The Optavia Diet: A Starvation Diet and Harmful MLM Scheme

What is Optavia and should it be used for weight loss? Optavia is an MLM company that promotes weight loss through starvation. Optavia's diet programs are expensive, don't work long-term, and can harm your health. It has been called a "pyramid scheme" by many because they make their money off the recruitment of new members.

This article will go over why an Optavia diet plan is not healthy and how it's just another MLM scam designed to take advantage of desperate people who are looking for help in losing weight.

How does the Optavia diet work?

The Optavia diet works by replacing your daily meals with 100-calorie “fuelings” five times a day with only one whole-food meal - the "lean & green" meal per day. Optavia fuelings are pre-packaged food products like bars and shakes. It works by severely restricting your calorie intake. You can lose weight in the short term but are very likely to gain it back just as quickly.

Optivia promises quick results... but at what cost? The Optavia diet is a starvation diet that will not help you manage your weight in the long run. This means, Optavia does not offer sustainable weight loss. Additionally, the side effects of Optavia can be harmful to your health if it leads you to eat too little over a longer period of time.

Some Optavia users have reported feeling dizzy or lightheaded during the dieting process - which can be linked to ketoacidosis (if their bodies are not receiving enough carbohydrates). Optavia even warns its users that they may feel tired, lack energy, and have trouble thinking clearly.

All of these Optavia complaints are symptoms are signs that your body is not getting the nutrients it needs to function properly. When you severely restrict your calorie intake, your body starts to break down muscle for energy instead of fat. This can cause problems such as hair loss, brittle nails, dry skin, and anemia. It can also lead to a weakened immune system and increase your risk for infection.

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According to the Optavia website, Optavia claims to help users achieve weight loss by teaching them healthy habits. Optavia also claims that you will lose weight without exercising. They highly encourage reducing or cutting out exercise to mitigate some of the physical symptoms of being in starvation mode. Starvation diets and reducing physical activity are not the healthy habits needed for successful weight loss.

Optavia 5&1 Plan

Optavia's main program is called the "Optimal Weight 5&1 Plan." The goal of this plan is to severely restrict your calorie intake. This is what causes you to lose weight in the short term. 

The 5&1 plan consists of six meals a day. Five of those meals are Optavia's pre-packaged food products. For the last meal, you are instructed to cook based on their "lean and green" meal restrictions.

The cost of Optavia can be very expensive, especially if you want to follow their diet programs. The 5&1 program costs over $400 a month

Optavia 4&2&1 Plan

Optavia's 4&2&1 program includes some Optavia foods, but it also allows you to cook more of your own meals. Optavia claims that the plan "encourages more moderate eating while eliminating sugars."

Don't be fooled by this. Optavia's diet restrictions are no less strict in this plan. The flexible meals are based on their "lean and green" meal plans. This still may lead to nutrient deficiencies over time. Furthermore, the 4&2&1 program is still unnecessarily expensive at over $470 a month.

Optavia 3&3 Plan

Optavia says their aim with the 3&3 program is to help people transition from the weight loss program back into their normal diet. Optavia says that the purpose of the 3&3 plan is to "help curb any potential weight gain, and provide Optavia Dieters with sufficient tools to make their return home an easy one."

On this program, users are still instructed to eat six meals a day. Three of which are based on their "lean and green" meal plans. Dieters also choose three snacks from the Optavia foods. This program clearly does not deliver on helping users return to normal eating habits. Half of their diet is still reliant on Optavia’s pre-packaged foods.

Optavia Lean and Green Meals

Alongside the pre-packaged Optavia foods, Optavia instructs its users to keep home-cooked meals "lean and green." Optavia's lean and green meals are low-calorie and the types of foods allowed are very restricted.

They typically include a cooked lean protein like chicken breast or grilled shrimp, and nonstarchy vegetables, such as peppers and zucchini. Sometimes, users are allowed healthy fats, like olives, avocado, or salad dressing. However, this is depending on the choice of protein.

The problem with all of Optavia's plans is that they do not teach you how to eat healthily. Nor do they help you build healthy habits. Optavia claims to be a "balanced nutrition" program, but Optavia only offers prepackaged foods and shakes for your dieting needs.

In addition to this, Optavia's plan restricts perfectly healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Optavia does not give information about flexible food substitutions that can help you meet your nutritional needs while still sticking to the program. This makes Optavia a very restrictive and unsustainable diet.

Why meal plans don't work for long term weight loss

Oftentimes, people seek out meal plan-based weight loss programs thinking, “I want a plan. I’m sick of trying to figure all this stuff out! Just tell me what to eat!” Unfortunately, when we try to follow rigid meal plans, a lot can (and often does) go wrong:

You just don’t stick to the plan

No matter how enthusiastic you are, meal plans can be tough to follow. Life can get in the way.

• People get busy,

• we’re not always prepared,

• kids get sick,

• bosses expect you to work late,

• it’s always someone’s birthday (or a special holiday), and

• sometimes you just don’t feel like having a protein bar at 10 AM.

This is also normal! Additionally, most people find that they quickly get bored of eating the same foods all the time and end up cheating or giving up on the plan altogether.

Meal plans fail because they don't consider individual needs and preferences. What works for one person may not work for another, and that's okay!

Optavia claims to be customizable, but in reality, it is not. You are given a set of meals to follow each day. There is very little opportunity to make changes or swaps based on your own likes, dislikes, and daily needs.

Even if you follow the plan perfectly

Meal plans are designed to be temporary.

One reason meal plans don't work for long-term weight loss is that they're often restrictive. They’re designed to help a person get to a specific short-term goal, learning to manage blood sugar, or cutting weight for an athletic competition. They are not designed for maintainable weight loss. Additionally, most meal plans are based on a very low-calorie diet. This can be difficult to maintain for more than a few weeks. Optavia is a prime example of this, with programs lasting 4 weeks at a time.

If you adhere to these plans for too long, the restrictive plan could lead to the development of restrictive eating patterns. You could wind up with disordered eating habits and lasting health (mental, metabolic, hormonal, etc) consequences.

You manage to stick to the plan for a little while but it sucks

Maybe you see some short-term results (or not). But you hate living and eating this way. You never want to see another stupid piece of lettuce or 4 ounces of chicken.

Eventually, you get so turned off by the process that you regress or quit altogether. You conclude that “eating healthy” sucks. Or maybe feel you’re not discilpined enough to do what it takes.

Meal plans don't work because they don't teach you how to eat healthily and prepare meals for yourself in the future. You never had the opportunity to learn the healthy habits needed to maintain your weight loss results. Because of this, you are likely to gain all the weight back, and then some.

Optavia meal plans force you to rely on their overpriced pre-packaged food instead of giving support and education throughout your journey to help ensure long-term success. You miss your big chance to learn how to make healthier, more enjoyable, more lasting, and real changes.

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The dangers of starvation diets in general

The truth about Optavia is it is a starvation diet. Starvation diets are not an effective way to lose weight because they do not provide the body with the nutrients it needs.

When you starve yourself, your body starts using its muscle in addition to fat for energy to survive. This leads to rapid weight loss but also leaves you weak and vulnerable to illness. Additionally, starvation diets can cause a host of other health issues:

• Deregulated metabolism

• Pathological dieting

• Weakened immune system

• Bodyweight rebound

• Gallstones

• Loss of bone mass

• Impaired intestinal function

• Electrolyte imbalance

• Heart arrhythmias

• Kidney damage

Avoid starvation diets at all costs because they do not teach you how to eat healthily and maintain a healthy weight in the long term. Even worse, the long-term side effects of Optavia put your overall health at risk.

A much healthier way of losing weight is by creating a mild caloric deficit instead. This is much gentler on the body and still allows you to incorporate your favorite foods into your diet. The slow gradual process of losing weight this way is more effective in the long term than any kind of starvation diet.

Remember: whatever you do to get the weight off is what you need to do to keep it off. If you can't imagine using still using a weight management strategy in 30 years, you shouldn't be doing it now. And no diet should ever risk your long-term health.

The MLM scheme behind the Optavia diet and how it's structured

Optavia is actually a subsidiary of the company, Medifast, which quickly rebranded after being charged with civil penalties for making false claims about its 5&1 weight loss program in 2012.

This false advertising led to a class-action lawsuit which left the Medifast company paying a 3.7 million dollar settlement for the misleading ads. Medifast was originally created to help those who have extreme dietary restrictions prepare for bariatric surgery. The new spin on the original Medifast meal replacement products is the Optavia diet brand.

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Optavia's Coaching Program

Optavia offers to connect you with a coach to help you along in your weight loss journey. Don’t get too excited, these coaching sessions are not led by actual health professionals. These "coaches" are Optavia participants who purchased the $200 Optavia business kit and also passed an internal certification test.

This coaching "certification" does not teach the coaches anything about nutrition or exercise science. It is also not nationally accredited or accepted by professionals in the health and wellness industry. It merely teaches participants how to recruit more people into this dangerous dieting program. In terms of weight loss coaching, it is useless.

This is a part of the multi-level marketing scheme. When you go through their diet program, you can ask your coach to bring you on as a coach, enabling you to recruit more clients and coaches under you.

Everything about Optavia looks and sounds like a pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme is defined as a company that profits by people selling their goods for a cut of the profits and then creating a chain of individuals getting profit shares. These companies will focus heavily on consistently recruiting new people so they can make more money at the top. This is precisely what Optavia does.

They get people in the door by first starting them on their diet. Then they strongly encourage them to become coaches and sell products. Many of them opt-in not because they want to become coaches, but simply to get a discount on the expensive products that they can no longer afford.

This company is exploiting people by first, taking advantage of their desire to lose weight, then targeting the same financial vulnerability it created with its overpriced products. Optavia is a complete scam.

Conclusion

The Optavia diet is not the answer to your weight loss struggles. It won't help you manage your weight long-term. More concerningly it could cause some major health issues.

If you want to make a lasting change with your weight, contact us for CBM 1:1 Coaching! We'll teach you about the health-promoting habits that can lead to lasting success with healthy eating and exercise as well as how to break free from any unhealthy behavioral patterns holding you back from achieving your goals. Click here to apply now!

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