Shakeology for someone with poor diet, starting to improve health

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smallandunhealthy
smallandunhealthy Posts: 10
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all. I'm new here. Over the past month, I've started working out more after noticing some weight gain and realizing how slow, unenergized, and unhealthy I've felt. I've had pretty bad eating habits my whole life and I've always been a sensitive eater (I used to not be able to keep a lot of food down, so now I have an aversion to certain tastes/textures).

I'm naturally petite, was always active and pretty underweight even in college. I've gained a bit weight in the form of fat in the past year, so I probably look healthier, but I feel worse. I don't eat tons of vegetables and in general don't eat regularly. I'm trying to get better about eating right, but it'll be a long process. I'm taking graduate classes for my job and work full time, so I still think I can live like I did in college, but it's definitely taking its toll on me. I'm also assuming my metabolism is slowing down due to age and also not eating regularly.

Most days I'll eat snacks (free candy and standard office junk food) to get me through the work day. Sometimes I'll have one small meal during working hours, but not all the time. I tend to have a protein dinner between 6-8pm (chicken, steak, tacos, pasta or takeout like asian food or wings). I don't have much variety in my meals when I do cook.

Would anyone recommend Shakeology for someone like me (or any alternative)? It's been intriguing since I don't really get enough of anything nutritious during the day, and I have a tendency to just snack until 6pm.

I'm trying to start working toward improving my diet, and hopefully I'll start feeling better and have more energy. Weight loss or toning up isn't a major goal, just a perk - I just want my clothes to fit like more comfortably and to feel like I used to. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Replies

  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Why not just eat the raw fruit?
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    If you want to learn to eat right, shakeology is not going to help you long term.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    Only thing shakeology will teach you is how to say good bye to your money.

    Eat food, learn about nutrition and save your money
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
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    jwhited71 wrote: »
    Only thing shakeology will teach you is how to say good bye to your money.

    Eat food, learn about nutrition and save your money

    ^^^ This ^^^

    ...And at 26 there is absolutely nothing wrong with your metabolism.

  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    jeffpettis wrote: »
    jwhited71 wrote: »
    Only thing shakeology will teach you is how to say good bye to your money.

    Eat food, learn about nutrition and save your money

    ^^^ This ^^^

    ...And at 26 there is absolutely nothing wrong with your metabolism.

    This even more so. Metabolism is perhaps the most overrated excuse for lack of weight loss.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    jeffpettis wrote: »
    jwhited71 wrote: »
    Only thing shakeology will teach you is how to say good bye to your money.

    Eat food, learn about nutrition and save your money

    ^^^ This ^^^

    ...And at 26 there is absolutely nothing wrong with your metabolism.

    Yea I'm lots older than you so no your metabolism hasn't slowed down due to age

  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
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    I would carve out some time to go to the grocery store and start making meals you can pack into a feedbag for work. You can cook a double dinner the night before or cook a big batch of something over the weekend.
  • smallandunhealthy
    smallandunhealthy Posts: 10
    edited October 2014
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    Thanks for the tips! I have a friend who's really into shakeology, not a bb coach, and offered one of her bags to see if it helps (because anything is better than not eating). I never have a huge appetite and so I thought this would be a good way to ease into things.

    To address some concerns from the comments:

    I avoid fruits and veggies and am slowly trying to relearn how to eat them. Besides bananas and apples, I never could keep most food down as a kid, even when I didn't know I was eating them, I would throw up. I have a big aversion to those foods and some types still will make me gag/vomit or make me sick.

    I figure my weight gain was from going from an extremely fast to less fast metabolism. I used to eat lots of meat/rice/fast food/junk food until I graduated college and the highest I weighed was 87 lbs. I eat a bit less now, but most of the same stuff, so I figure it was my metabolism or all that bad food catching up to me.

    Weight loss is not my goal. I weigh under 100 lbs still, so I'm not fat. Just unhealthy with more body fat than I'd like, it makes me feel less comfortable in my clothes.

    If I decide to use it, I'll be trying the shakeology for free from a my friend's husband, they have a few bags in their house that are expiring soon. She's just going to take one and give it to me. I don't want to try it though if it won't actually help/isn't actually healthy/has side effects after you stop drinking it.

    I thought shakeology would be a better option than not eating or eating junk food until dinner time. I'm never really hungry, but I know I should eat something during the day. I'm trying to ease my way into eating right, I thought that maybe shakeology will be something good for me while I slowly progress into eating good foods and cooking regularly. Basically I just wanted to know if it's something that will in fact help me feel better/healthier while I work on figuring this whole nutrition thing out for myself.. kind of like a quick fix or jumpstart. I'm still trying to figure this part out.

    Thanks again everyone for the tips!
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    http://macrolifenaturals.com. Better and cheaper than Shakeology. And actually provides you with daily servings of fruits and veggies (which Shakeology does not).

    What I think you truly need though, is psychiatric help from a therapist who specializes in disordered eating.
  • court_fritch26
    court_fritch26 Posts: 297 Member
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    I tried it once when I started on a Beachbody kick…I honestly didn't see much difference between that and less expensive protein powders. It also doesn't do much in the way of teaching you better eating habits.

    If you are getting it for free there isn't any harm in using it, but after that I would suggest finding a less expensive alternative. Good luck!
  • smallandunhealthy
    smallandunhealthy Posts: 10
    edited October 2014
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    Thanks for the advice to the two above! Also that link is for macro life is the type of thing I'm looking for.
    FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »
    What I think you truly need though, is psychiatric help from a therapist who specializes in disordered eating.

    Are you talking about the food avoidance/aversions?

    I used to have to see my school counselor when this happened in elementary school because they thought it was me just being picky, then they found out I would still throw up/get sick even if I didn't know I was eating certain foods. My parents used to take me to the doctor a lot as a child about my eating, they never could figure out what was wrong, my parents always just said I had a sensitive stomach.

  • smallandunhealthy
    smallandunhealthy Posts: 10
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    ^ Thanks BrettPGH, but I'm not focusing on weight loss. But I'm sure your tips will still be great for trying to feel healthier!
  • jeremywm1977
    jeremywm1977 Posts: 657 Member
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    Shakeology is perhaps the 2nd greatest waste of money. The greatest waste would be paying to be part of any MLM/Pyramid and having the gall to call yourself a "coach".
  • brandiuntz
    brandiuntz Posts: 2,717 Member
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    Is there a chance you're allergic to certain fruits/veggies? You should really figure out if your aversion is from some allergic reaction. I'd see a doctor about testing for food allergies first. After you know what (if anything) you're allergic to, you can look at learning to incorporate more fruit and veggies into your diet.
  • smallandunhealthy
    smallandunhealthy Posts: 10
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    jeremywm1977 wrote: »
    Shakeology is perhaps the 2nd greatest waste of money. The greatest waste would be paying to be part of any MLM/Pyramid and having the gall to call yourself a "coach".

    I'm not buying it and I don't do anything with beachbody. A friend has lots of bags and was offering one for free. I wanted to find out if it was actually something that could help ease me out of my poor diet, or if there is something better.
    brandiuntz wrote: »
    Is there a chance you're allergic to certain fruits/veggies? You should really figure out if your aversion is from some allergic reaction. I'd see a doctor about testing for food allergies first. After you know what (if anything) you're allergic to, you can look at learning to incorporate more fruit and veggies into your diet.

    This is a good point. It never really crossed my mind, I always assumed my parents would have found that out from my pediatrician when I couldn't eat anything as a child. Definitely worth looking into.
  • CoachMigs
    CoachMigs Posts: 22
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    Also I think very important: have you tried organic vs "regular" fruits & veggies? You may be very sensitive to pesticides and other toxins that are polluting our food supplies... It may be simple as you needing "clean" food and avoiding the gmo's and pesticides. Do you have any fruits/veggies that you have ever been able to keep down or say you like?
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    CoachMigs wrote: »
    Also I think very important: have you tried organic vs "regular" fruits & veggies? You may be very sensitive to pesticides and other toxins that are polluting our food supplies... It may be simple as you needing "clean" food and avoiding the gmo's and pesticides. Do you have any fruits/veggies that you have ever been able to keep down or say you like?

    Organic fruits and veggies are still treated with pesticides.
  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
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    kgeyser wrote: »
    CoachMigs wrote: »
    Also I think very important: have you tried organic vs "regular" fruits & veggies? You may be very sensitive to pesticides and other toxins that are polluting our food supplies... It may be simple as you needing "clean" food and avoiding the gmo's and pesticides. Do you have any fruits/veggies that you have ever been able to keep down or say you like?

    Organic fruits and veggies are still treated with pesticides.

    They also may be a GMO. See - corn on the cob, apple trees, etc.

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