How do doctors do weight loss? Apparently, they recommend the Medifast diet. But does the Medifast diet work? The name, Medifast, seems to imply that you can not only lose weight, but the Medifast diet can help you lose weight fast.
Well, who does not want to lose weight fast? The question is: How fast can you lose weight on the Medifast diet? And another question is: How much weight can you lose on the Medifast diet?
The Medifast diet review According to the ad, you can expect to lose “up to 20 pounds a month.” Wow, 20 pounds a month sure sounds good to me, but isn’t it more than twice the recommended amount of weight you should be aiming to lose in a month?
Let’s see, to lose 20 pounds a month, you need to lose 5 pounds a week for four consecutive weeks. The recommended rate of weight loss is 2 pounds a week, which means that you can expect to lose 8 pounds a month. So yes, the Medifast diet goes over the limit.
In addition, the Medifast diet claims that it is “clinically proven to work,” which sounds very, well, clinical and vague. How does the Medifast diet do its magic? It is simple and it is also clinically proven to work. It is called calorie counting. That is what the Medifast diet does – it provides you with calorie-controlled meals.
In other words, if you know how to create a calorie deficit (hint: you need to burn more calories than you consume), you can create your very own Medifast diet – that is, know how many calories are in each meal and snack that you eat every day and do not go over your limit.
The bottom line on the Medifast diet Just because somebody is a doctor, it does not automatically mean that he or she is a weight-loss expert. That’s not to say you should not consult with your doctor before you try to lose weight. You should do that. In fact, you should always get a clearance from your doctor prior to starting a new exercise program or changing your diet.
However, if it is true that a lot of doctors recommend the Medifast diet, I am disappointed. I do not have anything against the Medifast diet, per se – but assuming that it is reasonable to expect that an average person can count calories – wouldn’t it be better for an overweight person to do that instead of mindlessly eating prepackaged meals?
I think it would be better; hopefully, it would teach him or her about nutrition, even if it is just a little knowledge, it is still better than no knowledge at all. When it comes to weight loss, a little nutritional knowledge can go a long way.