Medifast and weird advice. Opinions?

tryett

I doubt they would alter the plan so you could exercise. I have a friend who did that program and the goal is to take the weight off fast. Since it is vlcd you cannot exercise. My friend lost a bunch but could not maintain her level of activity. She also didn't learn to eat properly and gained it all back. Went for the hcg diet, same thing. Her latest is yacon syrup.

AtmaKing

Here is the thing. What are your goals? Not what the coach or trainer wants, but what do you want? If you want to work out and eat a little more, guess what that is what you are going to need to do. Otherwise you will not take it serious enough to stick with it enought to get out what you need. I'm not saying don’t do medifast (I don’t know a ton about it, but I do know they get results with weight loss) I'm just trying to get you to look at what you want to accomplish. You must do what it is to 1) Meet your goals and 2) Make you feel accomplished. If you are unable to do these 2 things with the plan you are currently on, it will be unsustainable.

Escloflowne

They are trying to sell you a product, I went from obese and only sat on the couch to 1-1.5 hours a day in the gym.


They don't want you to workout because the Medifast doesn't supply the proper fuel to work out...

juggernaut1974

I guess when I told my coach that I was feeling dizzy she would have said something like "Well, I know you really like to work out- so let's alter your plan to increase your calories. Let's do 3 lean/green meals a day and your snacks will be medifast." (or something to that extent... but, no.. instead she told me to stay on the 900 calories a day and screw working out.

Again - go back to my first post.

Your "coach" probably has a financial incentive to keep you on as many of the special "medifast" meals for as long as he/she can.

The problem with these types of things is the coaches are almost always more motivated by the depths of your pockets than they are your actual health.

No_Finish_Line

Are you a Gamecocks fan?? And I have never been to that gym, but I drove past it today actually. Everytime I think about going I feel like I'm going to walk into a room filled with buff Army men. Which is fine, but... a bit awkward for me. lol

not really a fan, but they run something called the 'Medicaid integrity institute' on the campus and i went to that.

They would let you use the gym for 5 bucks a day, which was worth it on the short term.

they have machines i've never seen before, including some sort of medicine ball/rebounding ab apparatus lol.

It was pretty much empty except for some college girls at 7 in the morning.

definetly check it out... by far the best facility i've ever been in

AllOutof_Bubblegum

Of course the coach would push the Medifast, and tell you cut the gym. *eye roll* You have the right idea, she doesn't. Cut the gimmicky, expensive fad diets and eat your own food at a moderate deficit, and bust @ss in the gym. That will give you much better results and have you feeling better than crummy boxed preservative-filled diet food.

parkscs

Do you have some sort of operation coming up soon for which you have to lose a substantial amount of weight? Is there some other health issue that is being exacerbated by your weight that's prompting you to try and lose weight very quickly? If not, I'm a bit curious as to why you're putting yourself on a VLCD by doing Medifast.

But trying to exercise on Medifast sounds like a bad idea to me. If nothing else, your exercise performance is going to be pretty poor, and once you've lost more weight you very well could do some damage to your body/body composition. If you like working out, it should actually be easier to lose weight at a reasonable rate because you're going to have more of a food allowance than people who don't workout. Not only that, but you'd learn how to eat "normal" foods in a controlled manner, rather than relying on a rigid system like Medifast that you probably aren't going to stay on forever. It's akin to learning how to cook for yourself vs. having your parents constantly do everything for you. If you eventually plan to move out on your own, you're better off learning how to do things yourself rather than having people spoon feed you tiny prepackaged meals.

AllOutof_Bubblegum

I guess my question is ... the coach made it seem like me wanting to continue to work out the way I am was a bad choice and one that wouldn't allow for success simply because I am starting off heavy.

They are trained to make it seem that way. Because they want your money. How is this not glaringly obvious? :huh:

jmadams111

2 comments in general:

1 - my cardiologist told me to work out to gain muscle, to bur fat quicker.
2 - everything I have read suggests less that 1200 calories a day is not a good idea.

Punkin7411

Good for you on the great exercise you're doing. So why not save your money and ditch Medifast and spend your money on real food. Use MFP to log food and exercise and track that way, consuming clean, nutritious food? It's a lot more fun and rewarding and I'll bet your body will perform better because you'll be giving it the fuel it needs. Good luck!!!

No_Finish_Line

2 comments in general:

1 - my cardiologist told me to work out to gain muscle, to bur fat quicker.
2 - everything I have read suggests less that 1200 calories a day is not a good idea.

have you ever seen a show called 'my 600 lbs life'?

the doctor always puts them on a 1000 calorie diet.

I'm not sure why he insists on this when the patients will clearly lose weight on a 2000 or even 3000 calorie diet.

I suspect its because these patients are morbidly obese in the strictest sense and are much closer to death then they realise

lalepepper

It's not that I don't want opinions on Medifast-- I don't mind them. I guess when I told my coach that I was feeling dizzy she would have said something like "Well, I know you really like to work out- so let's alter your plan to increase your calories. Let's do 3 lean/green meals a day and your snacks will be medifast." (or something to that extent... but, no.. instead she told me to stay on the 900 calories a day and screw working out. It made me feel like an idiot for wanting to alter the plan SO i can work out.

Unfortunately when someone has an incentive to sell and keep you invested in a product, they're not necessarily considering your wants, needs, and preferences. I think you have a much healthier idea of what you can achieve weight-loss wise than the Medifast program can provide. From what I know, the Medifast regimen is often recommended to people who get little to no physical activity (and don't want to), and provides fast results that can get people motivated from the start. It sounds like you've already reached the motivation stage, and are seeing how Medifast may not be the right fit.

If you understand the basic tenants of Medifast, you can get started without it if you want. Caloric restriction is doable while eating "real food", but you'll want to ensure you are getting appropriate nutrition with those calories. You need fuel in the form of calories to live, repair, and move. The fact that you want to be more active but can't because of your calorie restriction is sad! Any trainer worth their salt will understand that heavy workouts plus severe caloric restriction are a recipe for exhaustion, injury, and plateau. It is so simple to increase your ability to be active - eat more calories! Even if it is just enough to cover what you will burn during your workout, you'll feel and do better.

I started out over 110 lbs overweight. It is complete nonsense that you cannot work out at a heavier weight - you know this yourself! I've seen a lot of nutritionists encourage people this overweight to "just focus on the food" until they've reached a weight closer to their goal. While starting slow and getting things right is certainly important, you have to remember that weight loss on caloric deficit diets is not only fat. Fat, muscle mass, and bone mass are all included in lost weight. Losing weight with only diet makes you more likely to lose significant amounts of muscle mass. Underneath that 100 extra pounds, you have a lot more muscle than an average-weighted woman. If you continue to work that muscle while losing, you are likely to retain much more lean mass and be stronger and fitter in the end.

Medifast makes things easy, but I think you're seeing that this isn't always enough. My philosophy on weight loss is one you'll hear around here a lot: It has to be livable on a long-term basis. It sounds like you have a willingness to learn and a desire to challenge yourself. Put that energy toward learning about nutrition, exploring new foods and recipes to enjoy, and learning to trust yourself. This last part was the biggest gift I've given myself recently. I found I never really gave myself enough credit for what I'm capable of - a lot of us shortchange ourselves with doubt and self-hatred. You have expressed some doubts about whether this program is right for you, and I think you're right on track. Trust your instincts! If working out feels right to you, and is therapeutic for you, it is more important than Medifast. Change what you need to to allow yourself to enjoy your life.

emmaalyssaa

Honestly, all these different types of "diets" are just not sustainable.


The only way you will lose weight and keep the weight off is to eat healthy and workout. Working out doesn't seem like a problem for you. I would ditch the $$ you're spending on Medifast and just track what you eat. Low calorie and "working your way up" to be able to eat more just sounds miserable to me.

Generally I eat low carb (because of specific health reasons) but I do eat bread/etc every now and then. If you eat and a deficit and work out, you'll lose the weight.