Slim Fast - yes or no?

Michelle_dirtracer

YUCK!! I am on GNC Lean Shakes, they are delish!

owieprone

hell not, its just sugar.

try a protein shake instead, grammes of carbs should be as low as you can find it compared to protein grammes, this changes depending on the maker. however you should get your food from real sources, shakes are only for when you're in a rush, or as a boost to what you're already eating or need to break the bad habits by drastic measures. they're not, imo, healthy long term as meal replacement.

however, if you need to do the shake thing - find a shake that uses stevia instead of normal sugar even better. sugar should be WAY down the list of ingredients too. The list of ingredients on most food is done by largest amount first, so if sugar is the first ingredient on anything you pick up.. put it straight back down! it should be near the end so if there are 10 ingredients it should be at 8 -10.
if something is 'no added sugar' it means that there are naturally occuring sugars in it (from say the fruit content - fructose) that is fine, it's when it's added later it's cane sugar or something just as horrid and fat inducing.

if you want to go down the shake route, make sure you up your veg intake (check out what ones have high carbs, tatties etc and find substitutes for them - cauliflower, courgettes or celeriac for instance). Your main meal should have proper food in it and should contain mostly protein and veg, with a teeny weeny amount of extra carbs in the shape of rice or tatties, or you can just leave them out altogether and get your carb fill from the veg you have.

Don't rely on the pre-prepared snacks that the diet people like slimfast have, you're much better off getting your fill from fruit and more veg, cheese or precooked flavoured meat (proper stuff that you did if you can or supermarket stuff that's made of proper meat not reconstituted rubbish). they're not as nutritionally dense as proper food, become a crutch and just stop you from getting your diet sorted, you being to rely on them like you do the junk food you might eat just now. when you come off your diet you'll go back to your old ways and baddaboom... same problem however long down the road. so snacks could be apple and pb, a nana, celery and carrot sticsk and pb or hummus or some sort of dip, any other fruit/veg you like enough to have as a snack.

see this 'diet' as a way to get your diet sorted for when you go back to eating like a normal person, change your attitude to food, not your food to your current attitude.

you also need to figure out if you're cutting carbs or fat, you can't cut both. I'd say try cutting carbs to begin with and see if that works, if it doesn't then swap. People react differently to each type of fuel source, i react badly to carbs, but have no problems gorging on fat. I fyou go the carb route then they should be sourced from carby veg, not lots of bread and pasta etc. they are nutrient deficient in comparison.

good luck

scottaworley

hell not, its just sugar.

try a protein shake instead, grammes of carbs should be as low as you can find it compared to protein grammes, this changes depending on the maker. however you should get your food from real sources, shakes are only for when you're in a rush, or as a boost to what you're already eating or need to break the bad habits by drastic measures. they're not, imo, healthy long term as meal replacement.

however, if you need to do the shake thing - find a shake that uses stevia instead of normal sugar even better. sugar should be WAY down the list of ingredients too. The list of ingredients on most food is done by largest amount first, so if sugar is the first ingredient on anything you pick up.. put it straight back down! it should be near the end so if there are 10 ingredients it should be at 8 -10.
if something is 'no added sugar' it means that there are naturally occuring sugars in it (from say the fruit content - fructose) that is fine, it's when it's added later it's cane sugar or something just as horrid and fat inducing.

if you want to go down the shake route, make sure you up your veg intake (check out what ones have high carbs, tatties etc and find substitutes for them - cauliflower, courgettes or celeriac for instance). Your main meal should have proper food in it and should contain mostly protein and veg, with a teeny weeny amount of extra carbs in the shape of rice or tatties, or you can just leave them out altogether and get your carb fill from the veg you have.

Don't rely on the pre-prepared snacks that the diet people like slimfast have, you're much better off getting your fill from fruit and more veg, cheese or precooked flavoured meat (proper stuff that you did if you can or supermarket stuff that's made of proper meat not reconstituted rubbish). they're not as nutritionally dense as proper food, become a crutch and just stop you from getting your diet sorted, you being to rely on them like you do the junk food you might eat just now. when you come off your diet you'll go back to your old ways and baddaboom... same problem however long down the road. so snacks could be apple and pb, a nana, celery and carrot sticsk and pb or hummus or some sort of dip, any other fruit/veg you like enough to have as a snack.

see this 'diet' as a way to get your diet sorted for when you go back to eating like a normal person, change your attitude to food, not your food to your current attitude.

you also need to figure out if you're cutting carbs or fat, you can't cut both. I'd say try cutting carbs to begin with and see if that works, if it doesn't then swap. People react differently to each type of fuel source, i react badly to carbs, but have no problems gorging on fat. I fyou go the carb route then they should be sourced from carby veg, not lots of bread and pasta etc. they are nutrient deficient in comparison.

good luck

also tl;dr

missymakayla

I do it about two times a month, for about three days in a row. I like it, and it always helps me loose about 1 to 1.5 pounds. But I couldn't do it all the time, I love real food...

Evy79

Personally i'd say no.

i've known people that have used these and once they came off them they gradually regained a lot of the weight or more

Realistically a change in lifestyle is better, healthy food should be plentiful but you should also have your treats!

PRMinx

I use slim fast and so far I've lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks.

It's the same as anything else you have to use it right. I buy the cans of mix and I mix it in with Skim milk in shaker bottles. I usually have 4 to 5 a day and then if I need more calories I eat something like a can of chunky beef soup.

I'm not sure why there are so many slim fast haters out there. The shakes taste good, the way I make them, and they keep me full for 2-3 hours. In 1 cup of skim milk with 1 scoop of shake mix there is about 200 calories. so 5 is around 1000 calories and then a can of soup is about 250ish calories so it keeps me around 1250 to 1300 calories (some times I use 1 1/2 cups of skim milk). It keeps my body out of starvation mode, because I eat so often it keeps my metabolism going, and I run for exercise (I've run 4 5k's in 3 weeks and I've only been running 3 weeks.). I've gone from 241 to 225.

So for those people who are saying "No" or "Slim fast is crap". They don't know what their talking about or doing. Feel free to msg me on here and we can talk about it. I think it's a great product but you can't use just any way.

So then when do you learn how to eat real food? Are you planning on a liquid diet for the rest of your life?

If not, then at some point you are going to have to learn how to eat healthfully. Why not start now?

JO2012mom

As others have said, I would not go with the whole " Slim Fast diet." I urge you to dedicate yourself to logging in everything you eat, and all of your exercise here on MFP. I have wanted to lose ten pounds for years, but I kept on gaining about a pound a year. By tracking EVERYTHING I eat, for the first time I have started to lose pounds in only a few weeks. Using the database and measuring what I actually ate versus what I thought I was eating showed that I was way underestimating my portion sizes.

Good luck!

3

So ive been struggling recently wih sticking to a good eating routine and keep finding myself giving in to temptation. Therefor, even though im exercising alot, im not actually losing anything.

A friend suggested i try slim fast for a month as my kick start as if i see good results it might help motivate me to work harder.

Has anyone tried it? Have you had good or bad results from it?

Id love some honest answers. If its the worst idea please say! If you have any other suggestions on how to kick start things then please let me know. I feel like i have come to a standstill!

angiemotto

I use slim fast and so far I've lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks.

It's the same as anything else you have to use it right. I buy the cans of mix and I mix it in with Skim milk in shaker bottles. I usually have 4 to 5 a day and then if I need more calories I eat something like a can of chunky beef soup.

I'm not sure why there are so many slim fast haters out there. The shakes taste good, the way I make them, and they keep me full for 2-3 hours. In 1 cup of skim milk with 1 scoop of shake mix there is about 200 calories. so 5 is around 1000 calories and then a can of soup is about 250ish calories so it keeps me around 1250 to 1300 calories (some times I use 1 1/2 cups of skim milk). It keeps my body out of starvation mode, because I eat so often it keeps my metabolism going, and I run for exercise (I've run 4 5k's in 3 weeks and I've only been running 3 weeks.). I've gone from 241 to 225.
So for those people who are saying "No" or "Slim fast is crap". They don't know what their talking about or doing. Feel free to msg me on here and we can talk about it. I think it's a great product but you can't use just any way.

I agree. I've been on slim fast for 5 months. I've lost 36 pounds doing so. This was actually with taking a break in between these months and eating regular foods. When I stopped slim fast, I ate like a normal person, replaced the slim fast with something comparable and didn't gain a pound back. Once I started back I kept losing weight.

I eat lots of fruits and veggies, drink water, take a Alive vitamins(has a ton of whole fruits and vegetables in it) and work out daily. And most important, use the food diary. As long as you find a good balance of other foods, it works. I never knew so people thought slim fast was so bad until I joined here. But everyone is entitled to their opinion. But I think it has taught me how to pay attention to calories. I'm sure a lot of people think slim fast means starving but a lot of people don't need slim fast to eat wrong and starve themselves. Plus I eat every 2 hours, I don't have a chance to get hungry. And if I get hungry, I eat a little snack.

Also I checked my bottle and looked at the ingredients, I've read people say its full of things you can't pronounce and chemicals. I can actually read the entire thing and familiar with each ingredient. It's not an all natural shake by no means but it's not full of weird, hard to pronounce ingredients either.

I really have to get my opinion out here, only because I've read so many No comments about this and I just don't agree. But I respect your opinion and hopefully you can respect mine.

VeganLexi

FAT FREE MILK, WATER, SUGAR, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, FRUCTOSE, GUM ARABIC, CELLULOSE GEL, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, MALTODEXTRIN, SOY LECITHIN, CELLULOSE GUM, CARRAGEENAN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SUCRALOSE AND ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS), SODIUM CITRATE, CITRIC ACID,

MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, VITAMIN E ACETATE, ZINC GLUCONATE, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE, NIACINAMIDE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, PHYLLOQUINONE (VITAMIN K1), SODIUM SELENITE, CYANOCOBALAMIN (VITAMIN B12), CHOLECALCIFEROL (VITAMIN D3). SWEETENED WITH NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS AND NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS. CONTAINS MILK AND SOY.



No thanks :laugh:

angiemotto

There no real fibre in this product. You want to keep your engine running and the flow going then you need healthy foods not a supplement that reads like baby formula.

There are 40 ingredients in it , the first is sugar!!! Slimfast is featured in the BBC doc below. The founder blames the person not product for its failure to work!!!!

the men who made us think episode 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiXicpOJRYY

The first ingredient is fat free milk. And not 40 ingredients in it, I think more like 17. Each are ingredients I can read and pronounce. I agree that you do need a ton of other healthy foods will drinking slim fast. Just drinking the shakes won't cut it.

angiemotto

FAT FREE MILK, WATER, SUGAR, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, FRUCTOSE, GUM ARABIC, CELLULOSE GEL, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, MALTODEXTRIN, SOY LECITHIN, CELLULOSE GUM, CARRAGEENAN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SUCRALOSE AND ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS), SODIUM CITRATE, CITRIC ACID,

MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, VITAMIN E ACETATE, ZINC GLUCONATE, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE, NIACINAMIDE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, PHYLLOQUINONE (VITAMIN K1), SODIUM SELENITE, CYANOCOBALAMIN (VITAMIN B12), CHOLECALCIFEROL (VITAMIN D3). SWEETENED WITH NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS AND NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS. CONTAINS MILK AND SOY.



No thanks :laugh:

You left out the part in between the two paragraphs where it says vitamins and minerals on the second part. The first is the actual ingredients and the second is the vitamins and minerals. So it reads:

Ingredients: FAT FREE MILK, WATER, SUGAR, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, FRUCTOSE, GUM ARABIC, CELLULOSE GEL, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, MALTODEXTRIN, SOY LECITHIN, CELLULOSE GUM, CARRAGEENAN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SUCRALOSE AND ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS), SODIUM CITRATE, CITRIC ACID,

Vitamins and minerals:MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, VITAMIN E ACETATE, ZINC GLUCONATE, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE, NIACINAMIDE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, PHYLLOQUINONE (VITAMIN K1), SODIUM SELENITE, CYANOCOBALAMIN (VITAMIN B12), CHOLECALCIFEROL (VITAMIN D3).

SWEETENED WITH NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS AND NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS. CONTAINS MILK AND SOY.




It makes a small difference.

VeganLexi

FAT FREE MILK, WATER, SUGAR, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, FRUCTOSE, GUM ARABIC, CELLULOSE GEL, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, MALTODEXTRIN, SOY LECITHIN, CELLULOSE GUM, CARRAGEENAN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SUCRALOSE AND ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS), SODIUM CITRATE, CITRIC ACID,

MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, VITAMIN E ACETATE, ZINC GLUCONATE, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE, NIACINAMIDE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, PHYLLOQUINONE (VITAMIN K1), SODIUM SELENITE, CYANOCOBALAMIN (VITAMIN B12), CHOLECALCIFEROL (VITAMIN D3). SWEETENED WITH NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS AND NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS. CONTAINS MILK AND SOY.



No thanks :laugh:

You left out the part in between the two paragraphs where it says vitamins and minerals on the second part. The first is the actual ingredients and the second is the vitamins and minerals. So it reads:

Ingredients: FAT FREE MILK, WATER, SUGAR, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, FRUCTOSE, GUM ARABIC, CELLULOSE GEL, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, MALTODEXTRIN, SOY LECITHIN, CELLULOSE GUM, CARRAGEENAN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SUCRALOSE AND ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS), SODIUM CITRATE, CITRIC ACID,

Vitamins and minerals:MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, VITAMIN E ACETATE, ZINC GLUCONATE, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE, NIACINAMIDE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, PHYLLOQUINONE (VITAMIN K1), SODIUM SELENITE, CYANOCOBALAMIN (VITAMIN B12), CHOLECALCIFEROL (VITAMIN D3).

SWEETENED WITH NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS AND NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS. CONTAINS MILK AND SOY.




It makes a small difference.

It makes absolutely no difference to me... I like get my vitamins and minerals from food. However, each to their own.

Just copied and pasted it straight from their website, an error on their part perhaps.

At the end of the day, you get out what you put in.

NoMoreChubb2013

Its ok to peek

Im usually very good with logging but my phone has been broken so by the time im home from work i dont always remember to come on here and log. I do however make a small note of everything i eat each day. I find having a visual of what ive eaten helps me to see what i need to change

NoMoreChubb2013

Just want to say thanks to everyone for their advice.

I chose not to follow my friends advice of slim fast and have instead been making my own smoothies and juices.

Ive been a little rubbish on the food logging recently but that is due to my phone breaking ( see the post above) and i cant always run to my laptop everytime i eat a meal! I work 16 hour days and to be honest, when i get home from a mad shift, turning on the laptop and logging everything isnt always top of my to do list. But i will start making more of an effort with it on my days off.

Again, Thanks for the advice. Its nice to have support from so many people

x

sk_pirate

A friend suggested i try slim fast for a month as my kick start as if i see good results it might help motivate me to work harder.

The term "kick start" always makes me giggle.

Either you start your plan or you don't.

You're not a car.

merlewalton

It's good you decided on a path good luck on it.

I just wanted to say, to the people who said they lost the weight on slim fast then gained it all back later, just because you use a product to lose weight doesn't mean your off the hook for your responsibility to yourself when you stop using it.

Using your new weight and activity level you still need to readdress your proper caloric need and then eat the right amount of food, taking into consideration working out, that will keep you at that level. That is where you failed.

When I stopped working out for 3 months and stopped my slim fast use I started going back to pizza and beer... I gained back about 10 pounds. Seeing as I lost 25 pounds I still have 15 pounds off... I consider that a win and a loss. I, overall, lost 15 pounds, but I didn't follow through (now being my own devils advocate I was switching jobs, moving, needed to find a new gym for the cold winder months, so gaining a little weight is understandable).

Slim fast dieting does work. To those people who are wrapped up on just hating slim fast good luck to you in your own method.

And as I said before if you buy the mix and mix your own shakes with skim milk some of those ingredients are not in the shake.

But what do I know? I'm a food manufacturing quality manager who is back to losing weight and near my working out low... I must be a know nothing that is doing everything wrong.

IronSmasher

Congratulations on your loss.

I hope you find your way off of the yoyo diet track soon and stop punishing yourself with crash diets.

Homemaker57

I feel a turning point happening in my personal life, and although it hasn't stood the test of time yet I feel I'm on the right track. I had to admit to myself that I had been downright lazy with my food choices. Just lazy! I also confronted the fact that what I'd been doing was not giving me the results I wanted. I was gaining weight steadily and hit an all time high weight of 180. I realized that my laziness was resulting in more and more fat. Less capable of doing fun things. Less happy with my appearance, especially in photos. Less healthy, especially in regards to our so far failed attempts at conceiving. I finally realized that I was 30lbs away from the "normal" BMI zone, and that meant I was 6 months to a year away. I felt like I had really let myself get far away from the mark, and it was pure laziness that got me there. I decided that health and fitness IS worth the effort, and I cleaned up my diet and stuck to an exercise routine. Every time I'm tempted, I remind myself that the way I got to 180 was a series of single lazy decisions.


I also found out that those silly little food choices (a Mt Dew here, Taco Bell there, toast with sugar and cinnamon occasionally...) take SO LONG to undo! Turns out, my favorite meal at Taco Bell is over 1,300 calories. Do you have any idea how long I'd have to do my slow interval jogging routine, to burn that off? Basically forever. :-P



The reason I share all of that is to say, weight loss isn't about a product, and certainly not about an unhealthy product. It's about changing how you think, how you feel, and what your goals are. That's the very first step! Then it's just about eating healthy real foods and being active. No magic, just work. I wish you the very very best!