Meal replacement shakes are an excellent way to control your weight and lose fat. There are lots of different meal replacement products you can use to help you achieve this such as Shakeology and you can make your own too. Each shake is designed to contain a good mixture of nutrients, provide you with adequate protein and fiber, be low in carbs and low in calories too. By swapping a meal for a meal replacement shake, you automatically reduce your daily calorie intake and, subsequently, you’ll lose weight quickly and easily.
My own experimentation and research has lead me to the conclusion that the common advice to swap two or more real meals per day for meal replacement shakes is a mistake. In fact, I believe that swapping just one meal per day is optimal for long-term, easy, weight loss. Why? Let me tell you…
When you swap two or more meals for meal replacement shakes, you reduce your food intake too low. This inevitably leads to hunger and cravings. Hunger and cravings are a dieters’ worst enemy.
If you feel hungry or have cravings all the time, it’s almost guaranteed you will quit your diet and eat the sorts of foods that caused you to gain weight in the first place. Needless to say, that’s not how you lose weight and keep it off.
Also, using more than two meal replacement shakes could leave you lacking in certain nutrients. Yes, meal replacement shakes are healthy and contain vitamins, minerals, and other healthy ingredients but they cannot really compare with “real” healthy food like a big plate of mixed, steamed veggies, and a tasty piece of grilled salmon.
Swapping two or more meals per day for meal replacement shakes could also lead to boredom and social exclusion at meal times. You sit down to another chocolate-flavored meal replacement shake while your family or friends enjoy and tasty, healthy, real-food meal. That’s enough to make you weep into your shaker cup!
Finally, meal replacement shakes can be expensive and the more you use the more expensive your diet will become. You will soon quit your diet if you realize it’s costing you a lot more money than you expected.
So, instead of swapping two or more meals a day, I recommend that you only swap one. Pick your largest, most calorie-dense meal of the day and have a delicious, low calorie, meal replacement shake instead. For me, that was usually breakfast but you can swap out lunch or dinner – whatever works best for you.
And how long should you use meal replacement shakes? I suggest a month is plenty for most people. That will give your weight loss journey a good kick-start and help reset your eating habits and taste buds. After that month, go back to eating normally but make sure that each and every meal is healthy, balanced, and preferably home-cooked. If, after a week or so, you find your weight loss stalls, reintroduce your meal replacement shake for another month.
Meal replacement shakes, my top recommendations here, are an easy way to get your weight under control but should not be abused. Instead, make sure you change your eating habits so they are healthier and will lead to achieving a healthy weight. Start your meal replacement shakes plan for weight loss here.
My weight loss plan using Meal Replacement Shakes
15 Meal Replacement Shakes Recipes
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