If you are my friend on Facebook...then you have seen this post once already, it's mostly a copy paste, but I've adjusted some of the facts to be relevant for where I am now in the program:
A lot of people question whether the program we are using is healthy or not. I would like to show you that it is perfectly healthy and in fact, we are probably getting more of the appropriate nutrients than most of the people in the US.
A brief description: Our diet consists of at leat 4 Meal Replacement packets a day (Nutritional Info Below), these can be in the form of shakes, or normal type foods, we can make muffins, pizza, chips, cake, cobbler, waffles, bread, even ice cream! It also consists of 5 servings of Fruits and vegetables (F/V) a day that total no more than 360 calories, but at least 160 calories. Our goal on any given day is to consume at least 800 calories (between the packets and the F/V) and 12 cups of fluid a day (8 of which are water and 4 can be non-caloric drinks, although if we drink caffeine, we need to add another glass of water to offset the dehydration factor). We should be eating around 1,000 calories a day, especially if we are excercising properly. We also are required to excercise every single day. We worked our way up to 60 minutes a day, by starting at 20 minutes and adding 10 each week.
This is a 20 week program that requires we attend a group meeting once a week (Tuesday's) and that we check in with our health coach at least once a week (via email or phone). If we meet our goals by the 20 week mark, then we can work back into a normal eating routine and excercise 3.5 hrs a week to maintain our weight loss, and continue to go to 'on-going' classes for support. If we don't meet our goals, then we can start the maintenance program (at no additional cost) and continue meeting once a week and following the program until we meet our goals. The class teaches us something new each week, ultimately working with us to get back into grocery store eating and off of the meal replacements. This will teach us how to continue to eat healthy and take care of ourselves, and to avoid regaining the weight. So far, we have learned about portion sizes and portion distortion. We have learned how to count/estimate calories by learning about how many calories basic foods have in them. This will especially help when at things like restaurants or potlucks. We have learned how to excercise, what is a good heart rate to burn fat and maintain it, how to stop having negative feelings about ourselves and start thinking more positively (man...that is hard!), how to deal with stress, versus just eating, etc....
My start weight was 225.8 lbs, my goal is to lose 90 lbs to get me to 135 lbs, but if I get to 150 lbs I would be happy with that! In 13 weeks I have lost 46.8 lbs. My husband has lost 76 lbs. This is a Rapid Weight Loss Program, though I don't think it's as rapid as Gastric Bypass, but we do have some of the same potential side effects, but only some, obviously, we could end up with sagging skin, but if I tone and lotion appropriately, I'm hoping to avoid a lot of that, we could have gall bladder problems, but it's rare, and typical things like the occasional diarreha or constipation if we don't have the right balance of fruits/vegetables...and of course....we pee ALOT! but I have found that the more I excercise, the less I have to pee and actually the more water I drink. This is a Medically Supervised program and we did meet with a doctor and had many tests done and if need to we can see that doctor anytime. We will see him at the end of the program again to see where we are :) At about week 7 I had my gall bladder removed. I apparently had a lot of stones, and I would have ended up with problems this year or next, but this program sped that process up. It's been hard still loosing weight while I felt sick and not well enough to excercise!
So, although this is a Rapid Weight Loss Program, and generally you shouldn't loose more than 2ish lbs a week if doing your own diet, we should average 2-4 lbs a week, this program is built to give you the nutrients and daily requirements of everything you need every day, something the normal dieter may or may not get...but my body is functioning normally and at a healthy level. I feel the best I have in years and have absolutely no regrets and feel good that when all is said and done, I can continue to keep the weight off!
Nutritional Info: (this is for a total of the 4 Meal Replacements a day)
Calories 640
Protein (grams) 60
Carbs (grams) 88
Essential Fat (g) 4
Fiber (g) 8
Sodium (mill) 1200
Potassium (mill) 2520
Calcium (milli) 1000
Magnesium (milli) 480
The following is per Meal Replacement Packet
Vitamin A - 1250 IU
Vitamin C - 15 mg
Calcium - 250 mg
Iron - 4.5 mg
Thiamin - .375 mg
Riboflavin - .425 mg
Niacin - 5 mg
Vitamin D - 100 IU
Vitamin E - 7.5 IU
Vitamin B6 - .5 mg
Folate - 100 mcg
Vitamin B12 - 1.5 mcg
Phosphorus - 250 mg
Iodine - 37.5 mcg
Magnesium - 120 mg
Zinc - 3.75 mg
Copper - .5 mg
Biotin - 75 mcg
Pantothenic Acid - 2.5 mg
Vitamin K - 60 mcg
Selenium - 17.5 mcg
Manganese - .5 mg
Chromium - 30 mcg
Molybdenum - 18.75 mcg
So there you go, now you can make up your mind about the program and at least now you have the facts to make a solid decision about it. Ultimately, I am happy with it, and if you disagree with it, that's okay, but don't judge me on it.
Until we reach our weight loss goals, we will be eating 4 meal replacements a day, drinking our 3 quarts of fluids, and eating our fruits and vegetables and the occasional lean protein if we are excercising enough, but nothing else...but this doesn't change who we are as people...in fact, we have more energy now...so maybe we will be more fun!
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