Let’s face facts – you are reading this blog post because you want to lose weight and you are considering the Slim Fast diet because you’ve seen the ads on tv or in magazines. And I don’t blame you, those ads are convincing and the people seem to drop their pounds very fast. In fact, you’ve probably seen the ads so often that you could recit the slogan right now: ‘A healthy shake for breakfast one for lunch and a sensible dinner.’ But before I give my opinion on whether I think it’s a good option or not, let’s take a closer look at it .
So how does the Slim Fast diet work?
It’s actually pretty simple – you drink one of their shakes or eat one of their meal replacement bars for breakfast and lunch. For dinner, you eat a healthy, low fat, low calorie meal that you make yourself.
The Slim Fast diet also allows for you to have other food along with your meal replacement bar or shake. However, whatever you choose to eat along with your meal replacement bar or shake must be 200 calories or lower.
Having smaller meals helps keep your metabolism running smoothly. We all have heard that eating smaller meals 5 times a day rather than 3 big meals, you will help your body to burn more fat and you won’t feel as hungry. The Slim Fast diet also encourages you to have some healthy snacks between your meals to help your body burn fat.
What should you eat for dinner while on the Slim Fast diet?
The Slim Fast diet suggests that you eat around 500 calories for your main meal with the calories of your meal consist of one fourth proteins, one fourth starches, one half vegetables. You should also have a tossed salad and a dish of fruit. And make sure any drinks you have don’t contain sneaky calories – obviously water or unsweeted tea is your best bet, but you can also have the occassional diet soft drink as long as you keep things in moderation.
Just like any other diet, if you are on the Slim Fast diet, it is suggested you also get regular exercise. Although exercise is entirely optional it will help speed up your weight loss because you’ll be burning more calories.
The Slim Fast shakes and diet is not a long term solution, however it does cover all the bases when it comes to portion control and convenience. You’ll probably find that you get sick of drinking the shakes after a while anyway, so don’t probably want to be on it for a long period of time. But for a quick weight loss boost, or simply for the convenience factor, the Slim Fast diet (or any other meal replacement program) is an ok option.