Healthy- Can You Still Lose Weight by Mixing Real Food

Healthy- Can You Still Lose Weight by Mixing Real Food With Medifast Meals?

I recently heard from someone who was interested in the Medifast diet but who didnt know if she wanted to commit to the diet full time. She told me, in part: Im pretty sure that I could substitute a shake or two for my meals throughout the day, but I dont want to deprive myself of real food on a daily basis. Would I still lose weight this way?

I know a good deal of folks who are on a sort of part time Medifast plan of their own design. But, I have to stress that you do prepare your own real food once a day on this diet. its >Its not as if youre eating the diets meals for every single meal. Once per day, you make a larger lean and green meal on your own. This is where you get to be creative and come up with your own meals with fresh and real ingredients. Of course, you cant just eat what you want with wild abandon or you might lose the gains that youve already made for the day. But, as long as you come up with a meal that includes lean protein with vegetables and follow the guidelines youre given, you have quite a bit of leeway.

Understanding That Medifast Isnt All About A Calorie Deficit, Its About Ketosis Also: Sometimes, I find that people assume that you lose weight on Medifast because you take in less calories. And, this is definitely part of it. By and large, you take in around 1,000 calories each day on this diet. This alone would create a calorie deficit that causes weight loss. But Medifast is also effective because it limits your carbs and sugars while bumping up your protein and fiber. This puts your body in a metabolic state called ketosis. And this typically brings about more dramatic and faster weight loss.

Thats not to say that any reduction in calories isnt going to help you lose weight. It can. But it can happen in a slower manner and be less dramatic then if you just followed the program for five of your meals and incorporated your lean and green meal.

Finally, people sometimes tell me that its their intention to replace a few of their daily meals with the diets shakes and bars. This is possible since they definitely sell their products individually, but you should also know that shakes and bars arent your only options. Theres also eggs, soups, chili, pancakes, ice cream, brownies, chips, cappuccino, oatmeal, and fruit drinks. You may well have more flexibility and options than you think.

So while replacing some of your meals with the diets meals would most definitely save you some calories and result in weight loss, I doubt that your results would be as dramatic as if you followed the traditional program (where you could still eat real food) and were able to get into ketosis also.

Source