900 calories a day?

I would definitely say it is not enough. I saw a dietician once and she told me anything less than 1200 calories a day is considered a starvation diet. You will definitely lose the weight but if you ever start to eat more than 900 calories you will gain it back fast! Plus if you are exercising you need to eat more than that.

Agreed! 900 is setting you up for failure, i fear. 1200 is healthier...:flowerforyou:

hi there

i eat between 500-800 cals a day depending on whether i burn off more than 500cals in excercise that day. I have one alcohol nite each weekend and 1 meal a week of whatever i want. Ive lost 20lb in 6 weeks. Its a total life style change for this diet to work, I will have to eat healthy 98% of the time forever not to gain the weight back but im happy to do that. If when u get to ur ideal weight u just start eating untill your full again you will without a doubt gain it back. Im going to start to increase my cals by 50 a week when im at my ideal weight until i start to gain, that way ill know how many cals i can have to maintain my ideal weight

so, this is a plan that calls for you to buy their meals. I have a hard time with any of these plans because they don't teach you how to eat right, they take all the thought process out of it by giving you frozen meals to eat. I realize you get to have one meal every day that's home made, but still, it's not really what I would consider the path to a life long healthy eating style. So think about what happens after you get off this diet, your body will have to adjust to normal eating patterns.
This means that there will be a high probability of you gaining weight when this happens, also you'll still (at some point) have to learn how to make your own healthy meals. That's not getting into the fact that 900 calories a day is far too few for almost every normal sized adult under 70 years old (and a good number of them above 70 too) even if you are looking to lose weight. There is a small subset of people who can afford this kind of deficit, but it's only for a select few, and generally not unless under the supervision of a qualified professional.

If you think about it, everything I've said is a great way to trick people into continuing the plan. You go on the plan, it works for a period, you go off it, gain the weight back, eventually get frustrated, and go back to what has worked for you in the past (I.E. the plan) which means you spend more money. It's a great way to guarantee repeat clients, but a bad way to go about becoming healthy for life.

This isn't meant as a way to put you down, it's just an opinion based on a lot of research and talking with a lot of folks who have done this kind of plan. Hopefully you'll take it for what it is. I hope you do well no matter which way you choose to go.

best luck,

-Banks

It is a diet called Medifast recommended to me by my cardiologist so i assume it's safe.

Did they say how long you should be on it? This doesn't seem like a bad diet if it's something that's being done for a short time. What is the plan after you're done with this diet? Lots of times people go on these types of diets and lose weight but when they get off them the weight comes back. The best thing your cardiologist could have done is recommend a dietitian so you can learn how to eat heart healthy for the rest of your life.

As a former Nurse and a former food addict here is my two cents. Those programs are good for dropping wt. For complete programs your bmi ususally has to be >28, After the BMI comes <28 you can be moved to a partial program... They are great for losing the wt... The key is to Redefine your relationship with food while you are on the program.... I take it you have a cardiac condition since your cardiologist reccomended. it...Use it...FOllow the reccomentdations and follow up with your doctor.... I just completed a program here in Ireland for 4 months.... of complete meal replacement... would be similar to medifast. I lost 91 lbs on it.. and am 2.5 weeks on food... which is how I ended here on this great site. usual time on the programs are 3 months for complete... and however long for partial... I was told that any problems I may encounter by staying on >3 months would reverse once I started back eating.
The key to these programs are to stay on them don't cheat... they put your body in Ketosis to burn the fat....
It is ESSENTIAL That you do work to figure out why you gained wt.... work with the emotional issues that may be driving it.... and devise new strategies to maintaint the wt loss... if not... then you will be back in the same boat... I did a similar program in the 80's and gained it all back plus because i did not do the above things.... For the emotional stuff andgetting to the core issues... try hypno-psychotherapy... it is what helped me address my stuff.

So short answer go for it... but do the work... follow the instructions and keep up with your doctor... Best wishes...
PS> The program I did here in Ireland was LIFE SLIM... it was 1890 calories... and it worked fabulous... don't know how but it ddid... I don't know if they market outside Ireland or not.... But I felt well and did well.

Medifast is okay if it's done under medical supervision and as your cardiologist has recommended it, be guided by them. There is obviously a reason why you have been advised to undertake such a strict regime. You will needs lots of motivation and support when you come off the Medifast plan and go back to normal food and that's where MFP will help you.
Good luck xx