Can I pay for the Medifast diet?

Sometimes I hear from people who are interested in trying (and hopefully succeeding) the Medifast diet but are concerned about the cost. I often hear comments like, “Will I really be able to fit Medifast into my budget? Is it really affordable? There has to be some hidden costs, isn’t there?”

I can try to answer these questions by sharing my own experiences. But first, I’d like to get this out of the way. You don’t have to pay anything to look at the company’s website. It is full of guides and useful information, all of which you can read and use right away without paying anything. You can chat or email the staff if you have any questions. I have found that support to be quite good, always available and encouraging. There is no charge for this either. You are paying for your food. That is the only cost associated with this diet. So why don’t we look at that?

Almost always, Medifast has some kind of special way of working. They will usually take some money off your order or offer a really decent amount of free food. Both types of discounts are generous. But, for the purposes of this article, I am not going to take into account those special offers or discounts. I’m going to pretend they don’t exist. And, I’m going to assume you’re going to be on the full-time plan, five plus one. You can order individual Medifast meals and you don’t have to buy food for the entire month. But for simplicity, I’m going to assume you’re ordering the most popular package: the Women’s Five Plus One Four-Week Package, better known as “Medifast Favorites.” Right now, the cost of that package is $339. Again, I’m looking at this without coupons.

With this plan, you will eat 5 times a day and eat the meals provided by Medifast. (She also makes a main meal each day on her own.) So you’re looking at just over $11 a day for five meals. This is about $2.20 per meal. Now, you must be wondering where you can buy a healthy diet food that supports your weight loss for $2.20. I mean, I can certainly go through a fast food service and pick up some value menu items for about $2-$3, but that meal will ensure I gain weight, not lose it.

If you’ve ever shopped at a health food store or gone to the supermarket armed with recipes for diet foods, then you know that you often have to buy expensive ingredients that are specialized and expensive. And to get the amount of protein in Medifast meals, you’ll have to add protein powder which is quite expensive, at least in my own experience. I highly doubt you can cook your own diet meals for less than $2.20 per meal. And, if you can do it, then I suspect it wouldn’t be without a lot of time and effort. With this diet, it is fully prepared for you. They do the shopping and most of the cooking. For most meals, you will simply need to put them together.

Now, there is the matter of groceries. You will be responsible for one “lean and green meal” per day. You can have this anytime, but many people choose to have it at dinner when they sit down to have a larger (or more formal) meal. And many people simply modify what their family is already eating. I don’t think you need to spend a lot of money on your lean, green food.

So if you’re trying to figure out if this plan is affordable, you have to ask yourself how much you’re spending on food. In my case, I was a fan of the vending machine and the drive-through. However, I bought my food at work and bought a lot of lower quality food. So I don’t pay any more than I was before and I’m much healthier. I can’t answer how much you already spend on food, but you probably can.

Another consideration is how much your weight loss is worth to you. This is very individual. For me, I was perfectly willing to cut back on some not-so-tasty expenses like expensive coffees (which I didn’t even try) or books I could buy but read only once when I could have easily checked them out at a library, in order to restore my health. But that’s just my opinion. Yours may be different.

For me, Medifast is more affordable than many diets I have come across, at least for me. But I can’t assess if you find $11 a day or $2.20 a meal before coupons affordable. Only you can evaluate that. Hope this has helped some.