In essence, medifast is really a low carb diet. I find that a lot of people are a bit surprised by this, myself included. You used to think this was your restrictive, low calorie staple diet, but there is more to it than that. All foods are high in protein and fiber, while relatively low in carbohydrates and sugars. This is the formula that puts your body in fat burning mode and it is a very important part of the equation. The other day someone asked me exactly how much of each part of the equation you take each day you take medifast. I will answer this in the next article.
Sample Medifast menu with daily protein content: Probably the easiest way to clear the point is to go over a typical day on medifast and then figure out the daily content from there.
Below is a sample menu with protein, fiber, sugar, and calorie content (in grams). Keep in mind that every day you will consume five of the smallest prepackaged meals in the diet and will prepare one “lean and green” meal on your own. You have quite a bit of freedom with this and you can make your own decisions. But the company gives you some guidelines. They want you to eat lean meat or vegetable alternatives and they want you to eat three servings of vegetables that are glycemic-friendly.
Food ——————— Proteins ——————- Fiber ——- ———————– Sugar —————– Calories —-
Oats ——————— 11 ———————– 5 — ——————————– 1 —————– ——- 110
Chocolate shake ————- 11 ———————– 3 ——— – ————————- 9 ———————– – 90
Chile ————————- 11 ———————– 5 ———————————– 1 ————- ———– 110
Crunch Bar —————— 12 ———————– 4 —- – —————————— 2 —————— – —– 110
Lean and Green Food ——- This varies, depending on the food you choose .———————-
Cinnamon chips ————– 4 ———————— 1 ——- – ————————— 3 ——————— – –70
As you can see, on this typical day, we consume 49 grams of protein, 18 of fiber, 15 of sugar, and 490 calories. But, we still haven’t figured in our slim and green. There are plenty of options here and as long as you eat a small serving of meat or meat alternate and 3 servings of veggies you are fine. Some people do this with stir fry. Some will prepare a casserole or a meal in a pot. And some will make a more traditional meal with side dishes. However, no matter how you cut it, they want you to eat 5-7 ounces of meat or its substitute. In general, each ounce will have 7 grams of protein. So if you had a six-ounce serving, you would consume 42 grams. Put this in with the smaller diet meals you’ve already eaten and you have a total of 91.
This is pretty close to diets like South Beach and Atkins, in which many people will aim for around 100. As you can see, you are getting a very generous amount of protein that you should have no problem putting you in fat burning mode. (ketosis). Unless you cheat a lot on your lean, green food and load up on carbs at the time.