7-Day Protein-Shake Diet Challenge
I just finished my 1-week shake diet challenge (inspired by Soylent but with real food-based shakes that taste great) and it went better than I expected…
Summary of Results
- I lost 3 lbs in 1 week
- I was a little hungry a good bit of the time (like any diet)
- I missed normal foods (like any diet)
- I felt fine (mostly)
- I stopped snoring
- It was about $3/day for food that was easy to make and tastes good and is probably healthier than anything else I would eat
I used my shake recipe w/ whey protein and water and usually fruit (banana, peach, etc.) and dairy (milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.). I did my normal workouts which is usually weights 2-3/week and elliptical most days 30-60 mins.
Meals
I had 2 light meals during the week mainly b/c there’s never going to be a week where I can not eat at all. Btwn social functions, trips, date-night, etc. I’m going to eat, but I think the results are still valuable.
Soylent Comparison
I was ‘inspired’ by the Soylent but wanted something that was made from real food, cheaper and (apparently) tastes better. I REALLY like my shakes. It was never a problem of getting tired of my shakes. I looked forward to them all week. But I did really miss ‘normal’ foods.
Energy/Headaches
The first 2 days I got dull headaches in the afternoon – like a detox headache. I took advil the second day and it was fine. My energy was mostly good, except…
I will say that during my workouts I had less energy. That was noticeable. If I did it again, I’d add more carbs to the diet but a) I wanted to try it ‘as is’ and b) I wanted to maximize weight loss.
Conclusions
- It can be done w/o feeling terrible
- I lost 3 lbs and look better (I believe it was mostly fat loss)
- I didn’t get sick of the shakes
- It was cheap!
- If I did it again, I’d eat something before workouts
Going Forward
I’d like to do something like have shakes X meals a day or Y days a week or something for all of the benefits and such above. Not sure what yet.
