Meal replacement shake

I eat a "food" breakfast on the weekends...there's nothing wrong with drinking breakfast if you get full...I like to sleep, might just be me, I dunno but I'm not getting up an extra 30-45 to make and eat breakfast during the week.

Nightmare_Queen88 wrote: »

@MaiLinna Wow that actually sounds really good. I loved adding banana to my shake. It taste soooooooo good. I really need to start going back to eating what I want, within reason of course. I use to have my carbs and everything pretty high. It was what MFP recommended, but I felt that was too much. However I was still losing weight with that. I did just adjust my calories to 1500.

That's awesome!!!! There's nothing wrong with carbs unless you're diabetic. A lot of people I've seen recently worry too much about their macros (and in the wrong way) and not enough about vital nutrients that the rest of the country is deficient in.

Think about it this way: you're meant to eat 25g of fibre a day. (Which, btw, I recommend you go slow on that unless you don't have a stressful job. Any time you get your fibre back up after too long of a deficiency will cause a lot of stomach discomfort. I myself did it the other week after a month of long birthday celebrations.)

Now, look at foods that are high in fibre. Originally I thought "Wow, I have to eat this every day?! What about other stuff? I can't fit my chips and cookies into my day if I have to keep cramming in the fibre!" It's even on a tv commercial for I think "Benefibre." I started eating things like Fibre One bars to try and hit the quota, but the two things that really made it easy were oats and beans.

Think to yourself - if you saw someone eating oats and beans every day, would you call them unhealthy? No, you wouldn't. Oatmeal has been touted as a hearty breakfast since we were born, and I don't know about you but I was one of the rare kids happy to eat my lima beans.

I digress. If you start off trying to meet goals that will change your diet so much that you'll be among the 4% in your entire country eating the right amount of fibre, then by George you have to be doing something right. It's the simplest change I ever made 40 lbs ago, and it made me feel good because I was working up to 25g a day instead of working down to losing weight.

That being said, there are healthy minimums for your macros. 15% fat per day is the lowest you should go. You want good, healthy fats that can help you absorb vitamins. Between 20-35% fat is the recommendation.

Americans get way too much protein in their diet. Things like kidney stones are becoming the norm. 42g is the daily rec for a sedentary adult, 52g for an active female, 62g for an active male, give or take 20g. The more kidney and liver problems in your family, the closer to the daily rec I would stay.

I still have some body shaping to do, but by simply focusing on fibre I was able to lose my first 20 pounds or so pretty effortlessly. After that I had to make sure I was moving enough. Still do. Remember, diet and exercise go hand in hand.

MarkusDarwath wrote: »

While carbs aren't bad for you if you're not diabetic, for someone on a calorie restricted diet who is having trouble with feeling hungry, carbs are not helpful.

No offense, but that whole notion is nothing but vegan propaganda.

Speak for yourself. Carbs fill me up and satisfy me. They're also the same caloric density as protein. If i had to pick between a protein shake (just whey and water) vs. say a peice of fruit, sorry to say the fruit it going to hold me over a little bit longer.

I won't even get into the fact that some of the most filling foods for satiety happen to be a starchy carb called potatoes.

And as far as "eating too much" protein, this is definitely the case for some people. For sedentary individuals you only need .8-1g of carbohydrates per KG of body weight. For athletes they need this much for each pound of lean body mass.

I know many people who eat meat meat meat all day every day (i've known 3 people personally who've gotten gout). Not saying this is true for everyone, but if you already consume meat in your diet it's pretty easy to hit your protein goal and it's not necessary to start adding on supplements like bars and shakes.

rainbowbow wrote: »

Speak for yourself. Carbs fill me up and satisfy me.

I did specify for someone limiting calories -and- having problems with feeling hungry. In general, sugars and starches digest faster than proteins and fats, so they leave your stomach faster. They also metabolize faster (assuming not diabetic) leaving less time in which to "use 'em or store em"

But yes, speaking for myself, I get hungry sooner after eating a meal that's higher in carbohydrates, and I end up craving even more carbs... and since I actually am diabetic, that's a very unfortunate thing. On the other hand, I can easily go 6 plus hours on a breakfast of eggs and sausage, and maybe a piece of fresh fruit, for a total of under 600 calories without getting overly hungry.

And as far as "eating too much" protein, this is definitely the case for some people.

Generalizing the statement to "Americans," however, is nonsense. Just because one only "needs" 'X' amount doesn't mean that more than that is automatically too much or a bad thing. If we want to take it down to need, then we don't actually need non-fiber carbs at all as our bodies are capable of adapting to using protein and fat instead. We cannot, however, go the other way and adapt to skipping protein and fats.

For sedentary individuals you only need .8-1g of carbohydrates per KG of body weight. For athletes they need this much for each pound of lean body mass.

but if you already consume meat in your diet it's pretty easy to hit your protein goal and it's not necessary to start adding on supplements like bars and shakes.

Again, depends on your goal. I am losing weight on a 2200 calorie per day diet. Part of that is going low (but not extremely low) carb for blood sugar control. At a target of 25%, I can usually come close to my calorie target. If I up the target to 30% it becomes very difficult. The main reason for protein bars and shakes outside of body building is mostly variety. Being low calorie, the supplements make it easier to stay in ratio within a specific calorie target.

Wouldn't fill me up personally. Liquid calories are never filling to me unless eaten alongside other foods like soup before dinner. I actually use shakes when I need to BOOST my calories for the day because it's easy to bulk it up with calories with nut butters and heavy cream for that very same reason. If it's filling to you, then you are doing fine and don't need to change anything. If it's not filling, you may be like me and don't feel full on liquid calories no matter how many carbs/fat you add to it. Just work with what works for you.

I do use protein powder, but I use it by mixing it into things that are filling to me like oatmeal and other hot cereals or weetabix. I only have a straight up shake when I'm very low on protein but not necessarily hungry enough to want chewable food.