How Losing Weight on Medifast is a Lot Like Playing Scrabble

My husband and I play a lot of Scrabble.* As in pretty much every day.

So today, as I was looking for a way to play my q without a u, I searched for two-letter q words on the Merriam-Webster SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary website and played the word qi. Which I might not have known was a word if I didn't know about this amazing tool.

And then it occurred to me that being successful, whether at Scrabble, weight loss or life in general is not so much a matter of luck or chance as knowing how to solve your problems by searching for, finding and using the best available resources.

All of us have access to the web and can research how to lose weight. Many people will try eating mindfully, fasting intermittently, counting points or slurping cabbage soup seven times a day until their fingers start sprouting leaves. And, in some cases, they might be successful.

But those methods didn't seem right for me.

I was looking for a way to lose weight that was relatively quick and sustainable and did not involve deprivation, elaborate meal prep or obsessive tracking.

So when I read a relative's post on Facebook about losing a ton of weight on the Medifast 5&1 Plan, the same diet one of my morning radio guys used to lose over 100 pounds, my antenna perked up -- even though I was skeptical about diets and not too crazy about the idea of eating processed food.

I had tried Nutrisystem and could barely force myself to ingest the company's replacement meals. Why would Medifast be any different?

But I was at a point at which I really wanted to lose weight and ready to try something new that had clearly worked so well for other people. I did my research, ordered a month's worth of replacement meals and waited for the magic powder to arrive.

And before I knew it, 35 pounds just disappeared.

What may look like a bad rack of letters
could spell a 7-letter Bingo word

So getting back to the Scrabble metaphor, sometimes being overweight seems like one of those miserable Scrabble rounds when you have a rack of bad letters and can't seem to form a word over five points. You may be over 50, on pills that puff you up like a parka or (fill in the blank with your favorite excuse for not losing weight). Which makes it easy to throw up your hands and cry "uncle."

Honestly, it's easier to just keep eating the cupcakes.

But if you really want to lose weight, it is possible. My Scrabble letters formed the word M-E-D-I-F-A-S-T. Yours may form a different word.

*If you enjoy playing Scrabble but do not like the luck factor, try a variation created by my husband called Drew's Rules. And, in case you wondered, qi -- pronouncedt chē -- is"the circulating life force whose existence and properties are the basis of much Chinese philosophy and medicine.)

You can purchase Medifast replacement meals directly from Medifast Centers, the Medifast website or -- for no extra cost -- through the co-branded website of a Medifast TSFL health coach. Medifast does not recommend purchasing its products from third party vendors, but if you choose to do so, you can find them on both Amazon and eBay.

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More from Diet Skeptic:

Can You Drink Alcohol on Medifast

Medifast Centers Vs. Take Shape for Life

Planned Exceptions: What Is Your Pie Policy?

Wabi Sabi Dieting & Renee Zelwegger's New Face

Women Who Pin Too Much: Confessions of a Low Carb Recipe Collector

Follow Nancy's board Low Carb Recipes on Pinterest.