How Medifast Helped Me Develop Better Habits

Many people scoff at replacement meal diet programs like Medifast, predicting that as soon as you go off the plan you'll revert to your bad habits and gain your weight back.

That could be true for some people, but I don't think it will happen to me. Thanks to Medifast, I have formed some great new habits that I plan to continue long after I lose all my weight.

Good habit #1: I drink way more water

Plain water tastes great after I exercise,
but other times I need my Mio
to make it more palatable

My free Medifast coach impressed on me the importance of drinking half my body weight in ounces by explaining how the water was needed to transport the fat globules out of my body. Just that visual was enough to make me want to comply with the water requirement since I was more than happy to give my fat the nudge it needed to walk out the door. Sometimes I sip on water mixed with Mio to make it more palatable; other times, I'll drink a full eight ounces at once to help reach my quota.

Good habit #2: I eat six times a day

The Medifast 5&1 plan requires me to eat six high-protein meals a day, which does not give my body enough time for my blood sugar to spike and crave carbs. Even after I stop eating the Medifast replacement meals, I plan to continue having high-protein snacks, such as an apple with a wedge of sharp cheddar, Greek yogurt with blueberries or a handful of almonds.

Good habit #3: I gave up my seafood diet

Prior to Medifast, I had the mindset that if a plate of cookies was within my visual field, I had the right to indulge. My thought process was that if God didn't want me to eat it, it wouldn't have been in my presence. So even though I would not have gone to the store that day and bought a cookie from the bakery counter, I

Prior to Medifast I was on the
seafood diet. If I saw food, I ate it.

gave myself permission to eat as many "free" cookies as I saw. When I started doing Medifast, however, I knew that even one cookie could kick me out of ketosis, which made me think twice about cheating. I realized the "free" cookie may not have cost me any dollars, but I would pay a steep price in pounds.

Good habit #4: I look at restaurant menus online before I go out to eat

Since the Medifast lean & green meal has to consist of lean protein and vegetables, I got in the habit of checking out menus before I went out to eat and deciding ahead of time what I would order. I plan to continue this habit after I reach my goal weight so I won't be tempted to order an entree that is too decadent. I had learned this trick doing Weight Watchers a decade ago, along with visualizing myself placing the order with the waiter, but I had somehow gotten out of the habit. Hopefully, this time I have learned my lesson.

Good habit #5: I weigh myself every day

This last habit is a tad controversial since there are two camps on the scale question: Daily Weighers Vs. Weekly Weighers. Obviously, weight can fluctuate for a variety of reasons, but when I weigh myself every day I have more motivation to eat clean since I do not want to see the scale move north the next day.

What new habits have you developed from doing Medifast? Weigh in (pun intended) below.

If you're interested in learning more about how you can lose weight safely and more rapidly with the Medifast 5&1 plan, please visit my Take Shape for Life website.

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