The Program

Bariatric Medical Program at Humber River Hospital

The lead-up to this program is a long one.   After the orientation mid-November, the program did not actually start until May June, with the Pandemic delaying its start by 1.5 months while they worked out if and how they could host the program virtually.

This is not a diet.  This is a lifestyle change, full stop.  They leverage the Optifast diet to kick-start your lifestyle changes, that's all.

The program provides a doctor, registered nurse, dietitian, kinesiologist, and social workers.  Due to the extreme nature of the calorie restrictions, they do monthly blood tests, and check to make sure you're physically reacting to the diet properly.  They host weekly meetings for something like 24 weeks, where they build up your skills at handling stress, emotional eating, reading nutrition labels, building balanced meals, etc.

The majority of people are indicated for the 900 calorie/day Optifast program, consisting of four 225 calorie shakes/day.   Beyond a certain BMI, you may require a five shake/day diet, and at least one person was on a three shake + one real meal/day program.

The Optifast diet is predicated on the establishment of a mild ketosis state, where the body burns its own fat, because your diet lacks easy sugars (carbohydrates) to burn. 

The Optifast 900 diet provides a 30:30:40% balance of fat:carb:protein calories, or 7.5g fat (0.8g saturated fat), 16.8g carbohydrates (4g fibre, 0.6g sugar), and 22.5g protein, oh and 500mg sodium per shake, or per day:

• Fat:  30g
• Saturated fat: 3.2g
• Carbohydrates:  67.2g
• Fibre:  16g
• Sugars:  2.4g
• (note, sweetness is provided with Aspartame)
• Protein:  90g
• Sodium:  2000mg
• and essentially 100+% of daily required minerals and vitamins.
• refer to https://www.nestlehealthscience.ca/en/brands/optifast/optifast-900

During the diet phase, you're allowed up to 2 cups a day of low-starch veggies, which includes lettuce, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, green onions, etc.  No carrots, tomatoes, beans.  We were provided with quite a long list of allowed and not allowed items.  For note, Walden Farms calorie-free salad dressings were singled out as acceptable salad dressings.  I found them excellent.

The program started mid-June, but the Optifast diet itself, my first shake, started on Friday, June 26, 2020.

Next:  Part 2