when my heart was failing) who said my heart group had recently started the Hearts Alive program that included a weight loss plan called Medifast and an exercise component that begins with a visit to a physical therapist who will design a program just for you. I was eager, but scared. I was mostly eager for the exercise program. The meal replacement seemed like a challenge with my busy schedule. But I was motivated to lose weight.
The first step in the program was to set an appointment with a "health coach." This is a person who guides you through  the process and acts as a support.
I want to share my journey as part of my "journaling." I plan to post my experiences. Hope you enjoy them!
July 23, 2010- Met with my doctor to get an update on my heart condition. Everything was good. This was my first visit to this doctor and I had a lot of questions. He said he didn't have time to answer them, but losing weight would solve all my problems.  This may be true, but it wasn't the way I wanted to be treated.  One odd thing was my cholesterol, which had never been high, was up about 60 points since my last blood test a year ago. There is no real explanation for this. My heart problem, called nonischemic cardiomyopathy, is not related to weight, clogged arteries, or cholesterol.  When I was diagnosed my doctors told me it was likely caused by a virus and was the equivalent of being struck by lightning-- some people are just lucky that way. In any case, he recommended me for this program asked the nurse to give me some literature and told me my health coach would call me.

July 24- Since my appointment had been late in the afternoon on Friday, I knew it would be several days before I would hear from the "coach." Being somewhat impatient, I had to look up information about the program myself. One of the components was the Medifast plan. An off-shoot of this is the Take Shape for Life program.  I wondered what kinds of  meal replacements I was about to embark on. I anticipated shakes and bars, but was surprised to find out that there were soups, oatmeal, pudding, pancakes, "soft serve," and a few other things, too. I still was a little skeptical about flavor and the program itself. On this plan you need to "eat" six times a day-- every 2 or 3 hours.  But the total caloric intake is between 800-1000 calories.  I saw some positives here in that I wouldn't really have to prepare much, so cooking and cleaning up after would be at a minimum. I was interested in this since I am always short on time. You do get to eat "real food" once a day.  But I wasn't sure how  was going to manage eating all the time (and maybe still being hungry). My job keeps me busy and sometimes I have no control over my schedule-- a LOT of the time. But, I was willing to give it a try. I was anxious to hear what my health coach would have to say.