I would like to know the answer too. Anyone here know what is the answer to your question. I'll do some poking around and get back to you if I bump into an answer. You should email the people at Nutrisystem as they probably could give you an answer..

Discobulous - You've obviously put a lot of thought into this. How about posting on this thread in the Maintenance Forum to keep yourself and others inspired?.

For serial dieters: the top 5 reasons you won't get fat again..

Http://boards.members.nutrisystem.co...64#post2882164..

Discobulous.

Well thought out, and well put....

Congratulations on the weight loss so far..

My concern with this is, since you already know that.

You are going to be slammed in February, why set.

Workout goals that are increased over what you.

Are doing now? You are not hitting that 5 day a week.

Now, so why set that as a goal knowing that your.

Time is going to much more limited? I am just concerned.

That making this goal and then not being able to meet it.

Will cause an attitude of failure, depression, self rejection.

And anger within because of not hitting it. I know that.

This would be what would happen to me..

I would also take a big box, fill it with lunch bars, snacks,.

Desserts and apples and put it on the front seat of my car.

Today. That way on the way home from the long days, it.

May be easier to grab a bar than a burger, and it would.

Discourage me from stopping. Kind of like a self inflicted.

Guilt trip. lol.

Just a few ideas, if I was getting ready to go through what.

You are at work...

Discobulous,.

I can totally relate to your trouble staying on track with your schedule; I'm faculty now, but I do pediatric critical care which obviously means crazy long days when I'm on service. So, I try to pack as much stuff into a bag for my snack/meals the night before. I take everything but the salad mix; I buy that at the cafeteria. There have been very few times recently when I've felt that I had to drive through a fast food place to grab dinner, but the couple times it happened, I chose Taco Bell and got something fairly ok. I've found exercise is absolutely key. I get up early (today got up at 5:15).

I also sleep better at night. The one advantage you'll have this month is that you're going to be taking care of patients that could have been YOU in a few years if you hadn't made this life-changing decision to get healthy! Good luck!..

Discobulous, first of all, congratulations on your successes so far. You definitely see what you can do if you stick to the plan..

Try your best to stay on plan. Stop thinking of this as a "diet". Change your mindset about that right now and it will help tremendously. The way you eat now is the way you will need to eat from now on with the exception of adding a few more calories in when you reach goal..

NO MORE FAST FOOD (unless it's a salad). I've had fast food maybe 3 or 4 times in the last 2+ years and I don't miss it at all. You can do without it from now on and I guarantee that you won't die..

Food is not a reward. Food is fuel for your body. Enough said about that..

Don't set time limits. Set either weight or BF% goals but don't give yourself a deadline. You didn't give yourself a time limit to get fat and, if you follow the program 100%, it won't take nearly as long to lose the weight as it did to gain it..

Exercise is good for you but it's not mandatory (see hazelangeleyes). Any exercise will help with your weight loss but if you know how to lose the weight without it, you will be able to keep it off no matter what your situation is. There are tons of benefits to exercising but you are making one major change in your life by changing your diet so drastically. Sometimes tackling one problem at a time with tunnel vision works better than making multiple changes. So exercise when you can (you will find that you feel like exercising more often) and don't beat yourself up over it when you can't or don't...

Discobulous, I started off at 400 so I know how extremely difficult it is to get back to fitness. Your mind says you used to do it so you should be able to do it but your body just cant do it like you want. I made a total commitment when I started and got some expert advise from 2 different personal trainers. Walking 20 mins seemed like forever and I was exhausted. It did not kill me and the next day was 25 mins, next day was 35, next was 40 and then 45. Then I joined a fitness center and got evaluated by personal trainers, it is free when you join..

Since joining, I have been doing the treadmill, started off at speed of 2.4 for 30 mins as monitoring my heart to around 125 and increased that every day and increased the speed. After 1 month am doing a full hour, getting up to 3.6 and using the incline up to level 8. I increase it a bit every time I do it to improve on time before. Burning around 350 cals in an hour when doing treadmill. Also doing the bike 1 day a week and now just this last week incorporated swimming..

I have my own business, work at home during day and work in bars at night, play taxi to 2 girls so when do I have time to work out? Any time I think of sitting in front of TV. Its a choice, go to gym or watch mindless TV. Well actually the gym I go to has TVs all over the place and on 125 of it's machines so not missing a whole lot. I joined a 24 hour gym so 3 times I have actually gone after midnight, sometimes have gone twice during a day. Any day I don't go I make sure to walk someplace for an hour now..

I check this board about 4 times a day and see results from others, especially those guys who started out at around my weight and seeing that they did it makes me work even harder to succeed. If you are placing bets on anyone to make goal, stick your money on me and goal is probably 2 years away. (it sure is easy to say it now after one month) but these boards really truly help me and blogging every day helps. One day I hope to be the inspiration that some of these guys are too me and they don't even know me..

As for the food, it's simple, it's easy and I am never hungry. I have no problem getting in my water every day and probably double it on some days. I go through a 5 gallon jug of water every few days. Fast food is a DRIVE BYE not a drive thru. Hungry at night, I break out some veggies, add some laughing cow cheese and it's filling. Maybe even indulge myself and eat a whole bag of 100 calorie microwave pop corn.

I use the recipe club and read the boards for ideas and they work. I can make a breakfast sandwich from the pancake mix, egg, veggie sausage that taste a whole lot better than any I ever ate at a fast food place..

So stay on the boards, make a commitment and keep it up. Visits to friends and family, well if they are your true friends, they will be supporting you. If they are pushing you to eat something else or do something else, well maybe you need different friends. As for family, they should be behind you and willing to help you achieve your goals..

I sleep better than I did and am not as tired as I used to be, I have more energy so don't feel as lethargic. I know the excuses, I have lived them and I miss certain things but I know the long term goal. I was a person that used to get migraine headaches all the time, last month, not a single one, I just feel better. I was ecstatic of my weight loss last month and will be even more ecstatic if I do half as good this month as I know first few weeks are easier and I will reach slow times..

Lets face it, we did not put this weight on overnight, I did not stretch out every item I have to prolong buying new sizes and they buy oversize to hide myself. Its going to take a while but those 8000 cal days are what got me in this mess so I don't need them anymore. DO NOT DWELL ON SLOW LOSS, as if you are like me you did not dwell on slow gain. I should have got to the point sooner than I did, a hundred pounds sooner but always thought it wont be a problem, next month will do something. Well next month passed about 10 years ago so now I am proceeding not by next month or next week but by TODAY. I can change my life for ONE DAY, that is all I need is a single day, get through this one and work on the next one when it arrives..

Good luck you can do it, get through today and then work on the next one. I bet you can as I am not a betting man but can see a sure thing and anyone making a post like that wants encouragement to stay on track, you have my support as I too am in the same boat..

400/360/210..

Agree with Larry, you need to see this as a lifestyle change. Regardless of your physical frame, when persons reach the levels of excess adipose that you and I have attained, rectifying the situation goes beyond just "watching what we eat." There are serious psychological and emotional issues that have to be addressed, barriers that have to be demolished to reach long term goals of desired body composition. That ties into your point #2 under "Now the Bad." While I also advocate an.

Occasional.

Off-plan meal, I'm not sure there is any empirical evidence that anyone physically needs a cheat meal. More aptly, as you have stated, you have convinced yourself of this. Looking at it through my eyes, my holding that view would mean that I have not yet let go of my fat lifestyle. I really had to focus to see my lifestyle change as perpetual. At the beginning, I often had to dismiss the thoughts that I would someday again eat this or that whenever I wanted and as much of it as I wanted. Those thoughts have become more and more infrequent.

I'm betting it will tell you that the cheat meal or day is not as necessary as you have convinced yourself it is. Train your mind and your body will follow...

I have to admit to struggling with some very similar issues. Yesterday was a disaster in Nutrisystem terms..

I'm a bit further in than your two months, but I've noticed just how easy it is to slip backwards..

My weight loss has continued (at a slower pace) the past month, which is actually sort of bad. If I saw myself going up it would have been easier to refocus. But, as long as I'm having limited success I can sort of justify it in my head as being okay..

I too have had a couple crazy work weeks and I'm heading out of town to work a week in Vegas...land of the buffets....

Because of the heavy work load I only made the gym once a week instead of three times a week each of the past two weeks..

I'd estimate that I've been able to eat on plan about 75% of the time, but I made some poor choices when I went off plan....as mentioned, yesterday was an ugly mess..

And, yet...I still dropped a couple pounds overall..

Since what's done is done...and frankly the damage could be worse, (so I guess that I have learned a little here since August)..

I can also clearly see just how much food I was eating to maintain my orignal weight...Holy crap....

Now all I can do is look forward..

My latest Nutrisystem shipment arrived last Friday, so plenty of food on hand..

I know that I can have a small fridge delivered to my room in Vegas (I did it last year for sodas and crap foods). I'm driving myself instead of flying...so I can pack a box with a weeks worth of food and go to a local market to buy some salads when I get there..

I've already looked up the gym addresses to drive there instead of gambling or drinking in off hours..

My job will have me on my feet for literally miles of walking too..

My client knows of my weight loss, one of her staff has lost 50 pounds himself for health reasons...so, if I go out with the client to eat, I can be picky, order salads, etc and no one will blink an eye. (I'm 68 pounds down from when they saw me last...so visible results should speak volumes.).

So, with that in mind...I know that I can adapt and get back in gear to lose the next 50 that needs to go away..

Hang in there Disco, plan to succeed and not to fail when you're looking forward (as you seem to be)..

We all have it in us to do this, it may not always be easy or fun....but, look at the examples of others who have succeeded here before us and don't make excuses to yourself (like I've been doing to myself lately)..

Good luck to you!.

JT..

Disco, I have many of the thoughts you haveI Do not have a cheat day so to speak but as a family we go to the local wing joint after my sons wrestling meets. Also one day a week we eat out for lunch. Some days I try to be on plan some days I just go crazy and when I go off I really go off..

I have yet to add much of the working out stuff, I do a little here and there, but I have had good lose and do not wanna tempt fate yet. So in many ways I think all of us have gone through some of this or will go through it. Keep up the good fight. If you are thinking about it you are fine...

What they all said! And, remember we are all pulling for you to beat this..

I have been especially interested in your progress and comments because, aside from your formal training, I am hoping that you are training yourself to be the kind of doctor who can tell people like us, "You need to lose weight ... and here is how you can do it." I know a lot of doctors (from my work) who can say, "You need to lose weight." I'm hoping you are the first one in my circle of friends who can legitimately say, "And here is how you can do it.".

I'll be watching for your posts. Good luck with the 30 hour shifts. In my opinion, somebody ought to lock up the administrators who think this is somehow good for either the patients or the doctors...

I keep a stash of breakfast, lunch and dessert items in my desk for those days I can't pack meals. I always try to break to enjoy whatever I'm eating even if it is for only 10 mins. I always write down the food items Ive eaten to keep me on plan..

Now that you have micro analyzed your eating patterns, it should be somewhat clear how to start correcting it. Don't forget to pat yourself on the back for losing 38 so far..

Keep the momentum going!..

So my month in the ICU of working close to 100 hours a week is almost over. I lost 15.2 lbs. over the month and was able to stick to the plan while at work, even figured out how to eat well on a 30 hour shift. I really wasn't able to exercise like I had hoped, but showed discipline in all other areas. This last month has convinced me that I can take this program to goal and beyond, and that my work doesn't have to get in the way like I had previously thought. If I could do it during the hardest month of my residency, I can do it at any time...

Congrats disco... I don't know how you Docs do those hours. Gotta be tough to keep on plan but you did it!..

Awesome!.

I can't imagine working 30 hour shifts..

You should be really proud of the accomplishment..

Hang onto some "before" pictures for later on to show your patients who need to lose weight...

Disco, when I compare your efforts and results against my evening munchies - I'm humbled. You have just made a MAJOR accomplishment - congratulations - thanks for sharing. You leave the rest of us without excuses!..

You are taking "Doctor, heal thyself" to a new level. Way to go Disco!..

FanTasTic!! That's the most positive, affirming, and downright inspiring statement ever. Way to go, Disco!!.

Gordon..

That's outstanding to hear! Keep us posted every 101st hour...

This is a really good thread. Congratulations on your success!..

This last month I was in the cardiac ICU and was on the team that dealt mostly with heart failure. This month convinced me that I HAVE to get healthy, because I do not want to end up like these people..

My goal in medicine is to actually become a endocrinologist who specializes in the metabolic syndrome (constellation of diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and high cholesterol). This has been an interest of mine for a long time, mostly due to personal reasons (family members and myself with those problems), but I really never did much about my own issues. I am at the point in my residency that I normally would have started applying for endocrinology fellowships this year, but decided to delay a year because I didn't feel like I could walk into a fellowship interview saying I had an interest in metabolic syndrome while weighing 400+ pounds. So a year from now when I'm applying for fellowships I'll be taking before pictures with me and actually have a story to tell. So in reality this weight loss is all a part of a career strategy!..

Congrats on your successes! Your aspirations should be enough to keep you heavily (pun intended) motivated to reach your intended goal..

BTW - Our family medicine doc keeps a before/after picture of me and my wife to help motivate some of his other patients...

I hope you are successful in your goal both weight wise and medicine. I know how frustrated I got when I would go to the doctor and he/she would say you need to lose weight. I would ask how and they would kind of shrug their sholuders and say you need to eat differently and exercise. Eat how? How do I go on walks when my knees hurt? We are going to love to see you journey...

My wife, Sweet Nancy has this. It was a big factor in signing us both up for Nutrisystem last November as an "early Christmas present" to ourselves. (I was just a fat guy - healthy, but fat) She's type II and ever since starting NS, her morning blood glucose has been in a normal range and more importantly, she no longer experiences sugar lows. She's on the women's diabetic program and it is truly amazing how it has benefited her. She's still on meds for both diabets and BP, but both are under excellent control and Nutrisystem (and exercise) is a big part of that..

Unfortunately, she gets sore muscles from Statins. Had to stop them and her LDL spiked. She's trying niacin and further dietary restrictions (no eggs for her proteins and no mayo for her fats). We'll have to wait a couple months before we see how that works. If you have any other tips for that, I'm all ears..

I'm glad to hear of smart people like yourself targeting this syndrome. It hits home for many people and it appears to be a pretty complex, and common, problem. It's so common that in Japan, they are known to walk up to a fat person, poke them in the belly, and say "Metabo!, Metabo!"..

Only in Japan..

Best wishes for your research in this area..

Gordon..

This is actually a very mature approach on your part. Not only will you be in shape, you'll be able to more effectively empathize with those whose weight, and consequently their health, is less than optimal...