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What Fats are Allowed on Medifast

June 10th, 2010 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

The Medifast diet is designed to make sure you get the right amounts of carbohydrates, fats and proteins in your diet each day while still losing weight both quickly and safely. What we are going to take a look at in this article is the fats that are allowed for your Medifast lean and green meals.

Dietary fats are often not the weight loss culprit that many dieters think they are and it is important to make sure that some fats are included in all diets, as some vitamins and minerals are fat-soluble only and your body can’t use them if you’ve eliminated all fat from your diet. For example, you need fat in your diet in order to be able to absorb Vitamins A, D, E, and K.
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Medifast Coupons for 2010

January 18th, 2010 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

If 2010 is the year you’ve decided to get serious about losing weight, you can’t do much better than the Medifast diet and the Medifast coupons for 2010 that are available will make the program even sweeter.

Medifast is a great way to lose weight because it works quickly without making you feel like you are suffering. And using Medifast shakes, bars and other products to lose weight means you don’t have to be in the kitchen or the supermarket worrying about what to eat all the time. Medifast takes care of most of those details for you.

The only decision you have to make is what Lean and Green Meal to eat each day and even that’s an easy decision. Just pick a delicious protein with lots of leafy greens and other healthy vegetables and your dinner is ready.

So really the only thing that can make Medifast even better is saving money! And each month the Medifast company makes a variety of coupons and discounts available to help you. So if this is the year for you to lose weight, take advantage of the updated Medifast coupon links here when you order and you’ll be off to a great start. This list will be updated each month of 2010 to make sure you have the most current Medifast specials available.

Updated Medifast Coupons for October 2010

Medifast – $50 off any purchase of $275 or more!
Click Here to Use Coupon Code: OCT31G good until 10-31-10

New Coupon!
Medifast – $25 off any purchase of $150 or more!
Click Here to Use Coupon Code: OCT31G25 - good until 10/31/10

On-Going Monthly Medifast Special Link

Click here to Get 2 weeks of Medifast FREE! (Enter code GetTwo)

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Allowable Foods on Medifast

January 10th, 2010 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

One of the primary questions of anyone who is just starting to diet with Medifast is usually, “what are the allowable foods on Medifast?” Medifast does a pretty good job of explaining their program and what’s allowed in the materials you get with your first order, but if you would like to know what to expect before you place an order with Medifast, here is a good overview of what kind of foods are allowed on the diet.

The Medifast products are the primary foods that you’ll be eating each day. So you don’t need to put a lot of thought into those. Just pick your five Medifast meals and you’re all set. The question of what’s allowed comes up when it is time to think about your lean and green meal. Since you prepare this yourself at home, you’ll need to do some grocery shopping. Naturally you want to know what’s on the shopping list.

As the name of the meal, lean and green, hints, you’ll be picking up lean protein and lots of vegetables. So let’s take a look at each side of the plate.

Lean Protein

The lean part of your meal consists of lean protein. You have both meat and vegetarian options here. Portion sizes depend on the fat content of your selected protein. So if you choose certain types of fish, you can have 7 ounces, but beef or pork choices will limit you to 5 ounces. Poultry falls right in the middle at 6 ounces. For vegetarian options, the choices range from 14 egg whites or 3 whole eggs, with the whole eggs clearly containing more fat. Other vegetarian options include items like Boca Burgers, Morningstar Farms patties and Tofu.

The Green Portion

The green side of your plate is made up of leafy green vegetables and other colorful veggies. Eliminated are foods like potatoes, corn, carrots and other high carb vegetables. Serving sizes, for your greens, are determined by carbohydrate level. So, for example, you can have a 1 cup serving of of nearly all leafy greens such as lettuce or spinach, but only a 1/2 cup serving of cauliflower or asparagus. Your entire green serving is three servings, keeping the portion restrictions in mind. So you could have three cups of leafy greens, or one cup of leafy greens and a 1/2 cup of portabella mushrooms and a 1/2 cup of peppers to make a nice, colorful salad.

Additional Fats

Finally, Medifast also adds some additional fats to your daily diet and the amount depends on how much fat is in the protein choices that you made. Fats are added because some vitamins and minerals are fat-soluble only, so fats are an important part of a healthy diet. For your fat serving, you get to choose from items such as black olives, low carb salad dressing, olive oil, canola oil and even trans-fat free margarine.

As you can see the main items that are eliminated from the Medifast diet are white flour and other high carbohydrate foods like rice and potatoes, etc. But overall you have quite a variety of allowable foods on Medifast and so you should be able to maintain some variety in your lean and green meals without feeling deprived.

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Can you substitute Slimfast for the Medifast shakes?

December 15th, 2009 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

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 Advantage 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 Advantage delivery program, you can do so here: Get Medifast

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

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Is the Medifast Diet appropriate for teens?

December 15th, 2009 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

For teens who need to lose weight, it can be tough choosing the right diet. Active, growing bodies need more calories and more nutrients than adults. So if you’ve been looking at the Medifast diet for yourself or a teenager in your family, then you will want to know whether the Medifast diet is appropriate for teens.

Thankfully, Medifast can easily be used by teens to lose weight. There’s a few program changes to their standard diet that need to be added to any teen’s diet plan, but they are easy to implement. There are quite a few changes from the traditional Medifast 5 and 1 plan, as teenager’s developing bodies require more calories and nutrients, particularly protein, calcium and iron, than adult bodies do.

Medifast has two different plans for teens. One is called the Weight loss plan and the other is the Weight Maintenance Plan. Choosing the right plan is based on your teenager’s BMI and this is usually best determined by a pediatrician or general practitioner. So it’s a good idea to discuss the Medifast programs with your teen’s doctor so they can help determine the appropriate plan.

The Medifast weight loss plan for teens looks like this:

  • 3 Medifast Meals per day
  • 5 Servings Fruit and Vegetables (canned fruits are okay if they are packed in water)
  • 2 servings of low fat dairy such as low-fat milk, soy milk or low fat yogurt (cheese is on the protein list instead of the dairy list)
  • 2 servings of whole grains (ex: 1 slice whole grain bread)
  • 2 servings lean protein (meat, beans, low fat cheese, etc.)
  • 2 servings of fats (Tsp butter, margarine or cream)

The above servings are recommend for girls. For boys, an additional two servings of whole grains and one serving of fats are added to the plan.

You can find out more about how the diet for teens works on Medifast’s official website.

As you can see this is a common sense, healthy diet. The Medifast meals are mostly used to supplement the plan and I think they are a great way to stave off hunger. They ideally help with appetite control and making sure that the nutritional profile of each day is as perfect as possible. In addition, Medifast publishes a guide for teens which helps with recommendations for meals, suggestions for exercise and ways to get active. It also covers in depth the nutritional needs of teenagers which is useful for any parents concerned about how their kids are eating.

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

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Is Medifast Good for You?

July 12th, 2009 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

With so many crash diets out there, it is important to consider how healthy a particular diet really is. This becomes particularly important if you have a lot of weight to lose and so expect to be on a diet for the long term. Our bodies bounce back pretty well from short term crash diets, but if we spend too long eating poorly we’ll suffer the results.

Now that you’re thinking about going on the Medifast Diet, you want to make sure that the Medifast plan is good for you. There’s a lot about it that seems too good to be true, especially when you see the dramatic results that some dieters get, but you can definitely lose up to 2-5 pounds a week if you follow the plan.

Also, lots of folks worry about whether or not a meal replacement diet is really good for them. Shouldn’t you be eating real food?

Fortunately, Medifast has been around for a long time (27 years now) and they’ve put a lot of time into research and development of their products. The Medifast diet program is even prescribed in some doctors’ office as well, and it has been recommended by over 20,000 doctors since 1980. Nowadays, the most common way to purchase it is probably from their website.

The big thing to note about the program is that if you follow the Medifast 5 and 1 plan as it was designed to be used you will get all of your nutrional needs met every day. Five of your meals will come from Medifast packaged foods and one meal will be made with fresh, whole ingredients that you shop for at your local grocery store. Each day’s worth of meals is nutritionally balanced to provide your body with everything it needs to function well, without taking any additional supplements.

High quality soy or whey proteins are the main sources of protein in Medifast foods, with the majority of products being soy-based. Soy is a completely protein with a variety of health benefits. The main benefits are that it helps to lower cholesterol and can help protect against osteoporosis.

Unfortunately, some folks may be allergic to soy, whey (a milk derivative) or both. so if you have an allergy to one or the other, then the Medifast plan might not be ideal for you. Some dieters are willing to work around their allergy since Medifast has a list of soy-free and whey-free foods so you can avoid ordering food with your particular allergen. It is just up to you whether it is worth the trouble.

There are also some health conditions which would contraindicate using Medifast to lose weight. If you have a health condition such as kidney disease, liver disease or or type 1 diabetes, your doctor will advise you against using Medifast to lose weight.

In fact, if you have any kind of serious health condition or take any medication regularly (such as diabetic medication), you really should talk to your doctor before you go on any kind of weight loss plan as some diets may not be appropriate, depending on your condition and what kind of medication you take. For example, soy protein can interfere with the absorption of thyroid medication, so you will want to check with your doctor about using a soy-based diet such as Medifast. It may be possible to still use the program to lose weight, but your doctor might recommend using more of the non-soy foods.

For most of us in good health however, Medifast will prove to be good for you and it works very well in your weight loss efforts. In fact, you’ll probably be getting better nutrition during the weight loss phase than you did previously, since a full day’s worth of Medifast foods and the lean & green meal provide complete daily nutrition.

If you would like to order Medifast, just use the link here to take advantage of the coupon code for free Medifast meals.

Click Here to Become a V.I.P. Member and get 2 weeks of meals FREE!
Use JoinNow at checkout!

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Vegetables allowed on Medifast Program

June 3rd, 2009 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

medifast vegetablesThe Medifast Lean & Green meal is an important part of the Medifast plan, so you’ll want to make sure you’re including the right ingredients. You get three servings of vegetables as part of each lean & green, but there are some veggies that aren’t included on the plan.

Since Medifast works by limiting carbs as well as calories, it is important to pay attention to the carbohydrates in the “green” part of your Lean & Green meal. So some of the really starchy, carb-rich veggies aren’t allowed while you are in the weight loss phase of the plan. These no-no’s include potatoes, carrots and corn. You probably won’t be too surprised at that list, but would it surprise you to know that onions are excluded too? Yep, onions are pretty high in carbs. Peas and brussel sprouts are pretty high in carbs too, so be sure to exclude those as well until you hit your weight loss goals.

So what is allowed?

Well, you can start with all kinds of salad greens. You can have butterhead, iceberg and romaine lettuce. In fact, enjoy any lettuce that you find at your grocer. Try picking up some of the different mixes of salad greens available for some variety, such as the Spring mix. Since you can have three vegetables servings with each meal, I like to have two cups of salad and then another higher carb vegetable such as a 1/2 cup of broccoli or tomato to round things out.

Some other favorite veggies I like to eat with my lean & green meal are asparagus; summer or winter squash and all kinds of mushrooms. Oh, and don’t forget spinach, zucchini and cauliflower.

I find the best thing to do, so I’m getting a variety of vegetables every week, is to pack the list of Medifast approved vegetables in my purse. This way when I go shopping each week, I can pull the list out while I’m in the Vegetable aisle and just let my eyes pick out the nicest looking veggies to add to my cart. And whatever vegetables don’t end up in salads, I’ll lightly steam or roast. Pick up a salad dressing spritzer made with olive oil and use that to lightly spritz veggies for roasting for a delicious flavor that adds negligible calories.

Want to Order Medifast? Check the Current Medifast Specials

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4 Tips to Help you Stick to Medifast

June 2nd, 2009 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

If you’ve dieted before, you know that sometimes sticking to a diet can be tough. So now that you’re considering the Medifast diet, you might be thinking, “What’s going to help me stick to Medifast?” Well, I have a few tips that should help you meet your goals — losing your excess weight.

1. Follow the Medifast Program exactly

Medifast has been around for over 20 years and the doctors and nutritionists who have formulated the diet know what works. So it’s important that when you get your first Medifast order, that you read the booklet that comes with it and follow the plan as written. I’m going to cover the most important parts of this plan in the next few tips.

2. Eat all of your Medifast meals

Medifast is a very low calorie diet plan, so it is important that you don’t skip any of your meals — otherwise you may not be getting enough calories and nutrients each day. And when you eat your five Medifast meals each day, you’ll have a much easier time combatting cravings for foods you shouldn’t be eating. In fact, you may find you have no cravings at all after a few days.

3. Eat Your Lean & Green Meal

I’ve seen some folks decide that if they can lose weight fast eating 5 Medifast meals and the Lean & Green meal every day, they can lose weight faster eating 6 Medifast meals and eliminating the Lean & Green Meal. But that isn’t such a great idea.

The lean & green meal is an important part of the plan. It provides a significant amount of your daily protein and fat, as well as fiber from the vegetables you’ll be eating. This is important in making sure you stay regular. The most common complaint about Medifast that I’ve seen is constipation and the lean & green meal will help keep this at bay.

The lean & green meal also provides an important thing that helps most people keep committed to their diet: satiety. Satiety is that sense of fullness and contentment you get after eating. And it is an important part of making sure that we stick to our plans.

4. No more than one Medifast bar per day

The Medifast bars are quite tasty. In fact, I think they may be a little bit too tasty as I would happily eat several of them every day. But the folks at Medifast limit them to one per day. The reason they do so is that eating more than 1 Medifast bar each day will increase the number of carbs you are getting each day. And reducing your carbs is important to keeping your appetite in check.

Also, my own experience with the Medifast bars is that they tend to set off my sweet tooth and make me crave other sweets. So by eating more than one per day, they can make it harder to stick to your plan. In fact, some Medifast dieters find it best to not use the bars in their plan at all, preferring to stick to the shakes, oatmeal and other items. So if you find that using the Medifast bars increases your cravings for sweets, you can try cutting them out.

I think if you stick to these tips, you’ll have a pretty easy time losing weight with Medifast and you will reach your goals. Just remember that the best way to stick to Medifast is to follow the plan exactly. Sometimes it might seem a little boring, but the rewards feel really great.

Need to Order Medifast: Check out the current Medifast Specials

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Medifast Discount Codes and Coupons

March 17th, 2009 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

Medifast is almost always running a special for product orders. The standard special is two weeks of Medifast food free for signing up for the VIP membership, which is Medifast’s auto-ship plan. It’s a good idea to sign up for it, even if you don’t intend on ordering Medifast after your first month because you can cancel the membership at any time.

Get 2 weeks of Medifast FREE! (Enter code GetTwo)

Medifast also sometimes has cash discount codes that you can use. These work especially well if you want to custom pick your order instead of getting the Medifast variety packs. These codes expire however and aren’t necessarily offered every month. I’ll update this post whenever new codes are available.

October 2010 Medifast Discount Link – good until 10-31-2010
Medifast – $50 off any purchase of $275 or more!
Click Here to Use Coupon Code: OCT31G
 good until 10-31-2010

New Coupon for October 2010 – Medifast – $25 off any purchase of $150 or more!
Click Here to Use Coupon Code: OCT31G25 good until 10-31-2010

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Medifast Snacks – How Many Per Day?

March 10th, 2009 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

The Medifast Plan, known as the 5&1 plan, calls for 5 Medifast products per day, plus your lean & green meal. But if some days you find yourself a bit hungrier than usual, or if you need to delay a meal — you can also have a snack. Just remember. That’s ONE snack per day!

Medifast has a couple of different products that are designated as snacks and not a meal — these are the Soy Crisps and the Crackers.

Now the soy crisps I find quite tasty. They come in three flavors — apple cinnamon, ranch and white cheddar. I’ve tried both the ranch and the white cheddar and love them. Just be careful that you only eat one bag at a time! Maybe they are a little bit too good??

Aside from the soy crisps, there are also the Medifast crackers. These come in multi-grain or garden vegetable flavors. I personally find them to be mostly tasteless, but they aren’t too bad when added to the Medifast soups. Sometimes you just need a little crunch.

For snacks you don’t have to order from Medifast, you have your choice of the following:

  • 3 celery sticks
  • 1/2 cup sugar free gelatin
  • 1 sugar free popsicle
  • 2 dill pickle spears
  • up to 3 pieces of sugar free gum or mints

Of these, I find the dill pickles to be the most satisfying. They have a nice crunch and they tide me over pretty well to my next meal without making me feel like I just want to keep munching away. If you like celery, that will probably work just as well. I’m not a fan of celery myself though.

Just keep in mind, that regardless of whether your snack is provided by Medifast, or comes from the list of approved snacks — you are only allowed one snack serving per day.


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