Medifast
 

I saw this on TV and deciedd to check out the web site listed. Here are some highlites.



At least it has this disclaimer



So at 5-6 shakes (or suppliment meals) a day, that adds up to around 50-60g carbs, which isn't too bad. It's what some low carb plans have.






http://www.medifastdiet.com/landing...equestid=784826

My Dad did something similar to this. Lost a lot of weight and immediately gained it all back incredibly fast as he went back to his former means of eating. In fact, I bet if you look at the track record for this sort of diet you'll find that almost no one maintains their weight loss.

In fact, I think this one HMR or something, was shut down just because literally no one could maintain the loss.

There is something to be said relearning how to eat WHILE you lose the weight.

Scary stuff. I think I'll stick to food, thanks.

Wow!!!!!!!

I like chewing too much to drink my meals!

Oh they have "options" you can replace 2-3 of the shakes with. THey have oatmeal, bars (only 1 a day) and minastrone.

For maintanance they recomend you wean off the shakes slowly, taking up to 3-4 weeks if you need to.

I looked at the cost for the diabetic plan. 1 box containing 7 servings is $16. That means this diet costs almost $15 a day and close to $500 a month. And here I was stressing about all the money I spend on groceries for my WOe :p

Way back in 1989 I did this diet for 5 months. Lost 110 pounds, and promptly gained 30 back. Within 2 years I was heavier than I had been before starting this plan. I have to say it was so easy to not eat food. You just get used to it. Once you're done with the shakes, you have to eat really low calorie to keep the weight off. Not to mention the major muscle loss you can expect.

Tried it again in 1998 managed to lose 30 pounds in 6 weeks, but I couldn't stick with it again. I really missed eating food this time around. Gained the 30 pounds back within 3 months and added 40 more just for good measure.

It is expensive and ends up be so low calorie on maintenance (for me 1200 cals a day) that most people can't keep the weight off. I would NOT recommend this to anyone. But I'm not a doctor and it is cheaper than surgery.

I'd say it is at best very temporary. And yes, the muscle loss is another factor. I'd like to hear of one person, just ONE, that kept off their weight loss from a liquid diet for all the thousands that have done them.

I've heard of a few that had VERY permanent weight loss from the "liquid diets"...death.

Wow I didn't know they still had that. Like Cindy, I did this in the eighties and lost well. But I was sick as an alley dog and never quit feeling absolutely terrible. It is torture on the body.

Orchid

I did that diet in the 80's too, and lost the seventy pounds I had gained with my third pregnancy. There was definitely an upside to it, knowing that you couldn't eat ANY food made it simple. And the hunger was not too bad. I got pregnant again though, so can't help with the long term maintenance issue.

I will say though, that it occured to me I would have to start worrying about controlling my "real food" intake when I was done. But you know how that goes, you are sure you'll be able to do it....

Liz

Anyone who has had this struggle can agree: we all have lots of experience losing weight. KEEPING it off was the problem!

I would wonder about the digestive system of someone who was on this long term. With very little for the systems to do, would they get messed up?

I believe this was the one Oprah was on? And we all know how that worked out...

Oh, yeah.. way back when she lost weight the first time. I had forgotten about that. Nice to see, now, that she's taken it off with diet and exercise, and shown that it can be done without gimmicks.