There are lots of tips in this forum!.

Firstly, don't eat oatmeal until your tastes have changed and you don't think it tastes like drywall anymore. This is true of many meals which you may find less-than-appetizing. Set them aside and give them a try again in a couple weeks..

Don't cook things in the microwave if you can cook them on the stove (pancakes, eggs, oatmeal...).

Add broth to the soups. 1 cup of broth is one condiment. I find this vastly improves things like the chicken noodle. (sometimes I find just changing the amount of water added to things makes it more to my liking. - I have 3x as much water for cold drinks, for example).

SOAK things. Don't dump the water in and eat it 2 mintues later. Put the water in your oatmeal the night before, and the water in your lunchtime soup when you make breakfast..

If you have a spicy tongue, then hot sauce improves a lot of things..

1 packet of splenda is 1 condiment.

When you find you can't prepare something at all to your liking, do a search on this forum for that item, and you'll certainly come up with recipies. You can make "bread" like things with the soups, and "muffins" or "cookies" with the oatmeal!.

Thanks alot, the hot sauce may help considerably for the soups, but I am limited as to how I prepare things as 75% of it I do at work in a microwave. I guess I could modify my behavior and bring the lean and green with me for lunch, but right now that is my motivation to get through the day, knowing that I can have that in the evening! I also need to get better educated on what else I can include, I didn't know about condiments! Are they permitted on the 5+1 plan? Thanks again!.

This totally made me laugh! Yes that is exactly what oatmeal tastes like at first! I nearly quit on Day 1 andDay 2 in despair..

But, I stuck with it and am now at 20.2 BMI which feels teeny tiny!! Heh heh..

And now I like the maple oatmeal ok..

On the 5+1 plan, You get up to 3 optional condiments per day..

You also get up to 2 healthy fats per day depending on your lean choice that day..

Http://www.medifastmedia.com/shared/...mendations.pdf.

Try adding 1 Tablespoon of milk (either cows milk, almond milk, soy milk or rice milk). All count as 1 condiment. Then, eventually wean yourself off of needing to add the condiment. Each condiment still adds carbs and calories. So use as few as possible..

Or,.

Try adding 1 Tablespoon of half n half. (you get 3 tablespoons as 1 healthy fat, but, it's best to use as Little as possible Because has quite a lot of calories.).

For More resources, see:.

Good luck!.

I used to cook my eggs on the stove top, just a tad underdone. Then I would take to work and reheat in the microwave and they were perfect..

Make the pancakes in a very large coffee mug (16 oz min) Mix as directed, pour into mug and nuke for 60-65 seconds. Pour on some WF syrup and you have a great "muffin". This is the only way I've ever eaten the pancakes..

Make anything liquid the night before and reheat at work in the micro. Soaking will make just about EVERYTHING taste better..

Oatmeal - Put the packet ingredients in a bowl or cup and add 5 oz very hot water drectly to it, like you would any other instant oatmeal. Let sit for a few minutes. Add more water if desired. The consistency when made this was is SO much better. Even the flavor is a little (but not much) better. This is the only way I've ever been able to get the oatmeal down..

Yes, There is a list of allowed condiments and how much you can have online. There are many ways to find it:.

- At the top of the forums in the light blue tabs, go to Success Tools (Hover) > Eat Right > Condiment Recommendations (On the left under Medifast Plan Materials) Other things you may find useful reading here..

- Google "Medifast condiment" and open the .pdf file (this is how I find it in a hurry).

The document is a bit confusing because it ALSO lists your healthy fats (you get 0 - 2 healthy fats depending on what lean category you choose from), but they sort of run together, and it's not clear about when it makes the switch!.

They have recently made some changes to the guidelines, but it USED to be that you were limited to 3 condiments per day. Now they just say "Be aware of the carbs" You can keep yourself to just 3 per day and not count, or you can log EVERYTHING, including Medifast meals and tweak amounts to get the right amount of carbs per day. Also, watch sodium, because it can lead to a surprising overnight gain!.

No worries about the microwave. I cooked everything Medifast in mine. Mixing the oatmeal ahead of time (and use the entire 3/4 cup water) and letting it sit until you are ready to eat it helps a ton. I loved the oatmeal from the beginning because it seemed to fill me up. Maybe that was mental, but it worked..

I always put cayenne in soups and for some soups, it was cayenne and tobasco. I sometimes would put part of my lean and/or green in my soups as well. Shredded chicken and spinach are great in all the soups. Crab or shrimp excellent in the Crab soup. I tried not to go outside the "drywall" too much, but a condiment or two helped a lot. Here is the link to the Eat Right (under Success Tools at the top of this page) where you will find all the information you need. Especially the Quick Start Guide which you have to click "more downloads" to see..

What? They changed the condiments guidelines? Thank you for posting that. I had no idea!.

That is a good tip abut the sodium. I do not watch/track sodium, but maybe I should start..

Yes, they also removed my favorite optional snack....no more peanut butter..

Sorry, but I'm not surprised. Not even sure why they put it back on the list in the first place. I remember when they took it off the first time, for reasons very similar to this one. Trigger food..

I add extra water to everything... I add boiling water, and not heat in the microwave. For the soups, I add half water and let soak a half hour. Then I heat up by adding the rest of the boiling water (use the keurig for this)..

Thanks everyone for the tips! I can see that these forums are probably an integral part to succeeding when doing a diet such as this!.

They are for me - and not only the forum - the FOOD LOG (My plan tab) is essential to my success. Even if you think you are doing really well now - or should I say ESPECIALLY if you think you are doing well now, log your food. Then when you slow down or have difficulty, you have data you can go back to review and see if you have made any changes, or what you were doing differently when you were doing fantastically. I wish I had been doing this from the beginning..

Yes, they really are.... dont know if I would make it if we didn't have them..... and let me add ... yeah the products do need alot of help, flavorings and such... but let me tell you, I would dry wall if it helped me get the results......that is how badly I want to get it off... I will do what it takes, no matter what......

See, I disagree. There are only a couple of things I've never been able to eat just as is. Salt and pepper for the savory items and that's about it. Occasionally I would add a SF syrup to a shake, but not because I didn't like them, but just wanted a change. Just goes to show how different everyone's tastes are..

I take my lunch and breakfast to school everyday..

I bought two metal thermos containers at walmart that I use every day. At home I have boiling water. Before I leave I add a soup with about 1.5c boiling water (& a dash of spice, hot sauce, curry powder etc if I want) and to the other I add about 3/4c boiling water and oatmeal (sometimes a dash of cinnamon)..

You don't have to precook either one..

By mid-morning the oatmeal is thick and creamy and pretty tasty. By lunch the soup is cooked and a bit thickened and perfect. I've done the chili this way too..

As you've heard, tastes will change... both ways for me. Things I hated I love, things I loved I can't stand..

Forums have tons of recipes. I am starting to add them to the blog in my signature as well!.