The Medifast diet works as a low-calorie eating program that can help you lose your weight very quickly, according to the University of Kentucky Extension. The Medifast company says that you won’t begin to see results until a couple weeks into the program. While on the Medifast diet, dieters are ordered to eat any vegetables on its approved list and told to cut out high-carbohydrate vegetables like corn and carrots. Talk to your doctor before staring Medifast or any other diet program.
Low-Carbohydrate Vegetables
Medifast recommends a serving size of 1 cup for leafy vegetables like lettuce, raw spinach, mustard greens, collards, endive and watercress. More exotic leafy vegetables, such as arugula, Swiss chard and turnip greens, should be enjoyed in 1/2 serving sizes, according to Medifast. Other low-carb vegetables that you can have in 1/2 cup servings include celery, sprouts, cucumbers, radishes, nopales, white mushrooms, jalapeno peppers and escarole.
Medium-Carbohydrate Vegetables
For moderate amounts of carbohydrates, Medifast recommends eating cabbage, zucchini and other summer squashes, asparagus, cabbage, eggplant, kale, cauliflower, fennel bulb and portabella mushrooms. If you enjoy these vegetables, the company highlights a serving size of 1/2 cup.
High-Carbohydrate Vegetables
Some vegetables have higher levels of carbohydrates than most and you can eat them in only 1/2 cup serving sizes. Medifast-approved options include green beans, peppers, scallions, tomatoes, jicama, spaghetti squash, collard greens, broccoli, red cabbage, kohlrabi, turnips and palm hearts. Some vegetables also go up in carbohydrate levels once they’re cooked, according to Medifast. These include spinach, which, when cooked, shrinks in serving size from 1 cup down to 1/2 cup.
Post-Diet
Once you transition out of the diet and into the Medifast maintenance phase, the company encourages you to eat all kinds of vegetables. The maintenance phase of the diet places no restrictions on vegetable species nor serving sizes.
