The proven strategy for safe, effective weight loss is to take in fewer calories than you burn each day. The additional needed calories to make up the deficit come from the body's energy stores--usually fat, though crash diets can take a bite out of lean muscle mass as well. Food replacement diets that switch out certain meals in favor of nutrient-packed bars, shakes and even cookies, help to maintain the restricted calorie level, and they are formulated to make you feel full.
Slim Fast
In 2009, Slim Fast simplified its product line and launched the 3-2-1 plan. The diet calls for three 100-calorie snacks, two meal replacement shakes or bars and one "sensible" dinner. The recommended dinner contains a 40-30-30 percent mix of protein, carbohydrate and fat, respectively, and weighs in at 500 calories. The snacks and shakes are manufactured by Slim Fast, but you must prepare the dinner item yourself based on your own knowledge or by using some of the suggestions offered at the company's website. The Slim Fast diet averages 1,200 calories per day which is right at the recommended minimum for women and below the recommended 1,500 per day for adult males, according to the American Heart Association. Moderately active males, aged 31 to 50, burn about 2,400 calories per day, meaning someone in that demographic group would lose about 2.5 lbs. per week. That's a touch over the recommended safe pace of 1.5 to 2 lbs. per week.
Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet
The diet's name evokes a certain faddishness, but the cookies are not your average chocolate chip delicacy. Dr. Siegal formulated the cookies in 1975 with an amino acid and protein blend that makes the body feel sated while providing limited calories. Dieters eat six cookies per day when hunger strikes, and like many meal replacement diets, one actual meal per day. The cookies come in blueberry, oatmeal, chocolate, raisin, banana and coconut varieties. The company also produces meal replacement shakes that are the equivalent of two cookies. Six cookies and one meal according to the recommendations totals only 800 calories, which critics contend is dangerously low intake. Dr. Siegal swears by his plan, claiming he has helped thousands of people lose up to 15 pounds per month.
Medifast
The Medifast diet program began in 1980, and it was originally marketed as a medically supervised diet. Products were available only through a doctor. The product line began with meal replacement shakes, but it has since grown to include more than 60 prepared items each counting as one "unit" in the "5 to 1" Medifast plan. The plan calls for five meal replacements per day and one food-based meal. The replacements can be a shake or one of the prepared fruit, soup or other beverage items. In a study by Lisa M. Davis, et al, published in the "Nutrition Journal," 2010, participants on the Medifast plan lost 12.3 percent of total body weight over 16 weeks compared to just 6.9 percent for the food-based diet group.
Special K Diet
The Special K Diet is an easy and inexpensive alternative to manufactured meal replacement shakes and bars available through specialty companies. The cereal maker promotes it's plan as a fast and nutritious weight loss method citing internal studies that participants lost an average of 6 lbs. over a two-week trial period. You must consume two bowls of Special K cereal of any variety and one nutritionally balanced meal each day. Snacks should include fruit, veggies or yogurt only, and you may have unlimited low-calorie beverages. Unlike many other meal replacement plans, the Special K diet is intended for short durations only, lasting not more than two weeks at a time.
References
- "Nutrition Journal"; Efficacy of Meal Replacement Diet Plan ... ; Lisa M. Davis, et al
- American Dietetic Association: Weight Management
- iVillage: The Truth About Meal Replacement
- Everyday Diet: Meal Replacement Diets
- ABC News: The Cookie Diet
- American Heart Association: Know How Many Calories You Should Eat
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