Defragged

First, I don't beat myself up about the mistake. For example, after being on Medifast for just over a month, I thought I had my daily routine and meal times down pretty well. So instead of recording my meals in the MyMedifast account, I kept them in my head. That was a mistake, because after a couple of days of feeling pretty good about keeping it in my head and daily stresses started to pile up, I mistakenly ate one too many meals. It was an honest mistake and even if I had done it intentionally, I didn't dwell on it. I simply recorded what I did and why.

As another example, on New Years eve everyone was eating those traditional holiday goodies. So as to not feel deprived I intentionally ate an extra Medifast meal. Yes, it wasn't the right thing to do, but I did it and I'm not embarrassed about it. I simply recorded what I did in my MyMedifast journal and why. Then I got back right on plan January 1st.

Second, whenever I mess up I also record what I learned from the experience. For example, when I unintentionally ate too many Medifast meals, I learned that recording my food in the MyMedifast account was indeed much simpler than trying to remember what I ate and when. When daily activities go out of routine or a day becomes more stressful than normal, the first things I usually forget are the things I want to remember the most. It really makes no sense for me to try to remember something that can be done for me with little effort. It also gives me more brain capacity for other information when I have less routine things to remember. ;)

Recently I read about a woman who thought she was drinking a diet soda, but instead drank a regular soda. My advice to her would be to learn from the experience by helping herself to prevent it from happening again in some manner. Perhaps separating her sodas into different areas of her frig. My refrigerated food is on one shelf in the frig and my husband's is on another. It makes it real simple and helps me quickly determine when I'm running out of something.

Third, always remember that you are human. Humans do make mistakes and we all have weaknesses. With that said, whenever I go off plan, I get back on it right away. The more days that pass while I'm off plan, the harder it is on my body, and for me, it makes it harder to re-start.

Honestly, that's exactly how I became overweight in the first place. I procrastinated about losing weight or stepping on the scale. Ignorance is bliss, right? Well, maybe to a point and then it's regret. Before I knew it I was 85-100 pounds overweight and in the obese BMI category. Not fun and my body retaliated against me with severe foot and back pain.

I hope this helps you understand what to do and what not to do when you go off the Medifast diet plan. The key elements are simple: get right back on the plan quickly and don't dwell on it.