Slim Fast -Your thoughts

I had joined this community during the summer, was really into it for a while, 20lbs lost and then I drifted away, stopped counting, I gained 5lbs and have stayed here for what feels like far too long. I liked losing weight and fitting into smaller clothes and just looking better overall.

I started the Slim Fast thing, just because it seems like a really easy way to watch my calories and still get the right amount of nutrition in my meals. I'm following it as best I can, I know what their definition of a sensible meal is, I know how many calories a day they say I should have, how many snacks, etc, etc. And now I am just wondering what other people think about Slim Fast.

 Personally, I don't mind the diet. It's not a lifetime thing obviously, slowly I'll move awake from the 190 calorie shakes for breakfast to something that hovers around 200 calories like I used to.

I am not a big breakfast person but I know I should eat breakfast.  I started drinking slim-fast 3 days ago for breakfast, and have to say, the Optima shakes have been very filling.  I don't know if I will continue to have Slim Fast after these are gone but I don't see any difference in these and protein shakes or smoothies for that matter.  I don't think I would want to have 2 meals a day from the shakes but for breakfast seems pretty easy to me.

Even the optima shakes have a lot of sugar. I was told I might as well have a snickers if I am gonna take in all that sugar.

I looooooooooooooooove the Optima shakes but honestly they make me sooo hungry and I could easily drink two in a flash. They are so delicious, I crave them. So Slimfast just isn't for me, though the shakes are a nice quickie breakfast when I don't have time to have something more substantial.

I personally try to avoid anything that is an "easy" way to lose weight....true, lasting weight loss takes work!  But if using the shakes to supplement your healthy diet works for you, then go for it.

Sure they have a lot of sugar but they aren't nearly as unhealthy as a snickers. Compare the two and it's a pretty big difference.

I'm using Slim Fast twice a day right now with other healthy food & it's going pretty well! Been doing it for only 4 days now, though. but it definitely keeps me full for a while & completely fulfills my super huge craving for sugar/chocolate that I have every single day!

I've found that the optima shake for breakfast and a optima bar for lunch, serves me good. But I tend to have the hardest time at night with my lifestyle change.

 

I have cheated in a week. Haha. And people are noticing already. I must be doing something right.

 

So I say whatever works - as long as it is nutritionally correct! 

There are a few reasons why I dont agree with slim fast, one being that there are so many better foods out there to eat apart from a horrible foul smelling shake, that it seems such a waste!

Also I tend to not think of myself as being on a diet, being healthy is my main goal and losing wieght is second. TO be healthy you need to learn what foods give you the best nutrition and a balanced diet.

lastly, you cannot live in slim fast forever, so say you did lose all of your wieght on slim fast, what are you going to do when its time to maintain, you will have learnt nothing along your journey on what to eat, how to stay balanced and how many calories you should be eating to maintain.

I agree that if you are not a morning person then its ok for a breakfast, although I can give you a much better recipe for a smoothie that tastes a million times better as well.

I guess whatever floats your boat, and any way that you find is helping to lose the wieght but that was my two cents worth :)

I have started eating 6-7 "meals" a day.  I usually have a shake for 1 or 2 of those meals.  They satisfy my chocolate cravings (not Choc. Royalle - ick). 

If you have a Kroger's near you their Milk Chocolate and French Vanilla "Ultimate" Slim-Rite Shakes are good - not a thick as SlimFast.  The Fr Vanilla takes like melted vanilla ice cream to me!

The shakes sure are pricey though eh? In a supermarket in NYC they can go from 8.99-10.49 for a pack of six!!!!!!!!!

I don't think using these are really effective because its not something you can do for the rest of your life- you have got to look at weight loss as a lifestyle change.  What happens when you stop doing the drinks and try eating again for nutrition?  Will you go back to bad food choices?  Also from what I've seen most folks who go with the slim fast usually gain al the weight back in no time and even add more along with it.

Try a protein shake instead.

Also I've noticed the commercials for slim fast don't show real slim people anymore.  In fact they had that one campaign that said "find your slim"  and the people in the commercial were still overweight and probably not at a healthy weight. 

 

Original Post by nycgirl:

The shakes sure are pricey though eh? In a supermarket in NYC they can go from 8.99-10.49 for a pack of six!!!!!!!!!

You can get a can of powdered for that price as well, it goes a lot further.

I am not a breakfast person, so a quick shake before my morning coffee takes care of my breakfast problem. As well, I have the bars in my desk. I'll have either fruit or the bar for a quick snack twice a day. My lunch and dinner consist of 1/2 cup of protein, 1/2 cup of starch and as many veggies as I want.

I have been doing thsi since Jan 5th and I have lost 12 pounds. Feels real slow, but it is coming off.

 

i like to have an optima shake now & then. :D only because i'm too lazy to make something & i know it gets an A on here. i've lost 60 pounds as of today!

hmmm... i wonder what grade a snickers bar gets? LOL there ARE nuts in it :D

Original Post by snowfence:

i like to have an optima shake now & then. :D only because i'm too lazy to make something & i know it gets an A on here. i've lost 60 pounds as of today!

hmmm... i wonder what grade a snickers bar gets? LOL there ARE nuts in it :D

I never understood the grading system  -- I get an A or A- every day even when I've eaten a ton of crap and junk food all day.  I find as long as I have my 2 salads a day I will always get an A  so I tend to not pay attention to grades but the cals, fat, carb and protein %ages

Original Post by nycgirl:

I looooooooooooooooove the Optima shakes but honestly they make me sooo hungry and I could easily drink two in a flash. They are so delicious, I crave them. So Slimfast just isn't for me, though the shakes are a nice quickie breakfast when I don't have time to have something more substantial.

 I know what you mean by craving them—I definitely do.  I try to have them only once or twice a week for lunch because yeah, they're expensive, and yeah, I really want another one after I've finished the first!

I just joined this community this week. I am just getting familiar with the site. I have lost 46 pounds toward my goal already. I joined this community to get support to help me loose the last 9 pounds and then to maintain it.

I must say using Slim Fast is not something I would recommend to my worst enemy. In my eyes, Slim Fast is an artificial food substitute.

I am 54 years old. In that time there are a few things I have learned. The one thing that I think has served me best throughout my life is to stick with what nature intended. I will explain.

When I was a child in the 1950's "science" was developing artificial foods for the space program. They had already developed infant formulas that supposedly supplied a human baby with all the nutrition they needed to grow strong and healthy without being breastfed. Mothers all across the United States and abroad were encouraged to not bother with breastfeeding which was then touted as a primitive and unnecessary nuisance. Those formulas today have been found severely lacking in nutrition based on what we know today about what an infant needs and what is actually supplied in human breast milk.

This example is just one of many that I could share. It illustrates the lack of knowledge the scientific community has in regards to the human body and what it needs. It is true that we know more now than we did 50 years ago. However when it comes to the workings of the human body the body of sciences pertaining to this field is yet in its infancy. I would venture to guess that some time down the road we will be reading about different types of cancers and diseases that were brought on by the consumption of artificial foods like Slim Fast.

My rule of thumb is to eat things that are as close to their natural state as I can get them. A piece of meat raw is just one step from the live animal. An apple is still alive when you bite it. A loaf of bread is highly processed. At least I can read the ingredients on the loaf of bread and know that it is made of wheat, oats, vegetable oil maybe some egg and sugar. I would prefer to eat whole grains that I prepared myself.  I realize that this is extreme to many of you. Can you tell me exactly what produced even half the ingredients in Slim Fast?

What are all those ingredients doing to your body? Some of them are from edible sources. However, when you eat things like processed sugar cane your digestive system does not get to work as it was intended to. The sugar is too easily absorbed. Sugar in an apple takes time for your body to process and absorb. The effort your body takes to digest the apple as opposed to the lack of effort it takes to absorb the processed cane sugar is a significant health and fitness process. 

If a fast and brainless breakfast is what you need try eating a banana and a few nuts, or an apple with peanut butter. The Ultimate Fast Foods are fresh fruits and vegetables. Nuts provide excellent sources of healthy fats that nourish your brain and keep you from feeling hunger for hours. They are easy to carry to the office and will cost less than Slim Fast shakes.

Changing your life style to live a lean, healthy happy life is not hard and it can be fun. Making healthy choices involves looking at what nature has to offer in the produce section of your market. Just my opinion and only because you asked.

I agree with most of what you say, however we are not living in the 50's any more where fresh foods were abundant and fast food did not exist. Even when we eat out foods were prepared better.  Today you go out to eat and the foods are loaded with empty calories, and our life styles today are so hectic that we are forced to eat on the run.  The real challenge today is to balance all that.  Even when you go to the market there are more boxed foods - Hamburger helper for one that is loaded with unhealthy ingredients.  You are right we do need to eat foods closer to the earth - it is what I try to do as well.  I use slim-fast when I don't have time to eat a regular breakfast and find it does hold me over until lunch where I can eat more appropriately.  Not all diets or foods will be for everyone so each of us has to find what works best.  Slim-fast also has a good amount of vitamins and I will usually have a banana or an apple with mine.  I did not breast feed my daughter because I was a smoker and even thou I had cut down while I was pregnant I was not able to quit altogether, the doctors felt that my breast milk would not be healthier then formula.  If a woman has a healthy diet and is a non-smoker, and does not drink there is no reason to not breast feed but there are good alternatives for those who choose not to.  Fortunately for me I did quit smoking when my daughter was 9 mths old and has been 17 years now.  I'd like to believe I have learned a lot over the years on eating healthy.  I try to have my oatmeal in the mornings or a good breakfast and good protein for lunch and a good healthy dinner.  I have recently learned quite a bit about the health benefits to eating black foods - black rice, black vinegar, black beans and have been incorporating them more into my diet.  I have also cut out drinking all soda's.  Losing weight is a life change and diets will not work unless you change your eating habits for life.  I have been on several diets over the years and hopefully learned that diets don't work, change eating habits for life does.

But to answer the question, I think you have to know your body and what works for you.  Slim fast may not work for everyone but for some it may be a good alternative and jump start you to better eating habits.  Counting calories is important but the idea is not to eat few calories a day.  It is eating the appropriate amount of calories per day for your body.  I eat about 1700 per day and have been losing about 1lb per week or so.  The calories must be healthy calories not burger king.  If you do not eat a sufficient amount per day your body could go into a starvation mode which will cause you to gain weight or plateau.   

As the saying goes "Life experience is the best teacher"