Stretch Bands Get Old April 30, 2012
Posted by Optifast Blogger in exercise, Maintenance.Tags: exercise, exercise at work, muscle, stretch bands, stretching
4 comments
Not “get old” as in I’m tired of using them. Frankly I don’t use them so much that they get old that way. But they do apparently get old after time, and less resilient – I’m here to testify.
I have one at work tucked out of sight. I sit in a line of partially-divided, open-on-one-side cubicles, so my desk is at most 8-10 feet from the guy who sits across from me (as you can kind of see in the picture). Then there are two coworkers on either side of me (separated by those 5 ft high cube dividers), and then another coworker kiddie-corner from me.
Once in a while when the guy across from me isn’t sitting at his desk, I get out the stretch band, push my chair back so my kiddie-corner coworker can’t see me, and do some virtually silent arm stretches. I like to use the bands, even briefly, because I can feel my arm muscles warm up and my heart rate increase a little. I know that the results of this brief exercise last longer than just the few minutes I’m actively doing the stretches.
But back to the getting old comment. The other day I was silently stretching away, when all of a sudden there was this really loud, explosive CRACK as the stretch band snapped in two! I quickly tossed the pieces in my trash before my nearest cube neighbors rushed over to stare at me and see whether I’d been shot. At which point I asked innocently, “What?”
You may question this subterfuge, but in fact several managers ago we had a meeting where we were told NO exercises in our cubes. Someone had some 2 pound weights and was busted for doing arm lifts! Now in fact, we are entitled to a break, and if we choose to do some unobtrusive lifting or stretching, I can’t believe HR would object, esp. since at least in theory they support ergonomic exercises to prevent problems with all-day computer use. Maybe we have to do them in the break room instead of in our cube? In any case, with the memory in mind of the “no exercising” manager meeting, I sneakily try to do my arm stretches under the radar. Hence my unwillingness to fess up when I caused the stretch-band explosion!
After the crack it took a while for my heart rate to go back to normal. (Maybe I got some cardio exercise in as well?) In any case, I brought in a nice new stretch band today, and I hope it lasts a while (the other one was probably 8 months old?), since now I’m a little leery about stretching them too far!
Depressed over Post-Optifast Weight Gain April 25, 2012
Posted by Optifast Blogger in Maintenance.Tags: alcohol, cruises, maintenance, overeating, vacation, weight gain
6 comments
Well, I went on a cruise last week as the guest of a friend. So, no big surprise, the scale is up, in fact higher than it’s been for probably 7 or 8 months, which is very depressing. It’s up probably nine pounds, which is really scary.
Totally my fault. I went to the ship’s gym the morning of the first day at sea and never returned. Free food, complimentary tequila and champagne, gourmet desserts and a chocolate buffet complete with chocolate fountain, wine and food pairing and other special events on board, formal dining every night with unlimited menus, 
chocolate-covered strawberries left in the stateroom, mango margaritas in port, etc. etc. My clothes were tight by the end of the cruise, so I knew serious damage had been done.
I missed my official weigh-in at the support group last week because I was on the cruise, missed it the week before because I had to work, and missed it last night because it was the only chance to see my son before he leaves for Germany.
So here I am needing that emergency recovery plan I mentioned in my last post. The weight is definitely over the limit I gave myself. So yes, I have plenty of fruit and vegetables on hand, prepared and brought portioned healthy food with me at work today, have a full bottle of water, plan to walk today (can’t go to the gym because I work both jobs today), plan to weigh myself every morning in the foreseeable future, and plan to go to my official weigh-in next week even though it won’t be pretty. I have an event lunch today (luckily I pre-ordered salmon) but after that don’t have anything scheduled in terms of eating events, and will plan to stay away from restaurants and food variety in general for awhile.
Variety may be the spice of life, but it also is dangerous, for me, and for other dieters as well, I know. I was in a Trader Joes last night and oh look, there’s pomegranate kefir, dried pineapple and mango, and 80% dark chocolate bars. All healthy, right? So what’s the harm? Plenty!! I need to restrict myself to the same old lean protein and veg, with fruit as a treat, and nonfat yogurt for breakfast. Otherwise, it’s just too tempting. The cruise was (super) fun and I’m glad I went, but it was food (and drink) “variety” times one hundred! Now I am facing the hard work of damage control and recovery…
My one year anniversary of starting the Optifast program is in about two weeks – hoping to successfully lose some of the cruise weight before then!
Medifast – Another (Mostly) Meal-Replacement Diet Plan April 12, 2012
Posted by Optifast Blogger in General weight loss, Maintenance.Tags: dieting, Jennifer Bonner, liquid diet, maintenance, meal replacement, Medifast, Oprah, Optifast, product, weight loss
6 comments
The post below is not anything official about Medifast, just some opinions and observations (you’ll need to do research on your own, if you are interested). Until recently I knew nothing about Medifast, although I’d probably seen their ads in magazines, just never paid attention. Then I saw the article in this month’s Oprah about a woman who went from 334 pounds to 140 pounds on Medifast, and who is now in training for a marathon. WOW!
So I looked up Medifast, and it appears to be a meal-replacement plan (like Optifast) but that also allows some “real” food. Although there is the recommendation to do it under a doctor’s supervision (esp. if the calories consumed are under 1200) it also appears that the products are available to anyone to purchase. But even the logo has the physician symbol, so the intent is to have Medifast dieters under medical monitoring, I believe.
Jennifer Bonner, the woman in the Oprah story, ate 5 Medifast products (there appears to be a wider variety of Medifast products than Optifast products) plus one portion of lean protein and three vegetable servings a day. The article doesn’t say, unfortunately, how long it took her to lose weight. But I found a page with a link to a video about Jennifer, and on the page it says that she and her husband (who also did the Medifast program and lost 103 pounds) have kept the weight off for two years. Awesome!
As we all know, losing weight is hard but keeping it off is even harder. And the meal-replacement diets, such as Optifast and Medifast, are often considered more challenging when it comes to transitioning to real food. So it’s great to read of folks who have been successful in maintenance.
My thinking on weight problems and dieting is that, as with many things, you first try the easy and least drastic approach. So to lose weight, reduce sugar/bad carbs and (bad) fat, while increasing activity. If that doesn’t work, try something with more structure and support (Weight Watchers, etc.). But for those who have already tried these to no avail, then I think the very low calorie, meal-replacement approach is a very valid option, especially for those with lots of weight to lose. Because the standard 2-3 pounds a week on traditional diet programs just takes too long when you are really heavy. The thought of how much you have to lose and how long it might take can be overwhelming.
Jennifer in the Oprah story lost 13 pounds her first week and “was hooked.” Rapid results really give an incentive to stick with the program, and for most people, programs like Optifast (and Medifast, apparently) do provide significant weight loss over shorter periods of time. Although the 16 weeks of product-only seemed long when I was doing it, now I feel that losing 55 pounds over 16 weeks was quick. And I know others have lost more than this – I’m about average, according to what I’ve read.
I do think it is very important to have support when embarking on these meal-replacement, very low calorie diets. I know that having Kaiser doctors, staff, nutritionists as well as my support group of fellow dieters, were a big part of what made the program work for me. Your health should be monitored, the weekly weigh-ins are important and motivational, and the education about transition and maintenance are critical, in my opinion. So good luck if you chose a meal-replacement diet plan, but do get the support you need!
A Year Ago Easter – Time for a Change April 8, 2012
Posted by Optifast Blogger in Before and After, Maintenance.Tags: before and after, Optifast, optifast success, pictures, weight loss
3 comments
I started the 16 week Optifast program last May, but the beginning of the process was actually one year ago, Easter 2011. It was a picture my sister took of me on her patio last year, holding an Easter basket and checking out some eggs on the ground, that made me decide I needed to do something about my weight. I posted the picture before, but here it is.
So another Easter has rolled around. I finished the 16 week meal replacement part of the program back in September, followed by transition (up till week 30) and then maintenance, which Kaiser likes to call “lifestyle” meaning, the changes and new behavior should be part of your life now.
So I don’t know officially what week I’m on, but I’m about a month away from when I first started the program. And one year away from when I saw this picture that motivated me to do something drastic.
Here is a picture taken today, Easter 2012, in my backyard, on another Easter Egg hunt. Better, yes?
Subway Satisfaction April 4, 2012
Posted by Optifast Blogger in Maintenance.Tags: calories, carbs, cravings, dieting, fast food, food, keeping the weight off, maintenance, vegetables, walking
1 comment so far
As I’ve blogged about before (such as in Liking What You Eat) I don’t think that a diet or eating plan will work long-term if you feel deprived most of the time. You have to be able to keep your mouth and tummy happy. Short term, yes, we can survive on shakes or “rabbit food” or no carbs, but long term, not so much.
One of the things I do almost every day to keep my mouth and tummy happy, is to have a Subway sandwich. (And no, I don’t own any stock in Subway!) The taste, the volume, and the satiation I feel afterwards, do NOT feel like I’m dieting, which is good. This almost-daily lunch goes a long way towards keeping me from feeling deprived. I can eat “fast food” and still feel good.
First, I almost always walk to the Subway near my work, which is probably a 35-minute walk round-trip. Then I get a sandwich from the healthy list (the whole “Jared’s special” thing) – for me, it’s almost always a six-inch turkey on 9-grain wheat. Usually I take the small extra cost-and-calorie hit of adding cheese – pepper jack. I skip the lettuce (no fan of iceberg) but if they have spinach (some Subway’s do, some don’t) I’ll have that. Then I have all the veggies except jalapeño peppers. And I always ask for extra of at least one of the veggies – onions or tomatoes, or most often the bell peppers. I don’t get any dressing or condiments because 1) I hate mayonnaise, 2) mustard is so strong that when it’s on a sandwich I only taste mustard, not anything else. (Put on mustard and I could be eating flannel or cardboard and not even know it!) And 3) it just adds extra calories, and the sandwich is fine for me with just the meat, cheese and vegetables.
I also get a Diet Coke and with the sandwich, it is filling and feels cheaty, yet is “legal” for my eating plan. And I’m getting lean protein, some veggies, some dairy, and somewhat healthy carbs. (The 9-grain wheat is probably the best of the bread they have, though not 100% whole grain.)
According to the Subway nutrition chart, the total for this particular sandwich with the pepper jack cheese is 330 calories. That’s not too bad, for what I’m getting, I think. (The turkey and cheese protein is only 10 grams, but if you get the black forest ham, the calories are the same and the protein is double, according to the Subway nutrition chart at http://www.subway.com/nutrition/nutritionlist.aspx, with only a smidgeon more sodium and fat.)
My trip to Subway gives me a nice half-hour walk every day at lunch. I look forward to my Subway sandwich in the morning, and when I have it around 1, I’m full for the rest of the work day. (I might have a piece of fruit later in the afternoon for a snack.) And like I said, it keeps me happy, which is the most important thing!
Ordering Optifast April 3, 2012
Posted by Optifast Blogger in Early Days on Optifast, Maintenance.Tags: liquid diet, meal replacement, Optifast, Optifast shakes, Optifast soup, product, scale, support group, weigh-in
6 comments
This post isn’t going to tell you how to purchase Optifast products. I have seen them for sale online, but when I was on the Optifast meal replacement phase, I purchased all my products through the Kaiser program I was in – this was actually a requirement of the program. And if you are planning on doing an Optifast-only very-low-calorie diet, you should be under medical supervision, and I’m assuming that your program would include a way to buy the products.
For my program at Kaiser, the ordering process is that each week when you are there for the weigh-in and support group meeting, you fill out and submit a form that lists how many products you want for each of the types – shake powder, pre-made ready-to-drink shakes, powdered soups, the bars, and what flavor for each of these. Then you pay for the products that you ordered the previous week, and pick them up.
The products ordered the week before are bagged or boxed up with your order form on them, waiting in a room adjoining the support group meeting room. During my phase 1 it was always a little depressing to compare my bag or box with others in my group, as I was at the lowest product level (5 a day), so had what seemed like an incredibly small package for a week of eating. Those with 7, 8 or more products a day had packages to pick up that were so much bigger!
You were supposed to immediately review your order form with the contents in the box, because once it left the building there were no returns or trades. The exception to this was if you wanted to arrange a trade with someone in your group – that was fine, and I did that several times.
For the first couple of months I didn’t bother to check my contents and it only came back to bite me once. Somehow I had been given all vanilla ready-to-drink shakes instead of chocolate, and didn’t realize it till I got home. Ugh! (This was just my own flavor response – others are fine with vanilla.) Luckily, I had ordered some extra product previously (which is recommended, in case you unexpectedly miss a meeting), so I got by. But I did start checking my order after that!
Now that I’m in the maintenance or “lifestyle” phase, I rarely order Optifast products. Occasionally I’ll order a box of bars, as they are nice to have around. Many in my group, however, continue to supplement their diets with a couple of Optifast products a day, for reasons of habit and security as well as convenience, I believe. But when I pass by the room with all the bags and boxes, primarily for the Phase 1 group that meets right after our Lifestyle group, it brings a rush of nostalgia, because Phase 1 was:
- Safe and predictable – no hard choices about what to eat and how much (unlike maintenance)
- Difficult – almost no chewing! No real food! No variety! Deprivation! Stress over cheating!
- Exciting – what would the number on the scale be this week? How much had I lost??
Those sixteen weeks of meal replacement were a major milestone in my life, and all the fears, hopes, struggles and joys of that time come back just looking at those packages of product, waiting to be picked up by others who are now going through this (hopefully) life-changing process!
New Day Coming: An Optifast Blog 