My Recipe for SUCCESS!

Like many of you, my weight loss battle hasn't been an easy one, and it's been going on pretty much since I was old enough to realize that I was 'fat'.

From my teens onward....nearly 50 years!....I've ben struggling to find the 'right' method to lose the weight and keep it off.

TSFL using Medifast meals IS that 'right' method....because it has all the right ingredients I needed for success:

1). The right NUTRITION: It's incredibly important to eat the right balance of protein, carbs and fats; not just every day but even every MEAL. I've learned that too many carbs and sugar, for instance, can make me hungry to the point where I'm eating everything that isn't nailed down....REGARDLESS of the amount of calories. I can't just say to myself, "Well, I ate a huge piece of chocolate cake and that was 500 calories so I'm good for two meals". It doesn't work that way. My body rebels because I'm overdoing the carbs, sugar and fat and not getting enough healthy protein, vitamins and fiber to sustain me.

There's a reason why, for example, that guy from "Supersize me" who followed an all-McDonalds diet for awhile as an experiment, felt AWFUL. His nutritional balance was way way off. Too much sodium, too much fat, too many chemicals and sugar....ugh...our bodies reject that kind of 'nutrition' because it's NOT nutrition, it's SLUDGE and JUNK and it serves no purpose other than to addict us to MORE sugar and carbs and fat, and the cycle perpetuates itself.

I tried for YEARS to find the right balance...I really did!

As many of you know, I'm a voracious reader, and I read every diet book I could get my hands on and tried all kinds of programs and plans. I found the South Beach diet came close to the right balance....but it was hard to maintain. Likewise the 40/30/30 plan....that was close to 'perfect' balanced nutrition for me (by the way the 5/1 is 40/40/20), but I nearly went crazy trying to figure out the balance of carbs/protein/fats for every meal. It was too much WORK! Too many calculations. I was spending more time PLANNING my meals than eating them!
Who needs that? I gave up.

But with THIS program, all the calculations are done FOR me. YAY!!!!

No more complicated calculations. No more worrying about which foods to eat....all I need do is open a packet 5x a day, have my lean and green for dinner, and I'm golden!

2). The right TIMING: Eating every 3 hours suits my body chemistry perfectly. Just about the time I start to get physically hungry, the 3 hours are 'up' and it's time to eat again. And again, having that 'perfect balance' of nutritional components means I can be physically satisfied with just a small 100-calorie fueling.

3). The right PLAN: For me? I needed the decisions REMOVED. After a lifetime of always having to figure out what I 'could' and 'could not' eat....calculating points and/or calories and/or grams of nutrients....it was such a relief NOT to have to do that. PLUS, having ALL OTHER FOODS REMOVED meant I could finally relax. I cleaned out my kitchen, stopped buying sludge, put DH's special 'treats' in a separate drawer that is closed and out of my sight and I do NOT go into, and I'm all set. I'm surrounded ONLY by the foods I can have. All the decisions are removed. When I pass sludge? Donuts on the counter at the gym (yes, believe it or not they've done this)....? I just walk by and shut my eyes to them. I pay NO ATTENTION to the foods I can't have. I'm fixated ONLY on the foods I can have, my L&G ingredients and my MF meals. There is something very freeing about total ABSTINENCE!

4). The right METHODOLOGY: Being able to quickly and easilly log my meals and SEE what I'm eating, the weeks I lose weight (in order to replicate that success in future weeks!) is KEY; as is being able to chart my success, see the weight numbers go down and the inches go down and the physical activity go UP, and being able to record my feelings via blogging and posts, is very important as well, to me personally. I am a 'verbal' person....I think in sentences....I blog as easily as breathing!....and so I NEED a forum to do that, to get my feelings out and VENT sometimes...or just to talk about where my head is at.

Some people can work this program perfectly without tracking a single meal, and without blogging a sentence. That's great, but that's not me. I NEED to get mhy feelings and thoughts out there to examine dispassionately; and I need to SEE results visually via charts and graphs etc because it reinforces all my good habits. It's like a physical 'pat on the back' to me. Even when the scale isn't moving the way I'd like it to. It also help keep me on track, because it's all tooo easy to 'forget' what I ate and maybe wind up eating too much on any given day.

5). Last but not least....the right SUPPORT: The support available for this program is KEY and was the missing piece of the puzzle for me. I liked the group meetings at Weight Watchers to an extent....it was helpful to know I was 'not alone'....but I found that they seemed to become just a soapbox for bragging, to be honest with you. People that weren't doing so well didn't open their mouths (and I was one of them), and sometimes the lecturer had no answers for us. It's also kind of embarrassing to stand up in front of a group of relative strangers and announce that you ate a whole dozen donuts yesterday.

But here, it's a different story. I can blog to my heart's content and KNOW that others out there are nodding and smiling, because they've BEEN there, they KNOW what I'm going through.

And let's be clear about this....I'm NOT just talking about my Health Coach (although she's wonderful) OR even my fellow clients of my Health Coach....I'm talking about the Medifast community as a WHOLE. The slogan on this website is "Journeys are meant to be shared", and I couldn't agree MORE!
I NEED to hear from other who are following the program who either have no Coach or a different Coach -- and/or different Coaches, even!

People MATTER. It's important to get the perspective of those who are working this same program, even if they are at different points along the way in their journey (sometimes ESPECIALLY if they are at different points!) because it helps me maintain my perspective and see the 'big picture'. That's helpful because it can:
- Remind me of battles already conquered and WON, and/or
- Prepare me for future challenges

It even helps to get OPPOSING points of view at times, because it forces me to take a hard look at my beliefs and maybe rethink those that are outmoded and not serving me well.

When I communicate, I get two things in return:
- The knowledge that in sharing my struggle, others may read and benefit on their OWN struggles
and
- Feedback in terms of where my own head is at....am I going astray or am I healing?

Yes, people MATTER. And it's important that these people be on the SAME PROGRAM...NOT the general public at large...and NOT just my own Coach's clients, but that 'middle group' of people who are working this program but maybe have a different Coach or a different approach or are somewhere else along the way.

People MATTER. With or without a Health Coach, whether you're just starting this program or are an old hand at it, regardless of your age, weight, social status, location, or ANY of that. We can still reach out and tough each other with our words, and share our joys and accomplishments, as well as sometimes just saying something as simple as "I understand. I've been there, too".
There is POWER in that.
There is HEALING and STRENGTH in that.

Bottom line? ALL FIVE 'ingredients' had to be present for me to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and finally find the KEY, the program that would WORK, not just to take the weight off once and for all, but to CHANGE my life, my lifestyle and my eating habits so that the weight STAYED OFF.

THIS is that program. It has all the right ingredients for success.

All you need to add is....water (64 ozs. a day LOL).....and your own positive "I can do this!' attitude!

Keep on keepin' on!

Linda
alias Catlover77
Certified Take Shape for Life Health Coach
http://www.lincoach.blogspot.com
angiecat6@comcast.net