There are many diet plans out there and it can be difficult to determine which are effective. Medifast is a meal replacement program targeted to help you lose weight. Those who sign up for the plan will receive low calorie prepackaged meals and ready to eat snacks delivered to their home. Read on to find out how the plan works and whether or not it’s effective.

What is Medifast?

Medifast is a diet company that was founded in 1980 by Dr. William Vitale. The company started by shipping meals through a network of primary physicians but they eventually began delivering directly to customers.

Dieters who follow the plan will end up eating six small meals a day. Meals primarily consist of shakes, and dehydrated meals and snacks that can be stored and prepared easily without any additional ingredients.

Those on the Medifast Diet can choose between the Go! plan and the Flex plan. Here are some key points of both plans.

• Go!: The Go! plan focuses on a lean and green diet. It encourages the eating of low fat proteins and vegetables and excludes starches like potatoes, corn, peas, squash and carrots. Five meals are delivered to clients and the sixth meal is the client’s choice. However, the company provides suggestions to ensure this sixth meal is lean and green.
• Flex: The Flex plan allows dieters more flexibility. Clients on the Flex plan will receive four meals including breakfast and snacks. They will be on their own for lunch and dinner. However, they will be given recommendations for meals they can make that are low carb and low calorie.

Dieters can stay on Medifast as long as they want. The diet advertises weight loss results within eight weeks. After this period, dieters may choose to go back to self prepared meals or they may use Medifast on a more limited basis.

The company also offers a long term weight loss program called ‘Thrive’. Thrive offers limited meal replacements and education that helps dieters stick to a low-calorie, low-carb diet.

How Does Medifast Work?

The idea behind the Medifast Diet is that dieters will eat small, low calorie meals throughout the day to reduce feelings of hunger.

Studies have proven that eating more, low calorie meals every day reduces levels of ghrelin in the body. Ghrelin is the hormone responsible for making you feel hungry. So, dieters that follow this plan will feel more satiated even though their overall calorie intake is reduced.

Furthermore, it has been shown that people who have been introduced to this way of eating will eat less even when making their own meal choices.

Medifast also encourages dieters to keep a food journal and seek out support to help them stick to their diets. They also provide education that will help dieters know which foods they should be eating.

Research has shown that this type of outside support encouragers diets to maintain a low calorie routine.

Does Medifast Work?

Several studies have been conducted regarding the efficacy of the Medifast plan. One 16-week study showed that 90 obese adults were able to lose 12% of body fat as compared to other adults who followed a self-selected diet plan and ended up losing 7% of body fat.

Although dieters did regain some of the weight after the initial 16 week period, their final overall weight still averaged lower than those on the self-selected diets.

Another study looked at 1351 dieters who stayed on the Medifast plan for a year. These dieters were able to lose 26 lbs. within the 12 month period.

Based on the many studies that have been conducted, overall, the Medifast Diet can help dieters lose an average of 2.2 lbs. a week. However, most regain part of the weight after 6-12 months.

Pros and Cons of Medifast

Like many diet plans, Medifast has its share of benefits and downsides. Here are some that are worth pointing out.

Pros:

• Good for short term weight loss: Most dieters will lose about 2.2 lbs. a week.
• Healthy Meals: Medifast meals provide the recommended dietary allowance of all essential vitamins and nutrients.
• Education and Support: Medifast provides education and support to keep dieters motivated.
• Easy to Follow: Meals are provided making the program easy to follow.

Cons:

• Limited Menu: There isn’t a lot of variety in the meals offered. This can make dieters bored causing them to cheat on their diets.
• Hard to Eat Out: Medifast recommends dieters follow a meal plan that includes proteins and non-starchy vegetables. However, these items may be hard to find if dieters are eating out.
• Weight Regain: Most dieters regain some of their weight after completing the diet
• Expensive: The meal delivery plan costs dieters $400 for 30 days. This averages around $12 a day and does not include meals dieters make for themselves.

Conclusion

Medifast provides an easy to follow plan that is effective in helping dieters reach their short term weight goals. However, the diet is difficult to follow long term and many who follow the plan end up gaining the weight back. For the money, it may be worth it to find a more sustainable program.