Slim4Life

Slim4Life is a diet focused around not only dieting to lose weight, but a complete lifestyle change to what and how much you eat on any given day. Slim4Life follows the basic food pyramid. When going through the program, meal plans are designed on a person-by-person basis, depending on age, gender, body type and other various details. Therefore, no two people will have the exact same list.

As with most diets, though, there are a good deal of similarities because some food is just better for you than others.

What You Can Eat

 The Slim4Life diet tells you not only what you can eat, but what you have to eat every day. It stays close to the basic food pyramid on how many servings a person should eat of a specific type of food in a day. Because of this, the menu is very customizable and more about portion control than restricting certain foods.

Proteins

Two servings per day. While there are many things you can eat to fulfill your protein quota, beef is only permitted twice a week, and never two days in a row. Some sources of protein are:

• 4 ounces ground sirloin
• 4 ounces ground turkey
• 5 ounces veal cutlet
• 5 ounces lobster
• 2 large eggs

Vegetables

Four servings per day of most any vegetable. The general serving size of 1 cup is for raw vegetables only. If you’re adding cooked vegetables to your meal, use only a half cup instead.

• 1 cup asparagus
• 1 cup celery
• 1 cup cucumbers
• 1 small tomato
• 1 cup zucchini
• 1 cup broccoli

Starches

Two servings per day of starches. Many diets try to cut out starches altogether. Slim4Life limits the number of starches, but doesn’t eliminate them completely. These can include foods such as:

• 1/4 cup cooked brown rice
• 1/2 of a corn tortilla
• 1 unsalted rice cake

Fruits

Two servings per day of only fresh or frozen fruit; no canned fruit, because the syrup it’s soaked in is exceptionally high in sugar. Some fruits you can enjoy:

• 10 green grapes
• 1/2 small grapefruit
• 1/4 cup raspberries
• 1 cup watermelon
• 3 medium apricots

Liquids

Water is absolutely essential to well-being, and keeping yourself hydrated is a great way to help boost your body’s ability to burn calories. For this reason, at least 80 ounces a day should be taken in. There is also no limit to the amount of herbal tea or decaf coffee you can drink. Some recommended drinks you’re allowed on the Slim4Life diet include:

• 2 cups tea or coffee
• 2 glasses of Crystal Lite (or similar product)
• 24 ounces of diet soda

Sample Meal Plan

• Breakfast: 1 small apple, 16 oz water, 1 slice bread with no more than 1 tablespoon light margarine.
• Lunch: 2 cups lettuce with 1 tablespoon of fat-free dressing and 1 small orange.
• Snack: Nutrition or granola bar.
• Dinner: 5 ounces of turkey breast, 1 cup broccoli, 1 slice of bread with no more than 1/2 tablespoon of margarine.

With this meal plan, drinking plenty of water is very essential. Avoid heavy seasonings and excess intake of salt. (The diet requires you to have less than 1/2 but no more than 1/4 teaspoon of Morton’s Lite Salt every day. This comes in handy for flavoring that chicken, turkey or beef to keep it from being overly bland.

The Food List: What You Can Eat & How Much

Below is a list of the categories of food you must eat each day. which foods fall into these categories, and how much of that food constitutes a serving.

• Proteins: 2 Servings/day
  Beefs (only twice a week/never 2 days in a row)
  - Arm Roast... 4oz
  - Chuck Roast... 4oz
  - Rump Roast... 4oz
  - Ground Sirloin... 4oz
  - Club Steak... 4oz
  - Flank Steak... 4oz
  - Round Steak... 4oz
  - Sirloin Steak... 4oz
  - T-Bone Steak... 4oz
  - Lamb Loin... 4oz
  - Ground Turkey... 4oz
  
  Veal
  - Cutlet... 5oz
  - Rump... 5oz
  - Chop... 5oz
  
  Poultry
  - Chicken Breast... 6oz
  - Turkey Breast... 5oz
  - Ground Turkey Breast... 5oz
  
  Liver
  - Beef Liver... 4oz
  - Calf Liver... 4oz
  - Chicken Liver... 3oz
  
  Fish
  - Striped Bass... 5oz
  - Cod... 6oz
  - Flounder... 6oz
  - Haddock... 6oz
  - Halibut (steamed)... 5oz
  - Lake Perch... 5oz
  - Fresh Tuna... 5oz
  - Mahi-mahi... 5oz
  - Lobster... 5oz
  - Shrimp (fresh)... 5oz
  - Sole... 5oz
  - Whitefish... 5oz
  - Orange Roughy... 6oz
  - Scrod... 6oz
  - Red Snapper... 5oz
  - Grouper... 5oz
  - Yellow Tail... 5oz
  - Bluefish... 6oz
  - 2 x wk *Swordfish... 5oz
  - 2 x wk *Crab (steamed)... 5oz
  - 2 x wk *Salmon Steak... 4oz
  - 2 x wk *Scallops... 4oz
  - 1 x wk *Tuna (water packed)... 4oz
  
  Dairy and Eggs
  - 3 x wk Cottage Cheese 1 % Fat... 5oz
  - 1 Lg Egg & Cottage Cheese... 4oz
  - Eggs... 2 Lg.
• Liquids:
  Fresh Water... 10 8oz/day (required)
  Tea of Coffee... 2 cups daily
  Diet Pop (no colas)... 2 12oz cans
  or
  Crystal Light... 2 glasses
  Herb Tea... no limit
  Parsley Tea... as needed
  Decaffeinated Coffee... no limit
  Thermoboost... 2 8oz glasses per day
• Vegetables: 4 servings/day (1 cup raw - 1/2 cup cooked)
  Asparagus... 1 cup
  Bean Sprouts... 1 cup
  Broccoli... 1 cup
  Cabbage... 1 cup
  Cauliflower... 1 cup
  Celery... 1 cup
  Chard... 1 cup
  Cucumbers... 1/2 med
  Egg Plant... 1 cup
  Green Onions... 5 small
  Lettuce or Endive... 1 cup
  Mushrooms... 1 cup
  Mustard Greens... 1 cup
  Okra... 1 cup
  Peppers (green, red)... 1/2 med
  Radishes... 10 med
  Rhubarb... 1 stalk
  Spinach or Kale... 1 cup
  Squash (summer)... 1 cup
  String Beans (was, green or yellow)... 1 cup
  Tomatoes... 1 small
  Turnip Sprouts/Greens... 1 cup
  Zucchini... 1 cup
• Fruits: 2 servings/day (do not eat after 6 pm/fresh or frozen fruit, not canned)
  Grapes (green)... 10 reg
  Apple... 1 small
  Apricot... 3 med
  Blueberries... 1/4 cup
  Cantaloupe... 1/8 lg
  Cherries... 9 med
  Grapefruit... 1/2 small
  Lemon... 1 small
  Orange... 1 small
  Peach... 1 small
  Pineapple... 3/4 cup
  Prunes... 2 med
  Raspberries... 1/4 cup
  Strawberries... 12 small
  Tangerine... 1 small
  Watermelon... 1 cup diced
• Starches: 2 servings/day
  Diet Bread 940 calories)... 1 slice
  Melba Toast (unseasoned)... 2 slices
  Bread Stick (Diet Stella D 'Oro)... 1 lg stick
  Akmak Cracker... 1/2 sheet
  Rice Cake (unsalted)... 1 cake per day
  Millers Bran... 2 tbsp
  Kavli Crispy Bread, thin... 1 wafer
  Corn Tortillas (6" dia.)... 1/2 tortilla
  Ryvta Cracker... 1/2 of 1 pack (3 x per week combined)
  Baked Potato... 1/2 small (3 x per week combined)
  Brown Rice... 1/4 cup cooked (3 x per week combined)
• Fats: 1 serving per day (apply after cooking)
  Diet Margarine... 1 tsp
  Promise Lite... 1 tsp
  Promise Ultra... 1 tsp
  Fleishman's Lite or diet mayonnaise... 1 tsp

Portions listed a raw weights unless stated.

You must also have 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of Morton's Lite Salt per day. You may also use 1 tbsp of mustard as a condiment per day.
You may prepare all foods by steaming, boiling, roasting, broiling, baking, pan frying, microwaving, or grilling. Do not use fat, lard, etc. Pam original, no butter, is allowed.
Limit artificial sweeteners (Equal, Sweet N' Low, Splenda) to 2 to 3 packs per day.

Allowed seasonings: Morton's Light Salt (1/4 to 1/2 tsp), pepper, garlic, fresh herbs and spices, apple cider vinegar and tarragon vinegar, Mrs. Dash, juice of one lemon per day. No regular salt or condiments.

Salad Dressings: 2 tbsp daily of Fat Free salad dressing. 
 
So how much does Slim4Life Cost

It appears to cost over $600 to start the Slim4Life program, although if you don’t meet your goal as initially expected, there are further costs in order to continue. Also, the programmed supplements, vitamins, snacks, etc are an additional cost to you.

These are some of the reactions of Slim4Life participants

• My personal Slim4Life plan tells me what to eat and when, which helps tremendously with meal planning. For example, I eat 3 meals a day plus 2 ‘nutrients’ (a shake and a candy bar). Each meal includes a protein, a starch and fruit. For breakfast add milk, and for lunch/dinner add 2 vegetables. The plan is easy but also requires me to prepare the ‘limited food’ items which I’m allowed.
• 5th day on Slim4Life, and now off the ‘preparation’ stage. Today’s menu: breakfast 2 eggs and an orange, lunch a cup of raw cauliflower (dipped in fat free ranch dressing) and an orange, supper 4oz grilled chicken, shredded, in a 6″ corn tortilla with ½ cup lettuce and some fat free ranch dressing – actually pretty good.
• Finally at the end (11 weeks on) and am very excited. My Slim4Life diet consists of a strict food regime, only eating a certain amount of vegetables, lean proteins, fruit, and 80oz of water a day, combined with vitamins, herb supplements and essential fatty acid pills. I was not allowed to drink alcohol, eat sugar, dairy, oils, or preservatives. I’ve officially lost the 20lbs I set out to (I lost 11¾in. in my waist alone!), and have now begun the ‘stabilization’ phase. Slowly, over a 6 week period, they begin to reintroduce food into my diet. My weight will be monitored for one full year.
• I signed up for Slim4Life, and paid $800 for personal counseling 3 times a week for 34 weeks. It’s really a very restrictive, prescribed diet, designed for fast weight loss. I still don’t know if fast weight loss is really the healthiest solution, but considering that I have yo-yo’d the same 50 lbs 5 times in eight years, I think it’s the only thing that’s going to keep me going.
• This is what my diet consists of each day:
  a TON of supplements: vitamins, metabolizing herbs, essential fatty acids, carb blockers
  I can eat 2 servings of protein a day: lean meat (limited red), chicken, turkey, fish, limited eggs
  2 servings of starch a day: diet bread, brown rice, or 2 tbsp bran flakes
  2 small fruits
  basically unlimited green veggies, ½ raw, ½ cooked
  2 tbsp of fat free salad dressing
  1 serving of “lite” fat: mayo or margarine
  herbal tea
  diet seven up
  80 oz of water per day
  2 specials made from the program supplement foods: one is sweet, the other a soup or juice
  2 cups coffee, with just skim milk and nutrasweet (only 2 pkts of that per day)
  ½ tsp low sodium salt (nothing else can have salt in it)
  unlimited apple cider vinegar (salad dressing)
  the juice of 1 lemon

Is Slim4Life Successful?

The Slim4Life diet program appears to be a sensible plan with plenty of personal support and encouragement, and has brought successful weight loss for many overweight people, although the cost needs to be evaluated before enrolling.