It's about CONTROL!

Today is Day '9' of staying OP 100%, and I'm happy to say it's getting easier every day. 

Once you get past those first couple/4-5 days...definitely the first week....you get
into a routine and you can just cruise along.  And THAT'S when the weight practically FALLS off your body.  And you feel more and more energy coming back, and your
confidence soars and you know that you can do ANYTHING.

The funny part is, I'm doing it this time without logging like crazy, without
charts and graphs, without the scale, even!  I'm not even active on MyFitnessPal
anymore.  All I do is record what I eat in pen on a xeroxed copy of the Daily Food Log
real quick....and move on.  No counting ANYTHING. 

Why not?  Well, with the 5/1 it's not necessary! I mean, I KNOW what to eat.  It's not
rocket science.  5 MF packets and a full L&G every day.  Simple. 

It's a great way to eat.  No more calorie counting.  No more bargaining that I did
Spinning so I burned 600 calories so I get to eat that much yada yada (what a mess)...

And if you have a good food plan, even AFTERWARDS, when you hit maintenance,
if you stick to your food plan...'x' amount of lean proteins, 'x' of veggies, 'x' of fruit
(when you get there), etc....you don't NEED to count calories.

The calorie-counting/scale weighing thing can be a TRAP.


Because here's how it goes....ever see yourself doing this?

- If the news is GOOD, Fat Brain goes "Well look at that!  It's working!  Great! WOW,
I lost even more than I thought I would!  That's great!  I have some LEEWAY now"
(AHA..)....that GIVES YOU PERMISSION to overeat.  Right?  I've done it myself.
Doesn't make sense but that's Fat Brain for you...LOL..

- If the news is BAD, suddenly even though you may be doing splendidly, even though
it could just be a temporary water glut that's stopping the progress from showing up
on the scale, Fat Brain swears that it's 'NOT WORKING!'  So suddenly you're thinking
about trying something new.  Why spend all that money (listen, I know the arguments,
I've done it myself LOL), why spend all that time, yada yada when you can just do ...
Atkins.  Or low carb.  Or South Beach.  Or Weight Watchers, hey they get to eat fruit!...
or whatever.  Fat Brain can justify ANYTHING.  But it's the same logic...'this isn't working
I should try something else'.  And the sad part is, it MAY be working...you just weren't
patient enough!

- If the scale doesn't MOVE, it's the same rationale....whatever you're doing, it's NOT WORKING.
Or if you're in maintenance, and you've been eating sludge....staying the same gives you
'permission' to keep doing it, because you 'got away with it'.  And that games only works
for so long.

So this time around?  I'm weighing MONTHLY.  That's right.  Monthly.  I figure, in between, I'll know if it's working from my clothes.  And of COURSE I do.  Heck, my wedding ring gets
looser....I KNOW, we ALL know, deep down, if we're losing weight.  We don't need to analyze every tenth of a pound.   I can tell just by looking in the mirror.  Because my face gets thinner.
Each of us KNOWS, individually, when we're losing weight.  We didn't just fall off the turnip
truck LOL...we've done this enough times to know when we're losing and when we're not.

But what if you can't wait a month!  OK, If you aren't sure, if you HAVE to check, and you can't wait that long, then fine, ...weigh weekly.  Same day, same time, with as little clothing as possible, and make it a ritual.  Every Monday morning or whatever.  Bearing in mind that 1-2 lbs. a week is PERFECT.  And keeping in mind that you won't lose that amount every week, being patient with yourself.  Some weeks you'll only see 1/2 lb. Some weeks you'll see 3 lbs.  And some weeks you may not see a change at ALL.
Because our bodies are living, breathing organisms.  Our bodies will lose the weight when
they're READY to lose the weight.  You can't predict it on a chart (believe me I've tried LOL).

But overall the scale WILL go down, little by little.

And that's great.

But you know what? 

It's not the most important thing. 
Not really.

The most important part of this journey is achieving CONTROL over our eating.

I'll say that again because it's incredibly important. 

The most important part of this journey is achieving CONTROL over our eating.

It's about CONTROL!

Any of you been out of control with a binge?  Oh yeah...I hear you! 

There is nothing worse. 

You feel like you fell down into a black HOLE of DESPAIR.  Nothing makes sense in your world anymore.  Everything's turned upside down.  You don't think about anything else except "What can I eat NEXT?"....you're like a ROBOT, in a food trance, just fixated on what you can experience via taste 'next'.  Every food that was off limits suddenly has to be tried, and once you have that taste, you can't stop.  You have to eat it 'all'...and then you're looking around for...MORE!

Food rules your LIFE.  And then the sneak eating comes into play, as well, if you have to associate with ANY other human being on the planet...and especially if you live with someone.  You're hiding and/or sneaking food.  You're making runs out to the grocery store or the fast food joint to feed your habit.
It's a NIGHTMARE.

Now, some of you aren't true food addicts...you just had some bad eating habits that crept up over time, and Medifast is a quick and easy way to get your weight back under control and to 'reset your tastebuds' and retrain your head into what is a nutritious eating plan and what isn't.
You can lose 20, 30, even 40 lbs and get to goal and then maintenance and KNOW what not to eat anymore and you're fine.
I salute you.  I wish I were like you.

But not me.  Oh NO.  I'm a true food addict.  And that means, CONTROL is absolutely, 100% VITAL to my SURVIVAL and my HAPPINESS on this Earth!  So it's not ABOUT how many calories....it's about "Did I stick to my food plan?"

Period.

Today and every day.

So my little handwritten log?  Doesn't add up the calories, proteins, fats and carbs.  All is does is serve as a CHECKLIST....I check 'off' each meal as I eat it.  That's it.

I just make SURE that I've eaten all 5 MF meals plus a full L&G.  And lots of water....at least 8 glasses...and hopefully a bit of exercise....and I'm GOLDEN.

That's ALL I HAVE TO DO.

And that's really all YOU have to do, as well.  Just take it one day, one MEAL at a time if you have to.
Have a plan, be prepared....always have spare MF meals in your car, purse, whatever...and just DO IT.
Every 3 hours, you eat a packet.  Dinnertime you make your L&G.  Period. 

THAT'S WHAT YOU EAT NOW.

And that's ALL you eat now.

When you approach it that way, wonderful things start to happen.

Your body clears itself of all the chemicals, excess fat, sugar, etc. in your bloodstream and your hormones go back to normal and everything just functions the way it SHOULD.  No more extremes.
No more headaches, no more hot flashes, no more anxiety attacks or the shakes or not being able to sleep or being too full or bloated or....I don't have to go on, you guys KNOW what I'm talking about because most of you have BEEN THERE.  It's not fun.

But your body CLEARS when it's on the 5/1.  It purges the bad stuff out of our systems.

And your mind clears itself because you don't have to have a running argument/debate/bargaining session with yourself anymore. 
There is no argument if you don't listen!  Right?
There is no 'if', there are no games.....because you simply do the program.

And meanwhile you are shedding FAT.  Ketosis burns FAT.  No two ways about it.  The fat comes off, and the confidence level grows, and suddenly you realize that YOU ARE IN CONTROL ....maybe for the first time EVER!.....and you know that you can do this.

And it's the same once you get to maintenance!  It's simply a DIFFERENT food plan.  That's all.
But it's still a food plan.

As my own Coach is always saying, "The food plan RULES".  And she's right!  Once you stop bargaining, arguing, and listening to that voice in your head who we all know is Fat Brain....you are left with two choices.  Stay OP or go off.  Period.

Going off is not an option for me anymore.  Because I've HAD it with the loss of control. 
Ask my husband...ask anyone....they will tell you I'm definitely a 'control freak' LOL.  Most of us are.
We want control over our lives!  WE say what we'll do when, right?

So regaining CONTROL over our eating is paramount.  It's BASIC.  Because if THAT'S out of control, then our entire LIVES are out of control....and that's hell.  That's the black pit of despair.  That's lurching from one piece of sludge to another, eating whatever isn't nailed down (I become the 'Thing that Ate New Jersey' LOL)....and sneak eating.  And fixating on 'What can I eat next?' instead of on LIFE.

Life is beautiful....it's wonderful....but for us?  CONTROL over our eating is essential in order for us to be able to ENJOY it!  In order to clear that food mind-set, once and for all.  In order to STOP dieting, STOP the insanity, STOP the yo-yoing and the scale and the nightmare which never seems to end...
and achieve PEACE with our eating. 

And when you think about it, even NORMAL people control their eating....they will automatically 'cut back';  for instance, after a heavy-duty Thanksgiving day eating fest...for several days....WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT.
They just 'do it'.  They'll say things like "I'm just not hungry".  (what a concept LOL).

But we can't do that.  For us, the control part will NEVER be 'automatic'.
But that's OK!  We can still control our eating....it just means we have to do it physically, we have to think about it.  That's all.

So stay OP, one day at a time, one meal at a time, and regain CONTROL over your eating...and your life.

Linda
angiecat6@comcast.net