A little over three weeks ago, my wife and I started on the Medi Weighloss Plan. Since it would be in bad taste (and likely a health hazard to me) to talk about my wife's particulars in this experience so far, I'll just tell you a little about how this is working out for me.
To start with, the actual diet part of the plan is very similar to the South Beach Diet. The big difference is that this is medically supervised. Your weight and body composition are closely monitored on a weekly basis and you receive a lot of vitamin and mineral supplements, including B1/B6 and B12 injections weekly. Also, your body should go into ketosis and stay in ketosis throughout the "acute" weight loss phase. And you must journal EVERYTHING YOU CONSUME. This, unlike South Beach, is a calorie-restricted plan. But you'd be amazed how challenging it can be to eat enough lean protein to meet the daily calorie requirement! (Don't under-eat - it'll slow your weight loss!)
This diet holds you very accountable to yourself as well as to your medical supervisor. It's a good motivator.
You start with a week of very high protein intake / very low carb intake. You are basically allowed NO carbs. The focus is on low-fat protein. This is a very difficult phase because this is where a person's bad dietary habits become a little torturous. I wanted my carbs. Badly. Bread, sweets, alcohol, fried foods ... basically all the tasty things that made me obese to begin with.
Believe me when I tell you - after a certain age, the gym / physical activity alone just don't keep the weight in check.
The second week brings back limited carbs (20 - 30 grams daily) in the form of vegetables. Yeah - there were no veggies and certainly no fruit allowed during the first week. After several days with NO veggies, it's amazing how wonderful a little bit of onion cooked with your meat and a small amount of salad can liven up the dining experience.
The third week, provided that you are losing weight at an acceptable pace, brings limited fruit back to your diet. However, the allowed amount of carbohydrate intake remains the same. So you have to make wise decisions as fruit is remarkably high in carbs due to the natural sugar. But, again, the addition of variety to the palate is quite nice.
I am now in my fourth week. Over the past three weeks, I have gone from 230.8 pounds to 213 pounds. My BMI has decreased by 2.6 points. My body fat percentage has decreased by 2%. My fat mass has decreased by 10.6 pounds and my FFM (fat free mass, including "water weight") has decreased by 7.2 pounds.
During this time period, I have only taken light to moderate exercise.
To say that the Medi diet is "easy" would be a bit of a lie. Everything worthwhile takes discipline and effort (and some sacrifice). But I can say from experience that the Medi Weight Loss program is easier than other efforts I have made. And it is very effective.
As I mentioned at the beginning - my wife is on this program, too. She's the one who turned me onto it.
To be honest, her progress is a little bit slower. I've been told that this is largely because men are biologically able to lose weight faster than women. However, she has lost more than 13 pounds during this same time period and she's steadily moving forward. This program is working and we are by no means really suffering through it.
I've still got 33 pounds or so to go before I hit my target. I believe this program will get my wife and me to our targets. And I believe that this program can help us stay there by making a modest monthly investment in staying on for a year or so as a maintenance period after hitting our weight targets.
If you are serious about getting fit, being healthier and desire to stay that way, I would recommend looking into this program.
It seems expensive at first, but honestly, I've found that the money that we would have been spending eating out a fast-food and convenience restaurants adds up to a lot more than what this program is costing. And after that first couple of weeks I really don't miss that food very much.
In the long term, my wife and I will live healthier and happier lives. That's why we are getting fit and intend to stay fit.
This is not an advertisement for the Medi program, although I do recommend it based on my current experience. I am in no way connected with Medi and do not receive any sort of compensation for speaking positively about it.
However, if you are interested in learning more about Medi and what they offer, here is the link to their web site:
http://www.mediweightlossclinics.com/
Cheers!
More to come...
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