Do meal replacement drinks work
chloerebeccaxx125
Posts: 40 Member
I 
I’ve just bought these drinks and I am thinking of starting them tomorrow. I will be having one for breakfast and dinner and then tea a low calorie meal or a bowl of fruit. Just wondering if anyone else has tried these and had results and what low calorie meals can you suggest to have with them
I’ve just bought these drinks and I am thinking of starting them tomorrow. I will be having one for breakfast and dinner and then tea a low calorie meal or a bowl of fruit. Just wondering if anyone else has tried these and had results and what low calorie meals can you suggest to have with them
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Replies
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Probably not enough calories.
Why so little food?
Minimum for female is 12008 -
chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »I
I’ve just bought these drinks and I am thinking of starting them tomorrow. I will be having one for breakfast and dinner and then tea a low calorie meal or a bowl of fruit. Just wondering if anyone else has tried these and had results and what low calorie meals can you suggest to have with them
Why are you planning on eating so little?
Shakes and fruit isn't a healthy balanced diet?11 -
@missysippy930 @TavistockToad because that’s the slimfast diet. 2 shakes a day and 600 calorie meal. You didn’t answer anything i asked lol19
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They work because they make you be in a caloric deficit by replacing what could be an usual 500-600 calorie meal with a 150-200 calorie drink, so you'll be intaking less calories overall, which can be done without these drinks.13
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Anything that puts you in a calorie deficit will cause weight loss, if that’s what you mean by “work.”
If you mean whether these things “work” in the sense of being long term weight management approaches, they generally do not. Most people don’t want to drink diet shakes instead of meals for the rest of their lives, so they stop when they reach their goal or get sick of the shakes. They then gain the weight back because they didn’t learn how to eat within their recommended calorie goal.13 -
You’ll be starving and won’t last 3 days. Could it work? In what sense? Losing weight is about be in an appropriate caloric deficit. That’s literally it
And being healthy is about meeting nutritional minimums and yes both are possible at the same time6 -
Eat whatever you like and stay within your calorie budget. As long as you keep track of everything you eat and drink accurately, stay within your calorie budget, and eat less calories than your body burns, you will lose weight. There are a lot of recipe sites where you can get ideas for preparing foods you like.
GOOGLE4 -
You will lose weight on such a severe deficit. You will also lose muscle mass, your ability to self-regulate hormones, and eventually your hair will start falling out. You could maybe do this for a week without ongoing health consequences but such severe malnutrition has a whole host of BAD effects. If you want to use a meal replacement, do it for one meal only. Then make sure your meals with actual food are nutritionally balanced (including protein, calcium and fiber). Good luck.6
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I just remembered that you posted earlier and included pictures. Maybe if you posted your actual goals, you would get some helpful feedback on how to reach them. Losing a couple of pounds might help you look a little leaner (you look to be within a healthy weight range currently) but this doesn't require drastic under-eating to achieve
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Will they work? Most likely. Will they help you long-term? Most likely not. I mean what are you learning about long term maintenance by replacing multiple meals with shakes?6
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chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »
Ok. Then go give it a try. It’s on youtube so I’m sure it’s not BS18 -
Do you plan on living on these for the rest of your life? Most people can't. They aren't enough calories generally.. I would rather eat my calories than drink them.8
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chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »
So if you’re already so sure they work, why did you ask?13 -
They tend to work very effectively for the companies that sell them because the customers keep on coming back.
As people don't learn sensible eating habits the tendency is to lose weight quickly (due to the very low calories) but that turns out to be the first yo in yo-yo.
You have very little weight to lose based on the pictures you posted - this really seems a drastic and unwise thing for you to do. Why not simply eat food you enjoy in the appropriate quantities?
Just like you will have to do for the rest of your life.10 -
@ceiswyn because I wanted actaull advice from people that have done the diet or knew people what have or had any sort of helpful advice, not people who have never even tried the diet telling me that I won’t be able to do it
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I did slim fast over 10 years back between age 13-14. Lost a stone in a week I think, put half back on. Wasn't exactly knowledgable about water weight and crash dieting.
If I remember right I had one shake for breakfast, one for lunch, then a 500 kcal meal for dinner. There may have been snacks in between. I couldn't go more than 2 weeks though as I grew sick of it. The same tastes, lack of texture. (And of course the significant slow down in weight loss week 2 which I didn't understand back then)
Would I recommend it? No. It's not healthy weight loss and it's boring. Healthy weight loss requires a life style change. A healthy diet you could stay on for months to years. Just have a calorie deficit during weight loss and you're good.6 -
chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »@ceiswyn because I wanted actaull advice from people that have done the diet or knew people what have or had any sort of helpful advice, not people who have never even tried the diet telling me that I won’t be able to do it
Nobody is saying you cant do it, they're saying its not sustainable nor healthy. Call me crazy but I think people telling you not to drastically cut calories and to approach weight loss in a healthier manner is pretty helpful advice. We don't have to try the diet you're proposing to know that it isn't the proper way to go about losing weight. What you actually seem to be looking for are a bunch of people telling you that its a great idea, in which case you're going to be highly disappointed with the responses you get.18 -
chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »@ceiswyn because I wanted actaull advice from people that have done the diet or knew people what have or had any sort of helpful advice, not people who have never even tried the diet telling me that I won’t be able to do it
I, for one, will be fascinated to see how many responses you get from Slim Fast users about their long-term success with weight management.
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everyone is different, if this gives you a jump start, why not? Then find something you can do for life, like counting calories or low carb.10
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Often, people who have success with these products, don't know WHY they did (which is important if you want weight loss to be long term) and think it's the product that is magical.chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »@ceiswyn because I wanted actaull advice from people that have done the diet or knew people what have or had any sort of helpful advice, not people who have never even tried the diet telling me that I won’t be able to do it
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I’ve done 2 shakes a day for most days for the last 4 years. I use a great quality brand that balances my macros that is super clean without added color and artificial flavorings, non gmo... The bottom line is counting your macros and getting your vitamins and minerals. You can do it. It’s sustainable. Your body doesn’t discriminate “real food” or shakes. It recognizes nutrients. Get them, in the right amounts and you’ll be good. I seriously suggest getting something better than Slim Fast though! Super processed!12
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chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »
Just curious, if you're seeing people recommending these products on YouTube, are they disclosing if they are being paid for the promotion? A lot of the YouTubers now are doing side deals for product promotion since they don't make that much money from the actual view monetization.11 -
chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »@ceiswyn because I wanted actaull advice from people that have done the diet or knew people what have or had any sort of helpful advice, not people who have never even tried the diet telling me that I won’t be able to do it
I, for one, will be fascinated to see how many responses you get from Slim Fast users about their long-term success with weight management.
While we're waiting for Slim Fast users with long-term success with weight management, I will add that I did some other brand of meal replacement drinks for a week and only a week, and the weight I lost that week came right back over the next few weeks.
I do make my own meal replacement smoothies, but they have considerably more calories than 150-200, which is a snack as far as I'm concerned, not a meal.5 -
chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »@ceiswyn because I wanted actaull advice from people that have done the diet or knew people what have or had any sort of helpful advice, not people who have never even tried the diet telling me that I won’t be able to do it
I, for one, will be fascinated to see how many responses you get from Slim Fast users about their long-term success with weight management.
I stuck it out for 2 weeks (back in 2015). I was starving half the time and a raving lunatic the other half. I was miserable to be around and my boss warmly recommended I take my attitude problem else where or they'd arrange for that one way trip themselves.
I'm also nearly 100% certain that that very low calorie and very low fat piece of garbage caused me to lose my gallbladder.
Honestly, anyone thinking of chugging those gross drinks, just don't. They're not worth the time or money you invest in them.
So my long-term success with those? Non-existant.11 -
chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »because I wanted actaull advice from people that have done the diet or knew people what have or had any sort of helpful advice, not people who have never even tried the diet telling me that I won’t be able to do it
My sister-in-law did it using "HorribleLife" products.
She was quite frankly a misery guts, lost weight as you would expect (she's very determined and stuck to it).
But also looked like death warmed up with lank hair and dull and saggy skin, very low energy levels.
Regained all the weight lost when she started eating proper food again.
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chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »
Might they have a financial incentive to be less than truthful about their experience?
Also, there are videos on youtube "proving" the earth is flat, so you may wish to look for a more reputable source of information.12 -
chloerebeccaxx125 wrote: »@missysippy930 @TavistockToad because that’s the slimfast diet. 2 shakes a day and 600 calorie meal. You didn’t answer anything i asked lol
I have done Slim Fast......so I guess I'm actually "qualified" to give advice. You're not going to like it though.
Slim Fast is designed so you don't have to bother with logging calories, or learning portion control. This is a website for users to measure and log food, learn portion control.
You are taking the easy way out and I guess we're a bunch of dummies. Here's what I figured out. Weight loss is just the first step. To maintain the weight I lost, I had to figure a few things out, or repeat the weight loss process over and over again. Meal replacement shake sellers love this. They get repeat customers.
Drinking my calories - Slim Fast or other shakes didn't give me the same satisfaction as eating, as chewing, as picking out food I actually wanted.
The shakes "work" ONLY because you are taking in fewer calories. Nothing more. You can eat food you enjoy and lose weight. Slim Fast left me hungry and I got bored with the same shakes over and over.
Because you aren't going to bother with portion control or logging actual food (for the most part) you won't know how many calories you are eating. There is a minimum for meeting nutritional guidelines. Losing fast isn't a good thing.
Drink Slim fast for as long as you can stand it, but have a game plan in place for when you get sick of shakes, and especially for maintenance. A smaller you is going to require (somewhat) fewer calories forever.11 -
They aren't filling at all past about 30 minutes to an hour. I ended up starving trying to wait for dinner. This was years ago. I didn't lose much because it's so difficult to stick to such a strict liquid diet.
There are plenty of low calorie foods that you could have for meals instead. If you have breakfast at all you could do egg white omelette and/or turkey sausage. Real food that can keep you full. There are other options too.
A lot of days I don't eat OR drink anything at all not even coffee or water until lunch time. I have found once I eat or drink anything, even water, I am hungry soon after.
Editing to add: I make sure I get a healthy amount of calories each day. Delaying my intake helps me because I can do 2 bigger meals and some snacks for the rest of the day. I'm having no problems staying in my calories alottment and I eat delicious foods.4 -
Before I started eating LCHF, I used weight loss drinks 2 ways. (1) Hubs & I would take them on road trips in case we couldn't find a place to eat right away and (2) I wasn't very good at portion control, so I would have a canned shake about a 1/2 hour before dinner. So, not starving when I sat down for my meal, I would eat less.
I have been LCHF for 4 months, lost 30lbs., A1c (diabetic) went from dangerous at 10 to normal under 5. I am 72yo and feel great. No bloating, no hunger pangs, no cravings, no crazy moods, no brain fog and plenty of nutrients. (Lots of good advice about low carb on YouTube
) Shakes are not bad of themselves, they are just not good instead of meals. 5
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