Optifast Diet: Is this Liquid Diet for You?
Considering trying the Optifast Diet? Here are some facts to consider before trying this liquid diet plan.
Why You Might Need It
Obesity is not just a weight problem, it is a medical problem. People that stay obese are usually looking at life-threatening illnesses sooner or later. Heart disease and diabetes are two major medical concerns that threaten people that suffer from obesity. Because obesity can become such a life-threatening condition, it is paramount that those who are obese get help with their condition as soon as they can.
Optifast has over 30 years of experience with people suffering from obesity. The program is not a fad diet, but instead is a proven, effective method of losing weight. More than a million people have used this program since 1974. It has been proven to work in more than 80 clinical studies since its inception.
Why It Works for Many People
The Optifast diet program may work where some others don’t because of its combined approach of counseling and support. They use medical monitoring along with comprehensive education to support every person in the program. They provide meal replacement as an aid to help people lose significant weight and reduce the health risks that are associated with overweight and obesity.
Five year follow-up research studies have shown that more than half of the individuals that complete their program will keep off a significant amount of the weight over the long term. This goes a long way in keeping their health risk from obesity in check.
A lot of the success of the Optifast program is based on ongoing group and individual counseling that is lead by qualified physicians, dietitians and behaviorists. These health care professionals help every client to make the transition for them be a healthy active one before leaving the program.
Their program is generally offered up as a 26 week plan with 12 weeks of complete meal replacement, then 6 more weeks of transition to solid food. This finally concludes with a standardized diet with up to 20 weeks of behavioral and nutrition counseling. The typical cost for Optifast’s program is $2,500 - $3,500 for the full year program.
Optifast’s medical monitoring includes a complete preliminary medical exam, a personal weight loss plan that is based on the individual’s health and weight loss target goal and continued medical monitoring of the patient’s progress throughout the duration of the program.
Optifast is truly a one of a kind program/therapy, that is available at a few hundred clinics and hospitals throughout the United States and Canada. More recently, Optifast is now offered world wide via pharmacies.
Why It Doesn’t Work for Some People
Some people find that they do not want to take the time to spend with all the medical necessities and cost required involved in this medically supervised diet and would prefer an diet like Medifast that still has the rapid results, but without the hassles of appointments and doctors.
Some also find Optifast so limiting that they give up after only a few weeks.