The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[LollyPoP_Gal]

I spoke with a medifast nutritionist today and, (Don't yall go yelling at me!) I asked her about substituting la tortilla factory low carb, low fat tortillas as a snack. Here is the ingredients and nutrional break down;

Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Oat Fiber, Soy Bean Flour, Cold Pressed Canola Oil And/Or Safflower Oil, Contains 2% Or Less Of The Following: Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate Corn Starch, Monocalcium Phosphate), Sea Salt, Yeast, Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum, Citric Acid, Sorbic Acid, Calcium Propionate (To Maintain Freshness).

serving size 1 tortilla
calories 50
total fat 2g
saturated fat 0
polyunsaturated fat 1g
monounsaturated fat .5g
cholestrol 0mg
sodium 180mg
total carbs 11g
dietary fiber 8g
sugars 0
protein 5g

I thought hmmm not bad. I figured, however, her problem would be with the amount of protein it contains, not. She said, "I do not condone the eating of the tortilla because it will make you think of bread and then you will start craving bread like products". Blink.... Blink.

I then asked her to compare the tortillas to the snack crackers. Her reply was, "I don't really condone the crackers either. A lot of people on the program were wanting to satisfy a crunchy, and saltly craving and we came up with the crackers." She further stated that could not guarantee weightloss using either product and Lord help me (not her words, mine) if I ate a bar and a snack during the same day. Blink.....Blink

So, umm, no tortillas, and.... umm no crackers?

Times like this I want to scream! I think they should have warning labels on the snacks the same way they preface the 1 bar a day rule. If you eat a bar then you should not utilize any of the following snacks, etc etc...

I really want to call back and ask her what the perils of eating 5 minestrone soups a day are?? thats 95 carbs a day but I'm afraid I won't like the answer.

[nickieluv]

Wow. That's the first I've heard of not having a bar and the crackers on the same day. Do you think this is a little CYA behavior? So that if someone is unhappy with their weight loss then there's something for the nutritionist to blame it on down the road?

On the other hand - I don't think you should have the tortillas, either. Check the carb count - it seems pretty high. But yeah, the cracker/bar thing - that's confusing and I've never heard it before.

So now the mantra is 5/1/water/bar but no crackers/crackers but no bar/don't exercise without adding a supplement....

[fairladyj]

Ok - trying again - got timed out and lost my message

in short -

Quit Weight Watchers because too many of their leaders seemed to give their own opinion as fact, even when it was clear they weren't very knowledgeable (one insisted she was a vegetarian, yet ate chicken, fish, eggs). Decided I could learn more cheaper on my own

I would feel more comfortable if the person said "in my opinion" if it is not verifiable fact, or supported by their research, etc.

Can you ask someone "higher up"?

[LollyPoP_Gal]

No, she made it clear, that these were her own personal feelings.

The reason that I asked her to compare the crackers was because the tortillas actually had 1 less carb and the calories were equivalent to the crackers, per the website/medifast paraphanelia. I was placing a small order for some samples and restocking a couple of items I ran out of when I had my sudden epiphany. Needless to say, no crackers were ordered.

[alpha femme]

No, she made it clear, that these were her own personal feelings.

The reason that I asked her to compare the crackers was because the tortillas actually had 1 less carb and the calories were equivalent to the crackers, per the website/medifast paraphanelia. I was placing a small order for some samples and restocking a couple of items I ran out of when I had my sudden epiphany. Needless to say, no crackers were ordered.

i think her personal opinions were quite valid. bread is a trigger food for most of us fatties. the crunchy stuff (like crackers and crisps) is great, but soft, doughy, tortillas would probably beat the will power out of most people. the bars are a total trigger food for some, and (as you can read on this board) many people stop ordering them or have someone else lock them up and distribute one a day.

this isn't a plan where you abandon all common sense. bars are higher in calories, so it makes sense to not add a snack on the days you eat one. then again, if you are very active, you might need the extra calories to lose weight. if your carbs get too high, keeping you out of ketosis, but you need the extra calories, you might need to add to your lng and cut the snacks/bars out. everyone responds differently.

[Mike]

I was on a low carb tortilla kick for a while. They are tasty, but I realized I was craving them too much and too often (and they were slowing me down). As for the crackers, I always have the crackers with my soup, but I don't have soup everyday. As for the soy crisps... pretty much everyday, but sometimes not. As for the bar, some days I just don't have one, but most days I find it to be my comfort food.
So, to recap, its all up to you and what causes you to lose slowly. If you have the tortilla as a snack, that's your choice. I made it and realized for myself that I had to stop.
We all make our own choices and we all see what works best for us.

[DogMa]

I've pretty much given up the low-carb tortillas even in maintenance. They really seem to trigger cravings for me, and not just for more tortillas.

But YMMV. I also had trouble with the Medifast bars (too many carbs, too sweet when I was trying to curb my sweet tooth, and at the time I objected to the ingredients, which have since been changed) and stopped eating them partway through the program (I wasn't a huge fan of the taste, anyway). But I had crackers or soy crisps pretty much every day.

[Serendipity]

I really think substituting is a bad idea on this program. Even if you can justify it with the carb/fat/protein content, it gives you permission to experiment. One of the wonderful things about Medifast is that it is clearly defined, so when you start messing with it, the lines get blurry and before you know it, your weight loss is suffering or you're craving things and wondering why.

Waiver: Above is JMHO, as usual.

[Karli]

So now the mantra is 5/1/water/bar but no crackers/crackers but no bar/don't exercise without adding a supplement....

LOL ...

[Jan]

Hmmmm,
The nutritionist is walking on a slippery slope. She did her very best to help you along your way. That said... we are all different. I certainly wouldn't send you out for tortillas either. For me the problem lies in the fact that most of us are "problem eaters"... so we get ourselves into trouble. We can rationalize as much as possible but the fact remains we have eaten ourselves right into the shape we're in. If you give us too much freedom ... we'll be on a eating binge before we even think about it. The very best way for us to deal with our "problem" at this point is to have things all measured out for us. We can eat a package of crunchy crackers once a day.. To get we more we have to open another package and that just may slow us down a bit. If it's toooo easy to have more .. chances are we just may do it. That's exactly why bags of "other soy crisps" are such a bad idea. Our paw is in the bag and the crisps are in our mouth before we even think about it. If we all were blessed with tremendous will power ... we wouldn't be here
I personally had crackers and a bar some days and it didn't slow me down at all. But that's a personal metabolic issue .. oh but by the way I'm sure I have the slowest metabolism there is ... at least that's always been my excuse!! So here's my advice for you. Stay away from foods which are not listed in the Quick Start Booklet... too much potential trouble... if you have crackers and a bar the same day and your weight continues to fall ... fine ... but if you stall I'd change... maybe one day have crackers ... one day a bar.. It's an individual thing... you'll work it out. I know your Health Advisor will help.
jan

[TonyR]

Well I never had a snack, I only did the 5/1 plan no snacks. A couple of times I had the snack and I didn't lose so I knew for me that it wasn't working. As I tell all my clients, if you stop seeing results then you need to re-evaluate what you are eating on your plan, and then take that out and see how that works for you!

I can totally see where the nutritionist is coming from as far as the tortilla's. I was a Carb addict!! It is all psychological, if they give you an inch then you are going to try and take a yard! JMHO of course!