I’m currently working on an 80 pound medifast weight loss, so I get a lot of questions about life on this diet. People want to know what you can eat, how the food taste, and how bad it really is. (The short answer: Not bad at all.) My goal for this article is to give you an honest view of a typical day on the medifast diet and a sample menu.

Quickly, although the plan offers diets for women, men, and folks with diabetes, most people are on the 5 plus 1 plan, which means you eat five small “medifast meals” per day and then one more substantial “lean and green” meal that you make on your own. The foods are low calorie, low in carbs, and high in protein and nutrition. This basically puts your body in a metabolic state called ketosis which encourages your body to burn its own fat since no excess carbohydrates are available. There are over 70 foods to chose from on this plan. Although shakes are popular, so much more is also available. The foods are convenient, prepackaged, and shipped right to your door. Now, on to a typical day.

Breakfast: The choices here vary from scrambled eggs, oatmeal, shakes, pudding or bars, and hot drinks. I typically like the eggs because I can make an omelet . If if I am in a hurry, I wrap the whole thing in a non fat tortilla for a breakfast burrito. The oatmeal is very good and you can add fat free syrups to make it even better. The plan does offer lattes, hot chocolate and cappuccino as well. I like to mix hot chocolate with one of the coffees for a Starbucks knock off.

Morning snack: A shake is a no brainer here. I typically like the medifast 55 shakes, but if I’m really in a hurry, I’ll just grab one of the ready to drink shakes and be on my way. I particularly like the banana crème and Dutch chocolate varieties with fat free caramel syrup and fat free whipped cream.

Lunch: The easiest thing for me here is the plan’s soup, stew, or chili. I do really like adding sour cream and fat free cheese to these.

Afternoon snack: I usually like sweets or snack type foods when I hit the 3:00 work slump, so I usually will opt for either a medifast bar or pudding. Sometimes, I bake cookies or muffins using the diet’s pudding and oatmeal as ingredients. There are plenty of recipes available, but when I don’t have time for this, a bar is great because I can just remove the wrapper and go.

Lean and Green Dinner: You can have your lean and green meal at anytime, but I always have it for dinner so that I can sit down and eat with my family. I have put them on lean and green meals as well so I don’t have to cook a bunch of different meals. This is really as easy as just preparing lean grilled protein and veggies or salad.

Night snack: I like to snack while winding down and watching TV. I like the company’s crackers and soy chips (the soy isn’t as bad as you might fear and pretty bland) and I like dipping them in salsa or fat free sour cream and hummus. Sometimes, I will use the fruit drink over shaved ice for a snow cone.

This is my typical menu. I also power walk daily and will sometimes work out with weight bands. This too, has generated great results.

You’re constantly eating a lot on this plan and the foods are pretty good in terms of taste and variety. In all honesty, you get used to it very quickly, and once you start seeing results, it’s not hard at all to embrace it because you know your efforts are paying off in a big way.