Shake diets
 

Hi guys, any advice or experiences you can share about doing a shake diet ( 2 X shakes 1 X meal kinda thing) what shakes do you prefer?

None. They are all terrible for you and you shouldn't do it. They don't work. They're just gimmicks.

Here's what I wrote in the Slimfast thread:

Just my experience and opinions here. Please don't do Slimfast. It's a quick loss thing and the weight will almost always come back on. And remember last year when they had to do a massive recall because their product was tainted. I've seen so many problems from liquid diets and the results are almost always fleeting. You would do better using the Slimfast calories on a big plate of veggies and good protein.

I've seen many, many military guys use Slimfast just before quals where they have to be at a certain weight to stay in their division and as soon as they qualify they start eating again and the weight comes right back on.

Please get all the information you can before doing Slimfast long term. Honestly, for the price your money would be better spent on real food.

I totally agree.

That being said, I occasionally use the vanilla powder for a quick breakfast because I can drink it on the commute to work. I make it a blender with 1% milk and always add some frozen fruit to it like blueberries (3oz). Sometimes I add flax meal or chia. But shakes as a meal replacement - no way! I need to chew something!

i personally think that having a slim fast shake every once and a while is better than going to McDonald's when your on the go.

i use the powder, i add in fruit and half cup of milk and half cup of water, add ice and blend.
i mainly use it when my teeth are bothering me so i dont starve.

otherwise you can buy protien powder and add it to fruit to make a pretty healthy shake.

i really prefer my shakes with juice & fruit.
this is my favorite breakfast and snack (add yogurt and oj for breakfast)
its just not filling so you will be hungry afterwards if you dont add in some protien. (peanut butter is a good source if you dont want the powder)

just remember dont do more than 2 meals a day from a shake (unless dr perscribed) because it will be a higher chance of failing due to hunger.

also eat 3 snacks as well as one meal a day if you really want to be successful at this.

i personally am doing pretty good with this plan, and if i dont have shakes one day i keep in my calorie range and i have still been losing weight.

good luck
:)

I agree with the thought process that once in a while is fine; it's the everyday, twice a day thing I don't think is good for you. I think supplementing a shake instead of nothing or McDonald's is definitely better for you than either of those options.

It doesn't teach you alternative shopping and cooking techniques so that when you try to reintroduce food you don't know anything you didn't know before. I think it's important to find yourself in the fruit and veg aisle of the grocery store and to practice choosing, planning, selecting, preparing new foods. Shake diets are useful in specific situations for severely obese people to get a kick start on their weight loss to get rid of that initial "might die in the night" moment, but their permeation into the general marketplace is... well, I am suprised they have not been banned because they do nothing to help the thought processes that get a person fat.

Oh, and nobody wants to say it because it's not dinner party conversation, but boy oh boy oh boy the constipation. Jeez, these things are not good for your insides, and you'll probably find you don't lose any weight for weeks till you go to the doctor cos you're in pain and they give you a pack of tablets and you lose the whole 8lbs in 24 hours over the course of 8 toilet trips.

They were designed in two distinct streams - the thin person who has picked up an additional 10lbs and wants it off NOW for a wedding, etc. and will be OK with the maintenance, or won't mind putting the 10lbs back on after the wedding, and the other extreme is the very obese patient under clinical supervision who has to do something drastic to get a lot of weight off fast. They aren't actually at all designed for people with lots of weight to lose who want to lose it slowly and healthily. I've lost weight on them for special events, sure, but I never had maintenance in mind, just wanted to be thin in my dress.

I know someone who lost a ton of weight and kept it off on slimfast. slimfast for breakfast, slim fast for lunch and campbells soup for dinner. lost A BUNCH and never gained it back... not for me though... I need to crunch on something.

however, I do drink a protein shake for breakfast. It is called lean Complete.

I actually like SlimFast. I only like the Chocolate Royale flavor, but I have had success on it before and I'm using it now.

I'm a creature of convenience. Working full time, being a single parent, living in a house of combined families (me, my daughter, my mom, my brother, his daughter, my grandmother), the kitchen is not always free and sometimes there isn't time to cook. I lost 45 lbs on Slimfast 2 years ago- maintained that for a while until I started drinking Soda again because I'm always so tired (most likely due to hypothyroidism- I was just diagnosed this month).
I've haven't experienced stomach upset or constipation. In general, i like it, it works for me,.

LR

Hi! Not all "shake diets" are created alike. I'm on a medically supervised "shake diet," with two shakes and a bar a day, plus a beautiful healthy dinner of 6 oz. of protein and lots of cooked vegetables and salad.

Thanks!

I drink these shakes in the mornings on work days. I never actually sit down and eat breakfast during the work week, and sometimes I don't eat breakfast at all. So I've found that bringing the shake with me is a good way to get SOMETHING in there, rather than nothing, or something that's worse for me. But I definitely wouldn't consider it a "meal replacement" for lunch or dinner.

I never tried slimfast diet or speciak k diet. Are you suppose to replace a meal with a shake? I cannot and will not do that. That's boring to me, plus I like to cook. I have special k protein shakes in my fridge now, but not as a diet. Since my goal is to eat every 3 hours, I want to make sure I have something in my stomach when I'm gone for a while. Especially when I'm at my friend's house who always offers me snacks lol. Hard to say no to cheezits and twizzlers. But I got a question. What exactly is in slimfast anyway to make it as "nutrious" as a regular meal?

Medifast is kind of like that. It doesn't have to be shakes (but it can be if you want). You have 5 Medifast meals a day and 1 "lean and green," which is 3 servings of veggies and a lean protein.

I'm on it, so I have access to their forum, and I'm astounded at the success. There are tons of people on there who are years in maintenance and eating normally now.

So far I'm just starting week four and down 14 pounds.

Unfortunately, statistics prove that most people cannot maintain this type of lifestyle and will gain back their weight within a year. Regardless of being "medically supervised" or not, the results are the same. You lose too quickly and gain back once you go back to eating regular foods.

I use slimfast from time to time.I run an inhome daycare and cant always get lunch. I lost 90lbs using it years ago and gained it all back.I have been able to maintain my 75lbs weight loss this round and I am happy to say slimfast is an nice pick me up at lunch when im too busy...
I dont use it daily and would never. BUt I do really enjoy it.