Can Slim Fast Help People Lose Weight?

People weigh too much, they feel bad about themselves, and have too many health problems. Up to half of Americans are overweight; worse, a third of Americans are considered obese. The severity of the crisis has contributed to the rise of many diet schemes and other programs to burn fat. One such scheme is hypnosis, but does hypnosis work? Many seek out more traditional programs, such as Slim Fast and its associated products. But does slim fast work?

Slim Fast works by replacing high caloric meals with low calorie snacks and meals. The newest program is the “3-2-1″ plan. A dieter following this protocol will eat three snacks (bars sold by Slim Fast, 100 calories each, 300 calories total); two meal replacement shakes sold by Slim Fast (200 calories each, 400 calories total); and a dinner of approximately 500 calories.

If this scheme is followed religiously, a dieter would be eating around 1200 calories each day. If one believe that calories are all that matter (if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will burn fat and lose weight), this is a good way to lose weight. The average daily calorie requirement is around 2000 calories. A dieter would thus be running a deficit of approximately 800 calories per day. If 4000 calories is equivalent to one pound, a dieter should expect to lose one pound per week, at least in theory.

Practice bears out theory. Long-term, longitudinal studies of dieters using Slim Fast suggest that it works. Studies show that those who used the Slim Fast diet lost more weight than a control group. Over the long term, Slim Fasters weigh 30 pounds less on average than non-Slim Fasters. The only requirement for this program to work is that the dieter stick to the schedule as exactly as possible. This is more challenging as it sounds, because eating the same foods every day can quickly turn monotonous, trying the patience of even the most committed dieter. However, with sufficient will power, the Slim Fast diet can be an effective weight loss tool. It is not a magic bullet, though, and should not be treated as such.