Anyone tried meal replacement shakes.

[harajukubabe]

As above, how did it go? I have put on 6kg in 1 year and feel fat. I want to lose weight but have not much time for exercise as I work long hrs.
I eat relatively healthy all day but once I get home, I tend to snack on lots of carbs.
I walk at weekends to stay active.

Any tips and what brand of meal replacements worked for you?

[harajukubabe]

Anyone?

[Losingme]

I’ve been using diet whey protein from Myprotein.com, comes in array of flavours and really fills me up. I use one for breakfast and lunch but I also snack on fruit throughout the day with lots of water. Then I have a healthy dinner, usually chicken sweet potatoe and loads of veg. I don’t feel hungry at all and I lost 5 pounds last week.

[Soov567]

I hit a plateau after losing 3 stone so am trying Slimfast to kick start weight loss. I’m in my 3rd week and have lost 6lb on it so far.
Don’t know if it will stay off but it has motivated me again when I was feeling like I was coming off track before and I do enjoy not thinking about what to make for breakfast and lunch every day

[CremeDeSudo]

I did Cambridge to lose weight after DS. Lost 3st baby weight plus an extra stone I'd been trying to lose before. I put half a stone back on as soon as I came off which I'd expected and kept it off until now (had a cancer scare, lost my Dad to cancer, miscarriage and successful pregnancy in the last 18 months). I'm intending to go back on it when DS is 3 months old to shift it again. Can't bloody wait. It's hard, but once you're into it and losing so fast it's brilliant.

[MagentaRocks]

I’m doing exante, I love the shakes and bars and once you get past the first few days it is easy. I feel so much better and have so much more energy. Even when I get down to my goal weight I will still have them but add a healthy meal in the evening.

[Aprilsinparis]

I am on Slimfast banana shakes. I find if I vary it from day to day, it is easier to stick to. For instance a shake for breakfast and lunch and then for dinner plenty of veggies and salmon, or rice and chicken. I find if I eat dinner a little later than I use to, before dieting, I don't snack when I'm watching the television. If I do snack, I have unsalted nuts or unsweetened popcorn.

If you have the milk shakes, morning and lunchtime, you know you can sit down and enjoy your dinner with the family. I haven't lost any weight for over a week, but I'm hoping next week when I weigh myself, I'll have started losing again.....Hopefully....

[Losingme]

Can I just say that I used to use slimfast with varied results which I believe was more to to my exercise. If you look at the sugar content in slim fast it wayyyyyy to much and will ultimately turn to fat in the body. I would suggest finding a shake that has low sugar. Honestly the one I’m using is great, I have cookies and cream flavour, it’s low in sugar and when I first started it, I wasn’t doing exercise and was still losing. You done have to go hungry, I always add fruit or do a snack of carrots and humous. I really look forward to my evening meal and I out tons of veg on so I’m sooo full up. Please be careful with slimfast and other products like it, the sugar content is insane x

[Losingme]

Sort one more thing, when you use a diet whey protein shake, the extra protein makes th body hold on to muscle, with others you end up losing muscle and a small amount of fat ( which is not what we want!) that’s why before I would be losing but still wobbly! I would be losing muscle mass and keeping the fat. I learned all this from my brother (he’s in the RAF) he has to be fit and has helped me so much. I’d say just give it a whirl, can’t hurt. Also the flavour range is so good! Strawberry cheesecake, vanilla, mint chocolate, cookies and cream, banana and so many others. X

[Liz38]

I'm having a dither about trying slimfast. I'm not over a healthy BMI but I'm at the top end and I'm a stone above where I'd like to be. My problem is that I try all sorts of "let's be moderate, eat sensibly" ideas and then I wobble. I'm thinking now that with inflexible rules I'll have nothing to hide behind. I've got a massively sweet tooth as well. I'm hoping that if I can kick start a weight loss with a month or so of being very strict on a Plan then I will have the motivation to stick to being sensible, manage portion sizes and cut out the shit to lose the rest.

[Fallennova]

I personally didn't have a very good experience.

I tried Cambridge first, lost 1.5 st in 4 weeks (bearing in mind I was about a size 12 when I did this) It did feel amazing and everyone commented on it but honestly the weight goes back on as soon as you stop.

Food felt amazing to eat again and its hard to go back on the shakes. I now feel sick at the thought of the taste of them now.

[CremeDeSudo]

Doesn't the weight go back on when you stop any diet though? This is why you're not supposed to diet, you're supposed to change your way of eating! It's a quick fix, not a lifestyle change. Slim fast is full of sugar, I wouldn't use it personally. 3.5wks til I can get back on it. 😁

[sickoffootball]

I'm on week two of slim fast... Also using the my fitness pal app to track calories etc which is helping... I don't buy the ready made shakes I buy the powder which is only 4.99 in home bargains! Lost 6 lb in first week and I didn't really stick to it as strictly as I should have !

[FATEdestiny]

Whole load of bollocks about muscle and fat by Losingme. You need to listen to some James Smith. Have a look at his other videos, they are very good.

Meal replacements simply work by making you have a calorie deficit. It is very easy, and more long term, to keep the same calorie deficit by educating yourself to eat healthily and exercise more. These are the things healthy people do.

[FATEdestiny]

Oh, and I lost 1 stone per month for each of the first 5 months by just eating healthily and exercising plenty. 1 stone in 1 month, 2st in 2 months, 3st in 3 months, and so on. Have lost 6 1/2 stone to date (since 1st Jan, 7 and a bit months).

Less than 1 stone to go until BMI 25. I've had my weeks of losing 7lb in one week. Eating real, normal, whole foods. So this notion that shakes will give you quick weight loss (quicker than just educating yourself in healthy calorie consumption) is bollocks

[LittleMissedTheSunshine]

Try Jason Vale super blend me. All natural ingredients you make your own shakes just need a blender.

Better than artificial crap IMO and tastes great too.

[Losingme]

Actually I think you need some information yourself, there’s no need to be rude either. I’m stating what is working for me and others I personally know. The More protein for your muscles the less chance of you losing muscle mass instead of fat. I didn’t simply make that up. Again do what works for you, I was asked for advice and I gave it.

[Losingme]

Oh and meal replacements aren’t a long time thing, just a kickstarter, you can replace this with clean eating. If you stop the shakes and go back to eating what you were before then of course the weight will come back x

[Fabricwitch]

I tried them but they didn't help. Like you, I eat healthily but snack in the evenings. Replacing a healthy meal with a shake just doesn't help. You (and me) need to replace those unhealthy snacks with healthy or no snacks

[FATEdestiny]

When you're overweight and keeping a calorie deficit, you are not going to lose muscle tissue. Your macros (protein, carbs, fat) make no difference to how the weight is lost in a calorie deficit.

You lose muscle tissue by not using the muscle. That's it.

When you were still "wobbly", it was because you still had more weight/fat that needed to be lost. I don't mean any offence in that, but to suggest that if you lost the same amount of weight the "right way" then you wouldn't very wobbly is not true. You lost weight and needed to lose more to not be wobbly.

I'm sure you mean well, and your brother (in the RAF), who's trying you explain it to you. But the facts got lost in translation somewhere.

For what it's worth, I use myprotein diet whey chocolate powder in my porriage oats after my 10k plus runs. It's a great protein powder and for its purpose I do recommend (low calorie for high protein content, less sugar etc). I wouldn't use as a meal replacement, I use as an easy way for extra protein/carbs on high exercise days. But to suggest that protein powder will affect muscle loss is plain wrong.

[Losingme]

I said it helps, obviously exercise combined with a healthy diet and extra protein makes all the difference. I guess I’m not explaining what I mean correctly. Increasing protein intake will increase your metabolism and help to maintain your muscle mass, all of which helps with fat-burning. In fact, your body burns more calories when you eat protein than when you digest either fats or carbs. ... The group eating the higher-protein diet burn the most fat.

[Losingme]

Got the last bit from a study that was done, but basically just eat more protein.

[FATEdestiny]

Your protein intake will not affect your metabolism in any way.

[FATEdestiny]

Whatever you are referring to Losingme, it's pseudoscience.

You are over complicating and placing unrealistic significance on what is basic GCSC science.

The Basal Metabolic Rate is primarily affected by the portion of fat to muscle in the body and the amount of exercise done.

Other factors include age, body size, sex, genetics, temperature and health/illness.

Eating 100% protein will not change your metabolism and will not lead to weight loss unless there is a calorie deficit. The calorie deficit is what causes weight loss, not the protein content.

Eating 50% protein will not change your metabolism and will not lead to weight loss unless there is a calorie deficit...

Eating 30% / 25% / 20% protein will not change your metabolism... You get the idea.

(although for the sake of completion I should say that having zero or exceptionally low protein levels from a very restricted diet, the same as having zero levels of any other nutrients, will cause malnutrition.)

You seem to be confusing matters with the fact that protein intake does accelerate muscle growth. It's why body builders and athletes take protein powder, to build extra muscle. This is true. It does not follow that not having high protein intake causes muscle wastage. It doesn't. It just means muscles can't get bigger when you work out. It doesnt mean muscles get smaller without the high protein, just that they wont grow as fast. If you're not working out anyway, then muscle building is irrelevant.

Protein levels themselves do not affect weight loss. Calorie deficit affects weight loss. Only calorie deficit.

A high protein diet is good. Fat and carb levels will be a more individual thing but ensuring that a high proportion of your daily calories are protein is definitely a good thing for your health. It does not affect muscle wastage though. Not exercising causes muscle wastage.

[NewtScamandersNaughtyNiffler]

I bought some of the Tesco meal replacement shakes in the hope it will kick start my weight loss and motivate me to continue by eating healthily.
I find I need a strict regime or i just don't stick to it. Probably how I've ended up needing to lose 10+ stone.

[Hamiltoes]

Newt I'm sorry but I just don't understand the logic of how drinking sugar loaded shakes is going to encourage you to start eating healthily?

Start your day with an egg, some fresh tomatos, cucumber, and a big glass of iced water or green tea and I can guarantee you will feel so much better the whole morning than drinking that crap, and probably for half the calories too. It doesn't have to be hard work or inconvenient, boil 5 eggs on a Sunday and they'll last all week in the fridge. If you need to have strict rules to stick to something, give yourself a no snacking rule and stick to 3 set pre-defined meals a day and cut all the processed crap now (that includes shakes).

If you want to do the shakes then that's OK- but it's really not going to bring you any closer to a normal healthy balanced diet in the long term and there are other easier ways of having a strict regime if that's what you need. Instead of increasing sugar try cutting sugar and see how much fuller and healthier you feel.