To think that I could lose weight and have good nutrition by living off protein bars, protein shakes and juices?

[BarbaraVineFan]

Tonight I left it very late and couldn’t be bothered to cook dinner, but didn’t want to have toast or anything too Cathy. I ended up having a blended juice made with cucumber, broccoli, ginger, lemon and nectarine (bit random but it was what I had in the fridge!) and a protein bar. Felt full afterwards and it got me thinking, would this work as a lowish-carb diet plan as long as the juices were mainly vegetable based rather than fruit?

Seriously, this isn’t rocket science. Just eat real food.

No UPF, refined carbs, sugar, alcohol.

Eat mostly protein (chicken, fish, tofu, eggs) + plants.

Don't overcomplicate this. “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants”. But do not neglect protein.

Food pyramid:
vegetables
protein
complex carbs
fruit

I can't understand why you'd want to though.

A decent omelette takes 10 minutes to make and 5 to eat. Packed with protein & veg. Or home made tsatsiki & wholemeal pittas. Or home made hummus and veggies. Or grilled salmon and steamed veg.

Are you seriously saying you can't find 15 minutes in an evening to feed yourself, yet you have time to faff about with shakes. Maybe take a look at your priorities instead.

I wouldn't recommend it. I was living off protein shakes and fruit juice for 2 weeks after complications from wisdom tooth removal. It completely wrecked my gut and gave me the squits.

Having a smoothie for breakfast or lunch then having two low carb meals a day would be a better option. If you read up on volume eating (basically including lots of watery fruits and veg in your diet) you'll get that full feeling without needing to eat / drink lots of processed stuff.

If you're a meat eater, those mini fillets of chicken are much quicker to cook than an entire breast. Bung in the oven, or fry with some frylite and serve with a couple of sides of green veg (I buy frozen broccoli, peas etc) to save time on prepping.

Starving yourself?
If it was easy to fight it, then you wouldn't need to diet because you wouldn't be overweight.
It is a stupid idea.
Eat between 11am and 8pm, healthy food.

Ok point taken! Thanks all, I will hold off on publishing my book ‘Shakes, Juices and Bars- who needs real food?’ 😂

Honestly you'll end up unwell. 🥰
I'm sure you're beautiful anyways, just make better choices around food without starving.
It's such a waste of life and brain power.
Swap cooking oil for spray. Swap any sauce, mayo etc for the lighter version, eat plenty of fibre, your body will clear out naturally.

anything too Cathy ??

I am currently on the New You plan and didn't want to do it, initially, because of the processed food element. Prior to this, I was on clean eating and keto.

That being said, I tried a DIY VLCD and became nutrient deficient so knew I couldn't achieve what I needed to on my own, at the calorie deficit needed to lose, in the time I wanted to lose.

Protein bars are just as trashy as the New You VLCD, but without the 100% fortified nutrition, and not all vegetables and fruits are great nutrition.

But, for a week, none of that really matters.

Longer term, I'd look at real food sources for protein if you don't care about dropping weight quick via a VLCD e.g. tuna, eggs, nuts, chicken, lentils, chickpeas etc. Add some veg and some healthy fats and you're good to go.