Slim Fast

[RB Bonzo]

After seeing in Consumer Reports that Slim Fast (along w/ Weight Watchers) had the top marks for diet plans, I decided to give this a try. Today is my second day.

 

Basically, you replace breakfast with a SF product. For lunch, you have another SF product and supplement it with regular food (perhaps a half sandwich, yogurt w/ fruit, etc.), and a sensible dinner (about 500 calories - a little protein, a little starch, veggies). This is supplemented by multiple snacks (which can, but need not be SF products) and extra fruits and veggies.

 

The SF products are not overpriced and, when you eat them, you are pretty well assured of complete nutrition. The canned shakes are good when you get them real cold; the meal replacement bars and snack bars that I've sampled so far are also pretty good. I don't know how I"m going to feel about them after I've been on this for a while, though. They claim that average weight loss is 1-2 pounds/week.

 

They also have pretty good information and support on a website. www.slim-fast.com

 

At least I'm doing something - - I had been moving in the wrong direction for the past month. :( But, I did make it back to the gym after a bit of a hiatus. Onward and downward!:D

 

Danny

[Nliedel]

I get so hungry on Slimfast. I've found the Lean Cuisine diet to be just as effective and it's real food. I am NOT knocking Slimfast, but never found that I don't get hungry on them.

[RB Bonzo]

I've been hungry, too, but I think it is because I'm not eating enough. I fell about 400 calories below the recommendation for yesterday, despite eating 8 oz of meat at dinner instead of the planned 4. I need to get more calories in during the day.

[bahama daydreamer]

I just started slim fast today. I'm really not too hungry. I bought the chocolate shake mix that you mix with milk. It was pretty filling. I also had an apple with lunch and one of the muffin bars for a snack. I have a really hard time losing weight as I'm hypothyroid and losing is difficult for me. I was on slim fast several years ago and lost 30 pounds so I'm hoping this will work.

[Nliedel]

I've been hungry, too, but I think it is because I'm not eating enough. I fell about 400 calories below the recommendation for yesterday, despite eating 8 oz of meat at dinner instead of the planned 4. I need to get more calories in during the day.

 

Bad you! Seriously. You're body will get confused and HOARD calories if you eat too little. I've had it happen to me. At 2000 calories a day I lose weight and at 1800 I stall (this is if I exercise).

[mountainmare]

I'm a foodie and Slimfast is my guilty pleasure. I find that when I'm on the run its better to have a shake or bar handy than make really bad food choices. If it works for you (as it has for me) great!!!

[Cruisin'40]

I get so hungry on Slimfast. I've found the Lean Cuisine diet to be just as effective and it's real food. I am NOT knocking Slimfast, but never found that I don't get hungry on them.

 

I like the Lean Cuisines, I didn't realize they had a diet plan.

[Nliedel]

I like the Lean Cuisines, I didn't realize they had a diet plan.

 

Well "they" are not a diet plan, but at less than 300 calories. A light breakfast of oatmeal with protein powder in it and skim milk (a tsp of Sugar) is less than 300 calories. A Lean Cuisine lunch and dinner brings me up to 900 calories in a day. I have a Slim Fast bar mid afternoon (1100 calories) and a snack midmorning for about 300 or so calories. That's 1400 calories for a day. I then have some Gatorade when I am bike riding or running and a fruit dessert. Along with my fun size Twix that adds up to about 1800 - 2000 calories. Please note: I work out HARD. Two hours a day in season.

[gerif]

I do mostly Lean Cuisine with fruit/cereal for breakfast and supplement with veggies and fruit, but I always have Slimfast meal replacement bars on hand - especially when traveling and fast food is the only other option. Haven't tried the shakes in several years, but they were always pretty good - however, I like to chew:-)

[RB Bonzo]

Bad you! Seriously. You're body will get confused and HOARD calories if you eat too little. I've had it happen to me. At 2000 calories a day I lose weight and at 1800 I stall (this is if I exercise).

 

Mea culpa - I agree! I'm eating all that they tell me, but I tend towards the lower calorie options. I'm going to add a bit more bread and fruit to try to keep it together.

[RB Bonzo]

I just started slim fast today. I'm really not too hungry. I bought the chocolate shake mix that you mix with milk. It was pretty filling. I also had an apple with lunch and one of the muffin bars for a snack. I have a really hard time losing weight as I'm hypothyroid and losing is difficult for me. I was on slim fast several years ago and lost 30 pounds so I'm hoping this will work.

 

BD: What other products have you tried that you can recommend? I haven't seen the muffin bars. So far, I've been eating the Optima Shakes, the Optima Snack Bars (Peanut Butter Crunch - tastes like a Clark bar!), and Optima Peanutbutter Granola bars, which are ok, but I'm not crazy about them.

 

Into my 3rd day now and going pretty well.

[ckn521999]

I just started slim fast today. I'm really not too hungry. I bought the chocolate shake mix that you mix with milk. It was pretty filling. I also had an apple with lunch and one of the muffin bars for a snack. I have a really hard time losing weight as I'm hypothyroid and losing is difficult for me. I was on slim fast several years ago and lost 30 pounds so I'm hoping this will work.

 

I'm also hypo and tried SlimFast for the last 3 months. I lost maybe 3 pounds and promply gained it all back in the last 2 weeks. I'm still looking for a good diet plan. Let me know if this works for you. Good Luck!

[RB Bonzo]

Slow going, so far. I'm now into my 4th day, and I peeked on the scale and have dropped one pound. On every other plan I've ever tried, I've always had a fairly dramatic gain (3-9 pounds) in the first week. Doesn't look like that'll happen w/ SF, though.

 

I'm going to give this at least 3 weeks, though.

[sharonella]

I did the SF plan years ago - prior to their canned shakes. Lost about 15 lbs over 3 months, with no exercise! :eek: Pretty much gained it back right away when I got off the plan.

 

If you're doing the powder - mix your shake 1/2 hr or more before drinking & let it sit in the fridge. Shake well again before drinking. Helps it dissolve more fully for a smoother shake. Also - consider using OJ every now & then as a "treat" - mixed with vanilla, it tastes somewhat like an orange creamsicle! I used to use the 2 cup shaker that Tupperware made

 

Anyway, I use the canned shakes for breakfast now, with a banana & a couple of slices of soy cheese. (My fave is the cappuccino! Yum!) And I use the bars as snacks or a meal replacement if I don't have anything else available. (I ALWAYS have bars with me - at work & in my purse, so I'm not "stranded" & HAVE to eat fast food, etc.)

 

Anyone with high cholesterol should watch out for the high saturated fat in some of the bars (I try to stay away from anything that has over 10-15% sat fat in a serving.) One of the lowest is the Chewy Granola Trail Mix Fruit & Nut (only 1g sat fat, 5%).. The ones with chocolate and/or peanut butter seem to have the highest sat fat.

 

Side note - all meal replacement bars are NOT alike - if you try the "high protein / low carb bars" - Like Atkins - the sat fat is astronomical!

 

Bottom line - The SF plan can be a great plan to get you moving to lose weight. But try to have some "real" food with every SF meal & as snacks. The more real food you eat as you lose, the easier the transition will be to all regular food when you're ready to maintain.

 

Good luck!

 

Sha

[sharonella]

And when I used to do the Lean Cuisine (& other low cal microwavable meals) I would always add a cup of frozen veggies - like spinach - to the meal & cook it right in with the meal. Of course, I always had the pasta meals, so it was easier to "mix in".

 

Sha

[Nliedel]

ahem, you cannot expect to sustain a weight loss without at least some exercise. Sorry, I know it stinks, but it's the truth.

[sharonella]

ahem, you cannot expect to sustain a weight loss without at least some exercise. Sorry, I know it stinks, but it's the truth.

 

Yeah - but we were all young & stupid once, right? :o I never occurred to me back then (maybe 20 yrs ago) that exercise was necessary to lose weight or maintain the loss. Well - let me take that back a bit - I'm pretty sure I did some sit ups & arms circles & jumping jacks (2-3x a week for about 10 minutes!) - you know, that calisthenic "Jack LaLanne" kind of exercise - but no walking or "aerobic" fat burning activity.

 

Gosh - If I knew then what I know now - I would have been a lot slimmer & healthier, a lot sooner - instead of stuck on this diet roller coaster for about 2/3 of my life!

 

Sha

[Nliedel]

Twenty years ago they used to teach use we could spot reduce. Remember that? LOL!

[RB Bonzo]

Gosh - If I knew then what I know now - I would have been a lot slimmer & healthier, a lot sooner - instead of stuck on this diet roller coaster for about 2/3 of my life!

 

Sha

 

Knowing it is just half the battle; I've known it for the last 15 years but have been riding that roller coaster anyway!

[sharonella]

Knowing it is just half the battle; I've known it for the last 15 years but have been riding that roller coaster anyway!

 

Yeah - but it took me so long to figure out what the right thing to do is (about 30 yrs of yoyo-ing!) - my body has all these bad habits ingrained - that it's still so hard to stick with it! Right now - I'm doing all the exercise (well, maybe I could use a little more weight training with all the cardio), but the portion control is gone all to heck!

 

Drat!

 

Sha

[gerif]

Twenty years ago they used to teach use we could spot reduce. Remember that? LOL!

 

Tee, hee - I'll go back even further to the '60's in high school with the jumping jacks and deep knee bends - no wonder everyone my age is having knee replacements! But, yes, I well remember the spot reducing exercises - bulldinky. I well realize that I can lose weight and exercise - I'll get smaller, but I'll never have Jessica Simpson's body!

[sharonella]

Tee, hee - I'll go back even further to the '60's in high school with the jumping jacks and deep knee bends - no wonder everyone my age is having knee replacements! But, yes, I well remember the spot reducing exercises - bulldinky. I well realize that I can lose weight and exercise - I'll get smaller, but I'll never have Jessica Simpson's body!

 

You can't spot reduce, but you CAN spot "tone" - depending on what weight training & resistance exercises you do. Maybe that's where they go tthe idea they were "spot reducing" - becasue the muscles under the flab get a little "tighter"?!?!? :confused:

 

Sha

[IheartPrincess]

Hey all - i have been 'slimfasting' (is that a word? ;) ) since mid may and exercising without fail 5 to 6 times a week and am down 15 pounds. I like slimfast and find it very easy to do, especially during the week at work. the weekends at home with the hubby are hard. seems we are always out running errands around a meal time and i, being a 'foodie' cannot put down the fork. i love to eat. but with a beach vacation in 2 weeks and a cruise in 50 days, i am determined to get this excess off. I am tired of not fitting in clothes i fit in only months ago. good luck to everyone. dieting is difficult, but you, WE, can do it!! :p

[sharonella]

Hey all - i have been 'slimfasting' (is that a word? ;) ) since mid may and exercising without fail 5 to 6 times a week and am down 15 pounds. I like slimfast and find it very easy to do, especially during the week at work. the weekends at home with the hubby are hard. seems we are always out running errands around a meal time and i, being a 'foodie' cannot put down the fork. i love to eat. but with a beach vacation in 2 weeks and a cruise in 50 days, i am determined to get this excess off. I am tired of not fitting in clothes i fit in only months ago. good luck to everyone. dieting is difficult, but you, WE, can do it!! :p

 

Congrats on the loss so far!

 

Well, if you can't plan your errands so they happen before or after lunch, there are healthy foods you can eat when you eat out - just do a little research. The salads at many of the fast food places can be great - just watch out for the high calorie "addons" - bacon bits - nuts - breaded chicken. Not sure the "grilled" Oriental chicken on 1 of McD's salads is lo-cal, either - the marinade seems very sweet.... I like the side caesar (w/ lo cal dressing & scrape off most of the bacon bits) & a baked potato w/broccoli (hold the cheese) at Wendy's. I ask for the sour cream instead of the cheese, & use about a TEASPOON or 2 - just as a flavoring - I find it adds more flavor than butter, which just absorbs into the potato & you can't taste it anymore, so you want to add more......

 

If you go to a restaruant - get a side or full salad & a side veg - ask the server to bring them together, as your meal. Or get a cup of soup with a salad. Ask them to hold the bread, or just bring one roll for hubby! (And you can always have a few bites of hubby's meal, too! :rolleyes: )

 

But the best thing is to plan ahead. Part of the reason you do better during the week is you have planned to have "this, that & the other thing" for breakfast, lunch & dinner, and bring much of your food with you to work, etc. On the weekends, if you don't plan the same way, that's when you feel (& get) out of control.

 

Don't forget, Once you reach your goal & start to maintain, planning ahead will still have to part of your eating habits!

 

Sha

Good luck!

Sha

[seadancer]

the asian salad is delicious and uses Paul Newmans (Lighten up low fat sesame ginger). This is for sale in stores and has only 1.5gr of fat and no cholestrol . If your familar with the weight watchers point system this big salad with grilled chicken is only 6 points. which is only 1/4 of the points my wife is allowed for the day and even less for myself.

I think it makes a reasonable tasty alternative.