As I was sitting here on a Friday Night. I asked Chris- "Any ideas on a new blog post"? And he said, "yeah, why don't you write about different shakes". I thought for a moment, "great idea". I pictured this beautifully written, informative, helpful blog- then thought about it for another second and had a different reaction, "Holy crap" this will be no easy feat!
The best place to start is with the very first shake I ever tried: Slim Fast. This shake is basically a meal replacement. I was in a desperate attempt to lose 10 lbs in a week in my 1st or 2nd year after high school. I worked at Rite Aid, and thought what the heck, I'll give it a shot. Drinking it from the can made me gag. The powder mix was more tolerable- but to replace 2 meals per day with this?= Pure Torture. The purpose of the shake is to basically help you control caloric intake. I had no energy to workout and was so hungry, I actually snacked more and gained weight. I am sure this shake has worked for some, but for me, not so much. As I looked more into it, it only provided 1/3 of my daily vitamins, contained high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, artificial sources to make particular flavors, and hydrogenated soybean oil- all not so good things! Especially since it is suppose to be a meal!
My 2nd exposure to a "shake" was at a local gym (which I could not afford a memebership at). I would go to this gym after my workout at the cheaper gym for a tasty myoplex lite shake. These were far better tasting then slim fast- but I used them mainly as a snack. I always odered the smaller size- but there is no way I could've eaten even the larger size for a meal. It was more of a drink to me. As far as how I felt- it always helped me after workouts. No complaints. For some reason though, I couldn't make them as good as the gym made them when I bought the powder to use at home.
Exposure #3- weight watchers meal replacement shakes. These were sold at the weekly meetings. Although tasty, definately not very filling!
Shakeology was my 4th exposure to the "shake world" when I started a 90 day Beachbody Challenge in November 2011. I was totally freaked out that I was going to have to drink a shake for 1 meal per day for 90 days... especially with horrible past shake experiences. I read a lot of reviews on the shake prior- and most were really good- and yes, most were from Beachbody Coaches- so I knew they may be biased. However, all the girls in my challenge group were regular customers like me, and they seemed to like the shake as well. I was really bummed that there wasn't a vanilla flavor. I ordered Chocolate. As I learned more, I understood it gave me my full multivitamin, 4-5 servings of veggies, all ingredients were derived from whole foods, had protein, prebiotics, fiber, and nothing artificial (which is why they can not make a vanilla flavor). At the end of the first month, I had lost 12 lbs. I was really nervous, since the shake was PRICEY... but I did not want to give it up. I felt better than ever. Well, it is almost 8 months later, 33 lbs later, no colds, flu, or sicknesses, my hair and nails are amazing, and I still drink it! AHHH!
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