You WILL lose weight...but is it worth it?
Written: Jul 25 '01
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Pros: You will lose weight, it's medically monitored, classes to teach you to eat.
Cons: Horrendously expensive, not covered by insurance, shakes taste AWFUL, no food.
The Bottom Line: You will lose weight safely, but only if you have no taste buds and money to burn.
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| yuffie's Full Review: Optifast Program |
I went on the Optifast diet a few years ago through a local hospital. I was only on it for a month (I landed in the hospital for an UNRELATED problem, went off it in the hospital, and after eating real food again, couldn't go back), and in that time I lost 15 pounds. I lost 8 pounds my first week. You WILL lose the weight on this diet. But is the weight loss worth the sacrifices?
Point One: It is an all liquid diet
The Optifast diet is all liquid. That means NO food. Not an apple, not a carrot, not a thing. 5 drinks a day. The cartons come in chocolate and vanilla and the powder comes in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. The drinks taste HORRIBLE. And you get to drink 5 of them a day for months! I always had the box chocolate, and I was literally gagging on the taste. The only way I could get them down was to suck the entire box through the straw in one breath, and then chug a diet coke. I tried the strawberry mix once, ONCE. One sip and it was down the drain.
Point Two: It is medically monitored
The Optifast diet is conducted by hospitals for truely obese patients, and at 5'4" and 225lbs, I fit that category. The diet IS medically monitored. You go in every week and talk to a doctor, your blood is drawn to monitor your health, and the doctor makes sure everything is allright physically. The first week the doctor noticed that my sugar levels were abnormally high, since I had snuck a rice krispie treat ;-) I still managed to lose 8 pounds the first week.
Point Three: Group therapy could learn from Weight Watchers
Every week you have a different group. There's nutrition, general counseling, or fitness. The general counseling was so bland I remember nothing about it. The fitness group consisted of a man in a running suit showing us how to stretch. Since I'm only drinking liquid, I would have really appreciated a nice MOTIVATIONAL group, encouraging us. The groups were boring and a waste of my time. I would rather buy my weeks liquids, weigh in, and then go sneak in on a Weight Watchers group.
Point Four: It is TERRIBLY expensive
You pay a joining fee, and then you pay for your drinks every week. And it's up to your insurance carrier if any of it is covered. None of the cost was covered by my insurance. I was shelling out about $200 a week. This is a diet for those who are filthy rich or incredibly desperate to lose weight. I was desperate.
Point Five: You have to relearn to eat food
Once you hit goal weight, they don't just throw you back into the real world. Their nutrition counselors will teach you the proper way to eat, and to treat food as substenance and not therapy. Or that's the plan at least. I never made it to this part of the diet.
Summary
If you are morbidly obese and desperate to lose weight, you will do it safely under the care of a physician on Optifast. But be warned that the drinks are unbearable and the cost is astronomical.
Recommended:
Yes
Approximate Monthly Cost (US$) ~200
Food Variety Restrictions You eat the same thing for months
Restrictiveness of Portions Practically starvation
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Epinions.com ID:
yuffie
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Member: Penny Morris
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
Can I review a cardboard box? The only toy my cat seems to like... :-\
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