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Old 04-18-2009, 02:37 PM   #1  
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Default Medifast Vs. On My Own

Ok....

Why not just grab a couple of boxes of instant oatmeal, some Slim-Fast shakes, some Soup In A Cups, diet bars, pudding cups etc. from the grocery store?

What makes Medifast better than doing that? It seems like it would be cheaper and I love Slim-Fast. I'm just trying to figure out if that would be equivalent or if there is something I'm not seeing with Medifast.... I have looked at the site really well and I keep seeing things like "convenient, easy-to-prepare, portion-controlled Meals" but mixing and matching from Wal-Mart would be all of those things too. I don't see anything on the site that tells me what it does other than being convenient and portion-controlled. If that's all there is to it, could I just do something similar from my grocery store? Or are there secret ingredients that make you more full and make the weight fall off more quickly?

Sorry for the questions.... I've settled on doing a Medifast plan or something on my own like it..... I am just trying to figure out what's best for me to do.... I have a week to figure this out before I can make an order.... Thanks!
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Old 04-18-2009, 06:32 PM   #2  
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I think Medifast is better because it's been carefully researched and studied and is shown safe and effective when followed exactly as they suggest.

Doing it your own may be cheaper, but the products you mengion (cup a soup etc) are not designed this way. Overall, your ratio of vitamins, minerals, etc etc will vary widely and will not be balanced.

I don't know about secret ingredients, but when I trialed Medifast I wasn't hungry at all. I was less interested in food.

Slimfast is loaded with sugar and is usually best for those that only need to lose about 5 pounds.

If you are looking for something easy, maybe try frozen diet meals for lunch and dinner (and serve extra veggies with them because they aren't complete), and have slimfast for breakfast? I've noticed lots of people do that or something similar.
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Old 04-18-2009, 06:43 PM   #3  
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Thanks!

If you don't mind me asking.... you said you tried it and I read what you had to say in your review..... what have you ultimately moved on to.... and if you weren't hungry with this, why did you not stick with it?
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Old 04-18-2009, 06:57 PM   #4  
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I didn't stick with it because I have a heart condition that is triggered by various additives in foods, and I feel best on a completely natural, organic, whole foods diet. I liked Medifast, but it caught up with me in that way. I wish they would come out with an all natural, organic version.

Jennifer also trialed Medifast and she quit because she was losing weight too fast and it scared her
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Old 04-18-2009, 07:16 PM   #5  
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I hope I get the heck scared outta me then! ROFL

Sorry to hear why you didn't stick with it.....

I'm looking at WonderSlim in another tab right now too....

I'd LOVE to do Bistro MD, but it's more expensive than Medifast.... I'm going to be stretching it to afford this, but I'm determined to find something I can do.... I can't be trusted to something that leaves me to make a lot of decisions and count calories/points.... that 100 calorie serving of cake that I'll write down in my journal is actually 500 if truth be told.... and I need something that will make me lose quite a bit at first to get me motivated....

Ultimately, I'd like to use Medifast to get to my goal and then perhaps switch over to Bistro MD to transition back over to the real world....
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Old 04-19-2009, 10:25 AM   #6  
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Medifast and other meal replacement programs are very structured with the main key to success being restricting carbs to <100g/day while having needed, healthy nutrition. There is no way to do that with regular oatmeals, soups & other grocery products.

I lost most of my weight using Medifast and New Lifestyle Diet (same products as Wonderslim under a different label) products. I found the Medifast products to keep me full longer but I didn't care for their shakes so I subbed the NLD ones.

These programs work extremely well with rapid weight loss results IF you follow the directions. You cannot cheat or go off plan. You HAVE TO eat the recommended meal replacements plus your daily healthy meal of lean protein & veggies. The quick weight loss in the beginning motivated me to keep up with my weight loss. As I had so much weight to lose, I did switch over to a more traditional diet towards the end.

I think it's worth a try. Back then I promised myself that I would stick to it for one month without cheating and if I didn't like it, I would find something else. It worked for me. Many of the meal replacement programs offer 2-week trial packages too. Good luck!

Last edited by suesully; 04-19-2009 at 10:27 AM.
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Old 04-19-2009, 10:47 AM   #7  
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Here is my input...

With any weight loss plan, the hardest part isn't losing the weight, its maintaining the weight loss. Medifast is a structured program that tries to provide you all the necessary nutrients while being very low calorie. They also have a maintenance plan.

You can lose weight on your own certainly but I would never recommend anyone do a very low calorie diet on their own. Also, once you lose the weight, you need to follow a good maintenance plan. You need to slowly up your calories, add back in real foods, focusing on healthy, low calorie foods, etc.

(I don't follow Medifast although I did try it and found it wasn't for me)
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Old 04-19-2009, 01:05 PM   #8  
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Thank you for the input!

I spent yesterday figuring out what I want to do and a plan of action that would work best for me and my situation. I have come up with a game plan... I'm just waiting until my husband finishes the big job he's working on so I can place an order next Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, I'm going to start drinking a lot of water this week, so that maybe I can adjust to it before starting with the food.

Suesully.... WOW!!!! Congrats on the huge weight loss! That's wonderful! How much of the 135 did you lose with MF before switching over to another program? And how long did it take you to lose it? I am indeed impressed!

I've made the same sort of deal with myself.... I'm going to order enough for my first month then I'll evaluate and see if I need to change.... if so, my doctor runs a weight loss clinic that offers the Healthy Solutions HMR kits which look something like a Nutrisystem type program.... I may switch to something like that if I see I can't tolerate the MF.... and I'm going to mix and match my own meals through MF because instant oatmeal never seems to satisfy me even though I like it and I hate cappuccinos... I also don't think that pudding would be enough to satisfy me either although I may order one box just to see....

Nelie... because this is a low calorie/ low carb diet, I do plan to visit my doctor on Friday for official weigh in and a check up before I start.... I'd really like to know not only how much I lose in pounds and inches, but if any of my health stats like cholesterol and such improve.... (I don't think I have any problems right now, but diabetes/heart problems/high blood pressure run in my family)

Fortunately, I really like a lot of the frozen diet dinners that I can get at the grocery store, so if I'm not able to afford something like Bistro MD later, I can at least gradually add those types of things back into my diet to transition back.... If I lose my butt, I have no intention whatsoever of seeing it again... LOL
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Old 04-20-2009, 12:30 AM   #9  
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Hello Ladies,

I have found this forum to be very informative. I am interested in trying medifast and have been looking at the site and posts in here just about everyday for about a week. This is my first time to post, so please be patient with me. I will probably place an order with medifast in May. I really hope I can stick with it.
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Old 04-20-2009, 10:47 AM   #10  
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I don't remember right now the number of pounds I lost while just on Medifast/NLD but it was a lot. It took me from September2006 to Feb2008 to lose all my weight. I spent the last 6 or 7 months of that time following a fairly whole foods diet. I needed to switch over as I developed an intolerance to soy. My weight loss took much longer than someone who could stay on the program full-term but I got there.

Re: the Medifast foods...you will get as many different opinions on what meals are best as there are people who use it! I found the oatmeal to be the most filling meal but it tastes NOTHING like regular instant oatmeal. It is a hot cereal and I would suggest trying it after a couple weeks on the program (not the first meal like I did ). My favorite meal was the banana pudding which I had many nights for my last meal (like a dessert). Many people like the chocolate pudding. The vanilla shake was the one meal I could not stand...ever. The chocolate shakes seem to be the favorite although I loved the banana one for breakfast. Other favorites were chicken noodle soup and the hot cocoa (w/SF DaVinci marshmallow syrup).

Picking your own meals is a good idea rather than the pre-selected packages. Look over the selections and see what you may like and try one box of it. They also have those new bars that you can use for as many meals/day as you like which is different from the one bar a day ones they had when I was following the program.

I have to tell you that the first few days are tough. The food, while not bad, is a severe shock to the tastebuds and offends even the most boring of palates. It is bland. It is diet food. It is what it is. But you will lose weight...fast if you stick with it. And then you will be thin. Ta da!!!

p.s. Make the most out of your daily Lean & Green meal. It is real food and will be your salvation and link to "sanity" as the months go by. Good luck!
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Old 04-20-2009, 11:47 AM   #11  
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Wow...thanks for the very helpful information. I do have one question...what is SF Davinci Marshmallow syrup and where can I get it??
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Old 04-20-2009, 03:23 PM   #12  
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Jen... Yay! Someone who may start around the same time that I do! I will be placing an order on Monday so I just pray I get it in before the 1st. If not, then maybe I'll get it in time before the first full week of May! I am so excited! I haven't used the DaVinci syrups, but I have seen them in Wal-Mart somewhere around the coffee/tea area I think.

Sue... Thanks for all the info. I will order a pack of the peach oatmeal to try. I also think I'll order the cocoa from Wonderslim because it comes with marshmallows and cocoa just isn't cocoa unless I see a marshmallow floating. I am also going to try the cheesecake and jello from WS for my one snack per day. I'll have to look again, but I think they were lower in carbs than MF's snacks. Other than that, I'll be sticking with MF products.

Bland doesn't scare me. As long as I can hold the munchies at bay, I can eat just about anything. (As evidenced by my ample arse!) ROFL

I do have concerns about the L/G each day. I teach and have 2 kids plus I own several websites that I work on at night so my schedule is chaotic. I am buying a cooler to throw in the back of the Suburban to prevent the kids from luring me to Sonic with screams of hunger. And I brainstormed about a dozen L/G's that I can prepare very quickly and that the kids will probably eat. I would really like more though so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Oh... And can we have sun-dried tomatoes? I want to try them in a meatloaf recipe. If I used really lean ground chuck, I thought I could count it as a veggie and good fat since they're packed in olive oil.
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Old 04-20-2009, 04:11 PM   #13  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kayecee View Post
I will order a pack of the peach oatmeal to try.
Peach oatmeal is by far the least favorite. I would suggest the Apple Cinnamon (most popular) or Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal (2nd popular) to try at first.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kayecee View Post
I also think I'll order the cocoa from Wonderslim because it comes with marshmallows and cocoa just isn't cocoa unless I see a marshmallow floating. I am also going to try the cheesecake and jello from WS for my one snack per day. I'll have to look again, but I think they were lower in carbs than MF's snacks. Other than that, I'll be sticking with MF products.
This has been covered in the Medifast/Wonderslim threads but it is crucial: All of the Wonderslim products are NOT meal replacements (some are just high protein snacks). The shakes from both ARE meal replacements and could be interchangeable but NOT the hot drinks. Wonderslim cocoa is a snack. I do understand the floating marshmallow thing but that is why I used the SF marshmallow syrup in the Medifast cocoa.

Wonderslim products are lower in carbs because they have NO fiber. You will need your fiber. Trust me on this one. I used to add 1/2 tsp of FiberSure to my Wonderslim/NLD shakes for the fiber but that of course upped the carbs comparable to the Medifast ones. I found the Wonderslim shakes to be superior in taste (except for the Medifast banana one which I loved) so I made this substitution.

Personally I would strongly suggest starting with one program (Medifast for example) and follow that to the letter for at least a couple of weeks before playing with it. I was in my 2nd month before I made the shake substitution but I had lost 30#s in my first month and felt I was able to try that.

Remember that Wonderslim/NLD and Medifast are two different programs with different directions and foods to eat. Messing around with combining the two, especially in the beginning could result in poor weight loss results and wasted money. As time went on, I did use a lot of the Wonderslim/NLD products but by then I had lost over 80#s and had come to know what would work with my body.

I would also strongly suggest that you join the MyMedifast boards that are free once you place your first order. This is by no means knocking the support you get here on 3FC but their boards will give you needed access to their licensed nutritionists/dieticians and certified personal trainers for assistance. It is a valuable resource. There is also countless recipes and prep tips that might not be here. As MyMedifast is a corporate run board, they are NOT tolerant of people substituting other vendor's products which is how I came to join 3FC in the first place. I was a Medi-rebel and found the support and advice that I got from both boards instrumental in my weight loss success. (3FC was key in finding another diet/eating plan when I transitioned from meal replacements.)

I hope this helped somewhat and I hope I don't sound mean but over the past few years I have seen so many fail when starting Medifast (or Wonderslim/NLD) because they didn't follow the instructions and/or played around with the plan too early in their diet.

p.s. Re: the sundried tomatoes in oil in the meatloaf, I think it may still give you too many fats but maybe you could drain the tomatoes on paper towels a bit first?
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Old 04-20-2009, 04:26 PM   #14  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JenAngel7 View Post
Wow...thanks for the very helpful information. I do have one question...what is SF Davinci Marshmallow syrup and where can I get it??
Jen, the SF syrups are helpful to change/enhance the flavors of the shakes/puddings/hot drinks/oatmeals. SF (make sure it is SF/sugar free) DaVinci, Torani and other brands are often available in your grocery or places like WalMart or Marshall's/TJ Maxx in the coffee section. If you can't find them, Cappuccino Connection has the best prices and lowest shipping cost to order them online.

I went crazy buying all kinds of flavors in the beginning but really only used the vanilla, hazelnut, caramel and toasted marshmallow ones. Because I had it, the gingerbread one was nice in the Fall in coffee or when making cookies/muffins from the Medifast meals.

What also works is the Splenda Flavors for Coffee. Also in the coffee isle at your grocery, they come in French Vanilla, Mocha, Hazelnut, Caramel, and Cinnamon Spice flavors. I wish these were available before I bought all those SF syrups!

You can also use extracts (vanilla, almond, strawberry, pineapple, banana, chocolate, hazelnut, etc.) to flavor things.

HTH
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Old 04-20-2009, 06:16 PM   #15  
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Oh thank you Sue!!!!

I had seen people talk about using both products so I just assumed it was ok... you just saved me from possibly making a big mistake! I want this to work and work quickly so aside from those substitutions, I was going to go for mainly Medifast products. I'm so glad you explained the difference for me. I didn't realize that I would need to add fiber if I went with WS. That and my concern about the possible lack of vitamins with WS (they recommend taking a multi-vitamin and MF doesn't) settles the score in my book! Medifast wins the first round! Thanks!

I had immediately joined the MF forums after deciding to go with them, but I see a lot of group postings and I kinda felt out of place and didn't really know where to start. Plus, there are several threads where the registered dietitians are supposed to answer the basic questions and there has been no response to many of them. I was a member here years ago, so I just fell back into place because I knew SOMEONE here would know the skinny on Medifast.

I'll make my first order completely Medifast.... after seeing how I adjust to it, I'll contemplate adding the jello and cheesecake from Wonderslim to my arsenal as snacks only.

Even though I haven't started yet, for the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm in control of my eating. I really want this to work and I've never gone to the planning lengths that I have with this. I've mapped out a plan of action for every problem that I can think of. I'm goin' in fer bear!!!!

And no... you don't sound mean! I appreciate you pointing out the pitfalls before I spend lotsa money and go to considerable effort only to see myself lose 2 lbs my first month.

OMG! Splenda makes hazlenut coffee creamer?!?!?! OMG! I was crying because I had to give up my coffee! I can't stand black coffee, but give me some instant creamer and I can guzzle a pot! Woo Hoo! I haz a happy!

I also think I'll forgo the sun-dried tomatoes.... I'd rather be safe than sorry when I start until I see how it goes.

*runs off to check out the Splenda stuffs*
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