Take Shape for Life Review and Profile

Take Shape for Life no longer appears to be active as a direct sales company.

Take Shape For Life was renamed OPTAVIA in July 2017.

Original Npros business profile for Take Shape for Life, preserved below for archival purposes:

Take Shape For Life was the direct-selling division of Medifast Inc., a publicly traded Maryland health-and-wellness company founded in 1980. Medifast launched Take Shape For Life in 2002 with former Medifast chairman and CEO Bradley T. MacDonald and physician Wayne Scott Andersen as co-founders. The program combined Medifast's portion-controlled weight-management products with Andersen's Habits of Health system and personal support from independent Health Coaches.

Take Shape For Life sold meal-replacement shakes, bars, soups, oatmeal, drinks, snacks, and other portion-controlled foods used in Medifast weight-loss and weight-maintenance programs. Its best-known plan required customers to consume five packaged Medifast meals, later called Fuelings, and one self-prepared "Lean & Green" meal each day. The broader program emphasized weight management, behavioral changes, ongoing coaching, and the development of long-term eating and lifestyle habits.

Independent representatives were called Health Coaches. Most began as Medifast customers and then enrolled as Coaches to refer new clients and support them through the program. Customers placed and paid for orders directly through Medifast, and the company shipped the products to their homes. Coaches generally did not maintain inventory or purchase products at wholesale for resale. A 2016 Medifast presentation reported that 92% of Take Shape For Life orders were shipped to clients and 8% represented Coaches' personal use.

The compensation structure was multilevel. Health Coaches earned commissions on products purchased by personally referred clients and could qualify for additional bonuses by developing customers, sponsoring Coaches, and building sales organizations. Historical bonuses included client-acquisition, growth, generation, leadership, consistency, and Coach-assist bonuses. Medifast stated that Coaches did not receive commissions merely for enrolling another Coach; compensation was tied to product orders generated through the sales organization.

Medifast introduced OPTAVIA as an exclusive Take Shape For Life product brand in July 2016. On July 24, 2017, the company announced that the entire Take Shape For Life division had been renamed OPTAVIA. At the time, the organization had more than 12,500 active Coaches and said that Take Shape For Life had operated for approximately 15 years and served more than one million clients. The rebranding included more than 20 new OPTAVIA Essentials Fuelings, a revised compensation-payment system, new training programs, and a new Coach-support organization.