I reread all of your messages last weekend. Your love lifts me up greatly as we travel this Medifast journey. I am recovering from the flu and packing for a trip to the Caribbean for my kids Spring Break.

I am determined to stay on the 5 & 1 Plan during this trip. My counselor gave me a great tip for travel. I bake oatmeal cookies with the recipe on the side of Medifast’s Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal and she advised me to bake the cookies and bring them along if I need a snack. That way I don’t make a bad snack choice at the airport or in the hotel, and the cookies are delicious, you should definitely try them!

Wish me luck on my trip, and I will update you all when I return.

Love,

Genie

I lost 4.4 pounds in my first week back, it’s amazing how quickly the Medifast Program works. I think I may go back to avoiding the scale for a while though. Staying away from the scale allows me to stay in the process and out of the results.

We’re starting to thaw out a bit up here, thank God. It’s been a long hard winter, and I’m excited to get back outside and enjoy the fresh Maine air. That’s it for now, but I’ll be sure fill everyone in more next time.

Love,

Genie

Sorry I’ve been out of touch lately, I had another fish to fry for the moment.

While away shooting The Note I made a stupid decision and started smoking again. I could make lots of excuses for myself, but what it really comes down to is I made a bad choice. I smoked for 4 months feeling guilty the whole time, then I decided to change it. My doctor put me on Chantix which worked amazingly.

The bad news is I put back 6 pounds over the last 8 weeks. The good news is I’ve been a non-smoker over the last 8 weeks, and actually only gaining back 6 pounds during that struggle isn’t too bad. I credit a lot of that to the Medifast Program teaching me how to make the right food choices even when I stray.

So now it’s time to fry that old familiar fish. I need all of the support I can get. I will have to go back to work again soon so I need to buckle down, reign in my impulses and be at peace with food again. I know I’ll get there, but support and staying connected to all of you Medifasters is what I really need to now.

I’ve made the decision to go for 10 more pounds. After having reached my goal, of 30 pounds and a size 6, I’ve had to re-assess if this is really where I want to be. I’m happy to find that this weight loss seems easy to maintain even with the occasional splurge. But after talking to my Health Coach, I think I’m ready to take on a new challenge; to return to my size and weight from my 20’s. My Health Coach has assured me that this is attainable and healthy. Research shows that we can return to a weight that we held in our 20’s if we held that weight for 4-7 years. It’s not realistic to try to go lower than that. So for me 10 more pounds.

Of course the only way forward is to take it a day at a time and stay in close touch with my Coach. But I’m excited about the journey. I guess I really like having a goal, it’s very motivating for me.

I hope you are re-assessing and setting goals for yourselves too, it’s invigorating and positive. Life is so much more interesting and easy when we have hope.

What goal are you pursuing today?

I’m back on the 5 & 1 Plan in an effort to pull myself together after Thanksgiving. The holiday season definitely provides a challenge for me, but it’s knowing when to stop. I made the choice to take some time off after retuning to from shooting The Note. By that I mean I wasn’t trying to lose weight but just maintain. So I continued with nutrition supports plan for me with a couple of additions. I chose to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family and I really enjoyed it. I even ate some candy with my kids on Halloween.

Here’s what I found most interesting; Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, but it wasn’t the great reward I had imagined it would be. I’ve changed my habits since being on the Medifast Program and I actually prefer lighter healthier choices. I found myself really looking forward to my salad and vegetables the next day. Heavy food no longer sits well with me.

Sugar however is still the culprit. Halloween candy restarted cravings almost immediately. Thanksgiving dinner was easy to manage, but the pies and sweets were not. I ended up feeling uneasy with too much sugar around the house and things were thrown out and given away quickly.

Identifying button foods is very important, especially if you fall prey to emotional eating. Armed with self knowledge, I forge ahead. I do have to say that Medifast’s Maintenance Plan works great, not only did I not gain I actually lost and am down to 32.5 pounds lost with Medifast.

Why is the last 10 pounds so hard? I had another food slip a few days ago and it’s been tough to get back on program. I guess it’s partly because I’m so happy with where I’m at and the progress I’ve made on Medifast. I’m getting tons of compliments and feel great. I’m not sure I really need to be a size 6 at my age. It comes right back to the outside world imposing their wishes on me.

Guess what? That still doesn’t work for me, but I also don’t want external pressure to undo me and take me backwards. So, back to what I want. I want to stay thin (keyword being “stay”) and I want to be a size 8. A size 6 would be great, but not if it’s too hard to maintain. I want to exercise, I want to be healthy and enjoy life!

So here we go again, one day at a time. I need to take the pressure off myself. For today I may even have to take it one meal at a time. I’d love to hear from you if you can relate to the final 10 pound struggle. We can all get there if we support each other.

It’s been a quiet week at home. My cousin’s family visited which was lovely — and it was so easy to go out to dinner with them! I had a dinner salad, plain grilled halibut (which is phenomenal up here in Maine) and asparagus. My biggest challenge this week was trying to remember how many Medifast Meals I had already eaten! It seems I have to write everything down these days.

Tuesdays are my weigh-in day. I didn’t lose any additional weight this week, which is always frustrating. I have been craving more exercise; a workout always seems to lift my spirits, so I think I’ll start tomorrow out with a nice long walk. I also want to get back to painting, since I’m feeling the need for a little distraction. I don’t want to get overly occupied with the dreaded scale! I hope you’re all having a great week.