I get asked sometimes by people if there’s a way someone can replicate the Medifast diet themselves. I find that a lot of people who ask this question feel like it can save them some money. In my experience, not only is this not the case, but finding healthy foods that are low in calories, carbohydrates, and sugar, yet high in protein is a very difficult task. And in my opinion, this will be required to get the results you would get with Medifast. You need to be able to get into ketosis the same way you would diet, and that combination can be quite difficult (and expensive) to find at the grocery store or health food store. To demonstrate this point, I’ll show you some comparisons between Medifast foods and popular grocery stores in the following article.
Find something similar to Medifast Oatmeal: Probably the breakfast I enjoy the most on this diet is the oatmeal. I know some people ask me if you can find something similar on the market, but if there is an alternative I haven’t found it. The diet oatmeal has only 100 calories, 15 grams of carbohydrates, one gram of sugar and 11 grams of protein. In contrast, the Quaker brand (depending on flavor) has 120 calories, 27 carbs, and a whopping 12 grams of sugar. There are only 3 grams of protein. If you look, you will probably find that it is very difficult to find a similar oatmeal with the same ratios.
Is there anything similar to the Medifast Brownie?: If so, I haven’t found it either. The diet brownie can be served warm and tastes pretty decadent, but it only had 110 calories, 15 grams of carbs, 8 grams of sugar, and 11 grams of protein. Granted, this product has a little more sugar, but that’s taken into account in the diet and I can’t imagine finding another brownie product that’s as high in protein while being lower in sugar. I’m very impressed that you can eat a brownie while on this diet. Not only that, there is no restriction on this meal. You can enjoy it quite often if you like it.
Are there compatible Medifast shakes?: This is the question I get asked the most. And I looked at several that didn’t meet my criteria. The 55 shakes included in the basic women’s pack have only 90 calories, 15 carbohydrates, 8 sugars and 11 proteins. Compare that to specialty K-shakes, which not only have 180 calories, but also about 10 grams more sugar and about 16 more carbs. Some of the lean quick shakes pack in a whopping 200 calories, 20 grams of fat, and 40 grams of carbs.
Grocery store bars versus Medifast bars: This diet has a maintenance bar limited to just one per day due to the slightly higher calories, carbs, and sugars. But the equally good crunch bars are not limited in this way. Like the other foods, they barely break the 100-calorie mark and have only 12 carbs, two sugars, and 11 grams of protein. Compare that to a bar like Kashi’s or Special K, which has between 11 and 13 grams of sugar.
People often ask me things like, “Does an extra 10 grams of sugar or carbs really make that much of a difference?” In terms of ketosis, it really can. Every gram counts here and getting the right balance of these things with a high enough amount of protein is very important when trying to get into fat burning mode. And since you can have these differences in each of the six meals throughout the day, you can really see a very big difference in what you eat.
Do you really save money at the grocery store?: As I said, many people are looking for an alternative because they are trying to save money. In my experience almost anything that even remotely compares will be a very specialized product that will be much more expensive than typical groceries. Since coupon codes can often bring the cost of Medifast meals down to just over $2, you may not save as much as you think, if at all, depending on where you live. Not only that, you could still get away with more calories, carbs, and sugar (and less protein) than if you stuck to the diet.
Thanks to Lindsey Price
