Do they work? Are any better than others? I am having a hard time and I thought if I went with one of these, I could kick start, see some results and feel better about my diet.

For me, yes.

I have been doing Optifast and have had very positive results. It is not for everyone but I found it very easy to stick to.

I have a whole thread about my experience with it from the very beginning in my signature if you want to look into it.

Something to remember is that optifast is a doctor supervised diet. We do not recommend users to go under 1200 calories without doctor supervision or at least a diet that was created by medical professionals (like medifast).

Meal replacement shakes are one way that people reduce their calories. There isn't a magic to it but some people find it as a way that they are able to easily track calories and lose weight. You can also do meal replacement shakes at a higher calorie level, like those that are well in normal weight loss range (1200-1800 for females, slightly higher for males).

It depends if you want to replace a meal with a lower calorie meal replacement or not. Some people would rather just eat lower calorie meals than drink shakes. Other people find shakes useful.

I am also interested in meal replacement shakes. I understand the only way to get Optifast is through a physician. I noticed Slimfast on sale yesterday, and figured i'd give it a try. I just started today.

Here's the thing, for me - I don't eat. I easily go all day without caring about food at all. Then I have dinner. I don't gorge myself (although i AM significantly overweight, so I obviously eat more than I should) and just eating dinner every day is fine for me. I don't even snack late at night. But I know you're supposed to eat regularly throughout the day and that's tough for me. I thought maybe the shakes would help with that.

I guess we'll see! I'm off to check out nibog's journey.

I choose to replace shakes with real food. Much more yummy.

You name a shake and I'll name a portion of fish I'd rather eat with all the same (and more) health benefits. Heck, eat an egg or two instead.

I would only use a shake if I were in a real pinch. Like if I were really hungry before a workout or a run and could not eat anything. So I do keep shakes for emergencies but tend not to use them.

Not me. I have been on a business trip this last week and have eaten the most massive breakfasts you can imagine while skipping lunch and dinner. And I have actually lost weight. I do exercise a lot, however, and try to focus on getting a lot of protein in my breakfast while limiting fat and sugar. So I eat a lot of fish and eggs (but also have ice cream, honey and bread rolls) for breakfast. I'd love to know what you are eating for dinner. From my experience it would be hard to gain on just one meal a day without snacking. With fast food every day it might be possible, but otherwise it would be tough. And I have been gorging for that one single meal.

I drink protein shakes as snacks. They don't have enough nutrients for meal replacements. I like them. They are filling and my son likes them so I make enough for 2.

Hi IanG.

I guess it's just that I have a really, really hard time getting any breakfast in at all, and lunch timing is often difficult as well - my day isn't really very structured just by the nature of recruiting.

My dinners are fairly typical. Not often fast food, but sometimes. Spaghetti and meatballs with caesar salad. Baked potatoes and bbq'd steaks with steamed or roasted veggies. Crock-pot chicken (sometimes cheesy, sometimes creamy, sometimes sweet/sour) with rice and stir fry.

The thing is I haven't actually gained weight at all in years. I'm just incredibly overweight and *stuck* here. So, I'm not eating *way too much* at dinner or anything. I've just been the very same weight for forever. Getting things going with eating in the morning is my biggest problem.