Is it possible to eat Medifast style without buying the food?
Someone recently contacted me and said they were very impressed with what I had been reading in their research on the Medifast diet. She felt that something similar might work for her, but was hesitant to spend the money on diet food. He wanted to know if it was possible to eat similar foods with items that he could buy in the supermarket. This is a relatively common question that I asked myself. And previously, I tried to achieve something similar. I will discuss more about this matter in the next article.
What you would need to achieve if you were trying to eat Medifast style on your own: One of the main reasons most people are successful on this diet is that it can lead you into ketosis where you quickly burn your own fat. You can usually do this because the ratio of calories, carbohydrates, and protein is very specific and favorable. I know from experience that finding foods that meet these criteria is quite a challenge. And, if you can, it is generally quite expensive and time consuming.
Also keep in mind that you will eat six times a day. When on this diet, you eat five of the plan’s prepackaged meals and then make a larger main meal on your own. This is necessary for a couple of reasons. First of all, eating so frequently helps keep hunger at bay and keeps your metabolism going for ketosis purposes. And yet, while you’re eating that much, you’re also only getting about 1,000 calories a day. Not only that, but the ratio of carbohydrates to protein remains almost uniform.
If you have not yet researched the foods you are going to use to achieve this, I can tell you that “safe” products under this umbrella are hard to come by. Many will have too many sugars and carbohydrates that are not ketosis friendly. It is common to offset the low amounts of calories and fat with additional sugar so that the taste remains pleasant.
I will look at the new Medifast brownies as an example of what I would need to achieve. This product has only 110 calories and 2 grams of fat. There are 15 grams of carbohydrates, but this is balanced by a very high 11 grams of protein. There are only 8 grams of sugars and 4 grams of fiber. Even if you look at health food stores, it will be quite difficult to find a comparable product with so much protein and fiber. And, even if you do, you will likely find that it is more expensive and you will still have to propose four similar meals for the day.
I know a lot of people research DIY Medifast because they think “doing it themselves” will save some money. But in my experience, this is not the case. If you use good Medifast coupons, your Medifast cost per meal is just over $ 2 per meal. It is difficult to find meals that cost less than this, especially since you will need a lot of extremely special ingredients. I tried something similar when I was on the Zone Diet. Not only do I think I never came close to Medifast’s calorie, carb, and protein ratio, but I also know that I spend a lot more than $ 10 a day on 6 meals.
That is not to say that if money is not an issue and you simply like to cook, you cannot come up with something that is low in calories and carbohydrates and high in fiber and protein. I’m sure this is probably possible for at least a few meals a day. But I also suspect that it would be quite time consuming, expensive, and challenging. However, I am generally someone who does not have a lot of patience and who prefers comfort.
