Any Optifast users out there?

kellie2013

Hello Everyone. I am recently new to using the Optifast weightloss method, and would like to have some friends on here using Optifast. I have 75kg or about 150 pounds to lose. Any and all encouragement is welcome!

lester_wilson

Just started on optifast myself, will add you as a friend. Now on day 3:-)

kellie2013

thanks!

backinaction

I am 17 weeks in and have lost 85 pounds. It has been a miracle for me.

butterflygirl17

I'm on day Day 4 of Optifast and am wondering how I'll be able to keep this up for the long term (12 weeks of full meal replacements) any others with ideas/encouragement...would love to have advice of others! thanks!

Gotmilk9579

Thinking about kicking this off next week. Would love to find a support system of others (especially other guys) on here.

ninerbuff

Can't emphasize it more....................there are lots of weight loss shakes and eating plans, but unfortunately they all work the same way................calorie deficit (with some at LARGE calorie deficits).
If you don't intend to eat with Optifast the rest of you life, the chances of weight regain is usually going to happen.

I encourage you to save you money and utilize MFP's calorie counting system and learn how to change the way you eat for a LIFESTYLE change and not just a temporary change because of a large calorie deficit.

Doing this for more than 28 years, you can trust that I've seen practically every diet plan out there and know that statistically only about 10% of all users maintain after the diet plan. The other 90% regain weight back because they return to actually eating whole food again.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Maidofmer

I am 17 weeks in and have lost 85 pounds. It has been a miracle for me.

that's incredible. what is it? surgery? just googled and it said surgery and shakes

buzzcockgirl

I started Optifast back on May of last year-- 8.5 months later I'm down 72 lbs.! I did the full meal replacement for 16 weeks, then slowly phased food back in over the course of another 4 weeks. Now I am on full food (though I still use 1 shake a day for breakfast because it's so fast, so easy, no need to make a food choice!)... and I've been good!

I did it thru Kaiser, and feel like it's SUPER important to have support and education, because without learning new eating habits and learning about food, our bodies, what triggers us, why we eat the way we do, etc... I agree with the above poster, the weight will probably return. I've learned so much, and totally changed the way I look at food-- I am a completely different eater than I was a year ago. And of course, exercise is MAJORLY important! I started exercising and now I do some sort of cardio every single day. Gotta keep moving!

I believe it can be a helpful tool to get things started, but you will eventually start to eat 'real' food again, and you'll need to have changed your eating habits to maintain the weight loss. Plain and simple. Good luck!!!!

elisa123gal

My mother did the optifast diet..then she got breast cancer and died. I know i can't blame the diet...but i do. She didn't eat a meal for a year or more. It is crazy desperate stuff.

disawell

I've been doing the celebrity slim shakes and they have been helping till I went "what the hell" just today when i realised how much sugar I was consuming in them. if i have 4 in a day, then that would be almost 4 times what MFP recommends as a sugar goal. I think optifast is similiar. I've tweaked most of my days now back to real food within the MFP guidelines to ensure that i'm close to meeting my sugar and iron requirements (to within about 10 grams) Good luck but please just check the sugar content and decide if you are ok with that. (i no longer have pre-diabetes so I am aware of sugar)

kellie2013

wow just saw there were a few rather negative comments to my post. not sure what attracted the nay-sayers here, but what i am actually looking for are positive and happy people who are on this same journey. like minded people if you will. support and encouragement are vital and if there are any optifast users out there who would like to be pals on here send me a request, i would love to share support with you

Craigamears

HI, I lost 90 lbs with Optifast under medical supervision. Unfortunately I did not make the lifestyle and eating changes necessary to support a person at my new weight. I gained back 70 of those 90 lbs. I then began to track my caloric intake and see my choices through tracking. I joined the Y and began exercising and over the period of a year or so lost those 70 lbs. I have about 45 to go and figure it will take me about a year.

Optifast is extremely useful to lose a lot of weigh fast if you have co-morbidity factors like Diabetes or hypertension. Your numbers will fall into line pretty quickly and is a life saver. It is not good as a long term strategy because of the transition into the real world. If your medical support program is good, you may be able learn how a person 100 lbs lighter than your current weight thinks and lives and you will be successful. The mental aspects are a much harder thing than dropping weight. Losing weigh is fairly easy. The 180 degree shift in your way of living and thinking is the hard thing.

If we think of obesity like cancer, than let's measure the 5 year "survival" rate to determine success. I got about 3 more years to go before I can judge the efficacy of my current work!

Good luck with your work. We all hope that you become cognizant of the other aspects of your new life and add them to your plan. We want you to be successful.

KizzyDee

I'm on day 4 of Optifast. So far it's been good. No cravings or much hunger. As with any diet plan, you must commit to learning how to eat healthy and incorporating physical activity. I'm very well aware that if I don't change my eating habits then the weight will return, plus more. Everyone is different, so please respect other's choices for doing this diet. I'm looking for support on this site, and for those who are currently on Optifast, hang in there and lets support each other.

feellikerain

I was on the Optifast program last year and it was a great start for me. I lost a lot of initial weight, got great information from my doctors, and made a slow transition back to eating real food. Except this time I learned to eat healthy food in healthy portions. I learned how to control my hunger and have been able to not only maintain the weight loss I achieved through the Optifast program, but I've continued to lose weight since being on my own.

If you stick to the program, understand that it's not an easy fix, and commit to making a lifestyle change, then you CAN be successful.

marthamk

I am on Optifast week 17 (next week will be the 4 month mark) and have lost 63 pounds so far. Like others that have already posted, I have learned a lot and fully understand that the real work begins in keeping the weight off. I exercise a lot (prior to starting Optifast) and will continue to do so. For me, taking a break from food was a good way to work on everything else and prepare for my transition back on real food (which will most likely be next month sometime). I would only do this program under intense doctor supervision - it is nothing you want to mess around with on your own, even though I think you can order it on Amazon. You need bloodwork done, EKG's, etc. You need psychologists and dieticians to teach you skills to make behavioral changes for the long term. My life has changed in so many ways. I can run a mile without stopping now. My sleep apnea has disappeared. My blood pressure is down to normal. I'll get my cholesterol and triglycerides re-tested next month and I expect to see an improvement. It is is drastic but, for me, it has been pretty easy. You need to be 100% committed to the process though.

cathie1601

Hi there,
I am on week 3 of Optifast. My husband & I are doing this together. He has 100+ to lose, I have 40lbs to go. We wanted to do the plan through Kaiser but cost was too high. So, we order product from Amazon. I am frustrated! my weight lose has all but stopped Only 5lbs in two weeks. Help anyone!!

Thanks!

PHF58

ninerbuff: But my understanding with optifast is that you transition to regular food...not stay on all liquid (which would be crazy). The point is to gradually rresume eating in a new balanced way....

PHF58

cathie1601; Are you drinking enough water? Like lots and lots of water, 8 glasses per day, around 64 oz per day to help move things along. I have hit plateaus since starting on dec 27 (needed xmas sweets!) that last for 3 days at a time but I vary my treadmill use (to tweek my metabolism) , and make sure to watch the water consumption and have succeeded in pushing along. I have added in one meal and dropped 1 shake and no bars now. Get some fiber too from celery or raw spinach! You have to eat enough calories to not go into starvation mode where your body would "hold on" to all calories ingested. Keep motivated but get as much info as you can- you will need to add in food some time after 2 months...MFP has been helpful for me in addition to optifast.

lexijonahaddison

i'm of week 2...struggling a little bit this week...does this get better? not excited about the limited varieties of food for the next 10 weeks.

tonitass

These are not nay-sayers or negative comments. These are people who are genuinely trying to help you. I have about the same amount of weight to lose and have already had lap band surgery with little results because the band did not teach me how to eat to live instead of live to eat. I have been on MFP with a personal trainer for 25 days and I feel like I already have a new outlook on food.

Please be careful and aware of using fad diets for instant fixes to lifelong issues. MFP is a great tool for a real change in lifestyle, and there are people on here who really know what they are talking about. Just be careful.