Last night, I came upon an article written by Ms. Cara Surdi that was posted on Yahoo. She lost 90 lbs. in 6 months on the Optifast plan. Here's an excerpt:
"It has been 6 years since I did the Optifast and yes, I have gained it all back. The reason why I gained the weight back wasn't because the Optifast diet didn't work, it was because of myself. I lost sight of the importance of exercise and eating right. I gained a little here and there and wasn't too concerned. I would love to do Optifast again, but you really have to mentally prepare yourself. You have to be determined and not allow anything get in your way. For those of you struggling on any diet, it isn't the diet's fault that you didn't lose weight or keep it off; it is about self-love and dedication to living a healthier lifestyle. I think we all know this, but do not like to be held accountable for it."
I seem to be hearing this sort of tale frequently. Significant weight loss whilst on Optifast inevitably followed by weight gain once you stop the program. But I like Ms. Surdi's honesty here: She does not blame our program, rather points to a lapse in the participant's desire for and dedication to a healthy lifestyle. This leads me to wonder: Will this happen to me? Will I crumble and undo all my hard work to shed this weight? Can I really buck this trend of gaining all the weight back?
Now, I want to be very careful here about going down that path of worrying about failure in the future. I've mentioned before my belief that staying in the present serves us the best right now in this point and time in our programs. But the fact remains that we are going to have some work ahead of us when it comes to keeping our weight off, and in my case, I'm going to have to make some serious changes in how I prepare and eat my food. I have to also embrace exercise as part of my daily routine. And this, right now, seems like a huge challenge.
Fortunately, we have people blogging right now who have completed the program and have moved into the maintenance phase. Some insight can be gained from them. To the right of this page you will see a link to the blog "New Day Coming" and there is wonderful, motivating information there. I also came across an article a few weeks ago in the New York Times about a couple who completed the Optifast program and are successfully keeping the weight off. But know that in their case, they strictly adhere to a rigid diet and exercise regime. All food is measured or weighed. They do meticulous calorie counting. I would call them religious about their exercise routine. Which begs the question: Do we have to go that far too?
But again, let's not get too ahead of ourselves, rather just remain aware that some work is ahead of us. I think this is the best strategy right now. Today I continue with my program, and try to incorporate my exercise, and continue with my own research of good eating strategies. That's enough to handle right now.
Great insight Melissa. I have thought a lot about maintenance too, even though I am months away from hitting that space. Much like you, I don't sit in worry about what will happen when I get there, but just to be aware that things have got to change from the place I was when I first came to Optifast. I think the challenge for most of us is really look at that honestly and, little by little, pick up new habits and change the tapes to new messages of hope and encouragement instead of playing the same ones over and over in our heads. Great post!
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you! Sometimes I allow myself to get gripped by the fear of gaining it back -- and I don't think it is good to devote my energy to that. Stories of "failure" abound, and I think they just reinforce the destructive habit of blaming oneself. Which is terrible for self-esteem. I like this notion of "awareness" -- it gives me strength. Thanks as always for your unending support!
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