Follow along as I start Transition- slowly introducing potatoes and other vegetables, fruits, dairy and grains to my plan. Christmas comes smack dab in the middle complete with cinnamon rolls, gingerbread men and tons of sweets and snacks. My new way of eating kicked into gear and I survived! Watch the weight continue to fall off even during the Transition process!
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DAY 43 (Transition Week 1)
Weight this morning: 122.2
Loss: 11.2 pounds
Ahhh, the weekend. Slept in a bit. And I was uber excited to see no ramifications from yesterday’s trip to Carl’s Jr, or the fact that I only ate 3 of my Medifast meals and the rest was (read more…)
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DAY 44 (Transition Week 1)
Weight this morning: 122.2
Loss: 11.2 pounds
Hmmm, I didn’t have an opportunity to add in potatoes or corn or beans last night. Guess I’ll be making Taco Soup this week (haven’t been able to eat it because of the beans and corn). And if I make tater-tots for the kids’ lunch I can eat some now! 
MEAL #1 @ 7:30am Chocolate Chip Pancake, coffee (read more…)
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DAY 45 (Transition Week 1)
Weight this morning: 122.4
Loss: 11.0 pounds
Let’s hope that after Transition we STAY at 122.4!
MEAL #1 @ 6:30 Chocolate Chip Pancake, Coffee (read more….)
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DAY 46 (Transition Week 1)
Weight this morning: 121.4
Loss: 12 pounds
Houston, we have a problem. I am still dropping weight! I upped my calories last week from 900 average to 1300 average…..lost weight. I’ve been ”snacking” and eating more (but I’m still only eating approved foods)….and I lost weight (read more…)
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DAY 47 (Transition Week 1)
Weight this morning: 122.6
Loss: 10.8 pounds
After drinking a ton of water last night, I was disappointed to wake up with a not very full bladder! Water retention. I hesitated before stepping on the scale, but as promised, I’m keeping it real- and I was pleased to see my weight was 122.6. WHEW! Lots of water today though, and for tonight’s dinner at Izzy’s it will be 100% 5 & 1 compatible….no pizza or breadsticks or ice cream or pudding or desserts for me. Just a big ol’ salad with some protein to go along with it. (read more…)
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DAY 48 (Transition Week 1)
Weight this morning: 122.0
Loss: 11.4 pounds
WHEW! That’s all I gotta say. Today and tomorrow are my last days of Week 1 Transition…. I’m going to finish out this week nice and strong (read more…)
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DAY 49 (Transition Week 1)
Weight this morning: 121.6
Loss: 11.8 pounds
Down again! Geesh! And it’s not just the weight, my WAIST is another inch smaller! I’m still burning fat!!
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DAY 50 (Transition Week 2) Christmas Eve!
Weight this morning: 121.4
Loss: 12 pounds
2nd Phase of Transition: This week things change up a bit. Not only do I get to eat any vegetable that I want with my Lean & Green meal (that’s part of the first week of Transition), I can now also have 2 servings of fruit every day. BANANAS! APPLES! GRAPES! Yipee!! I’m also supposed to reduce my Medifast meals to just 4 a day instead of 5. (read more…)
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DAY 51 (Transition Week 2) Christmas Day!
Weight this morning: 123.4
Not sticking to any type of meal plan for today. It’s Christmas! Yep, I went ALL OUT. (read more…)
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DAY 52 (Transition Week 2)
Weight this morning: 123.4
Loss: 10 pounds
It’s time to get back on plan. I started out the morning by putting all the leftover cookies, scones, brownies, etc. into the freezer. All the gingerbread men went down the garbage disposal and I did not (read more….)
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DAY 53 (Transition Week 2)
Weight this morning: 123.6
Loss: 9.8 pounds
The food temptations around me are just too great! I just have to get it all out of my sight and really focus on the plan.
MEAL #1 @ 6:45 Chocolate Chip Pancake, Coffee, Water (I haven’t been drinking water again- ugh)
MEAL #2 @ 9:45 Lean & Green (omelet) 2 eggs, 2 large mushrooms, 1/3 of a tomato, swiss cheese, bacon bits. My Lean & Green meals at this stage of Transition should be a 50/40 carb/protein ratio….or target 80 grams of carbs and 60 grams of protein. Having said that….I’m also supposed to double my calories from when I was on the 5 & 1 plan (Lean & Green meals).
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DAY 54 (Transition Week 2)
Weight this morning: 123.2
I’m glad to see the scale going back down! (read more…)
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DAY 55 (Transition Week 2)
Weight this morning: 122.8
I’m going to stop reporting Loss, since I’m not working to lose any more and I’m simply trying to maintain where I’m at. My goal was to lose 10 pounds, and I did that…..I lost 12 at my peak! Now it’s all about maintenance (read more…)
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DAY 56 (Transition Week 2)
Weight this morning: 122.6
MEAL #1 @ 7:30 Chocolate Chip Pancake, coffee (read more…)
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DAY 57 (Transition Week 3)
No scale…we’re outta town! It’s New Year’s Eve! (read more…)
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DAY 58 (Transition Week 3)
Still no scale….
MEAL #1 @ 8:00 Medifast Chocolate Chip pancake, coffee, water
MEAL #2 @ 10:45 Sausage Link and 1/2 a banana (everyone else was eating breakfast)
SNACK @ 11:30 A piece of Buffalo Chicken Breast- about 1/4 of a breast and a slice of pepperjack cheese. I was absolutely starving and figured I’m running low on protein so opted for a high protein snack.
MEAL #3 @ 1:30 Medifast Pudding
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DAY 59 (Transition Week 3)
Still no scale!
MEAL #1 @ 8:30 Medifast Chocolate chip pancake, coffee
MEAL #2 @ 10:00 Medifast Chocolate Shake (oops, didn’t mean to eat this so early- I made it for the drive, and drank it as soon as we got in the car!)
MEAL #3 @ 1:45 Costco Carne Asada Bake– but I didn’t eat the bread part, just the insides. No idea how to count that meal, so instead I just said I ate 1/2. (Read more…)
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DAY 60 (Transition Week 3)
Weight this morning: 124.4
OK, so I finally was able to get on a scale. Sad to see that I’m back to 124.4 (remember, this is where I hovered for 3 weeks before finally deciding to stop the Medifast 5 & 1 and start the Transition weeks). BUT, my measurements stayed at my Target (actually went down a hair), so I can’t complain really about it. THIS is where I wanted to end up, remember? (Read more…)
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DAY 61 (Transition Week 3)
Weight this morning: 123.4
That looks better to me! Whew!
MEAL #1 @ 6:45 Medifast pancake, coffee, water
MEAL #2/SNACK @ 8:45 2 eggs and 4 chocolates. Yep! I have a bad habit of when things look good (weight/tone) I treat myself with something really bad. Today it was a 4-piece box of Godiva chocolates. Sadly I didn’t even savor each one and really enjoy the flavor- each one was eaten in two bites. They went so fast I was disappointed when I realized I’d eaten the last one. Sad. Grrr. To counterbalance the sugar and carbs, I ate 2 eggs. (Read more….)
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DAY 62 (Transition Week 3)
Weight this morning: 123.6
BREAKFAST @ 6:30 Medifast pancake, coffee, water. Super hungry at 8:00 so I cooked an egg.
SNACK @ 10:00 Medifast pudding, 1/2 slice of whole wheat bread with 1 T peanut butter.
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DAY 63 (Transition Week 3)
Weight this morning: 122.6
BREAKFAST @ 6:30 Medifast Pancake, 1 egg, Coffee w/eggnog
SNACK @ 9:30 Medifast Crunch Bar, Starbucks sugar free peppermint mocha breve no whip
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Day 64 (starting Maintenance)
No change in weight or measurements…..yay! I’m right where I was at last week’s check-in…..right where I was when I decided to stop the 5 &1 program. Maintaining at 122-123 and all my measurements are remaining stable. Yippee!!
I’ve decided Transition weeks are waaaaay harder than being on the 5 &1 plan. I’m hungrier (because I’ve added carbs back in which throws off the glucose levels in your body) and it’s much easier to ‘snack’. I’m trying really hard to stick to eating every 3 hours or so, but sometimes I’m hungry earlier, and sometimes I eat something so filling that 4 or 5 hours go by before I’m hungry again.
It’s easier to “cheat” because theoretically, if a whole banana is OK to eat- and it’s 105 calories and contains 15 grams of sugar and 27 carbs….then why not eat 3 Dove Dark chocolates instead- it’s only 25 more calories, but has the same amount of sugar yet half the carbs? Ok Ok, I know it’s wrong, it’s unhealthy and it’s not following the plan. Sad that I choose to have chocolates over a piece of whole grain bread. Or over a cup of yogurt. But dang it, I LOVE my dark chocolate!
I’ve completed the first 3 weeks of Tranisition. Today is my day to start Stage 4 of Transition: I finally get to add a serving of whole grain and another 6 oz of lean meat.
Here’s where I admit that I’ve already done that a couple times (making a sandwich with 1/2 an Orowheat Thin, or eating a 1/2 slice of Whole Grain Bread with a slathering of peanut butter, or (gasp) eating the top crust of a Costco Carne Asada Bake (but not eating the ends or the thick bottom crust)….and I did eat 1/2 a 6″ Subway Sandwich with just the bottom bread and not the top.
And I’ve been lately eating two Lean and Green meals….so I kinda already incorporated stage 4 of Transition.
So…..I’m skipping Week 4 and going straight to Maintenance. According to TSFL, Maintenance looks like this:
Week 1 – add 100 calories to Lunch Week 2 – add another 100 calories to Lunch Week 3 – add another 100 calories to Lunch Week 4 – add 100 calories to Mid-Morning Fueling Week 5 – add 100 calories to Mid-Afternoon Fueling Week 6 – add 100 calories to Breakfast Week 7 – add 100 calories to Breakfast
Um, I’m not going to make my life “that” complicated.
I calculated out the nutrition goals for someone on Week 4 Transition and came up with this:
Calories: 1,514 Fat: 31 grams/day Carbs: 181/day 48% Sugar: 64/day Protein: 143/day 38%
So THAT is going to be my plan. I’m not going to follow a strict Transition Week 4 or Maintenance Plan (as they have it written). I’m where I want to be and I’ve been maintaining, so this will continue to be what I strive for on a daily basis.
I’m implementing what I’ve learned and here’s ELISA’S MAINTENANCE PLAN:
- I’ll continue to have Medifast meals for breakfast and afternoon snacks as long as my budget allows.
- I’m not going back to my skim-milk lattes. I’m keeping the fuller-fat sugar-free half-and-half versions. Even when I go to Starbucks, which isn’t as often as it used to be pre TSFL.
- I’m going to continue striving for Lean and Green lunches. Heavy on the greens. I enjoyed my big lunch days and eating all these great new foods.
- I’m really not planning on going back to eating pasta or breads. I’ve lived without them for 2.5 months now and haven’t missed them that much. Before I buy any more pasta, I’ll be checking the labels looking for low sugar low carb versions so that I don’t have to sit on the sidelines while everyone else is eating pasta dishes. Or just make sure I have lots of protein to counterbalance it!
- I’m going to continue with the eating every 3 hours deal. That’s 6:30, 9:30, 12:30, 3:30 and 6:30 PM targets. Trying not to snack in between.
- No more soda. That’s for sure! I feel guilty drinking sparkling water, even!
I’m also done with my daily blogging.
I’ll still track my meals on LoseIt.com, and weigh in daily and take measurements twice a week. I’ll post weekly updates on here to keep you posted on how the Maintenance phase is going.
Stay tuned for my weekly updates!
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I lost those "last 10" pounds 