Need advice re diet shakes

dopehat

Hey everyone. I've been doing this weight loss/health thing a lot more seriously for almost a month now (roughly). I haven't weighed myself yet (I will measure myself though - wish I had of done that earlier!). I've never been motivated like I am now and this is the first time that I really do feel I've had a lifestyle change that is actually practical and enjoyable.

My intention has always been to just lose the weight slowly, not weigh myself (or not do it often) as I think it could discourage me, and just see it as a thing for health and the weight-loss is purely a side affect. I still pretty much see it this way but I'm feeling slightly discouraged as I feel my weight-loss has been minimal to nothing. I've had an idea that maybe I could drop something like 8 kilos reasonably quickly using diet shakes (so I was thinking I could have breakfast/lunch/healthy snack and then diet shake for dinner) and then once I've lost 8 kilos (or something like that) I could continue losing it naturally/slowly like I have been.

Do you think this is even a feasible idea? Or is it just plain stupid? I've never been a believer in taking diet shakes but it's just a thought. I think seeing the weight-loss would definitely motivate me even more. Would replacing dinner with the diet shakes make me "feel bad"? As in tired or something? I've definitely been feeling a lot better since I've been working out/eating healthy.

****EDIT (sorry, the more I thought about this "passing thought" of using diet shakes, the more I thought it was stupid!!):

I have checked over my food diary, workouts, water intake many times. I've checked it with a couple of people who seem to think that it's good and should be working.

The diet shake thing really was just a quick (and probably passing) thought. If I knew 100% that what I was doing now is correct then I would just continue on, even if it's slow (I'm ok with that and generally a pretty patient person).

I suppose my question really should be - Is it expensive to see a dietician? I'd love it if there was a dietician who would take me to the local shop and show me which groceries to buy / food to cook. That way I would have faith in what I'm doing and wouldn't be so concerned with the actual weight loss.

Thanks in advance

Hearts_2015

Why? Have you checked over your food diary, your workouts, your water intake etc.? Are you eating enough healthy food to fuel your workouts? Are you eating back some workout calories if you need too?


I can't imagine why you'd want to go on a "Diet" when you have all the support in the world already here on MFP!

I guess I simply don't understand the mentality of people that want to use diet pills, diet drinks, diets where some eat only 500 calories and drink women's pee. Why?

Really, seriously does this actually make sense to you to go this route?

smh:frown:

dopehat

Hi there. Thanks for your response.

I have checked over my food diary, workouts, water intake many times. I've checked it with a couple of people who seem to think that it's good and should be working.

The diet shake thing really was just a quick (and probably passing) thought. If I knew 100% that what I was doing now is correct then I would just continue on, even if it's slow (I'm ok with that and generally a pretty patient person).

I suppose my question really should be - Is it expensive to see a dietician? I'd love it if there was a dietician who would take me to the local shop and show me which groceries to buy / food to cook. That way I would have faith in what I'm doing and wouldn't be so concerned with the actual weight loss. :S

Hollie_downunder

I've used diet shakes in the past before... generally i have only used them at the start just to give myself a kick in the right direction!

though honestly, with most of the food i eat now for brekky and lunch, they have less cals than the diet shake anyways!
(for example, lunch of cottage cheese on light crackers with spinach, sometimes some tuna, and a low fat yoghurt and fruit)

all of that food... less cals than a shake, and i'm EATING! not being miserable just having a liquid lunch!

Hope you find something that works for you (and if you feel like you're about to give up or losing motivation just come on mfp and read some of the forum posts!)

Good luck

dopehat

Thanks Hollie. That helps! I think I'll just need to research some more healthy food options, work more on portion control and make sure to track everything. Maybe I'll give it another month and if there's no change then I will see a dietician or something like that! I'd really like to do this the healthy way.

Hollie_downunder

And also you don't want all your hard work to go to waste when you start eating again, if your body has been in starvation mode you will gain it all back!

and that sucks!

but like most people i have to eat healthy AND exercise too, unfortunately some of us just aren't that lucky! (and i guess thats why we're here! hehe)

Pebble321

It's really up to you, some people like to go down this path and if you feel as though it would give you a kick start, then it might not be a bad idea. BUT, have a look at the ingredient list of some of them and see if you still want to drink them

My neice was using some and the ingredients were basically a combination of different kinds of sugars, carbs and artificial flavours. My personal opinoin is that the only real benefit of those shakes is that if you stick to their recommended food plan plus the shakes you will have a dramatically reduced calorie intake - that is what is going to create the weight loss, not a magic formula of processed ingredients.

I suspect that you might be better looking at the calories and replacing one meal (like breakfast) with a real fruit smoothie, some fruit salad and yoghurt or something like that. Or commit to having a lower cal salad for dinner every day for a week.

Or, better still, continue eating a healthy range of foods and accept that it takes time to get healthy but it will happen and the weight will gradually disappear along they way. When I get discouraged and feel like the scale isn't moving I find it helpful to look back at a once a month weigh in chart - which shows my weight going down each month (just not every day or every week!).