Medifast Diet

This diet works because of the low carbohydrates. However, as a physician, and one who tried the diet, you should know that part of the early weight loss of the diet is the loss of the water that carbs (CHO) bring with them. Also such significant carbohydrate restriction is not easy to maintain, hence if you go off without continuing to substitute 1 or 2 meals with their products, weight will increase.
It is much cheaper, and more consistent with long term habit change to follow the same old rules that are consistent with human physiology (men, women, menopause or not, young or old): 1) burn more than you take in, 2) restrict white starches to special occasions - that means rice, potatoes, bread; 3) be sure to have protein with each meal and a low glycemic vegetable and 4) limit empty calories - alcohol, candy. Sport drinks count too - look at how much high fructose syrup they contain.
You can lose a lot and maintain that loss. Quick loss doesn't equal sustained loss.

This diet really does work. It is extremely easy to follow. However, as with most diets the food is not extremely tasty. If you want something that tastes great get a bottle of good wine and an everything pizza and enjoy. Stay fat, maybe, but enjoy. Make eating less about the bliss we have made it on our way to overweight and think of it more as long term health and just sustenance.

Oh Carol! I feel your pain! I did even last 3 weeks. I still have crap in my cabinet that I feel so bad throwing out because I spent so much on this astronaut food! Cardboard would have been better. WEIGHT WATCHERS people!! It gives you all the tools you need to make healthy choices, allowing flexibility in what you eat! Results will vary from person to person, but in the end, you feel great and aren't starved for food! If Medifast was the only option for weight loss, I'd have to be happy being fat! :) Good luck to all my Chubby Bunnies!!

Try lean quisine and smart ones,taste isnt bad.You can get them for around $2.00-$3.00 per meal on sale.I lost 40 lbs in 3 mos .No sugars,no cheating on weekends.Drink water and walk a mile a day.the pounds will fall off.

Carol, you could have sold it on e-bay!

Anyone curious about Medifast should try New Lifestyle Diet first!

After losing 115 pounds on my own, I stopped losing weight at 170. I upped my exercise even more, but couldn't seem to shed any more weight. At that point, I sort of said, "Well F it then!" And I exercised much less and started eating more foods that I want. I, over the course of a year, went back up to 205 and decided it was time to try it again, only this time around, I wasn't losing any more despite following what had worked so well before (diet and exercise, FYI).

As a last resort, I went to my physician and told him my woes. He recommended Medifast, which I tried for a solid month. It DID work. The first two days were killer, getting into ketosis. You really feel like you're literally starving to death. But beyond that point, it becomes much easier after you adjust.

I had great success and lost about 15 pounds on it. I told my friend about it and she started scouring the web for an alternative version since she didn't have any clinics nearby. She ended up discovering New Lifestyle Diet and ordered a sample pack which she graciously shared with me. Once I tasted how creamy the food was, it was very difficult to go back to Medifast (and I'm not a picky eater). I now order exclusively from them, and their foods are even lower in carbohydrates. They're also cheaper than Medifast to boot.

No, I don't work for them, and no, I'm not a bot. This is my true story, and I'm 30 pounds lighter for it so far. Already back down to 175! I'm nearly in new territory. If you are considering Medifast, I HIGHLY recommend you at least order a sample pack from New Lifestyle Diet and compare. I know which I prefer and they also offer more variety.

The only differences I can find in the foods are that Medifast uses Splenda, I think, while NLSD uses Aspartame (though I may have those backwards), Medifast uses vegetable protein, while NLSD uses whey protein (more complete and better for human absorption), and NLSD has a negligible amount of trans fat which Medifast does not.

Like all diets, you get back what you put in. If you cheat, you're not going to get results, and if you don't follow the instructions for returning to a higher calorie eating habit after you've lost your weight, you do risk ballooning back up as your body will hold onto the carbs it was deprived of ten-fold. But if you follow it, it WILL work.

As a side note, I picked up a giant jug of cat litter at the store the other day and thought, "WOW, this is heavy!" For kicks, I got on the scale, and I STILL was not as heavy as I was when I started Medifast at my doctor's recommendation. That was quite eye-opening, to look at the giant jug of cat litter I was holding and realizing I'd lost that and more in fat. A really great diet for the disciplined go-getters, if you can stick to it, which is NOT easy at all.

Oops, I forgot to mention one other thing! My doctor said the average weight loss per week is 2 to 5 lbs (I lost 5 the first two weeks and then a steady 2 or 3 each week thereafter) and said it is comparable to the amount of weight you lose on Weight Watchers, but the difference is more of the weight you lose on Medifast is from actual fat, while Weight Watchers is not. Hey, if you're in doubt, schedule a doctor's appointment like I did and go over it with your physician!

Every day a different diet on here! Which one should we do?? My husband and I have gotten back to the basics.. we are controlling our calories and fat by eating at home more and cooking for ourselves.. the problem was that I was doing all the cooking cause he said he didn't know how to cook..so i went out and got him this hilarious beginner's cookbook.. I can't tell you the name of it cause it's politically incorrect.. but if you google "whipped and beaten culinary works" you will find it.. but don't go if you can't take a good joke or if you get offended easily!

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I find these things very offensive and think aol should be held accountable for trying to fool us into thinking this is actually "news" and not an ad. How deceitful they are!

Cardboard is an apt description of any 'weight loss' meal. Face it, good food contains the sins...butter, bacon grease, etc. Sure you can look like Megan Fox, but you have to subsist on 1/2 cup cottage cheese and three rice cakes a day...and of course the obligatory 400 gallons of water.

Right on. What does AOL they think people can't see thru their transparant ad/marketing scams? Well, so much for Medifast spending whatever big chunk of money this thing with AOL cost them, but it seems like it pretty much backfired. Bet they didn't plan on actual real people commenting that their product tastes so awful they couldn't stomach it and had to stop using it. People lost hundreds of dollars of loss on a product that tastes like cardboard, not to mention they didn't loose the weight.

Then again, maybe THIS is a scam marketing campaign for New Life Diet -- that one mentioned with glowing comments by one of the very first posters. How twisted clever would THAT be?!!....set up a phoney company, call it a stupid name like Medifast, pay aol to do a "news story" about it, but then post really negative comments about how the food taste like cardboard and how they couldn't stand the taste, but then sneak in really POSITIVE comments about your REAL diet meal company. That will get everyone who reads the posts to do a search for the real company and bingo, you have an onslaught of potential customers looking to loose weight and going over to your site but they are now already primed because 1) they were really disapointed to hear that the original product they read about in the "news article" was garbage, but then 2) they heard really a positive testimonial about another product in the comments section and this time they think they are reading a glowing feedback not by an ad, but by a seemingly valid third part (really written by the same ad agency shills) so they redirect to the real sale pitch at the real company's websit. That potential customer arrives there already convinced they have found the GOOD product over the crappy one. They arrive ready to buy.

Oh, but what if the fatty surfer doesn't bother to read the comment section (most people will....look at how it's prominantly place) and they don't get motivated to find the real company, the company can still sell the same crap under the Medifast brand....same stuff they are selling under the New Life Diet brand; it will only cost them a bit extra for different packaging.

Now THAT's a marketing scam! And you thought these marketeers were stupid. heh heh.

I agree I was a bit ticked as well, makes a person believe you were going to get some real solid advice and then it is someone getting money for another high profit diwt company with gross food choices, I'll stick with healthy non proceeded eating, seems to work pretty good with exercise.

I agree, Linda. I have been using this diet since Feb. and have lost 50 lbs. I like NOT thinking about food! I also get my supplies from Dietdirect.com, which is a bit less expensive. My doctor approved the diet and I see her often. I eat out often, but make sure the restaurant offers a menu that allows me to get my protein and at least two green veggies, with a salad. The "5 plus Lean and Green" is a great concept, and I intend to stay on this as long as I need to do so. Good luck to you, too!

Now I have campy old Monty Python stuck in my head.