Medifast Weight Loss and Grilling Tips

Well, the official start of summer is upon us.  There are some great outdoor meals ahead for a lot of us, but they don't have to be fatal to your weight loss.  If you lose the bun, you can pretty much enjoy grilling out with your family and friends as before.  Watch the portions of the meat and pile on the veggies.  Here are a few grilling tips for you:

1)  Be careful with the temperature of the meat.  Make sure things are cooked well, but not blackened.  There is a debate about the risk of charred meats.

2)  Also, try to avoid high flames.  The smoke from the flames comes right back to the burgers.  Again, there is a debate about the carcinogenic effects here.  Granted, the flames are part of the thrill (for many guys, anyway), but don't try to overdo it!

 Happy Memorial Day!  Try to remember those for whom we celebrate this holiday and all those in service today.

How does Medifast Taste?

One of the questions that often comes up is how does the Medifast food taste?  Being that you are going to eat their weight loss meals for 5 of the six times a day that you do eat, it is an important question.  To recap briefly, the plan is to eat what they often call supplements, which are their food replacements, every 2-3 hours, and then have one "lean and green" meal each night.  Actually, you can have the meal anytime you want, but most people make that dinner with the family; although you could use that if you have a lunch meeting or appointment.

So, in my opinion, the weight loss supplements are average, but given the results, they are more than adequate.  Tasty enough to stick with it.  The shakes are mixed with water, not milk, so you can forget the rich, creamy image of a shake that may come to mind.  They have a number of flavors and most are ok, so long as you accept the fact that it's, well, watery.  Tip: don't let it sit for too long.  If you have a meeting at 10:00, don't leave the 1/2 empty cup there to come back to at 11.  The hour will made the shake mix and water separate, and it's not an appetizing result.

Beyond shakes, you can have pudding, bars, soups, and oatmeal.  The oatmeal is a little bland, but ok.  Try some splenda in there.  The rest of the food is good.  Not outstanding, but good.  Use the official web site and tools to find out how people mix and match to make the supplements more interesting. 

By the way, if you are comparision shopping for a fast, meal replacement weight loss diet, in my humble opinion, the supplements are far, far, better tasting than Nutrisystem.  That was a painful experience.  We didn't last one week on that plan...

Medifast is not for the weak dieter

If you are considering Medifast for fast weight loss, on the surface, it sounds great.  Just eat five of their meals, which can be shakes, chocolate bars, pudding, soup and some other options, plus one "lean and green" meal, and the fat melts away.  At a basic level, this is all true.  When you get started, one of the first surprises is that 7 oz. of lean chicken or turkey is a surprisingly large amount of meat, and life seems good.  The weight falls off, and you can report a 5, 10 or even more loss in the first week (mine was 11.5).

And then the first weekend challenge arrives.  It may be the ball game, it may be Friday night happy hour, or your kid's birthday.  Whatever it is, it is NOT Medifast friendly.  So you figure, heck, I've lost some weight, and some people have noticed, so I'm feeling pretty good.  I'll have just a small piece of cake, or some of grandma's potato salad, and then get back on the diet tomorrow.

Suppose you do pretty well, you don't go overboard for the party, and it's back to shakes on Monday.  But by midday, you feel terrible.  The headache is slowing you down, you feel like you could eat the cafeteria at work, and the three hour gap between meals feels like 3 years.  The week's weight loss is slim or non-existent.

What happened?

The weight loss success in Medifast is in the method of burning off the excess carbs so your body turns to the fat stores for energy.  The first three days are an adjustment period when you are getting rid of lots of carbs that are so much a part of our diets.  That's one reason why you visit the restroom so often- the carbs are releasing a lot of water.  After the adjustment, the fat stores start depleting, and the weight loss is, at times, amazing.

When you cheat, even a little, especially with lots of carbs, your body is taking what you give it and in effect, saying, 'thanks for the carbs!  I can now stop burning my fat reserves and use this!  More, more more!'  When you get back on the diet, the tension between what your body wants and what you are giving it is the adjustment period.  Again.

Don't get me wrong.  Medifast is the fastest weight loss program I've ever encountered.  The start of beach season is two months away and you could be down 35-50 pounds by then!  If you are strong, and ready for a change, do it.  But do it right, and be committed.  Pass on the sweets; show up late for the party; do whatever it takes and you will lose weight.

Medifast Meal Spacing Helps with Weight Loss Success

So, the basic medifast plan is five supplements and one "lean and green" meal.  We are allowed to pick any times of the day to have these supplements.  Most people, unless they have a planned lunch outing, have the lean and green meal as dinner.  It's somewhat natural to consider dividing the meals as:

• Breakfast
• Mid-morning snack
• Lunch
• Afternoon snack
• Dinner
• After dinner snack

When I first lost 45 pounds with Medifast, I kept to this pattern.  As I resume the journey, I'm trying something a little different.  Basically, I'm trying to save up two supplements for the after dinner period.  It gives me something a little more to look forward to at the end of the day. 

What's neat is that so far, it has been easy to incorporate that into the schedule.  I have my first supplement at about 8: 30 AM, using the water dispenser in the office cafeteria to mix up a shake.  The meals last about 3 hours, so that gives me meal #2 at 11:30 to noon and meal #3 in the mid afternoon.  I can have dinner at 6 or so, then I'm able to have a medifast chocolate bar and cappachino, or pudding and hot chocolate, or even some soup if that's what I'm in the mood for.  Having the freedom for two supplements in the nighttime hours even gives a solution to the midnight snacking-- something that is always an issue when you live in a household with little kids who tend to wake up a lot!

Any other medifasters have any meal spacing tips out there?