Another Concept (or Two) Bites the Dust

There are a number of concepts we have to release when we're on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1, at least if we want to be successful and reach our goal. This program, which is medically based and clinically proven, instructs us to do things that seem SO different and contrary to what we may have always believed about how to lose weight.

First of all, we're told to eat six times a day on this plan. For many of us (I know it was true of me), we've tried to lose weight in the past by NOT eating. I know that I often try to go as long as possible each day before eating, in part because I thought that somehow I was "saving" calories for later in the day by doing that, and in part because sometimes once I started eating, I couldn't stop. What I now understand is that skipping meals and going hours before eating wasn't doing my metabolism any favors, and it resulted in wild fluctuations in my blood sugar, including those awful drops when I'd gone too long without eating.

After years of diets that manipulated nutrients in an attempt to help people lose weight (low fat, low carb, high protein, not mixing carbs and protein, etc.), Take Shape for Life/Medifast is a plan that provides the right balance of fats, carbs and protein. It's low calorie because that is ultimately the only way we ever lose weight - by consuming less calories than we burn, but it has the balance of nutrients our bodies need to be healthy. That's why those of us losing weight on 5&1 look healthy, and we continue to look healthy when we reach our goal. Even though our calories are dramatically reduced, we are nutritionally supported every step of the way.

We're also told to cut back on exercise when we start the program, and to keep our exercise limited to 45 minutes while we're on the plan to ensure that we don't end up putting our bodies into a starvation mode by burning too many calories. For some of us, this is the best part of the plan :-), but others struggle and are just sure this can't be right. The idea that we have to exercise the weight off has been around for such a long time that we struggle to believe that it's not true.

I was interested to read an article in "Time" magazine a few days ago which, surprise of all surprises, explained why exercise won't make us thin. The article noted that:

"More than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993. We spend some $19 billion a year on gym memberships. Of course, some people join and never go. Still, as one major study — the Minnesota Heart Survey — found, more of us at least say we exercise regularly. The survey ran from 1980, when only 47% of respondents said they engaged in regular exercise, to 2000, when the figure had grown to 57%.

"And yet obesity figures have risen dramatically in the same period: a third of Americans are obese, and another third count as overweight by the Federal Government's definition.

"The basic problem is that while it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder."

So another concept bites the dust! In place of all of our concepts, none of which were really working for us (if they were, we wouldn't be on 5&1, right?), we have a balanced program that's designed to get us healthy and keep us healthy for the rest of our lives. Sounds good to me!

How does that sound to you? Are you committed to an on-plan day today?