Are you a teen or have a teen in your home who needs to lose weight? If you’ve used Medifast yourself, or you’ve seen commercials for it on television, you may be wondering, “Can teens use the Medifast diet to lose weight?”
I hope you will be happy to know that even teenagers can use Medifast. You might want to look into the program for teenagers though, as it is not the same as the adult diet plan.
The adult diet program is called the 5 and 1 plan. On this plan, you eat five Medifast meals each day as well as one additional meal they’ve dubbed Lean and Green Meals. This is the only time you eat non-Medifast food and your servings are limited to lean protein and fresh vegetables.
However, teen plans tend to have a lot of regular food on them and cut down on the number of Medifast products they eat throughout the day. The teen weight loss plan includes three Medifast meals per day instead of five.
Because teens have different nutritional needs than adults because of their growing and changing bodies, the Medifast Diet for Teens includes whole grains, fruits, and dairy products. These are things you won’t see in an adult plan, but they are important to teens.
Of course, the teen plan also includes lean proteins, like lean meats and meatless proteins (like beans and tofu), and lots of fresh vegetables. The diet’s fruits and vegetables follow the standard guidelines, five servings per day. In addition, there are some differences between the plans for teen boys and teen girls, with the boys’ plan including some additional amounts of whole grains and fats.
A big aspect of the plan for teens is using the Medifast plan to make lifestyle changes, so there are lots of tips for eating a healthier diet and how to incorporate better foods into Teen Day. Plus, it’s also important to exercise and be active outside, so there are suggestions for adding more activity into each day. One hour a day of exercise or some sort of sporting activity is the general recommendation, but for sedentary teens, you can start by adding just 30 minutes of exercise three to four times a week and adding more time each week.
