The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[mel]

I was just at mymedifast (for the first time since October) and saw that onions are no longer recommended?!?!?!? I mean, I know they're full of sugars, but I ate them often on my first trip down medifast lane, and it neither effected my weight loss or my total carbs for the day. At all. There was a while when I ate "fajita salad" 4 nights a week, which consisted of at least half an onion carmalized even.

Has anyone here heard about this? I don't think it'll keep me away from onions, but I'll definitely think twice now.

[GucciGoo]

Huh???? I eat them all the time! Great- I really hope this is not true- I am so sick of spinach and cauliflower. I have really enjoyed being able to make tomatoes and onions or onions and peppers with dinner...

[2getskinny]

Oh Man! I just made dinner lastnight and added onions, green bell pepper! I hope it doesn't make a difference! UGH!

[electra000]

I read the same thread on mymedifast also. I can't see how onions would make that much difference. I wonder if they are going to update the quickstart guide

I also noticed someone talking about having peanut butter. Are we allowed to have peanut butter?

[Rick06PV]

I also noticed someone talking about having peanut butter. Are we allowed to have peanut butter?

I read the "Condiment Recommendations and Snack Options" on Medifast site, and if you look at the last page, they write: "If you have 1 tablespoon of peanut butter this would be your one snack a day"

Interresting... Nancy please help us

[pinkbugs471]

I knew I was not completly crazy. That site is where I read that you could have 1 oz of nuts as a snack.

[mel]

Yeah, I read the peanut butter thing, too. It sure doesn't make any sense, though.

You can have SF jello - with 10 calories and no fat or carbs - OR you can have peanut butter, with 80 calories, 6 grams of fat, and 6 carbs?!?!?!

When I'd been really REALLY good (no bars, mostly shakes, completely compliant L&G) I used to add a tablespoon or so of "healthy" peanut butter to my oatmeal cookies at the end of the day. It really made the texture a whole lot better.

Anyway... hopefully we'll get some insight on this soon. I'll keep eating my onions until then... (...and probably after. hehe)

[Mike]

The thing to go by is the Quick Start Guide. If it ain't there, it ain't on plan.
I have been told numerous times to avoid nuts and things made from nuts.
As for the onions, I would say if you have done fine with them, then keep on doing what you do.

[bikipatra]

The thing to go by is the Quick Start Guide. If it ain't there, it ain't on plan.
I have been told numerous times to avoid nuts and things made from nuts.
As for the onions, I would say if you have done fine with them, then keep on doing what you do.

Aren't Funyuns included in that?

[Nancy]

Hi, Kids ~

I’m here…sorry if some of you are pacing the kitchen floor or the vegetable aisle at the super market wondering where in the heck-o-lah is Nancy and what’s her take on all this?

This morning I had a chat with one of our MMT Forum peeps about our mutual use of onions. I eat them raw or grilled in salads, we slice them in thirds or halves and grill ‘em on the barby with zucchini and use them in stir-fry meals or broiled with chicken and fish. Generally I do not eat 1.5 cups of them because I like other veggies alongside my onions. But I know some of you like dem onyums so much they serve as your whole vegetable serving.

I was unaware of a change to the Medifast Vegetable List for people on the 5 & 1 Program so I made an inquiry this morning:

Has Medifast made changes to the Approved Vegetable List, specifically eliminating onions?

This is the official reply from Joni Rampolla, RD, LDN, the Nutrition Support Manager at Medifast Diet, our parent company.

“Yes, that is correct; onions were eliminated from the vegetable list due to their unusually high carbohydrate content.

(They contain 139 calories and 32 grams of carbohydrates per 1 ½ cup serving).

Several customers were having very large quantities of onion as part of their lean and green meal and it would take them out of the fat burning state. We added back in to the vegetable list scallions which are not as offending. Rather than using a full portion of onion, we are telling folks that they can use 1 tablespoon of onion as part of their lean and green serving but not the full portion. I hope that helps to clarify.”

There you have it, for best weight loss success, limit the use of onions to 1 Tablespoon/day.

Beloved Walla Walla Sweets and Maui Sweets will have to wait until the weight management phase, not for phase one rapid weight loss. Guess using them to improve flavor is not as alluring as having them for the entire vegetable serving.

[dede4wd]

Thanks Nancy!

I've noticed that and the snack changes on the MF forums as well and the new snack/condiment guide. I don't want to slow my losses , so I'll stay away from the onions. I also don't want to slow down my losses anymore, so even if peanut butter and nuts are allowed as a snack, that's WAY too slippery a slope for me!

DeDe

[GucciGoo]

This really, and I mean really, sucks a$$.

I have IBS and most veggies do not agree with my belly. 99% of the time I am having cooked tomatoes with onions for dinner, or onions and peppers. Some nights I have asparagus or cauliflower. Those are the only veggies I can eat without getting bored to death and gagging.

How many of you can truly eat 1.5 cups of cauliflower?

I am so bored of my L&G options right now, and this limits them even further.

[Nancy]

DarkandStormy ~

Aw, sorry about that. It sounds like you do use some other flavorful vegetables along with your favored onions. Grilled onions are very tantalizing with their golden caramel color and rich taste. (I love onions, too and eat them but not when I was on the weight loss phase.)

I think it is good that the Medifast nutrition staff evaluates the plan and selects foods that assist us in our quest for optimal health.

When I began the program in 2002, onions were not included in the program.

Our vegetable choices included asparagus, green beans, beets (yes, they are higher in carbs than the green veggies), broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, snow peas, spinach, zucchini and tomatoes.

We were advised to limit tomatoes – to use them in a salad but not eat them in larger quantities.

If we had a green salad, we could use up to ¼ cup of chopped vegetables in our salad greens.

The vegetable choices for use in a salad included peppers, onions, cucumbers, celery, mushrooms, radishes, alfalfa or bean sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, carrots (yes, carrots! – again, remember this is as a small portion salad ingredient, not the entire serving.

The same goes for peppers. Green peppers are a better option than red or yellow due to the sugar content.

As we can see, the revisions have been made to assist us toward rapid safe weight loss and not to punish us. It reminds me of one of my Auntie's sayings when she did not grant me permission to o something I desperately wanted, It’s for your own good, Honey.”

[fairladyj]

Hi -

I'm relatively new at this, only 3 weeks in, but I have also been lamenting the lack of onions. However, I am making up for the "bite" in stirfry, and just to zip up the ol' broccoli and cauliflower, by adding in generous (some would say huge) amounts of garlic. I love it anyway - buy the humongous jar of chopped garlic from Costco.

My 1st rule of cooking has always been - No such thing as too much garlic!
Also heavily into spice blends, but watch out - a lot of them have sugar in them.

Just my $.02