A decent meal replacement.
Written: Jul 29 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy, fast, tasty
Cons: All marketing, no real information
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| hought20's Full Review: Slim Fast Shakes |
I am more than 100 pounds overweight. Diabetes runs in my family, and that's directly related to obesity. Breast cancer runs in my family, and while that's not directly related to obesity, a healthy lifestyle has been proven to give you less chance of getting any sort of cancer.
So, I need to lose weight. I've decided to try to do that with Slim Fast, and for two weeks now, that's what I've been doing.
The plan:
2 Slim Fast shakes, one for lunch and one for breakfast
3 snacks, should be two fruits and one starch
1 decent meal at night, consisting of a meat, a starch, and three or four veggies.
You end up eating right around 1200 calories, if you stick to this plan, which is what dietitians and doctors recommend for those who need to lose weight. It is a nutritionally balanced plan; you are not starving yourself or depriving yourself of basic nutrients by drinking Slim Fast instead of having a meal.
Does it fill you up? Does it get you through the day?
For me, the answer is "sort of," and I believe that answer will vary for people depending on weight and activity level. I get through the day until 4:00 PM just fine, but then I get home by 6:00 and have a decent meal -- the intervening two hours can be rough. After my meal, I slowly get more and more tired until I end up asleep at around 10:00. I lead a life somewhere between sedentary and medium-level of activity. Some days, I end up doing things with friends and out and about and moving a lot; other days, I end up going home and zoning out entirely. Of course, my level of fatigue varies on different occasions.
The answer is, basically: Slim Fast will get me through a day, but there will be a couple of difficult moments. I get a great burst of energy right after I have a shake, which is understandable: it's basically a sugar drink that gives you the necessary carbs in a simple, cheap fashion.
Then again, dieting is never a breeze, is it? Anytime you reduce your caloric intake, even when it's still well above the 1200 calories I'm eating, you feel it, your body adjusts. You've got to keep that in mind, when dieting (or changing the way you eat, or changing your lifestyle, or however you want to term it).
How does it taste?
That depends on the flavor. The dark chocolate fudge flavor is actually pretty near excellent, as far as chocolate drinks go, and some of the others that I've tried (Milk Chocolate and Chocolate Royale) are a little chalky and mild on flavor. I've not tried the fruity or vanilla flavors, and doubt I will. I don't, personally, like the Capuccino Flavor. The taste sticks with me forever, and I swear I can smell the coffee scent coming out of my pores for days afterwards in a way that I never experience with real coffee. It kind of grosses me out.
What about the future? When you lose the weight?
This is one issue I have with Slim Fast, and one thing that scares me. What about learning how to eat right? After all, what's the use of losing all this weight if I'm only going to have to drink Slim Fast forever and ever to maintain it? It's pretty good stuff, but I'd like a greater range of possibilities for lunches and breakfasts. I want to learn new habits, not just drop the weight. I want a healthier lifestyle.
Slim Fast recommends that, when you lose the weight you want to, you replace only one meal a day with Slim Fast and eat "sensibly" for the other meals, sticking to the three snack routine.
The idea behind the recommendation (well, alright, beyond the attempt at keeping you loyal to their product) is a good one: three "sensible" meals a day, three snacks. It's a good way to eat, and to live (although, of course, not the only good way to eat -- but that's a topic for another epinion). You've even learned a little bit about portion size if you've done your research, and found out what Slim Fast's "sensible meal" a day is supposed to be. The question is this, though: what about those other meals? At no point does Slim Fast tell you what it's supposed to be a replacement for, and if you ate the same meal that you've been getting for dinner for all three meals, you'd have way too much protein, far too little starch, and a veritable mountain of vegetables to eat each day.
In other words, Slim Fast does not let you off gracefully and easy. You have to do your own research, and find out what you're supposed to be eating, and hope fervently that you can fall into that pattern of maintenance when you've lost the weight -- without having the habit, and without having much practice beyond that one meal a day.
Be an Informed Consumer
I sound pretty negative about Slim Fast, don't I?
It's not, really, the product that I worry about; it's the marketing. It's the promise that Slim Fast seems to give, just with it's name. You can get slim fast, certainly, but only by skimping somewhat on the calories and sacrificing any ability to keep the weight off. Slim Fast's plan is not sufficient to make people healthier, and Slim Fast doesn't go much into actual meal planning and portion sizes and how much exercise you should do.
That's where the consumer comes in. If you just read the information that Slim Fast gives you on their can, and maybe on their website, you're not nearly informed enough to try to lose weight and keep it off.
If you're informed, however, it's possible to use Slim Fast just as you're supposed to: as a meal replacement. It's also possible to learn, on your own, how to do the rest.
Why I'm Using Slim Fast
I am a college student with a wacky schedule who is stuck on campus all day, every day, and has to carry a lunchbox. I don't have a whole lot of time or inclination to plan every single meal for every single day and then manage to get it packed in my lunchbox each morning. Besides that, I'm on a tight budget and Slim Fast means six meals in a box for six bucks. It works for me, right now. If it stops working, I'll probably try Weight Watchers or set about making those meal plans.
Slim Fast makes choices simple, and that's what I needed, as well. I've been overwhelmed by all of the information out there about losing weight, and eating right. There's a lot of stuff that tells me how many calories I should get each day, and it all conflicts. There's a lot of stuff that tells me what's good for me and what's not, and it all conflicts. Put simply, I knew that I just needed to pick an amount of calories or at least a range of amounts to have each day, and that's what I did. Slim Fast just makes it a lot easier to keep track of them. It's straightforward. There's nutritional information and calories right on the can. It also makes grocery shopping a cinch, and I am allowed to luxuriate in planning delicious meals for each night and shopping for ingredients I may not be able to afford, otherwise (my husband gets his lunch at his Mom's).
Again: It works for me. I may well change it as I lose more weight, and want to learn more about simple meal planning. We shall see.
It is my belief that any weight-loss program can work for anybody, as long as they put their mind to it and it's not hideously unhealthy.
I've lost right around 5 pounds so far, after two weeks. I've been walking for 10-15 minutes each day.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
hought20
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Member: Shelly Houghton
Location: Lansing, MI
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 15 members
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