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  1. #1
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Default I lost 20 pounds.

    I have maybe 5 or 10 pounds to go but I’m really happy that I’m down 20 pounds!

    From about the first week in January until mid May I lost maybe 5 pounds. I was working out, using IF, and using a calorie restricted diet that I managed to fail at often.

    Then I tried a new thing Ive been hesitant to share. My 2 SILs signed up with Optavia but I did NOT sign up. With their blessing they just shared the reading materials with me and sent me the packaging of the food. And I hacked it. I guess I’m kind of hesitant to share because I both want to give Optavia credit and I’m also not officially following the program. But the results have been great. I hope I don’t get in trouble for sharing!

    I’m so happy to be down (almost) to my pre baby weight sizes. It’s made a huge difference in how my clothes fit and it’s been really easy. I plan on sticking it to it forever if need be.

    So, after analyzing the materials, it basically comes down to eating 5 small meals per day that are around 100 -110 calories per meal. Then one “lean and green” meal of a protein and low carb veggies. You eat every 2 to 3 hours that you’re awake.

    The best match to the nutritional profile of the small meals (which are supposed to be purchased by Optavia) are some nutrition bars from Costco. Costco carries two products that are a good match. The Kirkland protein bars and the pure protein bars. But I only eat a portion of each bar for each meal.

    I also have to take a multivitamin every day. The Optavia meals are very balanced and enriched. Also, I found I need to eat pickles every day to get enough sodium. The Kirkland bars are high in fiber and that’s needed.

    I realize that right now my diet is very processed, except for my lean and green meal. I’m experimenting with whole foods that match the same nutritional profile but honestly this summer it’s been nice to eat a bar.

    I like this diet. I think for some it would be super tedious but it works for me. I’m not even tempted by my usual cheat foods because I actually think the bars are delicious. I feel like the lean and green meals are a good model for healthy eating and tasty and easy to find.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Yay for you!!!! Sounds like you are looking forward to how you can do this for the long term, which is important. Do what works for you!!
    Mom to:
    DS '02
    DS '05
    Percy--the wild furry child!!! 2022----
    Simon--the first King Charles cutie 2009-2022
    RIP Andy, the furry first child, 1996-2012

    "The task of any religion is not to tell us who we are entitled to hate but to teach us who we are required to love."

  3. #3
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by StantonHyde View Post
    Yay for you!!!! Sounds like you are looking forward to how you can do this for the long term, which is important. Do what works for you!!
    Thank you!!

  4. #4
    citymama is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    Congratulations!

    for Sandy Hook



  5. #5
    mikala is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Congrats on your success. How does this work with kids? I try to model healthy eating for mine and extreme calorie reduction plus just eating fractions of a bar doesn't fit what I'm trying to model. Does the plan eventually guide back to more whole foods nutrition?

  6. #6
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by mikala View Post
    Congrats on your success. How does this work with kids? I try to model healthy eating for mine and extreme calorie reduction plus just eating fractions of a bar doesn't fit what I'm trying to model. Does the plan eventually guide back to more whole foods nutrition?
    I don’t actually know the official answer here. I’m not signed up with the program so I don’t know what the official answer is but I know my answer.

    I guess for me I don’t think of the bars as terrible first of all. I used to be a die hard “Whole Foods” (the concept, not the store) only type of girl but I think Whole Foods can be unbalanced fairly easily. You can still simply eat too much. My lesson to my kids will be to not eat too much and to monitor carefully, to always choose veggies and lean proteins and healthy fats and that too many carbs and sweets can lead to unhealthy lifestyles even if they’re “Whole”. I now see that what I thought was “moderation” was pretty much eating sweet things in fairly large quantities whenever they’re offered.

    Also, I have to tell you I’m ok with fake sugar, which is controversial. I don’t love it but I’d rather the fake than the real. (I have a kid with type 1 diabetes, and I can see the difference between real and fake sugar!)

    When I’m completely done losing weight I plan to move to TWO meals per day. Right now I’m eating one delicious meal that I think is an excellent model for my kids. Veggies and lean meats, healthy fats. I honestly did not know what or how to eat before but I feel like I could do this forever.

    My goal is to move to maybe 1 bar (cut in half and eaten twice a day) with a small breakfast following the same macro pattern and two veggie, lean protein, healthy fat meals. I feel like it will be good for my kids.

    One thing I wish I could do over again was never let myself gain so much with each pregnancy and I think following a similar “plan” to what I’m doing now would have helped a ton with that.

    For reference, I’m 5’7 and with baby 1 I started at 120 and gained almost EIGHTY pounds with that pregnancy! Lost it easily (I was 27), gained again with DS2, lost less easily. Gained again with DS3, then never really lost it and never lost it with DD and by then I was 37 and my metabolism totally changed.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    congratulations! That's really an accomplishment and I hear you on the metabolism changing as you get older and it's harder to lose. I lost 12 lbs last year and have completely stalled out for the last year. I'm pretty sure it's b/c even though I'm eating a lot less that I did before I lost the weight, to actually lose wight I probably need to eat even less at this point in my life and it's a real adjustment/struggle to acknowledge/address that.
    ~ Dawn
    Our little monkey (4/2011) & his early holiday present 12/12

  8. #8
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    Congratulations!


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