Over
the
course of my weightloss journey with Medifast, I've learned a lot of 'tricks', or
'tips'...little
ways I was able to stay OP...and what's cool is, many of these
have served me
so well that maintenance is easier!
Here they are. Try one, try a few, try them all.
Whatever WORKS, right?
- Drink all your water (well, DUH....!) No seriously. Drink all your PLAIN water. I know you're drinking other things (Crystal Light, sparkling water, maybe diet soda although this is something I'd love to see you off of but it's OK....etc.) But FIRST drink 64 ozs. of plain water. EVERY DAY.
- Get in the habit of checking either the clock or your cellphone, etc. every 3 hours or so. If you haven't had your MF meal in that long, it's time for the next one! Use the MF cellphone app to remind you. Or set an appointment in your cellphone calendar and have it remind you every 3-1/2 hours. Don't go over that amount of time before eating your next meal.
- Get up at the same time, go to bed at the same time. Regularity in your sleep leads to a healthier, happier body. Keep doing this (even over weekends) and you won't even need an alarm clock!
- Please please don't weigh daily! You'll drive yourself krazy. I don't care if you're a physicist and you understand FULLY all the ins and outs of water retention and weight fluctuations in intimate detail....when you see that scale stay the same day after day (or...gasp!...even go UP one day) you will be affected in the back of your mind ALL.DAY.LONG. Why DO that to yourself?
WEIGHT DOES FLUCTUATE. Get that through your head! It fluctuates from one day to the next, and there's nothing you can do about it.
The first week or two on this program you may see it go down every day...but guess what? That will NOT continue. And then ... you'll get depressed. It doesn't make sense to do that to yourself. And start questioning every little thing you ate 'yesterday' because the scale didn't show what you 'wanted' it to show or 'expected' it to show.
WEIGH WEEKLY. It will give you a truer picture of what's going on.
- THIS IS NOT A DIET. Repeat after me. I AM NOT ON A DIET.
I am here to change my eating habits. In the process I WILL lose weight but this is not a diet.
If you approach this as a diet? You'll lose the weight...and then you'll regain. I can promise you that. And then you'll have to be back here...AGAIN. And again. And again.
CHANGE YOUR EATING HABITS. Do it by working the 5/1, one day at a time, one meal at a time while you analyze what's going on in your head when you 'crave' other foods or more food or whatever.
And start getting into healthy L&Gs. That will serve you well.
- Practice DELAYED GRATIFICATION. As often as possible. For example, save your 'favorite' MF meal as your last MF meal for the day...your evening snack. And have it right before you go to bed. (No, you will not get 'fat' because you ate right before you got in bed. There's only about 100 calories in each MF meal...stop listening to that advice, that's for "normal" eaters trying to "cut back". It doesn't apply on this program!)
Whenever you have a craving or an urge to eat something, tell yourself you can have it IF you still want it 20 minutes from now. Then get busy doing something else. Chances are the 20 minutes will come and go and you'll be able to get past the craving much, much easier and say NO.
Here they are. Try one, try a few, try them all.
Whatever WORKS, right?
- Drink all your water (well, DUH....!) No seriously. Drink all your PLAIN water. I know you're drinking other things (Crystal Light, sparkling water, maybe diet soda although this is something I'd love to see you off of but it's OK....etc.) But FIRST drink 64 ozs. of plain water. EVERY DAY.
- Get in the habit of checking either the clock or your cellphone, etc. every 3 hours or so. If you haven't had your MF meal in that long, it's time for the next one! Use the MF cellphone app to remind you. Or set an appointment in your cellphone calendar and have it remind you every 3-1/2 hours. Don't go over that amount of time before eating your next meal.
- Get up at the same time, go to bed at the same time. Regularity in your sleep leads to a healthier, happier body. Keep doing this (even over weekends) and you won't even need an alarm clock!
- Please please don't weigh daily! You'll drive yourself krazy. I don't care if you're a physicist and you understand FULLY all the ins and outs of water retention and weight fluctuations in intimate detail....when you see that scale stay the same day after day (or...gasp!...even go UP one day) you will be affected in the back of your mind ALL.DAY.LONG. Why DO that to yourself?
WEIGHT DOES FLUCTUATE. Get that through your head! It fluctuates from one day to the next, and there's nothing you can do about it.
The first week or two on this program you may see it go down every day...but guess what? That will NOT continue. And then ... you'll get depressed. It doesn't make sense to do that to yourself. And start questioning every little thing you ate 'yesterday' because the scale didn't show what you 'wanted' it to show or 'expected' it to show.
WEIGH WEEKLY. It will give you a truer picture of what's going on.
- THIS IS NOT A DIET. Repeat after me. I AM NOT ON A DIET.
I am here to change my eating habits. In the process I WILL lose weight but this is not a diet.
If you approach this as a diet? You'll lose the weight...and then you'll regain. I can promise you that. And then you'll have to be back here...AGAIN. And again. And again.
CHANGE YOUR EATING HABITS. Do it by working the 5/1, one day at a time, one meal at a time while you analyze what's going on in your head when you 'crave' other foods or more food or whatever.
And start getting into healthy L&Gs. That will serve you well.
- Practice DELAYED GRATIFICATION. As often as possible. For example, save your 'favorite' MF meal as your last MF meal for the day...your evening snack. And have it right before you go to bed. (No, you will not get 'fat' because you ate right before you got in bed. There's only about 100 calories in each MF meal...stop listening to that advice, that's for "normal" eaters trying to "cut back". It doesn't apply on this program!)
Whenever you have a craving or an urge to eat something, tell yourself you can have it IF you still want it 20 minutes from now. Then get busy doing something else. Chances are the 20 minutes will come and go and you'll be able to get past the craving much, much easier and say NO.
Having trouble tapering off from daily weighing? Practice delayed gratification again. Tell yourself you can weigh in, but TOMORROW. Go for every other day. Then go for every 3 days. And so on until you get to weekly.
Use the delayed gratification method to get yourself to exercise. Tell yourself you'll have a really great lunch -- one of your fav MF meals and maybe split your lean as well between lunch and dinner -- but ONLY if you work out in the morning 'first'.
Use delayed gratification to get yourself to log your meals, too. You can only go to bed IF you've logged in all your meals.
Use delayed gratification if you're having a particularly hard day or a hungry day. Tell yourself you get to eat SIX TIMES tomorrow. If necessary, write down a 'plan' of what you'll eat tomorrow. Fixate on THAT. Now go to bed!
Use delayed gratification for rewards, too. Tell yourself you can shop for a new outfit, but ONLY after you've stayed OP for a certain amount of time. You can do the same with scheduling a hair appointment, a manicure, anything 'special' you do for yourself. Make yourself 'earn' it.
- REMEMBER, L&Gs are for LIFE. That means you want to accumulate a nice big 'cookbook' full of L&G recipes you love (and hopefully some that your family loves, too!) that you can have over and over again. Lots of folks on this website talk about 'keeping it simple', and that's fine...but if you live on baked chicken and broccoli and a salad through the whole program, boy oh BOY are you going to go NUTS when you get to transition and maintenance! You're telling yourself you can't enjoy your dinners "until" you reach goal.
WHY? You CAN enjoy good dinners that are healthy...for LIFE!
And the bonus is, when you get to maintenance? You won't have to fight the urge to make your old lasagna recipe. Instead you'll be already enjoying a MF lasagna!
You are NOT going to want to include mashed potatoes in your dinners again. Trust me on this. Neither will you be wanting to 'waste' your whole grains on a lot of pasta. No way! (maybe occasionally whole wheat pasta, but even that...1/2 cup doesn't equal a whole lot...). So wouldn't it help if you already had a whole stableful of great L&Gs that you loved that are totally OP? You can then play with your extra foods for 'treats'!
Repeat: L&Gs are for LIFE.
Get used to salads. BIGtime. They will serve you well. I've said this over and over again because you will find that most of the successfully maintainers eat salads. Find an MF approved salad dressing you love and stick with it.
Experiment with flavors in things that are relatively harmless....like herb teas. You can have the flavor of peaches, blueberries, vanilla, even (over the holidays) sugar cookie flavored herb teas! (yep!)
You can play, too, with SF syrups in flavors like peanut butter, pumpkin, brown sugar cinnamon, raspberry and more. Give your tastebuds a treat with these harmless foods and you won't have as many cravings for the fattening foods.
Set ACTIVE goals for yourself. By that I mean goals like 'I will stay OP for 7 straight days'. Or 'I will work out for 15 minutes 3x this week'. Or 'I will take the stairs all 5 days this week at work instead of the elevator'. Whatever. NOT goals like 'I will lose 5 lbs'. You don't know when that will happen...it's not as achievable or measurable. Instead if you make your goals ACTION goals, YOU are in control, not the scale.
Organize your MF meals so they are easy to get to and you always have what you need. Join the TSFL BeSlim club or the MF Advantage club in order to get free shipping and/or free meals. Figure out what you LIKE and order these. Once in awhile throw in a few new meals...but remember, you don't have to order the whole box. Click on the quantity next to the item and CHANGE it to a single packet, that's all. It's possible! Also, with either BeSlim or Advantage, you are NEVER 'locked in' to any set date or any set order. YOU are in control and can change the order or the order date at any time! Simply log back on and click on edit order (or the calendar to change the date). And both 'clubs' will remind you ahead of time so you can change or postpone your order if you need to.
REMEMBER, your inner voice isn't always on your 'side'. Question your motives whenever they are telling you to eat something off program. Remember that 'fat brain' just wants you to do what's easiest, which is what you 'always' did.
Be ALERT for new emotions cropping up that spark new cravings. You never know! I was amazed to discover that anxiety made me want to eat....NOW. I knew I overate when I was depressed or frustrated or angry...but anxious? Nervous? Silly, right? But I DO! I used to smoke...maybe that's part of it...now my fat brain wants to EAT.
I have to calm myself down to get through it.
Whenever you have a new situation like this? Do you best to pull it apart, analyze it, and get through it, then write about it so you remember it for next time. SHARE your experiences and they will resonate more fully in your mind (and you might just help someone else).
Get into journalling if that helps you...and/or blogging. Find a way to write 'just for you', all your private thoughts, hopes and dreams...and all your struggles. It can be very instructive to look back on these later and see the growth in your mindset as you move forward in your journey!
Find ways to RELAX and ENJOY every day. Just because you're not stuffing yourself anymore doesn't mean life can't be wonderful! Relax and enjoy...breathe the air, appreciate a sunny day, spend time with your loved ones and/or pets, embrace your life and all the good things you have. It's not always ABOUT food. We MAKE it be about food, but it doesn't have to be. Normal people don't think about food all the time! Try practicing to be one of those people! You may just change into one! (at least for brief periods LOL...)
GET YOUR SLEEP. Sleep is so very very important.
Focus on the big picture. Be PROUD of yourself. This isn't an easy journey but you're working it. ONE DAY AT A TIME.
And finally, remember this:
YOU CAN DO THIS. It is definitely achievable. It's all within YOUR power to do it. No one can do it for you. The best Health coach in the world can't (and won't!) come to your home and take your hand out of the cookie jar. Only YOU can do that. Only YOU can say 'NO' when you need to say NO to yourself.
But it IS doable. Look around you at those on this community that have done it, and know that it IS possible. Lean on them, ask questions certainly, but know that this is YOUR journey and ultimately YOU decide how long it will take you or the various twists and turns you will meet on the way!
SMILE! You're doing something WONDERFUL for yourself!
Hugs,
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