I've read some discussion of Medifast vs. Wonderslim. Money is an issue, and I know for some, the price increase is no biggie, but for me, it is. I had done several things to cut money in prep for what I thought Medifast was going to cost, such as switching cell service, cutting some subscriptions, etc. but it's going to be really tight now. Especially if I can't use the coupons again.
I suppose I can go over my budget again and see if there is anything else to cut, but I also have questions over effectiveness. Have any of you switched over to Wonderslim completely and is your progress the same? I know there are differences in nutrition, but that can be addressed with a multi vitamin. As for calories, that can be fixed too. Anyway, I welcome your opinions.

If you do the VIP program you have some perks also such as 5% off orders, free shipping, and the first 2 months you get a week of free food. Also you can push back VIP order dates as well. When I had a surplus of food from the times I went off program I just changed up my dates and it didn't affect my VIP membership (I changed it by over a month).

Consider more than just cost--look into the ingredients. I notice that WonderSlim shakes are sweetened with Nutrisweet (aspartame). MediFast uses no artificial sweeteners. And I'm sure there are other differences as well. Not saying which you should go with--just do some research and be sure you understand the trade-offs.

Jay

Yeah, not a fan of aspartame. Oh, I'll figure something out.

Wait a minute, did I miss something? What Medifast price increase? Why can't coupons be used again?

There are two ways to buy from the Medifast website. Either you could sign up for their VIP program, or you can buy month to month. The VIP program is a subscription, and also gives you a 5% discount (but you can't combine it with other promos.) If you're not signed up for VIP, you CAN use coupons (or at least, they've let me do it so far.)

You can google for monthly coupons, which change each month. (Search for "medifast coupon") They typically give you $50 a $275 purchase, or about 18% off (try to buy close to the minimum amount to get the maximum discount.)

Medifast also advertises heavily. This means they provide referral fees to sites that link to them. Some of those sites will share the referral fees with you (These are called "Cashback sites"). Linking to Medifast through a cashback site may give you an additional 5-10% off (amount will vary by site and month).

You can also supplement your Medifast stash by checking craigslist or ebay. People sell excess food at a discount.

However, I have not heard anything about them raising their prices or disallowing coupons. (I've only been using them since April, so "price increase" may be a relative term.) Or was I misreading your post?

Sequi, the cost of my order will increase $20 from last month, if I can continue to use the coupons. I know it sounds so little, but $4 a gallon for gas, among other things makes it just that much more tight. Like I said, I'll figure something out.

Prices increased as of May 1. It used to be that just the bars were $16.50 a box and other things were $14 something. Now everything is across the board $16.50.

And no, Sequi, they do not allow you to use a $50 or $25 coupon more than once. Even though they change. You can use a $50 coupon once for the duration of time you are on MF (I don't know how they track it - you could probably get around this by signing up with a different email or credit card...).

I just recently placed an order from a place that sells Nutribest packaged foods. So many of the products are extremely close to MF food and average $10 a box. I don't know if I am allowed to say what company in case it sounds like I'm advertising! I ordered a few boxes to try, I will slowly incorporate them and see how it goes. I hope they are good! It is taking a long time to get here though, as they are on the opposite side of the US from me! I have been noticing that it is hard to find bars that are exactly like MF, so I will keep getting those from MF. They are too yummy to give up! If I want a shake, I drink the EAS Carb advantage readymades.... they are only $4.99 at Target for 4 and have less carbs (which makes me happy).

Ah, a ray of hope, lol. I purchased my order through Mr. Rebates, as I do all my shopping through them. They list coupon codes and you get 5% back. I went ahead and ordered my next month today and my coupon worked! I got the receipt in email and it went through, so yay! Also, there is a glimmer of a chance that my insurance will reimburse it. It's a teeny, tiny, glimmer, but I'll find out.

I just used a $50 coupon two months in a row (April and May). I made no attempts to evade detection. I'm using the same computer, same ip, same account name, same e-mail address, and same credit card. In fact, I used the previous order in my account and modified it. There were different codes for each month.

I also used a cash-back site, but they may not honor that because of the coupon. It's in their fine print, although they did honor it last month.

Maybe I got through a glitch in the system. I'll take it a month at a time.

My wife and I are doing the diet together. I'll happily pay for 100% Medifast for her if it helps her stick with it, but I'm playing around with the grocery substitutes for myself because an extra $600/mo hit to the budget really hurts.

They changed the coupon rule now you can only use it once.

I thought MF uses sucralose (splenda) in their foods. It's not as bad as aspartame but it is still an artificial sweetener.

Some do, some don't. I'm reading the ingredients of the soft serve (ice cream) and it contains sugar and fructose as sweeteners (sugars 8g).

The S'more crunch bar has both evaporated cane juice and sucralose (sugars 6g)

Hi! I can totally understand the budget crunch we are all facing in today's challenging economic environment. However, I have had amazing success with Medifast (MF) and have lost 52 lbs. in 10 weeks. I cannot comment on Wonderslim, as I've never heard of it, but I would offer the following thought-provoking questions:

Are there life-changing benefits to Medifast that would outweigh your concerns, though valid, about the cost of the food?

Are you at a point in your life where your health is of the highest priority, cost be darned?

Does the research behind the nutritional / success ratios of Wonderslim compare favorably with that of Medifast?

Is Wonderslim formulated, researched, and tested by doctors at a prestigious hospital such as John Hopkins so that it has been proven medically safe? (MF is.)

Would the potential future savings in health insurance help balance out or exceed the short term cost of MF foods?

I hope these questions have helped you reach a decision. Best wishes for continued weight loss success, regardless of the program you choose!

Sidanne