I sometimes hear from people who are trying to be very compliant with the guidelines of the lean and green meal on Medifast. They understand that they are supposed to have lean protein and three servings of vegetables, but they want to make sure that they aren't taking in too many calories. While they certainly want to enjoy their main meal and ensure that they get enough to eat, they don't want to negate all of the work that they have done throughout the day.
I recently heard from someone who asked me "how many calories are you supposed to be on your lean and green meal? I'm pretty good with my prepackaged meals throughout the day, but I don't want to blow it and then have too many calories for dinner when I make my lean and green meal, but I can't find any guidelines about how many calories the main meal should be."
\"Diet Meals\"
Admittedly, there isn't a lot of concrete information about the caloric content of the lean and green. This is probably because the company has no way of knowing which of the over 70 prepackaged meal choices you would have already consumed throughout the day. But, you can figure this out using simple math. The caloric guidelines of Medifast call for taking in between 1,000 - 1200 calories per day. And, they ask you to eat five of the Medifast prepackaged meals (that they provide) in addition to your daily lean and green that you make yourself. I use the term "make" very loosely because plenty of people meet this requirement with restaurant or frozen meals.
So, considering that you're going to be eating five of those prepackaged meals and that the caloric content of the same is anywhere from 90 - 110 this puts the average or median at 100 calories. (I'm just using the average to make things easy, but depending on which meals you chose, your caloric intake will vary slightly.) When you multiply this 100 calorie average by those five prepackaged meals, you come up with around 500 - 700 calories that you have left. Remember that the target you are trying to hit is 1000 - 1200 calories per day. So, to make things simple, let's split that right down the middle and call it 1100. In the example above, this leaves you with an average of 600 calories for your lean and green meal, which is pretty generous.
Of course, these are just estimates, but they are estimates that I think are pretty close to what most people take in. However, I actually believe that the ratio of carbohydrates to protein is every bit as important as the caloric content. You'll notice that all of the Medifast meals have relatively high amounts of protein and low amounts of sugar and carbohydrates. They don't want you just eating foods that are low in calories but that are also nutritionally deficient. They want you eating enough protein and fresh non starchy vegetables, which is why they publish very clear guidelines and offer free counseling should you have any questions about your lean and green.
I hope I've helped you determine the target number of calories for your lean and green meal, but don't forget the protein to carbohydrate ratio. There are a lot of good recipes available that make your lean and green meal pretty easy to achieve.
The Ideal Amount Of Calories In A Medifast Lean And Green Meal: How Many Should You Have?
Want to see some of the recipes mentioned in this article? Check out my free ebook - "Getting The Most Out Of Medifast," which includes a complete food list, tips, how tos, recipes, coupons (including two weeks free), and specials. To get a free copy (immediate download / no information required), you can visit http://easiest-diet.com/free-medifast-ebook/html