Curiosity ATE the cat
June 16, 2010 1:04 PM Subscribe
Has anyone ever used Medifast? If so what did you think? Results?
My friend lost a tremendous amount of weight very quickly - it was almost shocking. Fast forward a year and she has regained most of it back.
posted by HeyAllie at 1:26 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by HeyAllie at 1:26 PM on June 16, 2010
Oh, and I totally forgot to add this - she had major health issues with the diet, resulting in two rather painful surgeries that involved her, um, anus.
posted by HeyAllie at 1:28 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by HeyAllie at 1:28 PM on June 16, 2010
Response by poster: Oh lawd, thanks for the heads up...eek!
posted by MDK at 1:32 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by MDK at 1:32 PM on June 16, 2010
Know a couple of people who have done it and one lost her gallbladder, gained it all back, the second gained it all back and the third is still too new to eating again to tell. She also lives in another state so not sure if she would tell me she if she does gain it back.
posted by shaarog at 1:37 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by shaarog at 1:37 PM on June 16, 2010
A friend used it to lose a fair amount of weight (maybe 50?) A year or so later she had to have her gallbladder out. She's kept the weight off for a couple of years, but she's very disciplined. If she gains ten pounds she goes back on Medifast for a few days to get back to her goal.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 1:51 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 1:51 PM on June 16, 2010
My mother did an earlier version of it. Decades later, she remembers it as the most horrible experience of her life; you can see her almost tearing up when she talks about it. Like practically everybody else, she gained the weight again.
posted by not that girl at 2:37 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by not that girl at 2:37 PM on June 16, 2010
A friend has done the diet twice, lost a great deal of weight both times, and subsequently gained it back.
posted by trunk muffins at 2:51 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by trunk muffins at 2:51 PM on June 16, 2010
Absolutely the worst tasting thing I've ever put in my mouth.
posted by mewithoutyou at 3:51 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by mewithoutyou at 3:51 PM on June 16, 2010
The weight came off fast, then it all came back and then some.
posted by speedgraphic at 4:00 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by speedgraphic at 4:00 PM on June 16, 2010
A friend lost 40 lbs quickly...then her gallbladder. Now she's off of it and has gained about 20 lbs back.
posted by ladygypsy at 8:26 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by ladygypsy at 8:26 PM on June 16, 2010
[Is it a horrible derail if I ask why these folks lost their gallbladders?]
posted by bluedaisy at 9:04 PM on June 16, 2010
posted by bluedaisy at 9:04 PM on June 16, 2010
I'm going to give you a bit of a different take.
I did a Medifast diet in 2001, and lost a tremendous amount of weight. I'm talking "Biggest Loser" quantities of weight. I had been highly obese, and despite repeated attempts at dieting, I had never before been able to stick with a diet. With Medifast, I made it -- I was able to lose all the way down to a healthy weight, not feel terrible while dieting, and in the grand scheme of things, the weight came off pretty quickly.
Here's where my story diverges from the horror stories above. Since late 2001, my weight has always been at least 100 pounds less than when I started with the Medifast diet.
Now, I haven't been able to always stay all the way down at my goal weight -- I've recently been doing a refresher diet to lose some weight that I gained back -- but still, 100 of those pounds I lost on Medifast never reappeared. And as I sit here today, I'm within spitting distance of that goal weight that seemed so very far away back in 2000.
Needless to say, I found (and still find) Medifast to be completely worth it.
Other details: I also took phentermine for the first two months of the diet to help transition to eating less. I only used the Medifast shakes; I never even tried their other products like their soups. I did a full fast -- just the shakes, no real food. I found I needed a potassium supplement to keep from cramping while doing the diet.
After I hit my goal weight, I learned from my doctor how to structure what I ate using the exchange diet that they teach diabetics (thankfully, I've been able to stave off diabetes despite my prior obesity) and actually lost a bit more weight doing a reduced-calorie exchange diet as I transitioned off of the Medifast. Even after I was no longer "dieting" or restricting calories, I continued to use the structure and understanding of the exchange diet to keep from eating over a reasonable number of calories a day. The diet didn't "kill my metabolism" -- after transitioning back to a normal diet, I was able to eat a normal number of calories for someone of my height and keep my weight stable -- I only regained when I started pretty obviously overeating, and I didn't have any regain at all for several years after the diet.
Like the other folks who were successful with Medifast above, I did have to have my gallbladder out around a year after completing the diet. I'm not bitter about that, though -- I was warned that there was a strong chance of it happening in advance of the diet by my doctor (who said that gallbladder problems were common any time there was a large loss of weight). A relative of mine who also lost a lot of weight -- without using Medifast -- also had to have their gallbladder out shortly after dieting. Other than the gallbladder issue, any effect on my health has been entirely positive.
The Medifast shakes are far from delicious, but they're acceptable. I occasionally see banner ads for them comparing the flavor with some delicious-looking cupcake, and, well, that's not true. But, they're not bad. They're just... functional, and a bit sweet. You can keep them down and stick with the diet, but they're not good enough that you'd ever consider drinking any more of them than you have to.
So, it's neither a panacea or a scam. There are many ways to lose weight, and Medifast is the way that worked for me. I don't think I'd recommend it for someone with only 30 or 40 pounds to lose, but it really can be a very useful and effective tool for the very obese to use to get the weight off.
On preview: bluedaisy, from the NIH: during rapid weight loss, the liver secretes extra cholesterol from the fat being burned, and that cholesterol turns into gallstones.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 9:28 PM on June 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
I did a Medifast diet in 2001, and lost a tremendous amount of weight. I'm talking "Biggest Loser" quantities of weight. I had been highly obese, and despite repeated attempts at dieting, I had never before been able to stick with a diet. With Medifast, I made it -- I was able to lose all the way down to a healthy weight, not feel terrible while dieting, and in the grand scheme of things, the weight came off pretty quickly.
Here's where my story diverges from the horror stories above. Since late 2001, my weight has always been at least 100 pounds less than when I started with the Medifast diet.
Now, I haven't been able to always stay all the way down at my goal weight -- I've recently been doing a refresher diet to lose some weight that I gained back -- but still, 100 of those pounds I lost on Medifast never reappeared. And as I sit here today, I'm within spitting distance of that goal weight that seemed so very far away back in 2000.
Needless to say, I found (and still find) Medifast to be completely worth it.
Other details: I also took phentermine for the first two months of the diet to help transition to eating less. I only used the Medifast shakes; I never even tried their other products like their soups. I did a full fast -- just the shakes, no real food. I found I needed a potassium supplement to keep from cramping while doing the diet.
After I hit my goal weight, I learned from my doctor how to structure what I ate using the exchange diet that they teach diabetics (thankfully, I've been able to stave off diabetes despite my prior obesity) and actually lost a bit more weight doing a reduced-calorie exchange diet as I transitioned off of the Medifast. Even after I was no longer "dieting" or restricting calories, I continued to use the structure and understanding of the exchange diet to keep from eating over a reasonable number of calories a day. The diet didn't "kill my metabolism" -- after transitioning back to a normal diet, I was able to eat a normal number of calories for someone of my height and keep my weight stable -- I only regained when I started pretty obviously overeating, and I didn't have any regain at all for several years after the diet.
Like the other folks who were successful with Medifast above, I did have to have my gallbladder out around a year after completing the diet. I'm not bitter about that, though -- I was warned that there was a strong chance of it happening in advance of the diet by my doctor (who said that gallbladder problems were common any time there was a large loss of weight). A relative of mine who also lost a lot of weight -- without using Medifast -- also had to have their gallbladder out shortly after dieting. Other than the gallbladder issue, any effect on my health has been entirely positive.
The Medifast shakes are far from delicious, but they're acceptable. I occasionally see banner ads for them comparing the flavor with some delicious-looking cupcake, and, well, that's not true. But, they're not bad. They're just... functional, and a bit sweet. You can keep them down and stick with the diet, but they're not good enough that you'd ever consider drinking any more of them than you have to.
So, it's neither a panacea or a scam. There are many ways to lose weight, and Medifast is the way that worked for me. I don't think I'd recommend it for someone with only 30 or 40 pounds to lose, but it really can be a very useful and effective tool for the very obese to use to get the weight off.
On preview: bluedaisy, from the NIH: during rapid weight loss, the liver secretes extra cholesterol from the fat being burned, and that cholesterol turns into gallstones.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 9:28 PM on June 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
[I have no experience with Medifast, bluedaisy, but I did develop gallstones following rapid weight loss as a teenager, which was caused by eating very little - the reason is as I EAT TAPAS says]
posted by altolinguistic at 9:22 AM on June 17, 2010
posted by altolinguistic at 9:22 AM on June 17, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for all the insight....but I think I will try and stick to not eating after a certain time and smaller portions.
posted by MDK at 1:26 PM on June 21, 2010
posted by MDK at 1:26 PM on June 21, 2010
« Older How can I recover deleted raw files from my memory... | Do I have poison ivy, poison oak, and/or poison... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kimdog at 1:22 PM on June 16, 2010