Optavia

jrogersj

Has anybody used this program to fuel your body and lose weight?

mockchoc

Sounds like MLM to me. I'd steer clear. Also what real qualifications does a "coach" have? From what I quickly read nothing other than they are also into Optiva. I'd keep my money and do it for free on MFP by calorie counting:)

fuzzylop_

optavia (formally medifast) has a hard time the closer people get to maintenance because you are too reliant on the products (mostly shakes) for your calories. I've used it before (when it was under medifast brand), but don't recommend. I think we prob can't talk about it here anyways, since I think it's borderline vlcd (or was when I did it).

BradandLibby

I fell for the “health coach” bit. And I was always taken aback when, at the end of our chats, I would be asked about which foods I was going to order. What?!?! Your’re not solely concerned with my health?!?! And in the beginning the plan gives you between 800-1100 calories. Silly me, I didn’t research it beforehand, but I was caught at a low point health wise. Live and learn, as I have lots of product sitting in my cabinet. I think I’m going to donate it.

jrogersj

Thank you all for your feedback. I appreciate it.

Terytha

Pyramid scheme products can be very dangerous. Herbalife alone has straight sent people to the hospital.

You don't need that junk to lose weight. Get a $12 food scale, eat the food you love while you count your calories, and pick any form of exercise, and you will lose weight and feel good.

kcmcbee

I had a very good experience with it. You don’t have to buy their food (bars, shakes, chips, soups and others). You can read the book and prepare your own meals in accordance. I found the book very useful and helpful. I bought the food products to help me follow the plan without having to do everything myself. Yes you can go google all you want and geez... Short story is for me it worked great and I’m appreciative of it. Other plans probably work great too but this is the only one I have ever done. If following any plan (with or without buying products) is something that may work well for you I wouldn’t let a few people making negative comments stop you. It’s your journey not theirs. If it were easy to “just eat healthy” and throw in some exercise then we wouldn’t have an obesity epidemic in our country, which we do. The “junk” I ate I liked, it worked satisfying my nutritional goals and satisfied my hunger and I am down 80 lbs in 8 months. And I know several others who did it also which is how I found the “scheme”. But yes I understand the caution from others also. I never would have done it if I didn’t know friends that did it. Just my personal experience here so my 2 bits. Good luck!

fuzzylop_

Hmm, when I did it, you had to have 5 of their pre-packaged products per day + 1 solid meal (5 & 1 program). It could be it has changed, though. My information is from quite a few years ago, admittedly.

kcmcbee

fuzzylop_ wrote: »

Hmm, when I did it, you had to have 5 of their pre-packaged products per day + 1 solid meal (5 & 1 program). It could be it has changed, though. My information is from quite a few years ago, admittedly.

I did the 5-1 also. On maintenance now but I like some of their bars and still use then along with some others I like. But you don’t have to use them. I did it for convenience and easy meal planning. And you have to buy other food anyway if you choose to prepare everything yourself so for me it made a hard thing easier. Worked for me.

carli_boni

I just ordered optavia. I’ve done it before and it’s an excellent program. Very strict and exactly what I need right now. It’s a great way to jump start your weight loss and you don’t have to plan or measure exact your green meal at dinner. So what if it’s an MLM PLAN. The food is still the same. I don’t even use the coach. You don’t have to

mrspett323

Just started on 02/27/2020! Very excited, good luck!

janejellyroll

carli_boni wrote: »

I just ordered optavia. I’ve done it before and it’s an excellent program. Very strict and exactly what I need right now. It’s a great way to jump start your weight loss and you don’t have to plan or measure exact your green meal at dinner. So what if it’s an MLM PLAN. The food is still the same. I don’t even use the coach. You don’t have to

MLM plans are predatory, funneling profits to a few people at the top while promising the world to the people on the bottom. These people on the bottom are often targeted because they're from economically vulnerable populations (think: military spouses, mothers who want to work from home, etc). So even if Optavia was a great program that offered fantastic food at affordable prices and taught you how to sustain the weight loss long term (and note that all those things are questionable), I'd still have reservations about supporting them. It's an ethical issue which some people will legitimately care about.

summery79

Dietitian here- I'd make sure to check in with your physician before adopting a program with calories that low. I know Optavia recommends (on their website) consulting with a physician first as well.

sjp3366

Read the ingredients on the packages. They are nothing more than the cheapest fillers, salt, oil, and chemicals. Eat real food. Don’t eat this kind of boxed food. You may lose weight, but you are not doing anything good for your body.

kcmcbee

sjp3366 wrote: »

Read the ingredients on the packages. They are nothing more than the cheapest fillers, salt, oil, and chemicals. Eat real food. Don’t eat this kind of boxed food. You may lose weight, but you are not doing anything good for your body.

sjp3366 wrote: »

Read the ingredients on the packages. They are nothing more than the cheapest fillers, salt, oil, and chemicals. Eat real food. Don’t eat this kind of boxed food. You may lose weight, but you are not doing anything good for your body.

Have you read the ingredients on their packages?

sschauer513

While under doctor and dietitian care for being obese and losing weight used their products in the beginning. Did 2 shakes a day and bar some fruit for snacks and regular meal for dinner. Works very well a tad bland have to like their flavors but at the end of the day their shakes are just meal replacement so have moved to different shakes for that for mainly cost and flavors. But again this was all under doctor care as it is VLC.