Real Food

Happy Thursday!  I hope you're having a good week and are gearing up for a great, on-plan weekend :-).

One of the things that has become crystal clear to me over the past almost-three years is that this is NOT a diet.  I started Take Shape for Life/Medifast thinking that it was another diet, and hoped that somehow it would be different from the myriad of diets I'd tried over my 20+ years of obesity.  Many, if not most, of us are veteran dieters with a long list of tried - and failed - diets.  Some of my past diet attempts were semi-nutritionally focused, and others were, well, not.  One of the things that initially attracted me to Take Shape for Life/Medifast was knowing that it was nutritionally sound.  I had reached the point in my life where I knew I was done with fad diets - I wanted something that would not only help me lose weight, but I didn't want to make myself sick in the process.  I started this plan viewing it as a healthy diet, but very much had "diet" stuck in my head.

I realize now that this is a plan to get people healthy, to put them on a journey towards optimal health that will last them the rest of their lives.  Getting to a healthy weight is an important first step on that journey, but arriving at goal is not the end of the journey.  If we view reaching our goal (as important as that is!) as the end of the journey, we're in a diet mindset and in danger of gaining all of our weight back, and more. 

This is about learning how to nourish our bodies, and about how to redefine how we think about food.

I often hear (and read) about individuals who bemoan the fact that they are missing "real" food.  I used to feel the same way.  Then I began to ask myself "what is REAL food?"  Food is fuel for our body - food is the nourishment we need to function and be healthy.  Right now, while on 5&1, there are some real foods that aren't included (fruit, dairy, whole grains), but these are reintroduced as part of our healthy diet when we begin transition.  The intent is not to exclude these foods permanently - quite the contrary!  There are other foods, however, that we think of as REAL food that contain very little nutrition, especially when we look at the calories, fat and carbs these foods contain.  I won't list them, but we all know what they are.  Sometimes when I was missing my "real" food, what I was missing were the high calorie, high fat and high carb foods that got me into trouble to begin with.

I now know that the Medifast products ARE real food, in the truest sense of the word.  Yes, they are pre-packaged, but they are nutritionally dense and provide what we need to properly fuel our bodies, in the proper portions.  That's what food is primarily intended to do!

Because this is real food, doing for my body what real food is intended to do, I continue to use 2-3 Medifast meals a day even in maintenance.  They provide the nutrition I need and help me manage my calories, fat and carbs that, in turn, help me maintain my 126 pound weight loss.  Sure, I could replace these meals with other things, but I would probably spend more money and it would take more time and planning.  I call Medifast my cheap fast food - I don't have to think about it!

When I talk to people about this program, one question I'm often asked is, "Do I have to eat this forever?"  People want to be reassured that these products won't be a part of their lives forever, because they want to return to "real" food.  I let them know that no, they don't have to continue using the products after they reach their goal if they choose not to, and I share with them how I've incorporated 2-3 of the meals into my daily 5-6 meals.  The bottom line for me is that I will NEVER regain my weight, and I don't care what I have to do to keep it off.  If eating 2-3 Medifast meals a day not only helps to provide the nutrition I need but also helps me maintain my weight loss, then for me it's a win-win situation. 

When we were in Pennsylvania last week, my sister (who is not on the program, as much as I wish she was) commented that I still seem to really enjoy food and "just use Medifast so I can eat other things."  While her implication was that she thought I hadn't changed that much and am just using Take Shape for Life/Medifast products as a crutch so I could "get away" with old eating, the reality is quite different.  When we travel and I'm out of my routine, including more eating out, I DO include more Medifast meals.  They're easy to travel with and because I know I'm eating differently, using the meals helps me manage my calories so that I CAN enjoy my restaurant meals (and even include dessert) without doing damage.  I don't see this as a crutch, but as a strategy to help me maintain my weight loss.  Two plus years in maintenance, this strategy works for me!

Food is fuel, food is nutrition, and Medifast IS real food for me.  This isn't a diet, it's a way of life for me, and a way of life that will keep me healthy for, Lord willing, a long time to come.  And, like you, I'm doing it one day and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)