After settling into the routine, I'm pretty sure that I can stick with this plan for the next few months and hit my goals. I don't have anything specific I want to go over today, so this will be stream-of-consciousness and just chatting about general thoughts so far now that I've got three weeks to look back.
First... the Medifast food. When I started I would look at my tiny portion of mac and cheese, or that tiny little crunch bar and go 'this is not enough food for anyone, much less a 330 lb guy'. But after the first few days something downright magical happened... the food was 'enough'. 8 oz shake? Enough. One crunch bar? Enough. Packet of Parmesan Puffs? Lasted 30 minutes to an hour. This carried over to my lean and green, as well... 7 oz of turkey and 1.5 cups of vegetables is a lot. Sometimes it is too much!
Secondly... my exercise. I was a little worried about the exercise, but after the first week back, it's fine. I eat extra protein on those days and don't worry about it, and I focus on form a little more than number of reps. I feel great on exercise days.
Thirdly... sleeping. Prior to being on Medifast, I had some insomnia. Now, I'm sleeping a lot better. I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom fairly often, because I'm finally drinking enough water, but I go right back to sleep. I wake up rested as well.
Fourthly... energy levels. I feel great. I have enough energy to get through the day and the 4 PM loginess doesn't hit me very often at all.
Fifthly... cravings. Some days seeing my daughter eat a peanut butter-on-Hawaiian-bread sandwich or a pizza is pretty tough, but only in the 'I really want that' way and not 'now I must eat that'. Also, going to the grocery store hungry is still a bad idea. If I'm having a really hungry time and it's not time for a Medifast meal, I tend to have a laughing cow wedge, some turkey or chicken, or some almonds. I don't stress it if I need the snack, I just grab it. As long as I'm losing 3+ lbs/week, I'm going to continue to not worry the snacks as long as they are sticking to plan. A couple of times I've eaten turkey jerky as a snack, and the sodium content is tanking me a bit, but I know it's just water. I've been tempted by things like deli counter dry-rub pub wings and pizza but manage to stick to things on plan.
Sixthly... food cost. Medifast looks and feels expensive, but I'm no longer spending $30-50 a week on lunch at work. We're not going out to 3+ dinners out a week, either. We're spending less money on groceries overall, since even though fresh meat and vegetables are expensive, we're not adding on cookies, chips, candy, freezer foods, etc. We haven't analyzed yet, but I think Medifast is probably saving us money.
Finally... worries? I'm worried I'm losing a little bit too fast, that I might be losing muscle mass. But honestly, if I have to lose some muscle to lose all this fat, then that's ok. Muscle can come back once I'm at a healthy weight.
And I'll leave you with a Medifast tip of the day... the Ready to Drink shakes make a horrid slurping sound when you stop sipping. Resolve this by poking a tiny hole in the top of the container after you've put the straw in. That hole will let air come in as you drink and you'll no longer get the gurgling slurp as air rushes in through the straw.
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