Packed and Ready

Today is day 7, and I am so sorry for slacking on keeping you all up to date.  I have been so busy getting ready for my conference which starts today.  I will be gone until Sunday and needed to get all packed; clothes, makeup, food and more!!  I have been feeling so great that I can't believe I'm actually "dieting".  Although, I'm not so sure that is the proper term.  I am creating a new body and a new way of living.  I am creating a new state of mind and a new way of thinking about what I put into my body.  

Here I am, 5am on my first day of conference.  It was a 5 1/2 hour drive yesterday and absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! With TSFL you are supposed to drink A LOT of water!! So, I stopped 4 times, twice to get more water and twice more to use the restroom! Oops! And once for gas, $3.87 a gallon.  Ouch!! But living in Washington State sure does have it's perks! Like all the animals you can see on a drive through the state.  And the windmills! My favorite!  Then when you turn down on the border of OR and WA and you're driving along the Columbia, it is stunning.   <3 

Enough about the beautiful PNW! Packing and preparing to be away from home is a pretty normal occurrence for me.  But, packing and preparing to be away from home, a microwave and a refrigerator all while on a strict eating plan is definitely a new thing for me.  Surprisingly it was much easier that I ever imagined.  Thanks to the variety of meals offered for my MM I was able to bring most that are just open and eat, along with shakes (add water and drink). I also pre-baked brownies and cookies, placed them in a ziplock and called it good.  

Along with my MM I also packed 2 days of L&G's.  It felt a little funny walking into the hotel with a cooler last night, but I don't think anyone noticed except myself. I made sure to pack my full serving of lean and 3 servings of greens for at least 2 of the days I am here.  Along with my 3 snacks, one for each day.  It all fit into one easy to pack cooler and I was ready!  

I made 2 different "salads", a tuna salad w/hard boiled egg, light mayo, ff cream cheese, celery, salt & pepper.  I had it last night on lettuce leaves with tomato and swiss cheese! yum yum!  I also made a grilled chicken BBQ ranch salad.  It has shredded cheese in it also!  I will have that on lettuce leaves also.  I think I might be liking eating my "sandwiches" on lettuce leaves as opposed to bread a lot! Who woulda known?! By the end of eating my L&G I am so stuffed, but not gross stuffed.  It is amazing.  

Well, guess I had better get outta bed and start my day.  :) I am so excited for all that I am going to learn over the next few days!  And also to succeed in a setting that will just be begging me to eat food that is not on plan.  I hope you all have an excellent weekend!

Difficult Me!

Well friends, here we are: Day 3.  Oh man, is it as bad as I've been told!! I've been told/warned that day 3 is going to be hard, I am going to be exhausted, everything I am changing in my body is finally kicking in and my body isn't going to know how to react except to want to sleep.  Since I felt sooooo amazing yesterday and the day before, I thought, "well, that just won't happen to me, I'm going to be the exception"  HAH! Yah right!! Here I am, DRAINED!! If I could go to bed and sleep for the next 12 hours, I happily would.  Even though I went to bed and slept for 10 hours last night, then woke up for a bit.  And back to bed I went for a 2 hour nap! Oh my goodness!! It is going to be the longest night EVER! (Ps. Those of you who aren't aware, I work graveyard.  6pm-8am) 

That's all I have to say negatively though! :) Which makes me feel very great!! I may be utterly exhausted.  I may be unable to say a fully sentence without yawning.  But, I am not hungry, nor am I wishing I could have a big bowl of pasta, or some pizza.  Nope! I am perfectly happy with my MM and my L&G that I packed.  

Now, some of you may know that I have been super worried about how I was going to eat 6 times 2-3 hours apart.  Do the math, that's being awake for 12-18 hours.  I unfortunately have days where I am awake A LOT longer than that!! Tonight is one of those nights/days.  I have brought with me, along with my regular 5 MM's and one L&G,  a snack, 3 celery sticks w/one wedge of Laughing Cow light cheese (LOVE LOVE LOVE THOSE!!!), and an additional 1 oz of ground turkey to add to my Chili MM. 

I wrote to Nutrition Support and they told me to not eat more than 5 MM in 24 hours.  If I needed to, I could add an ounce to two of additional lean to one of my MM.  :) I've also heard from a few people on the FB Medifast page, and their responses have helped me as well.  Now don't get me wrong, Cathy has also been very helpful.  But unfortunately, she has never had a case like mine.  ;) Typical me, just gotta be difficult!! :) 

After talking to my coach, Cathy, today I learned a couple things.  One, I need to be or should be keeping a journal.  To keep track of my sleep, what I'm eating, when I'm eating, how much water I'm drinking and especially how I'm feeling.  So, to add my "to buy" list goes a journal.  Included in the "eating" section is not only my meals, but also any gum or mints.  You'd be surprised at the amount of sugars and carbs that can totally add up.  Thankfully, not a big gum/mint fan.  :) 

Thankfully I do have a lot of motivation and support through this journey.  I have Chris, who is my rock and I am so very thankful to/for him.  I also have my Mom!!! (For those of you who don't know me, we're super close) I have Cathy, and my many friends.  I also have a new support, all of you who are reading this, and keep telling me that you are following me and so excited to go along with me.  It shocks me every time I get online and see that I have another 80+ views!! 

So Thank You!!! You are making me be accountable!!! :) Have an amazing day/night!!! 

Pizza for One

I woke up today, day 2, feeling better than I have in months! I felt super awake, active and ready to take whatever today decided to throw my way.  Thankfully life was pretty kind to me! I ended up sleeping a little longer than I wanted to, but I'm not really going to complain about that since my sleep schedule is so not healthy, nor normal.  

I overcame a huge fear today! I have been super nervous of the night that my family would want pizza for dinner, which I of course can not have.  But thank goodness for Sandy and her wonderful website, sandyskitchenadventures.com  I also got to have pizza tonight.  Oh man! It was delicious!!! (Chris even liked it) 

I successfully survived pizza night in the Thompson household! Super sonic excited about that! Also, I am loving how great I feel! I'm only on day 2 I can only imagine what is to come!!  

Not much to say today! Hope you all had a great weekend!! :)

A Goal Without a Plan is Only a Wish

Today is day one!!! But first I think I need to backtrack and go back to the previous two days.  Especially yesterday, since so much happened and I learned so much information!!  

First of all, I realized that I am using Medifast as the product but really my journey is being fueled through a program called Take Shape For Life, TSFL for short.  Medifast provides the product while TSFL provides the support needed to succeeded.  So, from now on I will make sure to refer to my program as TSFL.  As I told you, I have a health coach, Cathy, who is through the TSFL program.  She is going to my rock, especially through the first few weeks which I have been told are the hardest.  EEK!! Cathy and I had our first meeting on Friday, where I had my last beloved white mocha.  ;)  

During this meeting Cathy asked me what my goals for doing this program are.  What do I want out of this?  Of course there's the obvious, I want to look better, feel better in my own skin, be confident in a bikini(that season is coming up fast).  Be able to look at myself naked and think "Damn!! I look good!!!" But then I really started thinking, and I want to not wake up with my joints screaming at me in agony, I want to not have to go to the chiropractor and massage therapist once/twice a week.  I want to have the energy to go run around with my step-kids and nieces and and nephews.  I want my skin to stop breaking out in acne, which I just realized only started to happen once I started to gain weight a couple years ago.  

With those being my goals I guess it is time to tell you, I am starting my TSFL journey weighing 183.6 pounds.  eek! Now, that is 3 pounds lighter than when I started my n.c. week.  But wow! A healthy BMI says that I need to weigh between 130-155 pounds.  Which puts me about 30 pounds over weight.  I'm thinking I want to loose roughly 40 pounds.  Easy! No problem!! :) I just need to stick to my plan completely.  And within 3-4 months I will be 40-ish pounds lighter, a heck of a lot healthier, through transition, and showing off my hot new (well, kinda) bod!!

Last night I spent a good part of the night preparing.  Both some L&G (Lean & Green) for my week at work (Big fan of grab and go), and I separated the majority of my MM (Medifast Meals) into daily baggies.  No room to think means to chance to slip up.  :)  Included in my baggies is a little saying to keep inspiring me! :) 

So I guess that puts me back to today!! Day one! I can't believe it is already here!! I woke up today and had my first MM within 30 minutes of waking up.  Exactly as I am supposed to do.  I made sure I packed all of my L&G along with my baggie of MM.  Got my shake all ready for the car ride (I have an 1 1/2+ commute), and I was ready.  

Day one is going great! :) I have my new kind of coffee, Americano w/SF caramel and little bit of half and half, I've already had 58oz of water and still going strong!  :)  I hope you all had a great day, and maybe a little inspiration was sent your way too!! :) 

Ps. If anyone is interested in more information about TSFL, please let me know.  I know Cathy would love to come talk to you and answer any questions, comments or concerns you may have.  :) 

Knives & Wives

I succeeded a night a night at home totally n.c.!! :) My lovely boyfriend made sure to make a dinner that I could eat, which is simple, just none of the carbs him and his daughter are eating.  It was so yummy! Especially after a few nights of re-heated food.  Doesn't help that my boyfriend is a chef.  :) Lucky girl, I know!! :)  I even made sure to have a few of the truffles his mom gave us for xmas.  yum yum!

Last night was Trivia night at one of our local bars.  We went with a coworker of my boyfriends and his wife, had a blast!  Our team (Knives & Wives) totally rocked it and won!! woop woop!!  But with Trivia and a bar, comes wine.  My favorite!! Which, after tomorrow I will not be "allowed" to have for many months to come.  But ya know, I'm okay with that.  The payoff is totally worth the sacrifice.  

My pants are no longer comfortable, ever! None of my shirts fit me!! And I do not want to go and buy a bigger size, again!! When or where would it end? With me in a size 3x and absolutely miserable?! No thank you!!!! I'm only 25, and for the most part I've been a healthy size and a semi-active person.  I can blame the weight gain on whatever I would like to, changing careers, quitting smoking, Chris(my bf) being injured all winter.  But at the end of the day it's because I have not cared enough to change my habits.  

I start Medifast on Saturday.  I have today and Friday with no carbs.  Then I am going to be completely OP (on plan).  But ya know, if I do fall off (not saying that I will) I will just climb right back up and keep going strong.  :) 

I do have a meeting with my health coach, Cathy on Friday.  For those of you who aren't aware, a health coach is a person who, basically coaches through your weight loss program.  They are there for all your questions, to check in on you and help you through this journey.  I am so thankful to have this person!! The 2 times before that I have attempted to do Medifast I was unsuccessful for a lot of reasons, but I'm thinking that not having a health coach may have been the reason.

Well, I did have a health coach.  My mom! :) She's been my coach through my whole life.  I think having a person who is not related to me, although I have known Cathy for many many years, will be a great help.  :)  I'm excited to see what she has to say and learn all the ins and outs.  

Before Picture #1!! Saturday morning I will take a better one! W/o the flash hopefully. ;) 

Well, hope you all have a fabulous healthy day!!! 

Prep, prep, prep!!

Today is a new day! Yesterday I rocked my n.c (no carbohydrate) plan! :) Although I was very surprised to notice how hungry I was all night.  All I wanted to do was eat and eat and eat!! But I guess if I'm only putting veggies, fruits and lean meats into my system... the more the merrier!!  Since I was complaining yesterday about my complete failure to plan and prepare for my 5 days of n.c. I spent all night planning my meals; making a list of things I needed to buy and getting ready to spend 3 whole days/nights away from home and living out of a fridge and microwave at work.  

I must say though, I am super proud of myself!! Directly after work I went to the grocery store and bought all healthy n.c. food items! :)  I had my lovely man pull some shrimp out of the freezer the night before so that I had everything ready when I woke up today!  It was so nice to spend that extra hour slicing, dicing and cooking all that I may need/want for the next few days.  :) Doesn't help that I absolutely love to cook!! 

So, you may be wondering (or not) what I brought with me.  I have Boca Burgers and chicken breasts cooked and ready to go on a salad or lettuce wrap,  I have (well, had) yummy shrimp that I baked over lemon wedges and butter.  I know, I know butter is sooo not healthy.  But come on!! I'm giving up my favorite things already and I'm slowly beginning the weight loss journey that is, Medifast!! I have hard boiled eggs, great source of protein!! A ton of lettuce, both romaine and spring mix.  Of course, apples, carrots, oranges and yogurt.  Starting on Saturday those will not be in my diet, so I'm eating plenty in the mean time!!

I'm also starting to get ready to begin Medifast on Saturday.  Which, for those of you that do not know about it, is a weight loss program where you eat 5&1.  5 Medifast pre-packaged meals that you just add water and microwave if needed, and 1 lean & green meal a day.  The lean and green meals are what I am working on preparing for.  

As of last night, I have 4 meals/leans.  I have a Greek Turkey Burger, Swiss and Tuna Melt, a Thai Turkey Burger and Cauliflower Pizza.  Can you say YUM?!?!?!  :) I'll make sure to post pictures and the recipes, just in case you are interested! :)

Well, everything is going great! :) So excited to begin this journey and have you all along for the ride!! 

No carbs, No problem

Today I started my 4 days of no carbohydrates prior to beginning Medifast.  When I say no carbohydrates, I mainly mean no potatoes, rice, beans, pasta or bread.  All the things I love the most.  ;)  Now this isn't something everyone does, or really anyone.  But I am such a carboholic that I thought it would be very good idea.  Hopefully giving my body a jump-start on the withdrawals and cravings I will have soon.  

So far so good, the only problem I had, was my own non-planning.  I just hadn't realized how difficult it is to find something easy (microwave dinner/ can of soup) in the grocery store that doesn't have rice, beans, pasta or potatoes in it.  I got really frustrated for a while, wondering what is wrong with our country?!?!  Then I realized that if I had just taken a few minutes the day before to prep for all my days of work this would not be an issue.  Let me tell you, lesson learned!!! My days off, since they are few are far between, will be spent prepping for my work days!! 

It was exciting when I did get a big box full of Medifast meals on my porch today.  I am so excited to begin on Saturday.  I know now that I am ready for this, I have mentally prepared for months.  I have decided to have a health coach, who is also a family friend.  I have talked to my mom repeatedly asking her all the ways around drinking coffee, or what I am allowed to order at Starbucks.  :) Thank goodness for moms!!!  

Here's to a new me! Or at least a new body!!! :)