The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Guest]

I want to make sure I am doing everything right on this plan, so please help me with some of these questions. I've tried searching the board, but there are so many topics, it's hard to find specific topics. Here goes!

1. What type of salad dressing is ok? According to the book, I should have low fat/low carb. When at the store, the best I could find is Hidden Valley Fat Free ranch. It has 6g of carbs and is fat free. 3g of sugar. Is this acceptable? I want to order some walden farms, but it will take a while to get here.

2. Condiments. It says that 1-2 teaspoons of ketchup or bbq sauce is fine. Should I buy a specific type, or is standard ketchup ok?

3. The book says that you can have either 1/2 cup of raw veggies or 1 1/2 cups of cooked veggies. This seems strange to me, since that seems like A LOT more food. Does this mean I can have 1 1/2 cups of canned green beans, after I cook them?

4. Mushrooms. Some people say they are fine, some say they are bad. What is the deal with them? I absolutely love mushrooms and would happily use them as my "green" every day if possible.

5. How do you weigh the meat. I weighed 7 ounces of frozen chicken and it was quite a bit. After cooking, the weight of food is less, so I need to use pre-coooked weight or post-cook weight? 7 ounces of pre-cooked chicken seems like quite a bit to me, but if I should be eating more, I will.

Thanks for the help. Getting started on this diet is fairly easy, but the documents provided by medifast are really vague on some items.

[MusicalMomma]

I want to make sure I am doing everything right on this plan, so please help me with some of these questions. I've tried searching the board, but there are so many topics, it's hard to find specific topics. Here goes!

1. What type of salad dressing is ok? According to the book, I should have low fat/low carb. When at the store, the best I could find is Hidden Valley Fat Free ranch. It has 6g of carbs and is fat free. 3g of sugar. Is this acceptable? I want to order some walden farms, but it will take a while to get here.

2. Condiments. It says that 1-2 teaspoons of ketchup or bbq sauce is fine. Should I buy a specific type, or is standard ketchup ok?

3. The book says that you can have either 1/2 cup of raw veggies or 1 1/2 cups of cooked veggies. This seems strange to me, since that seems like A LOT more food. Does this mean I can have 1 1/2 cups of canned green beans, after I cook them?

4. Mushrooms. Some people say they are fine, some say they are bad. What is the deal with them? I absolutely love mushrooms and would happily use them as my "green" every day if possible.

5. How do you weigh the meat. I weighed 7 ounces of frozen chicken and it was quite a bit. After cooking, the weight of food is less, so I need to use pre-coooked weight or post-cook weight? 7 ounces of pre-cooked chicken seems like quite a bit to me, but if I should be eating more, I will.

Thanks for the help. Getting started on this diet is fairly easy, but the documents provided by medifast are really vague on some items.

I'll take a stab at these for you....

1) 1-2 Tblsp. of the fat free ranch should be fine....just make sure it's NO MORE than 2 Tblsp.

2) any kind of ketchup or bbq sauce is OK as long as you keep it to 1-2 tsp.

3) You may have 2 cups salad AND 1/2 cup raw veggies -OR- 1.5 cups cooked veggies. It may seem like a lot but it's very important to get in all your veggies.

4) Mushrooms are fine-a-rooney!!! My hubby eats them almost every day and is doing GREAT on the program.

5) Meat weights are POST-cooked. Yep it's a lot! The good size portions keep many of us sane!!!

Hope that helps!!

[Guest]

3) You may have 2 cups salad AND 1/2 cup raw veggies -OR- 1.5 cups cooked veggies. It may seem like a lot but it's very important to get in all your veggies.

Thanks for all of you help. This is the only thing I am still unsure about.

Say I want to just eat cucumbers. How much am I allowed? I like raw veggies, but I don't like salad. I understand I can have 1/2 cup of the cucumbers, but what do I eat to replace the salad?

As for the second part, what constituted cooked veggies? If I make grill raw mushrooms, do I need a full 1 1/2 cups or just a 1/2 cup.

Sorry for the questions, but the veggie stuff is really confusing me.

[aphrael]

Not sure here, but I thought you could have 2 cups salad greens and 1/4 cup of additional veggies such as the cucumbers tomatos and mushrooms. I'm almost positive you can't have 1 1/2 cups of mushrooms in place of the salad greens. If you don't like salad than try some raw string beans or brocolie or something like that, the green doesn't have to be leatuce.

I am sure Jan or Nancy will pop in and clarify here.

[MusicalMomma]

Not sure here, but I thought you could have 2 cups salad greens and 1/4 cup of additional veggies such as the cucumbers tomatos and mushrooms. I'm almost positive you can't have 1 1/2 cups of mushrooms in place of the salad greens. If you don't like salad than try some raw string beans or brocolie or something like that, the green doesn't have to be leatuce.

I am sure Jan or Nancy will pop in and clarify here.

OOOOPS yep! aphrael is right about 2 cups salad and 1/4 cup veggies, not 1/2 cup. (I almost always eat green beans instead, so i'm a little rusty on the fresh veggies).

My hubby has 1.5 cups cooked mushrooms for his "green" a couple of times per week. I hope it's OK, I hate to disappoint him

[Guest]

I'm still not getting this concept.

I dislike lettuce and other types of salad greens. I do happen to like cucumbers and zucchini though. How much should I eat of these? Also, should I eat them in combination with something else.

They really did a poor job of clarifying the "green" part of the diet in the medifast booklet. I'm completely lost.

[Guest]

Oh, to clarify my question a little more...


The booklet basically says to choose either 2 cups of salad greens and up to 1/2 cup of cucumbers, or 1 1/2 cups of green beans. If I simply want cucumbers, how much should I eat? 1/2 cup sounds fine, but that leaves me without the 2 cups of salad greens...so I think I'm missing something. At the same time, cucumbers aren't "cooked", so I shouldn't have a full 1 1/2 cups.

While I'm asking, if I choose to only eat Green Beans from a can, I should eat a full 1 1/2 cups?

[Guest]

Ok, I just ate dinner, and this is what I did.

- 7 oz. of chicken (pre-cooked, I forgot to weigh afterwards. It was basically three "chicken finger" sized pieces)
- 3/4 cup of cucumbers
- 1/4 cup of mushrooms
- 1 tbsp fat free ranch

Since I couldn't figure out the proper way to do the veggies, I decided to meet in the middle. I didn't know whether to eat 1 1/2 cups or 1/2 cup. If someone could look at this meal as a guideline and explain to me what changes I should make for a full "lean and green" meal, I would appreciate it.

[Guest]

Oh, the mushrooms were grilled along with the chicken on my George Foreman.

(I really need to register, so I can edit posts)

[aphrael]

Guest,

It isn't just about eatting something green or a vegitable. In your quick start guid there should have been a list of allowed vegitables that you can have for your lean and green and the amounts that are allowed. This is based on how many carbs the different vegies have, not all veggies have the same number of carbs even if they are green. For example, green beans are allowed, peas are not. So simply you can not have just cucumbers for your green part, it throws off the balance of the whole lean and green.

hope that helps some.

On that note there are worse things you could eat than a cucumber.

[Guest]

Guest,

It isn't just about eatting something green or a vegitable. In your quick start guid there should have been a list of allowed vegitables that you can have for your lean and green and the amounts that are allowed. This is based on how many carbs the different vegies have, not all veggies have the same number of carbs even if they are green. For example, green beans are allowed, peas are not. So simply you can not have just cucumbers for your green part, it throws off the balance of the whole lean and green.

hope that helps some.

On that note there are worse things you could eat than a cucumber.

I understand that part, but I am confused about how much to eat. It says to eat 2 cups of lettuce/spinach/etc. along with 1/2 cup of raw veggies OR 1 1/2 cups of cooked veggies. It doesn't give any information of what to do if you only want the 1/2 cup of raw veggies without the lettuce/spinach/etc. I am trying to figure out what I should do to replace this part of it.

[Guest]

What I am getting at is, I doubt that it is against the program to eat cucumbers...but unfortunately, there is nothing documented that suggests HOW I can eat cucumbers if I don't want it as part of a salad.

[falisamarie]

Perhaps you could have 1/2C cucumbers and 1C cooked veggies. I am not sure if this would work for you but maybe it is worth a shot

Lisa

[Nancy]

Let me pop in here and try to help you out.

Guest, you are not the only person that does not like salad!

Medifast/TSFL has designed the Lean and Green meal so that most of us can find something on the Approved Vegetable List that we like.

(BTW, Aphrael, MusicalMomma and Falisamarie, thank you!)

Falisamarie, your question is easier for me to answer, so you first:
It is all right to have both a salad and a cooked vegetable, as long as the portion sizes remain compatible with the program. For example, a small dinner salad with 1 cup lettuce/spinach greens with 1/4 c diced tomato & celery PLUS 3/4 cup of cooked zucchini would be okie doke.

Aphrael, the Program book has changed slightly since my very early posts regarding the portion sizes for the green...the original meal plan long, long ago when I began Medifasting three and a half years ago and when we first began the Forum three years ago, was a 2 cup salad and up to 1/4 cup salad 'toppers' such as tomatoes, cukes, mushrooms, etc. In recent publications, the program booklet revised to reflect the increased portions for meat and vegetables because many people are more active than in the beginning.

The revised and approved Program Guide states we can have 2 cups of salad greens plus up to 1/2 cup chopped raw vegetables as a salad topper such as green pepper, mushrooms, etc. So it has been increased by 1/4 cup from earlier publications and postings.

Now...Guest ~

Your question is 'trickier' as the answer has not been as clearly defined. If I were going to eat raw cucumber only for my green portion, I would slice it and measure it to approximate a 1.5 - 2.0 cup serving and enjoy every crunchy bite of it.

The vegetable choices that are offered to us are all low in calories and carbohydrates. When eaten in conjunction with the lean meat/fish portion they will provide a nutritious well-balanced meal.

For the benefit of newer newbies, these are the Medifast Approved Vegetables:

Asparagus
Beans (Italian, Green, Waxed)
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Cucumber
Eggplant
Greens (collard, turnip)
Kale
Lettuce (romaine, iceberg, bib)
Mushrooms (use in moderation on top of salad)
Onions/ Green Peppers (use pepper and onions in moderation – like on top of a salad, because of their higher carb count, not 1.5 cups of cooked)
Radishes
Spinach
Summer Squash
Tomato
Turnips
Zucchini

In general the vegetable portion should be no more than 10 grams of carbohydrates. The salad PLUS the salad dressing equals approx. 80 calories on the 5 and 1 plan.

re: Mushroom portion...I know, I know...some of you are used to have 1.5 cups of grilled fungus daily...I am just reporting what the nutritionist told me.

I hope that helps!

[Serendipity]

Nancy,

Is the restriction on the mushrooms because of the carb count or because the nutrition content isn't up to par with the other veggies? I always thought that mushrooms didn't have much in the way of vitamins.