Medifast-TheDiet Answer for
Busy People?

"How can I lose weight when I simply don't have the time to plan and prepare the right meals...?"

This is a question that I get asked soooo often!

       ...because it does take time to plan, shop for, and prepare proper calorie controlled, nutritionally balanced meals that enable you to lose weight, but don't bore you to tears.

Since this is an issue that bedevils so many people in today's hectic and time impoverished world, I have tried to look around for workable answers to this problem.

Well, one possible solution is to go for a good meal replacement plan, which can take away much of the chore of meal shopping and preparation whilst also taking care of the calorie counting and nutrient balancing as well.

However, when there are so many meal replacement diet products out there on the supermarket shelves (some certainly of dubious nutritional value), which should you go for?

Now, I used a number of criteria in researching this market to look for a product that I could recommend to people, however the most important to my mind was whether the products had achieved lasting credibility in their market and that there was good anecdotal evidence (over a long period of time) of their having benefited people and produced satisfied customers.

Other criteria included:

• A good range of product variety
• Being part of a properly formulated eating plan
• The provision of plan guidance & support
• Medically approved and nutritionally evaluated constituents
• The adherence to sound principles for the achievement of weight loss in the long term. (i.e. not just another “quick fix”!)

The meal replacement plan that came out 'head and shoulders' above anything else that I looked at on these criteria was "Medifast".

One of the core principles advocated by weight loss 'guru' Tom Venuto is the idea of eating 5 or 6 smaller but nutritionally sound meals each day, instead of the usual 2 or 3. This has been confirmed by many others as being most effective in promoting steady weight loss whilst maintaining a stable metabolic rate, but it is also a real nightmare for many people in terms of meal planning and preparation!

Well... the good news is that Medifast is built exactly around this principle...and it takes most of the grief and hassle out of the planning and preparation scenario.

The company claims that their products have been used by over a million people for over 25 years, have been recommended by over 15,000 physicians and have been clinically proven at Johns Hopkins University. Now I have not been able to personally verify this but interestingly the University has the following comment on its website:

"The John Hopkins University Weight Management Center offers both food-based and product-based programs. Pre-packaged foods or meal replacements have been shown in clinical trials to enhance weight loss. This is at least in part because they are portion-controlled, and convenient to use."

So, how does the Medifast Plan work?

Well, Medifast is a program that is designed to deliver portion controlled, nutritionally balanced, low fat meals which come in individual packets that you mix with water and microwave or refrigerate. The meals are available in a good variety of foods and flavors including shakes, soups, stew, chili, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, fruit drinks, iced teas, hot beverages, bars and puddings. Medifast claim that each meal is medically designed to create a calorie deficit which allows your body to burn fat and that the meals are formulated with an optimal combination of carbohydrates and protein that promote weight loss while maintaining lean muscle mass.

The program is based on what they call the ‘Medifast 5 & 1 Plan’ which means that you eat six meals a day, five Medifast meals (with over 60 to choose from), plus one ‘Lean & Green Meal’. This consists of a balance of lean protein (such as beef, chicken or fish) and salad or vegetables. In addition to this there is a range of snacks that can be used to supplement or complement the meal plan including ‘Soy Crisps’ (apple cinnamon, ranch or white cheddar flavors), ‘Crackers’ (multi-grain or garden vegetable flavors) and  ‘Fast Soups’ (beef, chicken or tomato flavors).

The Medifast website gives a ‘sample daily menu’ consisting of:

Breakfast: - Medifast Scrambled Eggs (1st Medifast Meal)

Mid Morning: - Medifast Dutch Chocolate Shake (2nd Medifast Meal)

Lunch : -Medifast Cream of Tomato soup sprinkled with parsley flakes – (3rd Medifast Meal)

Afternoon:- Medifast Beef Vegetable Stew – (4th Medifast Meal)

Dinner :- Lean & Green Meal-(6 ounces grilled chicken breast and 1 ½ cups  of cooked asparagus, 1 teaspoon olive oil)

Evening: - Medifast Vanilla Shake (5th Medifast Meal)

The company has also created special shakes to help with specific health-related conditions including 'Plus for Women’s Health Shakes' (containing black cohosh, echinacea and chaste tree berry, which may help reduce the symptoms of menopause), 'Plus for Joint Health Shakes' (containing glucosamine and chondroitin, to help repair damaged or arthritic joints) and 'Plus for Coronary Health Shakes' (containing Coenzyme Q10, amino acids, and Pycnogenol which provides a natural defense against heart conditions).

To look at a PDF of the Medifast Program 'Quick Start Guide'
Click Here > >

Summing Up

All in all, this meal replacement plan seems to be well thought out and offers both convenience and reasonable variety whilst taking away most of the hassle from diet meal planning & preparation.

The aspect that impressed me most however was that they are not claiming (like so many others) to be a "miracle diet" or somesuch, but simply to be offering a practical solution to a vexed aspect of the weight loss conundrum (particularly for busy and time constrained people).

They also conform to much of the mainstream weight loss 'wisdom' such as emphasising that it is essential to have an exercise component to your weight loss plan (rather than putting all your faith in their diet plan (as many meal replacement providers do!). They also encourage users to strive to achieve long term weight loss rather than just looking for a short term solution and they have a dimension to the plan (and some helpful products) that cater for this also.

What about the cost? 

Medifast estimate that the cost of implementing their plan works out at about $275 per month ($10 per day). They claim that this is pretty much in line with typical normal food expenditure, based on research that has shown that the average person actually spends up to $16 per day on food (taking into account grocery shopping, snacking and eating out).

 
At the present time Medifast is offering customers a free week of product with the purchase of a 4-week supply.
Customers also receive Free Shipping with the purchase of a 4-week supply.