Shakes or other food "suppliments" - Yay or Nay?

jennyerkes

I am a huge believer in supplements to fill the voids of our diets! I do a meal replacement shake by Genesis Pure COMPLETE shake for breakfast. Their products are completely natural! The taste is awesome as well! Their Recovery drink after workouts also has the 20grams of protein and I use as breakfast, with almond milk on workout days. I do not however agree with the drink multiple in a day to lose weight. Mine is strictly convenience of a grab and go so I have more time to workout before I head out the door. They also keep me full till lunch, which helps ALOT!!

Dorkaleena

I find all these posts interesting. Shakes as meal replacement don't HAVE to be a "Quick Fix" . People like me, who have portion control issues, can use them as a tool. Which I do.

Not only do the shakes make me want to eat better, they're helping me control portions. I'm using it to help retrain my brain and my body.

MRP's may not fit YOUR personal philosophies, but done right, they can be a valuable tool.

NewChristina

I don't think processed foods are the way to go. They are usually full of sugar and sodium, making it harder to lose weight and often making you gain weight (in water retention). With that being said, I have Ensure or Adkins shakes in my refrigerator for emergencies. If I'm going to run out the door with no time to eat, I know I can grab a shake to tide me over.
It's not something that I do on a regular basis.

I don't agree with this at all...No matter what kind of food you eat, processed or not, as long as you are in a calorie deficit you'll lose weight whether you're taking in a bunch of sugar or salt a day. Eating less than your body burns a day = weight loss. According to NASM, calories are calories. There is no need to place foods in to these bad vs good categories.

So what you're saying is that 100 calories from baby carrots is the same as 100 calories from a soda? That the calories from each don't matter, you'll get the same results, involving overall health?

I'm sorry, but I'm calling BS.

Thanks ejean, and I also said IN WATER RETENTION. I understand a deficit is a deficit, but the scale will go up for many people if you overdo the sodium.

AlyRoseNYC

I like meal replacement shakes because I'm too lazy to cook everyday. I drink Shakeology daily. Could I do without it? Of course. But, shakes are more convenient for me.

AmyP619

My husband and I drink a protein shake every day for lunch but eat regular, healthy food the rest of the day. It helps us get in more protein, which is really good for the diet and helps you feel fuller longer. It's a quick and easy way to get a lunch in... we figure we're spending money on those but we're not spending money on lunch foods, so it works out. They're really yummy too!! Total Lean 25 at GNC...Rich Chocolate is the best

gtrixiej

Hi, so are you doing the 90 day challenge? My firend started it 2 weeks ago and so far so good! I was thinking about doing the 90 day challenge. But was a little worried how the product will work.

jolarocknrolla

Only if you cannot get your required nutrition (macro and micro nutrients) from "real" food.

Which, if you plan ahead, shouldn't be an issue at all. Check out my diary.

Maybe that works for you but personally i need 1/3 less your calories and a lot more protein ... your "model" diary is not everybody's and your goals are definately not my goals. ::shrug::

I like using protein shakes to supplement if that day's protein is under 100gs, otherwise i don't bother. Go with a high quality protein powder, mine has 1 carb and 0 sugars for 30g protein which works well in my macros (Insulin Resistnat so need to limit sugars and carbs)

I suggested using my diary as an example. When I eat chicken, I don't eat very much, but I could easily jack up the amount I eat every day, or I could add tuna or something.

From 100g of chicken, you're getting 31g of protein, 0g of carbs and 4g of fat. that's 165 of ALL NATURAL, REAL calories. Not some processed calories in a powder you mix with water.

Need more protein? Eat more chicken (or other lean meats)! Simple...

If I were to choose between a drink made in a laboratory over some meat that was grown and extracted from a real animal, I'll take the animal every day.

@aka...

I'm living proof that weight loss (and overall health) is directly related to WHAT you eat more than HOW MUCH you eat. For the past two weeks, I've been doing an elimination diet to find food sensitivities. In doing it, I had to ditch all the pre-made grocery foods, chocolate bars, sodas, etc etc etc that I used to eat all the time. I'm netting a calorie deficit of 500 calories every day (give or take) yet I've lost about 15 lbs in 2 weeks (I'm losing about a pound a day)! On top of that, I feel better than I ever have in the last few years! If losing weight were all about numbers, how would you explain that?

If all calories were equal, and what you ate didn't matter, as long as the number matched, then I should have only lost 2 lbs so far.

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

Lol, sure, i'll just tell that to my VEGAN husband ... i'm sure he'll love the idea of simply eating some nice animal protein. /sarcasm

you know, while i agree that getting your macros to where they need to be eating natural unprocessed foods *is* the optimal way to do it, i do not look down on protein shakes. They do fine in a pinch and beleive it or not sometimes people's goals are to have 150+g of protein and they do not want to eat massive amounts of chicken breasts, cottage cheese, eggs and tuna every day. More healthy options are always better then less and for someone starting out, flexibility is key.

VorJoshigan

You might be able to lose weight eating junk food with a calorie deficit, but it will be more difficult and less sustainable. You said in an earlier post that "a carb is a carb," which is not true. Simple carbs found in processed foods are easier for your body to digest and is turned into fat quickly. Simple carbs also will hit your body with a spike of sugar, causing your body to crash later. Complex carbohydrates (found in whole grains) take longer for your body to digest, keeping you fuller longer and avoiding the spike of sugar to your system. I have also posted a link to a study you might find helpful.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57461579/study-not-all-calories-are-created-equal/

"After losing about 30 pounds weight, 21 young adult participants were put on three different diets to see how they affected metabolism: low fat, low carb and low glycemic index."

I can't watch the video due to the fact that I'm in class right now...but does the video state that all of the diets contain the same amount of calories? Or if each diet was specific for the individuals in the study? Plenty of things could cause the the results of that study.

Like this:

"While on the low fat diet, people burned fewer calories, making it harder to keep off weight.
People on the low carb diet burned the most calories."

If the people on the low fat diet ate less calories than the low carb diet, the results of this test would be the exact opposite.

As far as digestion rate, the glycemic index is irrelevant once those carb sources are eaten with other foods. The glycemic index is measured by eating that carb source BY ITSELF on an EMPTY STOMACH. If you eat a simple sugar with protein and/or fat, the digestion rate will slow down.

The study was small and short, but it's the real deal. This was the same JAMA study linked to earlier. All of the subjects ate all 3 of the diets for a month in a randomized order. All of the diets were the same number of calories. A couple of people actually did better on the Low GI diet than the Low Carb diet, so I'm a definite believer that different things work for different people, but the subjects burned an average of 300+ calories MORE with the Low Carb diet compared to Low Fat, and were almost at the pre-diet energy expenditure level. Subjects burned 120 more calories on the Low GI diet than the Low Fat one.

Low Carb diet also resulted in better results for most of the blood test line items.

A calorie is not a calorie, or at least not for most people.

Heather_Rider

I'm rather new to MFP and have recently started another chapter of attempted weight loss in my life.

Before touring around the site and seeing all the tools and support available I was confronted by one of my aquaintences regarding a shake suppliment product that would help me lose weight. I did some research and the product looks legit but like every "miracle cure" it came at a heafty price tag.

Just curious if anyone else has tried a product out there and if you suggest doing so or keep with the basics of eating healthy?

I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not like most people out there looking for a "quick fix" but I ultimately respect my body too much to put it in harms way!

I look forward to your input and thank you for reading!

first, if they were trying to sell to you, report them. Some people troll on here looking for people who are desperate to lose weight to sell their stuff. its against the rules to sell anything on here.. so report!

second, you will find A LOT of controversy on this subject (and MANY other subjects) but the fact of the matter is.. you have to find what works best for you. If you want to try them, make sure you have one that is full of nutrients. Nutrition doesnt hurt, right? If you decide not to try them.. thats your choice also.. Basically it comes down to this...

CALORIES ARE CALORIES. If you get 200 from a shake.. or 200 from a meal. its the same calories!

You do whats best for YOU! and GOOD LUCK!