The Optavia Weight Loss Plan – My First Day Story

‘Tis the season folks… it is now October and a variety of holidays are right around the corner. What does this mean? Let the parties begin. From Halloween, to Thanksgiving, to Christmas gatherings, you will be seeing a multitude of friends and family members and living it up! Are you ready OR is there a pit in your stomach (like there used to be in mine) wondering what you will wear AND what people will think about those extra pounds that you packed on over the last year?

Historically, I have felt EXACTLY like you may be feeling this time of year; BUT, due to some lifestyle changes via the Optavia Weight Loss Plan (specifically the Optimal Weight 5 & 1 Plan), this year is intensely different.

Here… I am going to get down to the nitty- gritty on my first day experience with a program called Optavia. If you are truly ready to shed your unwanted weight, my goal is for you to absorb this information and make an educated decision on whether or not this program is for you!

What is the Optavia Weight Loss Plan? – A Great Place to Start

Let’s start at the beginning. What exactly is the Optavia Weight Loss Plan?

If you are familiar with Optavia, just skip on down to my journey; but, if this is a foreign word to you, you need to understand a little about this plan to fully appreciate my story.

For the sake of completeness, Optavia itself is a program geared towards transforming yourself “one healthy habit at a time”. In totality, the Optavia way of life can be utilized to aid one in the betterment of their health, weight loss, mindset, and/or finances.

Because I personally joined Optavia for weight loss purposes, and this is all about my personal experience, we will focus on the weight loss component of the program here.

Optavia utilizes four main components to ensure success to its followers. These components were derived from scientific studies on not only what it takes physically to be victorious, but also addresses the psyche and provides the mental support needed to get the weight off and keep it off.

Here are the four components, with a brief summary of each, which compromise the backbone of Optavia:

• Independent Coaches – Your personal coach is there to provide you with inspiration and motivation, answer questions, and guide you throughout your journey.
• Community – Upon joining Optavia, you are instantaneously part of an amazing community of like-minded individuals that are there for YOU at any time of the day. You will not only see their success stories and victories, but also experience their personal, daily struggles and become part of the team that learns how to process these struggles.
• Plans & Fuelings – You will have access to scientifically developed products that Optavia terms “fuelings” and an eating plan which, together, are clinically proven to nurture your body with what it needs to be successful at weight loss.
• Habits of Health Transformational System – This consists of “The Habits of Health” book and journal which provides you with a wealth of knowledge, aids in your understanding of how you got to where you are right now, and works on the mental component of how to get where you ultimately want to be.

While the Optavia program offers a multitude of weight loss plans for virtually ANYBODY over the age of 12, I am going to specifically be focusing on what is called the Optimal Weight 5&1 Plan which maximizes weight loss and was the program of choice for myself.

Before I share my personal experience with the Optavia Weight Loss Plan, it is critical for you to understand what exactly the 5&1 plan is. What did I sign up for?

The Optavia 5&1 Weight Loss Plan – Let’s Break it Down

The Optimal Weight 5&1 Plan consists of eating six times daily. This sounds amazing so far, right?

Five of these “eatings” incorporate the “fuelings” mentioned above and one meal entails a “lean & green” meal. It is critical to space each “eating” between 2-3 hours apart with the first being consumed within one hour of waking up.

In addition to your food consumption, it is essential to intake a minimum of 64 ounces of water per day.

Furthermore, you may also choose to eat one approved “snack” daily.

Last, but not least, sleep is critical for restoring both the body and mind. At the very least, seven hours of sleep daily is recommended.

For a much more detailed description of the plan that I chose, please feel free to click HERE!

My Thoughts Prior to Beginning the Optavia Weight Loss Plan

You have all heard the saying that “I am a skinny person stuck in a fat person’s body”. Well… that is EXACTLY how I felt!

I have always LOVED to get dressed up and feel pretty but, simply put, prior to beginning my Optavia journey this LOVE was extinguished. I was tired and apathetic all the time, my body hurt, and I would just rather stay at home in my comfy PJ’s than get fixed up for a night on the town.

I desired an answer but at the same time I was SO scared of failing. I had tried a multitude of weight loss antics, including surgery, with no long-term success. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

One day, while scrolling through Facebook, I saw a friend that looked fabulous. I messaged her and asked her what she had been doing to lose weight. Her answer… the Optavia Weight Loss Plan. I was sold. Still terrified, but sold. Surprisingly, I was oblivious to what this Optavia thing was, but I knew that I HAD to do something.

Waiting for My First Order to Arrive – Feelings All Over the Place

I placed my order and was given a few tasks to complete while waiting for my box (which would consist of “fuelings” and the Habits of Health Transformation System) to arrive.

First, I was asked to set my weight loss goal. This sounds easy, right?

Wrong.

Again… I was terrified. What was my goal? I was scared to set it too low and fail. After much contemplation, and a nervous pit in my stomach, I set a modest goal of thirty pounds. To be honest, this would still leave me in an overweight category, but it would put me lower than I had been in over 6 years. The real number I had in my head just seamed drastically unobtainable.

Secondly, the task of taking “before” pictures and my measurements was presented.

You have to understand, I had been avoiding any type of pictures for at least the previous five years much less ones where I was the primary focus and couldn’t hide behind one of my children. I did it and then I literally cried upon viewing them. How had I deteriorated to this point I was at?

With my feelings all over the place at this point, I took my measurements and recorded them.

I was emotionally flabbergasted, but also knew that something HAD to change and I was going to give the Optavia Weight Loss Plan 110% even though in the back of my mind I wasn’t convinced that it would work for me… I had tried so many other things to lose weight before and they just didn’t work.

I literally ate “all the things” in that one week of waiting for the program to arrive.

My box arrived on a Thursday. I will never forget sifting through all of these foreign “fuelings” and holding the “Habits of Health” book and journal in my hands and feeling so overwhelmed. But… I was doing this. I was just going to wait until Monday to start… isn’t that how most diets go?

The First Morning – The Struggle was Real

Monday arrived… it was “D-Day”. I had tossed and turned the entire night. Was it excitement or nerves? To be honest, it was probably a nice mixture of both.

On top of this, my little Texas town had been hit with a snow and ice storm overnight. For all of you northerners, this isn’t a big deal, but in Texas it is HUGE. Everything was shut down and I was unable to get to work. This would last for my entire first week.

When I awoke and saw, with my own eyes, just how bad it was outside, the excuses in my mind began.

I knew that my family would be cooking a nice, warm soup and probably chili too. Comfort foods would be in full swing around here. However, I was also exceptionally miserable from consuming so much food and getting all of my favorites in the prior week.

Pondering my options of whether or not to delay my start date, I came to the realization that there would always be excuses to delay what truly needed to begin. I made the decision that there was no time like the present and to dive on in.

Still feeling overwhelmed and with the realization that the struggle was real, I decided to take it one day at a time. I told myself to just get through the day. Who knew what tomorrow would bring, but I could do this today. Little did I know, but this would continue to be my thought process throughout the first six weeks.

My day began at 6:30am with none other than H2O. I am lucky in that I have always enjoyed water and I knew that consuming 64 ounces in a day would be the easy part for me. In fact, I set my personal goal at taking in one gallon of water daily and purchased a drinking jug off of Amazon which would aid me in tracking my intake.

The Beginning of Fueling Consumption – My Thoughts

At 7:00am, I utilized the Optavia Blender Bottle that came with my box and mixed my very first fueling… a vanilla shake.

To my pleasant surprise, this shake was delicious. To me, it was comparable to a melted McDonald’s vanilla shake. I couldn’t believe the flavor! This wasn’t so bad after all.

Fast forward an hour… my stomach was growling. My sweet hubbie, who was also at home due to the storm, had just finished cooking a big, Texas breakfast for the kiddos.

God love him. While he is an extremely supportive partner and truly thought he was helping by preparing an elaborate snow-day meal for our children, the aroma filled our home with some of my absolute favorite flavors. This proved challenging and I second-guessed my decision to begin.

I downed some more water, started tidying up the house, pushed through (all the while watching the time), and made it to 10:00am which meant that I could consume fueling number two. I decided on the frosted cookie dough bar.

Again, this fueling was exceptionally delicious and I savored every single bite. It was definitely comparable to eating real, raw cookie dough which I adore; however, it seemed SO small. I felt as though I could devour five of these babies (all at one time). I was truly concerned that I wouldn’t make it through the day without caving in.

It was sledding time! I was so glad that the kiddos would get to enjoy the experience this year as this opportunity does not come often in our neck of the woods. I was also thrilled to be getting out of the house and getting my mind off of my desire to engage in home style delicacies.

We began dressing for our little outside “blizzard” which is definitely an exaggeration. I pulled out some of my old ski clothes from a prior trip to Colorado years before. They wouldn’t even pull up over my hips. This was probably the absolute best thing that could’ve happened to me at that moment. I was so hungry, but this reminded me exactly why I was beginning this journey. I packed my next fueling and we ventured out into the frosty conditions.

By 1:00pm I was freezing and exhausted from the outside play. I ventured to the truck to partake in the third fueling of my first day. I sat there with the heater running full blast and opened my bag of smoky BBQ crunchers. They smelled OK… not fabulous… just OK.

Let me just say that it took me thirty minutes to get them down… yes… THIRTY minutes. I cannot put into adequate words exactly how they tasted to me that first day other than saying that they were dry with a very dull flavor. I can say that I consumed over 20 ounces of water while trying to get them down and that I was full upon completion of the bag.

I texted my personal coach and was confused at her response. She said to just put them away for now and to try them again in a couple of weeks. Apparently, according to her, my taste buds would begin to change and that I would probably like them at some point in the future. At the time, this did not make sense to me, but I was thankful that, at the moment, I felt full.

I was half-way through my first day!

Three “Eatings” Down and Three to Go – I Can Do This

By the time we returned home and I enjoyed a scolding hot bath to warm my frozen body, you guessed it… it was 4:00pm and time for my fourth fueling. I felt as though I was craving some “real” food and chose the Optavia Roasted Garlic Creamy Smashed Potatoes.

The preparation was super easy and I had them ready within 3 minutes. They looked delicious… like real mashed potatoes; but, again, the portion appeared very small compared to what I would normally partake. I found a left-over baby spoon from when my children were “littles” in my silverware drawer and decided to utilize it… maybe this would make them last longer.

Guess what? This fueling was delicious and I believed that the small spoon really tricked my mind into believing that the portion was actually larger than it really was. Upon completion, while I still licked the bowl, I felt satisfied. I wouldn’t say that I was full; but, I was satisfied. I would take it!

By 5:30pm, as the hubbie was stirring a large pan of beef stew on the stove, I was, yet again, starving. Looking back, I truly believe that this was positively more of a mental hunger versus a physical hunger. That stew smelled SO delicious.

Again, I contacted my coach who recommended that I consume a healthy snack option. I chose two dill pickle spears and drank a LOT of water. I savored each bite of those pickles, attempting to make them last as long as possible. While doing so, I joined my Optavia community and began viewing a multitude of before and after transformation stories.

This did the trick AND kept me occupied until time for my fifth eating which I saved for my lean and green meal.

The Lean & Green Meal – So Much Food

It was 7:00pm and time for my very first lean and green meal. I was so excited that I made it through the first day and saved this “real food” meal for the time frame that I had guesstimated would be the most difficult time of day for me. We are big dinner-eaters in this household.

I am definitely NOT the chef in the family and knew prior to beginning that while there are a TON of creative recipes at my fingertips, I initially wanted to keep my lean and greens simple.

I utilized what would become my new best friend, my kitchen scale, and weighed out 6 ounces of a boneless, skinless chicken breast and threw 1.5 cups of low-sodium canned green beans in the microwave. I added 1 tablespoon of Wishbone Creamy Italian dressing to my plate to dip my chicken in and viola… I had my first complete lean and green meal prepared!

You can find this recipe as well as many others by clicking HERE!

Ya’ll… this was such a MASSIVE amount of food that I even double-checked with my coach to ensure that I prepared this meal correctly. I could not believe that I was allowed ALL of this food.

I savored each and every bite and was so full that I was unsure if I would be able to finish it off. This was HUGE for me as I feel as though my stomach is ginormous. I did make a “happy plate” that snowy evening and felt extremely satiated.

The Final Fueling – Save the Best for Last

At around 9:30pm, with freshly baked cookies on the counter that my children had cheerfully prepared in celebration of the announcement of another snow day tomorrow, I decided to prepare my final fueling for the day (even though I was not starving yet).

I wanted something sweet, looked through my options, and chose the Optavia Decadent Chocolate Brownie. You did read that correctly… there are brownies on the Optavia Weight Loss Plan.

Because of personal preference, I ate my brownie as a batter with my baby spoon, of course.

It tasted EXACTLY as I had hoped, like true, real brownie batter. The little yogurt chips embedded within it was the icing on the cake.

This seemed to be a dream come true. I quickly decided that I may have a brownie for every single fueling from this point on and that was OK… it was on plan!

I Did It – Day One was Over

As I retired for bed that first evening around 11:00pm, I felt such a sense of accomplishment. I made it through day 1.

I was not hungry at all and was thrilled that I truly enjoyed all of my “eatings” except for one. Maybe I could stick this out?

My last thought prior to drifting off into wonderland was that I couldn’t wait to step on my scales in the morning to see if I had made any progress in that area yet and also that tomorrow was a new day and I was prepared to repeat my actions for at least one more day.

I cannot conclude this article without a brief mention of the morning after…

Upon wakening to another frigid morning that would present with new struggles on day 2, I stripped down and stepped on the scales (there is no other way to weigh yourself). The number I saw was 2.8 pounds less than the prior morning!

Being in the medical field, I am aware that this was more than likely water weight; but, I would definitely take it and have a big smile on my face all the while doing so.

I was on my way to a healthier version of me! I was ready for day 2.

To continue reading about Day 2 of my journey, click HERE!

Thank you for reading all about my first day experience on the Optavia Weight Loss Plan.

If you would like to know more about the specific plan that I chose, the Optimal Weight 5 & 1 Plan, you can click HERE!

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.

If you would like any assistance in ordering Optavia products, and get some freebies too, please click HERE!

Your Biggest Fan,

Dr. Misty

Founder & Owner of DumpTheRump.com

Independent Health Coach/Podiatric Physician