[dorko]

Hello, everyone!

I'm planning to start medifast but not until the middle of next month due to a slight financial restraint (college student) and I want to start changing my eating habits and mimic the medifast way so I could avoid shocking my system. Usually I just dive into weight loss and I found that I have a hard time since I'm so used to eating a certain way. For now, I want to start changing my eating habits to mimic the medifast way gradually--with shakes etc--but I have no clue where to start or what to buy. I'm hoping that Medifast dieters who augment and customize their own diets could help me with this. Thanks for reading!

[spryng]

Hi there! I did this for awhile myself because I couldn't afford medifast. The nice thing is you can get all the nutritional value of each product right from their web page so I wrote it all down and took it to walmart to get similar items. I ended up with slim fast optima shakes and bars, hormel 98% ff turkey chili, lots of canned broths etc.. it was really easy to find substitutes but I must say it was a hard plan to follow so be prepared for major hunger the first couple of days and then your stomach shrinks and it gets better. But yes, I'm all for getting a diet plan without having to pay big bucks for it good luck!

[djay]

Medifast is a great program. The reason why you can't really mimick it with the product that are out on the open market is that the other products don't keep you full like the Medifast products do. The whole program is very restrictive because everything is formulated to work together to make sure that you have the proper amount of protien, carbs and fat, vitamins and minerals to maintain optimal health. But at the same time...I have never got hungry on the plan since I have a meal every 2-3 huors. So it is not a huge shock to the system.

Check out the Medifast forum. Lots of tips, recipes and support there. Also, there are some people there that are using a Medifast copycat plan that is supposed to be very good and alot cheaper. I can't remember the name of the plan...but I believe that Missy on the medifast chat thread could tell you about it.

If you are going to go it on your own...shakes are not as important as making sure that you hav e the proper nutrition. Medifast has lots of other meals besides shakes. To prepare...just try cutting back and eating small healthy meals during the day with a lean protien and plenty of veggies for dinner.

Good luck

D

[dorko]

spryng: Thanks! That's exactly I want to do, I'm on a tight budget but I want to get a head start before I start ordering on the main site. Is it okay, if I PM you about your grocery list lol

djay: Thats really good to hear. I want it to be a lifestyle change but I need it to be regimented, I like to have a definitely routine throughout the day and medifast has that. I checked out the thread you mentioned and I'm assuming the missy your talking about is 'missygith'? I'll PM her about the copycat plan. Thanks again