Defragged

In all honesty I don't like to use the word "cheat" when a client goes off plan on the Medifast program. The word "cheat" seems too harsh because it implies that the person did something either illegal or immoral. When a person goes off the plan it simply means they made a choice to momentarily eat in a different way or different foods that are not recommended for someone following the program. I like to use the words "off plan" instead of "cheat" to indicate that a person made this choice.

Let me first say that I don't recommend going "off plan" while you are in the weight loss phase of Medifast. This is because your body is used to a specific amount of food intake, nutrients, water, quality food, and quantity every day as you eat all 6 of your meals and drink your 64+ ounces of water. Going off plan will have consequences that most people usually regret. These consequences are usually not feeling well such as being sluggish or what I call fog-brain especially if the person going off plan ate foods high in sugar or carbohydrates. Other consequences can range from weight gain, hunger, low energy, guilt, lowered self esteem, moodiness, loss of being in the fat burning stage and difficulty getting back on plan. After going off plan or dropping out of the fat burning stage called ketosis, it usually takes 3-4 days of being back on the Medifast program to get back into burning fat. This does of course depend on how much sugar and complex carbohydrates that was eaten while off plan.

Most of the clients I talked to who went off plan during Easter said they didn't feel well afterwards and they wish now they hadn't done it. And I can certainly understand why after listening to their uncomfortable symptoms.

It is a personal decision for each individual as to whether to go off plan while on Medifast. If you are comfortable with that decision before and after, that is your decision. Don't worry - I won't scold you. My job is not to scold you, but rather to remind you as to why you shouldn't and what you might experience afterwards.

Of all the people in the world, you know yourself the best. It is you who walks around in your own skin everyday. So if you are the type of person that just having one bite of an off-plan food will cause you to go completely off the program, then my advise would be to not take that bite. I know first hand how this feels, because I can be this type of person and I know that one bite is a trigger for me.

If you are the type of person who can stay on plan after one bite, then just understand that even one bite of a high carb or high fat food can take you out of the fat burning stage. Your weight loss progress may slow down. We are all adults and each of us has made a commitment when we started Medifast to do our best to take better care of our bodies by fueling it with nutritional food and plenty of water. It is therefore our own individual responsibility to understand and be prepared for any consequences that might arise from going off plan.

Another thing that is quite common is the level or the degree to which someone goes "off plan". I had one client tell me that he "cheated" over Easter. When I asked him what he ate, he said that he had 2 extra chicken legs along with a chicken breast for his Easter Sunday meal. I smiled. Although chicken legs are not as lean as chicken breasts, I personally wouldn't consider this a high level off plan mishap provided he doesn't do it often or all the time. He used it as an extra "treat" for this special day and it wasn't a bad food choice.

I also don't consider moving from the 5&1 plan to the 4&2 plan on special occasions such as this one either. Some may disagree with me, but I'd rather see my clients choose on-plan foods rather than go off plan and eat high sugar or complex carbohydrate foods which will completely take them out of the fat burning stage.

If you do ever go off plan, whether it was intentional or not, the best thing to do is get right back on the Medifast program with your next meal. Don't wait to the next day or the next week. The longer you wait, the more discouraged you will become.

You might also think in a backwards fashion to determine what chain of events lead you up to the moment that you went off plan. By breaking a link in that chain of events, will likely have better results for you should it occur again. If you need help determining your triggers or the chain of events that took place just before you went off plan, please contact me and we'll discuss it. Together we can work on preventing off-plan moments, so we can get you back into melting those pounds away again.