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Diets
TakeShape
QUICK FACTS
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BACKGROUND
PRO
CON
DIET and NUTRITION
EXERCISE
CONCLUSION
Common Misspellings
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Diets
TakeShape
Take Shape For Life Diet Review (UPDATED 2024): Does it Really Work?
A weight loss program that includes the Medifast 5 & 1 meal plan.
Start the Take Shape for Life Diet with 40% OFFWHAT IS IT?
Take Shape for Life Diet is a weight loss plan offering a 3 tiered system with pre-packaged meals, support from a health coach, and tips for healthy eating habits. They add how users can lose upwards of 2 to 5 pounds per week depending on the plan.
Also provided are solutions which can help not just with weight loss in the short-term, but also the long-term. Different kinds of foods are offered including bars, shakes, soups, and much more. They are said to be formulated with real science to be filling, nutritious, and effective for weight loss. This weight loss plan is highly favored and it was the top ranking plan of its kind. Users and our review experts noted it delivered to help optimize health and support lasting weight loss with its well-rounded support system To get a hold of this diet plan and learn about what it can do from the creator’s website, click on this link.
TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE DIET INGREDIENTS AND SIDE EFFECTS
Here are some noteworthy ingredients within the pre-packaged foods:
|
Resistant Corn Starch (Dietary Fiber) |
Organic Cain Juice |
Curry Powder |
Monk Fruit Extract |
Bacillus Coagulans |
|
Erythritol |
Whey Protein Concentrate |
Medium Chain Triglycerides |
Stevia Extract |
Chicory Root Inulin |
|
Organic Coconut Sugar |
Lemon Juice Concentrate |
Organic Sweet Potato Powder |
Tapioca Dextrin |
Autolyzed Yeast |
Resistant Corn Starch (Dietary Fiber): This is known as a non-digestible fiber and it is often found in carbohydrate rich foods, in this case it comes from corn. This is helpful for aiding digestive health and it can also reduce blood glucose, satisfy appetite, and improve the health of the colon.
Monk Fruit Extract: Found naturally within the luo han guo fruit which is 300 times sweeter than standard sugar. It is GRAS or generally recognized as safe according to the FDA. It is used to substitute sugar since it has no calories and is often well absorbed. This is a well-tolerated sweetener which can provide a pleasant taste without the damage that sugar can have.
Bacillus Coagulans: A healthy form of bacteria which can help promote more beneficial bacteria in the colon and gut. It has been used to help support digestive health and the immune system.
Erythritol: A sugar alcohol which is used to help reduce calorie intake in comparison to natural sugar. This is known to not affect blood sugar levels and it does not promote tooth decay.
Whey Protein Concentrate: A healthy form of protein which is rich in vitamins and minerals as well as amino acids. This is highly bioavailable and it is often used by athletes to support lean muscle gain. It is also rich in nutrients and it is known to have all the essential amino acids which is important when replacing meals.
Medium Chain Triglycerides: Fats which are often used to help provide a fast acting source of energy, and which can also help with fat loss. They are often extracted from palm kernel oil and coconut oil.
Autolyzed Yeast: Concentrated yeast which is used to provide a flavor and trace nutrients.
EDITOR’S TIP: Click here to sign up with Take Shape for Life
Take Shape for life DIET QUALITY OF INGREDIENTS
Both the supplements facts and nutrition facts are provided so you exactly what is added and what the full nutrient scale is. You also know what foods are provided within the different kits provided.
Their plans offer the following:
• Optimal Weight 5 &1 and 3 & 1 Plan: Snacks, kits, flavors of home, flavor infusers & tea, supplements, and fuelings.
• OPTAVIA: Fueling and kits.
They focus on using wholesome ingredients which are touted for their nutritional yield and they opt out of using any unnecessary sweeteners. They instead use alternative sweeteners like monk fruit, Erythritol, and stevia.
Also included are healthy forms of protein like bioavailable whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate. In examining these additives it’s noticeable the company’s goal was not just to provide low calories, but to also give users a wholesome and nutrient packed set of food.
THE PRICE AND QUALITY OF TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE DIET
They offer different plans and kits and each one has the specific price on their official website. When you review this page it’s clear they focus on making it affordable when you consider the wholesomeness of the foods.
Cheaper options are offered when you buy in bulk, and they provide a full 30 day offering of snacks and meals which are all naturally flavored and backed by different books on eating habits and lifestyle changes. This plan comes in at a low cost when you consider all that is offered and its ability to help one with weight loss.
Also provided in this kit is a blender bottle and it totals to 119 servings. This s very comprehensive and because it offers so many food not often considered diet friendly, it would be easier to adapt for a person who is not used to dieting, or who does not like having to restrict themselves to only eating less satisfying meals.
BUSINESS OF TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE DIET
They are owned by Medifast and they use the name Take Shape for Life Inc., their listed contact details are as such:
Phone Number: (800) 572-4417
Email: [email protected]
Address: 11444 Cronhill Drive
Owings Mill, Maryland 21117
They also have hours of operation posted and you can even reach different departments such as their nutrition support staff, service staff, client services, and more.
Their Better Business Bureau page has an A+ rating meaning they handle any and all customer inquiries and concerns to a high standard.
It’s also clear they answer many of the questions users have as they are active online. All complaints have been closed on the BBB which means users have all reached a desired settlement for any and all questions users had.
EDITOR’S TIP: Click here to sign up with Take Shape for Life
CUSTOMER OPINIONS OF TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE DIET
The following are some user experiences found online:
“it works I have lost a total of 30 pounds from it”
“after I got settled in it was so easy. The meals are satisfying and I lost 50 pounds thus far”
“This is so effective and exactly what I need to help live care free while losing weight”
“On the first week I ended up losing 5 pounds and it really great tasted. The food is the right amount as I wasn’t hungry either”
Favorable reviews were a constant as many said they were greatly satisfied with the satiety, quality of food, taste, and overall ease of use. This is likely why they have been operational since 1980, and they do reveal on their website they are recommended:
“by over 20,000 doctors”
Many were pleased with this diet plan and there were no issues related to any kinds of hunger pains or lack of taste. People also enjoyed the ease of making it catered to their own demands.
CONCLUSION - DOES TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE DIET WORK?
This diet plan provide an optimal way to lose weight via foods which are rich in nutrients, consumer approved for taste, and backed by real advice on how to lose weight. The company has also been highly favored by users who said that they responded quickly and that they resolved any and all concerns. Their official website outlines all the benefits this plan can offer, and thy back it up with nutrition facts and ingredients. This makes it easier to know what can be expected, and how nutritionally dense the foods are.
Furthermore they also sell it for a great price when you take into account all that’s offered, and the success many have had with weight loss. People said they were able to keep the weight off, and that the foods were satisfying not just for suppressing appetite, but in terms of taste.
All these stated reasons are why this diet plan was favored by our review experts as a top ranked solution for sustained and easy weight loss results. Click on this link to get the Take Shape for Life diet plan direct from the source; their official website provided when you click this cited link.
QUICK FACTS
Start the Diet Now Advertisement
- Established: 1980
- Founder: William Vitale, M.D.
- Co-Founder: Dr. Wayne Anderson, M.D.
- Headquarters: Owings Mills, Maryland
- Stock Symbol: MED, TSFL
- Accessibility: Online, personal coaching
- Diet Type: Meal delivery
- Gender: Male and female
- Get started saving with these Medifast Coupons
Do You Know the Best Diet Pills of 2024?
BACKGROUND
Take Shape for Life is a program that combines three elements to provide optimal health. Those components include a health coach, Habits of Health program, and the Medifast 5 & 1 meal plan.
On the Take Shape for Life program, dieters can lose between two and five pounds per week in a safe manner. Through the Medifast meals, dieters receive portion-controlled nutritious meals, in addition to free one-on-one support from a health coach. The meals include a mixture of shakes, soups, stews, chili, oatmeal, scrambled eggs and other drinks and snacks.
Dieters will be able to identify some of the unhealthy patterns that may be holding them back from the healthy lifestyle they desire. The Habits of Health part of the plan works as a step-by-step program to replace unhealthy habits with healthy ones.
The program focuses on including elements of improved nutrition, proper sleep, exercise and stress management into a healthy new lifestyle.
PRO
- Covers all elements of reaching a healthy weight
- Provides portion-controlled meals
- Includes one-on-one coaching for support
- Offers weight loss at a fast but safe rate
- Concentrates on overall health rather than just weight loss
- Pre-packaged foods eliminate most of the need for cooking
- Medifast is recommended by many doctors
- Encourages dieters to eat several small meals throughout the day
CON
- Packaged meals can make it hard to transition back to regular foods
- Meal delivery can be expensive
- Must purchase groceries for one meal per day in addition to the meals that are delivered
DIET and NUTRITION
Eating with the Take Shape for Life program offers the convenience of meals delivered directly to your door via the Medifast 5 & 1 meal plan.
This plan includes five portion-controlled Medifast meals from a total of 70 meal choice options, and one Lean & Green Meal each day.
All of the Medifast meals contain vitamins, minerals, fiber and nutrients. These include the shakes, soups, stew, chili, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, fruit drinks, iced teas, hot beverages, bars, pudding, pretzel sticks and cheese puffs.
The Lean & Green meal is a simple meal consisting of one five to seven ounce portion of lean protein, up to two servings of healthy fat, and three servings of low-carbohydrate, non-starchy vegetables. Below is a sample day menu on the Take Shape for Life program:
- Breakfast – Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal and green tea
- Mid Morning Snack – Cappuccino
- Lunch – Chicken Noodle Soup
- Afternoon Snack – Chocolate Snack Bar
- Dinner – Lean & Green – Grilled Chicken Salad
- Evening Snack – Chocolate Pudding
EXERCISE
Exercise is recommended with Take Shape for Life as a way to help dieters work toward optimal health.
Exercising is necessary to help with weight loss, improve metabolism, and maintain a healthy weight, which the dieter him or herself chooses. However, it isn't the primary focus and is introduced later in the program after healthy eating habits have already been established.
If dieters haven’t already been exercising prior to starting the program, they are advised to wait a couple of weeks before implementing a fitness routine so their body can adjust to the calorie levels of the meal program. Dieters are encouraged to start exercise slowly and gradually increase their activity and intensity as they feel up to it.
While on the Medifast 5 & 1 plan, it's recommended that dieters do about 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day. Vigorous exercise should be limited to 45 minutes a day. Since calorie count will be low while on the program, it's recommended that dieters not overdo it with exercise. The types of recommended exercise are not limited to, but include:
- Walking
- Aerobics
- Strength Training
- Bike Riding
- Swimming
CONCLUSION
Take Shape for Life is a program that offers a permanent solution to losing weight, getting healthy and feeling great. This program uses the Medifast 5 & 1 meal plan, which has been proven to help dieters lose two to five pounds each week.
Take Shape for Life incorporates healthy eating practices with exercise and coaching support. This program can be very helpful for those who might have a large amount of weight to lose or who need guidance on getting started with a healthy plan.
Common Misspellings
Shape for life, taking shape for life, shapes for life, eating shape for life, life shape
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User Feedback
(Page 1 of 1, 16 total comments)Valentina
It is really works!!!!
posted Nov 2nd, 2017 6:47 pmDianne Thomsen
As a RD this is the best program I am aware of because it focuses on the lifestyle that will keep the weight off longterm as defined in the weight loss registry. Diets don't work (85% of people regain their weight). Love the support and mindset training
posted Oct 5th, 2017 7:25 pmMonica Milks
It works!! I was a huge skeptic when I started.I'm going on my third week and down 9 lbs! I feel great.Still getting proper nutritionwithout craving the unhealthyfoods that made me fat! This is such a great programwith so much support! I'mso glad I joined.
posted Sep 13th, 2017 2:49 pmNancy
Easy diet plan. After initial two week period, no cravings. Weight loss is a steady at least 2-3 pounds per week and mine was without exercise.
posted Aug 28th, 2017 9:25 amAnn Johnson
This weight loss program is a scam, because there is no way out. To maintain the "optimal weight" you have to continuing buying their highly processed "food". The "food" is unpalatable and makes your stomach ache. The "food" is expensive and again highly processed. You will loose hair and it will get thinner. Lastly you will gain the weight back in the same rate you loose it. you loose the weigh
posted Aug 16th, 2017 10:51 amMary
+I read bad reviews on another site that was obviously a fake site--doesn't matter if the words consumer are in the web address. I researched this diet at real websites and decided to try it. So glad I did! I decided to just give it 6 weeks and I lost 30 lbs! It was easy. It is healthy and I am so glad I did. I continued it and I am now down 94 lbs. My life is much improved! Working retail at 100 lbs overweight was killing me. Now I am loving life!
posted Jan 28th, 2016 12:03 amPat Briggs
+It worked just as it said. It was easy to follow and having one on one with my coach was great.
posted Jan 24th, 2016 3:47 pmSherry
I am not terribly overweight but do need to lose the 20 pounds I gained when I quit smoking. I have terrible eating habits! I developed the habit of not eating all day long then eating a meal at about 8pm. I have maintaned this bad habit for way too many years and now I have no metabolism because I starve all day then gorge a night time meal. I had back to back injuries for over a two year period and it left me unable to do much of anything including walking for exercise. Then, I quit smoking. So, not only am I 20 pounds overweight, its 20 pounds of pure, jiggly fat. Bad habits are easy to break, all you have to do is stop. Developing good habits is just as, if not more difficult because you have to START doing things. I had to start eating, especially breakfast. After one week of eating 6 meals a day for just one week, I can not tell you how much more energy I have. After years of injuries and depression, I feel great and its been a VERY long time since I have felt that way. The hardest thing to adjust to was not eating breakfast, it was drinking all that water! However, after 3 or 4 days I found that I am thirsty when I wake up and now I find the water consumption fairly easy. If there is anything I have 'cheated' on, its 16 ounces of water I was supposed to drink that I didn't. I find the diet easy. Snacking on 100 calories every couple of hours works well for me and keeps my energy level up - I am very happy about that. A number of people in my family are also on the diet. My cousin is now a coach, having lost 80+ pounds in the last year. She has never looked better! Cousins are on it, nieces are on it... everyone is happy & feeling energetic AND losing weight. For me, the cons are the soy and the whey. Being lactose intolerant, the gas is... horrendous. Soy is a bean and beans cause gas so the combination of the two was HORRENDOUS however, it has lessened quite a bit since the first few days. To me, the gas is a small sacrifice for the 2 pounds I lost in the first week.
posted Nov 10th, 2015 7:26 pm
+Stacy Phillips Health Coach
This is the only program that has ever worked for me, and the changes I was able to make to my lifestyle were amazing! I lost 150 pounds on this program, and became a free Health Coach as well! I love to assist people in becoming the person they've always wanted to be! Many people talk about the "expense" of the food on this plan, but when you consider it is most of your food every month, I actually found that is SAVED me money! It's only about $12 per day, and if I consider all the money I saved by not eating out or buying junk, I found it cost-neutral! I was able to get life insurance for the FIRST TIME EVER and am modeling health for my young son also now. I couldn't be happier.
posted Oct 4th, 2015 8:06 pmEric Hunsberger
+I lost 100+ lbs with TSFL and my health Coach 4+ years ago. Its is an amazing program and has been not just a diet, but a comprehensive program that has taken me beyond weight loss and into health living. 'Ive discovered most other programs don't provide this kind of support and actually leave you off at just reaching a weight. Now my wife, father, father in law, sister in law and many more have seen the same results and have kept the weight off.
posted Jul 20th, 2015 3:24 pmI also choose to become a TSFL health coach and now am assisting so many people have the same results I have. This is the BEST program and I would of not become a Health Coach with TSFL if it was not. Its been so much fun to he
christie
+My results might me just about me-but I have seen so many people I know on this program be successful and maintain feeling healthy. Hard not to like this program.
posted May 23rd, 2015 5:27 pmChristine Bryant
+I am 62 years old & have tried many different diets throughout my life but this total change of eating is the best. I eat 5 meal replacements throughout the day plus 1 lean and green with 4-6 oz of meat and green veggies. I have lost 19 lbs since I started Jan 4th TSFL. The whole thing about the cons are they are not true. Hard to Transition back to regular foods - hardly. You were obviously eating food before the plan so why would it be hard to transition back and as for expensive... the plan takes the guesswork out of "What's for dinner?" The age old question. I either have a bar, shake, brownie & yes a brownie, mac & cheese, Ziti w sauce or so many other choices - never have to ask myself that question. You say the shakes are plain... add a little food extract to pump it up or even green tea powder...Starbucks does that to their fraps. The key to this change of eating is asimple math problem... WATER (64-80 oz a day) + 5 &1 plan + attitude change + training coach = weight loss. The program is like my recovery program I attend called Celebrate Recovery. One day at a time One moment at a time but you first need to set out of denial. The program works if you are willing to work it.
posted Mar 21st, 2015 11:31 pmJeff
+This program has been life-changing for me. I lost over 100 pounds in about 6 months, and have now kept the weight off for close to a year. It has completely changed my relationship with food and eating and has opened my eyes to the possibilities still available to me in life.
posted Mar 27th, 2014 12:25 pmIt is important to note that TSFL is *not* the same as Medifast. TSFL *uses* Medifast meals as a tool to lose weight, but weight loss is not the focus. TSFL is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change, and one that is aimed at creating optimal health for clients. This subtle but profound difference is what I attribute as the reason for me being able to keep the weight off.
Cindy
+I LOVE this program! It not only helped me lose 40 pounds in just over 4 months, I've learned to keep it off - that was 4 years ago! I'm still at my healthy weight of 116 and feel great!!
posted Jan 12th, 2014 10:31 pmMeghan
+I disagree with the CONS:
posted Apr 18th, 2012 3:44 pm"Packaged meals can make it hard to transition back to regular foods" - because you have a FREE COACH, there is someone working with you to help you transition back to eating whole foods. It's a very simple process when followed correctly.
"Meal delivery can be expensive" - FREE SHIPPING AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE if low minimum purchase is met.
"
Must purchase groceries for one meal per day in addition to the meals that are delivered" - this makes transitioning back to much easier because you've been learning how to eat healthy foods the entire time you have been on the program!
Michael Epstein
+I watched my wife reach her goal with this program and decided to try it. I lost 35 pounds in seven weeks, and saw my cholesterol numbers improve. We both have kept our new weight levels steady for over two years, and have helped other people choose health with this program. The revue lists coaching as a Pro feature. I'd like to add that it's not just support towards weight loss, it's key to weight maintenance. The extra meal (shopping) is listed as a con. Really? I enjoyed eating that same meal as my wife every evening as we weren't on the program at the same time.
posted Apr 13th, 2012 3:46 pm