Meal Replacements

VarunaTT · January 2022

Has anyone ever done a meal replacement shake that they liked? I am over everything to do with food and eating. I'm just not interested in it right now and I forget to eat until my stomach is ravenous. Even then, I just don't want to eat. Usually I get kick myself out of this space, but it's not happening right now.

I will to turn my grocery budget over to anything that I can just shake together and go. I don't want to have to use the blender.

I'm not kidding with the "I don't wanna" attitude right now.

MissKittyDanger · January 2022

So boost is good. Or ensure.

But I've seen a lot of people doing smoothies and adding things like peanut butter for extra protein.

CharmedPam · January 2022

These are actually pretty good! And no work involved. I will say any shake you don’t have to add stuff too - don’t really fill me up for very long.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Premier-Protein-Shake-Caf-Latte-30g-Protein-11-Fl-Oz-12-Ct/579385346?gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIp2dAOZhPU-IZavANaFwnxTD&wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=1848&&adid=22222222228368523806&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=472482278307&wl4=pla-979700959191&wl5=9021662&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=579385346&veh=sem&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIp2dAOZhPU-IZavANaFwnxTD&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoNWOBhCwARIsAAiHnEj7lDOREB2wslO26MCJFfuY7KCteabC7CdTTpVKwK_RZcAk0XI5uw4aAvWBEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

MyNameIsNot · January 2022

I like the premier shakes too, but in vanilla and cake batter. But they're only like 150 calories. It's good for needing something but not wanting to eat a meal, but it might not be enough if it's consistently a meal.

I also like RX bars for something that feels a little more filling and doesn't need to be refrigerated. (Technically protein shakes are shelf stable, but they taste much better cold.)

short+sassy · January 2022

I've been really tempted for awhile to try Huel. They have a ton of meal replacement shakes and bars. Their shakes come in a bunch of flavors. Some of them are ready to drink and some of them are powder.

They also have quick, shelf stable savory meals that look like they are in a pouch and only need boiling water. Their meals are vegan and high protein. Here's a link to their website.

Huel | Complete Food

I have not tried anything yet, so I'm not necessarily recommending them. But they seem to have good reviews on 3rd party sites, like Amazon.

One of my go-tos when I'm not feeling hungry or feeling like eating, but I know I need to, is snacking on nuts or nut butters.

VarunaTT · January 2022

short+sassy said:

I've been really tempted for awhile to try Huel. They have a ton of meal replacement shakes and bars. Their shakes come in a bunch of flavors. Some of them are ready to drink and some of them are powder.

They also have quick, shelf stable savory meals that look like they are in a pouch and only need boiling water. Their meals are vegan and high protein. Here's a link to their website.

Huel | Complete Food

I have not tried anything yet, so I'm not necessarily recommending them. But they seem to have good reviews on 3rd party sites, like Amazon.

One of my go-tos when I'm not feeling hungry or feeling like eating, but I know I need to, is snacking on nuts or nut butters.

I have also been looking at their stuff. I found a good article for vegan meal replacements to look through and maybe decide through that. Huel does seem to get pretty good reviews.

STARMOON44 · January 2022

Gentle nudge to give your therapist a heads up about this

VarunaTT · January 2022

STARMOON44 said:

Gentle nudge to give your therapist a heads up about this

Thank you, ma'am. I'm actually not actively in therapy anymore (he had told me I had the tools I needed and now it was just time and practice. I was setting up to go back, but since the instilled boundaries at work, the vacation and a few other steps that I have now accomplished and put in place, my outlook has improved immeasurably). This is actually pretty normal for me, it's just not usually this long.

Interestingly enough, b/c of that damn Tiktok app, I've been doing some digging and speaking with friends who have an ADHD diagnosis. I think I have a very mild level of ADHD, not medication requiring. But once I started digging and finding the coping mechanisms people were using, I started finding a lot of things I was already doing to deal with behaviors that I thought were just, IDK, normal I guess. All of that to say, the food thing (which again, I have deal with most of my adult life and I can think of things my mother did for me growing up that fit in with this same pattern) is another facet of ADHD behavior that I can see throughout my life.

ei34 · January 2022

Shakeology is my go-to meal replacement shake. You don't need a blender but I prefer using one since I make my shake with frozen banana chunks. Costco brand (Kirkland) makes a great protein bar, I recommend peanut butter and brownie flavors.

VarunaTT · January 2022

@short+sassy I've sent you a PM.

charlotte989875 · January 2022

I’ll just add - how go out feel about oatmeal? Still just adding water and depending on the brand and ingredients can be super packed with nutrients plus feeling like you’re fulll more than a shake.

CharmedPam · January 2022

ei34 said:

Shakeology is my go-to meal replacement shake. You don't need a blender but I prefer using one since I make my shake with frozen banana chunks. Costco brand (Kirkland) makes a great protein bar, I recommend peanut butter and brownie flavors.

I heard so many good things about shakeology. Pricey but good. Some people become BB coaches just for the discounts.

What ever you do don’t fall for the 310 shakes. I bought a TON of them because I thought I liked them (the marketing is great) but then after a while I couldn’t stand them anymore. Both texture and taste.

MissKittyDanger · January 2022

charlotte989875 said:

I’ll just add - how go out feel about oatmeal? Still just adding water and depending on the brand and ingredients can be super packed with nutrients plus feeling like you’re full more than a shake.

I have instant oatmeal at work because winter and rushing

VarunaTT · January 2022

So, I took the chance and ordered Huel. It arrived here early last week, fairly quickly and I've been using it ever since. I just did their "bestseller bundle" so that I could try a little bit of everything. I added another bag of the "hot and savory" (which is just their dried meals) and more of their "ready to drink" premade drinks.

The protein bars are not good and I won't order them.

The "Black Edition" is their complete meal protein powder. The bundle came with the chocolate. I like this a lot. I've tried it both with soy milk and water. I prefer it with cold water because it's not quite so thick; I used milk when I felt like I needed some extra oomph. Both ways are filling. The flavor is definitely chocolate without being overly sweet or sugary. I've been using this for breakfast. The shaker they provide is great and cleans easily. Recommend throwing a little bit of water in before adding the powder and I used more water than called for, to thin it down a bit.

The "hot and savoury" meals I tried I consider a mixed bag. They're not bad, but they are rather bland. I know enough about spices that I was able to add to the mixes to improve the flavors significantly (for example, for the mac and cheese, I added ground mustard, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper). Also recommend letting your water come to a HARD boil before adding to mix and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. I'll be trying a few of the other meals next round (I had the chili and the mac and cheese this time). While these specific meals were filling, reading some of the other descriptions are a little worrisome because they seem rather light, but I'm still curious. I've been using this for dinners.

The ready to drink are awesome and so convenient. I'll be using these for work lunches. Highly recommend them being chilled. Flavors are good without being overly sweet or sugary and not so thick that it's unpleasant.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed. The kit comes with all the scoops and shakers you need. I love it's all easy to make, easy to clean up, the calories and food breakdown seem to be quite healthy (according to MyFitnessPal, which all of these products were already in and scannable by barcode), I'm satisfied throughout the day, and I'm just not having to think about food and eating at all. I was impressed that the complete meal protein and the ready to drink actually taste the same and neither are too sugary or sweet (even the strawberry shortcake flavor I tried). I did experience some BM issues for a bit, but I have so much going on right now, it's impossible to know if it was from the Huel or meds or covid.

I put together a meal package for the month based off what I learned and it'll be about $265 for nearly every breakfast, lunch, and dinner (they do have minimum orders and discounts for subscriptions) It'll be a bit short of covering every meal, but I do want to try and cook on the weekends, when I can spend time and find pleasure in cooking again. This is slightly more expensive than me cooking from scratch for the month, but cheaper than eating all frozen/pre-packaged all the time and definitely cheaper than eating out all the time.

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