Questions for the Medifast people....

Lisa1971
Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone! My neighbor is trying to turn me onto the medifast program and she also wants me to be a health coach since I could use extra income since I'm a stay at home mommy with 2 little ones.

Does anyone do MF first of all and can you tell me the pros and cons? Also if you are a health coach how much can you typically make in a month and what is this based on? Any info would be great! Thanks so much!

Replies

  • pilotgirl2007
    pilotgirl2007 Posts: 368 Member
    My mom did that diet... it's not sustainable in my opinion. She was eating something like 1000 cals a day. You can't really exercise on so few calories and it's not a lifestyle change. She has since decided to not do it anymore (and I am glad) because she wants to have the energy to ride her bike this summer etc.

    I think that it's another crazy fad diet and I think that it is setting people up for failure but like I said that is just my opinion
  • hamsmash
    hamsmash Posts: 41 Member
    My partner at work did the medi fast.

    To me it looked horrendous. Everything you eat is out of a pouch just add hot water so i am assuming the sodium content is very high. The whole program is based off a 800 calorie diet. Looking over the nutritional info on all their stuff just about everything has 200Mg + of sodium per serving. My understanding that it was created as a crash diet by a cardiologist for severely obese pt's who were too heavy to have open heart surgery.
  • Ugh my mom and I tried this once. The food is awful and is basically a starvation tactic!
  • RoadDog
    RoadDog Posts: 2,946 Member
    My wife is on it. Has lost almost 50 lbs in 11 months. She follows it fairly religiously. At dinner she deviates and has a salad and some form of protein.

    On the weekends, she usually allows me to make her breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. I also BBQ on Saturday nights. She might have a glass of wine occasionally.

    I couldn't do it, but it is working for her. She plans of gradually weaning off of it until she is totally off by this fall.

    Is it a fad? Probably. Is it expensive? Yep. Is it going to be difficult to transistion? Probably. Do I support her? 100%

    Sometimes a person needs a head start. All I know for sure is that it works for her and she looks fabulous. Can't describe the benefits I am reaping without fear of getting this thread locked.
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
    My mom did that diet... it's not sustainable in my opinion. She was eating something like 1000 cals a day. You can't really exercise on so few calories and it's not a lifestyle change. She has since decided to not do it anymore (and I am glad) because she wants to have the energy to ride her bike this summer etc.

    I think that it's another crazy fad diet and I think that it is setting people up for failure but like I said that is just my opinion
    um just to be the devils advocate i eat about 1000 cals a day, and excersise 4 days a week. 45 minutes to 1 hour (or more) , usually twice on weds. so yes you can excercise on that.

    i did medifast 20 years ago it was all drinks then , did not work out
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
    My mom did that diet... it's not sustainable in my opinion. She was eating something like 1000 cals a day. You can't really exercise on so few calories and it's not a lifestyle change. She has since decided to not do it anymore (and I am glad) because she wants to have the energy to ride her bike this summer etc.

    I think that it's another crazy fad diet and I think that it is setting people up for failure but like I said that is just my opinion
    um just to be the devils advocate i eat about 1000 cals a day, and excersise 4 days a week. 45 minutes to 1 hour (or more) , usually twice on weds. so yes you can excercise on that.

    i did medifast 20 years ago it was all drinks then , did not work out
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    My mom did that diet... it's not sustainable in my opinion. She was eating something like 1000 cals a day. You can't really exercise on so few calories and it's not a lifestyle change. She has since decided to not do it anymore (and I am glad) because she wants to have the energy to ride her bike this summer etc.

    I think that it's another crazy fad diet and I think that it is setting people up for failure but like I said that is just my opinion

    My neighbor did it and said it's around 1200-1400 calories and she did exercise 45mins a day. She also is now a health coach and says it most certainly IS a lifestyle change. But she's coming over tonite to tell me more about the program so I can make my decision.
  • I lost 65 lbs using Medifast, but you really don't have to spend the money on it. There are a lot of products that are similar and much less expensive.
  • redreed
    redreed Posts: 2
    I'm doing Medifast right now and I'll tell you that I love. Yes it's low calorie. Yes, it's low carb (although you have to let go of the "net carb" thinking which was a little hard for me). Yes, exercise should be a little limited at first, but I walk three times a week. If someone wants to do a large amount of exercise, there is a variation that can be used.

    I have more energy than I've had in years. I've been on it only 3 weeks and I went from a size 14 on March 26th to being able to almost fit into the size 10's I wore after my daughter was born. Some of the food is from packets, some are bars, there's also pretzels, brownies, and cheese puffs. There are over 70 varieties of types and flavors. I am a super picky eater and I have a variety of choices that I really like. Honestly I do not go to bed hungry.

    I suggest looking into it a little further. It's not easy, but it's a super simple diet. I buy everything online and it's not that expensive if you think about the money you spend already on meals. The approximate cost is $11.00 a day for the meals. You eat 5 of the Medifast meals and 1 "lean and green" meal, which consists of protein and vegetables. I don't know how transistion is going to be, but I have met several people who have sustained their weight loss for years so...

    Medifast has been around for 20 years or so, I don't think it's fair to call it a fad diet.

    Take care and best of luck.
  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
    My mom did that diet... it's not sustainable in my opinion. She was eating something like 1000 cals a day. You can't really exercise on so few calories and it's not a lifestyle change. She has since decided to not do it anymore (and I am glad) because she wants to have the energy to ride her bike this summer etc.

    I think that it's another crazy fad diet and I think that it is setting people up for failure but like I said that is just my opinion

    Thats a shame she and you think that way. She has not been well informed. Medifast provides all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals of a 2000 calorie diet except it is packed in 1000 calories. When the program is followed as outlined, you will, in fact, have a lot of energy once your body is in the fat burning mode---because your body is using up stored fat as energy. You are allowed to exercise no more than 45 mins a day and if you go over that, then you should increase your lean protein only.
  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
    My mom did that diet... it's not sustainable in my opinion. She was eating something like 1000 cals a day. You can't really exercise on so few calories and it's not a lifestyle change. She has since decided to not do it anymore (and I am glad) because she wants to have the energy to ride her bike this summer etc.

    I think that it's another crazy fad diet and I think that it is setting people up for failure but like I said that is just my opinion

    PS: I do Only Beachbody DVDs while on the Medifast program----Turbojam, turbofire and ChaLEAN Extreme and you know how much energy is required for those.
  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
    My wife is on it. Has lost almost 50 lbs in 11 months. She follows it fairly religiously. At dinner she deviates and has a salad and some form of protein.

    On the weekends, she usually allows me to make her breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. I also BBQ on Saturday nights. She might have a glass of wine occasionally.

    I couldn't do it, but it is working for her. She plans of gradually weaning off of it until she is totally off by this fall.

    Is it a fad? Probably. Is it expensive? Yep. Is it going to be difficult to transistion? Probably. Do I support her? 100%

    Sometimes a person needs a head start. All I know for sure is that it works for her and she looks fabulous. Can't describe the benefits I am reaping without fear of getting this thread locked.

    Congrats to your wife. I just wanted to let you know it is not a fad. It has been around for over 30 years. For the first 20 years it was available by a physician only! Now that they have implemented health coaches, you no longer need a physician to purchase the product. Woot-Woot!!!!! Oh yea, my husband is reaping the same benefits that you are talking about----you two should know one another - LOL!!!!!!!
  • deadmittens
    deadmittens Posts: 536 Member
    My wife is on it. Has lost almost 50 lbs in 11 months. She follows it fairly religiously. At dinner she deviates and has a salad and some form of protein.

    That's an average of a pound a week (approx). Diet and regular exercise alone could do that for someone. Not some expensive, trendy starvation diet. No offense! I'm just saying you can enjoy food if you learn portions and healthy eating.
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