How to Set Up MFP for Medifast

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KCDown
KCDown Posts: 7 Member
From Medifast Forum support site:

How to set up MyfitnessPal for MediFast users

OK.

Under "My Home" go to "Goals". Then click on "custom" and click "continue". What I put/change there?
*Calories - 1000 - 1200 (staying under is okay
*Carbs - 35% (works out to 88 grams and I try to stay below 85, seems to be my sweet spot but don't freak out if you are over since ketosis happens up to 100)
*Protein - 40% (men and those exercising may require 50%)
*Fat - 25%
I also changed *Fiber to 30

So that sets up your calorie goals. NOW...on to setting up the "look".

Next to "My Home" is the "FOOD" tab. Click on it. To the far right under this you will see "settings". Click there.

Now you can name your meals and pick what to track. I named mine meals 6am, 9am, 12, 3pm, Lean & Green and 9m (you can have 6 meals, pretty cool, huh??). I track carbs, fiber, protein, fat and sodium. You can also decide if you want your journal to be public and held accountable to friends or public. It's fun to look at others for ideas on lean and greens, but do what you feel comfortable with.

Be advised if you sync with Fitbit or Digifit it will throw off your calculation. I turned these off and track them on their own sites

Hope this helps! Let me know how you personalize

Replies

  • teamnevergoingback
    teamnevergoingback Posts: 368 Member
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    Hey that's awesome, thanks!
  • PippaJo_
    PippaJo_ Posts: 233 Member
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    I had to 'wing it', without guidelines like this, so I set mine up as follows:

    Calories: 900
    Carbs: 35% (puts it at 79g)
    Protein: 40% (puts it at 90g)
    Fat: 25% (puts it at 25g)

    It's really frustrating to me how you can't set the actual GRAM target for your macros - only the percentage. So this was as close as I could get it. I usually hit my carbs at 80-85 (don't panic over the 'red' number), and my calories all depend on my choices for the day, but I've gone up to 1000/1100 without panicking, though I'm usually closer to 950ish. I've hit in the mid-800s regularly too...seems that fish days are lower-cal days for me.

    I honestly don't worry about where my protein/fat falls, I just keep a close eye on my carbs first, and a reasonable range for my calories. This is where I can see if I can have a pickle spear, or maybe an extra condiment or two, or even a babybel cheese - if it fits into *those* macros. I really only do those if I'm getting the hungry-growlies, though...otherwise I generally skip them.

    I've just named my meals #1, #2, and so forth. I keep mental track of when I should be eating them, and I don't find that hard, but then I also don't stress if I should screw up the timing of my meals, or if I need to log a couple of meals together (like for instance, when I made the 'custards', it was easier to log both MF packets together, then just enter '0 calories' for the second meal, and make an entry in the note field as to why).
  • joysea50
    joysea50 Posts: 9 Member
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    I had to 'wing it', without guidelines like this, so I set mine up as follows:

    Calories: 900
    Carbs: 35% (puts it at 79g)
    Protein: 40% (puts it at 90g)
    Fat: 25% (puts it at 25g)

    It's really frustrating to me how you can't set the actual GRAM target for your macros - only the percentage. So this was as close as I could get it. I usually hit my carbs at 80-85 (don't panic over the 'red' number), and my calories all depend on my choices for the day, but I've gone up to 1000/1100 without panicking, though I'm usually closer to 950ish. I've hit in the mid-800s regularly too...seems that fish days are lower-cal days for me.

    I honestly don't worry about where my protein/fat falls, I just keep a close eye on my carbs first, and a reasonable range for my calories. This is where I can see if I can have a pickle spear, or maybe an extra condiment or two, or even a babybel cheese - if it fits into *those* macros. I really only do those if I'm getting the hungry-growlies, though...otherwise I generally skip them.

    I've just named my meals #1, #2, and so forth. I keep mental track of when I should be eating them, and I don't find that hard, but then I also don't stress if I should screw up the timing of my meals, or if I need to log a couple of meals together (like for instance, when I made the 'custards', it was easier to log both MF packets together, then just enter '0 calories' for the second meal, and make an entry in the note field as to why).
  • joysea50
    joysea50 Posts: 9 Member
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    Pippa Jo~
    I did exactly what you did! It works great!
  • tyanna68
    tyanna68 Posts: 35 Member
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    thanks for this. I had it on "guided" and I was always wayyy over on protein etc. What do you guys put for exercise goals.
  • tyanna68
    tyanna68 Posts: 35 Member
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    Hey guys, do you eat your extra calories if you exercise?
  • tyanna68
    tyanna68 Posts: 35 Member
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    Oh and what about fats and sugars! What should those be set at.
  • PippaJo_
    PippaJo_ Posts: 233 Member
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    I don't eat my exercise calories. What would I eat, if I did? Could I be sure that the balance of the macros would be right?

    About the only way I could see to do it would be to eat strictly protein/fats for 'exercise calories', otherwise you've screwed up your carb limit. And I'm still not sure that would be effective for some people.

    The plan is designed to account for an approximate number of exercise calories - that's why it recommends limiting exercise to something not crazy-strenuous, for less than 45 minutes. Any more than than, and yeah.....you'd probably be burning more calories than is advisable (given the low calorie limit of the plan to begin with), and you'd need to eat some of them back.


    Frankly, I don't exercise. From long experience, I've found that exercise makes me hang on to weight, rather than lose it. I don't know why. So I'm planning to lose the weight first, then exercise for strength/toning/fitness, once it no longer matters to me what the scale says.



    I didn't bother to set macros for fats and sugars. If you're sticking to the plan as-written, why would you need to? You're not going to vary widely in those from day to day anyway, unless you go off-plan. Perhaps if you just can't leave them alone, look at where they fall for a week or two, and then set them at the middle of that range.
  • tyanna68
    tyanna68 Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks!