Someone I contacted recently told me that she was very impressed with what she was reading in her research about the Medifast diet. She realized that something similar might work for her, but she hesitated to spend the money on diet food. She wanted to know if it was possible to eat similar foods with items that can be purchased at the grocery store. This is a relatively common question that I had. And previously, I tried to accomplish something similar. I will discuss this more in the following article.
Here’s what you’ll need to accomplish if you’re trying the Medifast way of eating on your own: A big reason for the success most people have on this diet is that it is able to get you into ketosis where you are burning fat at a rapid rate. You’re usually able to do this because the ratio of calories to carbs and protein is so specific and optimal. I know from experience that coming up with foods that meet this criteria is quite a challenge. And, if you are able to do so, it is generally quite expensive and time consuming.
Also keep in mind that you will be eating six times a day. When you’re on this diet, you eat five of the plan’s prepackaged meals and then you make one big main meal on your own. This is necessary for two reasons. First, eating so frequently helps keep hunger at bay and keeps your metabolism humming for ketosis purposes. And yet, while you’re eating that much, you’re also taking in about 1,000 calories per day. Not only this, but the carb to protein ratio is mostly kept equal.
If you haven’t yet researched the foods you’re going to use to accomplish this, I can tell you it’s hard to find “safe” stuff under this umbrella. Many people will have too many sugars and carbs which are not conducive to ketosis. It is common to compensate for the low amounts of calories and fat with added sugar so that the taste is still palatable.
I’ll look at Medifast’s new brownies as an example of what you need to achieve. This product has only 110 calories and 2 grams of fat. It has 15 grams of carbs, but that’s balanced out with a whopping 11 grams of protein. It contains only 8 grams of sugar and 4 grams of fiber. Even if you look at health food stores, it will be hard to find a comparable product with this much protein and fiber. And, even if you do, chances are you’ll find that it’s more expensive and you’ll still have to put up with four of the same meals for the day.
I know many people research DIY Medifast because they think by “doing it themselves” they are going to save some money. But in my experience, it is not. If you use a good Medifast coupon, your per meal cost for Medifast is over $2 per meal. It’s notoriously difficult to come up with a meal that costs less than this, especially since you’ll need a lot of specialty ingredients. I tried something similar when I was on the Zone Diet. Not only do I feel like I’ve never come close to Medifast’s calorie-to-carb to protein ratio, but I also find that I spend over $10 a day for 6 meals.
That’s not to say that if money isn’t an issue and you just love to cook, you can’t come up with fewer calories and carbs while packing high amounts of fiber and protein. I’m sure it’s probably possible for at least a few meals per day. But, I also suspect that it will be time consuming, costly and challenging. However, I’m generally someone who doesn’t have a lot of patience and prefers convenience.
Source by Lindsey Price
