Sometimes, people who are considering or shopping for the Medifast diet can't help but notice that the maintenance bars are not generally included in the monthly packages.
But many people are interested in them because they look tasty, are convenient, and are highly rated.
This makes them seem quite attractive.
People often ask me if you have to be on the maintenance portion of the diet (meaning that you have met your weight loss goals and are tapering off the diet) in order to enjoy these bars.
You might hear a comment like: "I really want to try the maintenance bars but I still have about fifteen pounds to lose.
Do I have to be transitioning off the diet in order to eat these? What makes them different from the crunch bars? Can any one just order them?" I will address these concerns below.
First of all, you do not have to be on the maintenance phase of the diet to order these bars.
Anyone can order them, but there are some restrictions on how often you can eat them if you are still on the five plus one plan.
While you could theoretically have five crunch bars per day on the regular plan (which would probably get boring and monotonous,) you are asked to limit yourself to one of the maintenance version.
Why? Because they are higher in calories.
They're meant to be more of a treat.
Let's look at some specifics to demonstrate what I mean.
For example, the caramel crunch bar has 110 calories, 12 grams of carbs, 2 grams of sugar, and 11 grams of protein.
As you can probably tell, it's very diet friendly which is why it's theoretically unlimited.
If you now look at the comparable caramel maintenance bar you'll see that it contains 170 calories, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of sugar, and eleven grams of protein.
Obviously, the crunch version is much more diet friendly, which is why you can have more.
The maintenance bar is more like dessert or a treat.
And yes, people who are transitioning off the diet typically use and like these bars a lot because it's still high in protein and very convenient.
It's also really tasty and it's an easy way to still eat some of the diet meals when you're returning back to less regimented and controlled way of eating.
But don't think that people who are still actively on the diet and who are actively losing weight can't have these bars.
They can.
And many do.
Because of their nice taste, texture, and convenience, they are very popular.
And they do feel very decadent.