Thin Blog

Fat Day.  Have you ever had a fat day?  You know what I mean…it is when you wake up and just feel fat.  You look in the mirror and you see your body and are convinced you are fat.  In fact, you look at yourself and you just know you have gained a lot of weight from just yesterday.  You feel as if all of your dieting has been for nothing and you think about just giving up anymore attempts at losing weight.  Granted some people can have an actual fat day because they ate too much, but those are not the days I am writing about in this post.  What I am talking about are those days and weeks where you know you have done it all correctly, and yet the scale still reports back to you that you are having a fat day.  Let’s talk about what is really driving those emotions.  If you are doing the healthy choices throughout your days and your weeks, you will lose weight.  If you know all of your choices have been correct and still are having a fat day, let’s figure out why.

Psychology Behind a Fat Day
Let’s explore the last fat day that I had, which was the driving force behind this article.  I woke up one morning and was on Medifast for well over two weeks, and yet on this particular morning I woke up and just felt fat.  I mean I woke up and was not happy with the way I looked.  My clothing made me look fat.  I looked at my reflection and my mood just slumped.  Despite the fact that I did everything the right way, I still woke up that morning to another day of feeling fat.  I was all ready to just head off into the morning and stop at McDonald’s for a favorite meal of mine and just say “I give up!”  This was the path my day was heading because despite all of my efforts to lose weight…it was just not happening, and I knew that I was doomed to remain obese forever.

My fat day began when I stepped on the bathroom scale and I had not lost any weight from the day before.  I may have even gained a few ounces and that just set the fat day journey into motion even faster. I really do not know when I started to question the validity of my fat day, but I did manage to control my runaway emotions before I left the house.  I started to recap the day before.  I followed the Medifast plan to a “T” and having done so I knew I ate less than 1,000 calories the day before.  My mind was screaming the question “how” over and over.  I could not figure out how I gained weight and I was really ticked off at the whole situation.  Then it all dawned on me and I started to stop having a full blown fat day.

I knew that in order to gain a pound I would of had to eat AN EXTRA amount of calories which was more than I burned.  Since I knew I ate less than 1,000 calories, I knew there was no way I could have gained any weight.  ( A pound equals 3,500 calories)  Yet there it was…I GAINED WEIGHT!!!!  As I started to think more about my fat day I came to the simple conclusion that I was leading myself to the wrong conclusion.  There is no way a healthy person can gain weight if they are not eating the calories.  There is no way I could have gained weight!  I then looked back at my overall weight loss and started to realize that I was losing about one to two pounds a week.  That was great and if the bathroom scale was “off” one day, that was alright.  I realized at that moment what I have heard so often and ignored.  I realized that the bathroom scale is just one indicator of weight loss and not a definitive one either.

I realized on that fat day, which was my last fat day, that it was all in my head.  I now know that it is all too easy to slip into a state of mind and convince yourself that you are getting fatter, when it is impossible.  There is no way that you, or I, can gain weight while limiting calories.  I realized that the fat day I was having was all in my head.  I realized that a fat day would only be a reality if I allowed it to happen.

Example of Fat Day Nonsense
There are days I have stepped on the scale and lost weight and then I thought my clothes were lose and I looked in the mirror and felt great. Feeling lighter on my feet and feeling great about weight loss I would set my course to manifest anything but a fat day..  On the very next day I would weight myself and see a number that was not what I liked and my mood would drastically change.  I would feel fat and I would think that I was a failure and it was all because of a silly number on the bathroom scale.  That number really does not hold the validity that I kept cornered in my thinking.  I have realized that the number on the scale is irrelevant, when I am doing the right things.  If I can lose weight week after week, or even month after month I know I am headed in the right direction.

I have learned that losing weight is not a destination, it is a journey and as long as I weigh less next month than I did last month, I am headed in the right direction.  I am not in competition to lose weight with anyone and that was a huge acknowledgement when I realized I do not have to be in competition with myself either.  Weight loss is all about the direction and perseverance to continue onward towards your health goals.  Stop pinning your hopes on the scale every morning and only weigh yourself weekly. Do not weigh yourself daily.  Be happy with the one and two pound weeks and rest easy knowing that weight loss is an ongoing journey.

I used Medifast to lose weight and it worked great for me.  If you can use it for yourself that is great.  Whatever method you choose to lose weight you need to understand that if you are following your weight loss plan, then a fat day may simply be in your head.  A fat day may be what your bathroom scale is telling you, but that does not always make the scale right.  Only you know what you are doing.  If you know you are not cheating, you will know whether a fat day is really on the scale, or really just in your head.

If you are having a fat day and are a Medifast user you can check out our other blog (Our Story) and if you want, you can even give me a call and I will see if I can help you to understand your fat day.

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Tonight I received a phone call from a complete stranger and the first thing she told me was that she was sick and tired of being fat.  I did not say anything other than hello when she admitted, with stark honesty, that obesity has taken its toll in her life.  She told me that she wanted to make a change in her life and I her heard the emotion in every word she was saying.  Before I even got into the portion of the call where I asked for a review of her life dealing with obesity, I knew that she has been dealing with weight issues for most, if not all of her life.  She was not just tired of being overweight…she was exhausted from all of the emotions that a person has to deal with surrounding obesity.

I was able to relate with the distress because I know from my own experiences that when you feel trapped in your skin, life is not that much fun anymore.  I was able to relate  her and listening to her voice tremble on the edge of tears was emotional for me to hear, as the pain was very, very present in the tone of her voice.  The call lasted for 45 minutes and I would love to tell you that the call ended with a person well on their way to thinness.  The sad reality is that she chose to remain obese because she was just too tired to make the effort to make the needed changes.   By the end of the call I was emotionally drained because of the roller coaster of emotions I heard spew, from this still anonymous person.  By the end of the call I realized that being sick and tired of being over weight is not the essential ingredient to losing weight.  It was quite an educational moment for me to realize there is a huge difference between being tired of being obese and actually being ready to do something about being obese.

If you landed on this page because you were silently screaming to the universe that you were sick and tired of being overweight….I want you to know that I planned it that way because we need to talk.

Let’s forget about all of the bullshit, and all of the hype.  I do not know ANYTHING about you, but if you are here I will surmise you are at least 100 to 150 pounds overweight.  If you are that overweight it is not the end of the world to lose the weight, it will be the end of YOUR world if you do nothing about your weight.  Depending on many individual factors surrounding those that ignore their obesity, the first thing you experience will NOT be death, it will start out as the slow and sudden realization that your quality of life is degrading.  The moment of realization is very often meeting diabetes face to face.  For some, this is the point in time where they wake up and make the needed changes.

For those that do NOT wake up…the slow introduction of medications begins.  A pill for this, a pill for that…and soon you are taking medications for your diabetes, and your blood pressure, and your cholesterol, and a variety of other ailments you suffer because of being over weight.  If nothing is done you may experience a minor heart attack or a stroke, and for some this may be the wake up call.  For others….it is ignored and the next step is a lousy existence with a terrible quality of life.  Combine obesity with smoking and you are a time bomb ticking just waiting to explode.

The point of all this gloom and doom is that despite this person on the phone telling me all of her ailments and illnesses, she was not ready to make the transition and lose some weight.  She may have been sick and exhausted from carrying around so much extra weight, but she was not ready to make the change.  I thought for sure she was ready to make a change for the better.  It was sad because I was powerless to hold her hand and look her in the eyes and tell her that she had to be the one to make the change.  She has to be the one to take the first few steps…but instead she just retreated back to the anonymous reality of being a future statistic.  I speak so bluntly because I am not here to talk all nice-nice and sugar coat the reality of being morbidly obese.  I was never one to not tell you like it is and I will not start out here on my blog.

It is my intention to simply tell you the things you need to ask yourself to determine if you are just sick to death of being overweight, or whether you are ready to do something about it.  Afterall it is you who asked the question so vaugly on the Internet and this is the answer the universe provided!

If you are looking to lose weight I will calculate all my measurements as if you were using Medifast, because that is what worked for me, and that is what I understand.

The Time Of Reality
You did not gain the weight overnight and it will take time to lose the weight.  Forget about the reality TV shows and think in the terms of YOUR reality.  It is hard to put an accurate date on it because of the many variables that are involved with weight loss.  The variables I speak of are age, sex and on and on.  Everyone is different and I will not tell you that if you drink this magic juice or take this NEW diet pill, you will lose weight.  That is not how it works, and I want to talk in real terms.  If you are tired of obesity then you need to determine how long it will take you to lose the weight.  The time it takes can mess with your head and you need to get past “a date on the calendar” and be ready to do what it takes, for as long as it takes. (Article on Dieting With Medifast)

How long will it take to lose the weight, and are you willing to do it long enough to get it done?  Are you really committed to weight loss   Are you really ready to make the change that will require what I call “SUSTAINED MOTIVATION?”  If you want to lose 100+ pounds, it will take months….and that is just the way it will be!  I suggest you set out with a simple 6 month goal, and regroup once you get there.  If you lose all the weight in 6 months…great!  if you do not lose it all will you hate yourself for only losing 78 pounds?  The point is that you need to put away the calendar and concentrate on living in the moment because that is all you really have.

You can’t do anything about what you did in the past and you can’t do anything tomorrow.  You can only act in the now and if you can just get through THIS MOMENT.  The next moment will take care of itself.  Concentrate on the fact taht sustainable, and healthy weight loss is obtainable and that if you are setting a goal, the set a realistic one because any goal is better than none.  You really are not in competition with anyone, but yourself.

Motivation For Weight Loss
If you are on this page because someone upset you, then you are really not here for the right reason.  If you really, really want to lose weight, you will only do so because it is what YOU need for yourself.  Losing weight is essentially a solitary event and you should be doing it all for yourself.  Your health is your concern and nobody will care for you as well as you will take care of yourself.  If you are being motivated to lose weight because someone fussed at you, or you were embarrassed by an event…that may not be the best reason to lose weight.  That is not to say that an event, such as that, would not be a GREAT reason to get started on your weight loss journey…it is just that it will not be enough to carry you all the way to optimal health.

So are you sick and tired of being overweight and just whining, or are you ready to do something about being overweight?

Ultimately the motivation for weight loss will not be found on some scam website, or through some crap diet pill.  Weight loss will only be achieved with sustained motivation, and a proven weight loss program like Medifast.

Is Medifast the only program that works?  Of course not…but it is the only one that worked for us.

Keith and Sue Quackenbush
850-449-0121
KeithQBush@Gmail.com

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We always think of Mother’s Day as a day where we have to buy “something” for Mom.  We think of having to make that quick phone call between the drive to the store and cooking lunch.  For those of us that are fortunate enough to have a Mom that is still around and still cares, I want to take this moment in time to think about what is the best thing a person can give their Mom for Mother’s Day.  I do not speak of trinkets and I do not speak of “stuff” because how much “stuff” do you even still have that you owned 20 years ago.  “Stuff” comes and goes, but Mothers only come along once in a life time.  The gift of weight loss that I speak about for Mother’s Day is really a double edged sword, because if not handled correctly…it could just cause some hurt feelings that are unwarranted.

What I am referring to about the gift of weight loss for Mother’s Day has nothing to do with being thinner, or becoming more visually appealing.  The reason I mention the gift of weight loss for Mother’s Day is essentially the gift of time.  If you, or your mother (or both) are overweight, you are cutting short the time you have together.  If your Mother is obese, there is a good chance that she will die before her time.  If your Mom is overweight…you who you are and yet the situation is very similar to not talking about “the elephant in the room.”  In fact, if you live near Mom, and she is overweight…you will more than likely celebrate the day by going to eat out at some favorite restaurant.  You will take her out to eat because that is just what you do!   What is really happening is that you are helping facilitate the fact that she will die before her time.  Dieing early will really be the easy part because if she has some obesity related illness, she will suffer from a degradation of quality of life that really impacts all involved.

This is really a very tough and dynamic subject to write about because of all the variables involved that I could not possibly know about in your life story.  Are you and Mom obese?  Are you obese and Mom is thin?  Is Mom thin and you are overweight?  The point that I am trying to push across this article is that if you, or Mom, or both are overweight….you really need to enjoy the day because one day that dreaded phone call will come long before it needs to come.  Statistically speaking an obese person will suffer from a quality of life decline before falling into the final and life ending illness.

Am I all gloom and doom in this article?  No! I am not and if these words annoy you, then what is really going on is that the truth is peeking into the realm of reality and you simply do not want to hear it because you do not want to deal with it today.  Not dealing with it today is alright, but just be ware that one day….it will have to be dealt with… one way or another.    Why not intercede and do something about it today, and not after the next trip, or the next cruise.  Why not gift the gift of weight loss for Mother’s Day?  By the gift of weight loss I meant that you are giving the gift of being able to spend longer lives together.

By losing weight, a person gets healthy.  A person gets healthy, they statistically will live longer.  If a person does not lose weight, they very often will die before needed.  If you are understanding what I am saying here you are now thinking that if you mention this subject Mom will freak out and get really mad.  I can’t tell you how to approach the subject, but I can tell you the best way to broach the subject is to NOT accuse, and do not point fingers, and do not be afraid to see yourself in the mirror.  The easiest (and safest) way to approach the subject is to pull up alongside and take the journey together.

By losing weight, as a team, your relationship can grow closer and that closeness will be forged even more-so because of the time being spent achieving the goal of health.  Work together and enjoy the fact that both of you will be around longer.  Appreciate the fact that Mom will be able to be an active Grandma, and not only be around to be with the grand-kids, but will be actively engaged in their lives.  The family will be able to do more than just go out and eat and celebrate life around food.  By both of you pulling alongside one-another there, will be a window of opportunity to celebrate life by increasing the amount of time you will both be around.  If weight is lost there will be more time available.  The kids will be able to grow up and look back and remember their Grandma, because Grandma will not die when they were just little children.

My family was able to lose all of their weight using Medifast, but that is our story.  What is going to be your story?

I do not know the best way for you to have this discussion because of the dynamics that you only know are taking place in your life.  The one thing I do know is that iof you do nothing, and just float along through life ignoring the obesity issues…someone will be having a conversation.  That conversation will be how to best arrange for the funeral.  Will it be a cremation, or will it be a full blown burial?

Morbid questions?  Really?

No!  Just questions that need to be dealt with sooner than they need to be asked.  Now where are you going to eat for Mother’s Day?

The Medifast diet has been clinically proven to be safe and effective

Wanting to lose weight is the first step to actually losing weight.  By the mere fact that a person has the thought that they would like to be thinner and healthier presents the possibility that you can become not only slimmer but also much healthier.  Overweight people suffer from many ailments that are caused by the mere fact that they weigh too much.  High blood pressure, diabetes and death are the end result for thousands of people each and every year.  300,000 people die from being obese each and every year and if you are overweight the year you will die is much sooner than it needs to be.  Sure you want to lose weight but the true question you need to answer is just how bad do you want it?

For some people the effort to lose weight has become some huge object that they themselves have decided is too large to deal with.  For those that are overweight you need to remember that if you need to move something heavy it is much easier to do it a piece at a time.  If you want to lose weight then stop trying to look at your weight loss as 100 pounds or even 200 pounds.  Why not just try to get through today and make better choices for just this one day?  Why not see if you can lose 2 pounds in the next week?  Stop thinking about the huge number and start to chip away with a little number.  FitDay provides a great and easy to use program that will track your information on your computer daily.  Enter your weight daily and try to make better choices.  Try to just get through one day at a time and the weeks somehow start to get a little better.

The big question you need to ask yourself is not if you want to lose weight, but just how bad you want to lose weight?  Do you have sustained motivation or do you just think you want to lose weight?  Weight loss is not impossible, it just needs to get done and it starts again each and every day.  Some days will be better than others but then that is what life is all about.  Why not just worry about the here and now?  Why not just make some better choices today?  Why not drink more water today?  Why not walk those few blocks instead of the bus?  Why not eat some fruit instead of some donuts? 

It all comes down to choices.  What you choose is what you end up with.  Weight loss is all about what you choose and not just about what you want.

I am so tired of hearing “my diet is not working” from people.  All too often I speak to the people that I am trying to help lose weight and they tell me they are doing EVERYTHING the right way…and they are not losing the weight they want to lose.  I am a very patient person (just ask my wife) and yet that statement is really starting to drive me up the wall.  I find it annoying that I have to be “polite”, or “politically correct” when I am helping them understand why their weight loss efforts may have fallen short this week.  It is during these conversations that I wish I were a Drill Instructor and could scream and yell and tell them that they are being whiners and they needed to just stop with the negative crap and start evaluating what is really going on in their life.  What drives me even more crazy is when they tell me their diet is not working, and then later in the conversation the things they did that were off plan!  In one breath they tell me they are NOT losing weight, and their weight loss plan is not working….and then later they tell me the things they did wrong!

AAARRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!

In this article I am talking specifically speaking about people using Medifast to lose weight, but I know this same issue can be applied to any weight loss plan that is a valid and effective plan.  All too often I hear how they did everything right and the plan let them down.

I then try to console them while questioning them as to what may have gone wrong.

• I ask them if they stayed on plan?
• Did they drink their water daily?
• Did they eat every 2 to 3 hours?
• Did they exercise too much?

The entire time I am asking questions trying to determine why their diet plan did not work….I am thinking that this is the greatest diet plan I have ever seen…..and yet for some reason, it is not working for YOU!  I keep my composure and sympathy because I know the masses are not nearly as experienced with Medifast, so I need to simply keep listening to what is really going on in their life.

After a few minutes of hearing all the reasons, why they are sad and dejected, I hear the fateful and determining comment that opens up the floodgate of clues for the plan not working.  In the course of the conversation I hear the complaint that they have been hungry.  Since I am very well versed with Medifast, I can easily make the leap that if the diet is not working, and they are hungry all the time….they are doing something incorrect and are not following plan 100% of the time.  Once again the conversation turns from the diet plan not working to the root issue for the problem.

I will not diagnose why a specific weight loss plan is not working for you, but before you jump off the deep-end and binge-eat…  Before you throw your bathroom scale out the window, or drown it in the bath-tub, I suggest you review the basics of  your diet plan.  Somewhere in those basics of your weight loss plan is the key reason why it is not working.  At this point you need to stop with all of the negative thoughts about your life, your plan and your overall place in life.  You need to stop thinking your entire universe sucks and thinking that you will be obese for the rest of life simply because you think your diet is not working.

It never ceases to amaze me that everyone is so negative about their life, and the things that go on around them in the course of a day.  In this brief article I want you to stop whining and complaining about why your diet or weight loss program is not working, because chances are that it is something you are doing incorrectly.  As long as you are not doing some scam diet weight loss plan (diet pills are the biggest scam), the problem is more than likely something you are missing.

I can’t speak for all weight loss diets, I can only speak of my history with the overall success of Medifast and the fact that it works, if you follow the program.  Stop whining, buck up and get it done!  If you want to lose weight stop blaming your metabolism, or the diet, or your period or ……….  Chances are you are missing one vital element that is preventing fat burn!  That issue is what you need to be searching to find, instead of beating yourslef up for not losing weight as fast as you want to lose weight.

Just relax and stop being so critical of yourself and give your body the chance it needs to re-boot.  Stop being so critical about your weight loss journey.  It took months, if not years to gain the weight and it will take some time to getting it off!   CHILL!!

THERE!!! I feel better now, even it really did not specifically help you find why your diet plan may not be working for you you.

Keith Quackenbush
KeithQBush@Gmail.com
850-449-0121

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