(Please keep in mind, that I’m not a doctor or health expert. This is simply what works for me. I recommend talking to your doctor before starting a weightloss journey)
I know there’s a lot about diet shakes out there, especially a lot of hate. Now, I’m not saying some of the hate isn’t true. If you take four weeks on diet shakes, and then go back to your old diet, chances are that you’ll put on every single pound you lost. But, lets be fair. It’s not really the diet shakes fault. If I look at all my different kinds of diet shakes, they all say that they can assist in weight loss, but that dietary changes are needed to keep the weight off.
What kind do I use?
I like the danish diet shake NUPO. My favorite is the chocolate shake which has a nice thick consistency, and a great taste. I’m not a super big fan of their berry shakes as they tend to have a rather chemical aftertaste, but I know people who love them.
Another one I use is the swedish Nutrilett. Again I use their chocolate shakes, and they are quite good (and less expensive). They don’t have the same rich chocolate flavour as NUPO, but they are quite good.
How do they work?
The ones I’ve used are all “Very Low Calorie Diets” or VLCD. This means that while your body get all the nutrients, minerals and so on it needs through the shakes, it only get around 800 calories a day. Now this is a drastic cut to calories and most people will see some ponds disappear real fast.
So how do diet shakes help me lose weight?
I normally have a shake for breakfast every day. This is more about me not being very good at eating breakfast, so this ties me over until lunch. It’s an easy way to get some calories if you’re not the breakfast type, so your blood sugar doesn’t crash around 10 am, and you end up snacking on bad stuff.
Another way I use the diet shakes is if I’m stuck on a number and my weight just wont go down any more. A few days on purely diet shakes normally kickstarts my weight loss back up again.
And, because of the low calorie, but chocolaty flavour, I find that using them against cravings can be real good.
Now is there no bad sides?
Yes there are. As mentioned, if you think diet shakes are gonna be some magical pill that will make you super thin in no time, you’ll be disappointed. It’s a great help if you need to get rid of a bit of weight fast, or if you like me are in it for the long run, and just need some help once in a while to move on.
Another downside is that it gets real boring real fast. Especially if you’re like me and sticking to one taste. Also, you’ll miss chewing. It sounds so weird, but being on a liquid diet, you’ll miss actually chewing food.
And the last one, the headaches. Cutting your diet down to 800 calories a day, will most likely leave you with a headache the first few days. It takes your body a bit to adjust, especially if you’re coming from a high carb, high sugar, high fat diet.
The conclusion:
Diet shakes can do so much good for your weight loss, but only if you put in the work to actually change your ways. If you’re looking for a quick fix, you’re gonna be disappointed, but if you are ready to make the changes needed, diet shakes can be a great extra help.
I’ve never tried diet shakes before, but they sound pretty handy and tasty too! Like you say, they are great for breakfast as they can keep you full until lunch without any snacks. The chocolatey one sounds really nice. Thanks for sharing Tea, and all the best with your weight loss journey! ❤ xx
Bexa | http://www.hellobexa.com
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Thank you and they truly are handy to have around. I always have a few in my bag. In a pinch I can buy a bottle of water, add the powder and give it a good shake.
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You definitely need all the information before you start these kind of shakes. I think for breakfast it’s okay as it’s the same as having a smoothie I guess. I personally wouldn’t use diet shakes myself but they do sound yummy x
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Oh I agree with all the information, but I would say that goes for everything you put in your body. 😊
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Great post, always been intrigued as to who and why people use diet shakes or juice diets. Really insightful! Great post! Have you considered alternative weightloss methods?
http://www.nyahrose.com
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That depends on what you mean with alternative? My main method is being mindful of what I eat and counting my calories
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Personally I am not a fan of Diet Shakes, but if you are finding that they are working for you this is awesome x
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I’m not a fan of diet shakes as I think that they encourage some really bad habits if people aren’t careful! And a lot of them have awful ingredients that I’m sure a lot of consumers won’t do their research on (not talking about you here, just in general). I think one for breakfast isn’t bad, especially if you don’t like eating in the morning. I’m the same and don’t usually eat my first meal until about 11, so I get it in that sense! But I think they’re risky long term. The flavour sounds yummy though x
Sophie
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I think a lot of the food we eat can be risky, especially if you don’t do research, and lets be honest, if people can’t be arsed to research their diet shakes, they probably wont research everything else they eat. And I agree that they can be a problem with bad habits, but I think all kinds of diets can if you have that kind of mentality. So if you just use them with a bit of thought, I find them quite nice.
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Long time supporter, and thought I’d drop a comment.
Your wordpress site is very sleek – hope you don’t mind me
asking what theme you’re using? (and don’t mind if I steal it?
:P)
I just launched my site –also built in wordpress like yours–
but the theme slows (!) the site down quite a bit.
In case you have a minute, you can find it by searching for “royal cbd”
on Google (would appreciate any feedback) – it’s still in the works.
Keep up the good work– and hope you all take care of yourself during the coronavirus scare!
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I don’t like diet shakes I think replacing food with a drink no matter what the nutrients isn’t the best for your body (in my opinion) however I am sure there are plenty of people who it does work and that’s great! I need the physical form of eating. I am doing slimming world. But everyone is different! I wish you all the best with your weight loss journey! I hope you smash it!! Xx
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