Defragged

My definition of being off plan is basically doing anything or eating any food that is not in the Medifast Start Guide. So what I did was off plan by my definition.

However, some folks say that they feel that off plan means eating any food that is not approved on the Medifast Diet, which I didn't do. So depending on your definition, I could have been on or off plan.

I ate my usual vegetable omelet for breakfast the last day I was in Vegas. Then we spent a couple hours while waiting for our flight by feeding money into video poker machines just for kicks. Eating my Medifast meals that day was a little more inconvenient but all went well by mixing my shake and pudding in my MF tumbler while we sat at the slots and did our thing.

Medifast Tip: For less conspicuous mixing of shakes and puddings, buy a tumbler that does not have the word Medifast written on it.

By this time I was getting pretty low on convenient Medifast food and the airport just didn't have anything appropriate for Lean and Green. So I decided while I was in flight that a second bar wasn't such a bad idea especially when I started to do the calorie/carb/fat math and then realized fitting in any Lean and Green that day was going to be next to impossible unless I ate it at 11:30 p.m. on the way home from Columbus, Ohio. Uh oh ... eating more than one Medifast bar a day is a no-no.

As the day progressed and I was getting hungrier since I hadn't eaten any Lean and Green that day, so I made the educated decision {grin} to eat an extra Medifast meal and snack instead of a Lean and Green. Uh oh ... not eating a Lean and Green meal on the 5 and 1 plan is another no-no. But like I said it didn't hurt me much, because I was still able to lose 2.5 pounds during that time period.

Now I realize that eating the Egg Beaters omelet was part of my daily lean portion but I had been eating it in addition to the normal Lean and Green (whenever possible). I knew I'd be up more hours than normal the last day and wanted to be sure I didn't put my body into a mode where it thought it was being starved.

Medifast Meal Plan Worksheet

It was not convenient for me while I was away to log into myMedifast web account to tally my food intake. Since I had been doing Medifast for over 3 months, I simply wrote down what I ate on a meal plan worksheet I developed and kept folded up in my purse. It worked out well when I came home because all I needed to do was transfer it into myMedifast meal plan account. It also continually reminded me what I ate that day. If you'd like a copy, just contact me and I'll send you a PDF version you can print and have on hand when you travel. In fact I create two versions of the worksheet: short form and long form. The short form is on one page and the long form contains areas for notes and is two pages in length. I used the short form on my Vegas trip.

All in all I can honestly conclude that the trip was successful while on the Medifast program. I got in a large amount of walking and most days had no problem eating my Medifast food. My only complaint was the lack of appropriate Lean and Green meals for someone who can't eat much salad. Getting in my water wasn't easy but by the end of my trip I was getting the hang of it. Even though I had some muffins mold, I fortunately had the foresight to pack extra Medifast food in case something happened. I also took along extra snacks figuring my husband would eat the almonds if I didn't. I never once ate any food that was not on plan and I can firmly say that there was plenty of super yummy looking high fat and high carb food to tempt me. The best part of all is that I lost 2.5 pounds and I'm still losing so the trip didn't hinder my weight loss or take me out of the fat burning state. I'm sure there aren't many people who visit Vegas who actually lose weight while they are there. My husband gained two pounds. Must have been all those carbs he ate that I couldn't. {wink}

Related Articles:

> Vacation and Medifast: Is It Possible?
> Hello from Las Vegas
> I'm Back From Vegas
> Traveling with Medifast, Day 1
> Traveling with Medifast, Day 2
> Traveling with Medifast: Day 3
> Traveling with Medifast: Day 4
> Traveling with Medifast: Day 5 and 6
> Traveling with Medifast, Day 7