Shakes???

my dinner tonight is going to be BOMB. im making a shake with one scoop body fortress chocolate pb protein, one tablespoon of trader joes cookie butter, 1 pudding cup (chocolate) and 8oz of almond milk. oh and probably an extra bit on PB2. i do it because it tastes good and im not too hungry tonight. my success is plainly on staying at a calorie deficit and nothing to do with the shakes. the others you mention, i have not tried. im just excited for my yummy shake im about to have.

I use them...but not as meal replacements. I'm using up what I have as snacks to up my protein and because they are convenient and already paid for. I have tons of leftover wonderslim shakes/coffees/etc (just like medifast but cheaper). I had used the program last year and lost weight very well for having PCOS. I was very happy with it....until the thought of eating another packet shake or dehydrated soup anything turned my stomach and even though I stuck with it (used it for 8 weeks as a "kickstart" for my weight loss) when it was over instead of continuing to eat healthy and using what I "learned" -Like I tell myself with every new thing I try... I ended up bingeing all the weight I lost back on eating all the foods I missed - like what happens after every darn new thing I try... Then I ordered the stuff AGAIN (this time will be different! blah blah blah) ....if it worked out that great then I wouldn't be here at my heaviest weight ever.
That is my personal experience...everyone has to go through their own and come to conclusions on their own terms, but please feel free to learn from me. I am just in the baby stages of trying to lose weight again... I am fed up with doing different diet, same results over and over. Now If its not something I am willing to do forever, I'm just not going to do it.

ETA: the shakes are 100 calories each, the coffees are about 70 - so very low calorie for a meal replacement = not sustainable

I lost 23kg on tony ferguson shakes (australian brand) and while I gag at the thought of them now, they gave me a good chance to remove sugar and too many carbs from my diet which has helped me maintain and continue to lose on normal food.

I only found one brand drinkable so you may need to test a few. Having a weekly weigh in and some support was also a good feature of the program.

So as a good kickstart or perhaps a meal when you are rushed or can't think of anything they are fine. I would recommend a lot of fibre with them to fill you up.

I love the Premier Nutrition protein shakes that you can get at Costco. They are not expensive and they have 30 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, and only 1 gram of sugar. They keep me full for several hours. I haven't found any that beat them yet in price or nutrition. They put all of the MLM shakes to shame (herbalife, beach body, body by vi, etc). Don't waste your money or get in with a MLM. Just go to a real store and buy good quality shakes. Better nutrition for less money!

I use shakeology, sometimes I replace a meal with it, sometimes its just a supplement. I guess it depends how you use things like this. The best way to lose weight is by eating at a reasonable calorie deficit. Often if you use a meal replacement shake to lower calories too much it backfires on you because when you start to eat again you gain the weight back.

I would suggest that if you can't exercise, you find out how many calories it takes to maintain your current weight with sedentary lifestyle, and you subtract approximately 300-500, you will lose more slowly, but will still lose weight.

If a shake helps you to achieve this calorie deficit, then use one, just don't cut your calories too much.

Only use shakes/meal replacement bars when you absolutely cannot get nutrition.

The above should never happen because if you ever hope to achieve your goals you need to plan. If you cannot plan out and pre-cook/prepare meals for the day you are going to fail.

No one is perfect, and even the best planners have things happen that are out of their control.
I keep a small cache of frozen Healthy Choice meals in my freezer and I've grabbed a shake to replace a meal on several occasions. Saying that if you're going to be successful, you can never have your plans interrupted is the kind of crap that leads to people giving up because of minor derailments. Life happens, even when you're trying to lose weight or eat healthy.

That being said, I wouldn't ever do an eating plan that relied on meal replacement shakes.