Non-Medifast Brand Foods For Substitution

[Jehna]

Last week, we almost ran out of "Official" Medifast foods when our shipments took a lot longer than we'd expected. I thought we could have a thread where we share other options to the official foods. I got the idea from the Sub Bar thread. Here's what I posted there:

I downloaded and printed out the Product Nutrition Quick Profile chart from TSFL.com. It shows all the nutritional info on thier foods by nutrition values. It's great! Here's the link:

http://www.tsfl.com/pdfs/resources/Product_Quick.pdf

I take it shopping with me and compare calories, fat, protein, fiber, carbs and sugar for all kinds of things. I've found several products I've added to our repertoire. For example: 4 Old London Brand "Melba Snack" crackers compare almost exactly in nutrition to the Medifast snack crackers, with the exception of 1 gram of fat. And they taste better, the Roasted Garlic ones are Yummy! And they aren't $15.50 a box!

Give it a shot, and let us know what you find. Maybe we can save ourselves some desperation and a little money, too!

[Operator265]

Thanks for this post. It will come in handy. It could also be a good way of helping folks transition and make the lifestyle change instead of a diet.

[Jehna]

No Prob! Anything that makes it easier for me, while sticking to my goal, is what I'm after. I'm 48 and struggling way more than I used to have to to get healthy again. I've made myself a Medifast 'Food Category' Nutrition Value Average chart that makes At-A-Glance shopping decisions MUCH easier for me. It might not be for everyone, but I figure if it helps me it might help others; and supporting each other makes it much more endurable! I'll see if the chart will paste here:

[DoonBug]

This is GREAT! Thanks so much for sharing. I've found the Whole Foods soy crisps to be very comperable to the MF ones. The key is to buy those snack size ziplock bags and pre-portion them out based on the nutrition guidelines. Delish with a small green salad or raw veggies on the side. Sometimes, I use the ranch flavored ones as "croutons"

[RabidAlley]

One thing about MF that drives me crazy is how long it takes to get an order! It always takes 7-8 business days between the day I order and when it arrives. It sure seems that they could speed it up a bit!

~Alley
http://rabidalley.blogspot.com/

[Pinkadot]

these seem okay, theres a lot of campbells soup that would work but the sodium is so high like 900 mg :/
the healthy choice soup has 300ish

3/4 cup KELLOGG'S, SPECIAL K Low Carb Lifestyle Protein Plus
calories 101
fat 3g
carb 14g
fiber 5g
protein 10g
15% vitamin A 35% Vitamin C 4% Calcium 45% Iron

1 cup Healthy Choice chicken noodle soup
calories 100
fat 2g
carb 13g
fiber 2g
protein 9g
28% Vitamin A 2% Calcium

[Pinkadot]

I looked at the range of nutrients in medifast products not including maintenance bars and it was calories 90-100, fat 0-3.5, carbs 9-16, fiber 3-6, sugar 0-10, protein 11-14, sodium 120-420
this helps when you find things that are at the low or high end of the range
totals for all 5 meals should be : calories 450-550, fat 0-25, carbs 45-80, fiber 15-30, sugar 0-50, protein 55-70, sodium 600-2100, and 100% of vitamin RDA

Slimfast creamy chocolate shake mix high protein (this is the powder mix in the can not the ready to drink shakes) - the protein is a little low so youd want to try and get a little extra somewhere else
calories 110
fat 3.5g
carbs 13g
fiber 4g
protein 7g
sodium 130g
15% vitamin a, 45% vitamin c, 20% calcium, 30% iron

The EAS Advantedge shakes are okay too but 3g too high on protein, 7g too low on carbs and 1-2g too low on fiber - but if you had a combo of one of those and slim fast shake youd be about even

EAS advantedge french vanilla/strawberry cream carb control shake
calories 110
fat 3g
carbs 2g
fiber 1g
protein 17g
sodium 260
20% vitamin a, 45% vitamin c, 20% calcium

its definitely a lot of work to figure out yourself, but its possible. I am trying to find products so I can have 2 MF meals a day and 3 replacement meals - I love the MF system but I am a single college student living alone and working full time so if I have to do extra work to save money I will!

also.. you could measure and mix in unflavored protein and fiber powders into stuff
for example if you had 3/4 cup of the healthy choice chicken noodle soup it would be 75 cal, 9.75 carb, 1.5 fiber, and 6.75 protein. add 1 tsp benefiber powder and 1/4 scoop of natures best protein 100% whey powder and it would be 96.5 cal, 11.75g carbs, 3g fiber, and 12.75g protein

1/2 cup of egg beaters + 4 tsp benefiber =
calories 90
carbs 8
protein 12
fiber 6

use the benefiber + heart health for more vitamins
again a lot of work but possible hehe

[GETTINGTOGOALIN2009]

When I did 100% MF and my shipment was delayed, nutrition support suggested eating 3 full lean & green meals and 2 snacks of 1-2 oz of protein or a glass of skim milk.

I have also used EAS Advantage low carb shakes and South Beach Cereal bars. I am using up what MF products I have left (they are expensive) and I am transitioning to Wonderslim (dietdirect.com) and the stuff is very tasty, same product used for Nutrimed and New Lifestyle. Only dietdirect.com sells it cheaper and 79$ get you free shipping and over 100$ gets you 10% discount.

I live in the western mass area and I always have my products within 48 hours of ordering. MF is a good program but the Wonderslim & Bariwise products are superior in taste and less carbs.

I know a MF health coach that is USING WONDERSLIM! lol

[GETTINGTOGOALIN2009]

Just FYI- if you ask this question on the MF board, be prepared to be "jumped on and attacked" by a certain few members that take upon themselves to be the Medifast Police! lol

[Jehna]

I appreciate what Medifast has done for my husband and me but the point is to get healthy, not brand loyalty. When someone "jumps" me on brand loyalty, I question thier motives and look to see if they benefit financially from keeping me(or others) on an expensive program. Most people have to watch a budget, especially right now, and it's about how to get the best results you can in a way that your budget can handle.

[GETTINGTOGOALIN2009]

Originally Posted by Jehna

I appreciate what Medifast has done for my husband and me but the point is to get healthy, not brand loyalty. When someone "jumps" me on brand loyalty, I question thier motives and look to see if they benefit financially from keeping me(or others) on an expensive program. Most people have to watch a budget, especially right now, and it's about how to get the best results you can in a way that your budget can handle.

I totally agree with you. I also appreciate that I lost weight with MF and it is a good program. But I have now started to mix and match with Wonderslim. It is less expensive & I only have to spend 79$ to get free shipping. When I was on the Medifast boards & I saw people asking this question I always pm'd my response to them because there are a group of MF folks that get all snarky and insulting. Times are hard financially for many people and we all have to watch our money. I know I do. I have found good substitutes and I am using them. The Wonderslim & Bariwise products sold by dietdirect.com are less expensive, taste better, 10% discount on 100$ and free shipping. I WON'T pass that deal up. EAS Advantage shakes are a good substitute and I get them at Walmart. I also bought several box of South Beach ceral bars at Costco.

I am not loyal to any particular brand. I want the best bang for my buck!

[dakotamidnight]

just curious - is it possible to do medifast with foods entirely from regular grocery stores?

Money is very tight for us, and I really need to lose weight for an upcoming surgery.

[GETTINGTOGOALIN2009]

Originally Posted by dakotamidnight

just curious - is it possible to do medifast with foods entirely from regular grocery stores?

Money is very tight for us, and I really need to lose weight for an upcoming surgery.

There are ways to do a diet that mimics MF.

[DebbieC]

I'm just posting here to see if anyone has any other input. Sometimes you are away from home longer than expected and need some alternitives. Does any one else have ideas for supermarket alternatives? Just cuious. I tried the South Beach Cereal bars and wasn't real kean on them. But we all have diffeent tastes, I know that. Keep the suggestions coming.

[Jehna]

WE just got back from a month long trip in our RV, and it was very hard to stay on program without access to a blender and microwave! (The one in our RV just stopped working one day, go figure) I ate a LOT of bars and got really sick of so much sweet & crunchy! Yech!

But I discovered that 3/4 cup of Safeway's "Best of Egg" (Eggbeaters) is equivalent to a MF scrambled egg, and could cook that on the stove. And there are stove top instructions for most things on the MF website. http://tsfl.com/pdfs/resources/Mixing_Instructions.pdf Of course you have to have access to a stove or hot plate! Hotel rooms often have microwaves now, so that might not be a problem for you.

But we ended up eating small Lean and Greens throughout the day, kind of like being on maintenance. I actually lost weight still, although my rate of loss slowed drastically. At least I didn't gain anything back, TG!