optifast?

femmerides
femmerides Posts: 843 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Has anyone here done the optifast program before and had success? My dad is 5'7" and over 300 lbs. He has done everything under the sun to lose weight but he has a food addiction. Anyways, he just signed up with the optifast program through kaiser. Has anyone done it? If so, how was it? How hard was it to stick to? My dad needs all the support he can get so I told him I would do an entire week with him to help him. I don't want him to be alone in this. He has to so 20 weeks on meal replacement shakes. It'sgoing to be hard....

Replies

  • BerkeleyMama
    BerkeleyMama Posts: 40
    Hi There. My mom did Optifast, but it was many years ago. I know that it was under doctor's supervision though. Like your dad, my mother has food addiction problems too. She's definitely a compulsive eater. I've watched her gain and lose weight over the course of my lifetime and it's a painful process.
    What I remember about Optifast: It wasn't difficult for my mom to stay on because her addiction was temporarily removed. In other words, she was desperate to lose weight and is a person who is extreme when it comes to food, so she just drank the shakes. And she lost a lot of weight. And unfortunately, she also turn yellowish and lots of her hair fell out. I know that sound horrible, doesn't it? But this was 20 years ago. I hope the program has changed radically since then.
    We were all really worried about her when she chose that particular diet at the time, but I also remember my aunt (my mom's sister) going on it too and also losing a ton of weight. She did NOT get sick. So perhaps it does have to do with a person's overall health and constitution. On the flip side, both of them gained all of the weight back and more. They are both obese to this day.
    My whole family has weight issues, and I am part of the gene pool....so I've made a conscious choice to break our families' legacy and lose weight and keep it off. So far so good. I noticed you and I have roughly the same goal weight....
    Much luck to you and your dad. Hope this was helpful.
  • Getting_Fit_4_Life
    Getting_Fit_4_Life Posts: 401 Member
    I went to the initial consultation last November, but after calculating the cost and trying the shake for a week, I changed my mind. The shakes did not taste good at all and I felt like I was starving ALL the time. I decided not to go with Optifast and tried the Slimfast 123 option which would be less cost and I would be able to eat more variety of food than just the Optifast shakes. I eventually found MFP and I decided to start eating foods I like in moderation and working out. I am so glad I made the decision not to follow through with the Optifast. I have lost 20 pounds over the last 2.5 months and I feel so much better. On the days I am pressed for time, I use Slimfast for breakfast and/or lunch and then I eat dinner and several snack. I wish your dad luck on the Optifast program :)
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
    ive done medifast and know others who did.....you don't get to eat fruits, or really any veggies that aren't green like carrots....this one lady i know's hair really really thinned out and her skin turned grey....literally grey. her hair was dry, as was her skin, and she just looked deathly......This is because you are on an extrememly low fat diet. In your dad's case, this might be good to get the weight off initially, but i would not suggest it to him for long term. He should do it just until he can control his appetite
  • femmerides
    femmerides Posts: 843 Member
    Thanks everyone. I think he's striving to do it for 4 weeks at least to see how he feels with it.

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