What Is Optavia & Is Optavia a Pyramid Scheme?
By Kayley George, RDN, LD
You may have heard about the Optavia diet as a great weight loss option recently. But, is it really all it’s been cracked up to be?
Before you go too far down the rabbit hole of Optavia products, let’s discuss what Optavia is and if Optavia is actually a pyramid scheme.
What Is Optavia?
While you may have heard of or possibly tried the Optavia diet that has popped up in recent years, you may be surprised to find out where it came from. The Optavia diet is a subsidiary of the Medifast company, who quickly rebranded after being charged with civil penalties for making unsupported claims about its 5&1 weight loss program in 2012.
This false advertising led to a class action lawsuit which left the Medifast company paying a 3.7 million dollar settlement over misleading ads. The new spin on the original Medifast meal replacements is the Optavia brand.
How Optavia Works & Optavia Components
The Optavia diet functions by replacing your daily meals with 100 calorie “fuelings” five times a day with only one real substantial, whole-foods meal - the lean & green meal for dinner time. By contrast, Medifast was originally designed to help people who had strict dietary restrictions prepare for bariatric surgery.
However, the company repurposed the products to be used for weight loss among the general public. You will find people singing praises for Optavia due to fast weight loss and the added convenience of eating meal replacements, which eliminates the need to actually cook meals.
On the flip side, you’re facing unsafe caloric intake, overly processed food, extremely restrictive rules (i.e. only 3 condiments per day, limits on how much water you can drink, etc), higher risk for nutrient deficiency, slowed metabolism, muscle loss, digestion issues, hair loss, and more.
The Optavia system has different components to it, to help with weight loss, that will be reviewed in detail below.
Health Coach
The new Optavia brand differs from Medifast in that it offers 1:1 coaching sessions. Not much about the actual products has changed - just the addition of 1:1 coaching sessions.
But, don’t get too excited, these coaching sessions are not led by actual health professionals. These coaches are Optavia participants who purchased the $200 Optavia business kit and also passed a certification test on the Habits of Health.
As part of this multi-level marketing company, when you go through their program, you can ask your coach to bring you on as a coach, enabling you to bring in more clients and coaches under you.
Coaches are also expected to help you with the Habits of Health and guide you through the principles with a goal of teaching to you to develop new, healthier habits. The coaches are also there to help hold you accountable to your goals and to support you, the client, with your “lifelong transformation”.
Habits of Health System
The Habits of Health System was developed by Dr. A (Dr. Wayne Scott Anderson). It is marketed as a Transformational system that aids you in developing a sustainable and healthy lifestyle that is based on six habits: Healthy weight management, Healthy eating and hydration, Healthy motion, Healthy sleep, Healthy mind, and Healthy surroundings.
These six habits can definitely be beneficial to anyone. Changing habits to ones that include taking care of yourself with a healthy weight, better nutrition, exercise, etc. are the foundation to any successful lifestyle change.
Optavia Community
According to their website, in addition to having a coach to help you with your transformation, there is also a Community of like-minded people to help you succeed. They have a social media presence to help clients feel connected to other clients and coaches, along with events, live webinars & calls with Optavia coaches.
Having a community of people that are experiencing and making similar lifestyle and meal changes may provide the support needed to foster greater compliance to the program.
Fuelings
The products that they sell are called fuelings. On the Optavia website, they are presented as “clinically proven plans with scientifically-developed products that are designed by dietitians, scientists, and physicians”.
These fuelings are pre-packaged foods that are “nutritionally interchangeable” and contain protein and probiotics. Fuelings are broken down into 5 categories: Essential, Select, Classic, Optimal Health, and Snacks & More.
They can be filtered & sorted in a variety of ways for ease of choice based on specific dietary goals. There is also a vegetarian filter - however, these choices are not marked with the approved vegetarian icon nor the green dot used to signify that a product is vegetarian.
This is likely because many of the products contain animal-based ingredients such as whey protein, casein, calcium caseinate, cheese, and various other milk & dairy products. Another item of note is that very few of the vegetarian products are savory - the vast majority are sweet items.
There is a vegetarian information sheet that is posted to their website that lists vegetarian options that do not contain eggs or milk (3) and ones that contain milk, but not eggs (11). Not much variety there.
For each product, the website has a complete nutrition label, a full list of ingredients, and icons noting nutrition facts for gluten free, kosher, heart healthy, etc. This is actually very helpful in calculating what products will best fit your dietary goals, and which will not.
Can I Use Optavia for Weight Loss?
Theoretically, yes you can. The extreme caloric restrictions typically result in weight loss.
However, the sustainability of weight loss after leaving the program and resuming a diet of whole foods (not fuelings) is unlikely.
Is Optavia Keto?
No, it is not. The average caloric intake, depending on the plan you choose, can vary.
The most popular plan (5 & 1) has from 800-1000 calories per day and the daily averages for macronutrients are 40% carbohydrates, 40% protein, and 20% dietary fats.
Optavia clients are losing weight due to the extremely restricted caloric intake, not the specific combination of the macronutrients. For comparison, a true keto diet has a standard macronutrient intake of 5-10% carbohydrates, 15-30% protein, and 60-75% dietary fat.
Optavia Products and Services Overview
The products that Optavia offers are simply –
A. Fuelings – 60+ choices
These fuelings are premade, pre-packaged foods. There are many different opinions on whether or not they taste good, taste like cardboard, or are just horrible – obviously it depends on the individual.
One thing that most agree on, is that the portions are small! Which is not surprising since the daily caloric level is so low.
B. 1:1 coaching
Not as much coaching as passive motivation to purchase products and continue the program.
C. Access to the Optavia community
Involvement with others on the Optavia plans is encouraged, along with talking with other coaches about the plan. Being active with others in the same program may encourage more sales and potential pressure to become a coach and recruit new clients.
D. Habits of Health transformational system
Encourages lifestyle changes that are beneficial – managing weight, exercising, sleeping, etc.
Are Optavia and Medifast the Same?
The simple answer is yes, they are the same. Optavia offers the same plans on its website as Medifast. Looking at pictures and nutrition facts labels, it seems like they're selling the same food too.
However, with Optavia, there's a slight tweak to the formula. Now you not only get the plans that they advertise, but you also get counseling. On their website, they tell you that coaches are usually people who have been on a diet before.
These are people who do not have a nutrition background, and are now advising people how to eat "right." They also both come from the same company, and if you click on the Medifast website, it directs to the Optavia website.
Is Optavia a Pyramid Scheme?
Everything about Optavia looks and sounds like a pyramid scheme. The best description of a pyramid scheme is a company that relies on people selling their product for a cut of the profit and a chain of people getting profit shares is created.
A company will focus heavily on recruiting new people so they can make more money at the top. This is precisely what Optavia does.
They get people in their circle by first starting them on their diet and then strongly encouraging them to become coaches and sell products. Many of them opt in not because they want to become coaches, but simply to get a discount on the expensive products that they can no longer afford.
They are also incentivized to join because they get a cut of their sold products. It’s worth noting that you have to pay to become a coach.
The initial fee to become a team member is $199 and they send you a packet on talking points when selling the products. Don’t forget, that $199 is on top of you having to order the products from them that run about $500 a month.
How Much do Optavia Coaches Make?
The actual amount of money that an Optavia coach can make varies and is based on individual commitment to building a business, which Optavia makes no guarantees for.
The website does offer a disclosure statement that reports annual incomes from $0 (21.66%) to $200,000+ (0.21%) – with the largest percentage of coaches, 13.08%, earning $1,000 - $2,500 annually.
Can I Trust Optavia Coaches?
Trust is earned, so there is no real answer to this question. However, it is noteworthy that to become an Optavia coach you need to purchase the Coach Business Kit ($199) and pass the Certification exam ($200).
Optavia does publish their coaching guidelines outlining the expectations they have for their coaches. Coaches are expected to be able to provide support and guidance regarding the meal plans and product choices.
They also are to provide individualized support for the Habits of Health Transformation System. Encouraging client participation with the community is also one of the coaches responsibilities as is reporting any adverse reactions to the program or its products to nutrition support.
In addition, these guidelines are largely comprised of what the coach cannot do or recommend. They are very clear that the coaches cannot offer specific medical advice or exercise.
Coaches are specifically not allowed to provide medical nutrition therapy as defined by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. If a coach is to identify any nutrition-related, medical, exercise, psychological or psychiatric conditions noted, he or she must refer the client to their healthcare provider.
Therefore, if the Optavia coaches follow these guidelines as strictly as they are written, then their roles are simply motivational. Therefore, it is up to the client and his or her coach to develop a relationship of trust knowing that the coach should not be offering any medical or nutritional advice short of suggesting a particularly tasty fueling.
Is Optavia an MLM?
Yes, it is. The coach system for Optavia is based on the growth of the team.
As a coach builds up his levels with more and more coaches and clients in his team, his compensation increases based on sales. And, with more coaches in the team, titles change, compensation levels change and there are also potentially lucrative bonuses built in at each level to encourage additional sales.
Coaches are rewarded with additional percentages and bonuses for signing up additional coaches under them, and encouraging them to add clients.
Optavia Reviews & Complaints
One Optavia user, Ms. Fischer, lost 12 pounds in a 3-week period but explained that the cost of the program and the lack of social options for the product caused her to discontinue use. The program cost her $500 dollars a month and instead of eating meals with her friends and family, she would just drink water and eat a meal replacement bar.
To offset the financial costs, the program provides discounts on products if you join their “coaching” team (where the MLM part comes in). Whether they quit for financial or other reasons, many users complain of weight gain after ending the program.
In a study conducted by Dr. Arterburn, Medifast and Optavia programs showed higher promising weight loss in a 16-week period than self-directed calorie reduction for weight loss. Conveniently, this study was funded by Medifast Inc and did not follow participants for any weight checks after the 16-week period had ended.
The Optavia company, despite having a team of coaches, does not teach meal planning, grocery shopping skills, nutrition education, or how to create sustainable lifestyle changes.
The coaches do encourage physical activity, drinking more water, and striving for better sleep quality. While this is admirable - legally this is actually the limit of the coaches ability as they are not medical professionals and do not require any licenses.
A quote from the Optavia website claims “We help people achieve lifelong transformation one healthy habit at a time.” However, the coaches are not building lifelong nutrition habits, they are selling products and building an MLM ladder.
When deciding on Optavia and their coaches, consider your mental well-being and the possibility that if you do choose this program you may be lucky to come out of this experience without damage to your relationship with food and your self-image.
Medical Concerns with Optavia
This program results in excessive restrictions for individuals with dietary restrictions (or just any food preferences!), such as vegetarian or gluten-free users. There are only a few products that meet these standards.
What that means is you’ll be eating the same meals on repeat week after week. Optavia makes claims of special programs available for nursing mothers, older adults, teens, diabetic patients and adults suffering from gout.
But there is no evidence to back these claims and it is unclear if the products are safe for these groups.
Optavia Lawsuits
Although there is no evidence of any lawsuit against Optavia, there are lawsuits against their parent company, Medifast. The Federal Trade Commission sued Medifast for false advertisement.
Medifast had to pay a fine of $3.7 million. Medifast also sued Barry Minkow and William Lobdell for defamation. Barry Minkow is an ex-con that exposes pyramid schemes, and William Lobdell is a former writer for the Los Angeles Time and Time Magazine.
They were working together to investigate Medifast being an MLM and Ponzi scheme. In the end, Medifast lost both lawsuits to Barry Minkow and William Lobdell.
As for Optavia, there are none currently filed lawsuits, but some are likely on the way. On the Better Business Bureau website at the time of writing, they had a rating of 1.96 out of 5 from 24 customer reviews.
There were 346 complaints filed with the company in the past 3 years, while 148 complaints have been closed in the past 12 months. When looking through complaints, it’s a mixed bag of issues.
Some people complained about fraudulent charges on their account. Other people complained about allergic reactions or dietary problems when eating the food.
One person even shared they had to pay $50 to ship back a product that gave them an allergic reaction! It’s only a matter of time before Optavia follows the same footsteps as Medifast.
There are many questions surrounding Optavia and its parent company Medifast, including if Optavia is a pyramid scheme.
What is the future of Optavia? Despite the questionable coaching and extremely restrictive meal plans, Optavia continues to gain momentum, particularly with middle-aged to older women.
In 2019 alone, Optavia revenue increased 17% in the fourth quarter and 42% for the full year. In 2020, the company also showed no signs of slowing down.
In this society, there will always be a demand for quick weight loss solutions and products that shortcut the work. There are still many questions about Optavia, its parent company Medifast, and whether it is a pyramid scheme.
If you are looking for guidance for a healthier lifestyle, it is probably best to choose an educated, accredited, licensed professional – such as a Registered Dietitian (aka me).
If this sounds like something that is more up your alley, contact me today, to start working on a customized meal plan and exercise regime for weight loss. It will be money well spent, rather than using it on the Optavia diet and plan.
Published on Feb 15, 2021 at 6:12 am