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.
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