Big Decision. Big Change.
It may have been a knee jerk reaction. It may have been the fact that I have had no weight loss since about October and I am frustrated.
I can’t believe I did this, but I canceled my Weight Watchers subscription today. Yes, me, the Weight Watchers guru. The one who preached that it is the only program where you can lose weight and keep it off. Yeah. I quit. You can’t keep the weight off if you can’t LOSE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!
After a 6 month plateau (is it really a plateau after 6 months??) I decided to seek a new program. After oodles of research, not to mention watching a Twitter friend’s journey of ridiculously awesome success, I chose Medifast.
Yes, I was going to wait until the end of the month; however, I am tired of waiting. Tired of not seeing results. Tired of not getting support. I bit the bullet and scheduled a consultation at Medifast today. Thinking I would just get the scoop on the program and bring it home to talk it over with the husband, the longer I was in the consultation, the more I wanted to do the program. Now, maybe they are trained to sell it that good, but the results of my body scan were very eye opening and encouraging. For the first time since I started my true weight loss journey a year ago, I actually feel like there is a real light at the end of the tunnel. They actually said I would be at my goal weight by Easter. WHAT? I’m not even kidding you. I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it. Can I dare even think about it?
One of the things that was increasingly frustrating with Weight Watchers was the lack of support. Probably one of the biggest selling points with Medifast is the one on one support that I will be getting each week. I need to be able to talk through this with someone who is willing to listen to only me. Where I’m not just a face in the crowd, or can barely speak without someone cutting me off which was happening at my Weight Watchers meeting every single week. I’m going to miss my leader, she is as sweet as they come and I enjoyed her energy and I am going to miss the friends I made (which isn’t hard to do when you’ve been struggling together for a year).
So back to my consult… They did a body scan which was super fascinating and pretty techie cool. Rather than looking only at BMI (as most weight loss programs do) they take into account the entire picture including body composition with analysis and an obesity analysis. I wasn’t surprised to find that yes, I have to lose body fat but was happy to see that my skeletal muscle mass is in the normal range which speaks volumes about how much work I have put into my body over the past year. Not only did it tell me that I have some sense of healthy to my body but it also tells me that I don’t have to lose as much as Weight Watchers was telling me I had to lose. While 38 lbs to lose still feels like a substantial number to me, it isn’t as daunting as 45. I love that they are taking into account my body composition for my goal as opposed to just my height. Saying I’m a little “thick” isn’t an excuse- I bring some guns to the gun show! To say I’m excited about the possibilities with this program is an understatement. I took the bait: hook, line and sinker.
One of my questions for my dietician today was, “Has anyone ever failed?” Her response to this question was crucial. She said, for as long as she had been meeting with people at Medifast she had never seen anyone not reach their goal weight. She then dangled the 10% off carrot at me if I sign up on the spot. After a brief and supportive discussion with my husband, I pretty much asked, “Where do I sign?”
No doubt, the program isn’t cheap. But no more than I would spend being on Weight Watchers for the better part of the last 6 years. It’s not a lose weight quick scam- yes, I’ll likely reach my goal quickly; however, I will get support for a year once I reach my goal. They will teach me and mentor me on keeping the weight off. I am confident once I lose the weight, I will be able to keep it off. I obviously have some skills at maintaining my weight regardless.
Do I have some fears? Of course I do. I have been working Weight Watchers with limited success and I fear this won’t be any different. The program is pretty dipshit proof though. There’s no way to cheat and if you do, it will be obvious.
If you can’t tell, I am so freaking stoked about this. I’m very determined. Very motivated. 2012 is going to be the year I get skinny and healthy for life.
I’m going to consider this my before picture. It is from May 2011 from the first 5K I ran last year (I am about 7 lbs less than this now). I can’t wait to see what I look like in May 2012!!!
