Starting a new health journey Part 2

My Christmas present to myself this year was the OPTAVIA Optimal Weight 5 & 1 plan, which has a long history under the company Medifast. It was rebranded a couple years ago as Optavia, which implies optimal life. My hope for this journey is that it will work where other programs and "diets" have failed.

Despite pressure from family to wait until after the holidays, I decided to go ahead and start for a couple of reasons. First off, I figured this would be my christmas gift to myself. Secondly, I figured if I could get through the holidays without cheating I could get through just about anything. Among the potential pitfalls this week, I had a family potluck on Christmas Eve, where there was a plethora of high carb goodies, sweets of all kinds, and the main meal was enchiladas verde, with rice and beans. Needless to say, there was nothing on the table other than what I brought that was program approved. Christmas was low key for my husband and I, as we lay around and watched movies, so it was easy to stay on track with the 5 & 1 Plan. Then came 2 more difficult days. We had dinner on our... late... Christmas Day with my in-laws and my teenage son. I managed to convince my mother-in-law to let me cook, and my husband chose the dinner menu. It was quite a coupe to be honest, as tradition in my husband's family is that everyone eats at the matriarch's home for all major holidays. Only two items on the menu were ok for me: deviled eggs and asparagus, but I added cauliflower rice and salmon and I was fine. Then, we spent a very challenging day running errands and had our schedule derailed... But I stayed on track by taking my fuelings with me. Oh... yeah... the Optavia program calls their company-provided snacks "fuelings." I guess it's to remind you that you are fueling your body, not just eating to eat. Still, it's an experience. At least the food is good.

Now, please understand, I'm under no delusions that this will be easy. Optavia is more than just a diet. It's a lifestyle change, and they're not just giving that lip service. Unlike some of the programs I've tried before, I have a built-in accountability and encouragement system in the form of a "Certified Health Coach" and a Facebook community who are going through the same program, albeit some are way ahead of me. This means that someone is actually going to ask me if I did ok every week, and people will be expecting me to stay engaged. The encouragement is not just toward weight loss but toward other, non-scale victories (NSVs) including lost inches, better habits, and, suprisingly, self-discovery. I have a feeling this will be good fit for me because I am, among other things, a people-pleaser, but it also means I can't half-do this program. It came with a text book and a workbook for heaven sake!

To further this pattern I am going to be Vlogging about it here and on my YouTube Channel (LifeWorthy with Kate). I'm going to review the products I try, post about my journey, and see where it goes from there. Check out my Fuelings Reviews and OPTAVIA Info on my YouTube Channel!