Best diet I have ever done!
Written: Mar 20 '04 (Updated Mar 21 '04)
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Pros: Fast, it works!, perfect nutrition, low calorie, never hungry, counseling, medical monitoring
Cons: expensive, possible hair loss, loose skin, may regain weight
The Bottom Line: This is a wonderful diet if you can dedicate yourself to the process!
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| nommo77's Full Review: Optifast Program |
I have tried to lose weight on every diet in the book, weight watchers, Jenny Craig, The Zone, Atkins, etc. I was only ever able to stay on the diet a month or two and would get discouraged by the slow results and the temptation of eating food off the plan. On optifast, I am NEVER hungry, I am getting perfect nutrition, and I am losing quickly and can feel the SUCCESS! Since it is only available through a doctor, I know I am getting wonderful care and am being monitored carefully. Most programs focus on behavior modification and a team of nutritionists, counselors, doctors, exercise physiologists and nurses will monitor your progress and teach you how to be successful. For people who have eating disorders, this program is ideal, especially for overeaters or binge eaters. This program gives the dieter the ability to distance themselves from food and work on therapy issues.
Also for people who are morbidly obese and may not be able to exercise, you can still lose weight easily because of the low calories in the shakes.
Like all diets, there IS a high risk of gaining weight back, but studies have shown with the behavior modification and therapy done in an optifast program, you are more likely to keep it off than in other programs.
Also, because the weight does come off quickly, you feel more confident and I was much more likely to stick to it!
How the program works: Each program is slightly different depending on the area that you live, but my local clinic is run by an internist/endocronologist. The program is affiliated with a local hospital.
Once a week you go to the clinic and get weighed in and visit with the doctor or a nurse practitioner. They take your blood pressure weekly, and every other week you have your blood drawn. Once a month you also get an EKG to make sure that everything is ok, because sometimes on very low calories diets people can have problems.
After the check in w/ the doctor, there is a group meeting with a counselor where we talk about food issues we may have and about the program. In addition to the psychologist, we meet with an exercise physiologist to discuss exercise once a month. Along with the group sessions, several private sessions with the therapist are included.
The fast consists of 5 shakes a day, each shake containing 160 calories and totaling perfect nutrition needed to sustain you. Having only the shakes keeps the dieter full and well nourished. The shakes come in Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry and are tolerable to taste. Mixing them with diet soda in a blender with ice or adding artificial sweetener helps a lot. Extracts or sugar free syrups can also be used to enhance the taste. In addition to the shakes, there is also chicken soup, which tastes very good with some added herbs and pepper. Chocolate bars and peanut butter bars are also available. They are very similar to balance bars in taste and texture. The shakes come in powders or in ready to drink boxes similar to a juice box. These make the program very convenient. A weeks worth of powdered shakes is about 80 dollars.
The first phase of the program lasts about 12-20 weeks depending on the amount of weight you need to lose. During this phase, you eat nothing but the shakes and bars. Sugar free jell-o and bullion are also permitted.
The next phase of the program is called transition, and lasts 6-8 weeks. During this time you gradually go from 5 shakes a day to regular food. For example, you may begin by having 4 shakes in a day and then a lean cuisine or healthy choice meal for dinner. Then you may have 3 shakes, two pieces of fruit and a dinner. This goes on until you are eating only food. The recommended diet by most programs after the fast is something similar to the zone, where you have 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein ad 30% fat, though some people do 40% protein and have 30% carbs. During the transition phase you meet in a group meeting with others who are in transition or maintenance and also meet weekly with a nutritionist.
Finally, you start on maintenance, which is where you learn to eat properly, manage emotions without using food, and work on ways to keep to your goal weight. I can't comment on this, as I have not reached this point yet in the program. The full program usually lasts about a year, including maintenance.
This is how my program works, but not all programs are the same. Some primary care doctors will give their patients the optifast products without the structured therapy and program. Other programs do not consist of the private therapy or the nutrition classes but do have group sessions. If you are interested in a program that focuses on eating disorders and issues, look into the program carefully to find out what kinds of services they offer. The main reason I chose this program was for the therapy component, since I felt that this was what was lacking in other programs I had tried and contributed in part to the reason I had not been successful in the past. What I love most about the program is the ability to work my own issues with food out.
If you would like some more resources on the optifast diet, there is a message board at: www.liquiddietdiscussion.com where people would be happy to answer your questions and where you can find a link to a doctor in your area.
Downsides: Programs are very expensive and can range in price, sometimes up in the thousands. Also, when you lose weight quickly, there is a chance of having loose skin, especially if you are older. And, some people have experienced some hair loss due to the very low amount of fat in the diet, but I have not had any hair loss, and many people find a flax seed oil or fish oil pill helps prevent that from occurring!
Recommended:
Yes
Approximate Monthly Cost (US$) 500
Food Variety Restrictions You eat the same thing for months
Restrictiveness of Portions Satisfying
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Epinions.com ID:
nommo77
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Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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