Reached a plateau on Medifast - I need help to break this.

  • Good morning, I'm currently on week 3 - approaching week 4. I've only had an overall loss of 5 lbs since. I am on plan, I measure all my leans and greens. I have 5 of the Medifast meals. I've cut down on my work out routine. I've replaced one of the Medifast meals: Their French Vanilla shake for Promasilla Soft Serve Vanilla shake - only 90 calories and has no carbs per scoop. (That's the only adjustment I've made)

    Ever since I've started, I've still continued to exercise. My work outs consist of weight training twice to three days per week (I used to do these 6 days per week)

    I focus mainly on these per day: Legs - Chest and Back - Back, Biceps and Shoulders - I work out no longer than 1.5 hours per day - 1 hour in weight room then cardio such as Basketball or Badminton.

    Should I stop my exercise to overcome my plateau?
  • Try adding in a EAS Carb AdvantEDGE shake within 30 minutes post workout. I am not on Medifast, but on a program very similar to it and see a doc quite regularly in regards to it. Also, drop your exercise down to no more than 45 minutes of strenous activity (you can walk to your heart's desire.) That is what was recommended to me and it pushed me out of a six week long plateau. You may also want to check to see if you are not already on it, of maybe getting on board with the 4 & 2 plan as oppossed to the 5 & 1 plan since your activity level is so high.

    FWIW, this is Medifast's recommendations on exercise while on program.

    If you do not currently have one, get an account on either MyFitnessPal or LoseIT! to track your calories (yes, even those from packages....it will help you later when you go to maintanence) and your exercise. It will advise if you are "eating your calories" as my doctor put it. It helps when you see the numbers. It really does.

    Also, keep in mind that a plateau is generally classified as WEEKS (we are talking SEVERAL) of none movement, not just one or two Look at inches in addition to pounds. Our bodies are great at adapting, but sometimes, it can only do one thing at a time.

    Good luck
  • Quote: Try adding in a EAS Carb AdvantEDGE shake within 30 minutes post workout. I am not on Medifast, but on a program very similar to it and see a doc quite regularly in regards to it. Also, drop your exercise down to no more than 45 minutes of strenous activity (you can walk to your heart's desire.) That is what was recommended to me and it pushed me out of a six week long plateau. You may also want to check to see if you are not already on it, of maybe getting on board with the 4 & 2 plan as oppossed to the 5 & 1 plan since your activity level is so high.


    If you do not currently have one, get an account on either MyFitnessPal or LoseIT! to track your calories (yes, even those from packages....it will help you later when you go to maintanence) and your exercise. It will advise if you are "eating your calories" as my doctor put it. It helps when you see the numbers. It really does.

    Also, keep in mind that a plateau is generally classified as WEEKS (we are talking SEVERAL) of none movement, not just one or two Look at inches in addition to pounds. Our bodies are great at adapting, but sometimes, it can only do one thing at a time.

    Good luck
    I’ll look into EAS Carb AdvantEDGE Shakes – I was recommended Promasil and it tastes great! I will try to drop my exercise to 45 minutes – it’s so hard being that I used to exercise daily. I may have to switch to 4:2 – I’m not hungry at night or ever hungry ever since I started Medifast but I do feel as if I’m not getting enough food for my body.
    I looked at the guidelines for exercising and I started the first week with cardio.. and 2 weight training activities then I just increased the weight training.. I have the MyFitnessPal and TSFL apps (the TSFL app doesn’t add up a sum though).
    I know plateaus lasted for weeks but I’m just a little disappointed with the scale – I need to record my measurements, I haven’t done that. I know I look leaner but spending $$ on Medifast, I just thought it’ll kick boost my weight loss but I am happy with a 4 lb loss as that’ll take me a month to lose if I were doing it naturally, oh the wonders with being diagnosed with Hypothyroid. Do you think my Hypothyroid is slowing my weight loss? I would ask a coach but I don’t have one as I don’t purchase via TSFL or Medifast, I purchase via Amazon. Thanks for your tips, I will most definitely consider them. Thanks!
  • Quote: If you work out, you may not see a big loss on the scale since your muscles will retain water. I would recommend you ignore the scale and take measurements. A plateau is a stall for months. You are just loosing slower due to building muscle. Just continue, maybe take in some extra protein as suggested above and stop thinking about short term losses. You will see the results six months to a year down the road and be amazed.
    Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm going to hide the scale, I think I may be expecting too much from my body and Medifast especially for the $$ I paid for it. I'll keep that in mind and keep going, thanks!
  • Just an update! I broke the short plateau - I have hypothyroid so I guess I wasn't eating enough so I broke my lean and green (one for lunch, one for dinner) yesterday - I "cheated" on Medifast by making a Paleo Butter chicken over quinoa (butter chicken had 500 calories, 16 grams of fat, 52 grams of protein and 32 grams of carbs) this serves 3. This morning I stepped onto the scale and lost another 2 lbs! Thanks for all your help!
  • Great! This knowledge will come handy for maintenance.
  • Congrats on breaking your plateau! I'm only on day 8 of MF - I have to split my lean & green meal into 2 separate meals. It's just way too much food for me to eat in one sitting, especially since I'm NEVER hungry anymore!

    Anyway, I had my weekly check in with my MF counselor yesterday and she said it is totally fine to split the lean & green into 2 meals as long as you're still getting all 5 Medifast meals in (I had a couple days where I skipped a MF meal). Maybe mixing it up a bit will keep that plateau at bay!