What are meal replacement shakes?

In a world full of occupation, time is a valuable resource. This, along with some other factors, has lead to the rise of fast food. Food, that’s ready to go and easily accessible is as popular as never before. Sadly it is a major contributor to the obesity pandemic we are experiencing and it is not easy to avoid fast food altogether. While alternatives like meal prepping and healthy ready to go food exists, it is fairly difficult to always make the right decisions in stressful working environments in which you are the strange one for being health conscious.

This leaves a big gap in the market. What about people who care about their diet? Who have little to no time to prepare a variety of healthy food during busy times? Various companies have identified this issue and tackled it with Meal Replacement Shakes. They aim to be complete, very nutritious and healthy alternatives to snack. Preparation time: 30 to 160 seconds. It is a mix from whole foods, enriched with vitamins, minerals and often other healthy supplements. But are they any good?

30 Days only Jimmy Joy’s Plenny Shake

I have decided to live off Joylent’s Jimmy Joy Active shakes for an entire month. Multiple experiments have already proven that it is more than just possible. It can be rather health enhancing to live off these shakes. But they have more to offer. I am looking to gain more time and efficiency by switching to shakes. Having no dishes to clean, no food to prepare and no chewing to do, it saves you A LOT of time. And I’m saying a lot. I’ve tracked everything regarding my food for a few days and realized that I will likely save 3 hours per day. This will give me so much more time to focus on my passions and business.

Obviously I also save money on electricity . By only having to prepare one shake per meal, I don’t turn on the oven, stove and other tools. My shakes will cost me roughly 200€ per month. While my general food costs can be lower, it is unlikely that overall costs are lower. I also aim to gain better control over my diet. In the current time falling off your diet is a rather common occurrence. By limiting myself to one type of food, I hope to lower my temptations. Although I don’t necessarily want to lose tons of weight, I am also using this opportunity to shed a little bit of fat. The strict diet regimen of drinking only nutritious shakes makes it incredibly easy to control caloric intake, which aids in weight loss.

Where I stand before the shakes

Without a snapshot of my momentary state, we cannot make proper assessments of the viability of the shakes. So as starters I will publish some of my health records and see if they improve over the next 30 days. I stand at 185 cm tall. For the American fellas, that’s roughly 6 foot. My body composition metrics, measured by my Galaxy Watch 5, are as follows:

• Weight: 93.6 kg (206 lbs or 14.7 stones)
• Skeletal muscle: 41.9 kg (93 pounds or 6.6 stones)
• Fat mass: 18 kg (40 pounds or 2.8 stones)
• Body fat: 19.2%
• FFMI: 22.1
• BMI: 27.3

I must acknowledge my BMI is higher than expected. Whilst my skeletal muscle mass is notably higher than the average range and BMI is a concept which does not take muscle mass into account, my body fat percentage clearly shows a number which is too high. Ideally I would aim to achieve a number between 14% and 16.5%, meaning if I lost around 4-5 kilos of fat, it would put me in the preferred range.

My Samsung Galaxy Watch Readings

By these metrics you may be able to identify that I used to be a regular gym goer. In the last year I’ve slacked a bit and haven’t exercised a lot. Besides this rather uncomfortable truth, just one month ago I picked up on an exercise program that aims to improve my respiratory health. Since the end February 2024 I am running three times per week as well as doing body weight exercises to keep my muscle mass. With this program I feel equipped to attack my 30 days 100% meal replacement shake diet.

Why Plenny Shake Active v3.1?

Possible challenge

While meal replacement shakes can aid to control your diet in our fast paced world, they also come with downsides. One of the biggest problems with this lifestyle is that eating is more than merely chugging down the calories. Eating is an act of socialization, it releases hormones to share food, it connects. Chewing your food may also play a more crucial role than people recognize. The texture of food enhances flavor and releases hormones to satiate you. Without chewing, you may not truly feel satiated. There is also evidence that too little chewing, especially in children, can lead to jaw deformities. Although granted, in adults this is mostly through anecdotal evidence and the link here is rather weak. Regardless of all these possible setbacks, I am going to withstand it for one month to make a proper statement.

Finals words

Meal replacement shakes are a convenient, healthy food. Whilst they offer many benefits, they also come with non-negotiable drawbacks. They can aid in weight loss due to the simplicity of diet control, if the difficulties are handled appropriately. But in the end they are no magical product that you can take to enhance your health. Imagine blending a variety of healthy foods, adding supplements and making fine powder out of it. This is how you should view these shakes. As of March 2024, they are normally used to replace one or two meals in your typical day. This usage is also what most companies recommend and claim what their product is designed for. In the next 30 days we will see if I can potentially thrive on this food mixture. I will report of my positive and negative experience and hopefully gain deeper insights about myself and my future.