My gyn advised me to stay away from soy because my estrogen levels were very high from eating soy. I had to have a 'glorified DNC' to stop the bleeding and she believes it was from the soy protein. Pity because I really enjoyed the edemame and the boca burgers along with the protein shakes.

Too much soy can cause or increase thyroid problems according to some stuff I've read. I don't remember what it does exactly, or how it does it, but they found that young children who eat a lot of soy products are more likely to have thyroid problems later in life. I think about.com has some information on this topic.

I think if your thyroid is already weakened, I would watch the soy intake. Maybe just have it once a week, or a few times a month instead of on a daily or every meal basis.

I guess I'm one of the few who truly likes slimfast and their diet plan. I don't use the shakes to FILL me up but to take the edge off of my hunger. This product is not supposed to make you feel like you just ate a Big Mac and large fries, but to hold you over till you can have a good meal. I'm also a self proclaimed chocoholic and they help me to satisfy the need for this diet busting delicacy.
I truly would like to ask if the author of this if they have really looked into the meal plan at all. I am 5'3" and a small frame. The slimfast plan allows me at least 1300 calories a day. By past experience I know that that is too much, I will maintain a weight of about 121 pounds and that is overweight for my frame. I keep myself on a plan of 1000 calories max and 15 fat grams per day, I eat constantly and in less than 9 weeks I have lost a total of 22 lbs (half of my goal) without feeling deprived. I do eat sensibly by using great websites such as this one's recipe index.

148/126/106
mw/cw/gw

The problem with SlimFast can be summed up in one word: "sugar". That's where most of the calories in a Slim-Fast product (bars OR shakes) come from.

I *have* looked at the Slim-Fast website and seen their basic diet plan...let's take a look.

Breakfast - Slim-Fast shake or meal bar
Snack - fresh fruit, nonfat yogurt or 1 oz low-fat cheese
Lunch - Slim-Fast shake or meal bar plus a piece of fruit
Snack - Slim-Fast snack bar, veggies or low-fat soup
Dinner - 4-6 oz lean meat, fish or poultry; baked potato; veggies, salad and fruit
Snack - Air-popped popcorn, fat-free pudding or pretzels.

The snack bars (according to the Slim-Fast website) average 120 calories, with anywhere from 12-22 sugar grams...which means that of the 120 calories in the bar...48 to 88 of those calories are pure sugar. Additionally there is only ONE GRAM (or less!) of protein. I can't stress how BAD sugar is if you're trying to lose weight - because for many people, eating sugar creates cravings for more sugar - unlike protein, which has a MUCH higher satisfaction rate than sugar.

The ready-to-drink shakes appear to have an average of 220 calories and 35 grams of sugar - in other words, 140 of those 220 calories are pure sugar. (the powdered mix has less sugar, but remember - milk (even skim milk!) has sugar in it as well - 15 grams per cup!)

The meal plan above (taken from the Slim-Fast website) is very low in protein and fat, very high in simple carbs (i.e. sugar).

Now, I'm not knocking the use of meal replacement shakes - just the Slim-Fast type. Understand that the Slim-Fast company are basically selling a product that is VERY cheap for them to produce. Sugar is a very cheap food source. (and I use the term 'food' very loosely in this instance).

Now, if you wanna go the shake route to help in your diet, there are PLENTY of meal replacement shakes that are MUCH higher quality than this sugar water (I call it "SlimFat" myself). They're a bit more expensive - but if you shop around on the Internet you can find great prices (don't buy them at GNC - that's the most expensive place around!!!). My favorite online shopping places for meal replacements are vitaglo.com and netrition.com. And you might find that the higher-quality meal replacements taste BETTER than SlimFat, er SlimFast Also, the ingredients in the products listed below are of MUCH higher quality.

Recommendations:

EAS' Myoplex Lite shake powder - I like the Capuchino Ice flavor the best...there are a ton of flavors though. 190 calories, 25 grams of protein and less than 2 grams sugar!

Labrada Lean Body For Her - I believe this only comes in two flavors at this time - Soft vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream. 170 calories, 30 grams of protein and 1 gram sugar.

Met-Rx Lite Drink Mix - I have not actually tried this product so I can't tell you how it tastes...but it has 180 calories, 25 grams protein and 3g sugar.

Biotest Classic GROW! Meal Replacement - Personally, I didn't care for the flavor but a lot of people love the stuff - they say it tastes like cake batter...judge for yourself...rather than single-serving envelopes it comes in a tub, so you can choose your own portion size. 3 scoops is 300 calories, 40g protein and 3g sugar - I'd probably use 2 scoops as a serving.

I want to second Mrs Jim’s emphasis on protein in our diets as we try to lose weight. It is important to remember that what we really are trying to do is to lose FAT, not just “weight”, since our bodies are made up of water, fat, skin, bone etc. What we want to lose is the fat and what we really want to preserve and build is the muscle.

So the composition of the calories that we eat is at least as important as the total number of the calories — in other words, not all calories provide the same “fuel” for our bodies — 100 calories of sugar are not the same as 100 calories of say, grilled chicken breast. To spare our bodies from burning off muscle as we lose weight, we want to eat good-quality protein (egg whites, fish, chicken etc.) and exercise with weights to strengthen and build our muscles.

I lost 135 pounds of fat and added 10 pounds of muscle while I was losing weight by emphasizing protein in my diet. I use Fitday.com to track the nutritional composition of what I eat and I generally am in the range of 45% protein / 30% good-quality complex carbs / 25% good fats. I eat NO added sugar at all and try to limit even fruit and dairy sugars (fructose and lactose) because they adversely affect fat loss for me.

The problem, as Mrs Jim discussed, with a product like SlimFast and its diet plan is the huge amount of sugar that replaces protein in your diet. Sure, you can keep your calories low and you can lose “weight” — the scale will go down. But for long-term health and fat loss, I think that a diet without the sugar and with more protein will give you more success.

Meg

The latest on soy protein is that too much of it can actually be bad for you - so much plant estrogen. The Japanese benefit from it because they eat it in the form of miso and tofu, and not super concentrated in the form of protein shakes. Male body builders won't touch the stuff (gives 'em boobs I guess).

Whey and casein (combined) is an excellent protein source to add to your homemade shakes, but don't cook whey - it destroys a lot of the compounds (forget the pancake recipes with whey). My favorite meal replacement powder is Myoplex Lite, and protein powder (mix in other things) is Grow! from www.netrition.com
I also found this PP that's just "milk and eggs" I get sick of making 6 little meals a day from scratch, and the PPs and MRPs really help.

I had one Slimfast once and it was so sweet I gagged on it. Total crap.

I'm finding some good prices on EAS stuff at this site ...

www.eassportnutrition.com

Better prices than vitaglo or netrition on some of the stuff, but they charge for shipping. Not sure what the difference would come out to.

I agree with you all on the slimfast shakes. They to me taste like chemicals.

I have been using the MET Rx shakes - (the regular, not the lite, since I have high protein requirements) and they are very good.
LaBrada is also good.....and the good thing about them is that they also have no corn syrup/fructose or transfats, which unfortunately all the others do.

I just got my first box of Myoplex Lite in Capp Ice.....can't wait to try it

I have been getting my protein supplements at Vitamin shoppe - they have 20-50 percent off of their products at the store, and the prices are comparable to the online sites, w/o the shipping.

Robin

Suzanne... one more comment about your caution about the site this came from. One thing that stood out to me is that they said the 3 main ingredients are milk, sugar and cocoa... in other words milk, sugar and sugar. While I am amazed that anyone reading the label of ingredients of this stuff could think it was healthy the fact remains that cocoa is NOT sugar. Pure cocoa has no sugar and is in fact very low calorie. I mix it with my coffee grounds all the time and add extracts to the milk... and have great "mocha lattes!"

Sue

If I have to skip breakfast because I'm running late...I grab an EAS Carb Control shake. The chocolate fudge is delicious and it DOES fill you up. The calories are 110 and they provide 15 grams of protein. You can find a six pack at WalMart for $5-6, I've also seen them at Kroger.



All SlimFast does is give me the sugar shakes......no thank you.

Slim Fast is NOTHING BUT SUGAR and doesn't fill you up. Not many people can LIVE ON IT! You need to find something you can LIVE ON that is HEALTHY! Feel free to agree or disagree.

I have to tell you, I've been on Slim Fast now for three weeks and lost 12 lbs. I love it. It's extremely easy. And yes, you might be loosing muscle too as it said in the review....

HOWEVER....you're only loosing muscle if you aren't trying to gain muscle. I swim, walk, and exercise routinely. If you are just sitting on your butt, then what do you expect? I love the shakes. I can't drink by itself....unless it's accompanied with cookies... ...

Anyways...I give it two thumbs up. I'm able to watch my caloric intake. I'm on a 1700 calorie diet right now, and it's more than enough for me. If you guys could see my nutrional logs....the ONLY thing I am lacking in is Fiber (which that was one of the things in the review)....BUT I'm not eating enough fruits and vegetables, either....so that would also be my fault....

Reading this review almost discouraged me, until I realized how many diets I've actually been on in the last 3 years (since I gave birth to my son). I would definitely recommend it to ACTIVE people.

Just my take on it.....

I actually liked slimfast..i did get bored with it and moved on to my own homemade weight watchers points thing, but at first the slimfast at least got me going..in the habit of counting cals again which works for me personally..
but thats just me..i really just wanted to say to the one poster..your not crazy..i loved the granola choc. chip and peanutbutter bars..lol god those were good..lol

but i like chocolate for breakfest..and am a strange eatter anyways..lol

i think thast why slimfast worked for me..
i have never been a normal eatter, i dont like typical *adult* food..lol
heaven to me is a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich or kraft mac and cheese..lol
so for me slimfast was easier to use just to start me in the right direction cuz it still tasted sweet and i could taste peanut butter

now a days i do eat a lil more *adult* like..i am just at a lack of words other then that one..lol
i have tried some new things and do eat more of a variety of stuff..but it was a hard hard change for me..and for me i really needed to get completely bored of eatting choc . and peanut butter to get to where i am now..lol

so for that i do credit slimfast

I also used slimfast and was starving most the time, ended up overly binging and loosing nothing. Upon reading the lables I ended up making my own Meal with food for the same amt of calories that stuff offered. It also reeked havoc on my digestive tract.

I do get soy in the form of soy cereals or soy nuts in a soytrail mix i get in the Kroger healthfood section. I take it with my flax seed.

I must laugh at the commericals "I dont feel deprived"

BS! I was so hungry on that plan I ate 2x what I would have had I stuck to healthy foods throughout the day.

Slim fast is for those who don't mind starving themselves only to put on double the weight when you go off Slim Fast....Slim Fast should be Banned!!!!!