I get a lot of questions aimed at determining what people should expect in terms of a time frame for losing weight on the Medifast diet. People want to know how long it will be until they start losing pounds or see a real change and improvement in their body. Without knowing the circumstances of the person involved, it is difficult to answer this question definitively. But I can offer you general guidelines based on what I’ve seen for myself, heard from others, and read about clinical studies. I am going to share these things with you in the following article.
How soon should I start to see real weight loss with Medifast? When should the pounds start to drop?: The exact number and time frame that everyone experiences varies from person to person. Generally speaking, though, most people can enter ketosis in anywhere from three days to about a week. Ketosis is when your body is not getting the carbs it was used to and therefore converts its own fat for fuel. This sounds gross, but it’s good in terms of weight loss because it makes things go faster and more dramatically. If you’re not sure about this, you can use ketone strips to see how close you are to getting there, but most people will tell you that this is too worrying. As long as you can get into ketosis within the first week, you should start to see weight loss and pounds drop soon after this.
I know it can be tempting to weigh yourself every day, but this really isn’t that necessary. The diet is really designed so that you don’t have to think too much about it. You are provided with enough food to eat Medifast diet meals five times a day while eating a “lean and green meal” that you prepare yourself. You are given quite specific guidelines on this lean and green meal and it is advisable to follow them as closely as possible, especially in the beginning, before you have hit fat burning mode. You want to keep your vegetables as low in carbs as possible. Some vegetables (such as sweet corn and peas) contain a large amount of sugar. If you’re looking for faster results, you’ll want to limit these because they can slow down your ability to get into ketosis.
Most people in ketosis typically lose between 2 and 5 pounds per week, at least in the first few weeks. After that, you can log out. There are variations in these numbers, of course. During the time that I have been on this diet, I have seen many variations from week to week. But typically, when I see low weight loss one week, I’ll have a much higher weight loss the next week, so everything will average out to be relatively the same.
If you want to lose a certain amount of weight (whether it’s 10, 20, 30, or 50 pounds), you can typically take your average weight loss per month, and then estimate how long it will take to get there. For example, if you want to lose 40 pounds and you average around 10 pounds per month, then you’re looking at around 4 months.
When should I start to see some differences in my appearance and how my clothes fit when I take Medifast?: Obviously, the attitude of most people towards these questions is “the sooner the better”. No one wants to do what they’re supposed to do and then not see a change in scale and the way their clothes fit. I did see some looser clothes and scale changes after a week. And these changes built on themselves over time so that the end result became more and more dramatic. And it can be important to see these quick results because you feel confident that this could really work and it encourages you to keep going.
But, sometimes we focus so much on this that we make the process unpleasant. There is no need to put extra pressure on yourself. Many studies have shown that this diet is designed to work. If you follow the instructions and eat the food, you should be able to get into ketosis. Once this happens, you should start to see those results that we all want.
But you can help yourself in other ways, too. Adding even a little extra movement certainly can’t hurt. Like I said, I got reasonably quick results at first. My clothes were looser and the scale showed what I wanted to see. But I didn’t start getting those long, lean lines I’d always wanted until I added a little exercise. Looking stylish and fit has become more important to me than what the scale says.
Still, I understand that we all want quick results. In my experience, results with Medifast appear soon after achieving ketosis. If you can stay in this state, weight loss should continue, although it may slow or slow after the first few weeks. However, exercise can greatly help with the appearance of your body. Arguably a lower weight with a body that is not toned is not reaching its full potential. You don’t need to do anything undesirable. Just going for a walk with weights in your hands certainly counts. The idea is to make small changes that you can live with and form new clothes. This is when the real results and the real changes start, at least in my opinion.