On August 10, 2010 I changed my eating habits. I don’t want to call it “a diet” because unlike my first and second Medifast runs, this is something I can keep up forever. I’ll warn you though, it’s a pretty wild plan:
I’m eating fewer calories than I expend.
I know! Crazy, right?
So am I drinking low-calorie smoothies? Nope. How about cutting out carbs? Nuh-uh. Avoiding “bad food” like burgers and fries? No way. Working out every single day? Hah!
All I’m doing is keeping track of the calories I take in through eating and calories I burn through whatever exercise I feel like doing that day and doing what I can to keep that under my caloric limit (currently 1220/day, which is supposed to lose me 1.5 lbs/week, but doesn’t quite). This tends to mean a small breakfast (I love those Sweet & Salty granola bars at 170 calories), a slightly larger lunch (a tuna-wrap yesterday at about 300 calories), an hour-long walk of Loki through the park (for negative 300 calories) leaving me with over 1000 calories for dinner — enough for a greasy burger and fries if that’s what I want.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. If I’m lazy or don’t have the time and don’t exercise then that’s just fewer calories I can eat that day.
This is all possible because of calorie-tracking apps and web sites. I’m currently using MyFitnessPal and their iPhone app. Both are totally free.
Created by MyFitnessPal – Free Calorie Counter
I used to use Livestrong.com and their app (site is free but full of up-sells, iPhone app was $3) but it just doesn’t compare. The weight lost so far on that counter is just since I’ve switched to MyFitnessPal. My start weight last year was 232 lbs.
As of today I’m over 50 lbs lighter than that, weighing in this morning at 180.8 lbs. Only about four more pounds to go and my BMI is officially out of the “overweight” range! My target weight is 170 lbs. I’ve been there before during my previous MediFast diets and it’s a great weight for me. Once I hit that weight all I’m going to change is the target calories from “lose weight” to “maintain weight”, continue tracking, and I won’t ever have to “diet” again.
In celebration, here’s me and Scarlett Johansson, just hangin’ out.
Yup, she’s still hotter. Oh well.
Yes Toren, that’s an almost-skinny man’s bum. Deal with it.
At 180 you’re 5 pounds lighter than me! Way to go!
Congrats!
Just last week I was working my way through some of the Caustic Soda archives (top quality entertainment btw) and watched your 2 Girls One Cup reaction video. I was wondering what you had done to go from the you in the video to the you I saw at Skeptics in the Pub over the summer. Now I know….
I was using MyFitnessPal last year and it was totally working…. Dropped me from 185 down to 175 rather painlessly. I fell off the keeping track of calories wagon and am now back at 185. Thanks for giving me the motivation to update my Android MyFitnessPal app and start again.
Yay for you! I’ve been using Myfitnesspal since May and am down 40lbs. I’m also lazy, so haven’t been exercising, just watching what I eat. So good for us! Any chance for us formerly chubby nerds to pat ourselves on the back, right? Now if only I could get a job that didn’t require that I sit at a computer for 10 hours a day, I might not have gotten into this situation in the first place!
I recently started Medifast (only in week two) and I have been scouring the web for success stories to keep me motivated. Reading your “Medifast Completed” entries really inspired me as I was about at the same starting weight that you were. I plan on sticking with it but my concern is the same that many have…. “When I get to my goal weight, is it all just going to come back?”
I know that you had stated that you were able to keep it off, but looking at this post I saw that you said that you were starting calorie counting at 232lbs. You were at 170lbs after Medifast, no?? I was confused so I figured I would ask. Gaining back all the weight I plan on losing on Medifast is my biggest fear.
Thanks for the help.
I gained it back over about 5 years, so about a pound a month.
Medifast doesn’t teach you good eating habits very well. It certainly helped me drop most of my bad ones — I had completely stopped snacking — but it didn’t give me anything to replace it with once I was done.
I think Medifast is great for losing weight fast, especially if lots of other things have failed but the best option is to simply calorie count like I’ve done here now. Every day I’m learning how much food and exercise my body should get, how those two relate, and how many calories every type of food has.
And as I’ve noted, when I’m done losing weight with calorie counting all I’m going to do is keep counting calories but raise my daily allowance to an amount that’s “maintain weight” instead of “lose weight”. It’s not that hard (thanks to owning a smartphone) and the payoffs are totally worth it.
Thanks Joe. I was just wondering. I have been struggling with my weight loss efforts for the better part of 10 years and I have tried everything. I have always been very “social” and would never say no to the opportunity to go out to eat or have cocktails. I would always promise myself that I’d get right back on my diet the next day, but then another “occasion” would come up. When I saw the scale hit 254, I realized drastic measures needed to be taken.
I spoke to a nutritionist and my trainer at the gym who put me on a good diet and exercise program. I did exactly what you are talking about “calories in vs. calories out”… needless to say, the weightloss is not as quick as I desired.
I have vowed to do Medifast for 3 months and then do the transition period of another month or so. I am hoping to lose 35-40 lbs. It has been two weeks and I am down 12 lbs. already (i know the beginning is a lot of water weight) I see by your blogs that it is possible, and reading how you did it has inspired me to not quit. I think I am prepared for what I need to do when I do lose the weight.
I’d rather be 210 watching what I eat than 250, right?
Thanks for the help. Wish me luck.
Joe,
Two quick medifast questions.
1. When you were doing it, I know you said that you didnt cheat at all. I am trying to do it as clean as possible, but every once in a while I will snack on a low fat cheese stick, some almonds (which medifast says is allowed I think) and sometimes for dinner I have an ounce or two more of the meat than I am supposed to. Just a few things to get me by. I may be taking in an extra two hundred calories or so, but none of those things have carbs and I was thinking that probably wouldnt kick me out of ketosis. What do you think?
2. Did you do ANY exercise on medifast? I like to exercise and I understand I have to notch down the intensity. I was thinking 30-40 walk/jogs a few days a week and maybe some light weight training 2-3 times a week.
I really just want to lose the weight so I can get to a comfortable number and then be conscious of what I eat and re-rachet up the exercise. Thanks for your help.
I think you’ll be just fine with a little bit of extra, especially things Medifast mentions as fine. I didn’t cheat as in have a day where I’d eat a burger or something like that. I certainly occasionally had very small snacks like what you mentioned.
I didn’t measure out my meat, or worry too much about being so precise. My typical lean-and-green was a chicken breast + green beans or broccoli, and I’d just eat whatever size breast I had. If I had beef or some other “lean” I just tried to eat about the same amount as a chicken breast.
I did play road hockey once/week during the summer when on Medifast. This was my #1 difference from the plan. I would supplement my calories on that day with a 50/50 mix of Gatorade (or similar) and water. An hour of a fast sport like that is about 500 calories of exercise, so there was little risk of me drinking too much sugary water. A 750 mL bottle of Gatorade is only about 210 calories.
If I got lightheaded (which sometimes happened at the beginning, and no, that’s not a good thing) I’d drink more and take it easy.
Light exercise (ie: not road hockey) is totally fine, and the amount you’re describing would probably offset the extra 200 calories of occasional snacks.
I’m not doing Medifast any more because I couldn’t keep it up. It’s great for fast weight loss but doesn’t teach you how to keep it off.
Now I’m just counting calories with myfitnesspal.com and once I’m at my target weight I’m just going to increase my allowed calories to “maintain” instead of “lose” and just keep going counting calories forever. Having a smartphone makes this really easy nowadays.
I’d suggest switching to counting maintenance calories once you’re done the rapid weight loss from Medifast. That’s the best way to keep off the weight you lose. I’ve got a writeup on calories-in/calories-out here