The Slimfast Diet? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

KattoS · 11-06-2010, 03:14 AM

Has anyone tried, been, or currently on the Slimfast diet?

I used to eat several products by Slimfast when I was back in the states, and saw improvements in my weight and health. I had my mom send me some meal/snack bars and shake mix after reading about the new diet online.

I'm starting up on the diet, and have seen a little improvement, but I wanted to see if anyone has found it succesful.

Please let me know.
Thanks.

CourtneyDaisey · 11-06-2010, 06:23 AM

I tried it several years ago. I lost about 8 pounds on it but once I started eating again I gained that back. I can't say I personally found success with it. For me, meal replacement shakes aren't a long term fix, but a good way to drop a few unwanted pounds quickly. It wasn't something that I could stick with though.

joyc21 · 11-06-2010, 08:34 AM

I lost 20 lbs. on slim fast about 8 years ago. I even managed to maintain my loss for a short while before getting pregnant. For me, however, it just isn't a good long-term solution for weight management. I find that I can lose/manage my weight just as well while eating real food.

bargoo · 11-06-2010, 12:01 PM

I always have slimfast on hand in case I run out of food, I usually have a can for breakfast. Put a can with a small banana in the blender, very tasty, or with the strawberry flavor a few fresh strawberries, delish.

KattoS · 11-07-2010, 12:19 AM

That's kind of what I was thinking.
Its not a long term diet plan. However, to loose a few pounds quiclkly, I think I'll give it a try. Maybe I can slowly get myself off the diet and into a more healthy meal plan bit-by-bit.
Thanks.

RoseRodent · 11-07-2010, 03:01 AM

It can certainly give you a kick-start, but you have to be wise about it. From my experieince of yo-yo dieting with Slimfast over the years I'll offer a few points to ponder:

You need to make sure your long-term plan involves adapting your habits and palate to foods which are less sweet - Slimfast makes foods which fit the obesity profile, sweet or salty. Be really careful of your third meal per day and try to make your snacks real food like fruit and yoghurt, not just to avoid having the Slimfast bars which are sweet and don't change your habits but because Slimfast and constipation are good friends! If you are constipated then it's going to weigh on the scale as well as be bad for your health and well-being, so I always add additional fibre to the shakes and high-fibre snacks.

You almost certainly will be hungry. If you need to learn what real true hunger feels like then that can be useful, but in terms of keeping you from the fridge and the drive-thru hunger is not helpful.

You don't learn to make time for your grocery shopping and preparation because you are just putting a shake in a blender, so it may take longer to figure out how you are going to readjust your life.

If you have a family you may not find you readjust your whole family lifestyle because it's just you and your shakes and then making a family meal that can be full of fat if you want it to... and you might nibble! And I'm not sure what it says to children to see this, on the one hand you are doing something about the problem, on the other they start to see crash diet habits which start to take shape in their minds as a solution, so that's difficult. You might need to talk to children quite carefully about what you are doing and why you chose it.

Personally I find it useful for things like that quick 10lbs to get into a wedding dress, but it's challenging to make it useful long-term.

ValRock · 11-07-2010, 04:09 AM

I personally think it's awful... It's pure frankenfood. I've watched my mom go on and off the plan and myself go on and off the plan for YEARS. It teaches me to be addicted to sweet foods and not to change habits.

Losing weight drinking chocolate shakes and candy bars sounds glorious... trust me it's not sustainable or healthy in the long run.

KattoS · 11-10-2010, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoseRodent

It can certainly give you a kick-start, but you have to be wise about it. From my experieince of yo-yo dieting with Slimfast over the years I'll offer a few points to ponder:

You need to make sure your long-term plan involves adapting your habits and palate to foods which are less sweet - Slimfast makes foods which fit the obesity profile, sweet or salty. Be really careful of your third meal per day and try to make your snacks real food like fruit and yoghurt, not just to avoid having the Slimfast bars which are sweet and don't change your habits but because Slimfast and constipation are good friends! If you are constipated then it's going to weigh on the scale as well as be bad for your health and well-being, so I always add additional fibre to the shakes and high-fibre snacks.

You almost certainly will be hungry. If you need to learn what real true hunger feels like then that can be useful, but in terms of keeping you from the fridge and the drive-thru hunger is not helpful.

You don't learn to make time for your grocery shopping and preparation because you are just putting a shake in a blender, so it may take longer to figure out how you are going to readjust your life.

If you have a family you may not find you readjust your whole family lifestyle because it's just you and your shakes and then making a family meal that can be full of fat if you want it to... and you might nibble! And I'm not sure what it says to children to see this, on the one hand you are doing something about the problem, on the other they start to see crash diet habits which start to take shape in their minds as a solution, so that's difficult. You might need to talk to children quite carefully about what you are doing and why you chose it.

Personally I find it useful for things like that quick 10lbs to get into a wedding dress, but it's challenging to make it useful long-term.

WOW.
Thanks for the info.
I guess I thought I would enjoy the diet because I love sweets and chocolate. But I don't want to crash diet. Especially since I'm a self confessed Yo-yo dieter.

I'll try and limit myself and not focus so much on the slimfast diet to lose weight.

socalfelicity · 11-14-2010, 11:15 PM

i lost about 35 pounds on slimfast in the year 2001. i stuck to it for one summer, and did great. but now- i just can't do it. my lifestyle is different (i have kids and a family)- and it just won't work for me- not enough energy, not enough calories, and now the shakes taste horrid to me.

i would rather have a bowl of soup or a bag of squash, or some baby carrots and a turkey sandwich...

but it is good for dropping 5-10 pounds, especially if you have a desk job and don't eat socially...

Shopaholic1204 · 11-14-2010, 11:42 PM

I have a weird story about Slimfast.

The week before my wedding..I went in for my final dress fitting. And the stress didn't fit! My mom was sooo angry. She accused me of being pregnant!! Of course, I made it worse by saying that I didn't know if I was or not. Turns out I was just bloated, because I started my period the next day. Well..clearly that wasn't good enough for her, because she made me drink nothing but Slimfast & jog everyday until the wedding day!! I ended up losing about 5 pounds, and the dress zipped up. I cannot stand Slimfast now. But it did work for me.

tamaraj · 12-09-2010, 01:55 PM

I was successful using Slim-Fast before my wedding in 2008. I dropped about 30lbs, but as soon as the wedding was over I gradually put that weight back on (realistically, looking back I was making very poor food choices) and then some.

While I found that SF now encourages "real food" and rarely tells you to just eat one of their products (with the exception of breakfast maybe). I found that eating a half turkey sandwich, carrots and one of their bars at lunch was a satisfying meal. I also found some terrific recipes on their website that fit very nicely into my new healthy lifestyle (turkey chilli, curried chicken & bell peppers, etc).

The SF plan has changed and while I don't see it as a real long-term solution it is a good jumping off point and they DO actually give menus with lots of real food included.

Cheers,
Tamara

lucky8 · 12-09-2010, 02:10 PM

ive tried it a few times. First time round i generally just used to have one shake for breakfast and 2 healthy meals. Around this time i was also working a 60 hour week and swimming 4 times a week so i seen the weight drop off.
However it was prob all combined in to one why i lost not just because of slimfast , i found the shakes convinient and quick for breakfast.

2nd time i tried it was earlier this year but i had 2 shakes , one for break fast and one for lunch then a healthy dinner.

At this point i was unemployed and not as active so results were slower even tho i was replacing two meals. Also after two weeks of this you have to have extreme will power or a very busy lifestyle to not get bored.

Its a good quick fix or i think using shakes as one meal relapcement can really work but if you get bored quick dont jump in head first.

Another thing about slimfast ..........heat pleanty roughage............CONSTIPATION is a major side effect

Lauren201 · 12-09-2010, 04:07 PM

I have been using the slimfast powder since the beginning of November. What I do is add 1/3 of a scoop to a glass of fat free milk and have that with my breakfast. I would never just do "a shake for breakfast and a shake for lunch". I mainly just have it for the extra vitamins... LOL