Medifast?

Is there a difference between Medifast and Optifast? I had considered WLS until I discovered I would need to do 8 - 12 weeks of Optifast (900 calories of liquid per day) and then would need to eat a restrictive diet the rest of my life or I would be subject to dumping and all sorts of other ailments. Realized then that I needed to just eat better and smaller amounts and start moving my body. It may be slow going (50 pounds in 6 months so far), but I believe in slow and steady wins the race.

Good luck to you if you should choose to do this. Sounds pretty horrific (not to mention BORING) to me!

I tried losing weight for years by eating only whole, clean, organic foods. I obsessed over portions and calories. I spent hundreds of dollars counting points and attending WW sessions for years, only to end in tears every week of the program. I exercised 5 days a week. I took vitamins and drank water. I became a vegetarian for awhile, then a vegan. But I never lost weight. In fact I gained! Medifast was literally the only thing that caused me to lose weight. I was convinced that I was a hopeless case, that I had some sort of medical defect that I couldn't lose it. Until Medifast. Don't listen to all those people who think they know how to lose weight. Personal trainers, health gurus, even nutritionist all had me down on myself. My advice - if you find something that works, stick with it.

It's magic! Uh huh.

"eat less + work out more = lose weight..."
That statement isn't always the answer. Portion control DOES make a difference, but simply eating less food doesn't always work. There are many reasons, most of them medical. It's a rather arrogant position to take that your approach is THE right one for EVERYONE.

It worked for me before and I kept it off for several years - until we chose to have our third child. If it is done right, it works. You apparently have a product to sell. Do your sales increase when you criticize people for using other programs and call those proven programs massive failures?

$339 a month? You're sh!tting me, right?

I eat right, check in with the doctors, and do light exercise only right now. I'm losing it slowly, but i'm still losing it.

Yes getting older is harder and so you may not lose it as quickly, but I bet you can still find people on here who have, without the crazy "diets" and "magic food".

This is just like Herbalife, once you go off their products you gain all the weight back. I've had a ton of friends waste their money on that too. Some people just like the taste, so that's fine, but I threw up my first two shakes so that was a waste of time and money.

Find what works for you - if it works, great. It does not work for the majority. Most of these diets don't.

Is there a difference between Medifast and Optifast? I had considered WLS until I discovered I would need to do 8 - 12 weeks of Optifast (900 calories of liquid per day) and then would need to eat a restrictive diet the rest of my life or I would be subject to dumping and all sorts of other ailments. Realized then that I needed to just eat better and smaller amounts and start moving my body. It may be slow going (50 pounds in 6 months so far), but I believe in slow and steady wins the race.

Good luck to you if you should choose to do this. Sounds pretty horrific (not to mention BORING) to me!

8-12 weeks?? How??

My mum got a lap band and had to Optifast for only two. Lost 15lbs in two weeks. Of course she was miserable and couldn't have so much as tea.

Medifast is not the same as Slimfast - someone equated the two earlier.

Gross, gross, gross. made then give my monry bsck

I have been on Medifast and have lost 25 pounds since June 1, 2013. Not exactly a quick fix. I have had some real challenges lately, with a lot of work travel. All last week I was in a hotel room with a fridge but no microwave. Was so glad I brought my mini-blender to make my "frappuccinos" with the soft serve ice cream in the morning, and my nightly treat of a medifast soft serve ice cream. I used 1/4 a packet of the vanilla pudding, watered down as my 'milk' for my cereal. I could not make the oatmeal or the soup work with the water from the coffee maker, just not hot enough. A hotel room with a microwave would have been a game changer. I brought the orange drink and the pretzels for my on the go snacks. The other crunchy snacks are just too smelly to snack on in an airport. I don't like to eat the bars when I'm doing airport travel, because they give me very bad gas.

Only went off plan a little, with three beers at different social events. My lean and green meals were torturous, because I had to eat what I needed to eat, and not what I wanted to eat. Everyone around me seemed to be shoving breadsticks and french fries into their faces. I had a handful of tortilla chips and a couple of pieces of pita bread, but pretty much stuck to plan otherwise. I was dreading the scale on my arrival home on Friday night, and it was indeed up by 3 pounds. By the next morning though, I am happy to report that I lost .5 pounds, even with those off plan incidents and never ate more than 1400 calories a day. My official weigh in is Monday, and I think I'll be able to report that I still lost over a pound, which is great in a week when I planned to lose nothing. I have a lot of these weeks coming up, and I know now that I'll be having diet coke instead of beer at social hours.

I thought being on the road with Medifast would be the deal breaker. It turns out that, for me, it was a lot easier than trying to not go over 1400 calories a day on three restaurant meals a day.

I find this thread interesting because people are so critical of others who only eat 1200 calories and the feared mythical creature, starvation mode, but they are accepting of a very low calorie diet program like Medifast. They are even so critical to demonize one's doctor when said doctor suggests very low calories. You're eating around 800 to 1000 calories a day on a Medifast program for those who don't know.


Edit No exercise calories are eaten back on Medifast programs.


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I've never used medifast but I've lost 52 pounds since the end of march of this yr and have 32 more pounds to go. I've lost steadily but I've eaten in a way that I'm not starving and that I can maintain after I get to my goal weight. In my personal opinion the chances of gaining weight back is high if you don't find a way to eat healthy and keep it off that way. I exercise 3-5 days a week too.

I did Medifast. I lost 128 pounds in about 9 months. Faster than most people can expect, but I had a lot to lose and I'm a guy, so it's easier.

I did not feel tired, nor did I lack energy. If anything I had more energy. The only negative symptom I saw was that the last month or two I felt cold. I assume my metabolism slowed some.

I did a proper transition and have been in maintenance since February. So far, I have not gained weight back. I am trying to lose a few more pounds the old fashioned way.

To all those who have said that most people who do Medifast will gain the weight back, yes, that is true. But then, most people who do ANY diet (including calorie counting ie. MFP) will gain the weight back. If you don't change what you were doing before, you will gain the weight the same way you gained it before.

I'm sure I could have just done MFP and lost weight. The thing I liked most about MF was the convenience. I did not have to plan meals, trying to figure out what had so many calories and what not. I did have to do that, eventually. But I did it in transition, after I had lost the weight and was in a much better mind set for doing so.

Medifast is a pretty extreme diet plan. That's why I did it. I needed something extreme. It has been well studied however and I have not seen any research suggesting it is unsafe. I would not recommend it for anyone who did not have a fairly significant amount of weight to lose.

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