G'day,

I have recently started a diet, but admittedly did it on a whim and without a long term plan.

I started drinking Isowhey Shakes (which is a protein shake mixed with low fat milk that isn't super low on carbs).

I haven't had any ill effects to speak of, but I am concerned that I have completely lost my appetite. As I type this, I probably haven't eaten anything (other than the Isowhey) for 3 days but I'm not hungry or craving anything, and I'm usually a real bread head.

The Isowhey says it has Seagreens and Probiotics and other sciencey sounding stuff, but I don't think it's designed as a complete diet.

I have been having 3 (occasionally 4) shakes a day (which with low fat milk is around 3000-4000kj, maybe 4500kj with a few white coffees?) but do little excercise apart from a few km walking everyday and another few km riding on most days.

Should I just listen to my body and eat when I feel like I need something to eat? Or should I force myself to eat something? I'm still cooking a healthy dinner for the wife and kids, I just don't feel like eating it.

FWIW, I am a 6'4" 43yo male, I weighed 125kg when I started Isowhey 2 weeks ago and have lost 10kg since. I have always been solid (around 95kg), but have lost fitness and gained weight (due to inactivity and medication) since I had a mental breakdown several years ago which has led to several years of fluctuating depression.

Any advice appreciated

I suggest cutting down on the shakes and eating some real food. It's very unlikely that the shakes are giving you all of the nutrients that you need, and I think you're getting too much protein and not enough fat. If you look at the IsoWhey website it actually says "Consume once or twice daily" so it's not intended to be your entire diet.

Most importantly, you should eat vegetables. Some other healthy foods that I would recommend are nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains, fruits, fish, and eggs. Or you could eat the same foods as your wife and kids, if it's healthy. What do you usually cook?

I might just have to force myself to eat a bit at dinner and take a Multi Vitamin in case. I usually cook reasonable meals. Stir Fry's, Bolognese with lots of veges blended with the mince, Fish and Salad etc. I usually have a moderate appetite, and I don't feel nauseous or anything. Just not remotely interested in food. I might just blend some fruit in the shakes if I'm struggling to eat food.

TBH, I was getting a bit worried myself a few days back, so looked up the recommended daily requirements on this page - eatforhealthdotgovdotau/page/eat-health-calculators/calculated/1467294092 and according to the specs on the label, 3 shakes would appear to cover almost everything except Potassium, which even with the Potassium in the Milk, is barely 50%.

Also, just to clarify, the only reason I was drinking 3 shakes a day, is because I didn't feel like eating and thought a shake was better than nothing at all.

If you skip one of the shakes, then you'll be more hungry, so you can eat dinner without forcing yourself. The dinner is probably healthier than the shakes.

Vegetables have many different nutrients, not only the nutrients that are typically shown on nutrition labels, but many others as well. The shakes (or any supplement) will only have a small number of those nutrients. Why would you want a cheap imitation when you can have the real thing? The shakes also don't give you enough fiber or enough fat (and the small amount of fat that they do have is more than half saturated fat).

Some healthy sources of fiber are vegetables, fruit, beans, chia seeds, and whole grains.
Some healthy sources of fat are nuts, seeds, avocado, some types of fish, and olive oil.