My Favorite Medifast Vloggers: Medifast MetallicaMom and FitAndFabBy40

If you want a break from watching cats play the piano on You Tube, there's a couple of Medifast vloggers you may want to check out: Medifast MetallicaMom and FitAndFabBy40.

Their real names are Andrea and Leah, respectively, but I think of them by their You Tube handles.

These two videogenic women, both of whom follow the Medifast 5&1 Plan, have plus-sized personalities and love to play with their food.

Leah was the first vlogger I discovered, although I thought her name was Veda at first. (She was Vlogging Every Day in April, and I'm old like that.) What I love about her videos is she talks to me like an old friend from her kitchen as she whips up various Medifast meals. Leah's sidekick husband Nick co-stars in the videos, playing the role of Mikey in the old Life cereal commercials.

Leah of FitAndFabBy40

In her recent Medifast mashed potato food review video, the New Mexico resident prepares the two new varieties of Medifast mashed potatoes, dishing on their appearance, taste and texture, while dispensing no-nonsense advice on whether they should be avoided as trigger foods. "I think Medifast has a lot of trigger foods," she says. "Mac and cheese, ziti. The chewy bars are like candy bars to some people. You know what your triggers are and if it's a problem for you either stay away from them or deal with your demons inside and learn some discipline like we're all trying to do."

Medifast MetallicaMom, meanwhile, is a bit newer at Medifast vlogging, but she is quickly gaining a loyal following thanks to her irreverent style and determination to tweak every Medifast replacement meal. Think a hipper, sexier Marie on "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Andrea a.k.a. Medifast MetallicaMom

In her Medifast mashed potato video, Triple M turned the magic powder into a knish with her new Babycakes doughnut maker. Just watching her taste the finished product was pure food porn.She holds up the plate to the camera and says, "I realize what this needs. Mustard. It's a knish. I'm telling you. This is a knish...."

In her typical stream of conscious style, the massage therapist and Medifast TSFL coach then riffs on buying knishes from a street cart on Madison Avenue when she lived in Manhattan in her 20s. "You ask the guy for a knish with mustard and he splits it open and he squirts the fucking mustard inside for you so that it's not messy and then you just eat it. (Heavy breathing.) It makes me hyperventilate. I love it so much. I love potatoes. I never eat potatoes. I've learned to not eat potatoes ever. But these are really good. You take a turkey sausage link and you put it in the middle of that and you somehow cook it. I'll figure out a way to do it. Your talking knish. You're talking knish with some protein inside and some meat and salt. I love this!"

Actual knish, a Jewish potato dish

Just watching the video made me want to order my own Babycakes doughnut maker so I could try this deviant recipe myself!



You can purchase Medifast replacement meals directly from Medifast Centers, the Medifast website or -- for no extra cost -- through the co-branded website of a Medifast TSFL health coach. Medifast does not recommend purchasing its products from third party vendors, but if you choose to do so, you can find them on both Amazon and eBay.

Medifast replacement meals on Amazon

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Follow Nancy's board Medifast on Pinterest.

Medifast Zoodles and Meat Sauce

After sitting on my counter for a week, I finally got up the nerve to try my new Veggetti Spiral Vegetable Cutter.

This nifty little tool, which magically makes spaghetti-like strands out of a zucchini, became all the rage on one of my Medifast Facebook groups this month after one of our members bought one and posted a picture of his zoodle (zucchini noodle) dinner. I took the plunge and ordered one from Amazon.

What took me so long?

Even though I am no longer in weight-loss mode, I had been shying away from carb-laden noodles since losing 35 pounds on Medifast.

No more!

Now I can make my own no-guilt noodles out of vegetables.

As the Veggetti package says, four cups of pasta is 800 calories. Same amount of zucchini? A mere 60 calories! Even more impressive, a one-cup serving of cooked spaghetti has 40 grams of carbohydrates; zucchini, only 6!

Not every pasta substitute passes muster. Though some people are perfectly happy with spaghetti squash, I could take it or leave it. Plus it's a lot of work to cook the squash and scoop out the strands.

The Veggetti noodles, in contrast, are a snap to make. I just stuck the zucchini into the gadget's opening and turned clockwise while exerting gentle pressure. In just seconds I had a bowl full of beautiful zoodles.

You can eat zoodles raw, zap them or saute in a pan. I did the latter, using a smidge of olive oil and Trader Joe's garlic spice blend. I had a package of Trader Joe's Turkey Bolognese sauce in the freezer and heated that up for my sauce.

Here is the result:

Mmmmm... zoodles and meat sauce! Mangia!

Though the zoodles may look crunchy in the picture, they were actually softer than they appear, more akin to al dente spaghetti. Even my m&p husband said I could sub them for pasta any time I want.

For lasagne lovers, there is a wide noodle blade on the flip side of the Veggetti that can be used to make either lasagne noodles or fettucine. Or even chow fun!

What's weird is I had deliberated over what vegetable slicer to get for a long time and had my eye on the more expensive Paderno Spiralizer. The Veggetti is not only cheaper, it's much smaller and seems way easier to clean. I won't be able to make all the fancy schmancy shapes I could with the Paderno, but I'm a lot more likely to use it.



You can purchase Medifast replacement meals directly from Medifast Centers, the Medifast website or -- for no extra cost -- through the co-branded website of a Medifast TSFL health coach. Medifast does not recommend purchasing its products from third party vendors, but if you choose to do so, you can find them on both Amazon and eBay.

Medifast replacement meals on Amazon

Similar posts: 

How Medifast Helped Me Develop Better Habits

Medifast Centers Vs. DIY Medifast

Irrational Numbers: Doing the Math on Medifast Popcorn

Medifast Vs. Lean Cuisine Diet

Visit my other blogs:

Fit Kitty

Food Trends 

Bookish

Dictionary Woman

Follow Nancy's board Medifast on Pinterest.

Medifast Mashed Potatoes Review

Before I review the new Medifast mashed potatoes, I have to confess that even in my pre-Medifast days one of my guilty pleasures was making mashed potatoes from a box. I loved the smooth creamy texture of these potatoes, along with the lazy day convenience of not having to peel, chop, boil and mash real ones.

Even though I am no longer aiming to lose weight through Medifast, I decided to order both the new sour cream and chives mashed potatoes and garlic mashed potatoes so I could advise my clients and review them on my blog. My hope was they would be similar enough to the boxed mashed potatoes I could recommend them.

And they are.

So far I have tried only the garlic mashed potatoes so this review will pertain only to that variety. The Medifast garlic mashed potatoes had a nice creamy consistency and enough flavor from the garlic to satisfy any boxed mashed potato fan. It was comfort food at its finest.

Since I no longer have to confine myself to low-glycemic vegetables, I Martha'd my mashed potatoes with some fresh organic roasted beets and mixed the two together for a surprisingly satisfying meal.

Medifast garlic mashed potatoes with
fresh roasted red and yellow beets

Do keep in mind that beets are not allowed on the Medifast 5&1 Plan since they are considered high-glycemic vegetables. But if you have already reached your desired body weight, buy the freshest beets you can, drizzle with a little olive oil, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, sprinkle on some sea salt, and roast in the oven at 425 until fork tender (about 25 minutes).

C'était délicieux.

In addition to the Medifast garlic mashed potatoes passing the taste and texture test, they also passed the easy-to-make test. Just add half a cup of water, stir with a fork and microwave. Even a Mr. Potato Head monkey could do this.

If you want to get creative, You Tube vlogger Medifast MetallicaMom used her Babycakes doughnut maker to make knishes out of them and the Medifast blog had a yummy-looking recipe for potato pancakes using the sour cream and chives mashed potatoes. You can also add more or less water or melt in a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese to change the flavor and texture. Instead of beets, combine with a legal Medifast 5&1 vegetable like broccoli, mushrooms or spinach.

How Medifast Helps Control Hedonic Hunger

Remember those old "There's always room for Jello" TV commercials?

And cheesecake, and brownies, and ice cream....

They miss the point.

People don't eat desserts because they still have room in their stomach after their meal. They eat them because desserts give them pleasure. No matter how full we are, we always have room for a slab of pie, slice of cake or any other food treat we think will make us happy.

Psychologists coined the term "hedonic hunger" to label this concept of eating for pleasure versus eating for energy. But overweight people have known about this for years.

How else do you explain eating a plate of brownies or bag of chips at one sitting?

Like sex, gambling, shopping or any other compulsive addiction, eating certain foods activates the pleasure center in our brain.

Medifast behavioral specialist Nick Frye says hedonic hunger occurs "in response to environmental cues such as a burger joint TV commercial, seeing our refrigerator, the smell of fresh baked bread, seeing cake at a birthday party, etc. We desire the food because we anticipate the pleasure it will bring us and it really feels like hunger! This is a physiological mechanism and not an emotional one."

In a fascinating experiment, Japanese scientists even proved with an MRI that people who ate a multi-course French meal created room in their stomach after seeing a big piece of cake. The Japanese have a word for this, betsubara, combining the terms for "other" and "belly" to describe the second stomach we have for desserts.

Japanese scientists discovered
our stomachs actually make room for dessert

So what's the solution?

Many people go on traditional diets to deter them from eating for pleasure. They deprive themselves for as long as they can stand it and ultimately end up feeling so miserable they eat every favorite food they can think of.

The Medifast 5&1 Plan takes a different tact. Instead of total deprivation, the program offers replacement meals that provide the pleasure associated with desserts and snacks. When I was in the process of losing weight through Medifast, my favorite night time treat was Medifast brownies (click here for creative ideas on how to prepare them). In a sense, I could have my cake and eat it, too, since I was able to lose weight while enjoying the pleasure of a sweet treat.

I credit the variety of Medifast replacement meals for helping me stay on plan. I could resist the cookies, cupcakes, doughnuts and other treats at work or at parties since I always had a substitute treat that kept me compliant.

You can purchase Medifast replacement meals directly from Medifast Centers, the Medifast website or -- for less cost -- through the co-branded website of a Medifast TSFL health coach. Medifast does not recommend purchasing its products from third party vendors, but if you choose to do so, you can find them on both Amazon and eBay.

Medifast Custom Order - You Choose ANY 10 Boxes



More from Diet Skeptic:

Fruck You! Fructose

Can You Drink Alcohol on Medifast

Medifast Centers Vs. Take Shape for Life

Planned Exceptions: What Is Your Pie Policy?

Wabi Sabi Dieting & Renee Zelwegger's New Face
Follow Nancy's board Low Carb Recipes on Pinterest.

Medifast, Comfort Zones and Denial

One of my Medifast Facebook friends posted a meme from Jillian Michaels today that explains why some people do not make the choice to lose weight:

This is just another way to say that we all have to hit our own personal bottom before getting out of our comfort zone and making the decision to change what we are doing.

For me, it was not fitting into a dress for a job interview -- even with shape wear. The dreaded realization that I could not mask my fat-bulging mid-section any more was like being woken up from a deep sleep with a bucket of ice cold water.

I decided I was no longer willing to stay where I was -- even if that meant I had to go on a four-letter D-word.

Like many overweight people, I had been in denial about my weight. The pounds had slipped on so stealthily it seemed too daunting to do anything about it.

My wake up call was
not being able to fit into a dress
for a job interview.

Recently, one of my Take Shape for Life clients reminded me of this mindset when I asked her what size she was currently wearing. She told me she refused to buy any clothes larger than a size 12; so she had switched to pants with elastic waist bands.

Boy could I relate.

The thing is, elastic waist bands, by definition, expand our boundaries and create a delusional comfort zone. They help us stay contentedly where we are...

...until we eventually get that cold bucket of water splashed in our face.

For some, it is the possibility of getting irreversible gastric bypass surgery.

For others, it is an upcoming wedding or special event for which they want to look good in fitted clothes.

For still others, it is being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Fortunately, when that torrent of frigid water hits, there is a relatively simple solution -- the Medifast Take Shape for Life Program. Thanks to finding this affordable, rewarding and effective program that requires almost no will power, I melted off 35 pounds of fat in less than four months.

More importantly, I am maintaining my new body weight with almost no effort and thoroughly enjoying life as the new healthier me.

You can purchase Medifast replacement meals directly from Medifast Centers, the Medifast website or -- for no extra cost -- through the co-branded website of a Medifast TSFL health coach. Medifast does not recommend purchasing its products from third party vendors, but if you choose to do so, you can find them on both Amazon and eBay.

Medifast replacement meals on Amazon

Similar posts: 

How Medifast Helped Me Develop Better Habits

Medifast Centers Vs. DIY Medifast

Irrational Numbers: Doing the Math on Medifast Popcorn

Medifast Vs. Lean Cuisine Diet

Visit my other blogs:

Fit Kitty

Food Trends 

Bookish

Dictionary Woman

Follow Nancy's board Medifast on Pinterest.

Making Exercise Fun on Medifast: How I Exercise While Watching TV

If you think the words exercise and fun don't even belong in the same sentence, you can still lose weight on Medifast. In fact, the official Medifast website discourages vigorous exercise during the first few weeks on the program and recommends only moderate exercise after that.

But that is not an excuse to be a total couch tomato.

Sometimes it's hard to watch the show
when I'm upside down, but I can always rewind.

Moving not only makes you feel good, it also tones your muscles as you melt off your fat.

I have belonged to multiple gyms in my life and owned various types of exercise equipment. But my favorite way to be active is to combine movement with something fun.

One of my go-to exercise routines is doing dance moves while watching a recorded TV show or movie. I deliberately stop watching the program at a pivotal plot point to motivate me to resume the next day.

Since I have taken many Zumba and Jazzercise classes, I know a lot of great dance moves, but you can really do anything that helps you work up a sweat. I also do squats, lunges and jumping jacks and have stretch bands, weights, a kettle ball and other paraphernalia to help me get those Michelle Obama arms.

I also like to search the web for new exercise moves to add to my repertoire. Today, for instance, I found a great clip from the Dr. Oz show of Madonna's trainer doing simple but effective chair moves, and now I can't wait to try them.

Turns out I'm not the only one who exercises while watching TV. An article on Fit Sugar suggests some great moves to do while watching the boob tube. One reader said she follows a routine on a workout disk in her portable DVD player while watching a show on her regular TV.

Even when I'm not exercising, I'll sometimes stand on one leg when I watch TV to improve my balance and build my core muscles. I'd rather be a floor flamingo than a couch potato any day.

You can purchase Medifast replacement meals directly from Medifast Centers, the Medifast website or -- for no extra cost -- through the co-branded website of a Medifast TSFL health coach. Medifast does not recommend purchasing its products from third party vendors, but if you choose to do so, you can find them on both Amazon and eBay.

Medifast replacement meals on Amazon

Similar posts: 

How Medifast Helped Me Develop Better Habits

Medifast Centers Vs. DIY Medifast

Irrational Numbers: Doing the Math on Medifast Popcorn

Medifast Vs. Lean Cuisine Diet

Visit my other blogs:

Fit Kitty

Food Trends 

Bookish

Dictionary Woman

Follow Nancy's board Medifast on Pinterest.

Do You Need a Medifast TSFL Health Coach?

A good health coach is as close as
your laptop or cell phone.

One of the many things I love about Medifast is its multiple pathways. You can buy food directly from the Medifast website or go to a brick and mortar Medifast center.

Or you can order food through a Medifast-approved Take Shape for Life health coach and have the best of both worlds.

When I started Medifast last fall, I purchased my first month of food directly from Medifast. But as I investigated the program further, I learned that I could have a free health coach and snag the same special deals offered by Medifast Direct.

Since I did not know any TSFL health coaches, I allowed Medifast to randomly choose one for me and lucked out with a seasoned veteran of the program. My health coach Susan had maintained her 100+ pound weight loss for over six years and was always available to support me with information, accountability and encouragement.

Would I have been successful on the Medifast 5&1 program without my health coach? Maybe -- but I'll never know. My coach challenged me to give up that last shot glass of wine every night and drink more water. She gave me tips on how to prepare the savory meals like macaroni & cheese so they looked more like the picture on the box. She also kept tabs on how much weight I was losing, and I always wanted to give her a good report.

Now that I am a TSFL health coach for Medifast, I have a chance to pay it forward. I email and text with some of my clients, talk on the phone with others. Having recently gone through the program, their challenges are very familiar to me; and I love to share the secrets I learned in melting off my own 35 pounds in less than four months.

Through a fabulous Facebook group run by another TSFL health coach, I have learned that we all approach our role differently. Since I tend to attract clients similar to me, I am less authoritarian than some other health coaches. My inner James Dean would have rebelled if my health coach had forbade me from drinking wine, whereas her more subtle challenge made it my idea. In hindsight, I suspect if my health coach had been a strict Mama Bear, I might have drank more wine just to show her she wasn't the boss of me.

But that's me.

Some people who follow the Medifast 5&1 plan prefer a more authoritarian health coach, and there are many good ones out there (I can even recommend one).

As my car dealer friend once said, "There's a butt for every seat."  Find the right health coach for your personality style, and enjoy the journey to a slimmer and healthier you.

Update August 2014: I am no longer a Medifast Take Shape for Life Health Coach. However, I still strongly believe in the program and would be happy to recommend a few excellent free health coaches if you are interested in taking advantageous of their seasoned guidance and support. Please contact me at nancyetracy(at-sign)gmail.com

You can purchase Medifast replacement meals directly from Medifast Centers, the Medifast website or -- for no extra cost -- through the co-branded website of a Medifast TSFL health coach. Medifast does not recommend purchasing its products from third party vendors, but if you choose to do so, you can find them on both Amazon and eBay.

Medifast replacement meals on Amazon

Similar posts: 

How Medifast Helped Me Develop Better Habits

Medifast Centers Vs. DIY Medifast

Irrational Numbers: Doing the Math on Medifast Popcorn

Medifast Vs. Lean Cuisine Diet

Visit my other blogs:

Fit Kitty

Food Trends 

Bookish

Dictionary Woman

Follow Nancy's board Medifast on Pinterest.