When I started my recent attempt to lose 20 pounds in a month, I stripped down my Medifast order to consist only of shakes and crunch bars. When I’m at home, I mix up the weight loss shakes in my Rocket Blender (which is still going strong) with a little ice, but if I’m on the road I pack a few crunch bars. I even have a box in my desk at work.

I love the bars, but in my opinion, the weight loss shakes are really the quickest and easiest path to quick weight loss. Medifast has done an amazing job of rounding out the diet with a wide variety of food options, but the shakes are definitely what have worked best for me.

I’ve tried just about every type of Medifast food, but when it comes to the taste and to the level of “fullness” they provide, the Medifast shakes beat out all the rest. I stick to Dutch Chocolate, French Vanilla, Orange and Banana. A lot of people complain about the shakes getting boring after awhile, but I honestly love starting my day off with one. If you’re getting sick of them, I highly recommend you ditch the shaker cup and blend them with some ice. They taste a lot better, have a more pleasant texture and seem to be more filling.

During my many years of attempting to lose weight through various methods, I’ve actually tried a lot of weight loss shakes: SlimFast, Special K, MuscleMilk and a bunch of other brands I can’t remember. The Medifast shakes are the only one that left me feeling full, content and like my blood sugar levels weren’t spiking all over the place.

If you take a look at the nutritional profiles of the Medifast shakes, you’ll find that they are very nicely balanced when it comes to nutrition. In addition to only containing 90 calories, each shake clocks in with very low sugars and carbohydrates.

Just for kicks, let’s do another Medifast vs. Slimfast comparison using the nutritional information from a Medifast Shake vs. a Slimfast Shake: A Dutch Chocolate Medifast shake contains 90 calories, 1 gram of fat, 8 grams of Sugar and 13 Total Carbohydrates. Compare that to a Slimfast Milk Chocolate Shake which contains 190 Calories, 6 grams of fat, 18 grams of sugar and 25 Total Carbohydrates. The lower counts allow you to have more shakes spread out over the course of a day. This prevents blood sugar spikes and keeps you feeling a little less hungry throughout the day.

This is my 4th day of staying 100% on program. It’s actually been really easy and I am feeling great today. Recently I’ve started so simplify all areas of my life, and even though Medifast is pretty simple to begin with, reducing some of my options has taken some of the thinking out of it. Right now, I’m not even using any of the Medifast Recipes to jazz things up. I’m keeping things simple and minimal.

Current Weight: 210.5

Is it even possible to lose 20 Pounds in a Month? I know it’s technically possible, but is there a way to do it’s that safe?

I’ve decided to experiment with myself to see if I can lose 20 pounds in the month of July. I will be the human guinea pig. If you’ve ever read this site before, you’ve probably already guessed that I’ll be using Medifast as part of my experiment. It may seem crazy to even try for a 20 pound weight loss in a month, but there are documented cases out there of people having done this on Medifast. Unfortunately, I have not been one of them.

You can check out the blog archive to read about my previous experiences with weight loss in general and Medifast in particular. But I started getting serious about weight loss about 2 years ago and weighed almost 280 pounds. I didn’t discover Medifast until last year and when I did it was like something clicked. My best weight loss period so far was last July when I lost 13 pounds. That’s definitely not bad, especially considering I wasn’t really following the program 100%.

Although I’ve made a couple of attempts over the past year, I haven’t been able to stick with Medifast for an extended period of time since then. I could make excuses because I moved, started a new job and have been traveling a lot, but that’s not an area I really want to get into. Looking back, I see a whole year where I have only made a half-hearted attempt or two but haven’t made any progress.

One area that I feel really good about, however, is that I’ve truly learned to think differently about eating. My weight has fluctuated a bit over the past year – mainly during the holidays – but even after months of not dieting or thinking seriously about weight loss, the scale still lands at 213. So if I were analyzing my weight on an annual basis that would be a 3 pound weight gain. Given my history, that’s not bad, but it’s not super encouraging either.

So I’m going for it. I restocked my Medifast cabinet and I started on July 4. So I’m on Day 3. I had a slight headache yesterday, but other than that, I haven’t even experienced any signs of Medifast detox.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. – Confucius

Doing a Few Things Differently

Before starting up my attempt to lose 20 pounds in a month, I took some time to reflect on issues dealing with weight loss and being overweight in general. In previous attempts, I just tore open the box and got down to it without really thinking. But, I’m making a conscious attempt to be more mindful about all aspects of my life. This includes not only what I eat and drink, but the minor details of how I live my life.

With this in mind I developed a plan that included a schedule for eating and exercising. I also wrote out a general strategy for how I was going to approach this. As I wrote this out, I realized that there are 2 primary things that have derailed my weight loss in the past.

My 2 Medifast Stumbling Blocks

Ordering Product. This may sound ridiculous, but keeping my Medifast stocked up is probably the #1 problem I have with the program. My schedule is really busy and I travel a lot. Somehow, the logistics of ordering new product always becomes an issue. This time, I actually went to a Medifast Center and asked to place an emergency order. It was a little more expensive but I walked out of the center with 3 backs full of shakes and crunch bars. I’m still a little confused about how the Medifast Centers work, but I was happy to pay the premium just to avoid ordering and waiting for delivery.

Alcohol. While I’m far from a raging alcoholic, I do enjoy alcohol on a fairly regular basis. Recently, I realized that my alcohol consumption was on the verge of becoming a problem in areas of my life other than affecting my weight loss. So I’ve made the decision to quit drinking altogether for the rest of the summer. This is a personal decision, pretty much unconnected from my goal to lose 20 pounds in a month. But, it definitely won’t hurt. So far I have gone almost 2 weeks without a drop. It’s been quite a bit easier and more pleasant than I had feared.

Easing into It

Another thing I did differently was to give myself 2 days of eating Lean and Green meals before jumping right into the Medifast 5-1 program. I actually like eating Lean and Green, so this wasn’t too hard. I also think this may have helped my avoid the symptoms of Medifast detox. I didn’t follow the Lean and Green recipes to the letter, but I concentrated on eating nothing but lean meats and lots of vegetables (particularly leafy greens). This is the way that I prefer to eat now, so I think I will actually be able to rock the transition process pretty hard. (I have a feeling that easing into the program this way will have a slight effect on my overall pounds. Normally, you lose a big chunk of weight in the first week – but it’s mainly your body getting shocked into ridding itself of water and other junk. I never trust the numbers from the first 3 days.)

So I am on my third day and I’m feeling great. I already have excess energy. I have been drinking lots of water, eating celery for snacks and keeping my eyes on the goal. Will I really be able to lose 20 pounds in a month? I don’t know, but I will report my results truthfully here on the site. I will try to post weight updates once a week (but regular readers know how sporadic I am with blogging).

I would love to hear from you if you’re starting up or in the middle of losing weight with Medifast. Use the comments section below to tell us about your experiences and let us know how you’re doing.

The great thing about Medifast is that it’s so simple. It’s almost mathematical. If you follow the program precisely, it WILL work.

I am possibly the worlds worst Medifast-er, but somehow even I have managed to lose over 60 pounds on the program. However, this has been over a year and with several lengthy breaks. I am a 100% believer, but I also wonder why it’s taken me so long to get to the finish line. I still have 20 pounds to go.

I am most successful on the program when I think of myself like a machine. I think of my body as a machine that needs precise amounts of fuel. I refuel 6 times a day. If I refuel on a regular and consistent basis the machine does what it needs to do. If I can keep myself in this mindset and stay focused, Medifast works — and it works remarkably well.

There’s a funny thing about humans, though. We’re not machines. We have brains, hearts and emotions. And as logical as we would like to me, sometimes our emotions work against the logical part of our brains.

As I get closer to my goal, I realize that I am getting closer to the root of why I got fat in the first place.

The thing that Medifast doesn’t cover is the emotional reasons that got us into this trouble in the first place. I didn’t get fat because it was convenient. I got fat because I use eating as a way of dealing (or avoiding) something else that’s going on.

I’m an over-eater.

And I have been for a long time.

Getting To The Root of the Problem

I hope this doesn’t come across as indulgent… But I’ve been reflecting back on my life and my relationship with food in hopes of figuring out why I eat the way I do. I am not making any excuses for myself or blaming anybody. This is as much a journal entry as anything else.

When I was in second grade my parents got divorced and a lot of things changed in my life. My mom had to get a job so she wasn’t home when my brother and I got out of school. But she was a good mom and she always made sure we had plenty of after-school snacks. So after school we had a couple of hours when we didn’t have to worry about anything but snacks and reruns of old sitcoms. After a couple weeks of this, I started really looking forward to the Little Debbie Swiss Cakes that I knew were waiting for me at home.

As part of the divorce settlement, I started spending every other weekend with my dad. I didn’t like this. I didn’t have a problem with my dad, but I did have a problem with being away from home twice a month. I was away from my room, my things, my friends, my mom, etc. But there were always plenty of snacks at my dads place.

This is where I remember eating my first full bag of Cheetoh’s. This wasn’t a personal-sized bag, either. It was a full-sized family bag from the grocery store. And I ate it in one go while watching TV. I remember my little brother told on me later. Apparently, he wanted Cheetoh’s, too.

When you’re zig-zagging between two single parents, one of the first things to go is regular, healthy sit-down family meals. In our case, we suddenly started getting to eat all the food we really liked. Conveniently, this was also around the time the Happy Meal was first introduced. Once I got my hands on that brightly colored box (with a toy inside), I was hooked.

Two years later I was a fat kid.

Junk Food Junkie

Looking back, I can see I was obviously eating to cope with certain emotions and anxiety that I was experiencing. Food was a drug. And Fast Food quickly became my emotional crack.

I still have connections between certain foods and certain emotions. Some of them are pretty embarrassing.

I still get a rush when I eat a cheeseburger and fries from McDonalds. I don’t think it’s even about the taste. But, the greasy food – so densely packed with salt, sugar and carbohydrates – definitely gives me a buzz. For a few minutes, it really DOES make me feel better.

Years of eating this junk have created some unhealthy emotional wiring in my brain. It is not a matter of willpower. I have accomplished some pretty amazing things and a lot of these things required extreme willpower. But my emotional issues with food have a sneaky way of slipping under the radar and sabotaging my progress.

Time To Upgrade The Operating System

If my body is a machine, then my brain is the computer that runs it.

I know the computer is in good shape. The problem is with the operating system.

So I am going to upgrade it.

In the weeks to come, I will be exploring the emotional component of overeating and weight loss – particularly as it relates to those of us on the Medifast diet.

Top Photo by Essk. McDonalds Photo by RichieC.

sticking point
1. a point beyond which someone or something will not budge
2. a point or issue that causes action, negotiations, etc. to come to a standstill

After about a year of using Medifast on and off, I’ve realized that I have a sticking point. And my sticking point is 210 pounds. (My goal weight is 190.) I’ve lost 60 pounds since I decided to get serious about getting skinny. But every time I reach 210 pounds it’s like I hit a wall.

The first time I hit 210 pounds, I was ecstatic because that was the least I had weighed since high school. But, I think it also caused me to lose some mental focus. I felt like I had reached a goal and I relaxed. I dropped off Medifast and my weight hovered between 210-215 pounds. This was still pretty awesome compared to hovering between 265-270 which I had done for many years. But, the fact remains that I haven’t reached my goal. I’ve experienced some success but I have not succeeded.

If I’ve lost 60 pounds, why can’t I succeed in losing the final 20? It’s definitely not Medifast’s fault. It’s mine.

During my weight loss journey, I haven’t really confronted the emotional/psychological reasons that I got fat in the first place. And I have a suspicion that those are the reasons that I sputter out just as I get into the home stretch. As I get closer to the goal, I am getting also getting closer to the root of my problems.

Over the next few weeks, I will be exploring some of emotional and psychological aspects of weight loss. It won’t be specifically related to Medifast, so I hope you’ll bear with me. I also hope that these posts will trigger some discussion from you guys.

For those of you who have asked:

Yes, I’m currently on the program. I am still a fan and a believer. However, I won’t be posting regular updates about my weight loss. This site originally started out as a personal blog, but over time it has developed into a pretty extensive resource for Medifast information. I feel like going into so much details with the numbers is kind of distracting to me and to all the regular readers.

When I reach my goal weight, I will definitely let you know. At that time, I will have a lot to share with you.

Today’s Question…

Do you have a sticking point when it comes to weight loss?

Even though the food is pretty great, if you’ve been on Medifast for a few weeks, you will be looking for ways to jazz things up. Fortunately, there are lots of Medifast Recipes to help you with this. Collecting these recipes has become something of a part-time hobby of mine. Unfortunately, these recipes rarely have photos and it’s sometimes hard to know if you are actually preparing the food correctly.

Thanks to YouTube, I’ve recently discovered Stacey Hawkins, the Time Savour Gourmet. Hawkins bills herself as the “Queen of Lean and Green” and she’s uploaded over 85 episodes of her internet cooking show so far. This is a pretty incredible resource for people on Medifast who know their way around their kitchen. I haven’t personally tried any of these recipes yet, but I’ve really enjoyed watching them and planning out meals for the week to come. Hawkins seems very legitimate and most of the meals would be great even when you are done with the weight loss portion of Medifast and have just moved on to eating healthy well-proportioned meals.

Here are a few recipes that I’m pretty excited to try. First up, Lean and Green Boneless Buffalo Wings. Are you kidding me? Buffalo Wings are terrible for you, but I love them and they’re one of the things that I occasionally get serious cravings for, especially during football season. Check out this video for a Medifast safe recipe:

Next up, Lean and Green Meatballs! My mouth is watering.

So, check out her YouTube channel and let me know what you think. There are over 85 videos, and while they are all healthy, not all of them are technically Lean and Green recipes according to the Medifast specifications. Also, some of the videos feature recipes that are fairly complex, but they all look really delicious. The fact that they are documented with video makes me a little more optimistic about trying them out myself.

I’ve been traveling for work and staying on Medifast fairly well. There have been several business meetings where meals were involved and my strategy was just to eat as close to Lean and Green as possible. I’ve definitely stayed away from bread, pasta and anything processed. I’m sure the proportions have been out of whack, but I’ve done pretty good sticking to meat and leafy greens. According to the hotel scale, I am currently weighing in at 210 pounds, but I am hesitant to enter that into the blog history as my official weight.

I’ve also been maintaining my home workout program. I promise to finish the series on this as soon as I get back home. It’s basically a series of very simple exercises that I’ve been able to easily do in my hotel rooms and then I add in some walking every morning. I’m feeling pretty great and my clothes are definitely not fitting correctly – at all. But, I’m not ready to buy new clothes yet, so I will have to rock the baggy style for a few more weeks.

Thanks to everybody for all the awesome and supportive comments. Keep them coming!

Since I’m now on Week 3 of Medifast, it’s time to start re-integrating exercise back into my life. The idea is to let your body adapt to the drastic change in calorie intake before you start burning calories through exercise. For the next month or so, I’m going to be concentrating on a very simple home workout plan that has worked for me pretty well in the past.

I’ve already written an introduction to home fitness that outlines some mental motivation and lays the basic groundwork for this post. I will be writing quite a bit about home fitness and how to customize a home workout plan in the weeks to come. It’s an important part of building and improving your overall health, but it’s often overlooked in favor of some quick weight loss miracle.

The plan that I use is a modified version of the workout plan advocated by The Hacker’s Diet, which is itself a modified version of the 5BX plan. The 5BX stands for 5 Basic Exercises. The 5BX plan was developed for the Royal Canadian Air Force in the 1950s. The plan was pretty ground-breaking at the time because it required no special workout equipment and only took 10-15 minutes per day. The idea is that you could execute these exercises anywhere. A lot of RCAF pilots were stationed in remote bases and didn’t have access to gyms. Also, by minimizing the amount of time spent per day, it made it a lot more likely that pilots would actually DO the exercises on a daily basis.

The idea is that this is a set of exercises that you can do anywhere, even if your time is very limited. You’ll start very simple and gradually increase the difficulty and intensity. You can move at your own pace.

Let’s get started.

5 Basic Home Workout Exercises (Phase 1)

Exercise 1: Bends (Toe-Touches)

Stand with your arms stretched over your head and your legs apart (approximately lined up with your shoulders). Slowly bend forward and try to touch your toes. Don’t strain to keep your knees straight. Then smoothly bend straighten back to a standing position. Bend backwards a little. Repeat. Perform this smooth and comfortably. It’s about stretching. Don’t worry if you can’t touch your toes yet.

Exercise 2: Crunches

Lie on the floor on your back with your feet approximately 6 inches apart. Rest your arms lightly on the floor at your sides. Slowly lift up until you can see the heels of your feed. Your shoulders must clear the floor. Be careful not to use your arms to help you cheat. Lower yourself back to the floor and repeat.

Exercise 3: Leg Lifts

Lie on the floor on your stomach. Put the palms of your hands underneath your thighs. Simultaneously, lift your head and your left leg. Bend at the knee and hip. Then smoothly lower back to the ground. Perform the exercise again with your right leg. That’s one! The repetition includes both left and right legs. Now, repeat!

Exercise 4: Push-ups (Girl-Style)

Lie on the floor with the palms of your hands just outside your shoulders and your arms parallel to your body. Keep your knees on the floor and straighten your arms, lifting your upper body. Keep your body straight from the knees up and fully extend your arms. Bend your arms again to lower until your chest touches the floor. Repeat! (Everybody freaks out about push-ups, but this is one of the most amazing home fitness exercises out there. Give it some time and you’ll be amazed at how much your strength increases.)

Exercise 5: Stationary Run and Jumping Jacks

I hope you aren’t living in an apartment with neighbors below you, because you’ll definitely make some noise with this one. First, make sure you have plenty of space around you, then RUN in place. Lift your feet about 4 inches off the floor. Count each time your left foot touches the floor. After you reach the number 75, perform 7 scissor jumps (or jumping jacks). Repeat!

Those are the only exercises you’ll need to perform as part of the introductory stage of your home fitness plan. Sounds pretty easy, right?

I will admit that I felt pretty dumb running in place and doing jumping jacks in my living room. But once you cranking away and increasing your number of repetitions, I think you will be pleasantly surprised that this is actually a pretty amazing home workout.

You may be wondering how many of each exercise you need to do. That’s coming up tomorrow in Part 2 of the Home Workout Guide! For today, I suggest trying each type of exercise and getting used to how they feel. Use today as a gauge to see how many push ups and sit-ups you can actually do. Don’t feel bad if the number is low. If you stick with this plan, you’ll soon be seeing improvements in your physical health that will amaze you.

This is my 14th day on Medifast. Let’s get straight to the numbers and then we’ll discuss.

01/05/2010 – 225 pounds
01/11/2010 – 216 pounds
01/18/2010 – 214 pounds

So… while the second week was not as impressive as the first, I’ve still lost 11 pounds in 2 weeks. That’s definitely nothing to complain about. On top of that, I’m feeling great. I have lots of energy and am really not having trouble sticking with the program. My real downfall is wine and the occasional cocktail.

I’m a very social guy and the weekends are particularly tough. While I’ve managed to avoid eating the off-program food that is out there “in the wild,” I have a much harder time abstaining from social drinking. I haven’t been doing it in excess, but I’m sure it’s affecting the overall results.

So that leaves me with 24 pounds to lose. If I keep up this rate, I will definitely hit my goal by summer. In fact, it may be premature, but I’m already starting to think about the transition process. I want to make sure I really follow it this time, so I want to start getting my mindset right even when it pretty far off.

So, how did everybody else do this week? Was the weekend tough for you?

Without a doubt, the most popular section of this site is our Medifast Recipes. I can’t tell you how many people have e-mailed or commented about it. I still receive great recipe submissions every day. One of the seriously overlooked things about Medifast is the amazing community of people that has grown up around it and the amazing number of Medifast recipes have been an outgrowth of that.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to put together a free book of Medifast Recipes. It will be a freely downloadable e-Book. I think this will make everything a little bit easier to search as opposed to logging onto the website to look for recipes. I’m to make lots of the recipes myself and take photos. There is absolutely zero profit motive for this book, I just want to make something cool that the Medifast community can really make use of.

Here’s where I need your help! I would love for this project to have a lot of input from the Medifast community. Do you know of any great Medifast recipes that we’re missing? Would you consider contributing your recipes or general cooking tips? If so, please email me at getskinnybehappy [at] gmail.com.

We’re now almost halfway into January and I am happy to report that I’m still experiencing quick weight loss. I have slipped up a couple of times and that was mainly due to alcohol and not food. Regardless, I’m excited about the progress I am making. I’ll announce the numbers on Monday. According to Health Magazine: “Incredibly, over 70 percent of us keep our New Year’s resolutions only one week.” I am still plugging away on my quick weight loss program. How are you guys doing. Based on my search engine results, it seems like everybody was interested in getting started on a quick weight loss diet in January, but the interest seems to be fading.

The thing that makes it a little bit easier for me is that I lost 13 pounds in a month last summer. And I definitely wasn’t 100% on program. So I know that Medifast works. But some of you might be trying Medifast for the first time and may have some psychological hurdles to believing it will help you lose weight quickly. I’ve put together this article to help you with the psychological side of the weight loss

1. Think “Baby Steps”

People don’t start Medifast because they are looking for slow and steady results. They start because they are in a desperate situation and realize they seriously need to lose weight. They look at it exclusively as a quick weight loss diet. It’s a lot more than that. If you follow it to the letter, I have no doubt that it’s the most effective way to lose weight fast. But if you’re looking at the scale every morning anticipating a huge drop – you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

The exciting thing about Medifast is the huge drop that usually happens in the first week. It’s enough to get you really pumped and then when your system settles into week 2, it can be a little disappointing. I would encourage you to look at each week as a Baby Step. Most Medifasters end up averaging about 2-3 pounds of weight lost per week. It may not be as dramatic as The Biggest Loser, but it’s still remarkably quick weight loss. Add that up over 4 weeks and you’ve lost between 8-12 pounds in a month. For health reasons, it’s also about as fast as you want to lose weight. So keep the long term in mind and take baby steps towards your end goal.

2. Deal With Your Emotions

An intense, quick weight loss diet like Medifast is going to put you in an extreme situation. At some point you are going to be forced to confront WHY you eat. Are you an emotional eater? A bored eater? What type of emotional state are you in when you splurge on dessert or a bottle of wine?

This program is going to force you to look into your soul and really deal with the underlying issues that got you into this in the first place. If you don’t face these issues, you will always struggle to take control of your weight. This is probably THE biggest single issue I’ve had to struggle with during this process. It’s forcing me to confront some dark things about myself. I’m not sure I have great advice on how to deal with this, but realize that it’s going to happen and welcome the experience. Look at it as a chance to reprogram the operating system of your brain.

3. Set a Specific Goal

The more specific you can make your goal, the more likely you will be succeed. My goal is to get to 190 pounds before summer. After I get to that point I am going to give myself a 5 pound range to stay within. Your goal could be to lose 10 pounds. Or it could be to lose 100.

I recommend picking an ideal weight that YOU are happy with. This doesn’t have to be your “medically approved” weight. People have different body types and different desires for life. Pick a number that you can personally be happy with. Divide that number by 2. That’s how many weeks you’re realistically looking at being on Medifast. Let that time frame sink into your head. Mark it on a calendar.

4. Write Everything Down

I did this for a little while here on the blog until I figured it was probably boring everybody. But I still write everything down. What I’ve eaten, how much water I’ve drank and how much weight I’ve lost. It’s on my big calendar, where I’ve also marked various dates which are various goalposts for weight loss. I can’t recommend this step highly enough. Use the blocks on the calendar to mark off days and make notes to yourself. It’s impressive to look back and see a big row of days that you’ve stayed on program and to see the weigh-in numbers getting smaller and smaller.

Attempting a big weight loss may seem intimidating because the numbers don’t feel very real until you’re actually losing the weight. But a base estimate of losing 10 pounds or more in a month is a pretty quick and easy weight loss. And Medifast is pretty pleasant once you get started. Even if you’re looking at 6 months or more. Just take a few days and let the time frame sink in. You are putting a halt to your normal behaviors and attempting something that is totally outside the ordinary. Look at this as an important time period in which you are going to do some serious work on yourself – physically and mentally. It is going to change you – hopefully forever.