How Many Carbs Per Day Do You Consume Or Eat on Medifast?

Before I conducted a lot of research on this diet, I did not realize that it was actually designed to be low in carbohydrates.  It works a lot like the south beach or Atkins diet by putting your body into ketosis and getting it to burn it’s own fat.  But, you don’t have to just eat eggs and meat all the time like many similar diets. There are a lot of dessert and snack type alternatives, which is a good thing.  Yesterday, someone emailed me and asked “Exactly how many carbs can you consume per day on medifast?” I’ll answer this question in the following article.

The Average Amount Of Carbs In A Day Of Medifast Foods: You probably already know this, but you’ll be eating six times per day on this diet – five of these meals are provided by the company and one of them (called the “lean and green”) you make yourself – (based on the medifast guidelines, of course.)

On average, all six meals will provide you around 80 -100 grams of carbohydrates per day.  Of course, it’s best to be on the low end of this range, but there have been times when I have been on the higher end of this and I know from using ketone strips that I was able to stay in ketosis and continue to burn fat.  Here’s a look at the carbs contained in a sample of five meals.

Sample Meals With                              Amount Of Carbohydrates Contained (In Grams)

Cappuccino                                           13

Oatmeal                                               15

Chocolate Shake                                   13

Chili                                                     15

Caramel Protein Bar                            13

Apple Cinnamon Crisps                        8

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Total                                                  77 grams

Adding In The Lean And Green Meal: As you can see, after eating five meals, you’re well under the optimal 85 grams of carbs.  But, you still have your “lean and green” meal to make and consume.   This meal should consist of lean protein or meat (5 – 7 ounces) and up to three servings of vegetables. The company provides guidelines that lists the vegetables in terms of those that are the lowest on the glycemic index and those that are the highest.  However, even high glycemic veggies will work, since you are limiting fruits in the beginning.  As long as you stay with in the “lean and green” guidelines, you still have quite a lot of leeway.  You’d have to consume 23 grams of carbs to go over the guidelines – which is quite a bit.

Hopefully, you can see that this isn’t too painful.  You aren’t limited to pork rinds, bacon and eggs, so you don’t have to worry about your fat and cholesterol.  The foods are pretty decent and you’re eating snack type foods that you wouldn’t normally associate with being low in carbohydrates.