Articles

Take Shape for Life: A New Way of Approaching Your Health

By CarolAnn Giovando.

TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE™: A New Way of Approaching Your Health
by CarolAnn Giovando

Take Shape for Life™ is a refreshing new approach to reach weight goals and maintain optimal health and provides the support to help make these changes lifelong and permanent.

The program uses Medifast® high-protein food supplements, safely used by people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even insulin dependant adult diabetics. For over 21 years Medifast has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose weight, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and feel better about themselves. Clinically studied at Johns Hopkins University, the plan has been used in over 15,000 doctors’ offices.

We have recently added the Take Shape for Life program featuring Medifast meals to our pharmacy. This effective, medically supervised plan allows for safe weight loss at a pace of 3 to 5 pounds a week. The process begins by working with our consulting pharmacists, who are committed to helping patients reach optimal health, not just control disease. We welcome your calls to arrange a consultation. Please call us at 314.727.8787 or 800.728.0288.

The Take Shape For Life ™ program has the following features:

• Medifast is manufactured in an FDA approved, pharmaceutical grade facility
  
• Medifast has been clinically proven at a major university teaching hospital and found safe and effective
  
• Soy protein-low carbohydrate food (Soy as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease)
  
• Fast and Safe weight loss
  
• Preserves muscle mass
  
• Convenient and portable
  
• Great taste
  
• Variety of foods and flavors
  
• A comprehensive behavioral and emotional change in your relationship with food
  
• Low and lactose-free foods
  

• Have over 15 pounds to loseFeel overwhelmed because you have so much weight to lose
  
• Are stuck and can’t seem to lose weight on other plans
  
• Struggle with losing weight due to medical problems or limited mobility
  

Fast, consistent weight loss
The Medifast plan brings rapid weight loss, usually averaging between 3 to 5 pound a week. Most participants feel great, have no hunger and stay highly motivates due to the quick results. The variety of flavors, as well as hot soups, supplement bars, oatmeal, and chili, make it easy to stay on the plan.

Our focus is on each patient
The program is easy, costs about the same as traditional meals -- and your support is free. Virtual support via the Take Shape for Life Website in the BeSlim Club offers an additional level of comfort; you will have weekly access to doctors, nurses, and coaches all from the comfort of home. Phone support will help on the journey to reaching optimal health. Professionals trained in the program can answer questions about how to make a Medifast Meal or how often to weigh.

The goal is to support healthy weight maintenance. BeSlim is an acronym which makes it easy to remember the six key ingredients of long-term weight control: Breakfast, exercise, Support, low-fat meals (five to six per day), and individual plan, and a monitoring system. These proven components are at the heart of the lifestyle program that takes each patient along the way.

First, we will start you on a simple to follow plan of eating a healthy meal replacement every three hours. Commonly you will eat five Medifast meals per day plus one healthy meal of their choice. Medifast meals are cost-effective and are designed to assure adequate levels of healthy soy protein for protecting muscle tissue while restricting calories and carbohydrates. This triggers a fat-burning process your body converts free fatty acids into an energy source that actually helps to eliminate physical hunger while giving you plenty of energy.

You may order the meals online through the program’s BeSlim Club. The program makes ordering products easy, ensures timely delivery. The Club provides assistance in your quest to change in your habits that will support a healthy lifestyle.

Average cost per month
On average, cost of meals per month is approximately $325, or just $2.00 per meal, based on five meals per day and a 30-day month. This cost is comparative the US average for meals. According to U.S. government statistics, the cost for the major meals per day is just under $6.00 per person. Add in three snacks per day, and this figure can rise to over $9.00 per person.

Clinical Studies Showing Medifast® is Safe and Effective

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Crowell, M.D. and Cheskin, L.J

Summary
During a multi-center evaluation of health benefits and weight loss on the Medifast® Weight Management Program, doctors Crowell, M.D. and Cheskin, L.J. at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine conducted a 16-week analysis of 185 people using the Medifast program.

Findings
Males lost an average of 67.41 lbs and females lost an average of 47.5 lbs. during fasting. Ninety-one (91%) percent of males and 72% of females lost more than 40 lbs. on the program. Significant reductions were seen in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and triglycerides. Blood pressures were normalized in 90% of hypertensive patients. Only minor, transient side effects were seen during the modified fast.

Conclusion
Medically-supervised, protein-sparing modified fasts (such as the Medifast® program) offer a safe, effective means of weight reduction and are accompanied by significant improvements in coexisting health problems.

National Institutes of Health
February 1998

The Medifast® weight management products were used by patients enrolled in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Obesity Research Study being conducted by the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Medifast® products were used as part of the study's 1100-1300 calorie weight loss program that obese patients follow to reduce down to their ideal body weight. Preliminary results showed that of the 15 patients who completed the study, the average weight loss was approximately 45 lbs. with some individuals losing as much as 65-80 lbs. Ms. Amy Turner, RD, the registered dietitian who is in charge of the dietary component of the study stated that "the patients love the taste of both the Medifast® and Take Shape shakes and I've had no complaints."

Researchers at the University of Vermont chose to use Medifast® products in the study based on the recommendation of Dr. Lawrence Cheskin, Director of the Weight Management Center at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Cheskin has used Medifast® products (shakes, bars, creamy soups, hot cocoa, crackers) at the Johns Hopkins University Weight Management Center [since 1995] and has been quite satisfied with them.

Diabetes Study

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Lawrence J. Cheskin
August 30, 2005

Summary
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health fin [Medifast® Diabetic Formulation] meal replacement more effective for weight loss and reduction in diabetic medication than a standard [American Diabetic Association] food diet.

Results of an 86-week study of 112 overweight or obese people with Type 2 diabetes found participants using the portion-controlled meal replacements lost twice the weight, more significantly decreased or eliminated their diabetes medication, and were more likely to complete the study as those on the standard ADA dietary food plan.

According to the lead researcher, Dr. Cheskin, "There is no room for miscalculating portions when using portion-controlled foods, which might explain in part why participants on [Medifast®] acheived superior weight loss results and demonstrated better completion rates. In addition, meal replacements are easy to follow and require less effort, which is why they can be an effective weight loss option for many people in serious need of losing weight."