Packaged Meals and Clinics - Nutrisystem, Medifast, Jenny Craig, EtcFor support and questions about diet meal delivery programs, or weight loss clinics that offer prepackaged meals and products.
I need some advice! I have it boiled down to Medifast or NLD (I know that there is another thread on this, but it's a little different). My two issues are: 1) my doctor herself did optifast (only liquid) and told me Medifast was fine, but I should skip the Lean and Green meal and only do liquid (since I am a food addict!). But when I called Medifast they said I could ONLY have 5 meals a deal (not up it to 7 or 8 to replace the Lean and Green). However, I saw that on the NLD website you can do the fast only - and have 9 of their meals per day. But then I saw a member here say that the NLD uses corn syrup solids and partially hydrogenated oils and aspartame. I know that isn't good...
I am nervous about the Lean and Green - but I do KNOW that I need to learn how to cook healthy for myself. So - right now I am leaning towards Medifast because of the partially hydrogenated oils issue, but am wondering what folks out there are doing for their Lean and Green, if they ever go out to eat (where, what do they get) and recipes that they cook at home.
I tried out Medifast for a few weeks for a review (soon to be published), and Jennifer also tried it. One thing we noticed was that our cravings for food went away. Not immediately, but it happened. The lean and green actually helped with that, though we learned that it was important to have our lean and green as our supper and not our lunch. You could even increase it to 6 Medifast and one lean and green and still lose weight fast.
Do you live alone or cook for other people? When I gave it whirl, I sent my son home with just about everything in my house other than my spice cabinet All I had was Medifast, vegetables (mainly salad), and tofu or fish. It was easier to put myself in the right mindset to make it successful.
I ate a lot of big salads. I chose a salad dressing that was low calorie and only had a couple of carbs, and measured it. I usually chose bagged butterhead lettuce (my fav) and sometimes added a small amount of tomato and onion, and either smoked tofu or cooked shrimp. It was very satisfying. Jen and I both noticed that if we had our lean and green for lunch, we would starve the rest of the day. But if we ate it for dinner and timed out our Medifast regularly, we were never hungry and didn't have cravings.
Hi Suzanne! (By the way, I am a Suzanne too!) Thanks for your reply! I have a husband and two boys, ages 4 and 7. However, my wonderful husband is going to do Medifast for awhile too. He only has about 30 lbs to lose, but he is very interested in the eating several meals a day because he has read that that is a good thing to do. So...both my boys can eat lunch at school/preschool and the preschooler even eats breakfast there - so I just have my 7 yr old to deal with for breakfast. Otherwise, I'm thinking that we can all eat the same lean and green dinner. The boys won't be happy about it, of course, but it's good for them and after a week or two (I hope it's only that long) they'll get used to it. I'm just not sure what to fix for the Lean and Green. I am NOT a vegetable fan (part of my problem), so it will be a challenge. I do like salads - but don't usually put a lot of veggies on the salad. So I am looking forward to my taste buds changing and WANTING those veggies.
Did Medifast give you guidelines for the salad dressing? (I love bagged lettuce too - I think we'll be buying a ton of it!)
Your salad dressing choice will have a lot to do with the rest of your meal. If you choose a fattier protein, such as salmon, then you'd want to choose a salad dressing that is very low fat or fat free. If you choose a leaner protein, then you can have a little more fat in your dressing. You'll also need to watch the carbs. They want your lean and green meal to contain between 300 and 500 calories, and roughly 20 carbs or less. By choosing a dressing with just a couple of carbs, you can allow yourself more veggies. I measured my dressing carefully, then tossed and tossed and tossed and tossed to make sure it dispersed well I mainly used Annie's Naturals roasted red pepper vinaigrette dressing since I love it. 2 Tbsp has 70 cal, 6 g fat, and 3 carbs. The guide says one serving of salad is 1 cup of lettuce, but I ate a half bag (3 oz) which is a lot more than 1 cup, lol, but it's something like 2 carbs and 10 calories!
You can also eat eggplant (love it roasted), summer squash, cabbage, asparagus, spinach, green beans, broccoli, and more. I love grilled veggies, including portabello mushrooms
If you are addicted to food, then you might consider avoiding the bars and sticking with the shakes and oatmeal. The bars are really good, and I found them too tempting. I did better when I gave up the bars.
Btw, I also used FitDay to keep track of my lean and green meals. It was a lot easier to control the calories and carbs that way, especially since I liked to see how creative I could get with it
Hi Suzanne (love it!) Thanks for the info re: salads and the advice about the bars (and fitday). I was sort of wondering about the bars because I have problems with things like bars, or 100 calorie packs - prepackaged stuff. One hardly ever seems to be enough. I have sort of mapped out what I was going to get, and I did have 1 box of bars down, but I think I will now switch that to either another shake, a pudding or an oatmeal. I heard that the soups were not the best. What were your faves, your least favorite? Thanks! Suzanne
My favorite shake was the Swiss Mocha. It tasted like milk chocolate I liked the strawberry, but hated the orange. Jen, on the other hand, hated the strawberry but liked the orange! We blended the drinks in the blender with water and ice. Sometimes we added a packet of splenda. We both liked the hot drinks such as the chai, though we'd probably enjoy them more in the winter. We also liked the pudding. All of the drinks have a slight aftertaste, but you get used to it then you don't notice it. It's not bad, it's just letting you know that the product was developed by doctors
I didn't like the soup at all. I don't eat land animals, so I didn't try the chicken soup or the broccoli, or chili. I tried the tomato soup and thought it tasted kind of chalky. I tried adding some canned diced fire roasted tomatoes and some spices and that helped some, but I didn't want to eat it again. The minestrone tasted very strong and I didn't like it. Jennifer doctored up both of them and was able to eat them. I've read some pretty creative ideas for the soup mixes, including making them into crackers
The oatmeal is kind of gummy. It's a little oatmeal, and a lot of protein powder. I had to add more splenda to it to make it good. However, I ran across an idea to make oatmeal cookies from the oatmeal which was really good. I combined the oatmeal packet with 2 packets of splenda, a hefty dash of cinnamon, and about a quarter tsp of baking powder. Then stir in 2 or 3 tablespoons of water until you have cookie dough batter, then shape into two cookies. Bake at around 400 until lightly browned. They tasted very good!
Hi Suzanne! Thanks for the ideas - I did order the swiss mocha (and I think the strawberry) shakes. Also vanilla. I got maple and apple oatmeal. I am SO going to make oatmeal cookies! WOO HOO!!! And I think I ordered the beef stew. I skipped the tomato soup, but I originally was going to get it. So I appreciate all your help - I am exited to get started... Trying to plan my lean and green meals. I love carbs, and not a huge veggie lover, so I will probably struggle a bit with those meals. Hopefully it won't be long before my taste buds change!
Medifast vs NLD - need help w/ Lean & Green
All I had was Medifast, vegetables (mainly salad), and tofu or fish. It was easier to put myself in the right mindset to make it successful. 
Thanks for your reply! I have a husband and two boys, ages 4 and 7. However, my wonderful husband is going to do Medifast for awhile too. He only has about 30 lbs to lose, but he is very interested in the eating several meals a day because he has read that that is a good thing to do. So...both my boys can eat lunch at school/preschool and the preschooler even eats breakfast there - so I just have my 7 yr old to deal with for breakfast. Otherwise, I'm thinking that we can all eat the same lean and green dinner. The boys won't be happy about it, of course, but it's good for them and after a week or two (I hope it's only that long) they'll get used to it. I'm just not sure what to fix for the Lean and Green. I am NOT a vegetable fan (part of my problem), so it will be a challenge. I do like salads - but don't usually put a lot of veggies on the salad. So I am looking forward to my taste buds changing and WANTING those veggies. 
Thanks for the info re: salads and the advice about the bars (and fitday). I was sort of wondering about the bars because I have problems with things like bars, or 100 calorie packs - prepackaged stuff. One hardly ever seems to be enough. I have sort of mapped out what I was going to get, and I did have 1 box of bars down, but I think I will now switch that to either another shake, a pudding or an oatmeal. I heard that the soups were not the best. What were your faves, your least favorite? Thanks! Suzanne
