Medifast is a Very Low Calorie Diet designed for those individuals who met the medical definition of obesity—at least 20 percent over their ideal body weight. It was developed in 1972 by one of the pioneers in the field of Very Low Calorie Diets, Dr. William J. Vitale. For a number of years the program was operated out of the Nutrition Institute of Maryland which continues to function as the educational arm for participating physi­cians. In 1979, Dr. Vitale founded Jason Pharmaceutical and now runs Medifast from there.

AVERAGE WEIGHT LOSS: Three to five pounds per day.
 

PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS: Medifast is a very structured, physician-based Very Low Calorie Diet. It is also a complete food replacement program which has the advantage of creating a complete break with regular food habits, but the disadvantage of a more difficult retraining period when you return to eating store food. It does offer online support.  

While Nutrisystem has a variety of foods to offer, the Medifast diet program mainly consists of oatmeal, bars and shakes. While Medifast, like most physician-based pro­grams, is relatively expensive, you should consider that the cost includes all the "food" you will be eating during the reducing phase so you will save some money at the grocery store.

THE DIET: The Medifast diet consists of drinking five servings per day of a very low calorie beverage that comes in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and orange flavors. Five servings of Medifast 55 for women contain 450 calories, and five servings of Medifast 70 for men contain 480 calories.

 
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