Hi all,
I'm new to the forum. I stumbled across it looking for after-weight loss surgeon recommendations. But, now that I have found this wonderful site, I plan to stick around for all the good advice and support.
With that being said, I decided to seek out others who lost their weight as I did using Optifast. To my chagrin, it seems that not many on these boards have tried it, and there seems to be some very negative talk about from those who only "know someone" who did.
Optifast is like any other weight loss solution, it works under the right circumstances. If you take Optifast, and eat pizza at the same time you are going to fail. It isn't magic, its hard damn work.
I started on Optifast weighing 356lbs in October of 2010. I did it at the San Diego Positive Choice clinic, which is currently the only provider of Optifast 70. Why Optifast 70 is exclusive to San Diego seems to be some contract they have with Nestle, as Nestle would prefer to not produce 70 at all.
When I started in 2010, it was my second time on Optifast. The first time I flamed out in 2 weeks because I didn't really want to be on the program. Kaiser would not authorize bariatric surgery without being on Optifast for 6 months, so I got discouraged and put on 50 more lbs before finally coming back around to Optifast.
When people ask me how I did it, I tell them about Optifast and I tell them how HARD it was. I didn't eat anything for 8 months. I never took a single bite, or sip that I wasn't supposed to. I also worked out a regularly. I really credit support group, and my counselor for providing the tools I needed to succeed. By may 2011, I was down to 168 for a total loss of 188lbs.
It has obviously been almost 2 years since I lost my weight, and I still hover in the 170's.
If you are thinking about Optifast, know that it works if you are ready to put in the work. Even if you have to use Optifast 800, there were plenty of people in my group who were on that as opposed to 70 and still lost a ton of weight. In fact, of the 18 people that started with me, 8 of us made it to our goal weights. Some sooner, me later When you are dealing with people 100lbs+ overwieght, a nearly 50% success rate is astounding.
I still struggle in my relationship with food, but taking a long break from eating allowed me to develop a new understanding of my demon. I don't think there is any other method that can so drastically alter your perspective on food, than not eating for months.
I will try to dig up some before pictures if I can find any. I really didn't like having my picture taken back then.
Also, if anyone has any questions about Optifast, please feel free to ask.