Can't eat ALL 5 meals
 

I'm on week 5 of MF and I'm down 15 lbs, I only have about 35 more lbs to lose so I expected the slow loss. But I'm having a hard time eating the 5 medifast meals a day, i'm pretty good about a shake in the morning, a bar and soup in the afternoon, but after that none of the food really sounds good and I eat my lean and green and I'm not really hungry. I'm worried i'm not getting enough calories and slowing my loss even more though. I started eating more lean and green or 1 and a half lean and greens a day. Any suggestions?

Double up on meals during the day then if you have to. It's better to double up than skip meals. Trust me I did that and my loss STOPPED completely. Eating more lean and green may not get you the right balance of nutrients.

I've been told that no matter what, do not skip the MF meals. Your body needs fuel every few hours to keep the metabolism up. Can you sip shakes or nibble on bars during the day? The ready-to-drink shakes are not as filling as the blended ones, so maybe try those. I use them only in a pinch.

You can always find room for a brownie, or a shake made with 3/4 c water and no ice. Not a whole lot of volume in most meals. You really have to try... Get all 5 in. They are specially formulated to give you proper nutrition that you NEED when you are so low-cal. Like beerab, I have heard so many stories from people who can't shake the "less is better" mentality and stop eating all 5 meals, and stop losing. You're not doing yourself any favors.

I skip meals I do 4 a day for bugetary reasons

I believe with the other posters that it's really important to eat all 5 meals. They are formulated to provide complete nutrition even though they are very low calorie. If you skip one, you're missing out.

My friend is on the 4 + 2 senior program, so in her case she is eating two Lean & Green per day. (They are slightly smaller L&G than the regular program.)

I think the bottom line is, don't skip the meals.

Jay

Eat your first meal within 30 minutes of waking up, pretty much first thing in the morning. Your second, at mid-morning, will then feel natural because it's a long haul until lunch. Have one for lunch, and mid-afternoon, and eat your lean-and-green as early as possible (5-6). There will then be a long haul before you go to sleep, so have a sweet one for dessert (pudding or soft serve.)

The other strategy is to note that your lean-and-green fills you up better than the MF meals. So move it to another time. Make it breakfast, or make it the last meal of the day.

There's no need to skip a meal for budgetary reasons. If necessary, you can supplement MF with grocery substitutes. It works, and can be as little as 50 cents or less per replaced meal. At the very least, just eat no more than 100 calories of protein (a 4 oz chicken breast or 5 egg whites or a slice of turkey breast sandwich meat). Protein won't throw off ketosis. If you replace two meals, the other one can be a Kashi or South Beach bar. The protein plus the bar will be nutritionally equivalent to two MF meals.

Yeah... that's not true. I'm all for figuring out what works for you, but the whole point of MF is that it is nutritionally balanced to ensure you get your vitamins and minerals while eating low-cal. Plus you totally negate the benefit of having balanced protein/carbs at every meal, which levels your blood sugar response to food. What you're saying is misleading.

Gosh, here is a program where they have done all the medical study and science and calculation and work for you, to provide no-hassle complete nutrition while you lose weight fast. And so why would one try to second guess that and use "substitutes"? Why not just follow directions? How about just buy the food and eat it as directed?

I understand having financial problems, but cutting down on the food in an already very low calorie program is not the way to save. Surely one can find somewhere else to save the two or three bucks a day a Medifast meal costs... And if not, it might be better to try some other approach. I don't know. :dunno:

Jay

That is an excellent point. It's after I do the egg whites all at once that I notice the most severe ketosis reactions. Balancing the protein/carbs for every meal may make that less severe. I'll play around with that.

The vitamins/minerals provided by the substitutes I'm using come close to the Medifast totals. A daily multivitamin should resolve any shortcomings. And when you're talking 4 Medifast meals and skipping the fifth, substituting something for that fifth one instead is better nutritionally than not eating anything.

Actually, another approach to save money is to switch to WonderSlim. It follows a similar philosophy, but is simply cheaper (savings are at least what you save by skipping a meal.)

As for why I'm second-guessing and playing around with "substitutes?" Because I can't leave well enough alone and like to tinker with everything. It drives my wife nuts. I also grow my own greens for my Lean and Green. When we went to a restaurant (pre-diet), I'll order something and the next day try to see if I can duplicate (and later try to improve) the dish.

Yes, you can stick with a pre-packaged program (and pay for the privilege.) I'm just using that program as a starting point and seeing if I can improve the taste and/or reduce the cost without losing its effectiveness.

Ah. The light goes on... and now I see. ;)

Jay

The original point was that budget didn't need to be a reason for skipping meals. There are multiple ways to reduce the cost.

And going back to the original thread, there is a direct correlation between following the plan and losing weight. I'm losing about a pound a day when I eat 5+1, which actually works out to 5-6 pounds a week. Once I had some cheats and skips and lost 3 pounds that week.

My wife is eating at the same rate you are, and is around 2-3 pounds a week. But she's struggling to stay with it.

My suggestion is to try to play with timing and routine to see if you can do the full 5+1 for at least a week and see if your results improve. You're going to be on the diet for many weeks, so trying to adjust things for one week shouldn't be too daunting. And once you find what works for you, make that your routine.