Diets That Work | Online Diet Reviews

If you spend any time on dieting forums at all, there’s a question that pops up over and over again related to substitutions and diets. Usually, it’s “can I substitute this product for this one”. In the specific case of Medifast, the question is usually, “Can I substitute Slimfast for the Medifast shakes?”

Some people feel that Medifast is too expensive or that it is just more convenient to buy Slimfast at the supermarket rather than order Medifast online. Or maybe they just prefer the taste of Slimfast, which admittedly does taste pretty good (but there’s a reason for that, which I will get into in a moment).

Or sometimes, a Medifast dieter has just mis-timed their latest order and so they are out of product for a few days and need a substitute that they can buy immediately so they don’t ruin their diet. Oftentimes, if you have to be off your diet for a few days it can really wreck your momentum and make it difficult to get back on the wagon, so to speak.

Slimfast really isn’t a suitable substitute for Medifast though. You can take a look at my Medifast review for more detail about how Medifast works, but basically their formulations are completely different and Slimfast shakes, unfortunately, are loaded with sugar. The main ingredients in Slimfast shakes are skim milk, sugar, fructose and cocoa. Three of those ingredients are just basically sugar. With this being the case, using Slimfast as a substitute for Medifast while you wait for your next Medifast order to arrive would drive you right out of ketosis.

Let’s do a direct comparison. I’m only going to look at the diet shakes, since there are so many other products, but you will easily see the difference here in the main product category.

Medifast 55 Shakes

90 calories per serving, 1g of fat, 11g of protein, 13g of carbs (8g of which is sugar)

Slimfast Original Shakes

220 Calories, 3g of fat, 10g of protein, 40g of carbs (34g of which is sugar).

Slimfast Optima Shakes

190 calories, 6g of fat, 10g of protein, 25g of carbs (18g of which is sugar).

As you can see, while the protein servings in Slimfast and Medifast are pretty close to each other, the sugar content of Slimfast is MUCH higher than what’s in Medifast shakes. In the Slimfast original shakes, the sugar content is four times as much and in the Optima shakes, it is still more than twice as much sugar as what’s in Medifast shakes.

So it should be pretty plain to see that Slimfast is not adequate as a substitute for Medifast shakes.

Now if you are a Medifast dieter and you’ve run out of Medifast product and you need to use substitutions for a few days, your best bet is probably to have a few lean & green meals each day and include a couple of glasses of low-fat milk. I believe Medifast used to recommend milk, but that recommendation is no longer on their website. Instead they recommend you contact them.

You would probably be fairly safe with a protein drink that is low in sugar. I would try and look for a product that has the same carb profile as Medifast and use that for a couple of days. But in the long run, your diet will be much easier if you are able to plan ahead and make sure you have plenty of Medifast foods on hand. This is why I like their VIP delivery program which automatically sends out orders each month.

You can change orders whenever you like, but if you forget all about it, at least they will send you your standard order so you won’t be put in a position of having to scramble for something else suitable to eat. If you want to sign up for the Medifast VIP delivery program, you can do so here: Get Medifast

Disclosure: DietInspector.com is a paid affiliate of Medifast.