Just completed my fist week, and I have to admit I'm shocked at the results.....-8.8 pounds! How is that possible? I stuck to the food plan fairly close, but because of an injury to my foot I could not exercise at the level that I normally would. My consultant explained that it's not unusual to lose a large amount of weight the first week, but I was very surprised. I should just count my blessings, huh?
I do need some help from you guys though. I'm having a difficult time eating everything I'm supposed to eat in a given day. I work 3rd shift, and my meal schedule is just the opposite of most people. I'm good for the first half of my "day", but I lose interest in food about 4AM and find myself forcing something down before I go to bed in the morning (which I know is not good for me) just to stay on the plan. Should I ask my consultant to readjust my calorie intake? Any other 3rd shift workers out there with some insight on how to eat all this food.
I've seen a lot of posts on here about the cost of food....both JC and what we have to buy on our own. Do I have the latitude to just buy the frozen meals from JC every week, and supplement the rest myself? This is only week two for me, and I've let the computer pick my food each week, but do I have to take what the computer says I should be eating. For me, the frozen meals are a lot quicker than preparing a meal for myself, and running the risk of losing control of the portion size, which is what got me where I am today! But do I need all the snacks, etc?
I appreciate any advice you can offer.......
Stan
1
First week success
Started by SCPAGEINMI, Aug 17 2009 10:15 PM
3 replies to this topic
#2
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Posted 18 August 2009 - 06:39 AM
Hey Brother-
Welcome to the club. Congrats on your first week. I too lost 7 pounds in my first week. I struggled as well to eat some of the foods. Not so much the meals but the extra fruits, nuts, etc. I wouldn't worry about forcing the food down. Its tough to eat when your not hungry and I am the same way. Its more about eating throughout the day. The smaller meals and fillers during the day are designed to aid in digestion and more importantly boost your metabolism. I know its a little screwed up that you have to eat more often to lose weight. What you will find is that it makes eating less at lunch and dinner easier to handle.
I realized (Before JC) that i was really only eating 2 meals a day. and I would eat entirely too much food at lunch and dinner because I was starving. Not to mention the terrible choices I made for food. Wendy's, Taco Bell for my quick fixes. Goign back to forcing the food. I typically work out right after work so there are times I wont be eating dinner until 930 or even 10. However, its important that you eat the foods. Especially since you are on the night shift. My wife works nights as well. She was on JC for awhile. She lost 35 pounds of 4th pregnancy weight. What she decided to do it space out her meals and eat the free fillers during the nght. Now because she is only working 3 days a week (3 12 hour shifts) she would come home and eat breakfast. Wake up at 2pm for lunch and go back to sleep. Then bring her dinner with her and start the cycle over again.
As for the cost of food, I would wait until you have gone through 2 4 week cycles. Get an idea of what foods you like and dislike and get used to reading the nutritional info on the packages. I never used to look at that stuff but it might give you ideas for supplementing some of the meals when you are ready to do it on your own. I reached my halfway point and have been picking my own meals on the JC plan. I agree its easier to just throw a meal into microwave and away you go. Ive taken a look at the different calorie levels and to be honest, the difference is in the extra fruits your allowed. I didnt eat the snacks but replaced them with fruits (bananas since I was getting cramps in my calves from working out). I'll basically eat a snack when I know im going to be working out so I have something before dinner.
Sorry for the longwinded answer. The short answer is, stay true to the program. not uncommon to lose weight quick. To me it showed that I was easily eating way too many calories in a week.
Welcome to the club. Congrats on your first week. I too lost 7 pounds in my first week. I struggled as well to eat some of the foods. Not so much the meals but the extra fruits, nuts, etc. I wouldn't worry about forcing the food down. Its tough to eat when your not hungry and I am the same way. Its more about eating throughout the day. The smaller meals and fillers during the day are designed to aid in digestion and more importantly boost your metabolism. I know its a little screwed up that you have to eat more often to lose weight. What you will find is that it makes eating less at lunch and dinner easier to handle.
I realized (Before JC) that i was really only eating 2 meals a day. and I would eat entirely too much food at lunch and dinner because I was starving. Not to mention the terrible choices I made for food. Wendy's, Taco Bell for my quick fixes. Goign back to forcing the food. I typically work out right after work so there are times I wont be eating dinner until 930 or even 10. However, its important that you eat the foods. Especially since you are on the night shift. My wife works nights as well. She was on JC for awhile. She lost 35 pounds of 4th pregnancy weight. What she decided to do it space out her meals and eat the free fillers during the nght. Now because she is only working 3 days a week (3 12 hour shifts) she would come home and eat breakfast. Wake up at 2pm for lunch and go back to sleep. Then bring her dinner with her and start the cycle over again.
As for the cost of food, I would wait until you have gone through 2 4 week cycles. Get an idea of what foods you like and dislike and get used to reading the nutritional info on the packages. I never used to look at that stuff but it might give you ideas for supplementing some of the meals when you are ready to do it on your own. I reached my halfway point and have been picking my own meals on the JC plan. I agree its easier to just throw a meal into microwave and away you go. Ive taken a look at the different calorie levels and to be honest, the difference is in the extra fruits your allowed. I didnt eat the snacks but replaced them with fruits (bananas since I was getting cramps in my calves from working out). I'll basically eat a snack when I know im going to be working out so I have something before dinner.
Sorry for the longwinded answer. The short answer is, stay true to the program. not uncommon to lose weight quick. To me it showed that I was easily eating way too many calories in a week.
Starting Weight:213
Reached Goal 1/28/2010
Current weight 165
#3
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Posted 18 August 2009 - 08:31 PM
QUOTE(Captain DigDug @ Aug 18 2009, 06:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Hey Brother-
Welcome to the club. Congrats on your first week. I too lost 7 pounds in my first week. I struggled as well to eat some of the foods. Not so much the meals but the extra fruits, nuts, etc. I wouldn't worry about forcing the food down. Its tough to eat when your not hungry and I am the same way. Its more about eating throughout the day. The smaller meals and fillers during the day are designed to aid in digestion and more importantly boost your metabolism. I know its a little screwed up that you have to eat more often to lose weight. What you will find is that it makes eating less at lunch and dinner easier to handle.
I realized (Before JC) that i was really only eating 2 meals a day. and I would eat entirely too much food at lunch and dinner because I was starving. Not to mention the terrible choices I made for food. Wendy's, Taco Bell for my quick fixes. Goign back to forcing the food. I typically work out right after work so there are times I wont be eating dinner until 930 or even 10. However, its important that you eat the foods. Especially since you are on the night shift. My wife works nights as well. She was on JC for awhile. She lost 35 pounds of 4th pregnancy weight. What she decided to do it space out her meals and eat the free fillers during the nght. Now because she is only working 3 days a week (3 12 hour shifts) she would come home and eat breakfast. Wake up at 2pm for lunch and go back to sleep. Then bring her dinner with her and start the cycle over again.
As for the cost of food, I would wait until you have gone through 2 4 week cycles. Get an idea of what foods you like and dislike and get used to reading the nutritional info on the packages. I never used to look at that stuff but it might give you ideas for supplementing some of the meals when you are ready to do it on your own. I reached my halfway point and have been picking my own meals on the JC plan. I agree its easier to just throw a meal into microwave and away you go. Ive taken a look at the different calorie levels and to be honest, the difference is in the extra fruits your allowed. I didnt eat the snacks but replaced them with fruits (bananas since I was getting cramps in my calves from working out). I'll basically eat a snack when I know im going to be working out so I have something before dinner.
Sorry for the longwinded answer. The short answer is, stay true to the program. not uncommon to lose weight quick. To me it showed that I was easily eating way too many calories in a week.
Welcome to the club. Congrats on your first week. I too lost 7 pounds in my first week. I struggled as well to eat some of the foods. Not so much the meals but the extra fruits, nuts, etc. I wouldn't worry about forcing the food down. Its tough to eat when your not hungry and I am the same way. Its more about eating throughout the day. The smaller meals and fillers during the day are designed to aid in digestion and more importantly boost your metabolism. I know its a little screwed up that you have to eat more often to lose weight. What you will find is that it makes eating less at lunch and dinner easier to handle.
I realized (Before JC) that i was really only eating 2 meals a day. and I would eat entirely too much food at lunch and dinner because I was starving. Not to mention the terrible choices I made for food. Wendy's, Taco Bell for my quick fixes. Goign back to forcing the food. I typically work out right after work so there are times I wont be eating dinner until 930 or even 10. However, its important that you eat the foods. Especially since you are on the night shift. My wife works nights as well. She was on JC for awhile. She lost 35 pounds of 4th pregnancy weight. What she decided to do it space out her meals and eat the free fillers during the nght. Now because she is only working 3 days a week (3 12 hour shifts) she would come home and eat breakfast. Wake up at 2pm for lunch and go back to sleep. Then bring her dinner with her and start the cycle over again.
As for the cost of food, I would wait until you have gone through 2 4 week cycles. Get an idea of what foods you like and dislike and get used to reading the nutritional info on the packages. I never used to look at that stuff but it might give you ideas for supplementing some of the meals when you are ready to do it on your own. I reached my halfway point and have been picking my own meals on the JC plan. I agree its easier to just throw a meal into microwave and away you go. Ive taken a look at the different calorie levels and to be honest, the difference is in the extra fruits your allowed. I didnt eat the snacks but replaced them with fruits (bananas since I was getting cramps in my calves from working out). I'll basically eat a snack when I know im going to be working out so I have something before dinner.
Sorry for the longwinded answer. The short answer is, stay true to the program. not uncommon to lose weight quick. To me it showed that I was easily eating way too many calories in a week.
Thanks for the great response Captain! And the good advice about determining what I like on the food plan before making any changes. Gotta tell ya.....so far......I haven't had a single food item that I didn't like!! Don't know if that's a good or bad thing. What has suprised me more than anything else so far is how satisified I am with what I get in a portion. It's also a huge awakening for me when I look at the portion sizes I was typically eating. I've always been a big vegetable and fruit eater, so I appreciate the advice about using those things for snacks instead of the JC packaged stuff. I'm not a big sweets or desert eater, so those will be easy to avoid as well.
My biggest challenge will be to get all the calories in. I try to stop eating three or four hours before I go to bed in the morning, as I tend to have a problem with acid refulx. So my counselor suggested a piece of fruit an hour or so before I go to bed, which so far is working just fine. Don't think I could do it the way your wife is doing it because once I'm awake....I'm awake for the day. But, it's only my second week. I have plenty of time to figure it out and make it work.
Thanks again for your welcoming response!
Stan
#4
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Posted 24 January 2011 - 02:25 PM
I have been on third shift for several years now. All I did was change my meals to fit in my hours. i.e. Breakfast in the morning after getting off around 7 am. By the time I got home and fixed something to eat it would be between 8:30 and 9 am. I would go to bed shortly after that depending on how I felt or if I had to get somethings done. When I got up in the evening I would eat my lunch, about 9:30 pm on the average. When I got to work, started around 11 pm I would plan to eat a snack about 1:30 am and dinner around 3:30 am. I would have another snack around 5:30 and get off and eat breakfast at home again around 8:30 or 9 am. I lost 63.5 lbs and have maintained within 6lbs for two years now. I continue to use the same eating schedule and it has worked out just fine. Good luck. Just don't give up and if you miss a meal or snack every so often, just go back to the schedule asap. Believe me the program works.
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