K8-EEE, sounds like you have an interesting business concept there. Maybe you should start some kind of for-profit service that would set up the kind of networks you are talking about, bringing like-minded dieters together, checking on their kitchens, etc., you'd have to have contractors in different areas to actually meet with the people ... it could all be coordinated on the internet. You'd have to have a business license, etc. ...

They have something like that in the upper mid-west...called Sociale you go in a it is a commercial kitchen the menu changes monthly and you make and take your own food, it freezes and you just heat and eat..... A diet based one sounds neat (or should I say HEALTHY MEALS one)

New Lifestyles uses corn syrup solids and partially hydrogenated oils and aspartame. That was enough for me to steer clear.

I've tried Medifast, which is better quality than NLD because they do not use the above three ingredients, and I found the food to be very tasty and the diet easy to follow. However, I quit Medifast because I did not think the cost was worth it when I can create my own low-cal, whole food program, pre-measured into 6 small meals/day, which yields the same results.

I have also tried nutrisystem and actually *gained* weight on it the first month because of all the sodium, soy, and preservatives and it made me *very* bloated. So I quit after one month.

Hope this helps. :)

I lost weight and got to goal twice with weight watchers, and twice gained it all back. If you don't manintain and learn how to eat properly you will gain it back, not matter what the program is.

I have opted for medifast as a fast, healthy, and shorter way of losing. When I get to goal once again...I will have to change my way of thinking...

Hey this post is useful I was just reading about these diet meal deliveries (body-philosophy.net/meal_delivery_services_weightloss) and trying to decide which one to order from.

NLD may use those ingrediants, but I ingest them in everything else too. Are you saying that you don't? It's okay to ingest all that stuff from our local grocery store isles, but when it comes to the weightloss product, we have to get picky?

Don't get me wrong, I noticed those ingrediants too. While I'd rather not have them either, If I am going to lose weight quickly and then go into maintenance, I shouldn't be consuming the products long term, right?

The difference between NLD and Medifast for me is:

1. Medifast is soy protein (not good for some thyroid issues), while NLD uses whey protein.
2. NLD is sooooooooooo much cheaper. You order 28 boxes of NLD AND can customize to a certain extent without having to pay a huge amount of extra money. Medifast is the same price for their 4 week kit that only includes 20 boxes and if you customize, you don't get a price break. Oh, and Medifast is the same price only if you use the $50 or $55 off coupons that one can find on the web.

3. NLD offers free UPS shipping on orders over $200. You don't need a special code or anything. If you order from NLD before 5pm, your order is shipped the same day.


These are just a few and I will be ordering from NLD when my Medifast runs out.

I tried Nutrtisystem several times without much success, it was too hard to stick to for me because I was always hungry and the weight loss was so slow I couldn't stay motivated. I have never done the new lifestyle one and I never heard of it until today. I did do Medifast about 3 1/2 years ago and lost 110 pounds in a little over 6 months. I maintained the weight loss until recently when I became pregnant :). With how easy it was to lose the weight with Medifast the first time, I am not concerned about losing all my weight again as soon as the baby is born. I whole heartedly recommend this program to anyone who wants to lose weight. As far as keeping it off, the huge key is making sure that you do their transition program properly!!!! If you don't transition you have a good chance of gaining. Good luck :)!!!
Oh as far as the price, I saved a lot of money when I went on the program, not only is the food cheaper than most crap that I was eating before, but when you use the discounts (ordering through a free health coach is the cheapest way) it comes out to be less than $2 per meal, when you can even eat at the grocery store for that. The support part was really really important to me too, if I didn't have someone to talk to and keep me accounatable I may not have done as well.

There is a website called time savor gourmet that has great recipes, the meals are pre prepared, but they are calculated on portion of protein and veggies

Don't do it if you can only do one month and you have to stop abruptly, if you drop your calories down and cut foods out of your diet then rapidly increase your calories and reintroduce foods you will likely gain weight quickly, maybe even more than you lost uring the month. You would probably be better off supplementing and reducing your calories, but of course then you won't have the rapid weight loss either...

hi, sorry so late to the thread...

Did you find that your own 6 meal whole food diet plan worked for you? If so, I'd really like to hear more about it.
Thanks!

Wondering!!
 

Can you share with me what plan HAS worked for you? I'm reading the boards and getting info to make an educated decision. Thanks!

Edited to add: LOL I just realized this thread was way old... I wonder how it turned out? Oh well, maybe my response will help someone else. :D
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I think all of these programs are really intended for longer term use with gradual transition to whole foods, BUT if you are really set on using one just in the short term, I'd throw my hat in with Medifast.

But if you do it - you should be 100% on program for that month, or else you're just wasting your money, and it is pricey. It's completely worth it to me because it got me out of basically a 5 year funk where I felt like diets and exercise just weren't working.

I think if you carefully control your calories and carbs immediately after going off of MF, you won't experience that immediate re-gain that people have if they go from doing Atkins to eating pasta and cheese fries the next day like I did 5 years ago. :D

Also, Medifast is not an extremely low carb program, just low enough to keep you from being hungry all the time. Just one of the bars can have almost as much carbs as I would eat in one day on induction of Atkins.

I like Lisa's idea of prepping her own small meals - I think that's what transition and maintenance is going to look like for me after hitting goal. Because every time I buy MF food I think, WOW that's a lot of money for 7 smores crunch bars. ;)
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Read Your comments, started New LifeStyle Diet 3 wks now....
 

I saw the comments and Im ready to give my personal feed back. Im 3 weeks into New LifeStyle diet...maybe -2 pounds.
I love the taste of the food but no luck so far :?: and the cost is very affordable for me.

I have tried Medifast through the help of my Doctor and lost 34 pounds...that has never happened since 1999. The is when I got pregnant :o
I stopped because the Taste of the food was bad, Cost was very high, Auto payment, and physically upset my digestive system (GI track-doctor said to stop eating it).
I actually lost my appetite because of the thought of eating it made me sick. :p...but so far the only diet that helped. Unfortunately, I gained all + 5 pounds back and I'm at the beginning again:dizzy:

Before that I was on SlimFast, never budged weight...
Nutrisystem, Never effected my weight, Taste bad, and $$$...
Atkins, Lost 10-20 and all came back, taste good, and easy to find at Walmart, cost oK because it is mostly real food...
Weight Watchers, lost 20 all came back and really food but always hungry...that was in my 20's so that does not count...wonderful youth!!!!:cheer:

If you read this far? ....little about me. Late 40's, early-menopausal:flame:, 5'8", in 20's 125-140 pounds, 30's 155-160:preg:, I have always exercised a hour a day:carrot::swim::strong::exercise:, ate eat low fat, low sugar foods, drink tons of water, drink wine 2x a week:cheers:, very happy in life, and now on to a endocrinologist doctor + dietitian to get answers?

Maybe this helps someone :shrug::dancer:or not but good luck:goodluck: and give me your feed bad :blah::blah::blah::sunny::thanks:

Of the three, I have only tried Medifast, so cannot give you subjective advice. I am a foodie and I was concerned about eating artificial food, but I have to say I loved it. I discovered I can only efficiently lose weight on a low carb diet and packaged foods took the hassle of counting calories and carbs out of it. I added spices, a few veggies, and fresh herbs to everything and generally cooked the foods rather than microwave them. Medifast puts you in mild ketosis. Because of that I was not hungry and I have the impression that fat loss is encouraged. I did exercise for a while before going on this diet,so I had some muscles and those were preserved during the diet.

As to starvation mode, I am not sure that really exists. If you are overweight/obese, your body carries plenty of fat, which can be used as a fuel. What I noticed myself now on low carb and very low carb diets is that thyroid hormone levels are reduced when starved for carbs. In people with normal thyroid function, this may not be a problem. But if you are subclinical, you should monitor carefully. Once thyroid hormones go down sufficiently, your metabolism goes into the cellar. If these diets are done for a couple of months only, this should not be a problem. Medifast is only mildly ketogenic, which preserves thyroid function much better. I had to recently stop another very low carb diet that only provided half the carb than Medifast does because of thyroid problems.

As to regaining, I think it is a personal issue. Some people will feel deprived on these diets and once at goal, they just fall back into old habits. Phasing off should help as was already recommended above. I think Medifast does a pretty good job in this regard. I did not phase off, but I keep track of what I eat. 1500 calories are enough to loose at a very slow rate. My maintenance is around 1800 (age factor is terrible). I exercise, too. Once you stop with these limiting diets, you have to find the range of calories that keep your weight stable and in most cases, this range will be much lower than you'd like. I don't like sweets and desserts and don't eat fast food or go out regularly. This makes it pretty easy for me to maintain. But you will have to remain alert forever. For me, weight loss is mostly a battle that happens in the head.

You can purchase entire lots of food on Ebay to save money. Medifast really kickstarted my weight loss and was a complete eye opener regarding the role of carbs in my previous weight gain. It was worth every dollar. I actually just re-started it to tackle the next 10-20 lbs.

"The Simple Diet," is an even more affordable meal replacement option using grocery store alternatives. The book is written by a doctor who is not only a weight loss researcher, but also a weight loss patient. His coauthor is a dietitian.

Like the New Lifestyle Diet, The Simple Diet is modeled after HMR ( Health Management Resources, a weight loss product and services company used in medical weight loss programs in hospitals and medical schools).

The Simple Diet gives calorie, protein, and fat guidelines for selecting, making, and using shakes, soups, bars, and entrees (and for selecting the fruits and vegetables required).