Click the title bars below to view details of the OPTIFAST program.
Clicking a new title will open a new section.
What to Expect
Meal Replacement
Transition
Maintenance
Healthy, Active Living
Monitored Weight Loss
Optifast Before Surgery
Costs of Obesity
Network Affiliations
Our Full Meal Replacement Program is designed to maximize weight loss, with patients losing up to 40 and 50 pounds on average.
The well-documented weight loss success of the OPTIFAST Program is based on the use of meal replacements during the active weight loss phase of the program. The benefits include:
* High-quality, complete nutrition
* Pre-portioned and calorie-controlled servings
* Quick and simple preparation
* Freedom from having to make food choices
Some people are skeptical about their ability to follow such a diet, but adjusting to full meal replacement typically only takes about one week. Afterward, many patients report they feel more energetic than they have for a long time.
Positive change can occur quickly. In addition to losing weight, you will improve your health, learn new, healthier eating and activity skills so that when you return to self-prepared foods, you are better equipped to manage your weight long term.
You will start the Meal Replacement portion of the program the day of the physical. We offer a powder supplement that would be mixed with water or Diet Rite Soda. We also have a ready-to-drink product that is in a juice box. Flavors are chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. We also now have Meal Replacement bars that actually take the place of a supplement.
You will have the option of taking 3 shakes and two meal replacement bars daily or 4 shakes and 1 meal replacement bar daily. Women will also take 1 snack bar and men will take 2 snack bars. Your daily food intake of Optifast will meet 100% of the daily requirements for vitamins and minerals.
When you have completed the Meal Replacement part of the program, you will then go to Transition. You will meet with the dietitian as you gradually decrease the amount of supplements and slowly begin adding food back to your diet to build your metabolism. Transition is a key part of the program.
This is the final phase of the program. We would like for you to come to the office once a week for a weight check. Accountability to our scale will keep the weight off! If that is not possible, weigh yourself at home at least 3 to 4 times weekly. We are watching for a 5 lb. weight gain. Should you have this gain you need to come back and go to group to get back on track!
As you know, keeping the weight off is the hardest part of any program. Because obesity is a chronic disease our program recognizes the need for continuous management.
The OPTIFAST program goes way beyond the typical diet. To help ensure your long-term success, OPTIFAST clinics provide personal support and lifestyle education throughout the program. Some of the features include:
* One-on-one counseling sessions with a physician, registered dietitian, or lifestyle counselor.
* Small group discussions led by a health care professional.
* Peer support from current and past OPTIFAST participants.
* Educational materials created especially for OPTIFAST patients.
* Customized activity plans appropriate to your fitness level and schedule.
OPTIFAST health care professionals understand the challenges overweight individuals face as they become active. That’s why they partner with you to make the transition to healthy, active living.
The OPTIFAST Program includes ongoing medical monitoring to assess your progress towards better health, and that the doses of any medications you are taking and/or the calorie level of your diet are adjusted as you lose weight.
Medical monitoring includes:
* A thorough preliminary medical examination and any necessary lab tests to determine your health status and rule out any risk factors.
* A personalized weight loss plan, based on your health status and weight loss goals.
* Continued guidance and medical monitoring of your progress, health, and wellbeing throughout the course of treatment.
* Communication with your primary care physician, as necessary.
The OPTIFAST Program has worked with the top experts in the obesity field since 1974 and regularly shares the latest developments and research with all our clinics.
Some OPTIFAST clinics and bariatric surgery centers offer special programs that help patients lose weight in advance of their weight loss surgery.
“Why should I lose weight beforehand,” ask some patients, “when I’ll lose so much weight afterward?” The fact is, the heavier the patient, the greater the risks you and your surgeon face. Clinical data show that using OPTIFAST before surgery can help patients lose enough weight to significantly reduce health risks associated with various procedures. Moreover, the lifestyle changes patients learn as part of the OPTIFAST program help prepare them for life after surgery.
If you are considering weight loss surgery or are scheduled for a procedure, talk to your physician about the benefits of presurgical use of OPTIFAST. It could make a meaningful difference in your health before surgery, during surgery, and long afterward.
Some of the benefits include:
• Reduced risk for complications during surgery
• Reduced recovery time
• Increased weight loss first year following surgery
If you’re an employer whose health costs have continued to rise, you’re not alone. With 65% of Americans overweight and nearly 1-in-3 clinically obese, employers pay a heavy price in direct health care costs, life and disability insurance outlays, and reduced productivity:
• $93 billion in direct medical costs
• $3.4 billion annually in sick leave costs
• $2.5 billion annually in obesity-related life insurance spending
• $1.1 billion spent annually on disability insurance spending.
Obesity can actually double an employer’s annual health care costs from an average outlay of $4,016 for a normal weight employee, to $8,359 for a Grade III (impact > 40) obese employee. After all, obese people are at greater risk of developing type-2 diabetes, they suffer more heart attacks and strokes, and are also more vulnerable to depression, arthritis and certain types of cancer. They are also less productive than normal weight employees and more prone to absenteeism.
The OPTIFAST Program addresses a key cost driver by helping to reduce the incidence and severity of obesity-related illness. In so doing, it also improves employee productivity, reduces absenteeism and enhances participants’ quality of life.
How does that translate to dollars? Recent data suggest that by getting 50 obese employees down to a healthy weight, a company can reduce annual health care costs by an average of $84,750. Moreover, as the degree of obesity increases, the potential cost savings with OPTIFAST Program participation weight loss also increase.
Employers: contact us to discuss adding this clinically-proven tool to your benefits offerings. Whether you choose to fund the program entirely, subsidize a portion of its cost, or simply educate your employees about their weight loss options, make the OPTIFAST Program your ally in keeping health care costs manageable.
Network Affiliations
As of June 1, 2009 we are in network with most major insurance companies.
Contact our office for more information.