Will it ever be NOchunkymonkies?

We have been 2chunkymonkies for quite some time. It's down to Becca and me. Bec has an excuse- Equine Metabolic Syndrome. She spends 24 hours in a small pen (~100 x 200ft). There is minimal grass and she eats hay and a low starch pellet specially designed for this disease. She is much more comfortable and the risk of founder is much decreased. As a result, she has lost a few pounds but is still much too heavy. Her shoulder and back injury from her accident is managed but prevents much exercise. We'll stick with this plan as long as she is comfortable.

That leaves me. I love food. And I love cooking. I love a good drink in the evening. All this adds up to an extremely high calorie diet, often more than 3500 calories a day. All these good times have packed on lots of pounds. For a long time my opinion was that good living was worth it. And thankfully, I carry my weight well. But, I went overboard. I started cutting back when it was convenient. I have NO willpower. It didn't work. I love food. I keep saying that. I love it. This past summer I started using restraunts as my social time. Almost every day I ate out with a friend. Good times. And now my clothes don't fit. I'm uncomfortable in my skin. I just don't fit. It's time to make a change.

I have a friend who is on a "health plan" that is very successful. She looks great. I'm finally at the point where I have to really put effort into doing something. So, last week I began Medifast. I feel very bad about tempting this friend with food all last summer. I do not have to give up meals with everyone. I do have to order a healthy salad. There will be no more cheeseburgers and chicken fried steak without guilt. It helps that half of my food buddies are now on this diet. I'm sorry, "health plan". Yeah right. It's a diet and the meals are snacks.

The plan calls for a meal every 3 hours with 5 of those being prepackaged powdered "meals". They are suprisingly very good and filling. Once a day you get a Lean and Green meal of fresh food- a good portion of lean meat with 3 portions of lean veggies. Since you eat every 3 hours and drink large amounts of water you do not ever get really hungry. My stomach tells me when 3 hours is up but I can say I'm no more hungry than before. The big difference is calorie intake. I'm down to 800-900 calories a day with limited carbs. I feel good. I'm 5'7" tall and 187lbs. This is the worst I have ever been. I weigh in every Tuesday. I'm not supposed to weigh myself constantly. I have not cheated with food but I have cheated on the scale. I started this diet 5 days ago. I've lost 6 pounds. The weight loss will slow down very soon. The program claims 2-5 pounds lost the first week with 1-2 pounds loss every week after that. I can do this. I hope to lose enough that my butt fits into my western saddle again. I like that saddle. Instead of replacing it with an enormous saddle I am going to spend the money and get me healthy.

My life is blessed.