Slim Fast (Slimfast) is the most commonly used diet shake and meal replacement program in the world.

The Slim Fast Plan calls for the dieter to have a flavored shake instead of their usual breakfast (usually chocolate, strawberry or vanilla) and another at lunch, and then end the day with a calorie controlled nutritionally balanced dinner.

Since the initial shakes were introduced many years ago Slim Fast have a much wider range of products giving your greater choice and more options such as their snack bars and other meal options.

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In addition to the shakes you are also allowed if following the prescribed Slim Fast plan two additional pieces of fruit and a Slim Fast nutrition bar or snack as needed during the day.

The blanaced meal for dinner may be used for any meal, as long as the two other meals are the diet shakes. Most people tend to eat the nutritionally balanced meal at the end of the day as a reward while others like to break up the day.

The way Slim Fast works is it makes you feel full (the shakes are full of fibre to fill you up stopping you feeling hungry) as a result you take in less calories. This means provided you stick to it your calorie intake is lowered and in theory at least you shouldn’t feel hungry a problem common to most diets.

The Slim Fast plan averages about 1,200 calories a day, which will cause fairly certain weight loss for most people, as it is at least 500 calories less than average female needs to for energy and probably at least 1,000 calories less than the average male needs.

According to most nutritional experts we asked there are some good aspects to the Slim Fast meal plan, however, there are also several pitfalls which should not be ignored.

The good news is that the Slim Fast plan now includes exercise recommendations and promotes drinking 6-8 cups of water daily, which are both important features in any weight loss plan.

Another big plus is the Slim Fast system is easy to understand (maybe it’s biggest plus). However with such tight calorie restrictions there is a serious risk that the body may not get adequate vitamins,minerals and other essential nutrients required for long term healthy living.

I feel maybe more emphasis should be put on these requirements and there is an opportunity to replace these by carefull selection of the balanced meal within the Slim Fast regimen.

Sadly the Slim Fast shakes seem to contain additional vitamins and minerals but lack other aspects of good nutrition. This I am guessing would be to keep the cost down and make the diet more accesible to more people.

Whilst the Slim Fast products are not cheap they are quite well priced and should not cost any more than a comparable take away meal would cost so you could actually find the effects on your pocket not as dramatic as some other programs.

In the past I have used the Slim Fast plan myself but my concerns were although I was losing weight what would happen when I tried to wean myself away from the Slim Fast shakes and start adding normal food in to the diet more.

There is a serious risk as to what is known as a diet crash and I feel that maybe the Slim Fast plan can be too aggressive in it’s goals for some people. This sort of regimen is notorious for putting people in to a cycle of weight loss and then a few months later weight gain. This is also known as Yo-Yo dieting.

One thing that Slim Fast meals and slim fast shakes do is make losing weight relatively simple if you follow the plan you will lose weight but it’s simplicity is also it’s biggest failing. People become dependent on the discipline this weight loss regimen gives so don’t make the required changes to lifestyle in the usual way they might on other programs.

Without lifestyle change and an notably increased exercise regimen any weight loss will only be temporary and what I think is the biggest problem for most people is that the Slim Fast plan is entirely self-directed, with little or no outside structure or support.

This means that people haven’t learned to eat well or control their lifestyle but just follow a regimented weight loss program. I believe Slim Fast could do more to encourage people to start a healthy living plan and wean off Slim Fast but I guess that wouldn’t do much for keeping their share holders happy.

Filed under: Weight Loss Meal Replacements and Shakes

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