Okey dokey, lots of lookers but no one admits to being a user LOL! The program is called "Take Shape for Life" (TSFL) and involves eating the Medifast foods (I'll call these TSFL for short) as well as one "lean and green" meal per day.
Here's an update:
I ordered some of the food and hubby and I have been loosely following the program as neither of us is a fan of diets. The program calls for 5-7 meal substitutes (TSFL meals) and one "lean and green" meal per day until you reach your goal weight then you start eating more "lean and green" and fewer TSFL meals.
I've found that even with our loose interpretation of the program we are not only losing weight but losing the cravings for the junk we ate before. I don't know what's in that TSFL food but it makes me, the queen of junkfood for meals, crave healthier food. I switched from any combination of pork rinds, cotton candy, chips, candy bars and Coke for breakfast to a TSFL shake and a bar (my favorite are the mint chocolate YUM!). I don't even crave the junkfood for breakfast any more; well there are exceptions one week out of the month but hey I'm female LOL! My absolute lust for french fries from McDonald's has pretty much gone away as well; it's not that they no longer sound good, I think about them but just don't want them any more. Even my grocery shopping has changed, I can walk through the junkfood aisle on my way to fruits/vegetables/lean meats and I don't have any desire to look at my old favorite foods.
My weight has gone from fluctuating between 138-141 pounds to 132-133 pounds and I can see where the fat has come off. Hubby has lost about 10 pounds so far and is looking good as well. He says he too has lost the cravings for the fast food that used to make up a lot of his daily calories. He has a ready-to-drink shake on the way to work and a bar or "mix it yourself" shake instead of hitting the cafeteria truck when it stops by the shop at breaktime. He usually goes to a fast food joint for lunch but gets salads or the leaner menu options. I'm really proud of the choices he's making!
We've made the switch from Coke to Coke Zero for those times when we NEED a Coke since neither of us particularly cares for diet soda. No matter what the commercials say, this stuff does NOT taste like regular Coke. There is a definite Diet Coke taste to it but it's not as "severe" as a regular Diet Coke so we've been able to get used to it when the craving for a Coke is there but it's "diety" enough that I usually would rather have water. The Coke Zero DOES seem to have more carbonation than regular Coke, I've never belched so much drinking a single can of any other soda.
I try to fix some sort of "lean and green" dinner most evenings and am usually pretty successful in making something that's good but still relatively low calorie. We still like to split a bag of popcorn some nights but with our lower calorie consumption from substituting the TSFL meals we can usually spare a few calories for an occasional treat. When we go to restaurants we try to select the low calorie options although when I go to Red Lobster I still have to have my Snow Crab legs LOL! I HAVE dropped from ordering a pound and a half or two pounds to ordering a one pound serving. I've noticed food tastes better for some reason, maybe it's because I eat more slowly now and actually savor the flavors instead of cramming a Big Mac and fries in my face without even tasting it. I buy better cuts of meat at the grocery now and the nicest produce I can find and it tastes wonderful! Bread was a bit of a problem because it tends to be a high calorie food. My husband likes wheat bread so I scoured the bread aisle comparing calorie counts and found that the Meijer brand light wheat bread has only 70 calories per serving and a serving is TWO slices! Most breads are 70 calories per slice.
The TSFL foods we like the best are:
Ready-to-Drink chocolate shakes (90 calories): The soy gives the chocolate a slightly different flavor but it wasn't hard to get used to and once I was used to it I started to crave it.
Chocolate Mint bars (160 calories): My personal favorite! They taste very much like Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. You're only supposed to have one bar per day since they are high calorie but better a bar with its complete nutrition in those calories than some sort of junk with little nutritional value.
Chicken noodle soup: The longer you let this sit covered after cooking it the better it gets. The chicken and noodles are dehydrated and slow to rehydrate. The steam from letting it sit with a lid on it completes the cooking.
Eggs: For powdered eggs they are pretty good, slightly fishy tasting though. They too need time to soak in water. I've found that mixing them with water and letting them sit for 5 minutes or so before cooking makes them taste better.
Hot Chocolate: Not a bad substitute for real hot chocolate but it tends to clump instead of mix with the water. It sounds kind of weird but the powder seems to sit on top of the water and not even get wet before you stir it.
Caramel bars: Covered in chocolate, these are my husband's most requested so I'm guessing he likes them best. I think they are pretty good as well but am completely addicted to the mint ones LOL!
Delicate chicken soup: This is actually considered a "snack" and is basically chicken broth with a couple carrot pieces in it. Makes a great soup base for a "lean and green" meal though, I used it with lean beef to make a veggie stew.
Ranch Soy Crisps: Great little snack when you're craving chips. Crunchy and tasty!
If you're looking to lose weight I think this program is worth looking into because it's based on balanced nutrition. I can actually feel a difference in my body now that my nutrition needs are being met, something my previous eating habits weren't doing. Just for fun I kept a calorie diary for a couple of weeks and even though I tried to eat healthy I was still packing in a bunch of calories AND I was still hungry. The TSFL foods leave me satisfied and keep my calorie counts low. The program encourages you to eat every 2 hours to maintain blood sugar levels and to keep from feeling hungry.
Hubby and I aren't into the "support group" thing but they are available if that's your cup of tea. You also get a "health coach" for individual attention.
Anyway, I'm not selling it but I'm having success with a self-modified version of the program so I wanted to share. I watched my boss lose over 70 pounds in a year following the program religiously. I've seen the "before" pictures of my health coach/co-worker, he's kept 50 pounds off for 4 years now. I'm sold.
Ber :lilbunny:
I'm not in a position where I need to lose a lot of weight, maybe 15 pounds, so hopefully I can get back on track. There are a lot of stressful things going on in my life right now and that's not helping matters any.
i've paid alot of money. Since this is my first week I hope it will get better. I am going to try a medifast muffin mix I found online, the simulation of eating a muffin might help me. 
