I wish I could do that.....

     Now that I am beyond the 100 pounds lost mark, a lot of people have been reaching out asking me what I did. I tell them about the Take Shape For Life coaching program with Medifast meal replacements and how awesome the program has been for me. Then I get, "Boy I wish I could do that." At that point I keep my cool on the outside, but on the inside I'm saying, "Hello McFly! You CAN do that!!" I was there, I have been at that point. I remember my mom trying to get me to just try her meal replacements, she even planned out a sneak attack meeting between me and her health coaches! Yes, I learned my mom's tricks early on. I still remember the day she wanted to see a ballet at the Palace Theater in Manchester New Hampshire. I thought we were just going in to see what was coming up for the next month or so. Before me and my brother knew it, an usher was escorting us to our balcony seats. I was not happy that I had to watch dudes prance across a stage wearing tights that I am sure were 20 sizes too small for them! So when my mom wants me to be at a location at a certain time I ask lots of questions.

     It was the fear of losing out on something I love. Food. What I did not realize at the time is that I had the wrong idea of food and its purpose in my life. Before I could start on any weight loss program I needed to be in the right mindset. I needed to be in a place where I wanted to do this and that I knew I could do it. I may have mentioned this before but I had applied for an increase in my life insurance policy. That way if something happened to me, Steph would be able to pay off the house and have a place for her and the kids to live. Because I was over 360 pounds at the time I got a rejection letter. That got me thinking. If I croaked tomorrow Steph would not have enough money to keep the house and her financial future would be tight for a while. A few days after that I was reminded of a promise I made to a friend who was dying of cancer. It was a couple weeks before she passed after a church service. She said, "Mike take care of your heart." You see, she had lost her husband to a heart attack. This got me thinking as to why I thought food was so important. Why did I always have to have the biggest rib or the biggest steak, heck even the biggest cookie! I had an addiction, and I never realized it until that moment.

     I was a person that used to say, "Boy I wish I could do that." or "I could never do that." as I sat on the couch stuffing my face with chips and ice cream while watching The Biggest Loser. The last thing some one that lives with weight wants to hear is, "Hey your fat, why don't you do something about it!" Yeah I was pretty aware that my cloths didn't fit right, or that I lost my breath climbing stairs. What I needed to be reminded of is that I can do anything I set my mind to. Wait what? Yes that's right, you reading this can do anything you set your mind to! The key is having a plan to follow and then stick to that plan! Stay true to the plan, be honest with yourself, and do not go it alone. Accountability is very important! That is why I have done so well with the Take Shape For Life program. The Medifast 5+1 Plan is all I am eating to make sure my body remains in the fat burning stage until I reach my goal weight. My coach is available to me 24/7 in the case I am feeling weak or tempted. No matter what don't go it alone!

     I was a guy who could polish off a box of Little Debbies Oatmeal Cream Pies, a 12 pack of Mountain Dew, a bag of Lays Sour Cream n' Onion chips, a box of pop tarts, slim jims, a medium pizza with extra cheese, Swiss Cake Rolls, and Hostess Apple Pie and Blueberry Pie all in one night and still want to eat more. Wow reading that list in my head sounds crazy to me, but that is how I used to eat. I did not care and I did not pay attention. If those around me didn't plant that seed, I am not sure if I would of come to the realization that my eating habits needed to change. So as I get closer to my goal weight I will continue to share the struggles and triumphs of this road to weight loss, with the hopes that my message will plant a seed to help some one see that there is no such thing as impossible. You just have not discovered how to get there yet.

Your friend on this Road To Weight Loss,

Mike

www.myroadtoweightloss.tsfl.com/explore

Maybe I'm just supposed to be fat?

     Maybe I'm just supposed to be fat? That is what was running through my mind over a year ago after my last failed diet. I had tried just about every diet out there. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, South Beach, Fat Smash, Slim-fast, Special-K, and even one where you just drank juice. For me I never felt good or ever saw progress (personally) with any of these diets. Sure I would have a friend or two where it worked for them, but for the money I was spending it was just a gut wrenching feeling to get on that scale after a month's worth of work and see a big fat zero. Two of those diets I actually gained 5 pounds resulting in a 10 pound gain instead of a much needed loss! Yes, that is the epitome of frustration.

     Any one who has known me since childhood knows that I have always been overweight compared to others in my age group. The biggest I ever got was 420 pounds following college. At this point (in my mind) the options for me to lose weight were scarce. I was looking into getting gastric surgery, man oh man I did not want surgery! Some of the physical challenges I was having started pushing me to that option though. I started getting a pain in my hip that shot down my leg to my foot. This was a constant pain that wouldn't go away. I had also slipped and tweaked my back, I was ok at first but later that day I went to stand and my legs just gave out and I fell to the floor. I remember some one had come to the house to pick up my daughter for the day to watch her and I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get to the door and she then had to help me into a chair. That's right all 420 pounds of me. It was rather humiliating. Later that year my wife got me a chair for my home office. I didn't even have the chair for 2 days and I broke it. My weight was just too much for it. What was I going to do? I could not go on living like this! My daughters need to have their daddy around and I was determined to do what ever it takes. Then I got a call that planted a seed.

     My sister Cindy called me informing me that my mom was in the hospital and things were not looking good. At the time all I knew was that my mom had a stroke and that her lungs were filling up with fluid. After a few days I was able to talk to my mom and found out that her kidneys were also failing. Her Doctor had made it very clear that she needed to do something about her weight and because of her condition along with her diabetes surgery was not an option for her. If she did not do something to get her weight down she would not be here. Woah. That is some heavy stuff, but that seed got a plant growing. He talked to my mom about a program with Take Shape For Life that uses Medifast meals to help people lose weight. Like any diet there is no guarantee and results vary person to person, but my mom gave it a shot. I took note and watched her progress. Before I stepped into the ring I wanted to see if it really worked.

     To my surprise it was working for my mom. 33 years of my life I watched my mom try every diet under the sun and finally one is working! Later that summer local morning radio personality Mike Alley announced that he to was going to give Medifast a try. That was it, that was the push I needed to call my mom's Health Coach and say, "Sign me up!" My mind set was right and I told my new Health Coach that I was ready to rock this joint! So here I am today. So far I have lost 105 pounds with the Take Shape For Life program and I just have 65 pounds to go till I reach my goal. Did I mention that they have asked me to join their team of Health Coaches? If you have found yourself asking the same question I asked, "Maybe I'm just supposed to be fat?" Then now is the time to do something about it! The link I have provided below has a contact form. If you fill it out with your contact information and hit submit I will personally call you and tell you how excited I am for this program and that you are not alone in this journey! I will be there every step of the way helping you on your path to Optimal Health!

http://myroadtoweightloss.tsfl.com/explore

Here is a current before and after picture of me with my girls! On the left I am currently at 255lbs. On the right is me at over 360lbs.

All the best,

     Mike

The mighty 100lbs has fallen!

     I know, it has been a few months since my last post. I have been trying to find different ways to stay on task I kind of forgot about this blog. It has been in the back of my mind, I was sure I was going to hit the 100lbs lost mark sooner but my body had other ideas! But yes as of this past Monday I have officially lost 101 pounds on the Medifast Program! Exciting as that is I still need to keep in mind the fact that I still need to lose another 69lbs to get to my goal weight of 190lbs.

     Now I have already had a few people come up to me and say, "Well you have lost 100 pounds so you can stop now." You want to talk about a struggle to keep your composure! Stop now?! I'm not even there yet! I mean who makes plans to drive to Disney World from New Hampshire, stops in Washington DC and says, "Well that's close enough." I am pretty sure there would be some kids in the back seat protesting! My goal is 190 pounds and I fully plan on meeting that goal!

     A few weeks back I had gotten some disappointing news in regards to my health coach Arnold with Take Shape For Life. I was informed that him and his wife elected to no longer be coaches with TSFL. I was really bummed. I liked Arnold, and I think him leaving kind of threw me off. I was not being very careful when it came to paying attention to what and when I was eating. When you are on Medifast you eat 5 Medifast meals a day plus a lean protein with vegetables and a healthy fat. Well I would lose track of when I was eating my Medifast meals and some days I would miss one......or two. Not even realizing it till I got home. Steph would always point it out to me though.

     To make a long story short I was connected with my new health coach Robin and boy has she done an awesome job getting that fire lit under my seat! I'm back to logging my meals, logging my exercises, and reading my Habits of Health book. I was stuck at 95lbs for a few weeks but Robin really helped me push through and man was it worth it! She has been so pleased with my progress that she encouraged me to become a coach as well. This was something I really had to think about. After talking with the wife and really putting some thought into it I went for it and signed up to be a health coach! That is why Arnold and I connected so well at first. Like me he was a big guy who had struggled with weight, and was able to lose it on the Medifast Program.

     If any of you would like to join me on the Road to Weight Loss please feel free to check out my website or share it with some one you know who has shared the same struggles as I have. myroadtoweightloss.tsfl.com/explore  

**Results vary. Typical weight loss on the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan® is 2-5 lbs per week for the

first 2 weeks and 1-2 lbs per week thereafter. 


Peace & Good Vibes,

Mike