Weeks 3 and 4

I didn't post last week because I was just too freaking busy.  I lost 1.8 pounds - a disappointment to be sure.  I know that nearly 2 pounds is fair weight loss for most people, but when you're in the 250's, it just seems infinitesimal.
This last weekend I went on my first trip since I've started TSFL.  I was at a conference.  I had paid for a meal plan before going, so staying on plan was an extra bit of a challenge.  I had only paid for lunches, so I decided lunch time would be when I had my "lean and green" meal.  I had to improvise with the somewhat shady buffet items, but I think I did ok.  I was very good about drinking enough water, but missed a few of my meal replacements.
I missed meal replacements because I was busy and I'm no longer feeling very hungry when it's time to eat.  A friend of mine who did TSFL had this experience as well - where she never really felt hungry on the plan.  I was hoping that as I adjusted to the program this would happen and it has!  Now I set an alarm on my phone to remind me to eat because I know that eating enough is part of what makes the program work.
I had a much better weight loss this week.  I lost 3.6 pounds.  I would really like to be losing between 3 and 4 pounds a week while I'm still weighing in the mid-200's, so I'm happy with this number.  I'm already anxious to see how I'll do next week.

Week 2 Recap

It's a great relief to have completed my second week on TSFL.  I feel like, if I can do it for 2 weeks, I can do it for a month, right?
I lost 4.4 pounds this week bringing my weight loss total to 10.4 pounds and putting me at 253 pounds. I won't lie.  I don't feel any different.  I'm taking progress pictures and they certainly don't look any different.  I have been trying on the same pair of tight jeans every few days and I don't know if they're fitting better or if I've just stretched them out from constantly forcing them on.  So, all that to say I really look forward to the next 10 pounds.  I feel like at 20 pounds lost I'll be fitting into some things and looking a little bit different.
I'm getting used to the weird Medifast food.  It really doesn't bother me anymore and there are a few things that I like pretty well.  I have to order next month's food this week and it will be tough to decide whether to order the 3 or 4 things I really like or whether I should have some more things just for variety, even if they aren't my favorites.

Week 1 Recap

Yesterday I finished my first week of the Take Shape for Life program.  I lost 6 pounds.  On the one hand - wow - that is great.  6 pounds is a fair amount of weight.  On the other hand, weighing myself and looking at my goals just reminds me how darn far I have to go.  It's overwhelming to say the least.  Still, I'm trying to celebrate this victory.  I followed the plan to a T this week and that is a victory.  I lost 6 pounds and that is a victory.  The plan is getting easier to follow every day and that is a victory.

Here are my impressions of the Take Shape for Life plan after one week of carefully following the "5 and 1" weight loss plan.

- Eating 6 times a day is a lot of times to eat.

- The appropriate size meal for eating 6 times a day is very small (at least on a calorie restricted diet like this).

- I sleep better on this plan than I was sleeping before.

- Sleep is a good way to avoid end of the day hunger.

- Medifast chocolate pudding is my favorite Medifast meal.

- Medifast strawberry shakes are nasty and the only thing I have deemed necessary to return.  I shipped it back to Medifast on Tuesday.

- For a prepared food diet, I spend a lot of time mixing, cooking, microwaving, etc.

- My kids can not be convinced not to beg for my food, no matter how strange it may smell.

So that's my first week, folks.  I'll be updating weekly from this point forward unless I have something notable to record midweek.

Mom's Night Out

Every month I go out for wine and appetizers with 3 of my mom friends.  We all have kids about the same ages so we have lots to talk about.  They're really great women.  One of them was VERY  successful on Take Shape For Life and is a health coach for the program.  I look forward to this night out every month as it is a great chance to drink some wine, complain about the long school days that keep our children away from us, and laugh a lot.  I'm not a huge wine drinker, so it wasn't that hard for me to pass up the wine in favor of a bottle of sparkling water, but the desserts and appetizers were very tempting.  It was a great night out, as always, and I stayed on plan.  So that's one hurdle jumped.

Day 6

I got up at 6 today.  I've been sleeping better.  It's been less than a week, so it's hard to say if it has anything to do with the program.  I've read that some people sleep more "on program" than they did before and also that adequate sleep is important for weight loss, especially on a low calorie diet like this one.  Anyway, I slept from about 10pm to 6am last night without waking up at all that I know of.  For me this is nearly unheard of.  I usually at least wake up to pee once or twice and I frequently am up for an hour or more in the middle of the night.  It is not at all uncommon for me to wake up at about 2 and not be able to get back to sleep until 5:30 or so.  The alarm goes off at 6:30, so that kind of sucks.  Anyway, I may be sleeping better on plan.  That seems good.
I'm currently having a Medifast chocolate shake.  It's not bad.  The strawberry shake was intolerably awful and I will be utilizing Take Shape For Life's return policy to exchange it for another item.  Seriously.  It was gross.

The Tea Update

I keep forgetting to update about the tea situation.  Tea is very important to me.  I used to drink, oh, about 5 or so cups a day.  I had it with milk (about 2 Tbsp?) and sugar (about 1-2 tsp).  I cut out the sugar about a month ago and started cutting back the milk last week.  Now I'm having it with 1 Tbsp of milk and a half a packet of splenda.  The trouble with this is that it uses up 1 1/2 of my 3 allotted condiments.  I'm seriously considering not counting the splenda as a half condiment.  It wouldn't count if it was in a diet soda, so why should it count in my tea?  The milk is another story.  I considered replacing cow's milk with almond milk (you can have a cup of Silk Unsweetened for 1 condiment), but tea and nutty do not go together, so I'm sacrificing my condiments and cutting back to 1 or 2 cups of tea per day.
I did try the almond milk in some coffee and it was fine.  That will be nice for my occasional cup of coffee.  I haven't had any since I've been "on program".  I think that the caffeine in my tea (and the couple of iced teas I've had since I've started) is affecting me way more than it used to, so I'm afraid coffee might send me through the roof.

Day 5

Well, I didn't update again yesterday as I had promised to because the day really flew by.  I studied, I went to the beach with my family, I made dinner for everyone.  We had "lean and green" chicken fajita bake.  The family had brown rice with it and I had a side of cucumbers since the recipe didn't include enough veggies to make my "green" for the day.
I would say yesterday was easier than Saturday.  I was definitely hungry at eating time and I was _definitely_ watching the clock for my next meal, but it was not with the kind of desperation I was feeling on Saturday.
Today I'm feeling a bit better even still.  I have a meal coming in 15 minutes and I'm a bit hungry, but not feeling at all ill or weak.  I'm hopeful that I'm through the hard part and ready to start the work of losing some weight and making some good habit changes.