Optifast Success – By the Numbers

I had my final “med check” last night. It went well – the doc had only good things to say, about both my weight loss and my last round of lab results.

The Optifast shake box (sitting in front of me) says on it that their program has been “clinically proven to get results” and then goes on to claim an average of 52 pounds lost, a 15% average decrease in cholesterol, and a 10% average decrease in blood pressure.

On the first number, weight loss, I’m just about exactly average. At my weigh-in last night I was 51 (point something) pounds less than at my first weigh-in back in May, before starting the program.

Re: cholesterol, instead of the stated average of 15% I’ve had a whopping 30% (!) decrease, from 244 before the program to 171 now. My doctor said she was jealous of my cholesterol numbers – they are better than hers!

And the numbers just get better. I’ve mentioned on this blog several times before about my satisfaction over the change in my blood pressure. Though the Optifast shake box states a 10% average decrease, mine has decreased by 36%, from 167 to 107. Awesome.

At the med check the doctor said she felt my weight goal should be 140 lbs. This would put me just (barely) at a BMI of 25 – out of the “overweight” category. At 5 feet 3 inches, 140 is at the upper end of weight for my height (and I’m not big boned), but since weight comes off some parts more than others, I agree that I’d probably look a bit scrawny (face, neck and arms) if I kept going till my legs got less chunky. (Let’s just say that if I wore sleeveless tops – which I don’t, out of compassion for others – they might start calling me “Wither Wings” like the Hippogriff in the Harry Potter books and movies.) Guess I will have to hope that exercise – when I get around to it – will help with some reapportionment as well as firming. And I’m close to the 140 mark on the scale, IF transition and maintenance include losing just a bit more – and definitely not gaining! (See my last post.) Time will tell…