What is the Medifast Diet?

Medifast is basically a meal-replacement diet. When I first heard of it I thought it sounded a lot like Slimfast. "Shake for breakfast, shake for lunch and a healthy dinner." Remember?

Medifast calls their plan the "5 and 1 Plan." That means each day you eat/drink 1 of their meal replacement mixes every 2-3 hours until you've had 5, along with 1 meal you prepare yourself that they call Lean and Green.

The mixes all show up packaged like individual packets of hot chocolate. There are shakes, puddings, soups, oatmeals, drinks.... and scrambled eggs. They also have bars if you don't want the mixes but they are slightly more expensive.

The Lean and Green meal can be eaten at any time of the day, and should consist of 5-7 oz of lean meat and 3 servings of vegetables from their list. Starchy veggies like carrots, corn and peas (my normal veggie favorites) aren't on the list. You can also have limited condiments and fat with the meal.

The amount of calories consumed on the plan each day is (brace yourself) between 800-1000. Crazy huh? I should really feel hungrier, considering that I bet I used to eat 2500-3000 cal/day. Granted, I'm eating a few extra calories thanks to embellishing my lean and greens a little. But I bet I'm still below 1200 calories/day.

I had thought maybe I could replicate the diet with protein bars and shakes from the store for less money, but I've been comparing and there just is no way. For one thing, all of the Medifast products have a bunch of vitamins and minerals in them. They also have more protein and less calories/fat/carbs than the other bars in the stores. Even the eggs are like SuperEggs compared to Eggbeaters. Each mix/bar has approx 100 calories, 13 protein, 1 fat, 4 fiber and 12 carbs, plus your daily allowance of vitamins, but has no partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Packing that much nutrition into dehydrated food isn't a recipe for delicious meals. And I normally try not to eat food that has as many unnatural sounding ingredients as these do. I keep telling myself it's not forever though, and someday I'll be in control of what I eat, instead of controlled by food obsessions.

It is obvious to me that the whole diet is expertly formulated and that it will be successful for people that stick to it.