Diet: Day 3

I know it's surprising that I'm on a diet, especially since I just posted that amazing Chicken Enchilada recipe yesterday. Here's the explanation: I made those enchiladas like... 5 days ago... and didn't get around to posting it until recently. That's just how it goes!

I've had several people ask me about my diet since I posted it on my Facebook status. So I thought I'd write this to answer some questions.

So question #1: Why do you need to go on a diet?

Answer: Because I'm Fat! Duh! lol Nah, actually I USED to be fat, now I'm just sort of squishy around the edges instead of sleek and hard bodied. I really don't expect to ever be sleek and hard bodied again in this lifetime, that would require working out and possibly plastic surgery, but I figure I should at least do my part to keep the lbs. and inches at bay.

Question #2: But... didn't you have twins or something?

Answer: Why yes, my initial weight gain was due to this:



Yup! That'll do it! Click Here for all the gory details. For most of you mommies out there you'll recall how your Dr. told you that you NEEDED to gain at LEAST 20 lbs. for your one baby? Well when you're carrying 2 they want you to gain 40 lbs. And since a typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks they say you should really aim for a pound a week. And even more if you can because the typical twin pregnancy doesn't last the full 40 weeks and they want you to have gained 40 lbs. before they're born. Yikes! Well, I did it, but just barely, and my girls were born at 34 weeks. I actually had to work hard at eating for the first time in my life because I also had gestational diabetes which made my food choices fairly limited; ie. I couldn't just chug milkshakes for 34 weeks, I had to gain on things like eggs and avocados. So I tried to be healthy about it, but even though I was carrying over 10 lbs. of babies (plus twice the blood volume, 2 placentas, etc.) 40 lbs. doesn't just poof and disappear after the babies are born.

Question #3: So what happened after they were born?

Answer: Well, I lost about 20 lbs. within weeks of their birth. And that was simply from my body adjusting to it's postpartum state and lactating. I gained about 10 lbs. back after that adjustment, because lets face it, I didn't have time to shower let alone cook with 2 newborns in the house and we were running out for fast food most nights. So around the time when the girls were 9 months old, and we were finally adjusted to our life as new parents of twins, we both decided that it was time to do something about our weight (I wasn't the only fatso at that point!).

Question #4: So what kind of diet did you do?

I have a friend from a business networking group that I used to be a part of when I was selling real estate. She was a personal health coach for Take Shape for Life. TSFL is a program using Medifast products. She lost her baby weight using it, and her hubby lost over 100 lbs. in 9 months using it! They are a very inspiring couple! I decided a long time ago that if I ever needed to loose weight I'd give her a call, so that's exactly what I did. I won't lie, it was somewhat expensive to buy all that diet food, but we decided that it wasn't that much more than our monthly grocery expenses (and certainly cheaper than eating out every night!). Plus we decided that it was an investment in our health, which we think is totally worth every penny.

Question #5: What kind of food is Medifast?

Well, it's pre-packaged dehydrated foods. Add water, possibly toss it in the microwave (depending on what it is) and voila! A meal. Most of the foods we tried we really liked so it wasn't hard to keep up with it. If you're interested let me know and I'll tell you my favorites, as well as some I thought were not so great. To give you an idea, there is shakes, bars, hot drinks, soups, oatmeal, pudding, cold drinks, etc. You eat 5 Medifast meals a day plus 1 lean & green (meat & veggie).

Question #6: Was it easy?

In a word, YES! Granted the first few days are the hardest. I won't lie, I was hungry. But by day 4 I was feeling great! In fact, it gave me tons of energy! The best part is that it fit in really well with our lifestyle. The foods are easy to take on the go for the most part, so there's no reason to "cheat". Plus since you're eating Medifast meals most of the day there's no questioning yourself, "Is this ok for me to eat?" The line on what's in your plan, and what's cheating, is crystal clear! And it's still very possible to eat out and be social, you just stick to meats and veggies and that's it. Very simple!

Question #7: Did it work?

Yup! I lost 30 lbs. in 4 months. Hubs lost about 35 lbs. in 3 months. Dang men and their easy weight loss!

Question #8: Have you kept it off?

Well, not exactly. You're supposed to transition off the plan back to regular foods gradually over time. Well, with the holidays and all I pretty much just lept right off that wagon and stuffed my face with Christmas cookies and loaded mashed potatoes. I'm sure that if you follow transition like you're supposed to you won't have the same problem I did. At this point I've gained back 10 lbs, which isn't terrible, I'm no where NEAR where I was! But I want to nip it in the bud before I end up back in a place where I don't wanna be.

Question #9: Do you have before/after pictures:

Sort of. I have this picture. The girls are 9 months old here, and I'm at my heaviest weight ever. I have a love/hate relationship with this photo. I love it because it's the first professional photo of the 4 of us as a new family, and there's certainly something beautiful about that. The girls are absolutely adorable that's for sure! But me? I look terrible. This is really the first time I've put it out there for people to see... so look quick before I change my mind and take it down. :P

As always, you can click on the photo to enlarge. Ack!



And here's me the end of August. As you can see, quite a big difference!



But here's me at Christmas, clearly I'd already slipped up on more than a few occasions. But dang did I enjoy it! Thank you Pioneer Woman!



Ugh... that shirt is totally unflattering. Oh well... live and learn!

Question #10: So how are you doing so far this time?

Answer: Well, it's Day 3. I'm hungry. But I know it'll be much better tomorrow, that's pretty much how it worked out last time I did TSFL. I feel happier and more confident about my eating choices, because this time I've already sorted out what I like and what I don't like out of my food options.

... Ask me tomorrow about how I'm doing! I'm sure I'll much more enthusiastic about it! Ha ha!

Any more questions? Just toss me a comment! If you're really interested in TSFL I'd be happy to pass on my friend's name and number.