Are you in search of an Optavia transition food list? If you’re trying to make the switch from the weight loss phase to maintenance, it can be challenging to navigate the variety of food options available.
But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with a comprehensive guide to help you find the right food items for this unique program.
Our Optavia transition food list is designed to be your go-to source of information regarding approved products, with a handpicked selection of fruits, starches, vegetables, and dairy to help keep you on track with your journey toward health and wellness.
What is the Optavia transition food list?
As someone who has gone through the Optavia transition process, I can tell you that it’s a gradual process of reintroducing real foods back into your diet.
Over six weeks, you’ll begin to add more fruits, vegetables, dairy, and starches to your meals while phasing out Optavia fuelings.
The Optavia transition food list was a crucial part of my journey, providing me with a checklist of approved foods to choose from.
It offered me plenty of ideas for meals and snacks, making the transition process a lot less overwhelming.
What does the Optavia transition food list look like?
So, the Optavia transition food list is basically a list of foods that you can eat as you progress through the Optavia program.
The list is different for each phase of the program.
It expands as you go further along.
So on week 6, for example, you’ll have more variety of foods available compared to week 1.
See the graph.
Each week you get to eat a new type of food.
- Week 1 (Vegetables)
- Week 2 (Fruits)
- Week 3 (Dairy products)
- Week 4-6 (Meat and starches)
And you know what is the best part?
Once you complete the transition phase, you’ll be able to use a completely new food list, which is explained in my healthy exchange list article.
The transition food list isn’t really all that different from the diet food list you’ve been using during the 5 and 1 plan.
The main difference is that you’ll be able to have a certain number of servings of fruits, bread, cereal, or brown rice depending on the week.
Why is this important?
According to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, “if you slowly introduce calories back into your diet, you may be able to prevent gaining back all the weight you lost and even keep the weight off in the long term.”
So it’s all about gradually introducing more foods back into your diet and preventing yo-yo dieting, so to speak.
Optavia Transition Vegetable List
You may recall me mentioning earlier that there is not a huge difference between the 5 and 1 plan, right?
Well, the Optavia transition vegetable list is a great example of this.
In fact, it is almost identical to the Optavia Green List, with a few key differences.
One significant change is that all vegetables are treated equally. You no longer need to separate them into categories of low, medium, and high carbs.
This simplifies the process of choosing veggies for your lean and green meals and gives you more freedom to pick the ones you enjoy.
Additionally, the serving size is the same for all types of vegetables, depending on how you prepare them.
- Cooked vegetables have a serving size of 1/2 cup.
- Raw vegetables have a serving size of 1 cup.
This means you don’t need to worry about measuring out different serving sizes for different types of vegetables, making meal planning simpler.
The table below shows you the list of veggies approved for the Optavia transition phase.
| Artichoke hearts Asparagus Baby corn Bean sprouts Green beans Beets Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Chayote Cucumber Daikon Eggplant Leafy greens Hearts of palm Jicama Kohlrabi | Leeks Mixed vegetables (without corn, peas, or pasta) Mung bean sprouts Mushrooms (all kinds) Okra Onions Peppers (all varieties) Radishes Rutabaga Sauerkraut Spinach Squash Sugar snap peas Swiss chard Tomatoes Tomato/vegetable juice Turnips Water chestnuts |
Optavia Transition Fruit List
It’s time to dust off your fruit basket.
From the second week of the Optavia transition phase, you get to have two servings of selected fruits.
The Optavia Transition Fruit list outlines the types of fruits you can include in your diet during this phase, along with their recommended portion sizes.
| Optavia Transition Fruit list | Serving size |
|---|---|
| Apples | 2 pieces (medium-sized) |
| Grapes | 1 cup |
| Plums | 4 pieces |
| Strawberries | 1 cup |
| Blueberries | 1 cup |
| Raspberries | 1 cup |
| Oranges | 2 pieces (medium-sized) |
| Mango | 1 cup |
| Pears | 2 pieces |
| Bananas | 1 piece (medium-sized) |
| Nectarine | 1 cup |
| Melon (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon) | 1 cup |
| Kiwi | 2 pieces |
| Cherries | 1 cup |
| Canned fruit (no sugar added) | 1 cup |
It’s clear that this list is not comprehensive, and if you have a particular craving for a specific food, a good guideline is to opt for a serving size that contains no more than 80 calories.
Optavia Transition Dairy List
Unlike the 5 and 1 plan where you could only use milk as a condiment, here you can use dairy as a part of the menu.
As you progress through the transition phase, you can begin to add one cup of dairy products starting from week 3.
It’s important to ensure that all dairy products you choose are either fat-free or low-fat, as these options tend to have fewer calories.
(I often go for yogurts and cottage cheese.)
The table below shows you the dairy products approved in the Optavia transition plan.
| Optavia Transition Dairy list |
|---|
| Skim milk Fat-free or low-fat yogurt Cottage cheese (fat-free or low-fat) Low-fat cheese (e.g., mozzarella, cheddar, Swiss) Reduced-fat cream cheese Low-fat sour cream Nonfat dry milk Low-fat ricotta cheese Fat-free evaporated milk Reduced-fat shredded cheese Light cream Low-fat buttermilk Greek yogurt (fat-free or low-fat) Low-fat kefir |
Not sure which products to choose? No worries, you can check out our Optavia-approved yogurt list for some options that meet our guidelines.
Optavia Transition Starches
I’ll be honest, the Optavia transition starches list may not be the most exciting, but don’t worry!
You still have options like bread and rice, but the serving sizes are small.
You can begin to add one serving of starches starting from week 4 of the transition phase.
Here is the list.
| Optavia Transition Starches | Serving size |
|---|---|
| Bread | 1 slice |
| Oatmeal | 3/4 cup |
| Oat bran | 3/4 cup |
| Wheat germ | 3/4 cup |
| Granola or muesli | 1/2 cup |
| Grains: barley, freekeh, farro, couscous, millet, pasta, polenta, quinoa, brown rice | 1/3 cup |
| Starchy vegetables: (corn, peas, potatoes, parsnips, succotash, yams) | 3 oz. |
| Beans and lentils (mung beans, pinto beans, black beans) | 1/2 cup |
| Baked potato (all varieties) | 3 oz. |
Foods to avoid during the Optavia transition
Although Optavia has a lot more food to choose from during its transition phase, there are still some restrictions.
The foods you should avoid or limit include:
- White bread
- Fried foods
- Potato chips
- Sugary drinks and juices
- Ice cream
- Cookies and other baked goods
- High-fat meats (sausage, bacon, etc.)
- Alcoholic beverages
- Candy bars and sweet treats
- Packaged snacks (crackers and cheese)
- French fries and other fried potatoes
Some of these foods, such as alcoholic beverages or candy bars are allowed during the Optavia 3 and 3 plan as your free choice.
