Losing weight is always a challenge for everyone. It’s always a carefully choreographed dance of eating right and expending more calories than you consume. Because weight loss can only occur if you burn more calories than you consume, calorie-counting is almost always a necessary part of any diet program.
But as many can attest, calorie-counting is meticulous process that not everyone can do successfully. You can’t blame them-weighing meat to the last gram or measuring all ingredients to the letter to meet the necessary caloric requirements are just too rigid and time-consuming for today’s hectic lifestyles.
Weight loss companies have offered a solution, however. And they are called meal replacement shakes. These are beverages have their caloric content already measured and are so designed to deliver just this amount when taken in place of every meal.
Besides the number of calories, meal replacement shakes also contain protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals to ensure that your daily requirements for these macronutrients and micronutrients are met since you will be using these in place of a meal. These beverages also contain fiber to aid in digestion and regular elimination.
Flavor-wise, meal replacement beverages usually come chocolate, vanilla or strawberry concoctions. Sugars and sweeteners are added in the list of ingredients in order to make them palatable and easy to swallow. However, the use of artificial sweeteners like aspartame and other chemically-processed sugars have come under fire recently as studies have found proof that these start off a chain of processes that make preexisting medical conditions worse and cause the development of others.
It cannot be denied that these meal replacement drinks have proven themselves worthy in terms of producing results in weight loss although most of them are poor substitutes for the satiety that eating a full meal gives. Because most of these beverages do not also curb sugar cravings, many of those who drink meal replacements for weight loss find themselves snacking on calorie-laden chips just to tide themselves over for the next meal and making their weight loss efforts futile.
Another concern that has also cropped up recently about these meal replacement preparations is that they utilize too many artificial ingredients that are not readily absorbed by the body. The safety of these synthetic ingredients for long-term use has not also been established yet. Other health experts fear that the sugar content may be too much and the fiber content too low in what are supposed to be nutritious drinks. Still others feel that these meal replacement formulas do not teach anything about the necessary lifestyle changes one needs to make for long and lasting weight loss.
But there is no denying the fact that meal replacement shakes are convenient and easy to prepare. They can be taken on the go. It reduces the need for shopping for the right kinds of food (mostly, that is), for calorie-counting and even cooking. They can be integral in your weight reduction efforts-just make sure that you only drink a maximum of two shakes per day and always include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and meat in your diet as well as regular physical activity to go with your meal replacement shakes.
Want to discover the best meal replacement drink? Check out Shakeology and don’t forget to look at this article about the Shakeology cleanse.