A reader asked on Facebook whatever happened to me and the Optifast program. It was a 12 week program consisting of 12 weeks of nothing but Optifast liquid shakes, bars, and soup, then it was supposed to be 12 weeks transitioning back to real food. By week 9, I was begging them to let me eat. The thought of taking another swallow of a shake or another bite of a bar (I had given up on the soup almost immediately, it was disgusting) made me physically ill. I started skipping meal times because I couldn't bring myself to do it anymore. I stopped losing weight, naturally. The clinic behaviorist told me that my problem was I didn't NEED to lose weight. I wasn't there because my weight was literally going to kill me sometime soon if I didn't lose as much as possible as fast as possible. And for that reason, I wasn't as "motivated" as other participants. Well then. I somehow made it to week 12. In those 12 weeks, I lost exactly 9 pounds. I went from 204 to 195 and then my … [Read more...]
Optifast Update – Week 5
I felt really good going into my Week 5 weigh-in. My jeans are loose and my underwear was starting to seem too big. I hopped up on the scale feeling pretty confident. My starting weight at the beginning of this program was 204.3. My weight on Tuesday, November 16th 2010 was... 194 Pounds! Woo hoo! I've lost my first 10 pounds!! It works out to exactly 2 pounds a week for 5 weeks! I had Kaitlyn take this photo: Even though I'm losing weight, it's still a challenge for me to get all 6 products in most days. I'm starting to think that for my body, 5 products is enough, but everyone at Optifast keeps pushing me to get 6. I just nod my head, but in the end, it has to be about what I can do. And what I can do, that certainly seems to be working, is get 5 products in a day. I'm not worried at all about Thanksgiving next week. I'll have my regular products in the morning, then count Thanksgiving dinner as two meals, and if I still need another product or two after … [Read more...]
Never underestimate your problem or your ability to deal with it – my first Optifast post
Two months ago, I came home from BlogHer having made myself a promise. At my yearly physical a couple of weeks later, I looked my doctor in the eye and told her I needed serious help to lose weight. That nothing she had previously recommended - Weight Watchers, Alli - had worked, and that if my only option was weight loss surgery, I wanted to talk to someone about that. That's the point I had come to, in my head. That the only option left for me was to have bariatric surgery so that I would be physically forced to eat less and therefore, lose weight. It was the thoughts of a desperate woman. My doctor made me an appointment with a local hospital's Weight Management Center for an intake appointment, where I would spend an hour learning about the clinic and their pre-op preparation program. I was really, really scared, but I went. It was me and one other lady in a room with the clinic manager, and a sheaf of papers that spelled out what the clinic does. There are two choices - … [Read more...]
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