Meal Replacement Diets

If you are looking for fast fat loss, some damage control after a period of unhealthy eating or simply want a no-brainer way to drop a few pounds, meal replacement diets work really well. Simple, convenient and effective, meal replacements can take the hassle out of dieting. However, remember, while meal replacement diets are a good short term fix, for long term, sustainable weight loss, more lasting dietary modifications are usually best – combined with exercise of course!

Meal Replacement Shakes

When it comes to losing weight, many people focus too much on the scales and not enough on feeling healthy. In reality, feeling healthy should be your main goal as being healthy will lead to faster fat loss. And remember, healthy habits make for a better, healthier, and more energetic life!

A good way to achieve both weight loss and health is to use meal replacement shakes.

Have you heard about meal replacement shakes? 

Meal replacement shakes are powdered drinks that replace one or some of your main meals and contain less calories than a full meal while still delivering all the nutrients, vitamins and energy your body needs. Meal replacement shakes reduce your calorie intake and help you lose weight.

If you’ve joined 21 Day Fix you have probably heard about Shakeology. It’s very popular diet plan but also, for some of us, very expensive and if something is too expensive, you probably won’t try it or stick to it. Don’t worry though, help is here!

How can I help you? We have 2 Options 

To help you in the best way I can, I need to know what suits you best:

Option #1 – You know about Shakeology but you’d like to find alternatives?

There are other options that are cheaper and very effective.  Scroll to Shakeology Alternatives

Option #2 – How can you lose weight with meal replacement shakes?

Find out how healthy, effective and convenient, meal replacement shakes help you lose weight.

Scroll to Meal Replacement Shakes Plan

Shakeology

At the end of the day, Shakeology is nothing more than an incredibly healthy approach to making sure that you get all of the essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids your body needs to thrive while stripping out absolutely everything that could cause you to gain weight (or even stay at the same weight you’re currently at).

Leveraging delicious vegetables, fruits, and multivitamin enzymes in ingredients, each and every single Shakeology creation is designed to have a multi-pronged approach to weight loss to give you all of the energy you need to get through the day and to lead a happy and healthy lifestyle, and to rob your body of “fat producing” agents so that you become a fat burning furnace without any extra effort.

But the problem with this meal replacement diet is the price, in fact, they are downright cost prohibitive.

Shakeology Alternatives

As mentioned above, you really can’t argue with the success or the incredible improvements that the Shakeology program is responsible for.

This lifestyle transformation flat out works, and can definitely help you get into the very best shape of your life with the body of your dreams! There’s no doubt about that.

Yes, these shakes are scientifically engineered and created using only the highest quality ingredients found on the planet today, but they also charge a fantastically high premium for the convenience of ordering this meal replacement solution directly from the Shakeology folks.

I’ve been using different alternatives to Shakeology, all of them are cheaper and as effective.

How much cheaper?

Shakeology costs around $4,30 per shake.

There are 3 top products, from very well-known and respected companies, that cost from $1.50 to $2.54 per shake. A good way to save money!

How effective are these alternatives?

Knowing what a meal shake must and mustn’t contain, I’ve come to 3 products that provide all the nutrients your body needs and allow you to lose weight.

If you are following 21 Day Fix or Shakeology plan, you can replace your shake powder for one of these alternatives, lose weight and save money.

My Top 3 Shakeology alternatives here.

Meal Replacement Shakes Plan

Meal replacement shakes diets are effective for weight loss – you just need a plan. 

Create a calendar meal week planner; I’ll share mine so you can follow it or get ideas.

Replace one of your meals (I prefer breakfast) with a meal replacement shake.

Choose the meal replacement shake that fits you best. Do you have allergies? Are you Lactose intolerant? On a tight budget? Worried about the taste? I’ll help you choose the right product for you.

Create quick, easy and tasty shakes in five minutes by following my recipes.

Sounds complicated? Actually, it’s simple and easy and I’ve created a guide to help you take the first step.

Start to lose weight with meal replacement shakes guide, “How to lose weight with Meal replacement Shakes“.

Homemade Replacement Shakes

So why not, learn and create your own meal replacement shakes ? The guide “Create your own Meal Replacement Shakes” with my selection of the best protein powder available on the market and shakes recipes included.

Obviously, there’s going to be a bit more work involved in tracking down your own ingredients and then preparing your shakes all on your own.

By flooding your body with just the right amount of your protein at just the right time (as prescribed by the folks behind the Shakeology program) you’re going to be able to trigger the necessary biochemical reactions throughout your body that leads to rapid – yet still safe – weight loss.

Without these biochemical reactions, you aren’t going to stand any real chance of losing a tremendous amount of weight in a hurry, and you may not lose any weight at all!

On top of that though, the right protein powder ( Choosing the best protein powder for you) are going to give you a number of other important nutrients, amino acids, and other important nutritional compounds that promote healthy cellular function and well-being all throughout the body.

Better than that though, the best protein powder on the market today is also going to help you feel fuller than you might otherwise be – leading to smaller portion sizes, easier calorie control, and almost overnight weight loss.

Meal Replacement Diets Advantages

Let’s take a look at some of the advantages of meal replacement diets…

1. Easy to follow – you don’t need to plan menus, shop for exotic ingredients or do much in the way of weighing and measuring to follow a meal replacement diet; simply whip up a shake and drink instead of eating a regular meal. This makes them ideal for people who are always on the go or who don’t really know what they should eat to lose weight.

2. Time-efficient – how many times have you said that you don’t have time to prepare and cook and healthy, fat-fighting meal? With meal replacement shakes, your meal is ready in seconds; great for busy people.

3. Convenient – most shakes can be prepared in advance and carried with you to work or to school so there is no reason to fall off the “diet wagon” because you don’t have your diet meal with you. Many shakes are also available pre-mixed or are made from dry ingredients and easily mixed with water when required making them very transportable.

4. Balanced – containing all the nutrients you need, meal replacement shakes are often healthier than exclusion diets such as Atkins or other diets where entire food groups are banned.

5. Fast fat loss – one of the most noteworthy aspects of this type of diet is they produce fast results. Granted, some of the rapid initial fat loss will be water but fat loss is rapid too.

6. Adaptable – you can speed up or slow down fat loss to suit your needs by adjusting the number of shakes you have per day. For very rapid fat loss, you might consume nothing but shakes for a few days and limit yourself to just a couple of solid food meals per week. This may be necessary if you are getting in shape for a competition of some kind or simply want to look your best for a big event e.g. a wedding. Alternatively, if you are in less of a rush to lose weight or have less to lose, you might have two shakes and two solid food meals per day.

Meal Replacement Diets Disadvantages 

As effective as meal replacement diets undoubtedly can be, it’s not all good news. Make sure you consider the following before you try this kind of diet…

1. Can be socially exclusive – your family are sitting down to their regular meal and you have your shake to drink; this may mean you don’t want to join them at meal times. If you usually eat with your family or friends this can result in feelings of social exclusion at meal times.

2. Can be boring – food is one of life’s great pleasures and while a shake can be tasty and enjoyable, it’s not the same as a “real” meal. Shake-based diets can get very old very quickly unless you can find ways to make your shakes more exciting and interesting. For that reason, some meal replacement diets also include things like meal replacement bars and even soups.

3. May lack fiber – fiber is an important substance for digestive health that is found in grains, fruits and vegetables. While most meal replacement shakes contain some fiber, it might not be enough to keep your digestive system healthy. Generally, you need between 25 and 35 grams of fiber per day and if your chosen shake does not provide this, you may need to consider taking a fiber supplement. This is easily remedied, however, by adding fruits, vegetables or even oatmeal to meal replacement shakes or you can add something like psyllium husks which are a good source of calorie-free fiber too.

4. Do not promote healthy eating habits – weight gain is inevitably caused by eating too much of the wrong foods and this is often down to simply not knowing what foods to eat and when. Meal replacement diets fix the symptom of weight gain but do not really address the long term causes. Once you have finished your meal replacement diet and go back to your old eating regimen, you will probably regain some or even all of the weight you have lost unless you modify your eating habits.

5. Not suitable for long term use – meal replacement diets are not really suitable for long term use. You’ll soon get bored of drinking so many similar-tasting shakes and as nutritionally balanced as the shakes usually are, they are not as complete as real food. Your body needs real food!

6. Expense – some shakes are very expensive and may even work out more costly than eating a regular, healthy diet. This can mean that some people start a meal replacement diet but are then unable to continue because of the cost. This is especially true of pre-mixed products. Thankfully, and just for you, we have come up with a way to make meal replacement diets more affordable…