If you are considering Medifast for fast weight loss, on the surface, it sounds great.  Just eat five of their meals, which can be shakes, chocolate bars, pudding, soup and some other options, plus one "lean and green" meal, and the fat melts away.  At a basic level, this is all true.  When you get started, one of the first surprises is that 7 oz. of lean chicken or turkey is a surprisingly large amount of meat, and life seems good.  The weight falls off, and you can report a 5, 10 or even more loss in the first week (mine was 11.5).

And then the first weekend challenge arrives.  It may be the ball game, it may be Friday night happy hour, or your kid's birthday.  Whatever it is, it is NOT Medifast friendly.  So you figure, heck, I've lost some weight, and some people have noticed, so I'm feeling pretty good.  I'll have just a small piece of cake, or some of grandma's potato salad, and then get back on the diet tomorrow.

Suppose you do pretty well, you don't go overboard for the party, and it's back to shakes on Monday.  But by midday, you feel terrible.  The headache is slowing you down, you feel like you could eat the cafeteria at work, and the three hour gap between meals feels like 3 years.  The week's weight loss is slim or non-existent.

What happened?

The weight loss success in Medifast is in the method of burning off the excess carbs so your body turns to the fat stores for energy.  The first three days are an adjustment period when you are getting rid of lots of carbs that are so much a part of our diets.  That's one reason why you visit the restroom so often- the carbs are releasing a lot of water.  After the adjustment, the fat stores start depleting, and the weight loss is, at times, amazing.

When you cheat, even a little, especially with lots of carbs, your body is taking what you give it and in effect, saying, 'thanks for the carbs!  I can now stop burning my fat reserves and use this!  More, more more!'  When you get back on the diet, the tension between what your body wants and what you are giving it is the adjustment period.  Again.

Don't get me wrong.  Medifast is the fastest weight loss program I've ever encountered.  The start of beach season is two months away and you could be down 35-50 pounds by then!  If you are strong, and ready for a change, do it.  But do it right, and be committed.  Pass on the sweets; show up late for the party; do whatever it takes and you will lose weight.

Posted by rocketscientist at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the best things about being on the Medifast plan is the support you received from the online community.  Once you purchase your food and register, you are able to expreience "my medifast," a place to chronicle your weight loss progress, find answers to questions, and celebrate your and others success.

The progress photos and success stories are great.  So many people have lost 40, 60, 80 pounds or more and they don't even look like their former selves.  The journey is hard for a lot of people, but the destination is simply amazing.  It's hard to believe that in just one month 20 pounds can be eliminated.  People just don't realize how quickly the weight can come off and how wonderful people look and feel afterwards. 

If you are looking into medifast, visit the Medifast Weight Loss home page and read some of the stories.  I hope you are inspired to take action.  I know that's what got me started on the road, and the successes are what are going to keep me going as I become my own success story.

Mini-progress report:  14 pounds lost after three weeks on the program.  So far, no real change in my clothes or the way I look, although I do feel a little better.  What's interesting is that as you start to finally feed your body good things, there is a fog of sorts that lifts.  You are truly well fed, not fattened.  The mental clarity has been probably the most notable benefit so far.  As they say often in weight watchers, it's a "non-scale" victory, but an important one.

Posted by rocketscientist at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, the basic medifast plan is five supplements and one "lean and green" meal.  We are allowed to pick any times of the day to have these supplements.  Most people, unless they have a planned lunch outing, have the lean and green meal as dinner.  It's somewhat natural to consider dividing the meals as:

• Breakfast
• Mid-morning snack
• Lunch
• Afternoon snack
• Dinner
• After dinner snack

When I first lost 45 pounds with Medifast, I kept to this pattern.  As I resume the journey, I'm trying something a little different.  Basically, I'm trying to save up two supplements for the after dinner period.  It gives me something a little more to look forward to at the end of the day. 

What's neat is that so far, it has been easy to incorporate that into the schedule.  I have my first supplement at about 8: 30 AM, using the water dispenser in the office cafeteria to mix up a shake.  The meals last about 3 hours, so that gives me meal #2 at 11:30 to noon and meal #3 in the mid afternoon.  I can have dinner at 6 or so, then I'm able to have a medifast chocolate bar and cappachino, or pudding and hot chocolate, or even some soup if that's what I'm in the mood for.  Having the freedom for two supplements in the nighttime hours even gives a solution to the midnight snacking-- something that is always an issue when you live in a household with little kids who tend to wake up a lot!

Any other medifasters have any meal spacing tips out there?

Posted by rocketscientist at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'll be honest with you, it's been a struggle to truly engage in this final battle with fat.  I call it final because, by the grace of God, I am going to make this the last stand.  I will succeed.  That said, I know I will not give up the battle of the bulge, but there has been a lot of back and forth in the skimishes.

It's been about a month and I've lost 11 pounds.  That's not too bad.  It's on the low side for a first month of Medifast, but well within the average to high amount when compared to most guidelines for losing weight.  There has been some ups and downs, and recently, it's become clear that one key component must be in place.  It's the gray matter between your ears.

Face it-- when you are going through the course of your day, you may be hungry, but it's seldom an overpowering urge to eat, or overeat.  When we look honestly at the situation, you know that you have the ability to walk away.  So why are so few about to do so, and instead find themselves starting at what was a full box of candy or a full plate of food wondering where it all went?  I believe the ability to stop and evaluate the choice is the solution to weight loss.

Steven Covey's 7 Habits book talks about the space betwen stimulus and response.  We are not simple animals who act on instinct.  We have stimulus, and then we can choose our repsonse.  It's the key to personal and business effectiveness, and to losing weight.  Here is one example- the stimulus is getting home from a long work day.  It's about 5:00 PM on a Friday night.  The week has been tough, the weather is crappy out, and you find yourself looking at the workout plan you laid out with a big red X for Friday's workout, right next to the circular offering a special on Pizza Hut's newest pan pizza.

That's the stimulus.  You know the two possible responses- pick up the phone or pick up the gym bag.  The outcome lies in that space where you realize you have a choice.  You have the ability to stop and think.  What will be the best decision?  What will I regret later?  I believe that the ability to stop grows when you are able to articulate what you are doing and why.  Know your goals and write them down.  Be accountable to a friend, a spouse, an exercise buddy.  Do whatever you have to do to have things click in your own mind.  You will be able to, perhaps for the first time, regain a little control, realize you are not a slave to habit or appetite, and you will finally get on the road to not only rapid weight loss, but a whole new outlook on life.

Posted by rocketscientist at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been about four years now since I've followed various flavors of a diet "program".  I've gone through Weight Watchers, NutriSystem, The Zone, South Beach, some others I've forgotten, and now, finally, Medifast.  Another difference between Medifast and all the others is the consistency of weight loss. 

With many other diet programs, you expect to gain weight now and again.  The slow and steady program is indeed slow, but not always steady.  Overall, the scale goes down, but you lose 2 here, gain 0.5 there, lose the .5, then lose 1, then gain .2, etc..  Most of the weight loss charts have the general downward trend, but the ups are plentiful.

With Medifast, most of the stories, including my own, echo a theme of consistent loss.  If you follow the diet, you lose weight.  Each week may not be the 2 to 5 pounds lost that they advertise, but you lost 3, then 1, then 2, then 4, then 0.5, but you are losing, losing, losing. 

Medifast's motto is "easy. fast.  Medifast."  While the easy is debatable, the fast is not.

Posted by rocketscientist at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the complaints about medifast is that it is too strict.  You are given a range of supplement choices, from shakes to puddings to soup, but then the only real meal you are allotted is limited to 7 oz. of protein and a selection of green vegetables.  You are cautioned about not going off plan and the danger if you do is falling of of the coveted state of ketosis- that state where you are burning fat for energy-- the state of weight loss.  Let's look at the pros and cons of a strict diet.

On the positive side, you can trust that if you follow the plan, it is a plan that is proven to be very, very successful.  Many people have lost 20, 40, 60 or more pounds in a short period of time.  You can be assured that you are giving your body the nutrition it needs because the supplements and "lean and green" meal are proportioned to provide a proper balance of proteins, carbs and fat.  The online tools offered through the Medifast site precisely calculate where you are in your day, allowing you to adjust if necessary to find your daily balance.

However, the dark side of these highly restricted diet is twofold.  First, you are basically punished for going "off plan".  Weight Watchers and some others give you flexibility to recover after a bad day.  With Medifast, a day off the diet can mean three days of re-adjusting to a low-calorie diet, and the adjustment is not easy.  Secondly, when you do go off a diet like this, you tend to overdo it.  You figure you are already in trouble, so better to make the most of it! 

Given the great success and speed of Medifast, it's still a great option, but you need to acknowledge the committment necessary.  Find the appropriate support to make sure you get through the hard times, and don't fall completely off track if you have a little too much food in any one day.  Stick close to the objective and you will stay on the fast track for weight loss.

Posted by rocketscientist at 08:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

So, Easter Sunday is just about one month off.  For many of us, that means a reunion with some family and friends and, of course, a large, sometimes very large, Sunday dinner.  Catholics believe Easter is the holiest of days, more so than Christmas, and celebrate for days.  If you are one of those who are getting ready for Easter with family, if you haven't seen them in awhile, you might start to think about how you looked when you last saw them.  Have you piled on 5, 10 or more pounds?  If you're lucky, this is the same crew that you saw at Christmas and your New Year's resolutions have stuck.  You're looking forward to showing off the 15 pounds you've lost in the last three months.

But if, perhaps, the scale inched up, Medifast might be a short term solution. 

To put it simply, you can buy a month's worth of Medifast food, commit to following a program of five shakes, bars, and other supplements, plus one meal daily, and you can lose up to 20 pounds by Easter.  Medifast is a very low calorie diet, but one that is formulated to let you burn the excess fat for energy.  Most participants report that, after a few days of adjustment, they find themselves with more energy and less hunger than they thought possible with such little food.  I know that was the case with me as I started down this road.

The success of Medifast comes from the fact that they have studied how the body gains and loses fat, and the supplements are designed to give you the nutrition you need and, most importantly, the Medifast plan helps your body to burn fat for fuel.  Fat is an amazingly effective energy storage device and, when released, you feel energetic, alert, and not hungry. 

The plan is simple, but it may not be easy for you, at first.  If you are able to commit to it for one week, the scale will give you the boost you need to keep going.  I lost 11.5 pounds in my first week on the program. 

Can you picture Easter 20 pounds lighter?  With Medifast, it is possible.

Posted by rocketscientist at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I heard somewhere that if you have strong enough 'why', you can figure out almost any 'how'.  Once you know why you are doing something, you increase your chances of success so much that without a why, there's almost no point.  If we don't know why we do what we do, we are likely to drift and are not nearly as effective. 

So, why do you want to lose weight?  The answer will determine your success.  I think that it needs to be more than 'to look better,' or to 'be healthy'.  That's great and they are worthy goals, but does that inspire you, excite you, give you the strength to avoid that chocolate your co-workers brought to the office?  If it does, great!  But for me, the reasons tend to be more personal:

I want to be around for my children
I want to not have to plan on being the fattest and slowest on the church softball team
I want my clothes to fit.  To know what it is to have a pair of slacks hang like they are supposed to.

Ok, well the last one was a little vain, but the point is, you have to make the goal real.  Tangible goals, measureable results, and focus are the keys to weight loss.  It doesn't matter if it's medifast, taking supplements, or any other program, success comes with certainty of purpose. 

Posted by rocketscientist at 06:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It seems that the battle of the bulge is considered newsworthy more and more these days.  Yesterday, two interesting articles caught my eye.

The first was about a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reporting that the Atkins diet had resulted in the most weight loss in a study of 311 women who were assigned to read and follow one of four diet books that discusses Atkins, The Zone, The Ornish Diet or the US dietary guidelines.  After a year, Atkins follows lost about 10 pounds while the others lost between 3.5 and 6 pounds.  Of course, Drs. Barry Sears and Dean Ornish question the validity of the study, and there are a host of questions about what it means, but what's interesting to me is that the weight loss over a year is so small.  I mean, 10 pounds lost makes the news?  It seems I can gain and lose 10 pounds every month.  I wonder how the long term effectiveness of Medifast would hold up to this study.  Sure, the superstars lose 75, 100 or more in a year, but what about the rest of us.  Maybe I'll do some digging and find the average 1 year loss for Medifast and some competitors.  It's good to know what we can expect.

The second story is about a man that weighed over 1200 pounds.  No, that's not a typo.  One thousand, two hundred.  Ironically enough, the story reports that he followed a high protein Zone diet (the same one that resulted in a 3.5 pound loss in the first story) and he's down to 840 pounds and was able to leave the house for the first time in 5 years.  My wife's first reaction when I read to her that the man's mother and friends needed to feed and clean him since 2002 was, 'Why did they keep feeding him?'  While he has to eat, what my wife and I wonder is what they feed him?  He only started the diet in 2006.  So what did the do to him from 2002 to 2006?  In any event, it is a great accomplishment to shed nearly 400 pounds in a year, incredible, in fact.  I hope he stays on the road to success. 

Posted by rocketscientist at 06:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In case you are keeping score, I'm down 11 since starting the diet.  I've gotten rid of much of the excess water weight and the clothes are fitting better.  I've moved my official weigh in day to Wednesday, so we'll see how we do in a few days.  My nephew's birthday party should be a challenge, but other than that, no obstacles on the horizon.

 One of the things you hear when starting on a fast weight loss diet such as medifast is that it's not safe to lose that much weight that quickly.  For those of us who have heard the mantra "1-2 pounds a week" for so long, to hear of a normal rate of 4 per week sounds incredible.  Exciting, perhaps, but could it be dangerous?

My reaction to this:  is it any more dangerous than being 100 or more pounds overweight?  The health risks of morbid obesity are virtually endless.  It takes a lot to make a change and go in a different direction.  For many in this situation, this is the last step before surgery.  Bariatric surgery is being advertized by the medical community as a great stride forward in care for the obese.  I'm not a doctor, and I'm sure that there are some cases when it's necessary, but there are a lot of risks involved.  Before making a permanent, life altering decision, a fast weight loss diet may be the answer that avoids the surgical knife.

If a program is safe and proven, like Medifast, then it bears serious consideration and if you are smart, it can be safe and effective.

Posted by rocketscientist at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)