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But, I believe that the real success is in how I've changed my life.
I am much more healthy, have tons more energy, posses much more confidence, and see food (and how it relates to my body) in a whole new way.
I finally believe that I am worth something and am just as important as any one else.
I'll offer advice and tips on how to succeed with this diet in the following article.
As Simplistic As It Sounds, Follow The Directions And Trust The Process: When I tell people that the first advice that I would give is to follow the directions, I'm sometimes met with sighs and eye rolling.
But, I have a lot of experience on this diet and in weight loss forums and I can not tell you how many people (myself included) think that they know more than the doctors who developed Medifast.
It's very tempting to look at the plan, learn that you are eating six times per day, and think that you can do better.
Countless people cut out either the number of meals eaten or they will substitute one of the Medifast meals for one of the larger, fresh, "lean and green" meals.
I can tell you with 100% certainty that the weeks in which I lost the least amount of weight were the weeks where I skipped meals or skipped lean and green meals.
You'll only be taking in about 1,000 to 1,2000 calories per day on Medifast, so there is no need to cut this down anymore.
If you do, you risk slowing your metabolism and cheating your body out of the nutrients and energy that it needs.
Eating so often may seem weird at first, but you quickly get used to it and there's a reason that the diet has been designed as it is.
It's been tested repeatedly by institutions like John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and countless people have had success, so trust that you will too and just go along with the program even if you resist the six meals at first.
Know Yourself Well And Do What Works For You: Some people like to surround themselves with others when they are dieting and others feel that it is a personal process and would rather go it alone.
No matter where you fall on this spectrum, you can make this work for you.
The company's website offers tons of free support, resources, and counseling.
You can interact with others online or in person.
Accountability really does help and although I'm by no means a group joiner, I have found these resources to be quite helpful.
Some people are introverted and are uncomfortable having to interact.
That's perfectly acceptable too.
The company offers you tons of resources that allow you to go solo if you so chose.
Finally, I would say to know where you've failed before.
I know that I need a lot of variety.
So, I do add "safe" ingredients to my foods, like sugar free syrups, fat free whipped cream and cheese, etc.
I knew that this would be necessary for me to stick with this and it certainly hasn't slowed down my progress any.
Don't Allow Cheating To Derail You.
Accept It And Move On: It's a fact of dieting life that you are going to cheat.
It's very unrealistic to think that you will never have a bad day on your diet.
Perhaps you eat at a restaurant and opt not to go "lean and green.
" That's perfectly OK and not a big deal.
It becomes a big deal though when you allow this to discourage you so that you repeat the process the next day.
When you cheat, just shrug your shoulders and vow to do better tomorrow.
It's not the act of cheating that sabotages you, it's allowing the cheating to become a habit or a derailment.
Essentially, you're trying to get in the habit of a new lifestyle.
This will happen as you start to have many more good days than bad.
So, don't allow the bad days to feed upon themselves and keep this from happening.
Understand How Ketosis Works: Ketosis is the metabolic state that makes this diet so effective.
Because Medifast is low in carbs and high in protein, your body will burn fat rather than carbs.
And, when you get into this state (which you can test with ketone strips), you'll be less hungry and have more energy.
The best way that I can put it is that once you're in ketosis, you no longer think about food with the intensity that you once did.
You no longer think about the diet so often.
You begin to lose your cravings and generally this is when you hit your stride.
Obviously, this is your goal and where you want to stay.
When you cheat, it takes about 2-3 days to reach this state again.
And, although you can test yourself, you can generally feel ketosis when you are in it.
So, use this as a motivation and know that if you falter and knock yourself out, all you have to do is regroup and continue on.
Know That It's The Little Victories That Change Your Life: So many people are intimated and turned off by diets.
They feel so pressured and allow themselves to be beaten before they even get started.
What you need to realize is that it's the little victories that count - the victories that are repeated and add up.
Two pounds becomes five and then ten.
Ten becomes twenty.
Just keep repeating your success until you've reached your goal.
Don't look at it as a big, huge change.
Look at it as small baby steps over time.
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