Optavia as an antidote to the COVID “15”

September 2020. I am updating my weight-journey journal, because sharing my Optavia experiences seems to be helpful to people. After my 2017 Optavia posts on this blog, I moved into a maintenance phase: more or less, I had 2-3 Optavia fuelings a day, eating a light lunch and healthy(ish) dinner, which lasted about two years. My weight stayed close to 153-155. I kept in casual touch with my coach, Craig.

I think I note, in a response elsewhere on this blog, that I found myself gaining weight again earlier this year (2020) after my husband unexpectedly passed away; I sold and moved away from our home of 40 years (and moved into the cutest little city house), and then, COVID. After sitting around and indulging myself with any comfort food I desired for the first 10 weeks of the pandemic (and quickly gaining 10 lbs), in May, I restarted a regular relationship with Optavia and my coach Craig. For the past 3 1/2 months I’ve doing what I call the “5 and 1-ish”: because I work out so much, I wanted more calories, so I’m following caloric-restriction diet in the new edition of HOH (similar to the “4 and 2”).

As a result of living alone, scant social activities and working remotely during the pandemic, most of the social triggers to eat poorly simply don’t exist (no friends, family, or work-related food treats or events). Since starting back on Optavia, I don’t buy junk food at the store at my weekly shoppings; if I get cravings in the middle of the week, I’m simply too lazy to go out and buy junk food. So, environmental triggers to eat poorly are just not a factor–I don’t have unhealthy food in my environment. Using the new edition of Dr. A’s HOH and the Lifebook, I’ve started practicing the “Stop Challenge Choose” when I start to pine for unhealthy snacking, which makes me reflect on why do I want to eat that thing? (Am I hungry? Or have I been triggered by something?) (For example, I have realized that most of my “emotional” eating is actually a signal that I’m pooped out and just need to go to bed).

On top of that, Craig has been running Zoom workouts 3 X a week since March. These have been an amazing source of motivation and fitness-building. (I walk or jog or do Zoom weight training sessions other days). I have lost 26 lbs (so far), and I am now at the weight I weighed at 14; the lowest in my adult life. I need new, smaller clothes (again); I can run longer and more days because my knees feel great!; I can get up from the floor without using my hands; I can see the muscles in my thighs ripple.

If you’ve done Optavia, none of this information is news to you. And if you haven’t done Optavia, it all probably sounds simplistic or simple-minded. Nothing I’ve said is deep, subtle, complex, or ground-breaking, or

I don’t mean to sound like an advertisement for Optavia. REALLY. I would have to say my next goal is to learn how to keep a healthy weight “without” Optavia, by eating primarily whole foods (not bars, shakes, and supplements), though I will probably keep some fuelings around for moments when I need a quick snack or meal replacement. Optavia is not a miracle, but it has been a very effective tool and strategy for change, and I am really starting the feel like I’ve created a new and healthy relationship with myself and my health.