One of my co-workers is doing Medifast. It's a meal replacement program. You eat a combination of shakes/bars/soups (I think 5 a day) and then are allowed one meal of protein/veggies. She seems to love it and has lost 15 lbs. in the last month. Has anyone heard of this?

Does it work???

We've had a few members on Medifast in the past. Some loved it, others didn't. I guess that's true of every diet Just to be cautious, you might want to check this post by MrsJim. If you do decide to do it, please come back and share your experience with us

Hi there! Yes, it does work. BUT it is, I would say in my personal experience, more "deprivation" than 'normal' diets.

That said, once you get used to it (again, all of this is my experience), you have very little hunger, and you lose weight quite quickly. There are pros and cons to this approach

I would recommend you search for "Medifast" on here also, in addition to reading MrsJim's post, which is very informative.

The largest thread I've seen, that got pretty, um, hot is the one in which MrsJim's post appeared:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...light=medifast

I'm on Medifast right now... and feeling very good. I have had a history of yo-yo dieting though, so I'm not exactly a poster child for ANY diet, to be brutally honest

It's a personal decision, and 800-1,000 calorie diets, which MF is, do not seem to be strongly supported at 3FC. Just so you know ahead of time...

Best wishes however you decide to proceed!

Hi

I've previously done Optifast (australian version) It is very tough! the first few days are headachy! but once the body goes through ketosis that goes away.
Generally i thought it was good! the weight did go quickly, the shakes and mousse was yummy!
BUT!!!!!!!!!! after i came off it i went straight back into bad habits, the body craved food BIG TIME! and i just ate and ate and ate!
Thus being back here to lose those last 40-50 pounds again!
This time around it is all diet and excercise, and i have my fitness levels up, and have even started Body for life, to get the muscle!!

I lost 110 pounds with it! in only 5 months! (maybe less?)

I would probably do it again if i was morbidly obsese and at my biggest,but i became bony and unhealthy! And a few friends have even said i looked horrible after! gaunt! (one said i could have used my collar bone for putting clothes hangers on!)
I much prefer where i am at now, which is fit and healthy! through diet and excercise.

But you do not have a lot to lose! I really would not do it for only 25 pounds! you will also lose lean muscle! which i am sure is not your goal!

Sarah,
How long have you been on Medifast? How much weight have you lost? My co-worker has lost 15 lbs. in a month. I've been counting calories/exercising since X-mas and have only lost 12. I noticed a post of yours on that thread last fall...have you been on the program since then? What ever happened to "hourglasslass"? Do you ever talk to her? I wonder if she stayed on the program and kept the weight off.
Medifast is so tempting...especially because of the quickness of weight loss. Tell me more about how your doing.
Thanks!!

Hi Teach!

Well, I first went on MF in 2004. I was on it October 16th-December 6th that year, and lost 24 pounds. That's about 3.3 pounds gone a week. (And I confess I had a few slip-ups in that time, so I probably could have lost more.)

Everyone loses weight at their own rate, but MF's FAQ says:

How fast do you lose?
Women average 2 to 4 pounds a week, men slightly faster (up to five pounds a week or more).

I would say it is the fastest I have ever lost weight. Not surprising really, considering how low-cal it is

I have had some issues with food my whole life, and enterered therapy for bulimia in October 2005. The common rule for someone with bulimia is No Dieting... but after 4 months of counseling, I am actually bingeing and purging much, much less. So... I decided to give MF another go. So far, so good.

But no, I have not been on MF the whole time. I did it sporadically, but couldn't stick to it (or any diet) for more than a week before.

Since I got back on MF on January 26th, I have lost 9 pounds in 11 days. I think I can hit 20 pounds in a month.

But people really need a strict mindset to do this. It helps to have health problems you are trying to get over by losing weight (or gaining thinness as my chiropractor said to me recently!)

For me, I just found out I have osteroarthritis in my spine, so this makes it pretty darn easy to say NO! to temptation. At age 34, I am not going down as a 300-pound cripple... which is where I was heading!

I don't know what happened to HourglassLass... I keep an eye out for her but have not seen her since October 2005. I hope she is doing well, regardless of her weight battles

If you are planning on trying MF, I will PM you more info.... It can be tough. But with their pushing their "5 & 1 Plan" which is 5 MF packets plus one regular lean protein and vegetables dinner, it's easier to eat like a normal person with your friends and family rather than having just 6-7 MF packets a day.

I feel confident that if you can stick to it, you will lose more than 12 pounds in 5 weeks

Of course, the maintenance AFTER is the real key, not the speed of losing.

I've done it slow (Weight Watchers) and I've done it quick (Medifast) and I have not stayed skinny so far. But with my new diagnosis, which I'm looking at more as a needed kick in the butt than a curse, I see success on the horizon!

I'm currently on medifast as well. I started right before the holidays and was very very motivated. Unfortunately, I found it too difficult to stay on plan during the holidays and just recently started back on it.

I suffer from terrible food cravings. I've found it works wonderfully if I can wake up and immediately start on my shakes and stick to it on schedule. If I let myself get hungry then the cravings will over power me. The only problem with this is I take my thyroid medication in the morning and I am not supposed to eat for an hour. By time that hour passes I am already hungry. The medication has to be taken first thing in the morning so I've got to develop some self control here.

The shakes are ok and you can add some of the davinci sugar free syrups to them to add some more variety. I didn't care for the soups or oatmeals.

I am going to order the program on Friday and I'm like some others. I have a very big problem with food, for me, the stricter the diet, the better I am. I hope this works for everyone, and I hope it works for me!

Blessings
Lindy

I started in June of 04 and had lost 30 lbs by Sept 04, just in time for my wedding. Yes, it really does work. The low low calories do make the diet scary, but I did not do Medifast on my own. I met with Registered Dietician, once a week, she reviewed my journal and helped keep me motivated to continue drinking the terrible shakes...I say terrible now because I was on Medifast for a total of about a year, I stayed on after the wedding to shed more lbs...ultimately losing 40 lbs by July of 05. Unfortunately, the downside to Medifast, is like most fad diets, if you stay on Medifast too long, you begin to lose your concept of heathly eating habits. Since I have been off Medifast, I have "treated" myself to everything I couldn't have before, and now I have gained 20 lbs back. So, yes short term it works, but you need a coach to help you live life again away from Medifast to stop the weight from coming back on. Good luck to you...medifast is not dangerous, as long as you strickly follow the instructions and talk with your doctor.

That's what happened to most of the 1,000+ women (around 95%) who participated in the Stanford study I was in - at the end of the 18 month study, they had gained significant amounts of weight back - with quite a few gaining all of their weight back.

Just want to add a caveat here - as I said before (on the thread that is linked in earlier posts) if you're doing the actual "medical" VLCD or want to do it -- I STRONGLY advise you locate a medically supervised program - perhaps through Optifast rather than Medifast - as far as I know, Optifast is still offering their program exclusively through hospitals and medical clinics (here's one in my area, for example). When you ramp your calories below 1000 a day, you run the risk of some very significant medical problems such as gallstones (we were all required to be on Actigall during the 12 week fast to keep from developing gallstones). It's one thing to do a 1,200/cal day diet but another thing altogether to do a liquid fast for 12 weeks - and for long term success make sure you pick a program which educates you on healthy lifestyle changes and maintenance, otherwise you're just wasting your money!

I did Optifast after Oprah did it. IMO it messed up my metobolism. I was only getting about 800 calories a day and losing about 2 a week. I gained the weight back plus more. A friend did the medifast and lost a lot of weight. She looked healthy too. She has since gained it back and then some.

I did medifast before to lose a few pounds. Ended up gaining 10 lbs in the month I did it. But that's because I couldn't bear deprivation and such a strict program. I know it works for many, but if you're one of those people (like me) that binge after starving yourself for too long, I wouldn't suggest it. The food tasted o.k. when I was doing the program, but everytime I had a bar, I'd end up binge eating the entire pack of 7. Now, staring at the medifast I still have in my cabinet, I can't even bring myself to make some oatmeal.
Of course, I'm not saying you won't have success with it...it really depends on your dieting style.
Also, be cautious of ordering on their site. They don't have an organized tracking system. They sent me some other person's 4 month supply, and I called back to tell them I only ordered 1 month. They said they'd get someone from UPS to pick it up but they never came. I felt bad for the person who couldn't get their order. Then I asked for a refund on another order that never arrived and they said it'd take 2 months to process but hey, it's been over 7 months.
Sry to go on...just my two cents.

There is some WONDERFUL information and personal experiences if you Google "liquid diet discussion". I was extremely tempted to order some Medifast or New Lifestyle, but deep down I just knew after a week or so I would set it aside and feel badly about it. I used the money to join Curves and WW online instead. So far, so good! Best Wishes whatever you decide.

Hmm, my post seems to have gone *poof* I have deduced that it is because the referenced forum also links to a Medifast seller through the Health Advisor I mentioned. My bad.

In my experience, there are other Medifast sources that will not be a disappointment. They're out there - like intelligent life elsewhere in the universe! *well, maybe not the latter.