Posts Tagged ‘Medifast’

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Can I use frozen dinners for my Medifast lean & green meal?

September 1st, 2010 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

Not a big fan of cooking? You might wonder if you can use frozen dinners for your Medifast lean & green meal. I wish I could say the answer is yes, but in the long run, that solution isn’t really ideal. Let me explain why and then offer a few alternative suggestions.

The main reason that frozen dinners aren’t really appropriate for use as a lean and green meal is because of the way most frozen dinners are processed, they have too much sodium. Often, they don’t have enough protein either. But sodium aside, I thin even if you were to look long and hard at every frozen meal at your grocery store, you would have a hard time finding something suitable to match the ingredients of your lean and green.
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Lose 20 lbs in 60 days – it is possible

July 29th, 2010 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Diet Tips & Reviews

If the question you are asking yourself is, can I lose 20 lbs in 60 days? The answer to that question is definitely yes. It just means you are going to need to start making a plan for weight loss. Setting the goal of losing 20 pounds in a 60 day period is a very reasonable goal. This goal will allow you to lose weight at a very healthy and safe rate. 2 or 3 pounds a week is the recommended weight loss per week which fits for the 20 pounds in 60 days goal perfectly.

Getting a plan together for losing that weight is the first step you need to take. Do not just go into it and try to figure it out as you go or you will end up getting frustrated and possibly giving up. You do not want that to happen. You want to have a good plan in place that will help you make sure you reach your goals. Losing weight is a very important task to take on and it takes dedication and work but it is so worth it. The healthier you are, the happier you will be over all and that is a wonderful thing.
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How Many Morningstar Farms Patties on Medifast?

June 17th, 2010 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Medifast

If you are a vegetarian following the Medifast diet or just looking for some variety in your meal planning, some of your options for your Medifast lean and green meal include meatless patties made by Morningstar Farms. But you might be wondering just how many Morningstar Farms patties are on Medifast anyway, right? So let’s take a look at the guidelines.

First of all, you should know that there are three different vegetarian brands of patties that you can eat when following the Medifast diet. They are Morningstar Farms, Boca Burger and GardenBurger.
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Diets that Work – My Top Picks for Easy Diets that Work

February 23rd, 2010 by Inspector | Comments Off | Filed in Diet Tips & Reviews

When it comes to finding Diets that work, there are lots of options! The fact is, most reasonably constructed diet plans will work. So if you can avoid fad diets and focus on those weight loss programs that are designed for healthy weight loss, you’ll be well ahead of the game. But with so many diets available, how do you find the right diet that works for you? Some of it is trial and error, but I have a few ideas about what I look for in a diet and I know what diets I’ve been able to successfully lose weight with, so here are my thoughts on the matter.

First of all, I want a diet that does not require tons of cooking and fiddling around with ingredients. I’m not a chef and I don’t want to spend tons of time in the kitchen. I like easy diets and any diet that requires a lot of time in the kitchen, where the food prep takes longer than the eating, isn’t my idea of an easy diet plan!

I’m also not a huge fan of weighing and measuring every bite of food I put in my mouth and I hate having to look up and register all of the calories I eat every day. It’s time consuming, annoying and the majority of the time I’ll just forget to do it anyway, so what happens is I’ll spend the next day guessing on what I ate the day before and estimating the quantities. That’s the fast track to failure for me as I’ll just give up out of frustration.
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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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