The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Prancer]

I am so new, bear with me. I posted an intro and searched the topics for PCOS and I am happy with what I found. I need to get some questions out so I have more info to approach my husband with. (he is very fit and athletic and is leery)

Short bio to help with my questions... I am 32yr old female ( ), I weigh about 258, I have PCOS, high blood pressure and boarderline high cholesterol. I have tried WW 8 yrs ago with great success then ok success since with WW, atkins, LA Weight loss and just my own. I am a stay at home mom to a 7 yrd old and 5yr old twins. My highest ever weight was 269. OK...

Do I order the MF foods from this site?

Do you have to start with the 3 day full fast (I plan on doing 5&1)?

I have read several people's posts about their daily meals.... so do I have to drink the shakes at all? Or can I just fill my day with 1 bar, 4 other replacements such as oatmeal or soup and my lean&green?

100% honest opinions...is the food and the are the shakes really good?

Do many people other then Nancy have luck when they go back to food?

Is the sodium content of the foods very high?

As far as leading a normal life, does MF fit in to that? Am I going to stick out like a freak to others around me?

[mommaof3boys]

I'll give you what few answers I can.

First of all, if you plan on doing the lean and green and not the full fast (which needs to be monitored by a doctor), you start that from the get go. The "3 day" thing is just that it takes that long to get in ketosis and get past the side effects of such a drastic change to your diet (headaches, hunger pangs, etc.).

I think most people will be supportive of your choice. Although I have not told too many people for the same reasons you cite, the ones I have have been supportive. I also worry that people will be critical of me, personally, doing it because I don't have much to lose and it is such a structured diet. I eat my lean and green at night so when we go out to eat with other couples or have people over, there is no explaining to do.

The structure is why I chose it - very easy for me to do as a stay at home mom of a 5, 3 and 1 year old. I just cook something lean and green that everyone will like (usually chicken but occasionally steak). If I do seafood, then the kids have something else. They eat their chicken with ketchup or whatever it takes for them to eat it! I basically don't have to think about the rest of my meals.

I do plan ahead and make muffins out of the oatmeal, or make a whole box of puddings at once, etc. so I have something easy I can grab.

I have a friend in my town who has a good bit more than I do to lose who is also doing Medifast, and she has been much more open about it than I have. Her thoughts are that people know she needs to lose weight, so why not tell them what she is doing about it.

As far as shakes - no you don't have to do them, but what is your aversion? They are some of my favorite things - easy to make, portable in the car, and delicious when you mix them up with a few add ins. My favorite now is the vanilla shake with a crystal light to go lemonade, water and lots of ice - tastes like lemon icebox pie (and that is no exaggeration!).

The food is pretty good - not the best thing you have ever eaten but good. The lean cuisine section is a must - things you don't think you like end up tasting pretty good if prepared differently.

As far as long term, like any other diet you have to change the way you eat completely to maintain your weight. My personal plan is to go on the South Beach Diet long term as my doctor firmly believes it is the healthiest way to eat and he thinks this will keep me where I want to be forever, which is the goal.

Medifast weight loss is generally much faster than the South Beach Diet (except for me, but I think that is because I am supposedly already at a "healthy" weight), and from what I hear many Medifasters maintain their weight by counting calories and eating 2 or 3 supplements a day.

I think as long as you have a very good maintenance plan in place and stick to it, you will do great!

[falisamarie]

Do I order the MF foods from this site?

Do you have to start with the 3 day full fast (I plan on doing 5&1)?

I have read several people's posts about their daily meals.... so do I have to drink the shakes at all? Or can I just fill my day with 1 bar, 4 other replacements such as oatmeal or soup and my lean&green?

100% honest opinions...is the food and the are the shakes really good?

Do many people other then Nancy have luck when they go back to food?

Is the sodium content of the foods very high?

As far as leading a normal life, does MF fit in to that? Am I going to stick out like a freak to others around me?

Yes you can call the 800 number and order directly from here and you are also assigned a Health Advisor to help you out free of charge.

You do not have to do the complete fast you start out right away doing the 5&1

You can use any assortment you wish of the Medifast but only one bar a day. If you chose you do not have to have any shakes at all

I like almost everything I have had. Some things I was not thrilled with at first but have acquired a taste (Chai latte) everyone's tastes are different though.

There are quite a few here who have reached their goal weight and are successful in maintaining it but just like with any diet you have to continue to eat healthy to keep the weight off. Medifast has a transition and maintenance plan also.

The sodium content is not high at all. In fact, many people will feel dizzy or light headed due to lack of sodium and have to add some broth to help with it. Also there are quite a few here who were on BP meds when they started but since have been taken off of them completely.

Hope this helps

Lisa

[DogMa]

OK, fourth opinion.

You already got the answer on the first three days and on ordering. For the rest ...

I told people right away, mostly because I knew they'd see me with the different foods and ask about them. I also knew most people I know would be supportive (it's not like they didn't know I was overweight, and they'd also seen me struggle to lose weight the past few years). It helped, in that if we were going out to eat or something, they would ask where I'd like to go and whether I'd be able to find something wherever we DID go. Some were skeptical - and so was I - but they came around pretty quickly when they saw me finally losing weight.

I had a hard time with a lot of the foods at first, to be honest. I found a couple of products I could live with, and pretty much stuck with them in the beginning. Eventually I started doctoring stuff up more and trying out some of the other products. My tastes have definitely changed, and I now eat many more of the products than I did at first. I still don't like the shakes (other than the Ready to Drink kind, known around here as RTDs) and I never drink them. I don't like coffee, so the cappuccino is out. I don't like chai or tea, so the chai latte is out. And I find I lose better without the bars, so I don't have them very often. I pretty much live on cream of broccoli soup, chili, oatmeal, RTDs, hot chocolate (sometimes made like a shake) and chocolate pudding, with chicken noodle soup on occasion. I haven't gotten nearly as bored as I would have expected.

The sodium content is not all that high, BUT I found the soups very salty at first (and everything else very sweet). I wasn't used to eating dried or canned soups, and after following Atkins on and off for years, I wasn't used to eating much in the way of sweets. The quick success I saw, after so many years of struggling, helped me to stick with it. Pretty soon I'd gotten used to the taste and it didn't bother me anymore.

Quite a few people have succeeded with maintenance. Unfortunately, not many of them post regularly. They've moved on with their lives, I would assume. Others have gained the weight back - as with other programs - but have returned for another go and are doing quite well. The long-term success rate seems to be about the same as with other weight-loss programs. The way I see it, Medifast gives you the tools but then it's up to you. Most of the people who are successful long-term continue to use Medifast products on a regular basis (maybe Medifast oatmeal for breakfast, a bar for a snack, etc.).

You do need to really commit to it if you decide to do it. I had a friend order the products after seeing me do so well. She tried to start a couple of times, but never got through more than a day before finding some excuse to eat off-plan and decide to start again another day. Needless to say, she did that for about a month or two, then sent me her leftover products and told me she was giving up.

In the beginning, it can be hard. I never had the ketosis problems because I've spent most of my adult life going in and out of ketosis. But getting used to the taste, and figuring out a schedule that works for you can be hard. I was seriously hungry the first couple of days. Then I had trouble forcing myself to eat all my meals. Now it's almost unconscious - a few hours pass and I just KNOW it's time to eat.

As for sticking out like a freak ... first of all, I feel LESS like a freak now because I'm a normal size. So in that way, I don't stand out at all. I eat every few hours at work, but I find that a lot of the people around me are grabbing snacks every few hours, too, so they don't even notice. When I eat out, it depends. Some places can be hard; I generally try to avoid those places. At most of them, it's fairly simple to order what you want and still blend in. Grilled fish, chicken or steak, hold the rice/potatoes/pasta, add extra veggies. Fajitas, skip the tortillas and guacamole. I ordered things pretty much the same way on Atkins - and most places now offer some low-carb options - so it's not all that different for me (just no extra butter to dump on my broccoli, etc.).

I hope that helped. Good luck, whatever you decide!!

[Prancer]

WHoa thank you both for your answers!! I am feeling better and better about this as I learn more.

[Aerie]

All the adivce you got was great and I certainly can't add anything to that. I will chip in this though. I was worried about being chastised for this "radical" diet program. I'm sure there was some talk in my absence, though never to me face, but I just decided that the results will speak for me and THEY HAVE. Once the pounds start dropping and your energy starts to soar you won't give a cr%p about what people might or might not say. Any skeptics will soon be silenced. This really is a easy to follow and highly effective program. Go for it!

[Serendipity]

When people ask me how I'm doing it, I say I'm on Medifast. They usually give me a quizical look. Then I say....it's sort of like Slim Fast with one meal a day, but you get to have more shakes and they have soups and bars and other stuff, too. I'm eating all the time, lol. That always seems to satisfy people. You can buy Slim Fast at the grocery store...so it must be ok.... They never seem to need more than that and if they do, it's usually because they're really interested, not skeptical.