Mixed Bag Of Rant

I mentioned in a previous post that I caught a lot of flack for joining Medifast.

Dear Haters: Medifast is NOT a quick fix. It is not a crash diet. I have as many bad weigh ins as I do good ones and I have not lost any more weight on this plan than many others that are doing “healthy” plans such as Weight Watchers or jerks like my husband who simply state they are on a diet and instantly lose 15 pounds. There are even some folks who started Weight Watchers the same time I started Medifast and have actually lost more than me. So, haters, before you judge a program, do your research. 

I’ve said it before- Weight Watchers wasn’t working for me anymore. While I may have been eating less, I wasn’t eating better. Nor was that going to change for me without going into a program that required an entire diet overhaul. Yes, I have to eat Medifast food. It sometimes sucks and I long for “real” food. Yes, at my Oscar party this past Sunday night, I “cheated” on my plan but mostly by default- I was at an event and staying in a hotel without a microwave or the necessities I needed to prepare my Medifast meals. I made a compromise for one day and was back on plan the next. To my astonishment, I still lost a half pound. Medifast is giving me the opportunity to control my diet and help me lose weight slowly (yes, read that again: I said slowly). My average weight loss comes out to be 2-3 pounds a week. No different than someone working Weight Watchers to the bone. When I have reached my goal, the program DOES NOT END for me. I will have to go through 12 weeks of transition and counseling where they will teach me how to eat THE RIGHT foods and how much of them to eat in order to maintain my weight. Once 12 weeks of transition have passed, I will enter into maintenance FOR A YEAR. Yes, for a year I will meet with my Medifast counselors once a week to weigh in, discuss and review my food journal. I will be expected to maintain my weight. The hope is that after a year and half of these three phases, I will be re-taught why to eat and what to eat without compromising my weight loss.

Dear Haters, please tell me again why you feel this is a quick fix? Because, a year and a half on this program pretty much feels like an eternity to me. Why is your way the only way right way to lose weight?

For me, my weight struggle isn’t something new. I have dealt with being overweight my entire life. I have food issues that have plauged me forever and it has taken me until now to realize I will never be able to fix them on my own. Medifast is the first program that has actually kept me honest about what I am putting in my mouth every day. I’m not going to bullshit anyone here, the biggest motivation to keep me on this plan is that it costs a small fortune. I will be damned if I ever have to pay for this again (which is hilarious because I have spent a lot more on Weight Watchers over the last 6 years trying to lose this same weight).

I am just sick and tired of people hating on my program. If you had been struggling for years and paying for a program that simply wasn’t working, what would you do? Just keep paying for a program that wasn’t working? Really? There was actually a fleeting moment I had before starting Medifast where I was believing that being at 188 lbs is just who I am. I actually almost believed that being a bigger girl was just how I was going to be and to accept it.

I am so glad I didn’t give up.

Weighing in at 169 pounds this morning, I am down 19.3 since starting Medifast on January 11 and down 39.3 pounds since officially starting my healthiness journey over a year ago. I only have 19 pounds left to reach my goal. I am stunned that I am almost there. I am stunned by the way I look even right now though I’m not yet to goal. I am stunned that I fit into a size 10 (I have been a 16 for as long as I can remember). I get choked up thinking about the fact I am excited to go swimsuit shopping and that I am not the least bit worried about taking my son to swim lessons or wearing a swimsuit in front of other people. I can’t believe I will go to Disneyland with my family later this year and not think twice about being too big for a ride or wearing shorts. I am stunned how much this is changing my life.

THIS is the me I am meant to be: healthy, fit and happy.

Dear Haters: This is no quick fix. This is a lifelong change for me. I will always need to watch what I eat and exercise. When I make it to my goal in the next 6-8 weeks, this doesn’t end. So please stop hating on me and please, PLEASE understand that not everyone will be able to lose weight the same way. Some of us need something a little different. Medifast is my different and it is working. For me.