Diet

My dad recently went on a diet.  He has been fighting with type 2 diabetes for several years now, and he was at the point where he could no longer stave off the need for insulin.  Having daily insulin injections is something he absolutely did NOT want to do.  So, despite his love for food, he went on an extremely rigid diet.  He must have been really motivated, because he stuck with it!  And the pounds started falling off.

On the other hand, I was monitoring my weight closely, and though it kept fluctuating in a five pound range that I was able to kind of manage, it was at the very top range of any weight I'd ever been at in my life.  And it kept jumping to the top number a lot quicker than I was  happy seeing.  I suddenly realized that if I wasn't careful, I would soon outweigh my 6'3'' father.  

I just couldn't let that happen.  The diet my dad was on was something he had heard about from my Aunt.  I was interested in it when I had seen her on it, and after seeing my dad's success I became even more interested.  I started playing with the idea of going on the same diet.  It was going to be a huge financial commitment as it is one of those programs where you buy their food.  I called Andrew up and asked, "What if we just tried it out?  I can order a months worth of food and you and I could each try it for two weeks."  He wasn't thrilled and asked if we could talk about it when he got home.  My biggest concern was the money.  But I quickly realized that his hesitation was different - he just didn't want to try it.  He's always been more successful about managing his own weight on his own than I have.  So I tried again.  What if I just try it for a month?  He said that it was up to me, and if I wanted to, he would support me.

And so, for the first time in my life, I invested a couple hundred dollars into a diet program.

I was excited.

I thought, "I can do this!"

And I waited anxiously for the food to arrive so I could get started.

While waiting to start the diet, Andrew and I made one final caloric splurge on Astro Burger.  I felt gross and the scale knew what I had done.  A couple of days later we had a more acceptable binge as we split a Red Mango.  The next morning my diet began.

The diet I am on is Medifast.  I ordered it before I realized I had some concerns about it.  The biggest concern I have is that this diet reduces your calories to under 1200 a day.  Everything I have EVER heard about dieting is to never drop below that magic number because your body will go into starvation mode and start hoarding fat instead of releasing it.  But I've seen this diet work first hand, so even though it was scary and a little bit unsettling to pursue an option that seems so contrary to common advice, (and since I had already ordered the food) I decided to try it.  The way it works, you eat at regular intervals, every three hours, all day long.  I think this constant incoming of food is what prevents the body from going into that starvation mode.  Andrew's biggest concern was that I will be able to lose the weight on this program, but as soon as I go off of it, I will gain it back.  I'll admit, that's my concern too.  But there is a good transition phase and then maintenance phase that is designed to help.  I guess I'll face that challenge when I get there.