My weight loss journey has unsuccessfully existed for over 10 years now trying literally EVERYTHING in the books to get those dreadful pounds off. THIS is different! I can feel it in my bones!
If you are wondering how to lose weight, you are NOT alone and I believe that I have FINALLY found my answer. I hope to help you too!
This is the summation of my FIRST week on the Optimal Weight 5 and 1 Plan through Optavia.
If you are just finding my site, please click HERE to start at the beginning (Day 1) of my journey!
I am altering my typical format some as to not bore you with details of my daily life lol. My posts thus far have been pretty long and detailed and this is something that I’m working on… you get the jest by now of what I have been eating and when. I don’t want to bore you with that content anymore.
However, I WILL definitely note when I try a new fueling or lean & green meal and my thoughts on them.
Here it goes… my first week is complete!
DAYS 1, 2, 3 & 4 QUICK RECAPS – Lessons Learned
I like to begin by a quick review of what I took forward from my previous days (days 1-4) on the Optimal Weight 5 & 1 Program.
- Begin each day with the open mindset of taking this experience one day at a time.
- BE PREPARED at all times! Always have an extra fueling with you.
- ALWAYS have water on you!
- Eat the applicable “fuelings” with a trusty baby spoon (it REALLY does make a difference).
- Keep your mind open to all fuelings and don’t make your decisions on fuelings based on others’ opinions.
- The healthy snack option is my friend.
- The Lean & Green Meal is a HUGE portion of food. Bon Appetit!
- I like to save my Lean & Green for my 5th “eating”.
- When feeling discouraged, turn to the Optavia community for motivation and mental support.
- There will ALWAYS be excuses to break plan… don’t succumb to those excuses. Remember why you are doing this and push through.
- This is only TEMPORARY and is necessary to reach my goals.
- As your head hits your pillow, envision the “you” that you are aiming for.
Fueling Thoughts Thus Far:
- The Vanilla shake reminds me of a McDonald’s vanilla shake. YUMMY!
- The Chocolate shake is extremely rich and filling. Love it!
- The Frosted Cookie Dough Bar is delicious but small.
- I do like the Drizzled Berry Crisp Bar for a nice fruity and sweet snack but it, like the other bars, is still very small.
- The Creamy Double Peanut Butter Crisp Bar definitely hits a peanut butter craving and is more filling than some of the other bars ,but is very messy.
- The smoky BBQ crunchers taste awful to me at this point in my journey but definitely aid my water intake.
- The Cinnamon Crunchy O’s are a terrific snack that takes a while to consume.
- I love the Roasted Garlic Creamy Smashed Potatoes.
- The Decadent Chocolate Brownie is to die for and really appeases that sweet tooth craving.
- The Mac n Cheese is a disappointment as I haven’t mastered a way to get the noodles soft.
- I LOVE the Rustic Tomato Herb Penne! It is hearty and completely meets my pasta cravings.
DAY 5 – Something is Happening in my Body
My first thought upon rising on this glorious day 5 was, of course, the scales! I literally run to them EVERY SINGLE morning.
The second thing that crossed my mind was that I just woke up and jumped out of bed! There was no lying there and miserably dreading getting up for the day… surely you know that feeling that I am describing!
I woke up on Day 5 of the Optavia Weight Loss Program down 0.5 more pounds. Not as much as the previous mornings, but still a loss and I will take it. This puts me down a total of 7.3 pounds in 4 days! THIS is how to lose weight!
I do believe that maybe this fat burn that I have been hearing about is beginning to occur!
The weather (snowmaggedon) had cleared up enough to make it to the grocery store and I definitely wanted to spice up my Lean & Green meal. FINALLY, I could utilize some of those fabulous recipes that I had been seeing on the Optavia Community Support pages.
A couple of key items that I was excited to try included the following:
- Quest Chips
- Laughing Cow Cheese
- “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”
Utilizing some of my grocery store purchases, I was able to create an A-MAZING Lean & Green Meal today!
I termed it the Mexican Beef Bowl and it did NOT disappoint! I was stuffed and VERY satisfied. Chili Lime Quest Chips are the bomb!!!
I am slowly making a page full of the recipes that I create. This will expand over time and can be found by clicking HERE!
I stayed on-plan with my fuelings and water. No attempt was made today to venture out and try anything knew in this category. (;
My energy level was definitely increased today and I didn’t feel quite as hungry as my previous days… this could also be due to the fact that I was able to get out of the house!
As I went to bed, I reflected upon my day and imagined my future self. I was proud of my accomplishments thus far and was ecstatic to continue this crazy journey that I have begun.
DAY 6 – Crawfish Anyone?
My heart hit the floor this morning as I jumped on the scales. They didn’t move. What is going on?
I felt good but why wasn’t I seeing that number go down this morning as I had every other morning?
A quick call to my coach was necessary. We reviewed every single thing that went into my mouth over the last few days. She confirmed that I was on-plan and instructed me to keep at it.
Today was unique in that I knew that I would face a new challenge.
In my household, we are hustlers. I typically work my “real” job as a podiatric physician on Mondays through Thursdays and the hubbie has a full-time job in the oil and gas industry.
Additionally, we purchased a food truck and run a seasonal side hustle selling boiled crawfish and other Cajun delicacies on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I told you before that my husband LOVES to cook.
We were closed last weekend due to the weather and would be able to open back up today and brave the chilly weather still upon us.
I knew that I would have to prepare as the Cajun tamales that we serve are my favorite and DEFINITELY not acceptable for this program. The crawfish and shrimp WOULD be on-plan… IF I liked any type of seafood at all. ):
Do you see now why I needed to know how to lose weight effectively and efficiently?
Placing my planned out fuelings (that I already knew I liked), water jug, and pre-prepared tupperware of my lean & green meal in my car, I headed off to work. I am very thankful that we have a microwave in the food truck AND that I went ahead and made two servings of my Mexican Beef Bowl Lean & Green last night in preparation for today.
Well… this was our day today and we were surprisingly quite busy!
It was easy to stay on track today as we were actually serving customers to their vehicles, so they didn’t have to brave the weather and running around like crazy. I actually had to set my phone alarm for my “eatings” as I was a little late on the first few and learned to try to drink lots of water with each fueling as I didn’t drink it much at the stand in between.
Time got away from me and before I knew it we were sold out and shutting down.
Water: Check. Five Fuelings: Check. Lean & Green: Check.
Thankfully when we got home it was bedtime and I was pooped.
DAY 7 – The End of my First Week
Well folks… it is Saturday AND today will end my first full week on the Optimal Weight 5 & 1 Plan!
First things first… the scales!
I was actually up 0.5 pounds this morning. Why? I had NO clue. There were absolutely NO cheats on my record. That brings my total weight loss to 6.8 pounds over the last 6 days.
I was a little depressed. What did I do? Turned to the Optavia Community Support Forum. This is what I found!
Maybe this is exactly what I am experiencing and maybe a big loss is ahead. When you are navigating how to lose weight, you want to lose weight… but I guess your body has to catch up with your mind. At least this is what the community was telling me.
I shifted my mindset to keep trucking and started thinking about preparing my “eatings” to head off to work at the stand.
I quickly prepared my Lean and Green meal. I decided to utilize chicken in my newfound meal that I had so gratefully consumed the last two days instead of beef. This particular dish I will now term the Mexican Chicken Bowl. Click HERE for the recipe!
I was off to work the food truck.
The day was cold and busy but ran exceptionally smooth. I am noticing that the busier I am, the easier it is to stay on plan!
In addition, my energy level seemed through the roof today… I did not feel near as exhausted as I previously did working the stand; and, I was a cleaning machine! This is COMPLETELY different from how I have felt on previous diets when I consumed no carbs OR counted calories.
Water: Check. 
Fuelings: Check.
Lean & Green: Check.
I came home, bathed, and hit the hay. I slept like a baby and couldn’t wait for weigh-in the following morning as that would be my week 1 total!
First Week is in the Books – I am Ecstatic!
I want to end with a quick summary of my first FULL week on the Optimal Weight 5 & 1 Plan and how to lose weight. I awoke on day 8 to the scales showing me up and additional 0.4 pounds. This makes my first complete week loss on the Optavia Weight Loss Program to 6.4 pounds!
It wasn’t what I had hoped for on this day, but my coach reminded me to focus on the fact that 6.4 pounds were GONE in my first week and I did feel better than ever.
To continue reading about how the second full week of my journey went, click HERE!
Thank you for continuing to read all about my journey; as usual, my goal here is to be real, transparent and vulnerable.
I am ALWAYS here to help you become a better version of yourself too. If you have any questions or observations, please feel free to leave them in the comments below and I WILL do my best to fully clarify and answer your commentaries.
Your Biggest Fan,
Dr. Misty
Founder & Owner of DumpTheRump.com
Health Coach/ Podiatric Physician