The Six-Week Update

It has been just about six weeks since I began this weight loss journey. If you've been following this blog you know that it hasn't been a completely smooth journey to this point but it has been richly rewarding. After starting at 249 lbs and taking 7 pills a day for both diabetes and high blood pressure, I'm happy to report that I have lost 23 lbs and down to 2 pills a day. My cravings for junk food have pretty much disappeared and my energy level has increased tremendously.

I still slightly over one-third of the way to my goal but I know that reaching it is a foregone conclusion. The rewards of losing weight far outweigh the momentary satisfaction of fattening foods. The most rewarding side effect of losing weight is the way that my eating habits are changing. I am beginning to genuinely crave healthy foods instead of the old fat and carb laden-ed foods I used to eat. Salads and vegetables are more appealing to me than pizza and burgers. That is not to say that I won't ever eat pizza or burgers again but I will approach them much differently than in the past.

I went "shopping" in my closet and found some shirts that I haven't been able to wear for the last couple of years and they fit perfectly! It was like getting something new. It was also a reminder that I was much thinner before and that most of the weight I'm losing was put on in the last two to three years.

Finally, the most exciting development on this journey has been the stabilization of my blood sugar. I am no longer taking any medication for my diabetes and my blood sugar has been rock solid for the past two to three weeks. This is truly an answer to prayer! Of course I have emailed my physician with this news just to let him know what's going on and I had a conversation about it with a personal friend who is a physician.

One last thing. People are taking notice that I am losing weight. It's nice to personally know that I'm dropping pounds but it is so much more encouraging when others start to take notice. So it's 23 down and 41 to go to reach my goal. Stay tuned!

The First Weekend

For me, the weekend means temptation. It is the treasured break from the working routine of the week and has always been the time to let go a little bit and have fun. My weekends aren't always full of fun but at least it's the myth I keep telling myself. It's usually time to go out and enjoy a meal at a favorite restaurant or watch a movie and load up on popcorn and the like.

How was my new Medifast routine going to hold up on the weekend? Would I have the strength to stay on track? Well, I have to report that the specter of diet failure never materialized for me and I had no difficulty at all staying the course. And yes, I was able to go out to eat with friends and still find food choices that were within my program. I didn't miss a thing! In fact I was able to eat some of my Medifast meals that are not possible to eat during my regular weekday routine, such as soup and stews.

After nearly a week on the program I have come to the conclusion that eating 6 small meals every two to three hours is the way to go regardless of what diet you may be on. It is a way of eating that is in tune with your body's needs and not being a slave to a paradigm of just eating three times a day, hungry or not. My body is good at telling me when it's time to eat, not the other way around. The small meals keep me satisfied and constantly fueled.

So where am I after my first five full days? I have lost 9 lbs...nearly two pounds per day! I know that this type of loss will be impossible to sustain because in the beginning there is a lot of fluid weight loss along with the fat. The loss will eventually slow down to 2 - 5 pounds per week or roughly 10 - 20 pounds per month. I'll take that! The journey continues...