Optavia Diet Review: Does This Program Really Work for Weight Loss?

Maybe you’ve seen Optavia recently appeared on social media. Although the company is a little older, the diet program has gained popularity in the last few years. Optavia says it can help you adopt healthy habits and implement them in your daily life.

Founded in 2002, Optavia is owned by parent company Medifast, known for selling weight loss and health-related products, often through multi-level marketing.

To learn more about Optavia’s weight loss plans and offerings, I tested the products and spoke with a nutritionist. Here’s what I found.

What is Optavia?

Optavia is a diet company that sells bars, shakes, snacks and easy-to-prepare recipes. It emphasizes both good nutrition and good living. The company’s message is that if you learn healthy habits, you can lead a healthy life.

Optavia first caught people’s attention on Instagram in 2018 when TV’s Cake Boss, a.k.a. Be Valastro, shared her weight loss success. in post on his profile he wrote: “Many people have been asking me how I’ve lost weight lately…I’ve been using the Optavia program. I think everyone is different and you have to do what works for you, but that’s what I’m doing and I’m very happy with the results so far!” Says it’s not sponsored.

Let’s take a look at how Optavia helped Cake Boss lose weight.

How does Optavia work?

The diet company relies on meal replacements called “fuelings,” which are branded products designed to keep you full until your next fill-up. No matter which meal plan you choose, you’ll eat every 2 to 3 hours, resulting in six meals a day. However, one to three (depending on your plan) meals will be meals you prepare at home with fresh ingredients. The program also recommends avoiding alcohol, sugary drinks and desserts, high-calorie condiments, starchy vegetables and whole grains.

Each filling product contains about 100 to 150 calories. Optavia’s low-calorie diet has clients consuming about 800 to 1,100 calories per day, depending on the plan and number of home-cooked meals. According to The USDA Dietary Guidelines for adults, women should consume 1,600 to 2,200 calories per day and men 2,200 to 3,000 calories.

This calorie deficit causes rapid weight loss at the beginning of the diet. Health professionals recommend a 500 calorie deficit for healthy weight loss. Always check with your doctor before making changes to your diet to make sure you’re getting enough calories.

Optavia meal plans

Optavia offers three meal plans:

• Optimum Weight 5 and 1 Plan (five loads and one lean and green meal per day)
• Optimum Weight 4 and 2 and 1 Plan (four loads, two lean and green meals and two essential amino acids per day)
• 3&3 Optimal Health Plan (three loads, three balanced meals, one whey protein and one essential amino acid per day)

Optavia fuels

Optavia loads are the bulk of any meal plan – they include bars, shakes, brownie and pancake mix, snacks, cereals, pasta, potatoes, soups and pudding. Each product is claimed to be high in vitamins and minerals, probiotics and protein and free of any artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners. The meal plan you choose will determine how many refills you get.

While not all loading items are available on every meal plan, you have the option to customize your loading kit.

Optavia lean and green dishes

The meal plan you choose will determine how many lean and green meals you eat per day. Unlike refills, these meals are not included in your meal kit. This means some extra shopping and cooking is required, but each meal is entirely up to you. Optavia provides recipes.

Any lean green meal you make yourself should include:

• 5 to 7 ounces of lean protein (such as chicken, salmon, or tofu)
• Three servings of non-starchy vegetables (such as cauliflower, green vegetables or broccoli)
• Up to two servings of healthy fats (such as avocados, eggs or nuts)

Personal training with Optavia

Losing weight is hard, and doing it alone is even harder. A personal trainer can help motivate you and take the stress out of starting your weight loss journey. You can contact Optavia’s personal trainers via text message or email, or in person if distance allows.

The majority of Optavia coaches have been clients. After training provided by the company, you can become a paid trainer for newcomers. Although the training that Optavia provides seems extensive, the trainers do not go through professional training. This is where aspects of Optavia’s parent company, Medifast, step in through multi-level marketing to attract new clients and trainers.

Is the Optavia food good?

They sent me eight bars, two snacks, four shake packets, four potato chips, four pancake mixes, and one box of chocolate brownie mix (containing seven packets). This was a small sample of what to expect in either the 4-in-2-in-1 optimal weight plan or the 5-in-1 optimal weight plan.

I’m not a professional food critic, but I put myself in the shoes of someone on the Optavia diet. I made sure to pay special attention to the taste, texture, nutritional value, portion size and effort required to prepare the dishes.

Refueling

I started my trial run of the Optavia with one of the eight pads in my pack. Out of the package, one strip is the size of my index finger. Contains 110 calories, 11 grams of protein, 3.5 grams of fat and 25 vitamins and minerals. I thought the bars tasted great, similar to the cereal bars I would eat as a kid. There are a variety of flavors including peanut butter, s’mores, chocolate chip cookie with mint and raisin, oatmeal and cinnamon. If you’re not a fan of chocolate, there are plenty of other flavors to try.

I wasn’t as impressed with the other loads in the box. Although the brownie was easy to make (add water and microwave), it lacked much flavor and was quite dry. It had the consistency of chocolate cake, but was bitter. The brownie contains bits of yogurt, which were the tastiest part of the filling. Contains 110 calories, 11 grams of protein and 8 grams of sugar.

Mashed potatoes are another common fuel in both Optimum Weight meal plans. All I had to do was add water and microwave them, like making Idahoan instant potatoes. I tried the sour cream and chive flavor, although there are more to choose from. Each package of potatoes contains 100 calories, 11 grams of protein and 0.5 grams of fat.

As shown in the picture above, the portion is small. However, I find potatoes filling because of the amount of protein. As for the taste, the onion flavor is strong, but not strong enough to mask the processed taste. The consistency is similar to homemade mashed potatoes, but the consistency is too dry.

Finally, I tried the honey mustard and onion sticks. They are similar to flavored pretzel sticks and contain 100 calories, 11 grams of protein and 1.5 grams of fat. It’s hard to count them as nutrition because they’re more like snacks to me. The honey mustard sticks were bland, dry and heavily seasoned.

shakes

Shakes are considered a charge, but they are very different from the other charges offered. They contain more protein and fat. These traditional protein diet shakes contain about 100 calories, 14 grams of protein and 0.5 to 1 gram of fat.

I tried one of the chocolate shakes first. The taste of the drink was similar to chocolate milk and it didn’t have a huge chalkiness like other protein shakes I’ve tried. You can add extra water to adjust the thickness. Other flavors include mocha, caramel macchiato, vanilla, peanut butter and strawberry.

Optavia Diet Day

Here’s an example of a day’s worth of eating on the 5 and 1 plan. Keep in mind that you’ll be eating every two hours.

• Golden Chocolate Pancakes
• Wild strawberry shake
• Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
• Honey mustard and onion sticks
• Salmon and broccoli with lemon, thyme and ginger (lean and green dish)
• Creamy double peanut butter

Optavia prices

Each meal plan contains enough food items for 30 days. Plan prices are monthly based on the price after the first order, which is usually discounted.

• Optimum Weight 5 and 1 Plan: $472 (includes 22 essential fuels and 1 essential amino acid)
• Optimum Weight 4 and 2 and 1 Plan: $475 (includes 17 essential fuels and 2 essential amino acids)
• 3&3 Optimal Health Plan: $375 (includes 13 essential charges, 2 essential amino acids and 1 whey protein)

What do nutritionists say about Optavia?

I spoke with Dr. Melina B. Jampolis, a nutritionist and host of the podcast Practically Healthy by Dr. Melina, about the safety of diet programs like Optavia.

“As a weight loss doctor, I completely understand why people turn to diets like this, since we have to make several hundred decisions about food and drink every day,” Jampolis said. “So trying to ‘diet’ can quickly lead to decision fatigue and cause people to make the wrong choices.”

“Most people claim that not having time to prepare the right foods is a factor in their diet failure and eating out is a big challenge as the portion sizes are usually much larger than necessary and you honestly have no idea what goes into the recipes when you eat out,” Jampolis said.

Diet programs try to simplify this process by providing easy-to-prepare meals with built-in portion control, so you don’t have to guess how much fat, protein, or fiber you need each day.

However, Jampolis said she is concerned about diet programs that are made up of highly processed foods. “They may not be as naturally filling as whole foods that are closer to their natural form, and certainly not as healthy,” she said. Additionally, most diet programs “don’t teach people how to navigate their own diets, so once they stop ordering the food, they might just go back to their old ways.”

On the other hand, Jampolis said, studies show that “meal replacements help with both weight loss and weight maintenance, so if people want to use this to start losing weight, they just have to ensure that they apply the principles of sustained weight loss-weight maintenance. So maybe they could find a healthier meal (with whole grains and vegetables) to replace lunch or dinner sometimes, or have a smoothie or a protein bar for breakfast or a snack to control portions.”

Potential disadvantages

Is Optavia for you?

Optavia has helped people lose weight, but it is not healthy for everyone. Any diet program can have unwanted effects such as triggering disordered eating or yo-yo dieting. Consult a doctor before starting Optavia or any other weight loss program.

You should try Optavia if:

• You don’t mind meal replacements like protein shakes
• You want to learn how to make easy meals
• You want a program that gives you access to a community of people who are also on the way to losing weight

You should look for other weight loss options if:

• Looking for fresh or prepackaged meals
• You don’t want to pay for both a weight loss program and trips to the grocery store
• You’re looking for a way to keep your weight off long-term