Medifast and Vegetarian
I am very active in helping people lose weight with Medifast in ways that I am not even permitted to discuss on this site. What I am able to tell you about Medifast is that it is one of the most effective weight loss tools I have ever have used. In fact, for Sue (wife) and I, it is the only thing that has worked for us. With that being said we went over to a friends home the other night to discuss Medifast and discovered that Ashley and her husband, (Channin) were interested in starting Medifast, but Ashley is a practicing vegetarian and had specific questions concerning her being able to use Medifast and yet maintain her status of being a vegetarian.
Despite my ever growing knowledge of being able to use Medifast to lose weight I had to admit the fact that I was not knowledgeable in the area of Medifast, when looked at from the perspective of wanting to maintain the standards of also being able to live a vegetarian lifestyle. What I have since learned about being able to use Medifast as a practicing vegetarian is that you first need to define exactly what is the definition of “vegetarian.” For the scope of this article we have taken the definition that Medifast uses, which is as follows;
“A vegetarian is a person who chooses to not eat meat, fish, fowl, or products containing these foods.
Reasons for this choice may include health, ecological, religious, or economic concerns, as well as
compassion for animals”
Looking deeper into the entire Medifast and vegetarian subject I further discovered that there are different types of, or different levels of what degree of vegetarianism a person may live their life. There are Lacto-vegetarians, Ovo-vegetarians and also Lacto-ovo vegetarians. There is also the stricter and more hard-line type of vegetarian that is referred to as a Vegan.
If a person wants to use Medifast to lose weight, or maintain a life-style geared towards optimal health, it is possible to use Medifast as a powerful tool for all degrees of vegetarianism, other than those wanting to live the Vegan life-style. Currently, it is not possible to maintain the Vegan life-style choice while using Medifast. For the other levels (Lacto-vegetarians,Ovo-vegetarians and also Lacto-ovo vegetarians) it is very possible to use Medifast.
What I have learned over the course of the last few months is that the use of Medifast has gone far beyond simple weight loss. The use of Medifast has become a way of life for Sue and I because the food is actually satisfying and also it is economical and simply put…it is good food fast. What that means is that now that I am done trying to lose my weight (I lost 112 pounds) I find myself in a weekly battle to ensure the weight stays off for the rest of my life. Now that I no longer strictly adhere to the 5 & 1 Meal Plan, I still keep the food on hand, and will continue to do so.
As far as the question of using Medifast as a vegetarian, as always, there is a wealth of official knowledge that can answer all of your questions. (Official Medifast vegetarian pdf file) If you are looking to start Medifast I will suggest that if you do start that you join the Medifast Advantage Program to get the best price available.
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Scosche myTREK Wireless Pulse Monitor
The Scosche myTrek Wireless Pulse Monitor helps you maximixe the impact and usefullness of your workout routines. Where will your workouts take you? The Bluetooth enabled armband feeds real-time date to your iPhone or your iPod Touch. The data the user is provided includes pulse and calories burned. It provides you with five different training zones to keep you in your desired workout level. Those levels include the Free Training Zone, Resting Zone, Weight Loss Zone, Fitness Zone, Performance Zone and the Red Line Zone. With a FREE app you will be able to monitor your workout duration your maximum speed and the distance you traveled during your workout session. After a few training sessions are completed you will be able to compare the date accumulated and compare the data with the workout summaries.
A great feature that is available which is a favorite of many is the customization of available music, because we all know that music makes you want to move. You will be able to customize the music to play the music you desire during specific workout sessions. In short, the Scosche myTREK Wireless Pulse Monitor takes you exactly where you want to be…as far as your workouts are concerned. Watch the video below and see a glimpse of it in action.
Medifast Product Review: Cream of Broccoli Soup
For this review I have tried the Medifast Creamy Soup selection of Cream of Broccoli Soup. This is the first review that I have written on a Medifast Meal that I must confess I did not like. I have tried many of the Medifast Meals and even though I have not tried all of them… Medifast Broccoli Soup, for me, was pretty bad tasting.
I am a true believer in the Medifast Weightloss Program and I have been able to flavor up each and every meal easily. The Cream of Broccoli Soup was the first meal that I tried that despite what I added to it I never could get it to something I remotely enjoyed.
In all fairness I must admit that if you gave me a full flavored, full fat and sodium loaded cream of broccoli soup, I would love it. I have always enjoyed cream of broccoli soup and yet I have not been able to make the same claim with the Medifast Cream of Broccoli Soup. I am very glad that I only received one packet of the stuff in the variety pack and that was only because of the bonus pack that had three individual packets of various Medifast Meals.
For this review of Medifast Cream of Broccoli Soup I want you to realize that this is the first and only Medifast Meal that I did not enjoy. If you are thinking of ordering Medifast do not let this single review discourage you because there are so many great tasting selections available. Overall Medifast Meals have wonderful taste and texture, but I cannot say that for the Medifast Cream of Broccoli Soup.
I must give this soup a double thumbs down and just end this brief review with the statement that depsite my desire to continue with the Medifast Plan, I will never ever let Medifast Cream of Broccoli Soup pass through my lips again.
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Below is the nutritional data for Medifast Cream of Broccoli Soup:
Total Fat 1.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.5 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 15 mg
Sodium 330 mg
Potassium 340 mg
Total Carbohydrate 10 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 5 g
Protein 15 g
Non-Kosher
Also Formulated for Diabetics
Contains Whey
Low Lactose
Caffeine Free
Low Glycemic
Is Sensa A Scam Or Just Portion Control?
You may have heard about the new weight loss system called Sensa and may be wondering if it is is nothing more than a scam. If you are wondering if it is just another rip-off product then you are not alone. When you look into Sensa and try to wrap your head around how it works, it does not take long for you to realize it is not like other weight loss products. At first glance a person tries to compare it to what they already know and start from there. What we mean is that many start to treat it like a diet pill. Sensa could not be any further from a diet pill because there is no messing with your metabolism. Sensa is not like Acai berry because all of the Acai berry companies that trumpet weight loss want alot of money up front and then that cost is rather expensive to the average weight loss seeking individual. Also if a person were to really look at what true Acai companies tell you about the berry, there are no weight loss stories to be told.
When looking to learn if Sensa is a scam it is easy to compare it to diets. If one were to look at the Atkin’s diet, it is positively a way to lose a significant amount of weight. The problem with The Atkin’s Diet is that when you return to living a normal eating routine a person just gains all of their weight back once again. If Sensa were to be compared to Atkin’s the differences are glaring. Using Sensa starts the re-training process of portion control. To take a page from a great diet called The 9-Inch Diet, we have all learned that today’s food portion sizes are out of control. Back in the 1940′s the average plate size in America was 9″ and today it is at 12″. Portion control is all about those 3″‘s. Portion size has gotten so large that we no longer know what is healthy. Look at soda sizes and bagel sizes and movie theatre popcorn, they all have grown to what makes us all fat, as a nation.
Using a 9″ plate should be done in conjunction with Sensa because all you may need is portion control. If you go out and fill a plate you will look at it and think you will starve. Yet, back in 1945, we as a nation, used nothing else. Sensa helps re-train what you think you need. It allows you to walk away from the table eating less and not feeling deprived. Sensa helps generate the signals your body already send to make you realize you are full. The idea behind Sensa is that it helps you get full faster and in doing so you eat less food. By eating less food, you should lose weight.
So is Sensa a scam? We would have to say no because it is all about portion control. You cannot argue that weight loss is nothing more than eating less calories than you burn, Sensa helps you eat less and if portion control is a scam, then we are all in trouble and not just those that are over weight. Even if Sensa is a scam and yet it were to help a person think they were full sooner…would that not be a good thing? If Sensa were a scam and it got you to eat less food at a sitting, would that not be a good thing?
Weight loss is all about calories in and calories out. If you can use Sensa and it helps you eat less, than go for it. But do not think that Sensa will help you put that fork down or stop eating too much fast food. No matter what weight loss gadget, gizmo or widget…weight loss is all about calories in and calories out. Whatever it takes to help you eat less and exercise more. Whatever you decide to do, do not think that losing weight can happen unless you make some basic changes in the foods that you eat, how much you eat and how much activity you get everyday.
Sensa has worked for many people and if you are looking to drop a few pounds then go ahead and give it a try if the price is right… and it won’t break your bank. You never know….you may realize Sensa is not a scam and you might lose some pounds… in the end.
Fat Day
Fat Day. Have you ever had a fat day? You know what I mean…it is when you wake up and just feel fat. You look in the mirror and you see your body and are convinced you are fat. In fact, you look at yourself and you just know you have gained a lot of weight from just yesterday. You feel as if all of your dieting has been for nothing and you think about just giving up anymore attempts at losing weight. Granted some people can have an actual fat day because they ate too much, but those are not the days I am writing about in this post. What I am talking about are those days and weeks where you know you have done it all correctly, and yet the scale still reports back to you that you are having a fat day. Let’s talk about what is really driving those emotions. If you are doing the healthy choices throughout your days and your weeks, you will lose weight. If you know all of your choices have been correct and still are having a fat day, let’s figure out why.
Psychology Behind a Fat Day
Let’s explore the last fat day that I had, which was the driving force behind this article. I woke up one morning and was on Medifast for well over two weeks, and yet on this particular morning I woke up and just felt fat. I mean I woke up and was not happy with the way I looked. My clothing made me look fat. I looked at my reflection and my mood just slumped. Despite the fact that I did everything the right way, I still woke up that morning to another day of feeling fat. I was all ready to just head off into the morning and stop at McDonald’s for a favorite meal of mine and just say “I give up!” This was the path my day was heading because despite all of my efforts to lose weight…it was just not happening, and I knew that I was doomed to remain obese forever.
My fat day began when I stepped on the bathroom scale
I knew that in order to gain a pound I would of had to eat AN EXTRA amount of calories which was more than I burned. Since I knew I ate less than 1,000 calories, I knew there was no way I could have gained any weight. ( A pound equals 3,500 calories) Yet there it was…I GAINED WEIGHT!!!! As I started to think more about my fat day I came to the simple conclusion that I was leading myself to the wrong conclusion. There is no way a healthy person can gain weight if they are not eating the calories. There is no way I could have gained weight! I then looked back at my overall weight loss and started to realize that I was losing about one to two pounds a week. That was great and if the bathroom scale
I realized on that fat day, which was my last fat day, that it was all in my head. I now know that it is all too easy to slip into a state of mind and convince yourself that you are getting fatter, when it is impossible. There is no way that you, or I, can gain weight while limiting calories. I realized that the fat day I was having was all in my head. I realized that a fat day would only be a reality if I allowed it to happen.
Example of Fat Day Nonsense
There are days I have stepped on the scale and lost weight and then I thought my clothes were lose and I looked in the mirror and felt great. Feeling lighter on my feet and feeling great about weight loss I would set my course to manifest anything but a fat day.. On the very next day I would weight myself and see a number that was not what I liked and my mood would drastically change. I would feel fat and I would think that I was a failure and it was all because of a silly number on the bathroom scale. That number really does not hold the validity that I kept cornered in my thinking. I have realized that the number on the scale is irrelevant, when I am doing the right things. If I can lose weight week after week, or even month after month I know I am headed in the right direction.
I have learned that losing weight is not a destination, it is a journey and as long as I weigh less next month than I did last month, I am headed in the right direction. I am not in competition to lose weight with anyone and that was a huge acknowledgement when I realized I do not have to be in competition with myself either. Weight loss is all about the direction and perseverance to continue onward towards your health goals. Stop pinning your hopes on the scale every morning and only weigh yourself weekly. Do not weigh yourself daily. Be happy with the one and two pound weeks and rest easy knowing that weight loss is an ongoing journey.
I used Medifast to lose weight and it worked great for me. If you can use it for yourself that is great. Whatever method you choose to lose weight you need to understand that if you are following your weight loss plan, then a fat day may simply be in your head. A fat day may be what your bathroom scale is telling you, but that does not always make the scale right. Only you know what you are doing. If you know you are not cheating, you will know whether a fat day is really on the scale, or really just in your head.
If you are having a fat day and are a Medifast user you can check out our other blog (Our Story) and if you want, you can even give me a call and I will see if I can help you to understand your fat day.