Slim-Fast Diet:

Slim-Fast is a weight loss diet program that has been around for over 25 years and the brand was recently purchased by Unilever. Slim Fast products include weight loss shakes, meal bars, and snack bars all designed to provide the proper nutrition on a daily basis and help you lose weight. Any diet plan includes additional exercise, and Slim-Fast is no different with recommendations of 30 minutes of exercise daily to go with the shakes and meals. In 2006, Slim-Fast introduced the new Optima shake which was said to be "more filling and less-calorie rich". The Slim-Fast diet program calls for a shake for breakfast, then one for lunch and a "sensible dinner" along with fruits, vegetables and Slim-Fast snack bars to keep you going throughout the day. Slim-Fast Optima is also available in low-carbohydrate and high-protein versions. No matter which you choose, the Slim-Fast marketing says it will help give you a full feeling for up to 4 hours after drinking a shake. The new Optima Slim-Fast shakes do not contain any stimulants, herbal ingredients, or appetite suppressants. The slim-Fast product line is all based around hunger control and supplying enough protein, complex carbohydrates, and fats to give you a balanced diet.

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The Slim-Fast diet averages around 1200 calories a day which is substantially lower than the 1700 calories women eat each day and the 2500 calories that men consume. The real equation for losing weight is that roughly 3500 calories equate to one pound. You want to make sure you are burning more calories each day than you are taking in through food and drink. Water is a great substitute for soda and juice and the Slim-Fast shakes are tasty, but it's hard to stick with such a limited diet. Preferably you want to eat a variety of healthy foods substituting in fruits and vegetables as snacks and fillers to keep you from eating "extra" meals each day or junk food. A healthy weight loss target is 2 pounds a week and certainly by sticking to the Slim-Fast shakes and sensible dinner plan you can lose the weight combined with a little exercise each day. The real question is will you be able to maintain this program and would you want to eventually get off this diet and try your own solutions. As with all diets, we found many people who have tried Slim-Fast and lost weight while others just couldn't get motivated enough to drink the shakes each day or claimed it just didn't satisfy their hunger. On Ediets.com you can view all sorts of diet plans and see who Slim-Fast matches up with others you have tried. Ultimately, nutritionist and dietary specialists say that each person needs to develop better eating habits and not rely on a strict diet to help them lose and keep off weight. What we found were some positive factors in keeping any weight off were support groups of friends or professionals that keep you on the straight and narrow. You can do your own research on Slim-Fast.com and find out about their latest shakes, bars, and meal plans. They provide some great online tools for fitness plans, an activity log, a BMI calculator, and the "offer/promotions" page has periodic coupons and savings on Slim-Fast products.

What's in the Slim-Fast Shake?:

Is there a special formula that makes the Slim-Fast shakes successful? We would have to say no, but the Slim-Fast.com website says "The improved Optima Hunger Control Shakes provide balanced nutrition, with 20% of calories from lean protein, 28% of calories from healthy fats, and 52% of calories from carbohydrates". They contain 0 grams of trans fat and provide 180-190 calories per shake with 10 grams of protein, 5-6 grams of fat, and 23-25 grams of carbs.

Advantages/Disadvantages to Slim-Fast:

We went into health forums and weight loss discussion boards to find out just what actual users of Slim-Fast have to say. Their comments and reviews were all across the board, but generally positive for short-term weigth loss (less than 1 year). The men said they appreciated the fac that you can just pop open the Optima shake and drink it down (no preparing food). Most (men and women) say the powder is worse than the shake since it can be hard to mix and stays to "chalky" in texture requiring lots of water to get it down. Several people mentioned that they have less energy on Slim-Fast versus other diet plans, but they did say their hunger was contained after the shakes. It was mainly women in the forums that say the lack of variety to the Slim-Fast diet is what killed their motivation. I must admit that having shakes (even if they are flavored) can get old after a few weeks. Even if you supplement in a decent dinner and some fruits and vegetables, there's no way to look forward to drinking a shake for lunch and breakfast day after day. That's the biggest disadvantage to Slim-Fast when compared to other weight loss plans that through in a little more variety of foods.

Slim-Fast vs Other Leading Diet Programs:

If you are motivated to lose weight, studies show that a variety of diets will work, not just one. Is Slim-Fast best for you? That's the million dollar question that only you and perhaps your doctor or dietician can answer. If there was one diet that worked, word would be out by now and everyone would be on it. LA Weight Loss, Jenny Craig, the Atkins diet, they all call for slightly different ways to lose weight and keep it from coming back. There are no studies that show that Slim-Fast is any better at doing that than the others are. Therefore, don't buy Slim-Fast if you are looking for a quick answer to a complicated issue. Many people put on weight and eat not because they have food problems, but because they have emotional problems that have gone unmet for years. Staying motivated throughout the process is hard because those people on a diet are taking away their "comfort" (in food) and are trying to replace it with something else. Jenny Craig has had some good results with the diet and counseling aspect fighting the weight loss issue from both sides of the equation.

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