Different than many other weight loss solutions, OPTIFAST is a medical weight loss program that closely monitors and assesses your progress towards better health and well-being as you lose weight. During your journey with OPTIFAST, we will ensure that the doses of any medications you are taking, and/or the calorie level of your diet is adjusted accordingly, making your weight loss both safe and effective.

OPTIFAST's medical monitoring includes:

• A thorough preliminary medical examination and any necessary lab tests to determine your health status and rule out any risk factors

• A personalized weight loss plan based on your health status and weight loss goals

• Continued guidance and medical monitoring of your progress, health, and well-being throughout the course of treatment

• Communication with your primary care physician, as necessary

• More and more, clinical studies suggest medically monitored weight management programs are safe, effective and help individuals to address and modify behaviors to encourage long-term weight management.

The OPTIFAST program goes beyond the typical diet. To help ensure your long term weight loss success, OPTIFAST clinics provide personal weight loss counseling and support, as well as lifestyle education, throughout the program. Some of the features include:

• One-on-one counseling sessions with a physician, registered dietitian, or lifestyle counselor.

• Small group discussions led by a health care professional.

• Peer support from current and past OPTIFAST participants.

• Educational materials created especially for OPTIFAST patients.

• Customized activity plans appropriate to your fitness level and schedule.

OPTIFAST health care professionals understand the challenges overweight individuals face as they become active. That's why they partner with you to make the healthy transition, active living.

OPTIFAST program experts recognize that a key to successful weight management is periodic or continuous involvement in a weight management program.

• Weight management is an ongoing process that requires intermittent behavioral, nutrition and exercise intervention.

• Relapse is not unusual. Persistence, not perfection, is the key.

• The tools and staff support available during active weight loss and transition will also be available in long-term weight management.

The real solution lies not in the weight loss, but in weight management: helping patients maintain a healthy weight over time, particularly in the first year after completing the OPTIFAST program is the key to long term results.

"Medically Significant" weight loss — as low as 5% to 10% of your total weight — can have a measurable positive impact on your health. So, take a step in the right direction today!

Nearly two thirds of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese. It’s not about how you look: It's about your health. Being overweight or obese can affect your basic health and quality of life. It can:

• Make you more likely to develop certain medical conditions

• Make having some medical conditions more challenging

In fact, the more overweight you are, the more likely you are to be faced with obesity-related health risks. That's why bringing your weight down is so important: it can help lower your chances of developing certain health problems, and even help you manage some conditions you already have.

If your BMI, or Body Mass Index, measures 30 or more, losing even some of the excess weight with OPTIFAST can make a difference in your life.