If youve heard the term Optavia diet floating around recently, its because this method of eatingwhich is said to help your body enter a gentle fat-burningstate through eating small, frequent and nutrient-dense mealsis having a moment. But you might be wondering: what exactly is the Optavia diet, and how does it work? How much does the Optavia diet cost, and what can you eat on it?
We talked with with nutrition experts, healthcare professionals, and Optavia diets co-founder Dr. A to get all the questions around the Optavia diet answered.
The Optavia Diet has been around for almost four decades. Like programs such as NutriSystem and Jenny Craig, it relies on using pre-packed, proprietary meals, snacks and shakes along with a health coach and advice on how to develop new eating habits to promote weight loss. The Optavia website describes the service as an easy way to lose weight:
Optavia works because its simple and easy to follow. Five of your daily meals are Optavia Fuelings. Youll choose from more than 60 delicious, convenient, nutritionally interchangeable, scientifically-designed Fuelings. Your body will enter a gentle, but efficient fat-burning state, essential for losing weight. Each Fueling contains high-quality protein which helps retain lean muscle mass, and probiotic cultures, which help support digestive health, as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle.
While Fuelings will provide the bulk of your daily calories (which comes out to between 800 and 1,000) on most plans, youll also make your own Lean & Green meals, which are comprised of lean protein, non-starchy veggies, and healthy fats.
The Optavia diet subscribes to the idea that eating several small meals or snacks every day leads to manageable and sustained weight loss, and ultimately habit change. The thinking is that instead of eating three huge meals every day, youll never get that hungry because youre eating six or seven small, filling and nutritious meals throughout the day.
While this may work well for some people, were all differentand there isnt a ton of convincing research to back this method up.An article published by Harvard Medical School investigated the efficacy of eating small meals and found that, ultimately, weight loss is directly related to restricting calories, and the timing and sizing of the meals themselves doesnt have a meaningful impact on weight loss.
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When it comes to successful long-term weight loss, experts seem to agree on one thing: The emotional and behavioral aspects of eatingnot just the specific meals youre eatingis incredibly important. They also stress the importance of looking at whole body wellness as a path to safe and sustainable weight loss.
The cost for a months supply of Optavia Fuelings is just over $400 on the 5&1 Plan, and just over $300 on the 3&3 Plan. A months worth of Optavia-approved fuelings (shakes, soups and snacks) accounts for between three and five of your daily meals depending on the chosen plan. Participants are expected to cook at least one healthy meal a day for themselves, too. While the cost of the Optavia diet is by no means cheap, its not outrageously expensive either f you tally up all those Starbucks and GrubHub charges you probably accumulate over the course of 30 days.
Optavia offers three plans, with each program addressing different weight loss goals. Each plan comes with access to a health coach and a range of resources to help with weight loss strategies and general lifestyle wellness advice, all focused on creating healthy habits around eating.
If you go for the popular Optavia diet 5&1 plan, this comes with a wide range of Fuelings which youll eat five times per day. These include items like protein bars, Flavors Of Home meals (beef stew and chicken meatball marinara make the list) along with snacks like popcorn and a box of antioxidant flavor diffusers.
The 1 part of the plan refers to the one lean and green meal youll make every day, which includes lean protein, non-starchy vegetables, and healthy fats like olive oil or avocado.
There are other versions of the Optavia diet plan in which the Fuelings comprise about half of what you eat (3&3 plan), which is also less expensive, but youll be cooking moreso it just depends on which plan works for you and your lifestyle.
The Optavia diet has an extensive list of approved salad dressings by popular brands like Annies Naturals, Hidden Valley, Kens, Kraft, Newmans Own and Wishbonebut youll want to keep dressing amounts between 1 and 2 tablespoons per meal. You can see a full list of every single Optavia diet-friendly dressingshere.
On the Optavia diet, its recommended that you drink 64 ounces of water per day, although its encouraged that you talk to your doctor about what qualifies as wateryou do get water from food sources as well. You can also have calorie and carbohydrate-free beverages, like black coffee or tea. Alcohol is not recommended on the Optavia diet.
A Lean and Green meal (these are the ones you make on your own) includes 5 to 7 ounces of lean protein, and youll also get a lot of protein from Fuelings. In total, youll get 72 grams of protein per day on the Optavia diet.
While healthy fats are a priority on the Optavia diet, youll get less than 30% of your total daily calories (which is between 800 and 1,000), from fat.
The Optavia diet and Atkins diet are similar in the sense that they prioritize high protein as a source of fuel and as a weight loss aid. Its worth noting, though, that the Optavia diet includes more processed and packaged food than the Atkins diet does.
Parade.comtalked with with the co-founder of the Optavia diet, Dr. Wayne Andersen, also known as Dr. A. If you want to succeed on the Optavia diet, he offered tips on the best ways to create small, manageable habits around the way you eat. Heres his advice:
Dr. A: Self-monitoring is critical for several reasons. Not only does it keep your goal top-of-mind as you encounter emotional and environmental challenges, but it allows you to recognize your progress, which creates confidence and, in turn, increases motivation to keep going. Consistently tracking progress also makes it easier to identify setbacks and get back on track. Journaling is a powerful tool that very few people use daily. Jotting down your thoughts, progress and challenges allows you to reflect on achievements and recognize weaknesses. In the Optavia program, clients are given a Lifebook, which is a tool that helps them discover what works for them as theyre learning to incorporate the Habits of Health into their lives. Journaling is a mindfulness exercise. Our modern lives are so busy that its easy to rush through the days, weeks and even years without pausing to contemplate where we are and where we want to go whether it be a health journey or any other life goal.
Dr. A: Everyone loves the tale of the person that pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and did it all on their own. However, any successful person will tell you it took a village when it came to accomplish their goals. So, get a workout buddy, a meal prep buddy, a lunchtime walking buddy, a personal trainer, a coach, a dietitian, a counselor or whomever you can to help you.
Dr. A: Since the key to habit formation is doing the action or routine consistently over time until its automatic, the key to instilling good habits is to make the action simple enough that you have the ability to do it every day. Start with the simplest, easiest goal imaginable. Make the threshold for success so low that you cant help but be successful and begin to establish the habit through repetition first.
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Dr. A: Focus on the people, places and things you surround yourself with, which create conditions that may make it easier for you to be successful. We have a tendency to blame the people, places and things we are exposed to when something goes wrong. While this may be problematic, its also true that our behavior is extremely dependent on our surroundings.
People:Our friends, family and co-workers influence how we act, from how we eat, move and sleep to how we handle stress and spend free time. When you associate with people who have the qualities you desire, youre more likely to develop those qualities yourself. Joining a healthy community, like a group fitness class, can help you meet and engage with people who prioritize their health.
Places:The places we live, work and play need to support our daily choices and make it easier to avoid temptations. For example, its better to pick a healthy restaurant in advance than try to eat healthy off a wide-ranging menu once youve entered the front door.
Things:Modern life has benefited us in many ways but its also increased environmental stressors. As environmental stressors go up, so does our personal stress. For example, digital technology allows us to be more connected than ever, but it can also be distracting and unhealthy if not used in moderation. Identify the things in your life that are kryptonite and throw you off. Then, create an infrastructure for success by modifying your surroundings so youre better able to make small improvements every day.
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Dr. A: You wont be successful one hundred percent of the time. You will fail and make mistakes. But when you do fail, reframe that experience as a learning opportunity and extend some self-compassion. At the same time, dont let yourself off the hook completely. Stay committed and get back on track. Any journey, especially when its health-related, is a series of ups and downs, not a straight line.
Dr. A: In order to achieve a goal, we need to identify both the why and the how. The why is, Why is this important to me? Why am I willing to experience this discomfort? The how is, How am I going to achieve this goal? Who can help me? Often, we fail because we only have one or the other. The mental aspect (why) is just as important as the tactical plan (how).
Want to get a clearer look at all the different types of diets out there? Check out this list of 100 diets.
Reporting by Rebecca Warren, Nicole Pajer and Leigh Weingus.
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What is the Optavia Diet? Plan, Food List, and Using It for Weight Loss - Parade
