Medifast Ups and Downs

Jun12
2011 Leave a Comment Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

Okay, I’ve lost a bit of momentum on the Medifast diet. To be honest, I’ve lost a lot of momentum on the Medifast diet. To be even more honest, it has been my fault, or more to the point, my appetite’s fault. I have struggled more than my health coach suggested I would. I am hungry usually after I finish my Medifast meal and much hungrier when it is time for the next meal. Only after the lean and green meal do I feel truly satisfied and that is where the problem begins. I am distracted by my hunger and snack in between meals. I have nuts, a slice of cheese, some sliced turkey or something along those lines, but that seems to me the sticking point, I guess. So, as of June 12, 2011 I weigh 241.6. I have been as low as 240 lbs but I have been keeping a low calorie count and subsisting on salads with grilled chicken or salmon when dining out.

My family and friends are eating mouth-watering meals of…well, things I would rather be eating. I really miss popcorn and chips but even those aren’t being allowed and yet I am losing weight really slowly. Too slowly. If fact at this current rate of deprivation I will reach my goal of 180 lbs sometime around June of next year at this current rate. I don’t want to eat like this for 14 months to lose 80 or so pounds.

Today I have have eaten three Medifast meals and a pickle with lots of calorie-free drinks. I’m going to give this diet plan until the 1-month of food runs out and see how the results go. If I have get back to 3 or 4 lbs of weight loss a week, then I’ll stick with it. If I am stuck on 1.2 lbs. a week as I am now, then I obviously need to move on to something that is better suited to my lifestyle and hunger needs.

Day 56 Weight 241.6 lbs., 24.4 lbs. lost

I am doing another food review today: Medifast Caramel Crunch Bar

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Losing Weight on Medifast…Again

May26
2011 2 Comments Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

Well, after reporting my disappointment of actually gaining weight while adhering mostly to the Medifast diet, I have found better success with Medifast the last four days. I have not been snacking as much on nuts and I have not been replacing Medifast meals with salads or high-protein meals. It seems to be paying off as I have had a nice drop in weight. I will post my weight tomorrow (Friday, May 27) to give you a better idea and myself.

Other good news, I got my next shipment of food and this time I handpicked the meals so it should go better for me. I will also get back to reviewing the meals so you know what to stay away from. This time I got lots of meal replacement bars, pretzels, chili nacho cheese puffs (snackilicious!) and such. I’ll give a full rundown of my second month order later.

chili-nacho-cheese-puffs

Chili Nacho Cheese Puffs are your friends. Delicious.

For now though, I seem to be on track!

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Yes, I’m still on Medifast

May25
2011 Leave a Comment Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

It has been a while since I posted. The bad news is I have not lost any more weight since I quit posting. The even worse news is I didn’t stop eating the Medifast meals, which is mildly depressing. To be honest, I wasn’t 100% following the diet, but outside circumstances prevented it. But even when I couldn’t eat a Medifast meal I still had very healthy choices, almost entirely chicken and salad meals.

I haven’t been snacking other than nuts, primarily almonds. So I didn’t fall off the wagon and binge or ignore the diet, yet I stopped losing weight and even gained weight somehow. I’m quite shocked. This sad revelation came to me when I weighed myself on Monday and I decided to be strict and follow the diet to the letter for the next week. On Monday and Tuesday I stuck with it and today I have as well. I had salmon for dinner with broccoli and string beans. Last night I had a homemade taco salad with lean ground beef and refried beans. The beans might be off limits but I know they are a good carb so I thought this was okay.

My thought is this: I went to my doctor almost two weeks ago and got an excellent checkup and my blood work was normal for the first time in years. Even with only having lost 20 lbs or so. So that was encouraging, but I also weighed myself on their BMI (body mass index) scale and it printed some data on my body’s makeup and also told me I needed to eat 1900 calories a day to keep my current weight and that number is without any exercise or movement. So even if I wasn’t sticking to the diet to the letter I was certainly not taking in over 1300 calories on any day during this time. I should have been down at least 600 calories per day and over a two week period that would have meant a few pounds lost, yet I gained weight?!? I assume my body is confused and is in starvation mode at times even though I’m eating at regular intervals. I am a bit confused.

With this confusion, I am still resolved to continue sticking this through for another month. I ordered my meals so I am committed at least that long. And my friend has lost almost 50lbs on the Medifast diet so I know it works. I’m just responded differently.

It may be that I’m messing with my metabolism by cheating to much. And by cheating I mean having to many nuts (2 handfuls a day) or when I had a grilled chicken sandwich from Wendy’s, but I also moved two rooms of furniture that day and I thought I surely burned those calories off, but maybe it took my body out of its fat burning state.

So now that I have been better this week, I lost .4lbs from Monday to Tuesday and remained at the same weight Tuesday to Wednesday (today). I will report in tomorrow.

One final thought, maybe my initial rapid weight loss was more water weight and when my body adjusted and re-hydrated and I gained back some water weight, so even though I didn’t lose as much weight, my body fat declined. My scale may be off, but it is a digital scale so I thought it was good.

Day 36 Weight 249.4 lbs.

– I gained 2.8lbs. while remaining 90% faithful to this diet. Just my low calorie count should have cut off a few pounds. As I said, very confusing for me and I’m missing out on lots of good foods while my family is eating how they like. I doubt anyone gained that much weight but me and I’m on the diet. Sheesh!

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When will someone notice I have lost weight?

May06
2011 4 Comments Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

I woke up and weighed myself this morning and saw I had lost 19.4 lbs. in 18 days on the Medifast diet plan. Great news and wonderful progress I thought. I walked out the door after having a tasty French Vanilla Medifast Shake and went to work as usual. And that was just the problem, everything was “as usual.”

What I mean is, no one noticed or has noticed since I started losing weight. Before I began the Medifast diet I decided that I would not tell anyone who was not in my immediate family. I made this decision because I didn’t want anyone to know if I failed on yet another diet plan and I didn’t want to bring it up unless asked about it. But no one has asked because no one has noticed. At 20 pounds down I thought for  sure that it would be something that people would notice, but no dice.

So now I am wondering how many pounds I have to lose before someone says, “Hey, have you lost weight?” I guess 20 lbs. is not that amount. I am still very motivated and look forward to achieving my goal of 175 lbs. (down from an initial weight of 266 lbs.) but I will be very excited to have someone finally notice.

This is not to say I haven’t noticed that clothes fit different, because they do. I can now comfortable wear 2 pairs of jeans that had been regulated to the back of my drawers and shirts are fitting me better. And I can tell my stomach doesn’t protrude as much so these are all good things, but I’m looking for shock and awe. I guess only time and sticking to my Medifast meal plan will help me achieve this.

Day 18 Weight 246.6 lbs.

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Old Clothes Begin to Fit Again

May03
2011 Leave a Comment Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

I have lost over 16 lbs. on the Medifast diet plan and while it sounds good (it is good) I’m not seeing a noticeable difference when I look in the mirror. I’m still pudgy, rotund and fairly unappealing to look upon, at least my torso is. My face is handsome as ever, just ask my wife. I know that I’m still 250 lbs. so I should expect a vast difference, but these are the things you look for when you losing weight.

I can tell my face is thinner in the cheeks, although I still can’t fully see both my ears at the same time. And I thought I could tell my neck was thinner. By that I mean, I can once again tell I have a neck. When I was married at the tender age of 21, my neck size was 16 inches. Last year it was 21 inches and that was snug. I have a thick neck to put it mildly. Shirts are huge and billowy on my body because the neck needs to be so large. Because of this my shirts must be tailored, or should be tailored. The extra money is usually kept in my pocket rather than spent on my shirt, know what I mean, but I digress…

That's not me, but those are cool acid wash jeans, nonetheless.

I thought my neck looked thinner so I went to try on my 21 inch neck shirt, but it was dirty and so was my other one. Rather disappointed I looked and saw an older shirt with a 20 inch neck. Lo and behold, it fit! And it fit a little loose! Ah, there was my validation. I could fit my thick, round neck into a 20 inch hole! Hooray and hurrah! There is no sarcasm here, even though it may read otherwise. I am honestly happy that I can start where some other clothing I own again. Probably not my 16 inch shirt, which I still have as a memento, but who knows.

I’m really holding out for those acid wash jeans in the bottom drawer. Oh, yeah, that’ll be sweet.

One of my favorite shows was the King of Queens and the main character, Doug, lost weight and dug out his old acid wash jeans. I found the video on youtube. You can fast forward to the 40 sec. mark and see the awesomeness!

Day 15 Weight: 249.6 lbs.

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2 Weeks on Medifast Diet – Lost 16 Pounds

May02
2011 Leave a Comment Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

Still feeling a little run-down from my abating cold and my cough, but very encouraged by the steady and consistent weight loss. I haven’t had a good day to really establish a new baseline for my energy level. The first few days I was lethargic from getting used to the Medifast diet and then I started feeling sick on day 5 and I am only now feeling better, but lack of sleep has hurt my energy for sure. so I haven’t been able to judge a day without me being new to the diet or sick to some degree.

By this weekend I hope to be fully recovered, sleeping through nights and experiencing that new found energy my health coach was telling me about. I am also looking forward to working out again which should be by the end of this 3rd week on the Medifast diet.

I have been following a few people on twitter who are using Medifast for weight loss and it is encouraging to see their successes. Please connect with my twitter account if you are interested in my tweets about Medifast: @medifastdietman.

I have also started drinking green tea. At first I was drinking the hot green tea to settle my cough, but now after a few days of sipping cup after cup I am getting to like it more and more. Anyone have any suggestions for a green tea they like. I also read green tea is good for weight loss, so hey, Bonus! Don’t believe me? Even the government says so.

To help in my slow recovery i have been added a strawberry to my morning shake and some blackberries to my afternoon shake. It may slow my weight loss, I don’t know, but the health benefits are worth it to me. I’ll see how this goes and I may remove the fruit if I feel it is slowing down the weight loss too much. Medifast claims I (males) should lose about 3-5 pounds per week. If I keep at 3 pounds I’ll be ecstatic and I still get to eat fruit.

Day 14 Weight: 249.8 lbs.

End of Week Two Total Weight Loss: 16.2 lbs.

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Medifast and My Prescription Medication

May01
2011 Leave a Comment Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

It is Sunday morning and I overslept and missed church. My dang cough is still keeping me awake at night but is getting less intrusive. I will be very happy with my sleep habits return to normal. I wonder how negatively it is affecting my weight loss on Medifast? I’m still not supposed to be exercising and to be honest I don’t feel much like doing physical activity with my cold and lack so sleep. I hope in another week I will be at full strength and ready to start working out. I am still taking walks with my dog Toby, but that is about it for activity. So my fast weight loss is even more surprising to me, if not my health coach. His prediction of 2-5 lbs per week is actually understated, as I dropped more weight this weekend. Tomorrow I will be able to post my full 2 week weight loss on the Medifast Diet plan.

I also decided to start my Medifast Meal Reviews. I will be reviewing all the meals I try and giving you my personal thoughts on the quality and taste of each. It will be a work in progress so it may take a while to post all the meals. Send in your reviews to medifastdietman @ gmail.com and I’ll post them as well.

I am on medication that is all related to obesity. This is just one of the many reasons I decided to start losing weight seriously.

I am currently taking the following prescriptions. I am in my early forties.

Actos 30MG: ACTOS is a prescription medication used with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar (glucose) control in adults with type 2 diabetes. My doctor said I am pre-diabetic but that I am not properly handling my insulin levels and blood sugar. My health coach said I should be reducing this soon, but I have informed my doctor and will let him tell me when to reduce it. I am sending him weekly updates on my weight loss.

Crestor 10MG: Also know as Rosuvastatin is used along with a proper diet to help lower “bad” cholesterol and fats (such as LDL, triglycerides) and raise “good” cholesterol (HDL) in the blood. It belongs to a group of drugs known as “statins.” It works by reducing the amount of cholesterol made by the liver. Wow, I just read a forum about all the bad side-effects (temporary and permenant) and I will be very happy to get off of this drug as soon as possible.

Lisinopril 10-12.5 MG: Lisinopril is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. My blood pressure was a little high about a year ago so my doctor put me on this. My blood pressure is normal now, but only with the medication. Looking forward to being medication free.

Needless to say, the side effects from all of these prescription medicines are scary and probably very rare. But I have noticed some the side effects mentioned, but many of the side effects are also related to being overweight and obesity, so whose to say which is causing which. All I know for sure is that losing the weight with Medifast will be my ticket to better health and saving some money on prescription medications every month.

Not my actual meal.

One last thing, I had carry out last night from a Vietnamese restaurant and ordered Chicken and Broccoli with Garlic Sauce. Here is a Weight Watcher’s recipe which should be healthier if you want try it. Of course it was delicious, but I noticed afterwards that I didn’t feel overly full and no bloating. I mention this because usually eating Asian food I feel bloated and uncomfortable after. I assume skipping the rice was the reason and I think I will continue to forgo the rice even after I have achieved the weight loss. I only hope the meal fits within the Medifast diet plan. I am fairly sure garlic sauce isn’t on the plan, but I had only a small amount. I did skip the final Medifast meal after but I just wasn’t hungry.  This morning’s weight shows at least no initial weight gain at least.

Day 14: Weight 250.4 lbs.

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I love Mango but not Medifast Mango Soft Serve

Apr29
2011 Leave a Comment Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

I have realized that I don’t like a few of the meals from the variety pack. To name a few, the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal and the Mango Soft Serve. And I had both today. Yuck.

Okay, truth is I didn’t like oatmeal before having the Medifast oatmeal, but this is even less tasteful. So I recommend avoiding it. But as for the Medifast Mango Soft Serve? Avoid it like the plague. It is awful, or as a friend of mine would say when something is particularly bad, Godawful! It tastes like medicine and that is never a good thing. It also has odd and very unpleasant aftertaste. It is so bad in fact, that I could only eat a few bites. I tried gulping it down just for the nutrition and calories but couldn’t finish it. I’ll have to check into the return policy because there is no way I will be eating that again. Even writing about it bring up the memory of that foul taste. Here is a picture of the foul-tasting concoction. Think of it as a Wanted Poster. This “dessert” is armed and dangerous. Shoot on site. I wonder what Natural Flavor they are referring to…there was nothing natural about it.

Medifast Mango Soft Serve

Mango Soft Serve from Medifast

Mango Soft Serve from Medifast - So bad, Yuck.

I’ll stick with the Medifast Chocolate Chip Pancakes over the Medifast Oatmeal from now on. But at least I can handle finishing the Oatmeal box of packages. But I won’t be reordering it, that is for certain.

Medifast Oatmeal - Ready to eat if you like oatmeal. I do not.

Medifast Oatmeal - Ready to eat if you like oatmeal. I do not.

I am finally feeling distinctly more well after my cold. I still have a bit of an annoying cough (very annoying according to my wife) but I am on the road to recovery and look forward to be more active. The scale remained the same as yesterday but I fully expected to have some days that I gained or remained the same weight from the day before. My overall progress is still awesome. I finally shared my dieting secret with someone outside my immediately family and it felt good to brag a little.

I’m still eating a few nuts everyday, but I will watch this as I don’t want to curtail my weight loss with too many.

Day 12: Weight: 252.2 lbs.

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Mediast Chocolate Chip Pancakes Tastes Good

Apr28
2011 Leave a Comment Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

I got about 2 hours of sleep last night thanks for my cough keeping me up. So I am just too tired to write more than a few words. I did take some photos of the Medifast Chocolate Chip Pancakes, which I really like. I think I’ll create a page rating all the meals I have tried. The Medifast variety pack has a good assortment, but not all of the Medifast meals are good, know what I mean?

So with out further ado, here are the Medifast Chocolate Chip Pancakes as I made them. Please ignore my torn edges. I went for one big pancake rather than a few small ones. My flip didn’t flip smoothly. All those tiny specks are the chocolate chips. They kind of gravitate to the center of the pancake.

Medifast Chocolate Chip Pancake

Dropped 1.2 lbs from yesterday. Yay! Too tired to celebrate more than that. The Medifast diet is keeping all of its promises so far.

Day 11: Weight: 252.2 lbs.

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I’m Sick, But Not Sick of Medifast

Apr27
2011 Leave a Comment Medifast Diet Man Written by Medifast Diet Man

Sorry, I wasn’t able to update my progress yesterday. My cold developed a cough and I was sleep deprived and very tired all day. So Tuesday this week did not get up an update or a weigh-in. This morning I felt a little better, but still have a hacking cough that has made my chest and abdomen sore from the spasms.

I was able to keep to the Medifast program for the day and I believe I have officially moved into the next phase where I am not hungry or craving food throughout the day. In fact I have actually had to make myself eat the late night snack. I have mentioned this before but I’m still so surprised at my lack of hunger even throughout the day. My day went like this.

Breakfast: Medifast Shake (Vanilla is my favorite)

Snack: Medifast Snack Bar (lemon meringue)

Lunch: Medifast Chicken Noodle Soup

Snack: Medifast Snack Bar (Oatmeal Crunch)

Snack: 12 almonds (this is the extra snack I eat that gets me through to dinner. I have dinner later than I should so I do this do keep me from being too hungry in between.

Dinner: Very lean hamburger (no bun or condiments) and mixed vegetables and broccoli

Snack: Medifast Double Chocolate Shake

As you can see I am eating plenty and still dropping weight. I am very happy with the progress. I wish I could better assess my energy levels but being sick and having very little sleep the last 3 days is interfering with an accurate estimation. I hope to be fully recovered next week and be able to tell you how great I feel. I did notice that I hop off the couch easier and stand from my chair at work without physically straining myself. Could be in my mind, but it is something I noticed without thinking about it, so it feels real.

No one has notices except my wife, who is probably just being polite and I haven’t seen a difference in the mirror yet either. Pants definitely fit looser, but after dropping over 12 lbs in 9 days I think I expected more. Regardless, I’m excited for what tomorrow will bring…or take away. ;-)

Weight: 253.4 lbs.

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My Medifast Weight Loss

If you just found this site, you may wish to start at the beginning to follow my weight loss journal. I have decided to use the Medifast Diet plan for losing weight and thought that a Medifast Diet review would be helpful to new users and supportive to those using the diet plan.

Here is where the Medifast diet begins.

 

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