Until My Meds Get Checked/Tweaked, "Skaking" things up here & Do You Do MediFast Alternatives, like WonderSlim?

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Wow. I've been absent again. I missed the SUMMER SLIMMIN' check-in. I've been carbing it up at family gatherings (one day chicken and rice with sugar-topped plantains, the other a lo mein and steamed dumplings feast, and a pizza backslide last night).

I have been feeling off. My face feels a bit "masky", and since we changed my regimen a month ago, I think my previous thyroid med status has now sequed to the new one (lower dosage) and it's NOT helping. I have felt like sleeping more, and I've craved carbs (and been indulging, though until yesterday, not bingeing), and my attention is hard to focus. The scale is up. Yeah, something's off. I have an appot to see doc in August, so I gotta do something until then to not lose all traction.

I will say that despite feeling groggier and carb-happy, I only big-time overate twice in the last week plus. And even though I wanted to binge last night, it was a minor binge (and weighted in less than day before). I did NOT eat enough to gain 4 pounds, and the scale showed me up to 263.8. I know the carbs and sodium mix is mostly to blame.

Yesterday, it was pizza. Damn the Dominos 2x Tuesday. I had not been shopping (due to feeling lethargic) and so there was NOTHING in the house to give hubby. So, I fell into the order-crap hole and got the 2 pizzas for one price. I ate 3.5 slices and a salad and stopped. I wanted more. I wanted the whole fricken pizza. But I took the slices, bagged them, froze them. I wasn't gonna throw them out, as hubby can take them for lunch (as he did today, two slices).

I haven't had an all-out, stuff until I hurt binge in a while. In fact, even when I wanted to eat MORE at the family functions, I didn't. I avoided cakes and sugary snacks for the most part. I didn't have more than one mojito (and that has sugar), and ended up having half of it. I took my own beveraged. I ate something before showing up.

Even the late night eating (the other night I overate), I ordered HALF of what I would when I binged.

I like to think the sense of calmness on most days is progress. Even with the regain.

So, I'm not stressing overly.

I am taking a different tack until I can see the doc (it's too coincidental that I feel off when we're trying a new combo, which I researched after and found was LESS strong than the original one, though should be better absorbed.)

I have watched with good cheer and interest, Lyn of Escape From Obesity's progress on MediFast. (She has a coupon code for those wanting to use the plan. See her blog  post on the MediFast winners.)

I can't do that--first, saw too many reviews of the horrible taste of the stuff and, second, too much soy. I am not euthyroid, and I don't want to take in THAT much soy every day and then have to worry about rejiggering my medication all the time. Nothing worse than unstable thyroid levels when you're hypothyroid. Sucks bigtime. And makes losing weight virtually impossible for me when I"m out of my limited "happy range."

And I wondered about all the folks who have seen our Lyn do so well and want to try something like Medifast, but without soy or with LESS soy. Who worry about soy or are just sensitive or allergic to it. What are their/my options?

So, I did googling. hahah.

Then, I ordered stuff from Diet Direct. Stuff related to WONDERSLIM (though I'm not doing the plan.) I heard about Wonderslim from two sources within one week: 3FatChicks.com's forum and Impatient Dieter. And I saw that soy sensitive folks have used it as an alternative to MediFast (though MediFast seems to work better, it tastes worse and is more expenseive). Trade-offs for people to research.

I am not doing "the program". I simply feel too draggy and demotivated by that dragginess to want to shop/cook/plan, etc. I want simple stuff here that is high-protein, low-to-medium carb, easy to fix, so I don't have to think about food some days (or several days in a row). So, that's my rationale--just holding on and maybe make some progress until we fix me up medication-wise.

BUT..you can use the Diet Direct WONDERSLIM stuff for your "cheaper and tastier alternative to Medifast" regimen if you choose. Others have done it (check 3FatChicks forum to see). You can read up on both plans and see how to work it. In truth, if you have the patience and bucks, you can order stuff from both and see which flavors you can handle before you choose a plan.

For those following Impatient Dieter--who used a regimen of 7 Wonderslim shakes of 100 calories each and two lean/green meals a day of 250 calories each with full fat dressing to lose an astounding amount of weight FAST--and who were curious to try that regimen, I'll happily post reviews of the drinks and meal equivalents for you.

WonderSlim has some soy items, so you do need to read ingredients and decide how much you think you can handle. The shakes and drinks are not soy-based. They are whey-based. You can read nutritional info on their products here: WONDERSLIM

From what I understand, MediFast has more fiber and probably a higher nutritional profile than WonderSlim. It has fewer carbs in its entress. (WonderSlim offers some pasta dish options). WonderSlim's oatmeal is supposed to taste LIKE OATMEAL, unlike the MF weird one. The shakes are supposed to be tastier and without aftertaste like MF. BUT..the WS stuff uses in many cases aspartame. So, some folks don't do that.

So, I do recommend you compare ingredients and carbs, etc, and also if you do WS, to get a fiber supplement. Not a biggie, really. Everyone should review ingredients in what they eat, anyway.

QUICKIE REVIEW: I had the protein WS Hot Cakes for breakfast with two eggs with cheddar and some Almond Breeze. (All stuff I still had at home and easy to prepare). (I'll revise this post with a pic when I upload and rescale. I'm feeling draggy, remember?)

Lots of protein!

The hot cakes would not be confused with regular pancakes, but I found them pleasant--nicely vanilla-ey and with some sugar-free syrup and cinnamon sprinkled on top, satisfying. (One packet makes 3 very small hot cakes. Cute, too.) Don't overcook. Easy to prepare.  Add 1/4 cup water to one packet, stir, let stand for 1 minute (it thickens and becomes frothy), scoop onto pan that's been preheated low-medium heat. I spritzed Pam for the "greasing". I added a tiny dollop of Smart Balance over each pancake (like a pea sized drop) for some healthy fat.

SparkPeople's Nutrition Tracker lists my breakfast as 491 cals,  27g carbs, 35g protein.

It's now 4 hours since I ate--yeah, yeah, I'm not eating every 2 hours, that's up to you if you do the whole plan, which I'm NOT doing--and I"m not remotely hungry, but plan to eat anyway to keep me from GETTING to the point of hunger.

This is not CLEAN EATING. You see that, right? :) It's not "wholesome" eating.

MediFast and WonderSlim are what I call Frankenfood Diets (although others define it differently)--foods that are not what nature makes or near-natural. Processed, reconfigured, "isolated" this, added vitamins, removed THAT, preservatives, all sorts of stuff in there that's hard to pronounce. If you prefer to stay close to nature--as I generally do, but man, I'm zapped right now and justt balk at the idea of toting bags full of produce and proteins home and chopping and cooking... aaaaaarrrgggghhh-- this is not for you.

If you can get tired of flavors easily, this is not for you. Shakes and drinks have limited flavors , there's lots of chocolate , sure. Most of the entrees seem to be similar in spice structure. But your lean meal can be whatever you want that fits the parameters, so make that one happy for your mouth. Lyn has great recipes. See her site for that. Make the most of your REAL FOOD. (I have some frozen asparagus, some fresh Spinach and zucchini, but no meat or poultry at home right now. Dang.)

I plan to add stuff I have in my pantry to use them up, like my nice FiberGourmet high-fiber, lower-carb version of pasta. I like the fiber in that and the texture. I have many soups that I can easily heat up (most are veggie-based). I have frozen Diet-To-Go suppers that can fill in a pinch (though not low-carb, they're vegetarian and lowfat).

I didn't want to ditch the challenge, though exercising is really hard--and I have been tempted to cancel Pilates, but dammit, I refuse to give in THAT much!

If anyone has tried a MediFast alternative (for folks who can't afford/don't like taste of/can't do all soy), please post a link to any post you've done so others can see the resources you have. I don't mean SPAM or PR. I mean YOU use it and it works well for you.

If you've used WonderSlim, do you blog about it? Please comment and link.

If you've done Medifast and found a way to construct your own using more accessible ingredients from your supermarket/health food store--post and link.

So, right now, I was up 4 lbs from last weigh-in, then today down a bit, but still up 3 lbs. Let's see what next weigh-in brings.

On the plus side my natural hair journey has yielded nice results. Here is hair on Saturday on way to one of those carby family gatherings:

Happy week to you all.

WONDERSLIM / DIET DIRECT NOTE: If you spend more than $79, shipping is free. Spend 99 bucks, get 10% automatically off. I got my stuff  IN FIVE DAYS via FedEx, and would have gotten it sooner, but I ordered on a Saturday night.

Legal Note: I did not get any free products (other than usual few samples added to orders). I bought these products on my own dime and my review is my own. I am NOT at this time an affiliate. I am considering becoming one, and it depends on if I enjoy the products.

ETA: Okay, as of Thursday afternoon, I am an affiliate. Just  updating.
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ETA: Okay, so I just changed my mind and emailed them to remove me as an affiliate. I feel dumb. hah.