Happy Sunday morning! I can hardly believe we're at the end of another month! I hope you've seen some real progress this month and that you're ending May several pounds lighter than you started.
I spent yesterday morning watching my two oldest granddaughters play soccer. After the games, I stopped at my daughter's house to drop off some things she is borrowing for an upcoming party. While I was at her house, my 4-year old granddaughter came up to me and asked, "Grandma, you're all better now? You're not sick anymore?" I was puzzled because I haven't been sick in a while and had no idea what would prompt her to ask me about my health.
My daughter heard the question and walked into the room to explain that she and her girls had been looking at photos of them as babies, and they saw pictures of me before I lost weight. Since the girls are now 6 and 4, and since I've been at my goal for over a year, neither of them have any real memory of me at 268 pounds. When they think of me, they think of me as I am now (thank the Lord!!), so they didn't know what to make of the obese person in the photos. My daughter explained to them that when those photos were taken, I wasn't feeling very well.
I think her explanation pretty much sums it up. Two years ago, I didn't feel well - physically or emotionally. It's not that I was chronically sick or depressed, because I wasn't, but I didn't feel WELL. I didn't have energy and moving around a lot sapped my strength, so I was quite sedentary. I was diabetic and on medication for cholesterol and gastric reflux. I wasn't depressed (and having been clinically depressed in the past, I know what true depression is), but I also felt lousy about myself. I hated how I looked, I hated not being able to get this area of my life under control, I hated having to negotiate spaces to make sure I'd fit, I hated always comparing my size to others.
Dr. Andersen calls this living in a non-sick state. We aren't sick, but we aren't healthy, either. That's the state I lived in for a very long time. When we're living in a non-sick state, if we don't make changes, our address will eventually and inevitably change to "sick state." The good news is that we can move to a much better neighborhood :-)! The changes we are making now, day by day, will move us to health and has put us on the path towards optimal health. Health and optimal health sounds a lot better than "non-sick", doesn't it?
So as far as my little granddaughters are concerned, Grandma used to not feel well, and now she does. Someday they will understand a lot more about the journey I'm on and where I came from, but for right now, all they know is that Grandma is healthy and feel fabulous!
I want everyone else to feel healthy and fabulous, too, which is why I write a daily blog as a way to hopefully encourage you. You'll get there, one Medifast meal at a time!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Protecting True Wealth
I hope you're having a great Saturday! Mine is starting out with watching back-to-back soccer games, first for my 4-year old granddaughter, followed by a game that her 6-year old sister will play in. The team of 4-year olds is fun - watching the coach trying to coach them is like watching someone trying to herd cats :-). My little gal is more interested in watching the clouds than the ball right now, but she has fun and gets some exercise, which is the major point of having 4-year olds playing soccer. The 6-year old, on the other hand, has evolved from the cloud-watcher she was at age 4 to being fairly competitive, so watching the two games will be a study in contrast.
I had TV on yesterday morning while I got ready for the day and a commercial for a vitamin supplement caught my attention. It wasn't the product that caught my eye, rather, it was the slogan, "Your health is your true wealth." I wrote it down right away so I wouldn't forget it (aren't you glad? otherwise, I don't know what I would have written about today! ).
Now I don't take any slogan at face value, especially one touting a product on TV, so I had to think about this a while. The first question I had to ask is, "is this a true statement?"
I stop short of saying that my health is my TRUE wealth, because I believe in laying up my treasure in heaven, where nothing can damage or destroy it, but my health is certainly incredibly valuable to me - it's one of the most valuable earthy things I have. Without a certain measure of good health, a lot of other things I have this side of heaven don't really mean much. At the very least, my ability to enjoy life would be greatly diminished if my health was compromised.
Think about it! Would it really matter how much money we had if we were sick? Would it be more difficult to enjoy time with family and friends if we were struggling with health issues? I know I'm having a lot more fun with my grandchildren now that I can easily get on the floor with them or chase them around in circles - things that were difficult to do when I carried around an extra 126 pounds. Taking a long walk with my husband is much easier and more enjoyable now because my knees don't hurt all the time, and neither does my back.
So many medications have side-effects, including making people feel more tired, so imagine what a difference it would make to be off of those meds because your weight loss has reversed the condition that warranted going on them in the first place. How much would that be worth?
This plan is about so much more than just losing weight and getting into a fun, small size (not that I'm diminishing this, because it's wonderful!). This is about getting healthy and staying healthy. This about reversing some health concerns and preventing others, not only increasing the length of our lives but also greatly increasing the quality of our lives.
None of this happens overnight, of course, but it DOES happen over time, one Medifast meal at a time :-). You are worth the effort, and your health, both now and in the future, may well depend on it. Your health is one of your most important treasures, so treat it as a treasure. You'll never regret it!
I had TV on yesterday morning while I got ready for the day and a commercial for a vitamin supplement caught my attention. It wasn't the product that caught my eye, rather, it was the slogan, "Your health is your true wealth." I wrote it down right away so I wouldn't forget it (aren't you glad? otherwise, I don't know what I would have written about today! ).
Now I don't take any slogan at face value, especially one touting a product on TV, so I had to think about this a while. The first question I had to ask is, "is this a true statement?"
I stop short of saying that my health is my TRUE wealth, because I believe in laying up my treasure in heaven, where nothing can damage or destroy it, but my health is certainly incredibly valuable to me - it's one of the most valuable earthy things I have. Without a certain measure of good health, a lot of other things I have this side of heaven don't really mean much. At the very least, my ability to enjoy life would be greatly diminished if my health was compromised.
Think about it! Would it really matter how much money we had if we were sick? Would it be more difficult to enjoy time with family and friends if we were struggling with health issues? I know I'm having a lot more fun with my grandchildren now that I can easily get on the floor with them or chase them around in circles - things that were difficult to do when I carried around an extra 126 pounds. Taking a long walk with my husband is much easier and more enjoyable now because my knees don't hurt all the time, and neither does my back.
So many medications have side-effects, including making people feel more tired, so imagine what a difference it would make to be off of those meds because your weight loss has reversed the condition that warranted going on them in the first place. How much would that be worth?
This plan is about so much more than just losing weight and getting into a fun, small size (not that I'm diminishing this, because it's wonderful!). This is about getting healthy and staying healthy. This about reversing some health concerns and preventing others, not only increasing the length of our lives but also greatly increasing the quality of our lives.
None of this happens overnight, of course, but it DOES happen over time, one Medifast meal at a time :-). You are worth the effort, and your health, both now and in the future, may well depend on it. Your health is one of your most important treasures, so treat it as a treasure. You'll never regret it!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Staying Motivated When It Isn't Fun Anymore
Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've had a good week and are ready for the weekend (these 4-day work weeks really help the weekends come around a bit faster, don't they!).
Are ready for an on-plan weekend? If you've had a good week on plan and have seen the scale move in the right direction, you are probably (hopefully!) planning on staying on track over the weekend, too (you are, aren't you??). But what if you've stayed on plan all week and the scale hasn't moved? What if it hasn't moved in a couple of weeks? Staying focused when we're not seeing the results we want is an entirely different matter, and I understand how hard it is when the scale is stuck. I know how easy it is to think that we "might as well enjoy" ourselves since we're not losing weight anyway. I've seen people rationalize that "maybe a weekend of eating off plan will jump-start my metabolism and get the scale moving again." You can probably already guess that I strongly caution against slipping into that mindset!
How DO we keep motivated when the scale refuses to budge? How do we keep our focus when progress is painfully slow? Our fast-paced, instant-gratification society sets us up to expect immediate results all the time, so many of us aren’t accustomed to waiting for much of anything. In my past life (before Take Shape for Life/ Medifast), I actually left one drive-through line at a fast food restaurant because I decided it was too long and went to another fast food restaurant where I could drive right up and order my food without waiting! Never mind the fact that it was fast food to begin with, or that I didn’t even have to park my car and get out to get it – I wanted the fast food FAST (are you beginning to understand how I got to 268 pounds?) That need for instant gratification kicked in over and over again with past weight loss plans because my desire to lose weight quickly dissipated when faced with the temptation of the day, and I chose the immediate thing over waiting to get what I really wanted – a thin and healthy body.
When I was on Take Shape for Life/Medifast's 5&1 plan, I finally realized that the weight didn't come on in a day and that it wouldn't come off in a day, either :-). I set up a spreadsheet to track my weight loss week by week, and what I saw was a lot of variation in how much I lost each week, but I also saw that those small weekly losses added up. I knew it was impossible to gain weight on less than 1,000 calories a day, and I knew that as long as I stayed on plan my body would eventually have to give up the pounds (and it tried hard sometimes to hang on to them). Like most of you, I had weeks where I only lost 1 pound, and I had several weeks when I didn't lose anything. Of course it was discouraging to see the scale stuck, but I'd look back at the losses I'd recorded over the previous weeks and realize that the scale would start moving again - it HAD to.
It's really the "reap what we sow" principle. If we are sowing good habits, they WILL eventually give us the return we're wanting - it is inevitable! We don't always see those results right away, but we can be confident that we WILL see them in time, if we're willing to give it time :-).
In Michigan, the weather is finally warm enough and the threat of frost is finally past, so farmers are out in their fields planting their summer crops. A lot of work and sweat goes into the planting, and then all they can do is wait and keep weeding and watering. Those seeds are germinating under ground, but it will be a while before they sprout, and even longer until it's time to harvest what is now being sown. If the farmer decides after a couple of days that nothing is happening because he's not seeing results, and if he stops watering and weeding, guess what? He won't end up with much of a crop. The harvest comes as he continues to do the hard work and as he patiently waits.
You are sowing your own seeds right now that will soon give you a harvest of good health. Your part is to do the hard work, whether you feel like it or not, whether you're seeing results at the moment or not. Even when you aren't seeing results, things ARE happening, both in your body and in your mind. You are leaning to choose the hard thing now, you are choosing to forgo the instant gratification, in order to gain something far better - what you REALLY want!
Are ready for an on-plan weekend? If you've had a good week on plan and have seen the scale move in the right direction, you are probably (hopefully!) planning on staying on track over the weekend, too (you are, aren't you??). But what if you've stayed on plan all week and the scale hasn't moved? What if it hasn't moved in a couple of weeks? Staying focused when we're not seeing the results we want is an entirely different matter, and I understand how hard it is when the scale is stuck. I know how easy it is to think that we "might as well enjoy" ourselves since we're not losing weight anyway. I've seen people rationalize that "maybe a weekend of eating off plan will jump-start my metabolism and get the scale moving again." You can probably already guess that I strongly caution against slipping into that mindset!
How DO we keep motivated when the scale refuses to budge? How do we keep our focus when progress is painfully slow? Our fast-paced, instant-gratification society sets us up to expect immediate results all the time, so many of us aren’t accustomed to waiting for much of anything. In my past life (before Take Shape for Life/ Medifast), I actually left one drive-through line at a fast food restaurant because I decided it was too long and went to another fast food restaurant where I could drive right up and order my food without waiting! Never mind the fact that it was fast food to begin with, or that I didn’t even have to park my car and get out to get it – I wanted the fast food FAST (are you beginning to understand how I got to 268 pounds?) That need for instant gratification kicked in over and over again with past weight loss plans because my desire to lose weight quickly dissipated when faced with the temptation of the day, and I chose the immediate thing over waiting to get what I really wanted – a thin and healthy body.
When I was on Take Shape for Life/Medifast's 5&1 plan, I finally realized that the weight didn't come on in a day and that it wouldn't come off in a day, either :-). I set up a spreadsheet to track my weight loss week by week, and what I saw was a lot of variation in how much I lost each week, but I also saw that those small weekly losses added up. I knew it was impossible to gain weight on less than 1,000 calories a day, and I knew that as long as I stayed on plan my body would eventually have to give up the pounds (and it tried hard sometimes to hang on to them). Like most of you, I had weeks where I only lost 1 pound, and I had several weeks when I didn't lose anything. Of course it was discouraging to see the scale stuck, but I'd look back at the losses I'd recorded over the previous weeks and realize that the scale would start moving again - it HAD to.
It's really the "reap what we sow" principle. If we are sowing good habits, they WILL eventually give us the return we're wanting - it is inevitable! We don't always see those results right away, but we can be confident that we WILL see them in time, if we're willing to give it time :-).
In Michigan, the weather is finally warm enough and the threat of frost is finally past, so farmers are out in their fields planting their summer crops. A lot of work and sweat goes into the planting, and then all they can do is wait and keep weeding and watering. Those seeds are germinating under ground, but it will be a while before they sprout, and even longer until it's time to harvest what is now being sown. If the farmer decides after a couple of days that nothing is happening because he's not seeing results, and if he stops watering and weeding, guess what? He won't end up with much of a crop. The harvest comes as he continues to do the hard work and as he patiently waits.
You are sowing your own seeds right now that will soon give you a harvest of good health. Your part is to do the hard work, whether you feel like it or not, whether you're seeing results at the moment or not. Even when you aren't seeing results, things ARE happening, both in your body and in your mind. You are leaning to choose the hard thing now, you are choosing to forgo the instant gratification, in order to gain something far better - what you REALLY want!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
A Little Planning Makes the Difference
I'm heading to the zoo this morning to meet my daughter, her husband, and their 2-yr. old twins - it should be a fun morning! My husband and I are both fine-tuning a bit (near the top of our goal range, but still at a healthy BMI and in our goal size), so we've packed a Medifast crunch bar for our picnic lunch.
I love Take Shape for Life/Medifast! The food tastes good, which makes it SO easy to incorporate 2-3 Medifast meals into each day. Take Shape for Life taught me to eat 5-6 small meals a day and using some of the Medifast products keeps it simple.
People often ask me if I'll use Medifast meals forever, and I know the answer they want to hear is "no." I tell them that I don't have to use these products, but I CHOOSE to use them, and I always will. I'm basically lazy by nature and my nature is to take the path of least resistance. Having food ready to grab and go helps me make wise choices when I'm hungry. Of course, the products only work if I plan ahead to make sure I have what I need, so each evening I check my schedule for the next day and get things together. It only takes a couple of minutes, but those few minutes help to ensure that things won't spin out of control the next day if my schedule gets crazy.
Keep it simple: commit to staying on plan and then plan your day to make sure you do :-). If you have your Medifast meals ready to go, that's what you'll reach for when you're hungry, and each Medifast meal you eat is one meal closer to your goal!
I love Take Shape for Life/Medifast! The food tastes good, which makes it SO easy to incorporate 2-3 Medifast meals into each day. Take Shape for Life taught me to eat 5-6 small meals a day and using some of the Medifast products keeps it simple.
People often ask me if I'll use Medifast meals forever, and I know the answer they want to hear is "no." I tell them that I don't have to use these products, but I CHOOSE to use them, and I always will. I'm basically lazy by nature and my nature is to take the path of least resistance. Having food ready to grab and go helps me make wise choices when I'm hungry. Of course, the products only work if I plan ahead to make sure I have what I need, so each evening I check my schedule for the next day and get things together. It only takes a couple of minutes, but those few minutes help to ensure that things won't spin out of control the next day if my schedule gets crazy.
Keep it simple: commit to staying on plan and then plan your day to make sure you do :-). If you have your Medifast meals ready to go, that's what you'll reach for when you're hungry, and each Medifast meal you eat is one meal closer to your goal!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Stressed or Blessed?
I received one of those infamous e-mail forwards yesterday from one of my friends. I have to be honest and confess that I usually delete any forwards without reading them, partly because I don't have time to read everything I receive and partly because if there are multiple forwards, there's a good chance I've read it before. However, I decided to open this one, which was an embedded PowerPoint file. Each slide had a positive message and the music was nice, so I let it play.
One slide caught my attention, however. It said "Too blessed to be stressed." That sounds pretty simplistic, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that profound thoughts are often wrapped in simple phrases. As I thought about this phrase, I realized that it's all about our perspective and what we choose to focus on.
Each one of us has things in our lives that could stress us out if we focused on them. The economy is difficult, our investments and 401k accounts have tanked; perhaps our kids are making us crazy or we are overworked and underpaid at our jobs; the house needs cleaning, there are weeds to be pulled, the car needs a tune-up. And oh yes - we're on a diet (that's enough to stress anybody, right?)!
If we allow ourselves to focus on the challenges, we will live stressed-out lives. That does NOT mean that we should just pretend that everything is wonderful and ignore the challenges - denial isn't the answer :-). But what we can do is take a look at the bigger picture and look for the blessings that are wrapped in those challenges. We can also look at all of the blessings in our lives - and we are all blessed people, when we stop and think about it.
Again, I don't want to minimize the situations that many of you find yourselves in today, because I know that some of you are going through very deep waters right now. My concern is that if we become focused on the stress and not the blessings, it becomes that much more difficult to maintain the positive outlook and positive energy we need to get through the day. If we're focused on the stress, we're less likely to take care of ourselves, and we're less likely to think it's important to take care of ourselves. If we're focused on the stress, it's a lot easier to rationalize that we "deserve" to eat off-plan, or that it will be easier to focus on losing weight when we're not under so much pressure.
I want to encourage you today to keep on keeping on! Look for the blessings in your life and take time to give thanks for them - it will change your perspective.
And just in case you need a gentle reminder, one of your blessings is the opportunity you have to be on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1 :-). You have the privilege of being on a plan that is proven to safely and quickly get you to a healthy weight, and it's providing all of the nutrition you need as you get there. Each day that you're on plan is another day closer to your goal - another blessing!
Who's committed to an on-plan day today? Anybody want to count a blessing or two along the way?
One slide caught my attention, however. It said "Too blessed to be stressed." That sounds pretty simplistic, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that profound thoughts are often wrapped in simple phrases. As I thought about this phrase, I realized that it's all about our perspective and what we choose to focus on.
Each one of us has things in our lives that could stress us out if we focused on them. The economy is difficult, our investments and 401k accounts have tanked; perhaps our kids are making us crazy or we are overworked and underpaid at our jobs; the house needs cleaning, there are weeds to be pulled, the car needs a tune-up. And oh yes - we're on a diet (that's enough to stress anybody, right?)!
If we allow ourselves to focus on the challenges, we will live stressed-out lives. That does NOT mean that we should just pretend that everything is wonderful and ignore the challenges - denial isn't the answer :-). But what we can do is take a look at the bigger picture and look for the blessings that are wrapped in those challenges. We can also look at all of the blessings in our lives - and we are all blessed people, when we stop and think about it.
Again, I don't want to minimize the situations that many of you find yourselves in today, because I know that some of you are going through very deep waters right now. My concern is that if we become focused on the stress and not the blessings, it becomes that much more difficult to maintain the positive outlook and positive energy we need to get through the day. If we're focused on the stress, we're less likely to take care of ourselves, and we're less likely to think it's important to take care of ourselves. If we're focused on the stress, it's a lot easier to rationalize that we "deserve" to eat off-plan, or that it will be easier to focus on losing weight when we're not under so much pressure.
I want to encourage you today to keep on keeping on! Look for the blessings in your life and take time to give thanks for them - it will change your perspective.
And just in case you need a gentle reminder, one of your blessings is the opportunity you have to be on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1 :-). You have the privilege of being on a plan that is proven to safely and quickly get you to a healthy weight, and it's providing all of the nutrition you need as you get there. Each day that you're on plan is another day closer to your goal - another blessing!
Who's committed to an on-plan day today? Anybody want to count a blessing or two along the way?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Redefining Freedom
Good morning! I hope everyone survived the Memorial Day weekend, and that you did more than survived - I hope you thrived :-). All of our family is now gone and things will settle into a more normal routine once again. It was wonderful having my sister in town for two weeks and I miss her already.
Yesterday was a day to reflect on those who gave their lives for our freedom. As I reflected on what it means to be free, I thought about how easy it is to move from freedom to entrapment, often without even realizing it.
That was certainly true for me when it came to eating. I had the freedom to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and that's exactly what I did. But that freedom eventually turned to bondage as the pounds piled on, and I found myself trapped in a cycle I couldn't get out of, until God led me to Take Shape for Life/Medifast.
There isn't much freedom on 5&1 (has anybody else noticed this? lol). We're given very stringent guidelines for what to eat, when to eat it, and how much of it to eat, and there really isn't room to vary off course. At first, it felt very restrictive and I missed the freedom to eat what I wanted, when I wanted. I missed the fruit, I missed the bread and I felt like I had chained myself to something that had taken away all my choices.
A funny thing happened, however, somewhere along my journey. I began to view the restraints of 5&1 as the means to give me a whole new sense of freedom. As I continued on my journey, the chains of binge eating were slowly being released and I finally realized that my long struggle with obesity would come to an end.
My experience reminds of of the story of what happened to the Israelites after God miraculously delivered them from Egypt following that first Passover. They had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years, suffering terribly under their taskmasters until God used Moses to bring them out and started them on their journey towards the Promised Land. To get from where they were in Egypt to the Promised Land, a place flowing with milk and honey, they had to spend time in the desert (due to their disobedience, that time ended up being 40 years). While they were in the desert, God faithfully provided the food they needed each day in the form of mana, sent from heaven each morning. Guess what? The people got tired of eating the same food each day and began to talk about returning to Egypt as they thought about the food they were able to eat there. They had no concept of what the Promised Land was like - all they knew was that they weren't happy in the desert and they were tired of the same food day after day. They seemed to forget about the bondage they had suffered and were only focused on the foods they weren't eating.
I thought about this story more than once while I was on 5&1 and it wasn't hard for me to find applications to my own life. I had no idea what life would be like for me once I reached my own "promised land" of goal, and I wasn't always particularly enjoying my desert journey :-). But I did realize that what I'd left behind was bondage to a weight and a mindset that I no longer wanted - things that weren't freedom at all. As I asked God each day to help me get through one more day, He gave me the strength I needed to put one foot in front of the other and keep on walking. It wasn't always fun, but I learned to find joy along the way as new habits replaced old ones.
What I found on this side of goal is a whole new freedom, one that greatly exceeds what I called freedom before. That freedom includes restraints, because I can't eat whatever I want whenever I want it in whatever quantity I want, but within those restraints there is the joy that comes from self-control. As long as I live within those restraints, I know that I won't face the health risks of obesity and I know that I'll continue to enjoy my size 6's.
All of you have embarked on your own journey towards your own "promised land," and most of you are somewhere in the desert right now. The sun may be hot and the sand may be irritating between your toes, but keep on walking! There is so much to gain by persevering! This journey really does have an end, and when you reach the other side, you will never regret sticking with it today. The restraints of 5&1 are the vehicle that will bring you an entirely new and wonderful kind of freedom.
Yesterday was a day to reflect on those who gave their lives for our freedom. As I reflected on what it means to be free, I thought about how easy it is to move from freedom to entrapment, often without even realizing it.
That was certainly true for me when it came to eating. I had the freedom to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and that's exactly what I did. But that freedom eventually turned to bondage as the pounds piled on, and I found myself trapped in a cycle I couldn't get out of, until God led me to Take Shape for Life/Medifast.
There isn't much freedom on 5&1 (has anybody else noticed this? lol). We're given very stringent guidelines for what to eat, when to eat it, and how much of it to eat, and there really isn't room to vary off course. At first, it felt very restrictive and I missed the freedom to eat what I wanted, when I wanted. I missed the fruit, I missed the bread and I felt like I had chained myself to something that had taken away all my choices.
A funny thing happened, however, somewhere along my journey. I began to view the restraints of 5&1 as the means to give me a whole new sense of freedom. As I continued on my journey, the chains of binge eating were slowly being released and I finally realized that my long struggle with obesity would come to an end.
My experience reminds of of the story of what happened to the Israelites after God miraculously delivered them from Egypt following that first Passover. They had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years, suffering terribly under their taskmasters until God used Moses to bring them out and started them on their journey towards the Promised Land. To get from where they were in Egypt to the Promised Land, a place flowing with milk and honey, they had to spend time in the desert (due to their disobedience, that time ended up being 40 years). While they were in the desert, God faithfully provided the food they needed each day in the form of mana, sent from heaven each morning. Guess what? The people got tired of eating the same food each day and began to talk about returning to Egypt as they thought about the food they were able to eat there. They had no concept of what the Promised Land was like - all they knew was that they weren't happy in the desert and they were tired of the same food day after day. They seemed to forget about the bondage they had suffered and were only focused on the foods they weren't eating.
I thought about this story more than once while I was on 5&1 and it wasn't hard for me to find applications to my own life. I had no idea what life would be like for me once I reached my own "promised land" of goal, and I wasn't always particularly enjoying my desert journey :-). But I did realize that what I'd left behind was bondage to a weight and a mindset that I no longer wanted - things that weren't freedom at all. As I asked God each day to help me get through one more day, He gave me the strength I needed to put one foot in front of the other and keep on walking. It wasn't always fun, but I learned to find joy along the way as new habits replaced old ones.
What I found on this side of goal is a whole new freedom, one that greatly exceeds what I called freedom before. That freedom includes restraints, because I can't eat whatever I want whenever I want it in whatever quantity I want, but within those restraints there is the joy that comes from self-control. As long as I live within those restraints, I know that I won't face the health risks of obesity and I know that I'll continue to enjoy my size 6's.
All of you have embarked on your own journey towards your own "promised land," and most of you are somewhere in the desert right now. The sun may be hot and the sand may be irritating between your toes, but keep on walking! There is so much to gain by persevering! This journey really does have an end, and when you reach the other side, you will never regret sticking with it today. The restraints of 5&1 are the vehicle that will bring you an entirely new and wonderful kind of freedom.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Happy Memorial Day!
Happy Memorial Day! On this day that is set aside to honor those who gave their lives to protect our freedom, I'm so thankful for their sacrifice. We are so blessed to live in this country, so blessed to have the freedom to dream and then pursue those dreams. I'm thankful for the men and women who have given their lives to protect us, and who are serving around the world today. May God continue to bless and protect this nation!
Have a wonderful (and on-plan) Memorial Day!
Have a wonderful (and on-plan) Memorial Day!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Commit and Plan
Happy Sunday! It's going to be a busy day for me, but it's all good! Several family members are still in town following last night's celebration of my mom's 80th birthday and we're all going to church with my parents this morning. After church everyone is coming back to my house for dinner; several of them will spend the afternoon and evening here, relaxing and watching either sports or a movie (or both). Times together with my siblings is very limited as the four of us live in four different states, so this is a special time for all of us.
Whatever your Sunday includes, I hope it's a wonderful (and on-plan) day! I hope you've carefully planned your meals for today, and that you have a contingency plan just in case plans change in the middle of the day. Staying on plan requires two simple things: committing to stay on plan and then planning to make sure that you do :-).
Whatever your Sunday includes, I hope it's a wonderful (and on-plan) day! I hope you've carefully planned your meals for today, and that you have a contingency plan just in case plans change in the middle of the day. Staying on plan requires two simple things: committing to stay on plan and then planning to make sure that you do :-).
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Surviving Memorial Weekend and Beyond
Can you believe it? This is Memorial Day weekend, the official kick-off to summer! This can also be a very challenging weekend for everyone who wants to stay on plan because food seems to be an integral part of the celebration. Many of us will be getting together with family members and friends sometime this weekend, and there will be a lot of temptation for us to deal with. Some of us will also have to deal with well-meaning family members and friends who will try to talk us into eating off plan.
I am often asked if I ever stepped off the path and ate something that was not on plan, and I'm also asked how I kept going on plan on those days I didn't feel like it. Since it's Memorial Day weekend, this is a perfect time to address not only how I handled these times, but to hopefully help you get through unscathed, too :-).
In answer to the question about if I ever stepped off the path and ate something that was not on plan, the answer is yes and no. There were a couple of times (Christmas Day and on last year's Medifast cruise) when I took one bite of a dessert, just to taste it (on the cruise, I had one bite of my daughter's dessert every night). So yes, I had a taste of something that wasn't on plan. But the answer is also "no," because I never kicked myself out of the fat-burning state the entire 11 months I was on plan.
As I've shared before, the fact that I stayed on plan was NOT because I was strong. Trust me - over 20 years of failed dieting and a starting weight of 260 had me feeling about as weak as a person could feel, and there was nothing to make me think that Take Shape for Life/Medifast would be any different. Because the cost was a bit of a stretch for me, I made the decision to actually follow the plan as written, without any deviation or any attempt at "outsmarting" it. I reasoned that if I wanted to play around with a plan, I could pull one of the many diet books I owned off of my bookshelf and do that one. Initially, I figured I'd do the program for a month and see what happened. I was pretty skeptical, but mixed in with that skepticism was a smidgen of hope that maybe, just maybe, this would somehow be "it."
That first week, losing 9 pounds and seeing my blood glucose numbers return to normal was very exciting, and my skepticism diminished a bit as my hope began to grow. I had a rocky time getting into the fat-burning state, including a lousy headache, and that made me motivated to not go off plan because I did NOT want to relive those three days again :-). I felt great, I wasn't hungry, which amazed me, and I didn't want to mess it up. My head was in the game and I was scared that if I started messing around, I'd lose that focus and might have trouble getting it back. That fear kept me on plan because I felt like I was just about out of non-surgical options for losing the weight.
I also stayed on plan, even when I didn't want to, because I was sick and tired of feeling, well, sick and tired. I hated how I felt and I hated how I looked; I hated constantly having to figure out if I would or wouldn't fit in a given space, wondering if a standard lawn chair would support my weight or worrying that the airplane seatbelt wouldn't fasten - I hated it. When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, I was sick of being fat and I was sick of the endless cycle of yo-yo-dieting. I knew it was going to take me a long time to lose the weight (it happened much faster than I thought it would) and I knew that cheating would only keep me fat longer. I reasoned that I'd spent over 20 years fighting the obesity battle and I didn't want to waste another day that I didn't have to being overweight.
I was also tired of feeling guilty about almost everything I ate. When I was on one diet or another and cheating, I felt guilty. When I wasn't on a diet, I knew that I SHOULD be and I felt guilty about all of the high-fat, high-calorie food I ate. I was tired of thinking "I know I shouldn't be eating this" while I ate, and I decided I didn't want to live like that any longer. I reasoned that all of those foods would come back, in moderation, once I reached my goal, and I envisioned how wonderful it would be to actually enjoy food, and enjoy it at my goal weight.
That's pretty much the "why" of my choosing to stay on plan, so let me share the "how."
I incorporated as much variety as I could into each day. I like almost all of the Medifast foods, and found that just a pinch of spice or herbs was all I needed to allow me to actually look forward to each meal. I had a variety of shakes, oatmeals, soups, bars, puddings and drinks and never had the exact same flavors two days in a row. I ate different Medifast foods on the weekends (scrambled eggs, oatmeal muffins, cream of tomato soup pizza or taco bread), which gave me something to look forward to each weekend. If my kids were coming over and ordering pizza, I made sure that I had my Medifast pizza then so that what I ate looked and tasted a lot like what they were eating. It was important to me to not feel deprived, and I honestly never did.
I focused on what I was gaining instead of what I wasn't eating and tried to keep an "attitude of gratitude" as I did the program.
That's not to say I never had a pity party, because I can assure you that I did. There were certainly days when I wanted to spend the entire day eating non-Medifast meals, but I stayed committed to just taking it one meal at a time. I viewed this as a season in my life that I'd set aside to get healthy, and I wanted to make this season as short as possible :-). I tired of staying on plan, but I never tired of seeing the scale moving down and getting into smaller sizes!
I also spent time looking at all of the success photos and reading the success stories, and it was so inspiring to realize that many others had already had wonderful success on this program. I'd look at those goal photos and think about how wonderful it would be to post photos of my own.
For those summer holiday weekends, like this one, I had grilled chicken and a great salad, then enjoyed a bar, pudding, or shake cake while everyone else had dessert. I learned it was possible to focus on just enjoying the people around me instead of making it all about the food. Getting through a summer holiday weekend and staying on plan was very empowering - I never regretted staying on plan and doing so strengthened my resolve for the next challenge.
Lastly, as most of you already know, I daily asked God to give me the strength I needed. I knew I couldn't do it on my own, so I asked my Heavenly Father to help me. When I hit moments where I felt ready to cave, I asked for help, and He was faithful to give me what I needed when I needed it.
Much of what I've shared here has been shared before, but I hope something I've shared will encourage you to stay on plan this holiday weekend. I can promise you that if you hang in there, you'll be so glad you did next Tuesday morning, because you'll be that much closer to your goal.
I am often asked if I ever stepped off the path and ate something that was not on plan, and I'm also asked how I kept going on plan on those days I didn't feel like it. Since it's Memorial Day weekend, this is a perfect time to address not only how I handled these times, but to hopefully help you get through unscathed, too :-).
In answer to the question about if I ever stepped off the path and ate something that was not on plan, the answer is yes and no. There were a couple of times (Christmas Day and on last year's Medifast cruise) when I took one bite of a dessert, just to taste it (on the cruise, I had one bite of my daughter's dessert every night). So yes, I had a taste of something that wasn't on plan. But the answer is also "no," because I never kicked myself out of the fat-burning state the entire 11 months I was on plan.
As I've shared before, the fact that I stayed on plan was NOT because I was strong. Trust me - over 20 years of failed dieting and a starting weight of 260 had me feeling about as weak as a person could feel, and there was nothing to make me think that Take Shape for Life/Medifast would be any different. Because the cost was a bit of a stretch for me, I made the decision to actually follow the plan as written, without any deviation or any attempt at "outsmarting" it. I reasoned that if I wanted to play around with a plan, I could pull one of the many diet books I owned off of my bookshelf and do that one. Initially, I figured I'd do the program for a month and see what happened. I was pretty skeptical, but mixed in with that skepticism was a smidgen of hope that maybe, just maybe, this would somehow be "it."
That first week, losing 9 pounds and seeing my blood glucose numbers return to normal was very exciting, and my skepticism diminished a bit as my hope began to grow. I had a rocky time getting into the fat-burning state, including a lousy headache, and that made me motivated to not go off plan because I did NOT want to relive those three days again :-). I felt great, I wasn't hungry, which amazed me, and I didn't want to mess it up. My head was in the game and I was scared that if I started messing around, I'd lose that focus and might have trouble getting it back. That fear kept me on plan because I felt like I was just about out of non-surgical options for losing the weight.
I also stayed on plan, even when I didn't want to, because I was sick and tired of feeling, well, sick and tired. I hated how I felt and I hated how I looked; I hated constantly having to figure out if I would or wouldn't fit in a given space, wondering if a standard lawn chair would support my weight or worrying that the airplane seatbelt wouldn't fasten - I hated it. When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, I was sick of being fat and I was sick of the endless cycle of yo-yo-dieting. I knew it was going to take me a long time to lose the weight (it happened much faster than I thought it would) and I knew that cheating would only keep me fat longer. I reasoned that I'd spent over 20 years fighting the obesity battle and I didn't want to waste another day that I didn't have to being overweight.
I was also tired of feeling guilty about almost everything I ate. When I was on one diet or another and cheating, I felt guilty. When I wasn't on a diet, I knew that I SHOULD be and I felt guilty about all of the high-fat, high-calorie food I ate. I was tired of thinking "I know I shouldn't be eating this" while I ate, and I decided I didn't want to live like that any longer. I reasoned that all of those foods would come back, in moderation, once I reached my goal, and I envisioned how wonderful it would be to actually enjoy food, and enjoy it at my goal weight.
That's pretty much the "why" of my choosing to stay on plan, so let me share the "how."
I incorporated as much variety as I could into each day. I like almost all of the Medifast foods, and found that just a pinch of spice or herbs was all I needed to allow me to actually look forward to each meal. I had a variety of shakes, oatmeals, soups, bars, puddings and drinks and never had the exact same flavors two days in a row. I ate different Medifast foods on the weekends (scrambled eggs, oatmeal muffins, cream of tomato soup pizza or taco bread), which gave me something to look forward to each weekend. If my kids were coming over and ordering pizza, I made sure that I had my Medifast pizza then so that what I ate looked and tasted a lot like what they were eating. It was important to me to not feel deprived, and I honestly never did.
I focused on what I was gaining instead of what I wasn't eating and tried to keep an "attitude of gratitude" as I did the program.
That's not to say I never had a pity party, because I can assure you that I did. There were certainly days when I wanted to spend the entire day eating non-Medifast meals, but I stayed committed to just taking it one meal at a time. I viewed this as a season in my life that I'd set aside to get healthy, and I wanted to make this season as short as possible :-). I tired of staying on plan, but I never tired of seeing the scale moving down and getting into smaller sizes!
I also spent time looking at all of the success photos and reading the success stories, and it was so inspiring to realize that many others had already had wonderful success on this program. I'd look at those goal photos and think about how wonderful it would be to post photos of my own.
For those summer holiday weekends, like this one, I had grilled chicken and a great salad, then enjoyed a bar, pudding, or shake cake while everyone else had dessert. I learned it was possible to focus on just enjoying the people around me instead of making it all about the food. Getting through a summer holiday weekend and staying on plan was very empowering - I never regretted staying on plan and doing so strengthened my resolve for the next challenge.
Lastly, as most of you already know, I daily asked God to give me the strength I needed. I knew I couldn't do it on my own, so I asked my Heavenly Father to help me. When I hit moments where I felt ready to cave, I asked for help, and He was faithful to give me what I needed when I needed it.
Much of what I've shared here has been shared before, but I hope something I've shared will encourage you to stay on plan this holiday weekend. I can promise you that if you hang in there, you'll be so glad you did next Tuesday morning, because you'll be that much closer to your goal.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Today is a very emotional day for me for a couple of reasons. First of all, today is my mom's 80th birthday (happy birthday, Mom!). Secondly, today marks one year since I reached my weight loss goal, and I'm happy to report that I'm maintaining my 126 pound weight loss and I'm still in my goal size 6 :-).
Just over a year ago, my mom's health was clearly declining. Over 20 years of diabetes was taking its toll, with partial loss of vision in one eye, diminished kidney function, and reduced circulation in her feet. Her blood sugar numbers were all over the board and trying to adjust her insulin was a constant struggle; on two different occasions my dad had to call paramedics when her blood sugar got too low and she lapsed into unconsciousness, once going into seizures. Moving was becoming more and more difficult for her and my dad felt certain that Mom would be wheelchair bound in the near future, causing concern that they might have to move since navigating their home in a wheelchair would be very difficult. There were times when I wondered if my mom would see her 80th birthday.
Shortly before reaching my own weight loss goal, my parents contacted me and told me that they both wanted to start on Take Shape for Life/Medifast. They had been watching me lose weight for almost a year and after seeing my own diabetes turn around, they were hopeful that this might help my mom's diabetes, too.
Since going on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, the change in my mom is absolutely remarkable! Not only has she lost about 45 pounds (and is having a LOT more fun buying clothes these days!), she has also seen a dramatic improvement in her health. She is off of her daytime insulin (still takes her overnight dose most of the time) and her blood glucose numbers pretty much stay within normal limits. She no longer experiences the dangerous and frightening low blood sugar episodes, her eyes and kidneys have stabilized, and she just feels better. My dad used to bring a small wheelchair for Mom just about everyplace they went, but the wheelchair now stays at home because she's able to walk more easily.
I am praising God this morning because I believe that He used Take Shape for Life/Medifast to help bring my mom to this day. Without this program, only God knows if she would still be here. I know that without the program, her quality of life would be much poorer than it is today. Take Shape for Life/Medifast has not only improved the quality of her life, but may very well have extended her life. I can't even begin to express how thankful I am!
Once again, I can only wonder how different things might be if I hadn't found Take Shape for Life/Medifast when I did (I tell people all the time that God led me to this program at just the right time). I wonder how different things might be if I hadn't found the strength I needed (God's strength, not mine . . . ) to stay on the plan and get to my goal. If this had been another failed attempt at dieting, I know my mom would never have decided to go on the program.
A year after reaching my goal, I'm healthy, my mom and dad are both a lot healthier, and so are a lot of other people I've had the privilege to help. And tomorrow night our family is coming together to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday!
If my mom can do this, is she was able to learn new, healthier habits at her age, then you can, too :-)
Just over a year ago, my mom's health was clearly declining. Over 20 years of diabetes was taking its toll, with partial loss of vision in one eye, diminished kidney function, and reduced circulation in her feet. Her blood sugar numbers were all over the board and trying to adjust her insulin was a constant struggle; on two different occasions my dad had to call paramedics when her blood sugar got too low and she lapsed into unconsciousness, once going into seizures. Moving was becoming more and more difficult for her and my dad felt certain that Mom would be wheelchair bound in the near future, causing concern that they might have to move since navigating their home in a wheelchair would be very difficult. There were times when I wondered if my mom would see her 80th birthday.
Shortly before reaching my own weight loss goal, my parents contacted me and told me that they both wanted to start on Take Shape for Life/Medifast. They had been watching me lose weight for almost a year and after seeing my own diabetes turn around, they were hopeful that this might help my mom's diabetes, too.
Since going on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, the change in my mom is absolutely remarkable! Not only has she lost about 45 pounds (and is having a LOT more fun buying clothes these days!), she has also seen a dramatic improvement in her health. She is off of her daytime insulin (still takes her overnight dose most of the time) and her blood glucose numbers pretty much stay within normal limits. She no longer experiences the dangerous and frightening low blood sugar episodes, her eyes and kidneys have stabilized, and she just feels better. My dad used to bring a small wheelchair for Mom just about everyplace they went, but the wheelchair now stays at home because she's able to walk more easily.
I am praising God this morning because I believe that He used Take Shape for Life/Medifast to help bring my mom to this day. Without this program, only God knows if she would still be here. I know that without the program, her quality of life would be much poorer than it is today. Take Shape for Life/Medifast has not only improved the quality of her life, but may very well have extended her life. I can't even begin to express how thankful I am!
Once again, I can only wonder how different things might be if I hadn't found Take Shape for Life/Medifast when I did (I tell people all the time that God led me to this program at just the right time). I wonder how different things might be if I hadn't found the strength I needed (God's strength, not mine . . . ) to stay on the plan and get to my goal. If this had been another failed attempt at dieting, I know my mom would never have decided to go on the program.
A year after reaching my goal, I'm healthy, my mom and dad are both a lot healthier, and so are a lot of other people I've had the privilege to help. And tomorrow night our family is coming together to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday!
If my mom can do this, is she was able to learn new, healthier habits at her age, then you can, too :-)
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Practice = Progress = New Habits
Yesterday morning I attended my 4-year old granddaughter's preschool graduation, and it was precious to see her and her other classmates sing their songs and recite their poems. After the program there was a small reception in the church basement (she attends a private Christian school) and I had a chance to look over a notebook containing all of her school projects for the year. Kayla was just past 3-1/2 when started preschool last fall (she turned 4 in late January), and it was wonderful to see the progress she made over the course of just a few months. Her printing went from large block letters that were clearly drawn with much effort to her later projects where the upper and lower case printing was much neater and more legible. I'm so glad that her teacher had a notebook of her progress (obviously each child had their own notebook), because without that notebook the progress wouldn't have been as evident - we quickly forget!
After the ceremony and reception, we celebrated at McDonalds where all of the adults had salads and my two granddaughters had, well, something else :-). They usually get apples slices with their Happy Meals, but this time my daughter let them have fries. Eating French fires is a rare things for the girls, so they were excited at the "treat." What was nice is that this former fry-aholic (that would be me!) wasn't even tempted :-). Honestly, the smell of the grease in the fryer was a real turnoff and I was very happy with my salad and iced coffee with sugar-free syrup. It wasn't that I couldn't have had something else, but that what I really wanted was exactly what I had - a healthier option!
Progress, whether it's a preschooler learning how to print or an adult learning how to make healthier choices, takes time. At first, learning something new takes a lot of effort and it feels (and it can even look) awkward. Changing how we've always done something isn't easy, and it can be tempting to quit sometimes because we don't think it's worth the effort, or we don't think that we really CAN learn something new.
I remember helping my own children learn to write, putting my hand over theirs and encouraging them to keep trying. The pencil felt clumsy in their hands, but as they received guidance and practiced, they all learned and soon became proficient.
That's how I lost my weight, and how you'll lose yours, too :-). What feels clumsy and awkward and the most unnatural thing in the world really WILL become second nature - in time and with practice. Others who are succeeding on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, or who have reached their goal, are available to place their hands over yours and provide gentle guidance so that you will succeed, too. All you have to do is practice making those healthy choices, one on-plan day at a time.
If you could use some help on your own journey, please contact me!
After the ceremony and reception, we celebrated at McDonalds where all of the adults had salads and my two granddaughters had, well, something else :-). They usually get apples slices with their Happy Meals, but this time my daughter let them have fries. Eating French fires is a rare things for the girls, so they were excited at the "treat." What was nice is that this former fry-aholic (that would be me!) wasn't even tempted :-). Honestly, the smell of the grease in the fryer was a real turnoff and I was very happy with my salad and iced coffee with sugar-free syrup. It wasn't that I couldn't have had something else, but that what I really wanted was exactly what I had - a healthier option!
Progress, whether it's a preschooler learning how to print or an adult learning how to make healthier choices, takes time. At first, learning something new takes a lot of effort and it feels (and it can even look) awkward. Changing how we've always done something isn't easy, and it can be tempting to quit sometimes because we don't think it's worth the effort, or we don't think that we really CAN learn something new.
I remember helping my own children learn to write, putting my hand over theirs and encouraging them to keep trying. The pencil felt clumsy in their hands, but as they received guidance and practiced, they all learned and soon became proficient.
That's how I lost my weight, and how you'll lose yours, too :-). What feels clumsy and awkward and the most unnatural thing in the world really WILL become second nature - in time and with practice. Others who are succeeding on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, or who have reached their goal, are available to place their hands over yours and provide gentle guidance so that you will succeed, too. All you have to do is practice making those healthy choices, one on-plan day at a time.
If you could use some help on your own journey, please contact me!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Reader's Digest!
Good morning, everyone!
To my surprise and delight, I received a couple of phone calls this past Sunday afternoon from people who opened up the June issue of Reader's Digest and found a full-page Medifast ad that featured my before & after photos and my weight loss story (on page 190). Needless to say, my husband and I headed for the store to pick up a copy or two for ourselves (OK, we bought four copies . . . lol).
This Friday, May 22, will mark one year since I reached my weight loss goal, losing 120 pounds in just under 11 months. I never dreamed a year ago that my story would be printed in an ad in a national magazine, and that I'd be excited at the prospect of hopefully inspiring someone else to place their own order. After spending so many years feeling embarrassed and ashamed about my size, it's almost incomprehensible to me to think that now anybody who picks up a copy of Reader's Digest will know my formerly closely-held secrets - my weight and my clothing size. The funny thing is, I'm totally OK with that because my hope and prayer is that maybe just one person will feel a flicker of hope by reading my story, just enough hope to prompt them to place an order and start on their own journey.
We had a get-together at our house last night for some of our friends who are currently on Take Shape for Life/Medifast and it was exciting to see them and hear their stories. Just because they saw ME lose weight, some of them decided to go on the program themselves; others heard about my story from someone else and ended up going on the program. I have three friends who have each lost over 100 pounds this past year, and several others who have reached weight loss goals after battling 30-70 extra pounds for years. Seeing people I care about lose weight and get healthy is thrilling - I know I'll never tire of it!
What's humbling is realizing that if I hadn't gone on Take Shape for Life/Medifast and lost weight myself, most of my friends who have now lost weight and reached or are nearing their goals would most likely still be struggling. The last thing that ever entered my mind when I started on the program was the thought that I would somehow be able to help somebody else. I was so desperate when I started and felt just about hopeless at ever escaping from the morbid obesity that entrapped me; I couldn't have imagined not only being released from that bondage but then being able to extend a hand to someone else. Humbling doesn't even begin to describe it . . . I'm so thankful!
I'm sharing this today because I want to encourage you, especially if this is a time of struggling to stay on plan. I keep stressing that it IS worth it, so I'll just say it again. Staying on plan and reaching your goal will not only be life-changing for you, but it may potentially be life-changing for people you care about. We all have people in our lives whom we love and who need to lose weight and get healthy, and they are watching us. What we choose to do today can have profound implications far beyond anything we can imagine, so keep on keeping on! A year from now, you may look back and be amazed at all the lives you've been able to help, in addition to your own.
To my surprise and delight, I received a couple of phone calls this past Sunday afternoon from people who opened up the June issue of Reader's Digest and found a full-page Medifast ad that featured my before & after photos and my weight loss story (on page 190). Needless to say, my husband and I headed for the store to pick up a copy or two for ourselves (OK, we bought four copies . . . lol).
This Friday, May 22, will mark one year since I reached my weight loss goal, losing 120 pounds in just under 11 months. I never dreamed a year ago that my story would be printed in an ad in a national magazine, and that I'd be excited at the prospect of hopefully inspiring someone else to place their own order. After spending so many years feeling embarrassed and ashamed about my size, it's almost incomprehensible to me to think that now anybody who picks up a copy of Reader's Digest will know my formerly closely-held secrets - my weight and my clothing size. The funny thing is, I'm totally OK with that because my hope and prayer is that maybe just one person will feel a flicker of hope by reading my story, just enough hope to prompt them to place an order and start on their own journey.
We had a get-together at our house last night for some of our friends who are currently on Take Shape for Life/Medifast and it was exciting to see them and hear their stories. Just because they saw ME lose weight, some of them decided to go on the program themselves; others heard about my story from someone else and ended up going on the program. I have three friends who have each lost over 100 pounds this past year, and several others who have reached weight loss goals after battling 30-70 extra pounds for years. Seeing people I care about lose weight and get healthy is thrilling - I know I'll never tire of it!
What's humbling is realizing that if I hadn't gone on Take Shape for Life/Medifast and lost weight myself, most of my friends who have now lost weight and reached or are nearing their goals would most likely still be struggling. The last thing that ever entered my mind when I started on the program was the thought that I would somehow be able to help somebody else. I was so desperate when I started and felt just about hopeless at ever escaping from the morbid obesity that entrapped me; I couldn't have imagined not only being released from that bondage but then being able to extend a hand to someone else. Humbling doesn't even begin to describe it . . . I'm so thankful!
I'm sharing this today because I want to encourage you, especially if this is a time of struggling to stay on plan. I keep stressing that it IS worth it, so I'll just say it again. Staying on plan and reaching your goal will not only be life-changing for you, but it may potentially be life-changing for people you care about. We all have people in our lives whom we love and who need to lose weight and get healthy, and they are watching us. What we choose to do today can have profound implications far beyond anything we can imagine, so keep on keeping on! A year from now, you may look back and be amazed at all the lives you've been able to help, in addition to your own.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
A Different Kind of Gift
Sometimes all I can do is shake my head at the things I read. I don't know if that's because I'm a bit older than I used to be (as opposed to being old, of course!) or if I just view life through a different filter these days.
I recently read a short article about an upscale London department store that launched a new gift card with the slogan, "The Gift of Self-Indulgence." Signs, slogans and name tags were posted throughout the store to call attention to the campaign. Sales of the gift cards far exceeded the store's expectations.
I shook my head when I read this because, in my humble estimation, we tend to spend a lot more time on self-indulgence than we do on self-control and perfecting the art of delayed gratification. I may just be talking to myself here, but part of the reason I ended up weighing 268 pounds was because I bought into the idea of instant gratification/self-indulgence. Hard day at work? Well, I DESERVED to eat something sweet. Kids making me crazy? Get them in bed and then reward myself that I didn't strangle the darlings - I DESERVED it!
It was always about living in the moment, "rewarding" myself on the spot for surviving another day, and the reward was usually food. Self-indulgence was something I mastered.
The problem was that it didn't make me happy, and the resulting obesity damaged my health and threatened my longevity. The self-indulgence was always, always quickly replaced with self-loathing and self-recrimination. I was so focused on the immediate "reward" that I never stopped to think about a greater reward - a thin, healthy body. I wanted it, of course, but I was so busy "rewarding" myself day after day that being thin and healthy was an elusive dream. We view self-indulgence as a gift we give ourselves, but often it's quite the opposite.
It wasn't until after I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast that I began to really view self-control and delayed gratification as an entirely different kind of gift that I could give to myself. It didn't have the immediate gratification I had become accustomed to, but that instant buzz was replaced by something far more powerful - the satisfaction of knowing I was doing something good for my body. The instant gratification I'd experienced before paled in comparison to the joy of anticipation of knowing that I would finally reach my goal. Reaching my goal on May 22, 2008 was worth everything - and more.
So today I am encouraging you to give yourself a gift that will keep on giving, not only to you, but to everyone who cares about you - the gift of a healthy body. Getting there will require you to step away from the cultural pull towards self-indulgence, but the rewards will be more than worth it. Go for it!
I recently read a short article about an upscale London department store that launched a new gift card with the slogan, "The Gift of Self-Indulgence." Signs, slogans and name tags were posted throughout the store to call attention to the campaign. Sales of the gift cards far exceeded the store's expectations.
I shook my head when I read this because, in my humble estimation, we tend to spend a lot more time on self-indulgence than we do on self-control and perfecting the art of delayed gratification. I may just be talking to myself here, but part of the reason I ended up weighing 268 pounds was because I bought into the idea of instant gratification/self-indulgence. Hard day at work? Well, I DESERVED to eat something sweet. Kids making me crazy? Get them in bed and then reward myself that I didn't strangle the darlings - I DESERVED it!
It was always about living in the moment, "rewarding" myself on the spot for surviving another day, and the reward was usually food. Self-indulgence was something I mastered.
The problem was that it didn't make me happy, and the resulting obesity damaged my health and threatened my longevity. The self-indulgence was always, always quickly replaced with self-loathing and self-recrimination. I was so focused on the immediate "reward" that I never stopped to think about a greater reward - a thin, healthy body. I wanted it, of course, but I was so busy "rewarding" myself day after day that being thin and healthy was an elusive dream. We view self-indulgence as a gift we give ourselves, but often it's quite the opposite.
It wasn't until after I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast that I began to really view self-control and delayed gratification as an entirely different kind of gift that I could give to myself. It didn't have the immediate gratification I had become accustomed to, but that instant buzz was replaced by something far more powerful - the satisfaction of knowing I was doing something good for my body. The instant gratification I'd experienced before paled in comparison to the joy of anticipation of knowing that I would finally reach my goal. Reaching my goal on May 22, 2008 was worth everything - and more.
So today I am encouraging you to give yourself a gift that will keep on giving, not only to you, but to everyone who cares about you - the gift of a healthy body. Getting there will require you to step away from the cultural pull towards self-indulgence, but the rewards will be more than worth it. Go for it!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Fear and Trust
Yesterday morning my pastor talked about trust. He said that when we are in a crisis, the crisis reveals what we fear and what we trust. I’ve been thinking about that ever since and realized that not only does a crisis reveal our fear and our trust level, but how we come out of that crisis may very well depend on whether we choose fear or trust.
Many of us were prompted to start on Take Shape for Life/Medifast because of a crisis on our lives. Some of us received a stern warning from our physician (God bless those physicians who are willing to look their patients in the eyes and talk frankly about the health risks they’re facing because of their obesity); some of us received lab work that revealed a disease we were unaware of (a routine blood draw uncovered my own diabetes). For others of us, our health is fine at the moment, but we reached an emotional crisis – an “I can’t live as an overweight person any more” moment. Very few people start this program if their health is great and they’re happy being overweight – a crisis of one kind or another is usually the catalyst.
When that moment came for us regarding our weight, we found our way here and placed an order. The crisis led to action, but both fear and trust are still very much in play.
There is a fear of staying overweight, which is why we started on the program, but we may also continue to deal with other fear – fear of failing, fear of what would change in our lives if we really did get to goal. That fear can paralyze us and keep us in an oscillating gain-lose-gain cycle. The fear of ultimately failing on this plan can keep us from just going for it and can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The fear of what life might look like if we were at goal can keep us from getting there. I’ve seen people self-sabotage because it’s more comfortable staying where they are, even if where they are is at an unhealthy weight, than risk seeing their lives change by getting to goal.
Trust, on the other hand, can allow us to move forward into unknown territory, and it makes all the difference! First of all, we can trust this program. It is a proven program with almost 30 years of research and history behind it. I didn’t know much about Medifast when I started, but I knew that Johns Hopkins used this for their own weight loss program, and that’s all I needed to know in order to trust that this was safe and effective. You can trust the people who have used this program and reached their goal. We’ve done the program, dealt with lots of issues, and extend our hands to everyone who is still on their own journey.
Because of my own personal faith and relationship with Jesus Christ, I also chose to trust God on my journey, looking to Him for the strength I needed for each day. I have a dear friend who has been my prayer partner for over 15 years and she said something to me that made a difference in my life – “fear and faith can’t stand in the same spot, so you have to choose what you’re going to stand on.”
Fear keeps us at status quo – if we choose fear, we don’t move forward. Faith and trust, however small it may be, allows us to take the first step, and then the one after that.
You’ve taken the first step by starting on this program, so keep on trusting and taking it one step and one day at a time. And that’s how you’ll get to your goal!
Many of us were prompted to start on Take Shape for Life/Medifast because of a crisis on our lives. Some of us received a stern warning from our physician (God bless those physicians who are willing to look their patients in the eyes and talk frankly about the health risks they’re facing because of their obesity); some of us received lab work that revealed a disease we were unaware of (a routine blood draw uncovered my own diabetes). For others of us, our health is fine at the moment, but we reached an emotional crisis – an “I can’t live as an overweight person any more” moment. Very few people start this program if their health is great and they’re happy being overweight – a crisis of one kind or another is usually the catalyst.
When that moment came for us regarding our weight, we found our way here and placed an order. The crisis led to action, but both fear and trust are still very much in play.
There is a fear of staying overweight, which is why we started on the program, but we may also continue to deal with other fear – fear of failing, fear of what would change in our lives if we really did get to goal. That fear can paralyze us and keep us in an oscillating gain-lose-gain cycle. The fear of ultimately failing on this plan can keep us from just going for it and can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The fear of what life might look like if we were at goal can keep us from getting there. I’ve seen people self-sabotage because it’s more comfortable staying where they are, even if where they are is at an unhealthy weight, than risk seeing their lives change by getting to goal.
Trust, on the other hand, can allow us to move forward into unknown territory, and it makes all the difference! First of all, we can trust this program. It is a proven program with almost 30 years of research and history behind it. I didn’t know much about Medifast when I started, but I knew that Johns Hopkins used this for their own weight loss program, and that’s all I needed to know in order to trust that this was safe and effective. You can trust the people who have used this program and reached their goal. We’ve done the program, dealt with lots of issues, and extend our hands to everyone who is still on their own journey.
Because of my own personal faith and relationship with Jesus Christ, I also chose to trust God on my journey, looking to Him for the strength I needed for each day. I have a dear friend who has been my prayer partner for over 15 years and she said something to me that made a difference in my life – “fear and faith can’t stand in the same spot, so you have to choose what you’re going to stand on.”
Fear keeps us at status quo – if we choose fear, we don’t move forward. Faith and trust, however small it may be, allows us to take the first step, and then the one after that.
You’ve taken the first step by starting on this program, so keep on trusting and taking it one step and one day at a time. And that’s how you’ll get to your goal!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday morning! My sister, who is visiting from Pennsylvania, is going to church with us this morning and then spending the rest of the day with me. I'm looking forward to some good "sis time" with her!
Periodically I like to go back and re-read some of the blogs I wrote when I was on the weight loss phase of this plan. They are a good reminder to me of where I was on various points along my journey, because I never, ever want to forget.
I thought I'd share with you something I wrote in March of 2008 - I hope it will be an encouragement to somebody today!
"One of the things that amazes me is how some of the greatest personal pain can, in time, become some of our greatest blessings.
I’ve seen this in my own life as we dealt with our daughter’s struggle with anorexia, and again as we entered the world of autism following our son’s diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome. There is no denying the pain that these things brought into my life, and there were days when I felt like all of the hope and joy had been permanently sucked out of my life. But in time, God’s healing transformed these events into blessings by using them to not only grow me as a person, but to strengthen the bond of my family, and eventually allow me to reach out to others who were where I had once been.
In the midst of these experiences, well-meaning people told me that someday God would use this pain as a springboard for helping others, and that made me angry. I certainly wasn’t looking for that kind of outreach or ministry and I couldn’t imagine ever allowing myself to revisit the pain in order to retell my story to someone else. But in time, that’s exactly what happened and my life is richer for having done so.
One area of great pain for me was spending over 20 years living with obesity. I wouldn’t even say the word “obese” out loud, and would NEVER say “fat.” I was overweight, heavy, over my ideal weight, or any other euphemism you can think of. I never allowed myself to refer to my body as obese, even though I was well over 100 pounds overweight. I was mortified at my size and went to great lengths to keep my weight my “dirty little secret,” going so far as refusing to get on the scale at my doctor’s office.
When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast last June, all I wanted to do was lose weight and get back to the thin person buried under all those pounds. My desire was to try to forget about everything that I’d felt and experienced related to obesity over the past 20 years. All I wanted to do was get as far away from that pain as quickly as possible.
But a funny thing has happened over the past 8-1/2 months! My weight loss journey has been very healing - and very liberating - as I have come to understand many of the issues that led to my weight gain. I have lost almost 100 pounds on Take Shape for Life/Medifast (96 so far!) and over 100 pounds from my all time high and I have truly been set free from the bondage of emotional eating, but I am no longer running away from the 20 years I spent as an obese woman. My desire to run away from the pain has been replaced by a deep and driving passion to reach out to others who are still struggling.
People are asking me on an almost-daily basis about my weight loss and several have been very open about their own struggle. I, of course, tell them everything I know about Medifast, but I also share some of the things that led me to placing my own first order. It’s still not easy to be that transparent about something that has been such a private struggle for so many years, but I hope that as I honestly share my own struggle, it will let them know that there really IS a way out for them.
A couple of verses from the Bible that pretty much sum it up are 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” [Emphasis mine]
So today, March 11, 2008, I am able to honestly say that God has used this painful period in my life to transform me in ways I could not have imagined, and I am thankful for this journey – all 20 years of this journey. I don’t know how God is going to use this experience in my life, but I am willing to tell my story – all of my story – if it will help one person move from where they are now to where they want to be. I can’t NOT share!"
It's been over a year since I wrote that. I lost a total of 126 pounds and have been at my goal weight for almost a year. I am amazed and humbled at how God continues to use my story to encourage others. I now work full time doing exactly that - walking alongside others who are on their own weight loss journey. I've seen so many people, including many of my own family members and some of my dearest friends, lose weight and get healthy. Sharing my story has gotten a lot easier over the past year, because as I share it other people become hopeful that perhaps this program will work for them, too. I've been able to release the embarrassment and shame I carried about my weight. All of that has been replaced with joy, and I love sharing that joy with others!
Have a great, on-plan Sunday!
Periodically I like to go back and re-read some of the blogs I wrote when I was on the weight loss phase of this plan. They are a good reminder to me of where I was on various points along my journey, because I never, ever want to forget.
I thought I'd share with you something I wrote in March of 2008 - I hope it will be an encouragement to somebody today!
"One of the things that amazes me is how some of the greatest personal pain can, in time, become some of our greatest blessings.
I’ve seen this in my own life as we dealt with our daughter’s struggle with anorexia, and again as we entered the world of autism following our son’s diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome. There is no denying the pain that these things brought into my life, and there were days when I felt like all of the hope and joy had been permanently sucked out of my life. But in time, God’s healing transformed these events into blessings by using them to not only grow me as a person, but to strengthen the bond of my family, and eventually allow me to reach out to others who were where I had once been.
In the midst of these experiences, well-meaning people told me that someday God would use this pain as a springboard for helping others, and that made me angry. I certainly wasn’t looking for that kind of outreach or ministry and I couldn’t imagine ever allowing myself to revisit the pain in order to retell my story to someone else. But in time, that’s exactly what happened and my life is richer for having done so.
One area of great pain for me was spending over 20 years living with obesity. I wouldn’t even say the word “obese” out loud, and would NEVER say “fat.” I was overweight, heavy, over my ideal weight, or any other euphemism you can think of. I never allowed myself to refer to my body as obese, even though I was well over 100 pounds overweight. I was mortified at my size and went to great lengths to keep my weight my “dirty little secret,” going so far as refusing to get on the scale at my doctor’s office.
When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast last June, all I wanted to do was lose weight and get back to the thin person buried under all those pounds. My desire was to try to forget about everything that I’d felt and experienced related to obesity over the past 20 years. All I wanted to do was get as far away from that pain as quickly as possible.
But a funny thing has happened over the past 8-1/2 months! My weight loss journey has been very healing - and very liberating - as I have come to understand many of the issues that led to my weight gain. I have lost almost 100 pounds on Take Shape for Life/Medifast (96 so far!) and over 100 pounds from my all time high and I have truly been set free from the bondage of emotional eating, but I am no longer running away from the 20 years I spent as an obese woman. My desire to run away from the pain has been replaced by a deep and driving passion to reach out to others who are still struggling.
People are asking me on an almost-daily basis about my weight loss and several have been very open about their own struggle. I, of course, tell them everything I know about Medifast, but I also share some of the things that led me to placing my own first order. It’s still not easy to be that transparent about something that has been such a private struggle for so many years, but I hope that as I honestly share my own struggle, it will let them know that there really IS a way out for them.
A couple of verses from the Bible that pretty much sum it up are 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” [Emphasis mine]
So today, March 11, 2008, I am able to honestly say that God has used this painful period in my life to transform me in ways I could not have imagined, and I am thankful for this journey – all 20 years of this journey. I don’t know how God is going to use this experience in my life, but I am willing to tell my story – all of my story – if it will help one person move from where they are now to where they want to be. I can’t NOT share!"
It's been over a year since I wrote that. I lost a total of 126 pounds and have been at my goal weight for almost a year. I am amazed and humbled at how God continues to use my story to encourage others. I now work full time doing exactly that - walking alongside others who are on their own weight loss journey. I've seen so many people, including many of my own family members and some of my dearest friends, lose weight and get healthy. Sharing my story has gotten a lot easier over the past year, because as I share it other people become hopeful that perhaps this program will work for them, too. I've been able to release the embarrassment and shame I carried about my weight. All of that has been replaced with joy, and I love sharing that joy with others!
Have a great, on-plan Sunday!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Weekend Survival Tips
Good morning! I hope you're having a great (and on-plan) Saturday!
Weekends are challenging for a lot of us, so careful planning is essential if we want to stay on plan. Some Saturdays give us a chance to relax and catch our breath, while other Saturdays are jam-packed with errands and projects that we just don't have time for during the week. Either way, don't let the change in schedule trip you up!
If you're going to be running errands much of the day, make sure you have a couple of crunch bars with you. You don't want to be away from home and hungry, because if that happens you're on-plan choices are extremely limited. If you're going to be busy with house or yard projects all day, you may find yourself too busy to even think about eating, until hunger overtakes you. If necessary, set an alarm to make sure you don't forget to eat.
We often go out to dinner with friends on Saturday nights, so when I was on the Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1 plan, I really had to plan what I was going to eat. Our friends were really good about letting us pick the restaurant, so I made sure we went someplace where I could get grilled, baked or broiled meat and a salad or steamed vegetable. We avoided most ethnic restaurants (my choice) because I wanted to avoid temptation if at all possible. We always had a great meal and a good time with our friends and I never felt deprived.
One of the things I did every weekend when I was on 5&1 was mix up my Medifast meals just a bit. During my work week, my menu was the same every day: a shake, oatmeal, soup, bar, lean & green, and either pudding, hot cocoa or cappuccino for my last meal of the day. Each day I would have a different flavor of shake, oatmeal, etc. and I never had the same thing two days in a row, but it was always the same food at the same time. On Saturdays I'd have MF scrambled eggs, oatmeal pancakes, oatmeal muffins, soup bread, Medifast pizza - something different. That really helped me from getting bored and made me look forward to the weekends.
My encouragement to you today is to hang in there and not let any weekend activity cause you to go off plan. It may take a bit of extra planning, but I promise you that when you're at goal, you won't regret taking the time this weekend :-).
Weekends are challenging for a lot of us, so careful planning is essential if we want to stay on plan. Some Saturdays give us a chance to relax and catch our breath, while other Saturdays are jam-packed with errands and projects that we just don't have time for during the week. Either way, don't let the change in schedule trip you up!
If you're going to be running errands much of the day, make sure you have a couple of crunch bars with you. You don't want to be away from home and hungry, because if that happens you're on-plan choices are extremely limited. If you're going to be busy with house or yard projects all day, you may find yourself too busy to even think about eating, until hunger overtakes you. If necessary, set an alarm to make sure you don't forget to eat.
We often go out to dinner with friends on Saturday nights, so when I was on the Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1 plan, I really had to plan what I was going to eat. Our friends were really good about letting us pick the restaurant, so I made sure we went someplace where I could get grilled, baked or broiled meat and a salad or steamed vegetable. We avoided most ethnic restaurants (my choice) because I wanted to avoid temptation if at all possible. We always had a great meal and a good time with our friends and I never felt deprived.
One of the things I did every weekend when I was on 5&1 was mix up my Medifast meals just a bit. During my work week, my menu was the same every day: a shake, oatmeal, soup, bar, lean & green, and either pudding, hot cocoa or cappuccino for my last meal of the day. Each day I would have a different flavor of shake, oatmeal, etc. and I never had the same thing two days in a row, but it was always the same food at the same time. On Saturdays I'd have MF scrambled eggs, oatmeal pancakes, oatmeal muffins, soup bread, Medifast pizza - something different. That really helped me from getting bored and made me look forward to the weekends.
My encouragement to you today is to hang in there and not let any weekend activity cause you to go off plan. It may take a bit of extra planning, but I promise you that when you're at goal, you won't regret taking the time this weekend :-).
Friday, May 15, 2009
One Shovelful at a Time
Happy Friday! I read a story yesterday that I want to share with all of you because (you guessed it!) I think there are some great applications to this weight loss journey that we're sharing.
The story was about a little boy with a small shovel, which he was using to try and clear a pathway through deep, new-fallen snow in front of his house. A man stopped to watch the little boy for a couple of minutes and then asked the boy how on earth he expected to finish such a big task with such a small shovel. "Little by little, that's how!" was the response, and the boy kept shoveling.
The story didn't reveal whether or not the boy finished shoveling the pathway, but I'd like to believe he did :-).
Some of us may feel like we have tackled an enormous task with the smallest of shovels, and it can feel overwhelming sometimes. I know that the prospect of losing 120 pounds seemed impossible to me, which is one of the reasons I was researching weight loss surgery options when I found an on-line ad about Take Shape for Life/Medifast. I mistakenly thought that having surgery would be the "easy way" to lose weight, and also the only way. It was only because the surgery wasn't a covered benefit under my insurance plan that I even decided to give Take Shape for Life/Medifast a try.
I approached my first day much like the boy with the small shovel. I faced an enormous challenge and my resources were puny at best. I couldn't tackle the entire pile in a single shovel, but every Medifast meal that I ate was taking one more small shovelful and tossing it aside. Each meal on its own seemed pretty insignificant, and each day seemed pretty inconsequential as well, but those meals and those days added up, until that enormous pile was finally gone.
There are days when it gets tiring, and there are days when staying on plan isn't much fun. I tell people all the time that I did NOT wake up every single morning joyful that I faced another on-plan day :-). But the thought of not reaching my goal, and my desire to put over two decades of morbid obesity behind me once and for all kept me at it, one Medifast meal at a time.
The other part of the story that interested me was the man who stopped to question the boy and tried to raise doubts in the child's mind. We all have those people in our lives, and some of us even live with them - people who raise questions, who have their doubts about whether or not we will really do it this time, people who have seen us try and fail over the years and fully expect us to fail once again. There are naysayers everywhere and they can quickly discourage us - if we allow them to. I think the little boy's attitude is exactly what ours needs to be - he just kept on shoveling!
When it all boils down, we have to do this for ourselves. Different people will have different opinions about what we're doing and I can promise you that not everyone will be supportive. It can be hard to ignore the naysayers and keep on keeping on, but that's exactly how we'll reach our goal!
The story was about a little boy with a small shovel, which he was using to try and clear a pathway through deep, new-fallen snow in front of his house. A man stopped to watch the little boy for a couple of minutes and then asked the boy how on earth he expected to finish such a big task with such a small shovel. "Little by little, that's how!" was the response, and the boy kept shoveling.
The story didn't reveal whether or not the boy finished shoveling the pathway, but I'd like to believe he did :-).
Some of us may feel like we have tackled an enormous task with the smallest of shovels, and it can feel overwhelming sometimes. I know that the prospect of losing 120 pounds seemed impossible to me, which is one of the reasons I was researching weight loss surgery options when I found an on-line ad about Take Shape for Life/Medifast. I mistakenly thought that having surgery would be the "easy way" to lose weight, and also the only way. It was only because the surgery wasn't a covered benefit under my insurance plan that I even decided to give Take Shape for Life/Medifast a try.
I approached my first day much like the boy with the small shovel. I faced an enormous challenge and my resources were puny at best. I couldn't tackle the entire pile in a single shovel, but every Medifast meal that I ate was taking one more small shovelful and tossing it aside. Each meal on its own seemed pretty insignificant, and each day seemed pretty inconsequential as well, but those meals and those days added up, until that enormous pile was finally gone.
There are days when it gets tiring, and there are days when staying on plan isn't much fun. I tell people all the time that I did NOT wake up every single morning joyful that I faced another on-plan day :-). But the thought of not reaching my goal, and my desire to put over two decades of morbid obesity behind me once and for all kept me at it, one Medifast meal at a time.
The other part of the story that interested me was the man who stopped to question the boy and tried to raise doubts in the child's mind. We all have those people in our lives, and some of us even live with them - people who raise questions, who have their doubts about whether or not we will really do it this time, people who have seen us try and fail over the years and fully expect us to fail once again. There are naysayers everywhere and they can quickly discourage us - if we allow them to. I think the little boy's attitude is exactly what ours needs to be - he just kept on shoveling!
When it all boils down, we have to do this for ourselves. Different people will have different opinions about what we're doing and I can promise you that not everyone will be supportive. It can be hard to ignore the naysayers and keep on keeping on, but that's exactly how we'll reach our goal!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Facing the Giants - Complacency & Fear
An important component on our weight loss journey is getting - and keeping - our head in the game. Along with keeping our head in the game is the challenge of managing the emotional changes that accompany our weight loss. The meal portion of the Take Shape for Life/Medifast plan is simple - all we have to do is follow the 5&1 and the weight comes off! We don't even have to believe the program will work, we just have to do it. The mental and emotional part of the journey is far more daunting.
What prompted this morning's blog were conversations I had with two different friends yesterday. Both have done really well on plan and both have gotten within striking distance of goal. Interestingly, as goal loomed on the horizon for both of them, something happened to get them off plan. One friend momentarily stepped off and is back on plan today, and another is just getting back on plan after watching several unwanted pounds return. No surprise, both of them were frustrated and disappointed at having gone off plan, and both are trying to figure out what happened.
What I have seen over and over again is that one of two things usually happen when people are closing in on goal - people either experience complacency or they experience fear.
Complacency often settles in because by the time someone is within ten pounds of goal, particularly if they've lost a lot of weight - they feel SO much better about themselves, they're in smaller sizes and they look and feel pretty "normal." They may now be smaller than many of their friends, which makes it hard to stay on plan when all of their friends are eating other things. I know this was true of me when I was about ten pounds away from goal. I was in a size 10 by that time, the same size as many of my friends, yet they were eating things that were still off-plan for me. There were times when I just wanted to be done with the plan and say "good enough." I'd lost over 100 pounds, reversed my diabetes, and I looked and felt pretty good! The problem was, even though I was in a size 10, I wasn't at a healthy BMI and I wasn't at my goal. Complacency definitely reared its ugly head and I had to refocus over and over again on what I really wanted, and what I really wanted was to be healthy, and I didn't want to settle.
The other emotion that often catches people by surprise is fear. We get really good at losing weight and being on 5&1 becomes a safe place for us. After years of battling weight, we finally found something that actually works and we want to stay in our cocoon forever. The thought of reaching our goal can be scary, as it means that what has become familiar is about to change as we begin to introduce food groups back into our diet. We can become afraid that we'll start gaining the weight back. I've seen people self-sabotage so that they stay in a gain-lose cycle because it feels safer than facing the unknown of being at their goal weight.
For those of us who have used our weight as a protective shield, closing in our goal means we aren't invisible to people any more. People are commenting about the weight we've lost and we're getting compliments, and that can become uncomfortable. For many women, having other men suddenly noticing us can be extremely unsettling. If we don't acknowledge the fear and find healthy ways to address it, we can find ourselves heading in the wrong direction once again.
Yesterday I read a good definition of fear: False Evidence Appearing Real. This definition was part of a devotional that I read about how we deal with the challenges in our lives. The devotional talked about the story from the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus walked on the water. One of his disciples, Peter, stepped out of the boat at Jesus' invitation and began to walk towards Him. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he was fine, but when he looked at the waves around him, he immediately began to sink. The devotional said that "the circumstances of our lives, whether unusual crises or everyday difficulties, batter our senses into believing untruths. We cower at the authority of these winds and waves--these very concrete illusions--as though their authority is real. It isn't. We must do what is extremely difficult to do--ignore them."
When I faced many of those fears as I approached my goal, I had to choose to keep moving forward and trust that just as God was faithful to me each step of the way on my weight loss journey, He would also be faithful to me as I reached my goal and beyond. I knew I couldn't lose the weight on my own and I knew (and I still know!) that I would need to depend on the Lord and keep my eyes on Him to keep the weight off. As long as I do that, I can ignore the waves around me and keep on walking! And so can you :-)
What prompted this morning's blog were conversations I had with two different friends yesterday. Both have done really well on plan and both have gotten within striking distance of goal. Interestingly, as goal loomed on the horizon for both of them, something happened to get them off plan. One friend momentarily stepped off and is back on plan today, and another is just getting back on plan after watching several unwanted pounds return. No surprise, both of them were frustrated and disappointed at having gone off plan, and both are trying to figure out what happened.
What I have seen over and over again is that one of two things usually happen when people are closing in on goal - people either experience complacency or they experience fear.
Complacency often settles in because by the time someone is within ten pounds of goal, particularly if they've lost a lot of weight - they feel SO much better about themselves, they're in smaller sizes and they look and feel pretty "normal." They may now be smaller than many of their friends, which makes it hard to stay on plan when all of their friends are eating other things. I know this was true of me when I was about ten pounds away from goal. I was in a size 10 by that time, the same size as many of my friends, yet they were eating things that were still off-plan for me. There were times when I just wanted to be done with the plan and say "good enough." I'd lost over 100 pounds, reversed my diabetes, and I looked and felt pretty good! The problem was, even though I was in a size 10, I wasn't at a healthy BMI and I wasn't at my goal. Complacency definitely reared its ugly head and I had to refocus over and over again on what I really wanted, and what I really wanted was to be healthy, and I didn't want to settle.
The other emotion that often catches people by surprise is fear. We get really good at losing weight and being on 5&1 becomes a safe place for us. After years of battling weight, we finally found something that actually works and we want to stay in our cocoon forever. The thought of reaching our goal can be scary, as it means that what has become familiar is about to change as we begin to introduce food groups back into our diet. We can become afraid that we'll start gaining the weight back. I've seen people self-sabotage so that they stay in a gain-lose cycle because it feels safer than facing the unknown of being at their goal weight.
For those of us who have used our weight as a protective shield, closing in our goal means we aren't invisible to people any more. People are commenting about the weight we've lost and we're getting compliments, and that can become uncomfortable. For many women, having other men suddenly noticing us can be extremely unsettling. If we don't acknowledge the fear and find healthy ways to address it, we can find ourselves heading in the wrong direction once again.
Yesterday I read a good definition of fear: False Evidence Appearing Real. This definition was part of a devotional that I read about how we deal with the challenges in our lives. The devotional talked about the story from the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus walked on the water. One of his disciples, Peter, stepped out of the boat at Jesus' invitation and began to walk towards Him. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he was fine, but when he looked at the waves around him, he immediately began to sink. The devotional said that "the circumstances of our lives, whether unusual crises or everyday difficulties, batter our senses into believing untruths. We cower at the authority of these winds and waves--these very concrete illusions--as though their authority is real. It isn't. We must do what is extremely difficult to do--ignore them."
When I faced many of those fears as I approached my goal, I had to choose to keep moving forward and trust that just as God was faithful to me each step of the way on my weight loss journey, He would also be faithful to me as I reached my goal and beyond. I knew I couldn't lose the weight on my own and I knew (and I still know!) that I would need to depend on the Lord and keep my eyes on Him to keep the weight off. As long as I do that, I can ignore the waves around me and keep on walking! And so can you :-)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The "E" Word
Yesterday I wanted to make the point that we needed to focus first on losing weight by following the 5&1 plan, with exercise not taking center stage at this phase. I talked about that in part because I hear from people over and over again who think they can keep eating what they want and just ramp up the exercise, believing that that change alone will help them reach their goal. The reality is that it just isn't true.
However, it is possible to be thin and UNfit - and that is definitely NOT the goal for any of us! Exercise is vital for our cardiovascular health, our flexibility, muscles, bone density, keeps our metabolism burning at a higher rate, and the endorphins released during a good workout help us feel better emotionally. There are lots of other good reasons why exercise needs to be an integral part of our lives, but the ones I just listed are a good for starters :-).
Some people seem to move effortlessly into a good exercise routine and others struggle. I'm in the category of those who struggle, and it's one of those things that have to get put on my calendar and honored like any other appointment. I don't always feel like exercising and can find a dozen (make that TWO dozen) reasons why I "just can't fit it into my schedule today." What I realize is that just as I stayed on 5&1 whether I felt like it or not (and I often didn't feel like it), I need to exercise whether I feel like it or not.
It all goes back to deciding what is really important and then making the choices necessary to support what's important to me. Since I made the decision a long time ago that getting healthy and STAYING healthy was important to me, I then choose to make other decisions - monitoring what I eat, making sure I drink plenty of water, getting enough rest, and, yes, exercising - because all of those things are important components of staying healthy. There are days when I'd rather eat sludge, skip the water in favor of more coffee, stay up into the wee hours, and be a couch potato, but I can't do those things and stay healthy.
True confessions: there are times when I get to the end of my day and I HAVE eaten "stuff,"; there are days when my coffee intake rivals my water intake; there are nights when I'm up way too late because I'm connecting on line with somebody; and there are days when my physical activity is far less than it should be. However, those days are not the norm, and I continue to work towards making them rare.
Dr. Andersen said that while it might not make a difference what we do today, over time what we do today and tomorrow makes all the difference in the world. Creating healthy habits, including exercise, happens one day at a time.
Who's committed to an on-plan day today?
However, it is possible to be thin and UNfit - and that is definitely NOT the goal for any of us! Exercise is vital for our cardiovascular health, our flexibility, muscles, bone density, keeps our metabolism burning at a higher rate, and the endorphins released during a good workout help us feel better emotionally. There are lots of other good reasons why exercise needs to be an integral part of our lives, but the ones I just listed are a good for starters :-).
Some people seem to move effortlessly into a good exercise routine and others struggle. I'm in the category of those who struggle, and it's one of those things that have to get put on my calendar and honored like any other appointment. I don't always feel like exercising and can find a dozen (make that TWO dozen) reasons why I "just can't fit it into my schedule today." What I realize is that just as I stayed on 5&1 whether I felt like it or not (and I often didn't feel like it), I need to exercise whether I feel like it or not.
It all goes back to deciding what is really important and then making the choices necessary to support what's important to me. Since I made the decision a long time ago that getting healthy and STAYING healthy was important to me, I then choose to make other decisions - monitoring what I eat, making sure I drink plenty of water, getting enough rest, and, yes, exercising - because all of those things are important components of staying healthy. There are days when I'd rather eat sludge, skip the water in favor of more coffee, stay up into the wee hours, and be a couch potato, but I can't do those things and stay healthy.
True confessions: there are times when I get to the end of my day and I HAVE eaten "stuff,"; there are days when my coffee intake rivals my water intake; there are nights when I'm up way too late because I'm connecting on line with somebody; and there are days when my physical activity is far less than it should be. However, those days are not the norm, and I continue to work towards making them rare.
Dr. Andersen said that while it might not make a difference what we do today, over time what we do today and tomorrow makes all the difference in the world. Creating healthy habits, including exercise, happens one day at a time.
Who's committed to an on-plan day today?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
"Biggest Loser"
Tonight is the season finale of "The Biggest Loser." I've watched this series since it first aired several years ago, but my perspective has really changed.
When the series premiered, I weighed as much as 268 pounds (my all-time high weight) and I watched people losing weight on this program with a combination of admiration, envy, and despair. In those days I weighed more than some of the women contestants, and I remember thinking I would rather die a thousand deaths than be willing to be filmed in those tight workout clothes that revealed every last bulge and then be weighed in front of the entire country. I had a lot of admiration for people who were willing to swallow their pride and be humiliated (which is how I viewed it) so publicly. I was envious that they had an opportunity to put their lives on hold and have the time to focus on nothing other than losing weight and working out with a personal trainer. I also watched the program with despair (often eating as I watched it . . . ) because I knew that I would never be able to just step away from life for several months and do what they were doing. Because I have a bad knee, I knew that I could never withstand the rigors of the workouts that they did.
I thought that, short of weight loss surgery, the only way to ever really lose as much as I needed to lose would be to go through a "Biggest Loser" type of boot camp. I'd eat and watch and think that my situation was hopeless; I'd try another diet, fail, watch another season of "Biggest Loser", and so it went.
Take Shape for Life/Medifast, of course, changed all that! I was shocked - and relieved - to find out that we weren't even SUPPOSED to exercise for the first three weeks if we hadn't been exercising before we started the program. Now THAT was MY kind of diet :-). This program taught me that the emphasis needs to first be on changing how we eat, then incorporating moderate exercise later on.
I also learned that it's not realistic to think that we could ever exercise enough to lose weight without changing how we eat. I've talked to a lot of people who need to lose weight but assure me that they plan to "work it off" by "exercising more." That might work if someone has, say, 5 pounds to lose, but if they are significantly overweight, it just won't happen.
Dr. Andersen (Medical Director for Take Shape for Life/Medifast) said that to lose 35 pounds, you would need to run one marathon a week for almost a year. The math breaks down like this:
35 pounds x 3,500 calories per pound = 122,500 calories. According to Runners World Online, a 180 lb. person burns approximately 3,573 calories over the course of a 26.2 mile marathon.
If you didn't consume one additional calorie after running the marathon than you normally would, it would take you over 34 marathons in a row to lose the 35 pounds - but I'm guessing you might be a bit hungry and eat a little more after a workout like that :-)
So what is the moral of the story? We don't need to watch "Biggest Loser" and wish that was us! We can lose weight quickly AND safely AND while we live our lives just by opening 5 little packets a day. In doing so, we not only lose the weight, but we learn the healthy habits we need to KEEP it off! The contestants on "Biggest Loser" will face an uphill battle to keep their weight off when they return to their normal lives because they lost the weight under very unnatural circumstances, circumstances that are simply not sustainable over time. What we're learning here, one on-plan day at a time, IS sustainable over time because we are incorporating the lifestyle changes that will become the fabric of our lives.
So enjoy tonight's "Biggest Finale!" I'll be cheering for each and every one of the finalists because they have all done an amazing job. But I won't be watching tonight with envy or despair. I'll be watching it munching on a crunch bar wearing my size 6 jeans :-), confident that I'll still be wearing this size when I watch NEXT year's finale!
Who's committed to an on-plan day today?
When the series premiered, I weighed as much as 268 pounds (my all-time high weight) and I watched people losing weight on this program with a combination of admiration, envy, and despair. In those days I weighed more than some of the women contestants, and I remember thinking I would rather die a thousand deaths than be willing to be filmed in those tight workout clothes that revealed every last bulge and then be weighed in front of the entire country. I had a lot of admiration for people who were willing to swallow their pride and be humiliated (which is how I viewed it) so publicly. I was envious that they had an opportunity to put their lives on hold and have the time to focus on nothing other than losing weight and working out with a personal trainer. I also watched the program with despair (often eating as I watched it . . . ) because I knew that I would never be able to just step away from life for several months and do what they were doing. Because I have a bad knee, I knew that I could never withstand the rigors of the workouts that they did.
I thought that, short of weight loss surgery, the only way to ever really lose as much as I needed to lose would be to go through a "Biggest Loser" type of boot camp. I'd eat and watch and think that my situation was hopeless; I'd try another diet, fail, watch another season of "Biggest Loser", and so it went.
Take Shape for Life/Medifast, of course, changed all that! I was shocked - and relieved - to find out that we weren't even SUPPOSED to exercise for the first three weeks if we hadn't been exercising before we started the program. Now THAT was MY kind of diet :-). This program taught me that the emphasis needs to first be on changing how we eat, then incorporating moderate exercise later on.
I also learned that it's not realistic to think that we could ever exercise enough to lose weight without changing how we eat. I've talked to a lot of people who need to lose weight but assure me that they plan to "work it off" by "exercising more." That might work if someone has, say, 5 pounds to lose, but if they are significantly overweight, it just won't happen.
Dr. Andersen (Medical Director for Take Shape for Life/Medifast) said that to lose 35 pounds, you would need to run one marathon a week for almost a year. The math breaks down like this:
35 pounds x 3,500 calories per pound = 122,500 calories. According to Runners World Online, a 180 lb. person burns approximately 3,573 calories over the course of a 26.2 mile marathon.
If you didn't consume one additional calorie after running the marathon than you normally would, it would take you over 34 marathons in a row to lose the 35 pounds - but I'm guessing you might be a bit hungry and eat a little more after a workout like that :-)
So what is the moral of the story? We don't need to watch "Biggest Loser" and wish that was us! We can lose weight quickly AND safely AND while we live our lives just by opening 5 little packets a day. In doing so, we not only lose the weight, but we learn the healthy habits we need to KEEP it off! The contestants on "Biggest Loser" will face an uphill battle to keep their weight off when they return to their normal lives because they lost the weight under very unnatural circumstances, circumstances that are simply not sustainable over time. What we're learning here, one on-plan day at a time, IS sustainable over time because we are incorporating the lifestyle changes that will become the fabric of our lives.
So enjoy tonight's "Biggest Finale!" I'll be cheering for each and every one of the finalists because they have all done an amazing job. But I won't be watching tonight with envy or despair. I'll be watching it munching on a crunch bar wearing my size 6 jeans :-), confident that I'll still be wearing this size when I watch NEXT year's finale!
Who's committed to an on-plan day today?
Monday, May 11, 2009
Taking Care of Yourself - First
An integral part of my own weight loss journey was my involvement with the plan’s on-line community. I received a lot of encouragement and support from others who were on their own journey and I developed some great friendships. I know that some of you reading this are also involved with your own on-line community groups, and I want to encourage you to continue, but to also be cautious. From time to time, I’ve watched weight loss support groups develop into something that’s not particularly healthy, becoming a place where everybody freely shares their struggles (which is good), but there doesn’t seem to be a fire in anybody’s belly to actually get to goal. When that happens, people can slip into being enablers, with everyone stuck in the mud together and commiserating over how hard it is in the mud and how they want to get out, but there’s nobody there who’s out of the mud and able to help pull them out. This morning I want to encourage you to surround yourself with people who are staying on plan and moving towards their goal. That’s not to say that no one can ever share their struggles, because the beauty of an on-line community is that we CAN share, but when everybody around you is struggling, it’s easy to adopt a mindset that thinks that it’s OK to cheat because all of our friends are cheating, too.
This isn’t the time to try and fix everybody else’s problems, because we do so at the risk of never taking care of our own. I didn't eat my way to 260 pounds because I enjoyed a good meal - there were some deeply-rooted issues that resulted in emotional and binge eating, and part of my journey was finally addressing those issues. That took a lot of time and work, but it was work that had to occur to bring the healing I needed, healing that released me from the bondage of my emotional eating and has enabled me to stay at my goal weight AND be able to help others who are on their own journey.
I'm not saying for a moment that we shouldn't care about each other, because we do care (and I care - very much), but we need to surround ourselves with people who are committed to getting healthy and who will spur us on to do the same. When I was losing weight, I pulled away from some topics and ALL controversies on the that occurred on my on-line boards and I refused to get pulled into any of the drama because I knew that wouldn’t help me stay focused. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about the people involved, but I knew that negativity had the potential to pull me down; I was very protective of the kind of interaction I allowed myself to be drawn into.
While you're losing weight and trying to get healthy, you also need to surround yourself (as much as possible) with people in your face-to-face world who are supportive of you. If you have a good friend who continues to try and sabotage your weight loss efforts, then this may be a time to set firm boundaries with that friend or choose to limit your time together. It's OK to be selfish right now (yep, this nice Christian woman just told you to be selfish!). You need to do what you need to do to get to a healthy weight. I'm urging you to set yourself up for success and limit your exposure to anything that might threaten to get between you and a healthy weight.
This is the time to stay focused and make sure that you're putting on your own oxygen mask first, before you try to help anybody else. If you do that, you will have the strength you need and you'll be in a position to reach down and help somebody else.
This isn’t the time to try and fix everybody else’s problems, because we do so at the risk of never taking care of our own. I didn't eat my way to 260 pounds because I enjoyed a good meal - there were some deeply-rooted issues that resulted in emotional and binge eating, and part of my journey was finally addressing those issues. That took a lot of time and work, but it was work that had to occur to bring the healing I needed, healing that released me from the bondage of my emotional eating and has enabled me to stay at my goal weight AND be able to help others who are on their own journey.
I'm not saying for a moment that we shouldn't care about each other, because we do care (and I care - very much), but we need to surround ourselves with people who are committed to getting healthy and who will spur us on to do the same. When I was losing weight, I pulled away from some topics and ALL controversies on the that occurred on my on-line boards and I refused to get pulled into any of the drama because I knew that wouldn’t help me stay focused. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about the people involved, but I knew that negativity had the potential to pull me down; I was very protective of the kind of interaction I allowed myself to be drawn into.
While you're losing weight and trying to get healthy, you also need to surround yourself (as much as possible) with people in your face-to-face world who are supportive of you. If you have a good friend who continues to try and sabotage your weight loss efforts, then this may be a time to set firm boundaries with that friend or choose to limit your time together. It's OK to be selfish right now (yep, this nice Christian woman just told you to be selfish!). You need to do what you need to do to get to a healthy weight. I'm urging you to set yourself up for success and limit your exposure to anything that might threaten to get between you and a healthy weight.
This is the time to stay focused and make sure that you're putting on your own oxygen mask first, before you try to help anybody else. If you do that, you will have the strength you need and you'll be in a position to reach down and help somebody else.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there! As I blogged about a couple of days ago, this program is giving us an opportunity to not only improve our own lives (and health), but also the opportunity help our families get healthier, too!
My four little grandchildren were a big motivation for me to lose 120 pounds and reverse diabetes, because I want to live a long and healthy life so I can enjoy every moment of their growing up. I love being able to run around with them and get on the floor with them now - things that were difficult to impossible two years ago. They are all small enough (6,4, and 2-yr. old twins) that they will never remember me being overweight. In fact, my oldest granddaughter was looking at some photos from 2-3 years ago and was really surprised to see a "fat grandma." I'm so glad that's in the PAST!
We will all be together for dinner at my house late this afternoon, and since many of the people around my table have lost weight (and reached their goal!) on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, our dinner will be mostly lean & green options. We all eat healthier these days and have learned that celebrations are all about the people sitting across the table from us, NOT about what's on our plates :-). We will be celebrating three generations of moms (my mom, me, and my daughters) and thanking God for another year to be together. We'll also be praising God that everyone sitting around the table is healthier now than they were a year ago, thanks to Take Shape for Life/Medifast.
If you're a mom on Take Shape for Life/ Medifast this Mother's Day, give your family your own gift - a healthier you who will be around to enjoy them for many years to come - and make this an on-plan day!
My four little grandchildren were a big motivation for me to lose 120 pounds and reverse diabetes, because I want to live a long and healthy life so I can enjoy every moment of their growing up. I love being able to run around with them and get on the floor with them now - things that were difficult to impossible two years ago. They are all small enough (6,4, and 2-yr. old twins) that they will never remember me being overweight. In fact, my oldest granddaughter was looking at some photos from 2-3 years ago and was really surprised to see a "fat grandma." I'm so glad that's in the PAST!
We will all be together for dinner at my house late this afternoon, and since many of the people around my table have lost weight (and reached their goal!) on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, our dinner will be mostly lean & green options. We all eat healthier these days and have learned that celebrations are all about the people sitting across the table from us, NOT about what's on our plates :-). We will be celebrating three generations of moms (my mom, me, and my daughters) and thanking God for another year to be together. We'll also be praising God that everyone sitting around the table is healthier now than they were a year ago, thanks to Take Shape for Life/Medifast.
If you're a mom on Take Shape for Life/ Medifast this Mother's Day, give your family your own gift - a healthier you who will be around to enjoy them for many years to come - and make this an on-plan day!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
With a Little Help From Our Friends
One of the unexpected joys of being on this program has been having the opportunity meet some of my on-line friends in person. When I placed my first order, I hoped that I'd lose a little bit of weight - I had no expectations that I would ever get to my goal, and I had no concept that many other wonderful things would also happen as a result. The biggest surprise is seeing a lot of wonderful people come into my life, people I would never have met had it not been for this program.
One of my dear on-line Take Shape for Life/Medifast friends (and fellow health coach) and her husband drove in from out of state and spent last night with us. We spent time yesterday evening and this morning showing them around our home town and making sure they saw as many tulips as possible during Tulip Time. She and I met early on our respective journeys, each of us having over 100 pounds to lose. It's so much fun to be together now, with both of us at our goal weight. We spent a lot of time last night talking about our journey and about all of the years we struggled with obesity.
There is a bond that develops between Take Shape for Life/Medifast people that's hard to describe. We start our weight loss journey feeling very vulnerable and in need of support, then someone extends a hand of friendship and reassures us that we really aren't alone on our journey. When that happens, wonderful changes begin to take place and real and very deep friendships develop.
This program has both the products we need (Medifast 5&1), the tools we need, and the support we need to be successful. As we follow the protocols and use the tools provided, and as we tap into the support available, we will reach our goal one on-plan day at a time.
I hope you're having a great Saturday!
One of my dear on-line Take Shape for Life/Medifast friends (and fellow health coach) and her husband drove in from out of state and spent last night with us. We spent time yesterday evening and this morning showing them around our home town and making sure they saw as many tulips as possible during Tulip Time. She and I met early on our respective journeys, each of us having over 100 pounds to lose. It's so much fun to be together now, with both of us at our goal weight. We spent a lot of time last night talking about our journey and about all of the years we struggled with obesity.
There is a bond that develops between Take Shape for Life/Medifast people that's hard to describe. We start our weight loss journey feeling very vulnerable and in need of support, then someone extends a hand of friendship and reassures us that we really aren't alone on our journey. When that happens, wonderful changes begin to take place and real and very deep friendships develop.
This program has both the products we need (Medifast 5&1), the tools we need, and the support we need to be successful. As we follow the protocols and use the tools provided, and as we tap into the support available, we will reach our goal one on-plan day at a time.
I hope you're having a great Saturday!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Surprising Changes
Happy Friday! We've all made it to the end of another week and I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the weekend.
Tulip Time is in full swing in my home town with thousands of tourists roaming the streets to check out the tulips and all things Dutch. During Tulip Time, wherever you find crowds, you'll find food wagons. We have food wagons lining our streets for blocks and there is absolutely NOTHING on-plan available from any of the vendors. My husband refers to them as "gut wagons" because they not only fill the gut, they also fill it out :-). In our fat, pre-Take Shape for Life/Medifast days (and with me needing to lose 120 pounds and my husband needing to lose 50, "fat" was definitely the word), "dinner" during Tulip Time would usually mean grazing from one wagon to another. I'll spare you the gory details, but each stop meant spending money on high calorie/high fat foods with almost no nutritional value. By the time we'd eaten our way from one end of downtown to the other, our wallets were empty and we were miserably full and feeling bloated from all the grease.
What a difference Take Shape for Life/Medifast has made! Last year I was a few pounds short of my goal and my husband has just reached his, so we stayed as far away as possible from the gut wagons. Now that we've been at our goal for just about a year, we certainly could belly-up to the wagons again, only we don't want to. I had a little bit of something from one vendor, but it was a little bit and it was from ONE vendor. You know what? I didn't want any more - I really didn't. I completely avoided most of the food wagons because I knew I'd feel miserable after eating there because I just don't eat fried, fatty food any more.
When I started on this plan almost two years ago, I really expected that I would return to all of my old, favorite foods after I reached my goal. While a lot of food has come back, in moderation, of course!, other foods haven't and won't. It's not that I can't have them, I just don't want them anymore.
People told me that my taste buds would change on this program, but I don't think I really believed them. I can name pretty much on one hand the things that I don't like, and they are the things that most people aren't fond of (liver, anyone? lol). Other than those few things, I've rarely encountered a food item that I didn't like. It's not that I don't like those former fatty, fried things anymore - it's really a matter that I don't want them. Who would have thought it possible?
I realize now that staying on plan and eating food that was healthy for me really changed how I view food. I prefer a much "cleaner" food - baked or grilled rather than fried, and sans the fattening sauce. I like the way it tastes, and I like the way I feel after I eat it. No more bloated, over-stuffed feeling after a meal because Take Shape for Life/Medifast taught me the difference between being full and being satisfied.
So as you're staying on plan, more is happening than just losing weight, as wonderful as that is! Whether you realize it or not, this plan is teaching us new and healthy habits, habits that will help us stay at our healthy weight for the rest of our lives. Not a bad deal, is it?
Tulip Time is in full swing in my home town with thousands of tourists roaming the streets to check out the tulips and all things Dutch. During Tulip Time, wherever you find crowds, you'll find food wagons. We have food wagons lining our streets for blocks and there is absolutely NOTHING on-plan available from any of the vendors. My husband refers to them as "gut wagons" because they not only fill the gut, they also fill it out :-). In our fat, pre-Take Shape for Life/Medifast days (and with me needing to lose 120 pounds and my husband needing to lose 50, "fat" was definitely the word), "dinner" during Tulip Time would usually mean grazing from one wagon to another. I'll spare you the gory details, but each stop meant spending money on high calorie/high fat foods with almost no nutritional value. By the time we'd eaten our way from one end of downtown to the other, our wallets were empty and we were miserably full and feeling bloated from all the grease.
What a difference Take Shape for Life/Medifast has made! Last year I was a few pounds short of my goal and my husband has just reached his, so we stayed as far away as possible from the gut wagons. Now that we've been at our goal for just about a year, we certainly could belly-up to the wagons again, only we don't want to. I had a little bit of something from one vendor, but it was a little bit and it was from ONE vendor. You know what? I didn't want any more - I really didn't. I completely avoided most of the food wagons because I knew I'd feel miserable after eating there because I just don't eat fried, fatty food any more.
When I started on this plan almost two years ago, I really expected that I would return to all of my old, favorite foods after I reached my goal. While a lot of food has come back, in moderation, of course!, other foods haven't and won't. It's not that I can't have them, I just don't want them anymore.
People told me that my taste buds would change on this program, but I don't think I really believed them. I can name pretty much on one hand the things that I don't like, and they are the things that most people aren't fond of (liver, anyone? lol). Other than those few things, I've rarely encountered a food item that I didn't like. It's not that I don't like those former fatty, fried things anymore - it's really a matter that I don't want them. Who would have thought it possible?
I realize now that staying on plan and eating food that was healthy for me really changed how I view food. I prefer a much "cleaner" food - baked or grilled rather than fried, and sans the fattening sauce. I like the way it tastes, and I like the way I feel after I eat it. No more bloated, over-stuffed feeling after a meal because Take Shape for Life/Medifast taught me the difference between being full and being satisfied.
So as you're staying on plan, more is happening than just losing weight, as wonderful as that is! Whether you realize it or not, this plan is teaching us new and healthy habits, habits that will help us stay at our healthy weight for the rest of our lives. Not a bad deal, is it?
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Do It For Yourself, Do It For Them
Good morning everyone! I've awakened to a rainy Thursday morning. I'm hoping it clears up by this afternoon because it's Tulip Time where I live and today is the Children's Parade. Hundreds (and hundreds!) of elementary school children will be marching in a parade today, wearing traditional Dutch costumes and carrying signs and props that depict Dutch traditions. It's a really cute parade - probably my favorite of the three parades we have during Tulip Time. The children march rain or shine, unless there is lightening, so I hope we don't have a lot of soggy kiddos by the time the parade is over! :-)
Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in this country and threatens the health of the next generation. I know that many of the children marching in today's parade will be overweight and out of shape, and that makes me incredibly sad. The good news is that, for those of us on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, we have an opportunity to not only change our lives and improve our health, but many of us will also use this to change the lives of our children as well.
When mom (and dad) starts eating healthy and losing weight, often the whole family begins to eat healthier - I've seen this happen over and over again. A parent (usually the mom, but not always) goes on Medifast, starts eating better and then begins to wonder why she's eating better than the kids. Those nutritionally empty, high fat/sugar, high calorie snacks and other foods are soon replaced by healthier options, and the whole family gets healthier (and the grocery bill goes down!). Parents begin to be more physically active and the TV gets turned off and the family gets outside.
As you begin another on-plan day, realize that you may well have the opportunity to change a lot of lives in addition to your own. Even if you don't have children, you most likely have the opportunity to influence children of family members and friends. This is a great time to talk about how you're making healthy choices so you can take care of your body!
So today, commit to staying on plan for yourself, and do it for the people who are watching you - especially the next generation.
Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in this country and threatens the health of the next generation. I know that many of the children marching in today's parade will be overweight and out of shape, and that makes me incredibly sad. The good news is that, for those of us on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, we have an opportunity to not only change our lives and improve our health, but many of us will also use this to change the lives of our children as well.
When mom (and dad) starts eating healthy and losing weight, often the whole family begins to eat healthier - I've seen this happen over and over again. A parent (usually the mom, but not always) goes on Medifast, starts eating better and then begins to wonder why she's eating better than the kids. Those nutritionally empty, high fat/sugar, high calorie snacks and other foods are soon replaced by healthier options, and the whole family gets healthier (and the grocery bill goes down!). Parents begin to be more physically active and the TV gets turned off and the family gets outside.
As you begin another on-plan day, realize that you may well have the opportunity to change a lot of lives in addition to your own. Even if you don't have children, you most likely have the opportunity to influence children of family members and friends. This is a great time to talk about how you're making healthy choices so you can take care of your body!
So today, commit to staying on plan for yourself, and do it for the people who are watching you - especially the next generation.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Practice Makes . . . Easier
My son has a Nintento Wii, and to encourage him (and ourselves), we bought Wii Fit several months ago. Wii Fit is a fun way to exercise, because it's exercise disguised as a video game. The first time I used it, I was shocked when I realized that an hour had gone by, and I only stopped because I was getting tired.
One of the Wii Fit modules is designed to improve balance. I thought it would be pretty easy, but was surprised to see how much I wobbled, and I didn't have a very good score on my first attempt. As I continued playing the balance games, however, I got a lot better, and it happened pretty quickly. It was amazing to see how fast things improved with a little focus, and I quickly learned to make the minor adjustments needed to keep me balanced so I could get a higher score. It got easier and more fun!
You probably know where this is going, don't you? :-) Getting started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast takes a lot of focus and we can wonder if this will ever feel like a natural part of our lives. When I first started on the plan, it was pretty all-consuming for me. I was focused on making sure that I ate every 2.5-3 hours and I spent a lot of time on the internet getting support and encouragement from the on-line community. In retrospect, I think I was afraid that if I adverted my eyes for a minute, I'd fall off plan (and I probably would have). For a while, I lived, breathed AND ate 5&1.
The good news is that, over time, this has become a part of my life. It's been almost a year since I reached my goal and I don't spend a lot of time focused on what I'm going to eat or how I'm going to do the program. I've learned to make the minor adjustments needed to maintain the balance between calories in and calories out - it's gotten easier and a lot more fun!
Of course, just like the Wii Fit balance games, this only happens with practice :-). Right now, most of you are in the "practice" stage of this plan, learning the healthy habits that, if followed, will keep you at your healthy weight for the rest of your lives. But it gets easier and becomes more a part of your life with each on-plan day.
So who's committed to an on-plan day today?
One of the Wii Fit modules is designed to improve balance. I thought it would be pretty easy, but was surprised to see how much I wobbled, and I didn't have a very good score on my first attempt. As I continued playing the balance games, however, I got a lot better, and it happened pretty quickly. It was amazing to see how fast things improved with a little focus, and I quickly learned to make the minor adjustments needed to keep me balanced so I could get a higher score. It got easier and more fun!
You probably know where this is going, don't you? :-) Getting started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast takes a lot of focus and we can wonder if this will ever feel like a natural part of our lives. When I first started on the plan, it was pretty all-consuming for me. I was focused on making sure that I ate every 2.5-3 hours and I spent a lot of time on the internet getting support and encouragement from the on-line community. In retrospect, I think I was afraid that if I adverted my eyes for a minute, I'd fall off plan (and I probably would have). For a while, I lived, breathed AND ate 5&1.
The good news is that, over time, this has become a part of my life. It's been almost a year since I reached my goal and I don't spend a lot of time focused on what I'm going to eat or how I'm going to do the program. I've learned to make the minor adjustments needed to maintain the balance between calories in and calories out - it's gotten easier and a lot more fun!
Of course, just like the Wii Fit balance games, this only happens with practice :-). Right now, most of you are in the "practice" stage of this plan, learning the healthy habits that, if followed, will keep you at your healthy weight for the rest of your lives. But it gets easier and becomes more a part of your life with each on-plan day.
So who's committed to an on-plan day today?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Breathing Time
The weather today is supposed to be really nice where I live, then turning rainy for the rest of the week, so when my daughter called and asked me to hang out at a children's garden this morning with her and the twins, it didn't take long for me to say "sure!"
Actually, I almost said "no," because the honest truth is that I have a lot to do after being gone all weekend. I have work to do, I have a house that needs to be cleaned, and I almost told her that I just didn't have time to drive 30 minutes to her house and then spend the morning with them. But then it hit me - what am I thinking??? This is an opportunity to be outside, spending time with my daughter and two-year old grandchildren, having FUN - why on earth would I turn that down to stay home and, um, dust or something else? All of that will be waiting for me when I get home shortly after lunch, and all of it WILL get done. It just won't get done tomorrow morning :-)
Sometimes we forget to take a deep breath and just breathe. We're working hard and there are so many demands on us, and it's easy to see one more thing as another demand instead of an opportunity to shift gears for just a moment.
We're all working hard to take care of our bodies and get healthy, and we need to do that. But this morning I want to encourage you to also take care of the rest of you, too :-) Whether it's a leisurely walk, sitting down to read a book, having a few minutes to sit down and play the piano, or taking some time to tickle a child or a grandchild, make sure you make some time today to do something that makes you smile. I say "make time", because if we wait until we think we "have time", we'll end up not doing it at all.
So who's committed to an on-plan day today? How about carving out some time for yourself - anybody want to commit to that, too?
Have a great day!
Actually, I almost said "no," because the honest truth is that I have a lot to do after being gone all weekend. I have work to do, I have a house that needs to be cleaned, and I almost told her that I just didn't have time to drive 30 minutes to her house and then spend the morning with them. But then it hit me - what am I thinking??? This is an opportunity to be outside, spending time with my daughter and two-year old grandchildren, having FUN - why on earth would I turn that down to stay home and, um, dust or something else? All of that will be waiting for me when I get home shortly after lunch, and all of it WILL get done. It just won't get done tomorrow morning :-)
Sometimes we forget to take a deep breath and just breathe. We're working hard and there are so many demands on us, and it's easy to see one more thing as another demand instead of an opportunity to shift gears for just a moment.
We're all working hard to take care of our bodies and get healthy, and we need to do that. But this morning I want to encourage you to also take care of the rest of you, too :-) Whether it's a leisurely walk, sitting down to read a book, having a few minutes to sit down and play the piano, or taking some time to tickle a child or a grandchild, make sure you make some time today to do something that makes you smile. I say "make time", because if we wait until we think we "have time", we'll end up not doing it at all.
So who's committed to an on-plan day today? How about carving out some time for yourself - anybody want to commit to that, too?
Have a great day!
Monday, May 4, 2009
A Question for You
Happy Monday morning! After a great, but very busy weekend in Dallas, I'm happy to be home. By the time we walked through the door, I was pretty much ready to go to bed, so my Monday morning will include unpacking from the weekend.
I heard a lot over the weekend about the importance of moving from a diet mentality to viewing this as an ongoing journey towards optimal health, with reaching our goal one point on our journey, rather than the destination. We were challenged to ask ourselves what our health was worth to us.
That's a good question, so I'm going to ask it this morning - what is your health worth to you? When faced with the challenge of yet another day on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1, it's easy to lose sight of the big picture. The reality is that our health is worth just about everything to us. If you've ever faced a serious illness, or if you know someone who has, then you know that just about everything else pales in comparison when your health is in jeopardy. Someone may have lots of things on their schedule, but if they get a diagnosis of cancer and are told they need immediate treatment, their schedule is immediately cleared of those other things because their health has suddenly become the priority in their lives.
Obesity places our lives in jeopardy. The jeopardy may not be as immediate as getting a diagnosis of cancer, but don't mistake the fact that our lives are in jeopardy. We all know that obesity is the leading cause of diabetes and heart disease, and it is also a contributing factor for many types of cancer. Those conditions happen over time, and while we may not be experiencing the long-term effects of obesity at the moment, our body and our internal organs are stressed and the obesity will eventually catch up with us. We may think we can play the odds, but the odds are clearly not in our favor if we choose to stay overweight.
The good news is that we can change the future of our health, beginning today! Years of unhealthy habits can begin to unravel today, IF we choose to make the change. Staying on 5&1 day in and day out isn't always what we WANT to do, but it is the tool that will get us to a healthy weight, putting us on the road to optimal health. This plan is about so much more than helping us look good in our swimsuits this summer, it's about so much more than helping us lose weight for our upcoming high school class reunion or our child's wedding. This plan is about helping us live longer, healthier lives, beginning today.
Blessings!
Cheryl
I heard a lot over the weekend about the importance of moving from a diet mentality to viewing this as an ongoing journey towards optimal health, with reaching our goal one point on our journey, rather than the destination. We were challenged to ask ourselves what our health was worth to us.
That's a good question, so I'm going to ask it this morning - what is your health worth to you? When faced with the challenge of yet another day on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1, it's easy to lose sight of the big picture. The reality is that our health is worth just about everything to us. If you've ever faced a serious illness, or if you know someone who has, then you know that just about everything else pales in comparison when your health is in jeopardy. Someone may have lots of things on their schedule, but if they get a diagnosis of cancer and are told they need immediate treatment, their schedule is immediately cleared of those other things because their health has suddenly become the priority in their lives.
Obesity places our lives in jeopardy. The jeopardy may not be as immediate as getting a diagnosis of cancer, but don't mistake the fact that our lives are in jeopardy. We all know that obesity is the leading cause of diabetes and heart disease, and it is also a contributing factor for many types of cancer. Those conditions happen over time, and while we may not be experiencing the long-term effects of obesity at the moment, our body and our internal organs are stressed and the obesity will eventually catch up with us. We may think we can play the odds, but the odds are clearly not in our favor if we choose to stay overweight.
The good news is that we can change the future of our health, beginning today! Years of unhealthy habits can begin to unravel today, IF we choose to make the change. Staying on 5&1 day in and day out isn't always what we WANT to do, but it is the tool that will get us to a healthy weight, putting us on the road to optimal health. This plan is about so much more than helping us look good in our swimsuits this summer, it's about so much more than helping us lose weight for our upcoming high school class reunion or our child's wedding. This plan is about helping us live longer, healthier lives, beginning today.
Blessings!
Cheryl
Sunday, May 3, 2009
It's the Little Things
I've had a great weekend in Dallas - I learned a lot, connected with old friends, and made some wonderful new ones. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that!
I heard something this weekend that was simple, but I think very profound: "In life, it's the little things that matter. These things are easy to do, or easy not to do. But whether or not you do them will make the difference.
That is certainly true of the Take Shape for Life/Medifast program. It's a little thing to open up a packet or a bar and make that your meal - it really doesn't get much easier than that. It's easy to do that five times a day, but it's also easy to talk ourselves OUT of doing that. We may think that we're too busy, or too stressed, or too something to make time to open a bar (side note here: when people tell me they're too busy to stay on plan I have to say "huh?" and scratch my head, because what could be more simple and time efficient than opening up a bar??). We can come up with a million reasons why today just isn't a good day to stay on plan - it's easy to find reasons.
But whether or not we do the little things that matter will make the difference.
I heard something this weekend that was simple, but I think very profound: "In life, it's the little things that matter. These things are easy to do, or easy not to do. But whether or not you do them will make the difference.
That is certainly true of the Take Shape for Life/Medifast program. It's a little thing to open up a packet or a bar and make that your meal - it really doesn't get much easier than that. It's easy to do that five times a day, but it's also easy to talk ourselves OUT of doing that. We may think that we're too busy, or too stressed, or too something to make time to open a bar (side note here: when people tell me they're too busy to stay on plan I have to say "huh?" and scratch my head, because what could be more simple and time efficient than opening up a bar??). We can come up with a million reasons why today just isn't a good day to stay on plan - it's easy to find reasons.
But whether or not we do the little things that matter will make the difference.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Happy Friday!
Happy May 1st, and happy Friday!
I can hardly believe we're starting the fifth month of the year. For those who started your weight loss program on January 2, you are five months closer to your goal :-) If you've stayed on plan, you have seen a dramatic change in your body and in how you think about food. Isn't it amazing how quickly major changes can happen?
Of course, the changes didn't happen overnight, but as you've stayed on plan, one day at a time, those changes happened - and they are continuing to happen. It's exciting!
This is a short season in your life that's focused on getting to a healthy weight, and this time will pass quickly (although I admit that there are some long days!). Making this investment now will reap rich rewards for the rest of your life - more than you can possibly imagine!
Have a wonderful day!
I can hardly believe we're starting the fifth month of the year. For those who started your weight loss program on January 2, you are five months closer to your goal :-) If you've stayed on plan, you have seen a dramatic change in your body and in how you think about food. Isn't it amazing how quickly major changes can happen?
Of course, the changes didn't happen overnight, but as you've stayed on plan, one day at a time, those changes happened - and they are continuing to happen. It's exciting!
This is a short season in your life that's focused on getting to a healthy weight, and this time will pass quickly (although I admit that there are some long days!). Making this investment now will reap rich rewards for the rest of your life - more than you can possibly imagine!
Have a wonderful day!
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