Update: Lots of people are finding this through Google while searching for Medifast. This is my first Medifast run, my latest you can find here (I lost another 30 lbs!)
I’ve finished my three month Medifast diet and the results have been phenomenal. I started exactly twelve weeks ago at 248.5 lbs and this morning I weighed in at 201.2 lbs. I graduated high school at 210 lbs! I haven’t been this thin for over twenty years!
That’s not to say I’m done this transformation. At around 200 lbs I still have about 20 lbs left to lose to be the right weight. I’m now weaning myself off of Medifast and on to real food, but I’m going to eat right and now ramp up the exercise. Tonight or tomorrow I’m going to the Chilliwack Aquatic Centre and renewing my membership. I’ll be hitting the cross-trainer there at least every two days, and probably more. In a few weeks I’ll start adding some weights to my program, and will be pretty much doing Body For Life again, though with my schedule I’m not sure now if I can actually do it as strictly as I should.
Ok, want to see the fatty I was next to the not-quite-so-fatty that I am? Here you go:
Crazy!
Here’s a quick animation I did between the beginning and ending poses:
And for those who give a crap, here’s the graph of my weight loss and body fat loss:
As the weight and body fat readings fluctuate (the big spikes in weight/bf on the graph are almost always right after my road hockey nights, showing the intense exercise does in fact not work well with the Medifast diet) so I’ve had Excel add in a standard line showing the average rate of decline. The dots are the actual readings.
Holy Crap! You look like a different person. Good for you to have the willpower to do all of the work needed to complete the transformation.
Joe, you are amazing! You know I was worried when you first told me about this diet, but how impressed am I? I’m very proud of you (and Mel!), and both David and I look forward to you joining us in the pool on Monday nights!
And … thank you for the sweet words about the engagement. I suppose it’s my fault that David makes very little use of his blog, but I will make sure he gets posting soon.
cheers!
Hi, I stumbled on your blog while researching Medifast. I’m on my third day (!) and was looking for positive reinforcement. Congrats on the mega weight loss. I really want to trim down (I guess my shape is close to your “before” picture, only a female version), and my doctor recommended Medifast. I’ve told myself that after every 20 pounds I lose, I’ll treat myself to a nice meal (I’m planning on a multi-course Chinese dinner for #1).
Anyway, congrats, you look great. Good job.
Wow!!! What Plan were you on. I am starting tomorrow if I could get those results .
YOu should be very proud of yourself.
I did the 5-and-1 plan, 5 shakes/soups and one “lean and green” meal per day.
Wow – those are some amazing results. I was actually just researching the Medifast diet and came across your site. This is encouraging to see. I was thinking about starting with this introductory package http://www.medifast980.com What do you think?
The Medifast 980 seems to only come with enough food for 11 days (56 meal replacements, 5 per day). I’d suggest getting the four-week starter pack.
When you purchase a month online you can use the discount code 2LOSE to get it cheaper. However, if you’re in the US, I’ve heard the cheapest way to get Medifast is through your doctor, so you might want to try that.
Puck! Congrats!
I’ve been on Medifast for 2 weeks. I’m losing SOOO fast, but I’m so exhausted, can’t catch my breath, gums are bleeding…did you get any fatigue?
thx!
Michele
I did get a few dizzy spells, but sitting down and eating sooner tended to help out. The Medifast quickstart book mentions that if you get dizzy you should have a few cups of boullion to help reset your electrolyte balance.
If your gums are bleeding because of this, you should definitely see your doctor!
Hi you look great..i am thinking about medifast and wanted to talk to a real person. Did it really work for you or is it just another way for them to make money?thanks for helping me.
I’m not sure how you can look at my before and after pictures, along with the graph of my steadily declining weight and then ask me if Medifast worked.
Of course it worked! I lost 47 lbs in about 88 days. Sheesh.
Hi,
Do you think I could substite Lean Cuisine or WW entree for mt lean and green meal? I am on day 2 and need to lose about 30 pounds.
You look great and should be very proud of your accomplishment.
Colleen
No. Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers still have far too many calories for a lean and green meal. They all contain carbs of some form in addition to whatever lean & green they’ll have.
Get a grill (like the George Foreman Grill — mine’s a GE and was cheaper) and buy big bags of chicken breasts (Costco here sells them) and your lean is taken care of. I’m picky for greens, and the best for me is canned green beans, so I just buy flats of those. With spices, chicken + green beans is good and different every meal.
Hi, I am thinking about starting Medifast. From your pictures, it definitely worked! I am close to graduating (5 weeks) and would like to lose 20-25 pounds for the big day. I have a few questions and your experience will help!
1. I exercise frequently now, can I cut it down while on this program? Or stop all together?
2. Do you suggest I buy a 2 week trial kit to try it out because I know all diets do not work for everyone. How much did u lose in 2 weeks?
3. Can you occassionally go out to dinner (smart choices of course) without it affecting the diet and just jump back right into it the next day or cut out the snacks to save for the dinner?
I cant wait to hear from you and get my order over!
p.s. congrats on your weight loss, it takes dedication and determination you did it!
1. Medifast doesn’t provide you with enough energy to do what they call “intense exercise”. You can still get some exercise — walks and so on are encouraged — but weightlifting or intense aerobics are out simply because you won’t have the energy and using up what little you have may put your body into starvation mode.
2. I lost about 12lbs in the first two weeks (probably half of that was just “water weight” though). I’d suggest getting the 4 week intro package simply because it’ll take a while to order more if you do 2 and want to keep going, and you don’t want to take a break because (see the end of 3)
3. If going out you can have a “lean and green” meal then yes. Most restaurants are used to “no starch, extra veg” orders options on their meals. I occasionally ate out and would order a small lean steak and ask for no potato and extra green vegetables instead and it worked great.
HOWEVER, if you don’t do that and instead decide that you’ll have that one lasagna dinner to reward yourself you’re going to kick your body out of ketosis and you’ll waste about three days of dieting getting back on it. So no, you cannot just “jump off” the diet and back on. Set a target weight, get on the diet and stay on until you reach it. Every time you resist that “just this once” cheating is 3-4 days of being on the diet that you’ve saved because your body won’t have to restart ketosis.
It has now been a year from when you started, right? How’s it going for you now? Do you still use any Medifast products? Have you been able to wean off and maintain your loss? How much have you lost in total now?
Thanks so much for sharing your journey!
I lost 47 lbs in the three months I did my first Medifast runthrough. I didn’t do a very good transition period afterwards and gained back 8 lbs almost immediately. I kept that weight for several months and then over the Xmas holidays my mother kept stuffing me with food. That plus knowing I was going to do Medifast again meant I gained 10 lbs back and started my current run at 220lbs.
I’m about 3.5 months in this time and my weight this morning was 175.8 lbs. This time I’m going to do a full transiation period starting when I hit my target weight of 170lbs, so I should maintain much better. I’m feeling great, and looking awesome! I’ll post pictures in a new entry once I hit 170.
HI-you look fabulous, keep it up. I just started yesterday and so far so good. I know I’m going to be hungry, but it’t not that starving thing. Anyway, seeing your results inspires me as does the other success stories I’ve read. Thanks for sharing.NJE/Alabama/5’9.5/195/looking to be 155
Don’t wait until you hit 170!! I wanna see what you look like now. I have been thinking about starting the Medifast plan, but after seeing how great you look, I’m call my order in NOW.
Well, I posted a picture of me from the day we went to see X-Men 3 in this blog entry. That should tide you over.
Puck you do look great, congrats on your weight loss success. I too stumbled across your blog researching info on medifast vs optifast. I do have one concern regarding this diet and thats maintenance. Once you have lost your desired weight, how easy is it to keep it off? Does the program give instructions on how to transition into regular food or must you keep using the shakes forever just to keep the weight off. I have read from another message board that this diet works very good and quick but you must keep using the shakes to keep off the weight and being in the health care profession I know that it is incredibly unsafe and life threatening to keep your body in ketosis (that is how this diet works) long term.
No need to keep up Medifast after you’re done. Of course, they do suggest keeping some around and doing 2 week stints of it to maintain your weight if you regain some, but I didn’t need to last year after my first three month Medifast runthrough.
The long-term effect of Medifast is that it strips you of all your bad eating habits. Because you absolutely can’t cheat, and you rarely snack (only things like celery or Medifast Soy Chips and even then limited amounts) and your servings are so small and measured you don’t have the binge-eating habits, the snacking habits, and the lean-and-green meal teaches you what’s healthy.
When I finish this Medifast run (very soon!) I’ll do a transition period and step up the exercise. I’m lighter than I’ve ever been in my adult lift (169.6 this morning but I’ll probably be back up above my target of 170 tomorrow and I want to *really* hit that weight before transitioning) but I still want to look better. I don’t have to look much thinner but now I’m going to work on muscle definition and general cardio health.
I did medifast and was very successful. I lost 54 lbs in a little over 2 months. I haven’t updated my blog in a long long time but I’m currently maintaining around 140 lbs (70 lbs gone from highest weight). Still have 20 more to go, like you!
Oh my gosh! You look awesome! You’re an inspiration and I appreciate you taking your time to share your knowledge of Medifast. You’ve inspired me to give it a shot. Thanks much!
Cheers!
samdoe: This is my *old* Medifast run. Check out the latest post — I’m 30 lbs lighter still.
Hey, I just checked that xmen 3 blog picture. I just wanted to say congrats and that all your posts have been really informative. I gained a lot of weight post college, from 160 to 225 in 3 years. I just can’t seem to keep the weight down. Part of me blames the atkins diet which works great if you live ur life that way forever, but then I gained weight back with a vengeance. I had a couple questions for you, to get a guy’s point of view. I like to work out or at least lift weights. Will this interfere with such activities, and I was also wondering what activites like swimming would do combined with this diet? I also enjoyed your tips for eating out, anymore tips like how you got thru holidays, and which adjustments you made? By the way, thanks for all your postings…they have been a real inspiration.
You can’t really do strenuous exercise on Medifast because you aren’t being provided with the energy for it. I’d suggest using Medifast to drop the weight quickly and keep the exercise down to “a good walk” level. Once you hit your target weight and transition back to regular food, reintroduce the more strenuous exercise.
I haven’t been on Medifast over the Xmas holidays, but for others I just stuck with it because I knew I had to. This last Xmas season was a bad one for me eating right because we visited my mother (a feeder) and I knew I was doing Medifast again in January so I just let go and ate a lot. Part of Medifast is learning to not use food as recreation/reward. I’ll admit that I’ve only partially learned that lesson, so I do have to use some willpower. I watched the Stanley Cup Finals game 7 with friends last night and they ordered chinese food in. I’m still transitioning, but I had some sweet and sour pork and beef and broccoli and avoided the noodles and rice.
As others have told you congrats and thanks for keeping up this blog. I just ordered my medifast 2 week supply due in on Monday. Your blog has been very informative on how the process works. I am a little alarmed now by the lack of energy and dizziness. Is it that bad? And how long did it take you to start seeing any results. Also is there any restrictions on how much liquid you can drink?
I found the dizziness only occured in the first few days or the occasional morning before I had eaten.
“Lack of energy” is a complicated one. Again, the first few days you definitely don’t have much energy. But after that your body goes into ketosis and cuts back on burning up your muscle mass for energy and you actually feel more energetic. It isn’t long-term energy though, so any kind of long-term exercise can really drain your batteries. But as long as I followed the program I felt great.
You look great – I am starting Medifast after I return from vacation – I leave this Sunday so there was no reason for me to start because I knew that would be a disaster – so I’m waiting until my return but then going for it all the way … I hope my results are like yours – successful
Mich
Great blog and pictures! exactly what i was looking for, i’m planning to start a 3-4month medifast run myself also and i just needed that last push to convince myself it actually works! And thats when i found this blog.
Still having a hard time convincing my parents it’s all real, but hey it’s my money and i sure hope ill be able to tell them “I told you so” months from now.
Thnx for the blog and all the pics!
ps: It’s pretty hard to find a store which ships to the eu tho. Guess ill just have to call their customer service.
Stumble across your blog while googling Medifast. Great Job!
I’m 5-11 255 and hoping to be down below 200 before May. You give me a lot of hope … Thanks
Wow! Congrats on weight loss! You look like a totally different person.
I was googling Medifast to find info before I started and your page is the best I’ve found. You give honest feedback about the good, the bad and the ugly. Your pics are amazing and you are truly an inspiration for others. THANK YOU!
As I start the program, I would like to shoot you a quick email on my progres every now and again, if that’s okay with you.
Again, kudos to you!
You said you eat a lot of green beans. Did you just open a can a day?
Yeah, one can of green beans was often the “green” of my “lean and green” meal.
I was wondering if you have been successful at keeping all or some of the weight off? I’m on my second start with Medifast. Just started. I love the diet. Need to know how to transition back to regular food once I lose 30 lbs.
thanks…
I’ve been fairly successful with keeping the weight off.
After each Medifast run I typically gained about 10-20 lbs and then fluctuate around that.
You really have to let Medifast train you away from snacking and eating too much and bad food. It’s pretty easy to fall back into the old rut so it’s a life of vigilance. Winters are harder because my preferred exercise is outdoor (road hockey) so I do gain “winter weight” which I then lose once I run around outside in the better weather.
Way to go! You look fantastic! I was just wondering what the youngest age appropriate would be to start medifast. Would it work for people in their first year of high school or what? Keep up the great work!
you look great. this is so encouraging. I have thought about this for over a month now. its time to get serious. thanks for all of your input. congrats and best wishes.
Hello and Congrats!!!
I too had great results. I lost 42 pounds in 4 months and loved every minute of it! Well, almost every minute of it. The first days were, to put it mildly, a bitch! But, halfway through the afternoon of the third day, the urge to want to eat my license plate went away. From then on, the progress was so fast that you couldn’t wait for the time to pass as you knew you were losing. I joke that I could HEAR myself getting thinner.
I have relapsed in the past few months and gained ten pounds back but this time it is different; I KNOW that I can use the program and lose more. My goal is to get back to my College running weight, about 172 pounds. I was 272 when I started. I couldn’t tie my shoes without calling timeout. I was embarrassed and sweating all the time. My wife is beautiful and I want to keep her and also not explode with a massive heart attack.
I just want to advise anyone thinking about this plan…GO FOR IT!!!
Sincerely,
Paul 605-728-5024 mobile, if you want to talk.
Congratualtions on your weightloss. I have just finished my first week and lost 7 pounds doing pretty heavy excercise. After reading your blog I will just walk next week and see how it goes. My biggest concern is gaining the weight back once I am off the medifast foods. I don’t know if I will be able to do the transition using medifast foods since I am going overseas for a while back to my country to visit family, and because of weight restrictions with luggage I simply can’t take all the food I need and so I am worried about the rebound weight gain….
In your experience, how do you suggest I go about eating after I am done medifast if I cannot continue using the medifast meals?
Thanks,
Natalia
If you don’t do some kind of transition period from Very Low Calorie to your regular diet your weight will rebound a LOT.
But I wouldn’t say it has to be Medifast. Just try to introduce mroe calories gradually and make sure you’re getting the vitamins and minerals you need while doing that.
You are so inspirational! I have not been on Medifast quite two months, and I am thrilled with it. I hope I have end results like you do!
i am fraid to do this becausd I am afraid of being painfully hungry, especially at night.
2) Is the is Medifast so profiecient at weight loss becasue it of low calories or something in their food?
I found I only had real hunger problems the first few days. After you power through that, your body adjusts and I often found I had to remind myself it was time to have a shake.
Hey,
1) Do you think that there is somthing special in the Medfast food that makles one lose or just the low calorie. If it is the food itself, I think I should do it, rather than the low cal on my onw. What do you think Puck? Thank you
2) Do people lose more on medifast amount of calories than on their own with same amount of calories?
Corrie -
The “special” in Medifast is simply that it’s premeasured for you and that it has all the necessary vitamins and minerals.
Could you do it yourself by just counting calories and taking super multivitamins? It’s not magic, so of course. But could you pull it off? Do you know how little you have to eat to enter ketosis without going into starvation mode? Can you pull off that kind of calorie counting every single day for two months or more?
I couldn’t. So I sprang for Medifast.
As for calories vs. calories, again, it’s not magic. I’m sure that if you were able to count calories and get your vitamins and minerals there’s no special ingredient in Medifast that makes it work better than doing that. It’s just far, far, simpler and that simplicity is one of the big reasons that it works.
Wow, congratulations on your weight loss! I am seriously considering this program. I was a very healthy weight when I graduated high school, and now that I’m graduating from college, I have gained about 65 pounds. My weight has fluctuated, and I’ve tried several fad diets. My only fear with this diet is once I get off of it. I’m afraid I will spring back up, and gain all the weight back plus more like I did before on my other diet.
What do you recommend for the transition off? I realize I need to change what & how I eat, but did you find it extremely difficult to maintain? I don’t mind exercising, but my schedule doesn’t necessarily allow me to do a lot of exercise every day. Any suggestions/tips for the transition period and maintaining? I would like to hear from a real person, not someone paid to advertise for the program.
Thanks!
When it comes to transitioning I’m probably not the guy to talk to. I did two stints of Medifast and both times didn’t do a good transition and gained 10 lbs back pretty much right away.
But after that I haven’t had too much of a problem with staying down. It’s really as simple as eat right (and the right amount) and exercise, even if it’s just a bit. Go for a walk (I take the dog), play golf, anything. That combined with good eating habits should be just fine for maintaining the new weight.
I want to go on Medifast but I have this questino I though you might know about.
I take 2-4 Pepsid a day. They have sugar in them (they are not made in sugar free). Will this amount of sugar throw me off Ketosis? Can I still do Medifast you think?
Many thanks Gracie Thomas
That’s certainly something you should talk to your doctor about, however…
A quick wiki shows that “Pepcid Complete” has 155 mg of sucrose each. That means that even 4 of them would be less than a gram of sucrose, so I can’t really see it making any kind of difference. A full gram of sucrose has less than six calories!
puck, I think you are very generous with your time and your help.
Hope you are blessed in your life since you
are giving back this way. Glad you care and glad you are a good guy.
AC Houston
Reader and on my way to losing this “deadly” weight!
Hi Puck,
Just wanted to let you know, I was searching around looking for diet comparisons and stumbled upon your blog. I am so glad I did. It has convinced me that Medifast is the plan for me. Your blog is a great motivator. Wish me luck
hi puck congrates on your weight loss! ive statred on it for the past 2 weeks im losing one pound and half a week. is this normal? i wish i could speed the weight loss up to at least to 2-3 pounds per week. any suggestions? please i need help!!!! tell me excactly what you ate. thank you – christina
From the forums I’ve been on, and my wife’s own experience, women tend to plateau more easily, and then have a big drop to make up for it. I’m no doctor but I’m pretty sure it has to do with the monthly cycle and water retention. Keep at it, keep track of your weight loss and I’m sure you’ll see a more significant loss over time eventually.
Hi Puck! Thanks for sharing all your experiences and advice! I have a questions for you. You mentioned that you ate greenbeans for your green meal. What exactly did you do with them? You opened a can and just ate them? Or did you cook them first?
Also do you have an suggestions for other green meals. I work in a hospital so it’s really hard to prepare things inbetween the shift working.
Thanks! And congratulations on your success!
All I did with my green beans was open the can, put it in a bowl and then heat it in the microwave for a few minutes. My wife claims that the “mushy” green beans you get out of a can aren’t as good as fresh crunchy ones, but I actually prefer them.
I just started Medifast but have done some research and there are many new studies out that say Soy is really bad for you. That Whey is much safer. I called my Doctor and he is also very against Soy. Not sure what to do.
You look awsome man, very inspiring. I just started a 4 week medifast plan Thanks to a $55 coupon my first order was only 239. Cabin is the coupon code for anyone interested. Could you explain to a relative excel moron how you set up you tracking graph that seems like a cool tool. I am 182# with an astounding 38% body fat. I don’t care so much were my lbs end up so much as my Body fat %.
J
I am a TBK fanatic (Turbo Kick Boxing) and take a one hour class 4 times a week. I love it, do I have to give it up while on Medifast? What if I have an additional shake or two?
Thanks.
Nancy
You should be totally fine. I played Road Hockey once a week while doing Medifast, which would sometimes go up to three hours of pretty intense exercise. I did keep some Gatorade around in case I felt like I lost some energy, which did happen, though not every time.
Thanks Puck! One more thing…. I love pickles and have been eating more then the two spears a day Medifast recommends. Is this a problem? I have been eating 5-6 spears a day, each spear has one carb and is 5 calories so that is about 6 carbs and 30 calories more per day….
Thanks again.
That should be fine. I don’t like pickles, and my snack was olives which have quite a bit more calories. As long as you’re even a little active — and you’ve noted that you are!) an extra 30 calories a day shouldn’t hurt at all.
What should I do if I can’t stand the oatmeal? Should I or could I substitute a shake for that? I hope I am doing this all right. I do feel sluggish along with hungry, any suggestions? I need to loose 40 pounds and I don’t know if I can keep up with eating powder all the time. HELP!
Hey there Puck, i think its great that you are lending a listening ear to everone. I was wondering if you went with the all shakes plan or if you opted for some of the soups or bars? Do you think that i would lose more weight with just the shakes? Some of the soups are nasty but the bars arnt bad. Thanks in advance for your help.
I found the oatmeal really needed some Splenda and cinnamon added. Both are 0 calorie and make it a LOT better. But if that doesn’t help then yes, have a shake instead. I often had mostly shakes through the day.
Amanda, the soups are equivalent of the shakes. The bars have a bit more calories so they suggest you only have one per day. I *love* the bars, especially the chocolate mint ones, and would have more than one per day if I thought it would be ok. Sometimes I did — I’d keep a few bars in the car for emergency meals and often had to have an extra one. As long as it’s not a regular thing (to have an extra) it should be fine.
I don’t think the difference in calories between one bar shakes and just shakes is going to make much of a difference in weight loss.
I am on medifast.
I have been on it about 3 1/2 weeks.
Here is the problems. I stay on it (very well)for about three – four days but after that i get so tired of the food they have that i go off for a day or two.
i get back on thank you goodness but it happens like this ever few days where i just cannot stand one more of the package meals. Any suggestions? Hunger only made me go odd one time. It is just the monotony of the foods. Help….please I want to be a winner and have a better life. I cannot open one more of those dry packets. The amount is so small that it is not even worth preparing it as a meal. Thank you
Candy, it sounds like you’re more active that usual (your email address — private on comments but I can see it — hints at this as well). I’d strongly suggest you talk to a doctor who can suggest an increase in caloric intake for you. Medifast takes up to three days to really take effect and get you into ketosis. It sounds to me like you’re going past the “ketosis” stage and into starvation, and you’re going to need someone with training helping you out if you’re going to continue.
unfortunately I am 100% sedentary and home bound – my email does make me “look” active:) but not at all
i guess what i do is do the work to get to ketosis then get to some undisciplined place and go off
i need to try harder. how many days in a row were you on it without breaking it in any way. My tops is about 9 days…
I did two different Medifast “runs”. The first (the results on this page) was three months, the second run was four months.
If you can’t stay on Medifast for at least a month I’d strongly suggest you find something else. Constantly yo-yoing in and out of ketosis really can’t be good for you.
and you could stay on it for three months and without eating off?
Yes. Once you get over the initial phase of hunger pangs — for me they came at roughly days two through four — it’s incredibly simple because your body adapts. You just have to power through that first week and it’s smooth sailing. At least, it was for me. If you can’t, I’d strongly suggest — as I have a few times already — seeking medical advice.
Great work Puck. I just wanted to chim in. I’m a 33 yr old female and have just completed my medifast journey. I started April 09.2007 and as of Oct 08, 2007 I have lost over 75 lbs!! That’s 75lbs in less than 6 months!
I am doing the transition and still losing! Medifast is a SAFE diet! And it works! You can not cheat and you must learn to change your eating and excerise habits forever in order to keep it off, but that is true of ANY diet.
I went from 192 lbs to 116lbs
Those numbers dont lie!
Great work and congrats on your current and continued success!
(Candy) I myself was inspired by my good frined Puck and his Medifast sucess, but the shakes and planned ketosis were jus tnot for me. However, as he points out there are a lot of other ways to manage weight and metabolism. Definitley take his advice and visit a nutriotionist/Doctor, but also check out the “idiot-proof diet.” I myself took off 140 some lbs of adipose in about 9 months, and have kept it off for the last 9 with very easy maintenance.
As Puck points out in this thread, the biggest adjustment is your honesty with yourself. As long as you make a real committment to losing “bad” weight and being healthy, you will be. But if you sneak around it, you only “hurt” yourself. One fatty meal will undo up to three days of healthy ones, as your body goes into “feast” mode very readily. It’s that Hunter-gatherer genetic memory.
Hi Puck,
I know that I am like so many others, having tried every diet under the sun only be disappointed and give up after losing only a few pounds. Or sometimes even gaining a few pounds while on a “diet”.I am glad for you and you are an inspiration to me. I joined LA Weight Loss a few months ago and so far all I have lost is the $300 it cost to join. I plan to start Medifast in a few days and after seeing you, I am very excited and can’t “weight” to get going. Thanks for sharing your story.
LOL
Puck,
First of all, I want to say congratulations to you and your weight loss. My question to you is concerning muscle tone and skin elasticity. Currently, I am about 5’11″ and weigh about 325 pounds or so. I am planning on starting my Medifast diet after the holidays. My main concern is that I may have excess skin if I lose the weight in a rapid amount of time. I understand the ketosis process helps you lose the fat and maintain the muscle tone somewhat, but I don’t want to have a thin body, but have huge flaps of excess skin…Did you have any experience with that?
Leon
I’m your height and was once nearly 260 lbs — pre-Medifast I woke up and started eating right and exercise, but needed Medifast to lose the most of it — and I didn’t really have any problem with loose skin, even after my second Medifast run:
You can check out more of my final weight of 170 lbs (so almost 90 lbs of weight lost overall!) in my updated Medifast entry.
I’m not sure what it would take to cause the loose-skin thing. I’ve certainly seen people with that on TV, but even if I was that big to start I’d much rather be thin with some extra skin than that fat.
Did you do have a favorite shake or soup?
That’s a hard call. Even the ones I did enjoy I’d get sick of pretty quickly so the key for me was to change it up, or add some flavouring like cinnamon.
Chocolate is good. The Orange is also tasty though I know people who hated it. I’m not a banana fan, but that shake was also nice, at least wiht some cinnamon thrown in.
Did you figure a way to jazz up any of the soups? The only oneI have jazzed up is chicken noodle with a tiny bit of chinese mustard and a tsp of lite soy sauce.
Both the Chicken Noodle and Cream of Chicken were much better with a bit of chicken boullion, and often some garlic pepper.
Actually, garlic pepper works in the cream of broccoli too. I didn’t like any of the other soups, so I don’t know what would fix those up.
I add hot sauce like tabasco to the soup and garlic salt.Molly Mcbutter has a cheese flavor powder that helps.
Any spice will help the soups. If you cook them long enough, they are pretty good. I added salt to all of the soups. I still lost 25 pounds the first month.
I am going to be ordering Medifast and wanted to know if you feel like you are going to starve.
I just wanted to say, that Medifast does work. I was on it earlier this year for a month and lost 20 lbs within that month! I’ve been off it for 3 months, and have been able to keep those pounds off by just eating smarter and healtier.
I’m trying to rev myself up to go on my second medifast run. But to anyone on the fence about it, I can honestly say it worked for me.
Puck, I just wanted to say thank you, because your blog really gave me the last push to try medifast, and to lose that weight. Thanks a bunch! I feel great, and I can’t wait to lost more weight on my second run!
Hi there, I work for a doctor who is starting the medifast program and she wants me to try it. Althought I am very overweight, I do work out a lot and it just doesn’t make sense to me that I should stop working out on a diet. I also tried a few of the products today and they seemed really gross, do you get used to them? Did you find that it was hard getting back into eating regular food? Looks like it really worked for you, just questioning if it will be right for me, thanks!
You don’t have to stop working out. You just won’t have much energy for *extended* *intensive* exercise.
But talk to your doctor to see what you can do. I played road hockey up to twice a week for 2-3 hours each time, which was both extended and intensive. I just supplemented myself with a little Gatorade while playing so I didn’t get dizzy.
Hi Puck! I am writing because like everyone else, I have a question. I would like to start Medifast, but I am concerned about the dizziness and lack of energy. I have 2 kids that take up a lot of energy and I am worried that I won’t have a lot with starting this. About how many days/weeks did you feel that lack of energy? I did check with my doctor and he said I would be a good candidate for this so I really want to do this. One of my friends lost about 120 lbs on Medifast and I was amazed. I am also amazed with your truthfullness and persistence! Reading this is giving me the push I need to do this! Thanks so much for writing this! You are awesome! Congrats on the new you!
Puck.. Thanks a million for sharing your incredible journey as it has certainly provided me with so much motivation at a really crucial time. I finished one medi run about a month and a half ago, prior to then i’d lost 51 lbs in 7 1/2 weeks but was side lined by the holidays and “family feedings” !! I know i can get back on program and make goal although i’m intimidated by the prospect of re-gain & transitioning you have given me hope that its not only possible to transist but to do so without staying on Medifast for life and risking being in permanent ketosis! You are truly an inspiration to many… continued success. Were you concerned by the recent studies and or negative findings about soy causing so many health problems ?
Sally: The dizziness and lack of energy is really only during the first few days as you transition into ketosis. After that your body adjusts and you’ll be fine aside from times you’ll do extended intense exercise, such as when I played my weekly road hockey games. I overcame that simply by bringing some Gatorade with me and sipping it when I felt my energy levels getting low.
Crista: Holidays are bad for me as well, not just because I eat more but because I reacquire my bad snacking habits. This last holiday season was pretty bad for me. I’d managed to keep a pretty constant weight but it all fell apart after visiting my mother (who can be a bit of a feeder) so I’m now back on Medifast for a few months to lose that “winter weight”. If that’s what I have to do every year or two, so be it, though I’m really going to try to stop the holiday gain from now on and actually get *stricter* in my food intake during those times in order to keep that in mind.
Oh, and no I’m not worried about the negative findings about soy. You can read about the controversy on Wikipedia’s Soybean page and note that it is, well, a controversy. It notes that an effect in men is possible lowered testosterone, but I certainly didn’t experience any symptoms of that, if you know what I mean…
Hi Puck, Great job!! I am going to try MF for a second time and realize NOW that exercise is an absolute NO!! The first time I tried I was 100% on plan plus exercising….well it doesn’t work. For me, it brought on major binging. Like the out of control kind. So I’ve decided not to do any exercise until the weight is off. Now, I was thinking of trying yoga as an alternative. What do you think? I’m starting Monday, wish me luck.
Su
I didn’t have much of a problem exercising — as noted earlier I’d just take along some gatorade to stave off the needed energy requirements for a few hours of road hockey. But everyone’s different and if you really couldn’t help binging then certainly do not exercise.
Yoga is probably a great idea. It’s very low impact and low intensity, which would be great for Medifast. I’ve never been able to get into it myself. My body just doesn’t like what Yoga does.
Did you find you had any mood swings? How did you keep yourself pumped? Great job by the way! Inspirational!
No, no mood swings. I’m a pretty stable guyw hen it comes to that anyway. The only thing close to a mood swing was how much happier I was the more weight I lost.
That sounds about right! I’ll give you an update in a month. I’m joining those starting this week. Thanks again!
I have gotton really excited reasding about your successes! Which foods do you consider taste the best, which were the worst? Do the fruit drinks and hot drinks count as a meal supplement?
Thank for your response!
Tammy
I’m pretty sure the foods I liked have been covered in these (meny) comments. It seems different for everyone though. My wife has done Medifast as well, and she really likes a lot of the stuff I don’t.
I think the main thing I’d wanr you away from is the Minestrone soup. We had a few packages that either didn’t have the powder, or didn’t have the other stuff in it, and even a good package didn’t taste very good to either of us.
Not sure about the fruit drinks. The Hot Cocoa certainly does — and it’s pretty good.
Can we drink Diet coke??? Pretty please!
Thanks
Tammy
P.S. Are the bars any good? Did you go into a center or simply ordered on line?
I drink a LOT of Diet Coke (and Diet Dr. Pepper) but Medifast suggests you have no more then three caffeinated beverages a day. I definitely went over that though, probably more like six.
I *love* the Chocolate Mint bars, and would gladly eat them when not on a diet they’re so good. Several others are very good too.
I ordered online from the Medifast web site. They no longer take orders from Canada online though, so if I order again I’m going to phone which is a lot less convenient.
Hi Puck!!
Its Tammy again! You have been such a great help. On the lean and green meal can we buy already frozen percooked chicken breasts? Did you eat shrimp? We are excited about getting our packet this week…..You are probably going to hear al ot more from me…I will need the encouragement…
Thanks for your time!
Tammy
Amazing transformation, you look like a different person!! It made you look so much younger too, congratulations!!!
Frozen Precooked Chicken Breasts: As long as it’s just chickena and they’re not those “chicken breast patties” that have flour or some other carb mixed in.
The same goes for shrimp — no breading! But if it’s just the shrimp then yes, it’s great protein and excellent for the “lean” part of your lean-and-green.
I use frozen chicken breasts that I buy from Costco and grill them up on my contact-grill (it’s like the “George Forman Grill”, but made by Hamilton Beach and less expensive). It takes only about 12 minutes to cook them on that, straight from frozen.
Hi puck,
congrats on your weight lost. I’ve odered medifast this week and wanted to no if you took the daily omega 3′s that medifast sales or did you use the over the counter ones? Also did you take any vitamins while on the 5 & 1 program. Thanks for your help!
It’s me again, did you use the Omega 3′s from Medifast or did you buy the over the counter ones. I’m trying to find out if it’s a difference and if I can buy the over the counter ones. Also did you take any of the B6 or B12 vitamins?
Nope, no Omega 3s, and I only took a regular multivitamin. Medifast food should have all you need built in anyway, so supplementation isn’t necessary.
Thank you Puck for this site and your success story. What an encouragement! I’m buying my first month’s supply this week-I need to loose 70 lbs. Can you get away with not eating the soups at all? From what I’ve read from a number of sites, the soups run from bland and chalky to unpalatable. Can you do Medifast with just the shakes, bars, puddings and hot cocoa? Or do you need some salt from the soups in there?
You could eat nothing but the Chocolate Shakes if you could actually put up with the same thing over and over again.
I like a lot of the soups. The chicken noodle is probably my favorite, though it’s true that even it can use a bit of pepper in it. Often I’ll add in some no-calorie chicken stock to it simply so I get a bit larger cup of soup. I also like the Cream of Chicken though that definitely needs a little something added to not be so bland.
But no, there’s no need to get the soups if you don’t want them.
Thank you so much for your blog…it has inspired me to start Medifast pronto! I am a 38 year old mother of 3 who weighs 220 and is 5’9″ . Prior to having kids, my weight was 165. Do you think that Medifast has affected your metabolism permanently in any way? I am concerned that such a calorie restrictive diet will slow my metabolism down even more…Also, how long should it take me to loose 55 pounds if I stick to the diet?
Your metabolism may slow down a bit while on it for the first little while — as I’ve mentioned time and again the first few days can be rough. But after that’s over I found that it really picked up. Ketosis doesn’t seem to hamper your metabolism at all, but getting into it probably does.
I’m not sure a permanent change to metabolism is possible through diet — unless it was “stop eating until you die and your metabolism ceases”.
My weight loss was around half a pound a day (average) at first, but as I got lower it slowed to half a pound every two days. Others have experienced different amounts. Heavier people tend to lose weight faster. I really couldn’t say for certain, but I’d say at least three months. You could plan on a three month “run” of Medifast and then go off for a bit and if you feel you have more to lose, do another three month run starting a few months later.
A big thing to note is that the women I’ve heard from who have done Medifast plateau a LOT more than men. This is NORMAL and do not worry. Women retain and lose water throughout their cycles, so when you plateau for even more than a week at the same weight you’re most likely still losing weight but retaining just as much water. Sooon enough you’ll lose a bunch faster and your average weight loss will be apparent when charted out over a longer period of time.
Hello!
I came across your blog while researching Medifast and congratulations on the weight loss. I’m doing my own modified version of Medifast since I can’t afford to get the package yet but will in a couple days. I’ve been doing my version for 3 days and have lost 2.8 pounds, I’m sure its water but still. My question to you is regarding exercise. I currently go to the gym about 5-6 time a week and do 45-60 min on the elliptical machine and two 1-hour pilates sessions…You mentioned starvation mode, would this be too much exercise or are you referring to strength training or hard running, etc? Thanks so much!
Lamissa
Hi Again!!
Quick question….How do I get the hot chocolate to dissolve? I like it but it is very lumpy…
Thanks!
Tammy
Lamissa: Wow, that’s a lot of exercise. Are you sure you need Medifast?! I’d definitely talk with a doctor about doing a very-low calorie diet like Medifast along with such extended intense exercise. Even a moderate 45-minute elliptical run alone is over 300 calories burned, and on Medifast you’re taking in around 900-1000! If you insist on doing the exercise, I’m sure your doctor will suggest you take in an extra 300 or so calories on the days you do.
Tammy: Ah ha! My wife told me how to do this, and it also works for the “cream of” soups. Put the powder into the bowl/mug and add in a small amount of hot water — less than you’d think. Mix it up until you get a gooey paste and there won’t be any lumps. Then add the rest of the water and the paste will now mix well into it, lumpless!
Am considering this diet. How is it different from Adkins?
Thank you for your response Puck. I had a question. You hear so much about not going under 1200 calories because your weight loss will eventually stall. Why is this not the case with Medifast. Is it due to the vitamins your getting or is this theory not really proven?
Medifast is very different from the Atkins diet. Medifast is a “Very Low Calorie” or “VLC” diet, while Atkins merely cuts carbohydrates out almost completely.
Lamissa: Medifast’s low caloric intake causes you to enter ketosis where your body concentrates on breaking down stored fat for energy. Breaking down fat is slow, so extended intensive exercise can make you “run out of energy” very quickly, or worse, enter starvation mode. When in starvation mode your body will instead break down the protein in your muscles for energy which is fast but obviously a very bad thing.
A proper Medifast diet without too much intense exercise should easily stay in Ketosis range, but everyone is different and this is why you should talk to your doctor when doing the diet, especially with lots of exercise involved. I’ve heard you can buy “ketosis strips” that you can use to ensure you’re in Ketosis rather than some other metabolic mode. Check your local pharmacy.
Puck,
Congrats on the weight loss. I know there was something said about soy and testosterone, but you said you didn’t have any problems with that, right?
Also, I’ll try and be as tactful as possible when I ask this, but I’m pretty overweight, but I hear the smaller your stomach/midsection is, the bigger other things ‘appear’ to look, if you know what I mean. Did you find that during your weight loss? Someone was telling me that the fat pad over that area seems to shrink during weight loss.
Nope, no problems with testosterone with the soy.
And yes, I know exactly what you mean and yes things look bigger — you definitely lose fat around that area and also your entire body is smaller in relation to “it”.
Puck:
I am on day two of the diet. I am 5’3″ and 160. My goal is 130. I lost 3.5 lbs the first day. So far today, I have lost 2 lbs. I weighed because I think I am loosing too quickly. Should I add another meal? Thanks!
If you’ll note my graphs from my medifast runs the first few days you’ll lose weight very quickly. This is just “water weight” and soon your loss will level out to something more reasonable. After you go off Medifast you might actually regain that water weight quite quickly if you don’t do a proper transition phase.
hi there, I ran across your website trying to get info about athletes and Medifast. I ordered the package and realize now that I can’t get my body into ketosis. I’m a aerobic instructor and personal trainer. I have about 3 days a week that I do from 1-2 hours of exercise. Any idea if the 45min exercise limit is every day or if it can be applied as an average time during the week?
Let me back up here, and apologies in advance for being blunt: What does an aerobic instructor and personal trainer need with Medifast? The diet is for fast loss of large amounts of weight for people who are overweight. It is not at all suited for getting rid of the last few “vanity pounds” for those that are already in shape.
As for the exercise, if you’re going to keep doing Medifast with it you’re really going to have to ask your doctor about that. For people working out regularly (and those who have already lost big weight with Medifast and want to look even better) I’d strongly suggest Body For Life.
I have 120 lbs to lose and was thinking about medifast. I have a vacation planned in 7 months that I will be doing alot of walking alot! and I don’t want to be too weak. So should i stop before i go. I will be gone for 2 weeks. And should i order from online, store or where would be best?
No, walking should be just fine. The only real problem is extended intense exercise, so walking should not be a problem.
I ordered from Medifast’s online store. I know some people got it directly through their doctor and saved some money that way, though mine doesn’t offer it.
Hi!
I printed off some recipes for the “lean and green meal” Some of the these recipes call for low fat shredded cheese or low fat miracle whip. Is this okay? I did not see these on the condiment list…By the way your wife is right about mixing the hot chocolate…It was completely lumpless!
Also…If I add more salsa the 1 tbsp would that cause me to skip out of ketosis? I love ii as a condiment on anything.
Thanks Again!
Tammy
Hi,
I’m 23 and post-baby. I have 40-50 lbs to lose that I gained while on Depo (birth control shot) prior to getting pregnant, so I ordered Medifast yesturday. I was doing Weight Watcher’s for 5 weeks (being very strict about it) and didn’t lose anything, so I hope this will work for me. I take forever to lose, but on the upside I don’t gain very fast–unless I’m on Depo!:(.
I know the “food” is going to be disgusting–I would eat crap if it meant I would lose weight and be thin again!-but what I’m concerned about is after the diet. I don’t want to regain the weight I’ve lost! But I don’t want to have to eat Medifast for the rest of my life either. Is it really that easy to regain if you’re being careful?
Your success is inspirational and you look great!
Shannon
Small amounts of low fat cheese or low fat miracle whip are probably just fine. I use it myself. You’ll probably also be fine with a bit more salsa, but remember that the key to Medifast is really restricting your intake, so loosening that restriction may cause problems. You’d also be surprised how little of a flavourful addition to a meal it takes to really taste good.
Cheese used to be one of my big weaknesses, and when I put it on something I’d put a LOT on, but with Medifast I kept it to just a small amount of shredded low-fat cheese and was really surprised how good things like steamed veggies tasted with only a little cheese on them rather than my usual drowning of them in fatty cheese sauce!
If you really must have a regular amount of extra condiments, tell yourself you’re trading off a snack that Medifast would normally allow you in exchange for it. That’s what my wife did and it worked well for her.
Shannon: The food isn’t disgusting! Some of it is actually downright tasty, and even the stuff I don’t like I’d say is just bland. But as mentioned several times here most of it is very easy to spicce up with absolutely no addition of calories. Garlic-pepper (make your own from just mixing granulated garlic and ground pepper rather than buying it premade which contains a lot of salt) works wonders in many of the soups, and a bit of ground cinnamon makes even the super-bland (to me) vanilla taste pretty good.
As for regaining afterwards, I’ve certainly done it, though not to anywhere near where I started. Medifast, being a business, is very happy to tell you that you can just keep doing Medifast a few months a year to maintain your weight loss, which I guess can work if you’re lazy.
What I found was that the absolute cessation of eating bad foods and no snacking at all during my Medifast runs really got rid of my bad snacking habit, and realizing that a “lean and green” meal can be totally tasty helped me eat a lot healthier afterwards. My downfall has always been the Xmas holidays because my mother fills her hous with snacks and candy and pressures everyone to eat, and I just can’t resist. Aside from that, it’s not too difficult with proper diet and a bit of exercise to maintain a lower weight.
If you’d really like to go from “not fat” to “looking amazing” and you’re up for some really hard but rewarding work, you can switch to Body For Life after finishing up Medifast. It’s hard work, but as you can see really pays off. But if that’s not for you, just eat right and get a bit of exercise in when you can!
Thanks for your response. It was a little disheartening that everyone believes that if you are physically active you can’t also be overweight. My current weight is 192 and yes I teach aerobics and personal train. The overworking of the body w/o adequate intake is what got me to this current weight. I appreciate you making some type of attempt at answering my question.
I’ll say it again: you should look into Body For Life (that’s a link — I’ll try to fix the link colouring in comments as I just noticed they’re not showing up coloured or underlined).
The only reasons I can think of for a person who does 1-2 hours of exercise 3 days a week to be overweight are ihcredibly terrible diet, or some kind of gladular problem.
The latter is far rarer than overweight people claim. I used to say the same damned thing as so many others: “I’m not fat, I’m just a big guy”. Look at that shot at 170lbs above and then shout “BULLSHIT!” at the old fat me. What a dummy he was.
Body For Life is a great program for people who are able to get in regular exercise.
Hi Puck,
I’ve been on plan with Medifast for nearly 2 weeks and I’m suffering from fatique…big time! I’ve stayed away from any sort of physical activity so I can’t blame that. Some days not as bad as others but overall I’m tired all the time. Will this pass eventually, as long as I stick with it?
It sounds like you’re not in Ketosis. You should see your doctor and/or buy some “Ketostix” from your local pharmacy to check that yourself. You may be taking in too many or too little calories, so seeing a doctor is your best bet.
Another cause could be that you’re not drinking enough water. If you are in Ketosis, your body has a lot of toxins to flush out because of all the fat it’s burning, and if you don’t get enough water you don’t flush it all out and it stays in your body and makes you feel like crap.
is there any artificial sweetners like splenda in the shakes?
I’m drinking 3L of water day. I would think that would be enough. I log all my food and follow the medifast plan 100%….I measure out my Lean & greeen to the exact amount. I’ve noticed my calorie intake is never about 900 calories…maybe thats why. I’ll definitely get those “Ketostix’s” and see where I’m at. Thanks for the input.
The shakes are actually fructose sweetened, surprisingly. You can go to the Medifast site, click on a food item and then click “Download Nutrition Facts” to get a listing of ingredients. Here they are for the Strawberry Creme shake:
Wow! You have beautiful, sexy results! With no excess skin and you even have muscle definition on your stomach! You look so much younger! Awesome! I gotta question for you. Im 5″6′, 165 pounds and i wanna lose about 25 pounds. The problem is im a student and i work as an EMT 3 times a week. I work long shifts like 12-14 hrs a day and im almost always on the road(until we make a stop at where we are going). I lift heavy patients all day. My question is did you have to use the microwave a lot? Also, i have a strong weakness for rice(fried rice, curry rice, wild rice, white rice, love it all!). How did you beat your weakness cuz it seems impossible for me righ now! By the way, you look sexy..
The only time I microwave is for my “Lean and Green” meal, and that depends on what I’m having. Often I’ll microwave a can of green beans to go with my grilled chicken. The shakes only require water straight from the tap, and the bars not even that.
I just beat temptation by recognizing that Medifast doesn’t work if you don’t do it 100%. If you cheat by eating that rice you won’t get into Ketosis and you won’t get the results you want. When you look at it that way, you “just do it”.
I started Medifast – but got the (excuse this) farts and wet farts – like gross ones. Did that happen to you? I want to do this to get off the excess weight, but I’m not sure I can do it and have a working life with all the gas.
Thanks.
I think I had that for a short time on my first Medifast run, but it didn’t last very long. Your body is adjusting to a much smaller food intake, so some odd things can happen during the changing period.
If it continues it could a symptom of some other problem, and I’d talk to a doctor about it.
I’ve been on Medifast for 2 months and have lost 28 pds!! Lost lots of inches! I have 22 more pounds to go before I complete my goal. I was wondering what you thought about eating a few pork skins replacing a snack. Not the whole bag:) it has about 400mg of sodium.
Not being American (I’m in Canada!) I can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating pork rinds. They sound both disgusting and tasty, but I really can’t see eating even a few on Medifast being a good idea for a snack. They’re around 1/3rd fat!
From Calorie-count.com, it says a 1/2 oz serving has 80 calories. That’s as much as a Medifast shake which counts as a MEAL not a snack!
On top of all that I think that eating something that’s truly a bad-for-you comfort food, even in tiny amounts would mean you’re not losing your “bad snacks” habit while on Medifast and would be in very big danger of simply relapsing.
As for the sodium count, I’m not convinced sodium is a problem when you’re drinking as much water as you do on Medifast. I’ve never worried about my sodium intake as much as caloric & fat intake anyway.
I am going to try to loose weight and was not sure if the medifast diet actually worked, but i think you are proof
Thank you so much for this blog!
I wish i knew how to get it cheaper tho
lol
puck: just wanted to let you know that you were my inspiration for starting medifast. I am 2 inches taller than you but started at the same weight as you and have used your website as a guide in my weight loss journey. i have been on about 10 weeks now and have lost 44 lbs.
My plots even look like yours with the fluctutaion and everything. how are you doing these days and what is your maintenace weight and how many calories per day are you consuming?
scott
Puck,
I bought medifast off of ebay. I used to go to a Dr. for Medifast, but the guy was a quack. He usually had a nurse see me, weigh me, and then ask how many more boxes I needed. Is there any side affects? Long term use safe?
Hey puck, amazing results to start of with. I just started mine yesterday and so far so good. The food tastes good to me, and I am not hungry at all. My only concern is the number of times i need to eat. I do the 5 and 1, but if I wake up at 11 a.m like this morning, and have my first meal at noon, mathematically every three hours, my first meal will be at midnight and I am usually at sleep at that time. Does it mean that medifast won’t work for me? Please let me know
Ismael: Wow, 11 hours of sleep! You’ve even got me beat — I slept a LOT back when I was quite overweight, but it got better after I lost it.
Your “lean and green” (the “1″ in “5 and 1″ doesn’t have to be the last of the day, and if you’re not up long enough to space them out over three hours, make it around two and a half hours. I am a late-riser myself, preferring to work late, and if I got up at 11 and had to be to bed early I’d eat on a schedule something like this:
11:00 Medifast Oatmeal
1:45 Shake
3:30 Bar
6:00 Lean and Green
8:45 Shake
11:00 Shake
If you do exactly 2:45 between meals you’ll have your last one exactly 12 hours later. This shouldn’t effect Medifast’s effectiveness at all.
John: Sorry, didn’t see your comment so I’m replying months late. There can be safety issues with any low calorie diet, and I’d strongly suggest finding a new doctor to monitor you while on Medifast.
This such a great site! I’m so happy that you are keeping it running all these years. I did Medifast a couple of years ago and lost 21 lbs in 5 weeks. I went off of it because I just didn’t have any energy (after the first 2 weeks) and wanted food. LOL Now I’m thinking about trying it again. I have a lot to lose (150 lbs) and hope I will have a better time with it this time.
Understand. Maybe I will just get a new Doc. I am off and on again with this diet. It is hard for me because I travel a lot with my job. However, I think I’m going to try it again and just make my shakes with bottled water.
My biggest problem is at night. I get VERY VERY hungry around 7:30 pm. What should I eat? Celery? Suggestions?
The way my Doc set up the program with me was four shakes a day and a very light lunch (usually a piece of chicken and a small salad). I lose a ton of weight, but it is hard to sustain.
Also, for whomever else reads this that likes beer, Miller just came out with a beer that is 64 calories and 2.6 grams of carbs. I don’t think you are going to catch much of a buzz, but it is nice to have something in your hand when you are on a diet and still want a social life.
Thanks for the advice Puck.
John
Joe,
Like so many others..your blog has been the clincher for me. I still have trouble even thinking about spending 300.00 for a month’s Medifast right now. I can eat “regular” food more cheaply than that… but look what it’s done for me so far.
Thanks for the motivation and for paving the road ahead of us.
ok… just submitted my order for the 4 Week Program on the website. I used MEDISAVE coupon code and got 50.00 off the order….I paid the extra 10.00 to expedite the order with MediFast, to bump it to the head of the que (hmmmm) and 25.00 for 3-4 day shipping.
I’ve got about forty five pounds to lose…so here’s to the first steps of that journey…..again.
Here’s to success!
Jonathan
I tried celery but it didn’t work for me. When I got really hungry — it only tended to be in the first week or so, so maybe it’s because you’re “off and on” a lot — I found chicken broth helped. It doesn’t really have any calories, but the flavour and hot water tended to fool my body enough to get me through it.
But after about a week of Medifast, hunger problems didn’t happen. In fact, I sometimes found I was forgetting it was time to eat!
Joe,
This stuff does really work, but like Puck stated, you can’t go off an on again. I kick myself everytime I do it. This time it has to work. I bought mine off of ebay. 12 boxes for $150 /-delivered. I just need to STAY on it. You will lose the 45 pounds overnight. Just do minimal exercising.
I will try the chicken broth this week. So far so good. I am ending my 2nd day back on it. I just need to make it through the weekend.
Thanks for the advice
John
from Texas
Wow, when I first started reading this I was hoping that this thread would still be active for fall 2008, and it is! I am on day one of medifast, and so far so good. I am not hungry at all. The only thing is, I have soooooooooo much weight to lose..over 200lbs worth! I’ve done everything including working with a personal trainer for 6 months and still hardly any weight loss. I have given birth to 6 children and a lot of my weight came from those pregnancies, thinking that I was eating for two, or three(in the case of my twins). My question to you is this, with having such a restricted amount of calories per day, did you have any problems with having regular bowel movements? I already have trouble with that and have been taking alli to help. I also tried doing the master cleanse diet where I dropped a lot of weight fast, over 70lbs, but regained it PLUS some, once I stopped. I know you heard this before, but thank you so much for taking the time out to answer our questions, sometimes the same questions over and over again. May God bless you and your family always!
With so little solid food being taken in, I didn’t exactly have a “problem” with bowel movements, I just didn’t have them very often. The first person I heard about Medifast from (on the SomethingAwful forums) actually didn’t do the “5 & 1″ but did a “6 and 0″ Medifast where he didn’t even have a lean and green meal. He said that he stopped having bowel movements altogether while doing that.
There’s certainly no constipation. The green portion of your lean-and-green should have enough fiber for the little amount of solid food you’re taking in.
Hi Puck,
Thanks so much for this website. My husband and I started the diet two days ago and so far so good. I have not weighed but he did and is inspired. The first day was hard but day two was much better… question re: vegies in the lean and green. Did you use garlic for flavor? Is that okay – to sautee with PAM and garlic? And is there a difference b/t men and women in the program with regards to intake amounts?
Thanks so much!
Laura from CA
Garlic is a must-have for me. An entire clove of garlic has 5 calories so it won’t make much difference to add some to your veggies. A one second spray of Pam is only 7 calories, so again that should be just fine. I usually steam my veggies and just add some diced garlic or other spices on top. It’s less “roasted” tasting, but still great.
I think the only difference between men & women with Medifast is in the shakes. The men’s shakes tend to have more protein in them. I’m not entirely sure on this answer though, so you might want to ask Medifast themselves!
Thanks so much for your reply. Do you have a good source for lean and green recipes? We are going okay but are going to be having dinner parties during the holidays and need some good recipes….
Thanks again.
PUCK! I went UP a pound….. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT????? YIKES!!!!
Check my graphs. There are a few instances of weight gains, but an overall downward trend. My wife did Medifast and she experienced much larger fluctuations. I believe it’s because women have larger swings in water retension.
Just keep it up. If you look closely, I even have at least one three-day “weight went up and stayed up” mini-plateau. If you stay on it and stay strict, it’ll go back to dropping down.
Human bodies are weird.
Thanks for the encouragment. Overall, after the first week I am down 5lbs and my husband 8lbs…. damn, isn’t that always the way? I am defianatly happy with the 5, just wondering what will happen this week. And, to be honest, I did “cheat” twice, small but I guess that counts. Back at it and looking forward to any good recipes or website for recipes you may have… happy holidays and stay slim. You look great!
ps.. how is your wife’s weight? was she able to keep it off?
Cheating really hurts in Medifast, it’s one of the reasons I liked it. You either do it or you don’t, so you can’t waver.
Both my wife and I kept most of the weight off for over a year, though I’ll admit this last six months has been a bit of decline. Our eating habits have gone sour. On top of that, I don’t have my regular road hockey guys to play with any more, so I’m suffering for exercise.
I’m certainly not back to what I was, but I want to get back down again before I slip any further.
We’ll probably do Medifast again in the new year to drop back down again, and then kick ourselves to stay there longer. I find it pretty easy to keep the good eating habits for quite a while — Medifast is so extreme you lose the “habit” part of the bad eating, but it can sneak back on you after time passes.
I would LOVE to hear what you cheated with… was it salty, sweet, chewy, oooewy, gooewy, and YUMMY??? I am finding myself dreaming of cottage cheese… how desperate is that? Have you tried yoga? or maybe a Wii….. maybe they have Wii road hockey… just a thought.
No, no cheating while on Medifast, I just — after over a year — slipped back into a few bad eating habits after I was off.
I’m pretty sure you could have (low-fat) cottage cheese as the “lean” in your “lean and green” meal once in a while. From a quick google it looks like about one cup is probably the same calories as a chicken breast you’d normally have. It’s not as high in protein, but it’s got enough so you could have it once in a while.
How come the diet does not work if you “cheat”? If one only cheats once a week and it isn’t out of control it would seem you are still burning more calories than you are taking in and would subequently lose weight. Most days are still under 1000 calories – what gives?
thanks…
The key to Medifast is entering and staying in a state of ketosis. It takes a day or two for this to happen and if you cheat enough so that you knock yourself out of it it’ll take another day or two to re-enter it.
Every time you cheat, you’re ruining three days of progress and that completely invalidates the strength of Medifast — fast, easy weight loss.
Also, the “entering ketosis” days *suck*. I don’t know about you, but the first few days of Medifast are miserable. My body wants food, I’m grouchy and constantly watching the clock for “next shake time”. After that part’s over it becomes super easy.
So that’s why you can’t really cheat, and why you really, really shouldn’t cheat.
Hi to all! Love reading this blog! I have lost 32 lbs in the last 8 weeks. I was really sticking to medifast, but to kill the occasional craving, i also incorporated a low carb diet to it. I only do medifast 2x daily and supplement cheese, meat, greens, nuts to my day. This really got me through the holidays!! The days I work, it is easier to do medifast the whole day. This all has been working for me. As Puck said the key is to stay in ketosis. Low carb will do that. I had a salad today though that avacado in it and i didn’t realize it is a fruit!!! Hope this doesn’t hurt. I always thought this fell in the veggie catagory. Well happy dieting in the New Year. I still need to loose 50 more. But…. I will do it and keep it off. How did i gain so much in the first place??
Hey Puck,
Congrats on your awesome results! I’ve lost 30 over 3 months with diet and exercise but the loss has slowed so I’m going to try Medifast now. I’ve got 40 lbs to go. One thing I’ve been curious about, if you don’t mind me asking, is how tall are you? You look awesome at 170-180. Also, do you drink booze very much? My weight loss has had a lot more spikes (like your days after road hockey) and I’m wondering if it because of drinking or maybe just that your calories were more consistent. Thanks!
I do drink, but not when on Medifast. One ounce of even a clear alcohol like vodka has 80 calories. A couple of drinks can totally kick you out of ketosis, so you just have to go without for a while.
Be careful getting back into it when you’re off Medifast — yowza it can hit hard when you haven’t had a drink in a few months and you don’t have the fat to spread it around in any more!
Congrats…questions…did you ever have preztel rod, potato chip or sneak something occasionally. Was it religously done? My questions result in my own experainces..I too was on medifast lost 30lbs and it was so hard to do becuase of everyone else eating scrupcious things in front of me. Went off it and gained the weight right back. Only did it for 3 months. Can you please let me know what you did to overcome the little things and stick it our for a year …. Or was it just will power? Thanks you look great !
No, I didn’t sneak anything. Read my comment a few earlier — cheating wrecks the Ketosis and makes it not work, so you’re doing Medifast for LONGER, which sucks MORE than not having an occasional “treat”.
And honestly, the Chocolate Mint bars were a treat for me. Those were amazingly good.
Three months should be plenty, but you certainly do need to have a plan when you’re off Medifast. The first thing you should do is definitely ease out of it. If you start eating regular food too quickly your body will just store it (as fat). Do the full transition period.
Afterwards, you have to eat right and get some exercise. I found Medifast was great for getting rid of my snacking habit, so that didn’t come back for me and that helped a lot. I’ve gained a bit of weight back, but it’s taken a few years, so I might do Medifast again to give myself that kickstart. I don’t like having to do that though, and I don’t think it’s something anyone should plan on.
Hi Puck – Good job!
I did Medifast from Oct. 8 to December 10th and lost 38 pounds. It was easy. I went off it for the holidays and gained 10 back, but I ate like a pig for a whole month, so I’m not that upset. I’ve been on it again for one day now and have already lost 3lbs.
My questions:
1) I see you ate green beans a lot? They’re on the higher carb list. Did you always have 3 servings?
2) Not to be gross, but did you pass a lot of gas while on it? My wife is ready to kill me!
3) How about exercise? I go tot he gym a little bit, but not a lot.
4) Any other maintenance tips?
THANKS!
Vivera: I typically ate a can of green beans per lean-and-green, which only has 20 calories.
I was pretty gassy at first, yeah, but I think it got better later on.
I played Road Hockey once per week. It was the “extended exercise” they warn you can’t do — often over two hours — and the only time I took in a few extra calories. If I felt weak, I would take a break and have a little Powerade mixed with water.
Maintenance: Don’t jump back into your bad habits. Recognize what you no longer do out of habit thanks to Medifast’s extreme diet, and recognize that you don’t need big meals to feel satisfied. Drink water when you’re hungry between meals, and keep your meals reasonably balanced in protein/carbs/veggies. If you want to go from your newly “thin” to “buff”, check out Body For Life.
not even a beer?
No, absolutely, positively not. Even the lightest of light beer is 100 calories per bottle!
Can you give an example of your lean n Green meals- I think i might be cheating a little on this- I have a salad with chicken and some times shrimp- please advise-
thanks
Congrats!!! I have completed week 4 and am down 22lbs. (started at 255lbs now at 233lbs. ). I havnt started to “exercise” yet. I was thinking about walking 30 minutes about 4-5 times a week to get in some good cardio. Did you do any muscle toning exercises while on medifast? My concern is loose skin.
I didn’t do much muscle-toning except for road hockey, and I didn’t have any problem with loose skin.
I want to thank you for the patience that you exhibit in responding to all the questions. I’ve been on Medifast for 3 months and have lost 36 pounds. While that doesn’t match with the stellar stories on the Medifast site, it’s better than I’ve done on any other “diet”. Today, your blog inspired me because I have “hit the plateau” which is a bit depressing and you state your wife hit several of those. I haven’t cheated but once (eggnog with brandy at Christmas -YUM!) and to all on this blog – Puck is correct, don’t let yourself get out of ketosis. We’ll see where the next two weeks take me. Hopefully, the plateau won’t last long because I have about 45 more pounds to go. Thanks again!
My main concern is about metabolism. Since this is a VLCD, won’t this slow down your metabolism. What can you do to get it back to speed once you stop on the diet phase and work your way up to transition and maintenance? Or is this something that I’ll have to deal with forever?
Medifast doesn’t lower your metabolism much — that’s the point of hitting ketosis.
However, transition can be difficult. Medifast suggests taking two weeks to bring yourself back to a regular diet, but I admit I was never able to do that.
I found maintenance pretty easy at first because a big problem of mine had been snacking and being on Medifast for a few months broke me of that bad habit. After that’s gone it’s just a matter of eating decent sized healthy meals and getting some exercise. Of course, Medifast says you can just go on Medifast a few months a year to lose any weight you regain, but I’m not a big fan of that idea. I think it’s better to use Medifast as your “big fast weight loss” and then use your new self-esteem (and newly-lost bad habits!) to eat right and exercise.
Now if only I’d take my own advice…
Hey Puck,
How much muscle did you actually lose? I saw the pics, but it’s hard to gauge. Plus, the body fat features on home scales aren’t very accurate. Did you feel like you lost a lot of muscle and strength?
By the way, I have a tip for you and others. You mentioned that the it really sucked the first 2 days after you started the diet. Well, I started last week, and it was painless. Basically, I replaced 1 meal with 2-3 medifast meals, and did that for a few days. Then, I replaced the second meal and started doing the 5-1 thing. I guess easing into the diet reduces the shock.
I thought for sure I’d be starving, but I’m actually less hungry and have more energy, though it’s not enduring energy as you’ve said. The body is frickin’ weird, isn’t it? Anyways, the weight has started to drop off again so I’m stoked! Thanks for the inspiration, Puck.
I don’t think I lost much muscle at all. When I started going to the gym after I went off Medifast I was lifting about as much as I had before. On top of that my cardio was much better than it had been.
Hi Puck,
Much encouraged by all of this – well done! I started about 13 days ago and in the first week it was all good – lost 6lbs. First few days of the second week I lost a further 3lbs but then I started putting weight on! I am following the 5 & 1 religiously and haven’t read of anyone else actually putting weight on. Did you have this and do you have any suggestions? Thanks
Look at my own graph of weight loss. Among the steady downward decline are a few instances of increases and plateaus. Just keep it up, your weight loss will continue.
Hi Puck, I have just started the medifast diet and was wondering if it was ok to mix a taco seasoning pack with either ground turkey or lean ground beef just to add some flavor? Thanks so much
Seasoning in general should be fine. Just check to make sure it doesn’t have sugar in it — some of the cheaper pre-mixed seasonings have it, adding unwanted calories. I tend to make my own seasoning mixes now to ensure they’re fine — equal parts cumin, oregano, half as much salt, and 1/3rd as much cayenne seems to be a good mix. I got that from this excellent Texas-Style Chili recipe (skip the suet, use lean beef, of course) which I make quite a bit. Beanless chili! Lean for your “lean and green” and wife-friendly (“gasless”).
I have a question.
You mentioned earlier in this thread that you knew someone who did a 6 & 0 rather than 5 & 1 plan. I’m getting my wisdom teeth out on Monday, so I should be on liquids for a few days. Would you say that it’s okay to do 6 & 0 (for about three days, until my wisdom teeth heal) and then switch to 5 & 1 from then on? Or will that just be bad for my body?
Thank you!
That’s really a question for your doctor. I have no idea about the effects from a “6 & 0″ Medifast diet. I normally don’t see the need as the 5 & 1 works just great and at least *feels* a lot safer.
If it was me, I’d stick to the 5 & 1 and just find a “soft” version of a lean-and-green that didn’t require much chewing. If that’s not for you, definitely check with your doctor first.
Hey Puck,
Did your hunger increase as you approached your target weight of 170?
I started Medifast about 5 weeks ago and have lost 22 pounds in that time. Overall, I’ve lost 56 pounds in the last 5 months. I’m now within 20 pounds of my goal weight (also 170). During the first month, I had no problems with hunger but in the past week, I’ve noticed I am still hungry after a medifast meal.
By the way, I want to share a tip from my doctor with others. He said that I should start increasing my calories as I get to about 10-15 pounds of my goal weight because my body will start tearing down muscle more as it has less fat to use for energy. He said to bump it up to 1200 calories when I have about 15 pounds left and then 1600 when I have 5-10 pounds left. I’m not sure how that would affect the mild ketosis, but that’s what he suggested.
I don’t remember getting any hungrier as I approached my target weight, just excited. As easy as Medifast is to do, I was looking forward to getting off it.
While I can understand the logic behind what your doctor is advising, it does seem to fly in the face of what I know about ketosis. If your body is burning muscle instead of fat, that means you’re out of ketosis and into starvation mode, so I suppose you could track it with the “ketosis strips” that I’ve heard you can buy.
I didn’t have any such problems, nor have I heard anyone else mentioning that tactic, but he is a doctor and I’m not.
Hello,
first off I wanna say your progress amazes me. Second I’ve always wanted to visit Canada, so I’m pretty jealous. I’ve met some pretty cool Canadians in my life, and I’ve heard great things about the scenery. Ok, onto the subject at hand, I’ve been on MF for 3 days, and I got real dizzy after an intense 15 minute walk yesterday on my break at work. I know 15 minutes isn’t long, so I was kinda worried, but I’m in South Florida and even at 9am, it was very hot! I think that mixed with the dizzines that may occur while on MF were the culprits. After reading your many posts, I feel better knowing that you also got a little dizzy from time to time in the first few days and that it didn’t last the entire time, because I hate that feeling. I did eat a chicken and rice soup sooner than I’d planned, because of what they said on MF.com, and I felt 100% better afterwards. I’m saving this page in my favorites, because the last hour of scanning it has been so inspiring. Thanks for all of your advice and congrats on you and your wife’s success!
You’re very lucky Puck, in regards to your skin. I also started out around 245 and my goal is 170. After getting down to 187, I noticed the other day that my furry belly has been masking some problems. I shaved to get a better look and now it looks like I’m part Sharpei in the gut. I freaked out and got off Medifast, thinking maybe if I slow down, my skin will catch up. I was extremely excited at the idea of being ready for summer with a sleak new build. C’est la vie.
From everything I’ve read, loose skin problems are very rare and usually have another cause. The human skin should be able to keep up with Medifast weight loss pretty easily, as long as you’re decently moisturized and don’t have some other mitigating problem.
If you’re really worried about it, I’d suggest using a moisturizing cream every day (one with SPF protection is a good idea anyway!) and exercise can help put some muscle in the places you’re losing fat.
Hmmm. From everything I’ve read, loose skin is a pretty common problem having to do with the elasticity of the individual’s skin due to all kinds of factors including age, genetics, amount of weight lost, how long the person was overweight, and how fast the weight was lost. Seems like you have some good genes regarding skin elasticity. I think my problem had a lot to do with the fact that I lost 30 pounds (dropped from 215 to 185) in the eight weeks I was on Medifast. My skin just couldn’t keep up.
Also, it seems that all the creams (like cocoa butter and the like) are all hype and don’t really tighten the skin. As you pointed out, one with SPF is still a good idea. The only natural solutions are time and a diet rich in things like omega 3 which are good for the skin. Other than that, it’s a tummy tuck or this fairly new laser treatment (both expensive). Also, your suggestion to continuse exercise is sound I’m planning to do this to get more tone. All this info is based off research and talking to my doctor.
I gotta say, it really took the wind out my sails though as I had these delusions that I would be sporting a 6-pack this summer. At this point, I just need to keep pushing forward and accept the fact that I’ve damaged my body and will never be able to look like I did when I was 20.
Anyways, you inspired me a lot Puck and I really appreciate you blog and your responses. Thanks.
Hey Puck,
I have a couple more questions for you, if you don’t mind. First, why did you do two seperate Medifast runs? Do they recommend you not do Medifast for more than 3-4 months or something? Second, did you even have any stretch marks after you were done? If so, how did they improve over time?
Thanks,
Damon
My first Medifast run my target weight was 200 lbs. I actually thought that — despite my height and BMI indicating I should be at MOST 180 lbs — that 200 lbs was reasonable because “I’m a big guy”. After hitting it, I knew I was wrong, and planned to do another run after some time off.
I’m not sure if there’s a limit to doing Medifast, but as easy as it is I wouldn’t want to be on it for all that long.
I didn’t get any stretch marks at all. I don’t smoke, I’m not all that old (mid-30′s when I started Medifast) and got a decent amount of exercise and had no problems whatsoever.
I wouldn’t worry about stretch marks. My brother-in-law is covered in scars from a fire when he was a child but is in amazing shape and the ladies don’t mind at all. Once they get to the point where they can see such minor problems it should be too late for them to care.
And I certainly wouldn’t worry about loose skin. If you google for it, it just takes time. People who get surgery to get rid of it are just doing so to accelerate the process.
It seems that far more people are worried about loose skin than actually get the problem. You obviously did, but nobody else I’ve been in touch with doing Medifast has actually had the problem, though you may notice a lot of people asking about it in the comments here.
I think for many people it’s a way to look for an excuse not to lose the weight, and that’s a real shame.
Agreed, I’d rather be healthy with loose skin than overweight. However, if losing weight slower does in fact minimize the loose skin I’ll end up with, than I’d rather do that. As you implied, I just need to be patient. Thanks again.
Puck,
I wanted to know how did you decide how much weight you needed to lose or that you were at your “goal weight” This question is also for anyone else that has completed the program. At a certain point does your body just stop losing weight and then you know or did you have a thought out weight.
I hope to start the prgram in the first part of May. I plan to order the variety package to start and figure out which foods I like and then order from Ebay after that since they have a large selection of foods for much less.
Like everyone else, my main concern is maintaining the weight I will lose on the program. I spoke with a coach about workign out during the program and she said if I’m already working out then to keep it LOW intensity like taking the dogs out for a leisurely (as long as they don’t walk you) walk three times a week would be find but nothing high intensity. I will do that and probably some abs here and there.
My last question is: does your wife have a blog that kepy that we coudl read to see how a woman viewed the program and how she views the maintenance?
Thanks for having a great site and for answering the questions.
Melinda
First of all, I’d like to thank you very much for offering endless advice regarding Medifast. I just started last week and I am encouraged by reading your blog. I lost 9.5 pounds in one week. My start weight is 190 and my goal is 125. It isnt easy changing bad eating habits, but I am trying hard to learn how to watch my portions and eat healthier.
I have one question regarding lean and green meals. You mentioned that you just open a can and microwaved it. Did you rinse the beans at all? I just find canned beans a bit too salty and was wondering if the sodium content would increase water retention thus leading to less weight loss.
Again, thank you for this informative and inspirational blog. I found the first week on Medifast was quite easy, convenient and surprisingly tasty. (except for the oatmeal which I will not order again) Keep posting and I look forward to reading your response in regards to the beans.
Melinda:
My initial goal weight of 200lbs was just a guess, really. I graduated high school at 210 lbs and always thought of myself as a “big guy” even though I’m just shy of 5’11″. In my head I thought that under 200lbs wasn’t possible for “a guy like me”.
I was *wrong*. I hit 200lbs and saw how much further I had to go. You can see from the “final” photo on this first run compared to my *last* run is huge.
The second target of 170 lbs was based on BMI. At my height, anything over 180lbs is “overweight” and 170 seemed like a reasonable target, so I chose that.
Your coach is totally right — you can (and probably should) exercise a bit on Medifast, but keep it low intensity. Your body simply won’t have access to much “fast” energy and forcing it is not a good idea.
My wife has a blog at http://www.holycow.com/mel/ but hasn’t blogged about Medifast. She’s currently having some other (personal) medical problems that we’re working through — that have lead to some weight gain — and after that’s dealt with she wants to do Medifast again and I’m sure will blog about it there.
jamerss:
I didn’t rinse the beans, no. I’m not sure that lessened weight loss due to water retention is anything to worry about — it’s just water weight and usually fluctuates a lot anyway. If you weigh a few pounds more because there’s more water in your body it’s not like you’re not as healthy as if you didn’t have the water.
Puck,
Thanks for answering my previous question.
I have another question for you and if you could ask your wife and pass her answer along. My question is when you finished the transition phase did you and do you still find it hard to maintain? Do you still think alot about the “old overweight you” versus the new you? I would like your wife’s answer also because there could be a difference between men and women for this question.
I was reading a weight loss forum that had people that had done Medifast and they had a section on maintenance and to me it was all about how hard it is for them to maintain. I was looking I suppose to more about how they were maintaining such as what type of foods they were eating and the types of exercise. I found what they wrote to be negative.
Is there any advice or tips you have on ways of making maintaining easier? I know you have to exercise and I don’t have an issue with that. Also, I don’t live wehre my family lives and I don’t go home for holidays because I don’t like traveling at holidays so I do mine in the summer in conjuncton with my niece’s birthday. I’m not a snacker. I do love breads and pasta’s, however, I already eat whole grain and wheat of these things.
Also, is there anything you’d suggest for me to be doing now before I start the program that will help me once I start the program?
OK…I think that is it for this round of questions!!
Thanks again,
Melinda
Hey Melinda,
I know you asked Puck, but here is my experience. I lost about 60 lbs and transitioned off of Medifast when I started to see loose skin. I wanted to slow it down and give my skin a chance to catch up. I’ve still got about 20 lbs until my target weight of 170. For me, it was easy to transition off of Medifast. I gained back only 2-3 lbs in the first few days, and that is probably just water since I’m eating more carbs. I’ve only been off a month but maintaining has been easy. Just don’t go back to your old lifestyle or you will regain. I still exercise 2-4 days a week with cardio and strength training. I eat a lot less junk food than I used to and I try to keep up the veggie intake. I still do the lean and green meals a few times a week. I’ll get a pizza, but only eat half of it and eat some veggies with it too. It’s really as simple as excercising along with smaller and healthier portions of food. Good luck!
Damon,
Thank you for your response. That is what I was thinking that if you exercise and keep up good eating habits it should not be to hard. I’m not a junk food person, so, that part will be easy for me. Right now before I start the program and I am getting used to eating steamed veggies and trying different recipes for my lean and green meal and the major thing I have a problem with is drinking enough water. So, I’m working on that now to get me ahead of the game.
Thanks again for your response.
Melinda
Hey Puck. Congrats on your success. I am considering going on Medifast again. I have been very successful in the past, but have never, ever been successful at maintaining weight loss. Body is hurting now, and have to take some weight off it. Do you know of a current (2009)Medifast support group on the Web?
Thanks. Keep up the good fight. It only gets harder as you get older.
P.
Congrats on your wonderful accomplishment. I started on June 10. My weight loss is slow.
I’ve lost 18 pounds. I think I might be exercising too much. I’ve been doing 30-40 minutes every other day on the elliptical. I’m wondering if this is why my weight loss is so slow.
I am also in my mid 50s and of course weight loss for older women is always slower.
Also … did you have trouble with constipation and if so what product did you use to alleviate it.
thank you.
18 pounds in two months isn’t so bad!
If the exercise is too much it’ll push you past ketosis and into starvation. I’d look into getting some “ketosis strips” and making sure you’re actually in it.
I wouldn’t call it constipation, but with taking in so little solid food on Medifast you tend to not have as many bowel movements. I ate a lot of broccoli for my “lean and green” so I was getting a good amount of fiber. The guy I heard about Medifast from was on the 6-0 plan, only having six shakes a day and no “lean and green”. He said that after a week or so he stopped having bowel movements altogether!
Hi Puck!
My question is, are you allowed to have coffee on this diet? I can’t really imagine going without my cup of coffee in the morning (which I usually have with 2 Splenda and a little half and half). My first box of food is on the way (I opted to start with just one week’s supply to see if I can stomach the food because I’ve heard mixed things about it) I figure if I like the food on Day 1, I’ll go ahead and order a 4-week variety pack (which hopefully will arrive before Week 2 begins!) Anyway, since I only ordered 5 boxes of food, I don’t think I’ll be getting any “getting started” guide, hence the coffee question. Thanks, and congrats on your success!
Coffee is allowed, though they say you should limit yourself to three caffeinated beverages a day.
Hi Puck, You did an awesome job on weight loss!!
I am doing medifast right now, and was wondering if you could trade a meal for an alcoholic
beverage without going out of ketosis? THanks again for your blog, it is very helpful.
I’m seeking to get a multivitamin. I’m desiring to get a liquid vitamin. Is there a very good product or far better place to buy them from. Any aid will be greatly appreciated.
I’m getting ready to start the Medifast diet and plan on utilizing the Body For Life Work out while I’m on the diet. Any thoughts as to this plan?
That’s a terrible idea! Medifast is a very low calorie diet while Body For Life is a hardcore workout diet. You can’t do Body For Life without a decent amount of calories — you’d put your body into starvation mode.
If you have a lot of weight to lose fast, do Medifast to lose it. THEN do Body For Life to get muscle/definition.
Right now I’m just doing calorie counting using http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ — eat less calories than you can expend, it’s that simple.
Pingback: Calories In - Calories OutJoe Fulgham
I found your site while searching real results of the Medifast plan. I have read that heavy exercising is definitely not encourage while on the diet plan, but what are your thoughts of starting it while working at a fairly active full time job? I have a lot of bending, lifting, and holding in my daily job (vet assistant), but it apparently isn’t enough activity for me to loose weight. =( What are your thoughts? Thanks, and congrats on your success!!
You’ll be fine. It’s extended intense exercise that you just can’t do on Medifast. Regular work day stuff should be fine, but I’d definitely talk with your doctor about your specific needs.
I love reading all you have to say! You are so knowledgable and nice to take time out of your day to help people. I have a question that I will try to ask in a way that it actually makes sense. I have ordered Medifast and I am waiting for it to arrive. I want to lose max weight fast but I am still confused about the working out part. I know you shouldn’t exercise too much since we aren’t taking in that many calories on this diet and you could enter starvation mode. I know that but it still confuses me. You said earlier in your posts, “Eat less calories than you can expend.” So, if I am eating 800-1000 calories in a day and I burn 400 calories is that a bad thing since I am still taking in more calories than I am burning? I just need someone to break this concept down for me because obviously it just goes over my head. Thank you so much for all your tips.
Jessica
When you’re on Medifast you’re already eating less than you expend. If you do much exercise you’ll end up eating so much less that your body will start eating muscle instead of fat to get the energy it needs. That’s “starvation mode”.
“Eating less than you expend” has to include your BMR, or “Base Metabolic Rate”. That’s the amount of calories your body needs every day just to do the basics of pumping blood and breathing and moving around a moderate amount and all that. Your BMR can be calculated here and it’s based on your height, weight, age, and sex.
You can even use this to estimate your weight loss. 1 lb. of fat is 3500 calories, both as intake and burn. If you eat 3500 calories less than your BMR in a week, you’ll lose a pound of fat. That’s how weight loss happens. Medifast puts you as low as you can go in this calories in vs. calories out fight.
At the 900-1000 calories that Medifast gives you you are probably at least a thousand calories under your BMR. That’s 7000 less calories per week and is two pounds of fat.
Adding exercise on top of that adds calories burned to your BMR. So if you have a BMR of 2200 calories and go for an hour long jog and burn 500 then your body needs 2700 calories that day. If you’re still eating just Medifast then your body will run at a 1500 calorie deficit which would be enough to kick it into starvation mode. And as noted, in starvation mode your body eats muscle for energy instead of fat. That’s not just bad because you’re not losing fat, but because it releases toxins into your body and you’ll feel terrible.
If you want to exercise on Medifast you’re going to have to figure out the calories you burn and eat that much more in calories that day. If you don’t, you risk starvation mode and disaster for your fat loss.
What great results! Were you able to keep it off? I’m on day 4, now, and I’ll admit- I’m not having an easy time of it. That’s why I’m browsing online right now, trying to keep myself motivated. I’m also keeping a blog, and plan on doing weekly video weigh ins. My blog is http://www.weightlossinsandiego.com . If you’d consider doing a guest post, that’d be great!! Thanks for the inspiration! Cheers! Sandi