I remember when I was first researching medifast. I've been on this diet for quite a while and have had a good deal of success. But, when I was just starting out, I had a lot of questions - most of which had to do with the food. I wanted to know how it tasted, how hard it was to prepare, and what kind of choices were available. After all, medifast is a very effective diet, but what good is that going to do you if you can't stomach the food and therefore won't stick with it? So, in this article, I will try to provide you with the information I wish that I had. I'll show you a typical medifast menu during a regular day in my life.
First, A Quick Background On How Medifast Works: First off, you need to know that you will eat six times per day on this diet. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it helps you from being hungry and second, it revs your metabolism so that you continue to burn calories. You are provided with the foods from the company for five of these meals. You will make one, larger healthful meal yourself. This is called the "lean and green." There are over 70 food choices available and most are better tasting than I expected.
\"diet Menu\"
The foods in this diet are low in calories and high in protein. This combination is, at least in my opinion, the reason that this diet is very effective for most people. Basically, your body has not choice but to burn it's own fat, since it's no longer getting excess carbs.
Breakfast: OK, so on to my basic menu. I was concerned about this because breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. And, knowing this is a low carb diet, I was afraid that I was going to have to eat bacon and eggs for every meal. Luckily, this isn't the case. There are many things that you can chose from here, including eggs, oatmeal, protein bars, shakes, pudding, etc.
Mid Morning Snack: Since I have to eat six times per day, I have a mid morning snack at about 10:00. I like to mix the hot chocolate and the cappuccino to make a "safe" mocha. This is very tasty and gives me my caffeine fix. The cappuccino is also part of the "momentum" line which boosts your metabolism.
Lunch: I usually have a later lunch since I've already eaten twice (about 1:30.) I really like the chili because it is versatile. Sometimes, I will have it straight up and other times, I'll put some fat free sour cream and salsa with it. If I am really feeling adventurous, I'll wrap this in a fat free tortilla, add lettuce and tomatoes, and call it a burrito. (I do this same thing with the eggs sometimes for lunch.) There are also soup options or the very popular shakes or bars.
Mid Afternoon Snack: Before I went on this diet, I would often grab my very beloved lemon creme cookies from my company's vending machine at about 4:00. Obviously, this doesn't happen anymore. But, the pudding is a good substitution. Also, the pudding can be used as a base to make muffins, cookies, etc. Sometimes, I'll just have a bar. I really like the peanut flavored bars and the chocolate mint, which to me taste like the thin mint girl scout cookies.
Dinner: Technically, you can have your "lean and green" meal at any time. But, I almost always have it at dinner so that I can cook and be with my family. Honestly, I've incorporated a lot of salads and stir fry veggies into their diet as well so that I don't have to cook two entirely different meals. I'm not as elaborate with this meal as a lot of people. I've become spoiled by the convenience of having most of my meals ready made. Mostly, I will grill some lean meat and just add a bagged salad or stir fry.
Nightly Snack: This is usually a toss up and I like to mix it around. Sometimes, I will have the chips or crackers with fat free dip. Sometimes, I'll go for the fruit drink over shaved ice for a snow cone. Often, I freeze the ready to drink shakes and eat it like ice cream. Sometimes, my laziness kicks in and I'll just rip the wrapper off a bar or go for oatmeal.
Hopefully, this article has given you a bit of an idea of what life on this diet is like. It's much easier and doable than I expected and I've tried (and failed at) countless diets. This one has been the best fit for me.
My Medifast Diet Menu
Lindsey Price is the author of the free ebook "Getting The Most Out Of Medifast," which includes tips, information, specials, and a off or a two weeks free coupon. To get a free copy (immediate download / no information required), click here. You can also visit her diet review website at http://easiest-diet.com/medifast/html