Medifast Day 16

One of the best things I have realized is that 45 minutes of exercise every *other* day is a much better idea:

MM pudding
MM bar
MM shake
MM chili
MM hot chocolate

Lean and Green #1: 2 oz moderate-fat cheese, small romaine salad
Lean and Green #2: 3 oz tuna, broccoli and cauliflower steamed and sauteed in olive oil with rosemary and hot peppers

I was on the go today, so I stopped and picked up two pieces of string cheese from a convenience store, and grabbed a salad at a restaurant. I also grabbed a pack of peanuts though :X

Still, another good day!

Medifast Day 15

I really need to log my day in order to see what "works" for me. Yesterday:

MM pudding
MM bar
MM soup
MM shake
MM oatmeal
Lean and Green #1: 3.5 oz shrimp and 1 cup broccoli sauteed in 1 tsp sesame oil and soy sauce
Lean and Green #2: omelette made from 1 cup eggbeaters and 1/2 cup spinach
Extras: One ounce almonds
Exercise: Inhale (Yoga)

That's pretty much a perfect day. I LOVE splitting my lean and green meal, especially because we are allowed such a large portion of food! I'm also going to try exploring some of the vegetarian options a bit more. Not because I am vegetarian, but because I would like to occasionally have my veg days. I think I could do it if I really wanted to, as long as I could have dairy and eggs. After all, I've taken a liking to the omelette recipe, and I could make asian dishes with egg instead of shrimp/chicken!

Weigh In

177! It's official, I'm out of the obese BMI range!

In two weeks, I lost eight pounds, which is amazing to me because i had an NES episode, totally destroyed my weekends, and had an extra snack a few days. In spite of all that, I lost eight pounds. Whew!

Today is the day that I get back on track and do this even better. I can do it.

Sabotage!

I awoke this morning to a kitchen filled with wrappers and empty bags of potato chips. Night eating syndrome strikes again!!

Of course, most of the food I apparently ate in my sleep belonged to my roommate - if I could afford my own place, I certainly wouldn't even buy such things. I apologized to her and promised to rebuy the items, but she said not to worry about it since it's better for her anyway (I only ate chocolate bars and snack size bags of Doritos, from what I found).

I honestly don't know when this started, but unless you have ever suffered from NES, you don't know how frustrating it is. All of your efforts spent dieting during the day actually trigger these episodes. It doesn't even matter how overweight you are, you could have 15 pounds to lose or 150, the result is always the same. Doctors don't even know what to do.

As for today, i'm picking up the pieces, although very depressingly. I will try to fit the gym into the day, but I have a meeting this afternoon and am nearing the deadline for my article.

But I refuse to throw in the towel. Even if I am always *somewhat* overweight, at least I can get out of the "obese" category.

:(

Medifast Day 9

I haven't posted since my dentist appointment. That ended up being a bit more painful than I expected, so I struggled to eat on Monday and had to skip my lean and green. Not fun, I didn't feel well at all.

Thankfully, I felt better by Tuesday. I had a pudding, bar, the last of my muffins, a shake (added lemon extract), and I made some oatmeal biscuits:

1 package Medifast oatmeal (any flavor)
1 package Medifast eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tblsp ground flax meal
1/8 tsp Splenda
1/4 tsp lemon or vanilla extract
Spices to taste: pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice
4 Tbls water
Mix all ingredients, add water, and form into 2 circles on a cookie sheet. Smooth the tops. Bake at 375 forapproximately 10 minutes. If you wish for a browner top, you can then put under broiler for 1-2 minutes.

Not the best, but it was something to cook (and I certainly miss cooking).

I also am trying to widen my lean and green dinners: I scrambled a cup of eggbeaters for lunch, and had 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese with a side of green beans with a tsp of olive oil and garlic powder. The eggbeaters were a good choice, but I think I will save cottage cheese for a bit later. I felt like I didn't eat "dinner", even though cottage cheese = more calories than a boca burger. Strange how our thinking patterns work.

Exercise: stretching during House. :)

Medifast Day 7

Well, I made it through another day as well as the first week. Admittingly, I slacked for two days, but the days I strictly followed the plan turned out very well. I have to give it to medifast for making 850-1050 calorie days not feel horrendous!

Today's foods: bar, soup, two oatmeals, and pudding. For my lean and green, I fried two eggs with a half cup of egg beaters (about four whites). I also made a very unique broccoli slaw: i decided to make it with whole florets in it (although very small pieces), kind of to replace the raisins I am used to! Basic idea: shredded broccoli stalks, small amount of shredded carrots, 1 TB low fat mayo, 2 TB apple cider vinegar, one packet of splenda. pretty good! I also just finished up a snack (after debating whether I should go for it) consisting of an ounce of pumpkin seeds. Down with another 1000 calorie day!

Weekend!

My medifast blog has been as neglected as my diet for the weekend! Unfortunately, that isn't too terribly uncommon: I hit the clubs Friday night (so whatever that did to my caloric intake probably wasn't too helpful, though I did dance for four hours?!) I wasn't at my apartment much Saturday, and I can't believe I forgot to pack a bar or shake! I ended up stopping at a gas station and eating three sticks of string cheese and about three ounces of nuts for dinner. I have a feeling nuts are not the best replacement for vegetables..

Time to get back on track (although it was an awesome weekend)

Medifast Day 5

The rest of Day 4: 3oz tuna on a bed of mixed greens (finally figured out to buy that vs. iceberg!), 1 tbsp low fat ranch, then for dinner a pouch of 4oz tuna with a side of carrots (kinda not technically allowed), and a shake for dessert. I got hungry at night and decided to try the soy snacks. If you like soy at all, DON'T EAT THESE!! I ended up eating a second bag because they were so good!

My small little cheats from yesterday seem to be threatening my ketosis and making me super hungry. I didn't get in any exercise yesterday, and I have already four meals (and i'm counting the second snack towards today, so I don't have much room for food...not good at all!)

Anywho, I've had a pudding, two of my muffins, a bar, and I just made something so good I can't wait to tell you about it...

Medifast chocolate pudding
1/2 cup of ice
1 oz of cream cheese
almond extract
Walden Farms marshmallow dip
Put all ingredients in Magic Bullet or smoothie maker and blend until smooth.Pour in to cup and fold in some Walden Farms marshmallow dip. Gently stir to zig zag, but not to mix.

Reminds me so much of rocky road! Honestly, I modified the recipe so as to not include cream cheese (remember I already had my snack), but then I threw some almonds in anyway...oh well. I know I'm making progress anyway, in spite of my little cheats. Goes to show that medifast is actually pretty powerful.

Medifast Day 4

Yesterday evening was easy once again! I suppose my metabolism is just higher in the morning, making the first half of the day more of a struggle.

Wrapping up the rest of yesterday, I did 20minutes of step aerobics, then had some chili in the afternoon (added some hot sauce - highly recommend!). For dinner, I cooked up a boca burger and ate it plain with a side salad and a tbsp of low fat ranch. Splitting my lean and green did wonders for me! At my Wednesday Bible study, I had so much energy that I actually stayed after class talking for another hour!

Before bed (10pm), I actually had to push myself to eat another pudding. In spite of my cheats, that puts me at only 920 calories. Can you believe that? Normally, I would feel sick eating such a low amount of calories...I must say, I am pretty impressed with medifast right now.

SO...moving on to today. I woke up at 4am, grabbed some pudding, and finished the article I've been working on (yes, I know...I keep really weird hours..but I write when inspired, regardless of the time!) Had a bar after that, and finished off my waffles around 10am. Which means I need to come up with another recipe as I am doing everthing I can to fight food boredom!

It's almost noon here and I'm cooking up some muffins:

1 package Medifast Blueberry Oatmeal
1 package Medifast scrambled eggs
2 packages Medifast vanilla pudding
1 1/2 c water
2 packets of Splenda
1/2 t baking powder
pinch of salt1
Tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Whisk well and let sit for about 15 minutes. Whisk again and pour into 8 sprayed muffin tins.
Bake in a 350 oven for about 40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Serves 4. Refrigerate unused portions and eat promptly.

I plan to eat two and freeze the other six. Then I'm going to split my lean and green again, and I still have room for another meal and a soup (in place of a snack. maybe.) We will see..

Medifast Day 3

Today is the third day and I am not feeling up to work. I've heard the third day is the hardest and it has been true - I had oatmeal really early, went back to bed, had some crackers, then had a bar around 9, and around 10, I had two more waffles (double yum again!). At noon, I tried to put off having one of the other two medifast meals, so I had some pickles (meaning I doubled my snacks), and then I decided to try the exerciser's plan: I split my lean and green meal for the day. I cooked up some broccoli and cauliflower, topped it with curry powder and a dash of coconut milk, and cooked up a monstrous fried egg: one whole egg and a quarter cup of all-whites (about two whites). I'm FINALLY full.

I'll post the rest of the day later.

Medifast Day 2

Well, I woke up in the middle of the night and ate a package of medifast crackers. There goes my snack for the day at 2 am. Oh well!

I again woke up and had pudding, this time at 5am. (I guess my body is wanting to eat every three hours, regardless of the fact that i'm trying to sleep!) I went back to bed and woke up at 8:00, leaving me one hour to leave the house in order to meet with my editor. I grabbed a bar, had a quick shower and left just in time!

By the time I made it back home, it was 11:00, and I opted for another soup, of the broccoli cream variety. That was good and held me well while I made some of the edits on my draft. At 1:30, I attempted to do a Billy Blanks Tae-Bo video...it was a bit exhausting (and long again! no wonder exercise is not suggested at first. I'm only exercising because I normally do, and 20-min a day doesn't seem excessive).

But after that hard work, I wanted to reward myself, so I cooked up a batch of pancakes. I didn't like the way the pancakes were turning out, so I instead plugged in my waffle-maker and I liked the texture so much more. Here is the recipe I used:

1 package of Medifast Eggs
4 oz water
1 package Medifast Oatmeal - any flavor
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Vanilla

Mix eggs and water very well, with whisk or blender. Add baking powder and vanilla. Stir in one pack of Medifast oatmeal. Make sure it is well mixed and that the oatmeal is evenly dispersed (otherwise you get flat pancakes)
Spray nonstick skillet with Pam. Cook like pancakes. Makes 4 fluffy pancakes - two servings. Second batch can be reheated in the microwave for 15 seconds.
Top with some non-aerosol butter spray and/or a tad of DaVinci sugar free syrup.

I doubled the recipe and froze the other six waffles. I also went easy on the water, so be careful.

Dinner was very simple: I tore open a pouch of sweet and sour tuna (5oz), threw it on my bagged iceberg (another note to self: buy lettuce that doesn't completely lack flavor!), and topped it with 2 tbsp low fat salsa ranch.

My sister brought over a bag of clothes for me to go through, so that both occupied me for the next few hours and inspired me to lose this weight - I want so badly to fit into these size 7 jeans, but that's a long way off!

At about 8, I was going to have another shake, but I couldn't resist trying my waffles. I topped them with fat free ICBINB and calorie free maple syrup. WHOA, those toppings and the waffle shape paid off! AWESOME!

Medifast Day 1

So today was the first day of my medifast diet. I didn't overeat the day before so I expected a bit of hunger. Surprisingly, the hunger was only bad in the morning!

Upon rolling out of bed (7 AM), my food choices are never that fantastic. In fact, I grabbed a cup of coffee and a chocolate pudding. Around 8:00, I was still hungry and tired, so I had a Lemon bar. I needed to catch up on my writing, but I ended up going back to bed, feeling hungry and very cold.

I finally woke up again around 10:00, and had the chicken soup. I was finally feeling decent enough to work, so I made progress until around 1:00, at which time I had an oatmeal. I felt a little dismayed that I had already eaten four of my five meals at 1:00, but upon getting back to work, I was amazed when three hours flew by and I had not experienced hunger.

At 4:00, I was craving salmon (surprisingly, I am not big on salmon usually). I measured out my iceberg lettuce (note to self: prebagged lettuce contains carrots, which are not technically allowed). I also put in a few broccoli florets and added a tbsp of low fat ranch dressing, then opened a bag of 3oz pink salmon. It wasn't as good as I would have liked it to be, and 3oz doesn't hit all the "lean" I need. So I went back to the fridge, cooked up a boca burger, and ate it san-bun...which surprisingly hit the spot.

A few hours later, I put on my TIVOed Denise Austin, who inspires me and I think is absolutely adorable (some people are annoyed by her), and managed a seemingly long 20-minute routine involving weights, low-impact cardio, and some yoga.

At 7:00 pm, I had my last medifast meal: I put the vanilla shake in the blender, added some coconut extract and imitation rum, and blended it with ice. Then I poured a bit of Walden Farms calorie free chocolate syrup on top.

All in all, my hunger subsided and my energy levels rose tremendously by the end of the day. Now it's after 11 and I can't even sleep! I'm amazed that I've only had 840 calories..so far, I am impressed by Medifast!