As good as commercially available meal replacement shakes are, there is no getting away from the fact that they are a form of processed food – albeit a relatively healthy one. Some contain added sugars, not-so-good protein sources, artificial flavors and, as discussed above, not enough fiber. Combined with the cost, for many people it makes sense to make your own meal replacement shakes so you can be sure that the ingredients are has healthy as possible and so you can fine tune flavors and nutrient content to suit your personal requirements.
Note: If you haven’t read yet I would recommend you to check my guide on How to lose weight with meal replacement shakes where I share the plan I use to lose weight fast and in a healthy way.
All recommended and high quality meal replacement shakes for weight loss, are fairly similar and contain roughly the same ingredients….
- Protein
- Low sugar carbohydrates which provide vitamins and minerals
- Healthy fats
- Probiotics
1 – Choose the best protein powder for you
Protein is essential for maintaining muscle mass, muscle repair and also fat burning as it boosts your metabolic rate. Protein is also filling and helps to stabilize your blood glucose levels. Learn how protein works at “Beginner’s Guide to Protein Powder“.
For meal replacement shakes our recommendations are
2 – Choosing Ingredients
Low sugar carbohydrates provide you with sustained energy. They are broken down slowly to minimize peaks and troughs in blood glucose levels and are often a valuable source vitamins, minerals and/or fiber too. Vitamins and minerals are necessary to keep your body healthy. Virtually every reaction that happens in your body requires a combination of vitamins and minerals and that includes fat burning. Low sugar carbs are your main source of vitamins and minerals
Healthy fats are, like vitamins and minerals, essential for health and bodily functions. They control inflammation, keep your joints and brain healthy, are good for your eyes and skin and are a constituent part of virtually every cell in your body. Learn more reading How to Choose Healthy Fats Guide.
Probiotics keep you healthy by topping up the bacteria in your gut. Processed foods and stress can kill off this good bacteria leading to digestive upsets, weight gain and issues digesting food properly. Adding probiotics into the mix means that your gut will be healthy and a healthy gut means a healthy you!
The meal replacement matrix
Most good meal replacements will contain most if not all of these ingredients but you can easily make your own personalized version by using our meal replacement matrix below. Simply chose one ingredient from each category to create your very own meal replacement shake. And remember, this is just the tip of the iceberg – you can research and source alternative ingredients that, providing they fit into one of the categories listed, will also work perfectly well.
| Choose one ingredient | from each category | to make your | perfect shake! |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | Low sugar carb | Healthy fat | Probiotic |
 Available on Amazon.com | Raspberries Blackberries Apricots Avocado Strawberries Watermelon Peaches | Coconut oil Olive oil Canola oil Flax seed oil | Natural yogurt Greek yogurt |
 Available on Amazon.com | Strawberries Cranberries Rhubarb Papaya | Almond butter Nut butter | Raw cocoa powder Dark Chocolate |
 Available on Amazon.com | Spinach Bell peppers Asparagus Broccoli Arugula Cherry Tomatoes Mushrooms | Flaxseeds Almonds Walnuts Sesame | Kefir Acidophilus Milk |
Adjust the quantities to match your current nutritional needs or the nutritional profile of the meal replacement shake you are trying to replicate. This may take a little weighing and measuring initially but once you have everything worked out, putting your shakes together shouldn’t take much longer than using a pre-made meal replacement powder.
3 – Kitchen Blender
There are several options here, I’ve used the Ninja Blender Professional (available on amazon.com). Today I use Vitamix 1709, find why I’ve spent $484 on a kitchen blender here. Or how to Choose the Best Blender for Smoothies under $200.
4 – Homemade Meal Replacement Shakes Recipes
With the investment in a quality blender, and storage containers that you can easily refrigerate, you shouldn’t have any trouble whatsoever spending a couple of hours one day a week and preparing an entire week’s supply of shakes – all while saving $50 or more at the exact same time!
Find our recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner shakes here.
My weight loss plan using Meal Replacement Shakes
15 Meal Replacement Shakes Recipes
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2 Comments
How do you know what containers your eliminating by having a shake instead of the food
Hi Joni,
A meal replacement shake contains protein that’s why you have to count as 1 red container. If you add fruit or vegetables to the shake don’t forget to also count those containers. If you only add the shake powder is only 1 red container.