Breakdown of Replacing Meals With Meal Replacement Shakes

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​​You meant to drop a few pounds this summer, but you never got around to eating less and exercising more on a regular basis. With summertime here, you're considering how to shed that extra weight, and fast. Are meal-replacement shakes the ticket to a slimmer you? ‘Perhaps.’, I thought to myself while reaching for a 12 pack of Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) banana flavored meal replacement shake packets.

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5 days of meal-replacement shake diet.

Day 1
Shakes taste moderate, nothing overwhelming or too bad. Energy levels seem just about right; you may start to feel hungry around 4pm.
Day 2
Hunger strikes! You need food! 80% of your energy is gone in the workout.
Day 3
Hunger gets even more intense, you start to crave unhealthy processed and fast food, not fun!
Day 4
Hunger is still an issue, you may want to stop and give up.
Day 5
The thought of food is all consuming. Made it to the afternoon, then finally ate – food never tasted so good. As I sit over my first meal with sauce covering one third of my face, I ask myself these questions:

Would I recommend Shake Week? No.
Did I cheat? Yes. A few glasses of wine. Bad idea.
Did I lose weight? Yes. Plenty.

Summing up Real food, portion control, and exercise – it's dull a procedure, but it's the only journey for weight loss and maintenance. Forget the meal replacement shakes.

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