Feeling a Bit Caged In?

Happy Monday!  I'm staying at my daughter's house, caring for her two girls (7 and 5) while she and her husband are visiting some of his family in Portland, OR for a few days.  It's been a few years since I've been in an active "mom" role, getting small children ready for school, so it's a busy morning for me!

Because there are a lot of people reading my blog today who weren't around a year ago, I thought I'd share a blog I first wrote almost a year ago.  I hope it will be an encouragement to someone today!

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Does this program feel a bit restrictive to you?  Do you sometimes feel like you've put yourself in a very small cage, with all of your favorite foods just outside your reach (even when you stretch and reach between the bars)?  When we've been on other plans that had us counting calories or carbs or points, most of us had more food options than we have while we're on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1.  I've encountered a couple of people who ended up leaving this plan and opting to go back to the "points" program because they wanted more options in their daily menu.

I recently read a story that made me think about our self-imposed Take Shape for Life/Medifast "cage" and it gave me an entirely new perspective on this.  The story told about an individual who rescues chimpanzees.  These chimps were orphaned by those in the business of bush-meat trade and taken from the jungle; many of the chimps have lived their entire lives confined in a space smaller than a prison cell.  When the man who rescues them arrives to take them to the game reserve he calls "Chimp Eden," he finds that many of the chimps are hostile and untrusting, not understanding that he is trying to help them.  When he tried to put them into a smaller crate for the trip to their new home, the chimps put up quite a fight - they don't realize that the crate is temporary and that its purpose is to bring them to a much better place.

Hmmm . . . anybody see any application here?  :-)

When we start on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, most of us are motivated because we've felt trapped in a body we don't want to be in.  We don't feel well, we don't like what the scale says, we don't like the size label on our clothes.  We're in a prison of obesity from which we're desperate to break free. 

It's almost ironic, isn't it, that the vehicle that will eventually bring us to a freedom that we can't even imagine can, temporarily, feel like a yet another cage.  Like the chimps that are being transported from their prison-like cell to "Chimp Eden", we may find ourselves fighting the very vehicle that is designed to bring us to a much better and happier place.

The Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1 program is a tool - this is not the rest of your life!  It is carefully designed to bring you from where you are to where you want to be, and to get you there as quickly and safely as possible.  To do that, it takes all of the guesswork out and, to keep it as simple as possible, removes most of our food choices.  The problem is that sometimes we stop viewing this as a vehicle that's taking us to our goal and we begin to resent the restrictions.  If we don't take a deep breath and get back our perspective, our resentment and feelings of deprivation can ultimately be our undoing. 

If we're feeling frustrated and restricted by the limitations of 5&1, we may be vulnerable to the food temptations that come our way.  However, if we view 5&1 as a secure transport vehicle to get us to our goal, we will be in a much stronger position to stand firm and "just say no."

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Cage or safe transport?  How you choose to view this program may well influence other choices you make today.  Choose wisely :-)