Another Way to Do This Program

Did you know that 5&1 isn't the only way to do this program?  The Take Shape for Life 5&1 plan is the plan that you hear about the most -  5 Medifast meals and 1 lean and green - and it's the most simple way to do this program.  But there IS another way!

This other way is not as simple, and frankly the results are less predictable.  It's what a friend of mine calls the Frank Sinatra plan. (For those of you who are a bit younger and may be a little fuzzy on who Frank Sinatra was, do a Google search :-) ).  Frank Sinatra's signature song was "I Did It My Way."

Doing it "my way" is another very popular approach to doing the Take Shape for Life 5&1 plan.  I've seen it over and over again.  People read the Quick Start Guide that clearly details the protocols of the program, and most will follow the guide initially.  However, sooner or later some people decide to opt out of the 5&1 and adopt the Frank Sinatra plan.  They decide that this program is really about calories or carbs and they begin to substitute something they want for something on plan.  They'll figure out what the calories and carbs are for what they want and have that instead of one of their 5 Medifast meals.  Or they'll decide that they can take a day off on the weekends, or they'll do 5&1 and "only" have one off plan thing in addition.

Because the Frank Sinatra plan is all about doing it "your way," there are endless variations to this plan.  Basically it becomes whatever you want it to be, because you're doing it YOUR way!

I said earlier that the results of the Frank Sinatra plan were less predictable, but now that I think about it, I need to correct that statement.  The results are pretty predictable - weight loss stalls and people get discouraged.  The Frank Sinatra plan usually leads to a lot of starts and restarts on 5&1 and it's usually accompanied by a lot of frustration.

I used the Frank Sinatra approach to every other weight loss plan I ever tried.  I'd read about the plan, buy the book, etc., but before long I was making one modification after another.  My Frank Sinatra dieting got me all the way up to 268 pounds and Type 2 diabetic because each attempt at doing it my way always resulted in rapid weight gain as any pounds I lost quickly returned, bringing with them additional weight.

It's so interesting to note how determined we often are to do our own thing and go our own way, even when it hasn't worked in the past.  We are so reluctant to follow the rules, even when they're clearly spelled out for us because we somehow think that we know better.  The guidebook may be clear and there may be lots of evidence that the instructions work, but our human nature tends to think that we can somehow blaze a new and more successful path on our own.

By the time I made the decision to give Take Shape for Life a try (and it was a "try" because I didn't think it would work), I had decided to actually follow the program as written for 4 weeks.  The compelling reason to do that was the cost, because I couldn't justify the cost unless I was actually doing what the program told me to do.  No surprise, by following the program and doing what it told me to do, I actually lost weight and reached my goal!

So which plan are you going to follow today?  The choice is yours . . . choose wisely :-)