If you need to lose a lot of weight and you like the idea of not needing to count calories, Medifast may be a low-calorie diet option for you. The diet relies on packaged meals and a daily meal with protein and vegetables that you prepare for yourself. Before you start Medifast, get your doctor's approval
Medifast Background
Each day on the Medifast 5 &1 Plan for weight loss, you eat five Medifast meals of your choice and one meal that you prepare for yourself, made up partially of vegetables. Medifast meals include brownies, pretzels, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, puddings and shakes. Each Medifast meal has about 100 to 110 calories, and the diet provides about 900 calories per day. Medifast claims you should limit your carbohydrate intake to lose weight, and the best level is 80 to 85g carbohydrates each day, including carbs from vegetables.
Lean and Green Meal
The Lean and Green meal is your single daily meal of regular foods on the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan. The meal includes 7 oz. of very lean meat, such as egg whites, shrimp or turkey; 6 oz. of moderately lean meat, such as chicken breast or trout; or 5 oz. lean meat such as beef, dark meat chicken or eggs. You also have up to two servings of healthy fats, such as olives or canola oil. You also add Medifast-approved vegetables to this Lean and Green meal.
Vegetables for Weight Loss
The vegetables for your Lean and Green meal can be any combination of three servings of non-starchy vegetables. Servings of lower-carbohydrate vegetables include 1 cup of lettuce or raw spinach, or 1/2 cup of cucumber, radishes, raw Swiss chard or sprouts. Moderate-carbohydrate vegetable servings include 1/2 cup of asparagus, cabbage, kale or zucchini, and higher-carbohydrate possibilities include 1/2 cup of tomatoes, jicama, broccoli, green beans or peppers. If you hit a weight-loss plateau, Medifast recommends choosing more lower-carbohydrate vegetables and fewer higher-carbohydrate vegetables.
Vegetables at Goal Weight
When you achieve your goal weight, you can follow Medifast's Transition Plan, which takes eight to 16 weeks, depending on how much weight you lost. The plan prepares you for lifetime maintenance by gradually reducing Medifast foods while increasing the variety and amount of regular foods. You can eat any vegetable you want during this transition phase, including all of the vegetables from the 5 &1 Plan, as well as starchy vegetables such as peas, carrots, corn, edamame, onions and brussels sprouts.
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