Im on day 5 of my nutrition shake diet

Try 5/2 fasting. I've been doing it ten years now.

You eat normally for 5 days and on 2 non consecutive days you only consume 600 calories for the day. For me that's one 600 meal in the evening, rather than spreading calories out.

I'm 52 years old now, 5/10 and Initially went from 90kgs down to around 80kgs in the space of about 6 weeks. Then with help of exercise I dropped another 5kgs and have easily maintained my weight ever since.

I'm currently 72kgs and do around 30- 40 minutes weigh training at the gym 4-5 days a week.

I eat normally on non fast days. Usually porridge or Greek yogurt with berry fruits for breakfast. Lunch is usually just a couple of portions of fruit.

Evening meal is always home cooked and would usually be around 1000-1200 calories and can be anything from pork chilli to fish pie to burgers and chips to Sunday lunch with all the trimmings.

I don't drink calories, apart from a few beers at the weekend. So it's mainly black coffee, green tea or peppermint tea.

The first few fast days can be tough, as it's a bit of a shock to the system.

But after that, it's far easier to maintain than standard dieting. Especially when on non fast days there's nothing off limits or off the menu.
 
How do you sleep having only eaten 600 calories? I recently cut calories to about 1300-1500 but kept waking up in the night feeling wired and it took ages to get back to sleep.
 
Bassmansam said:
How do you sleep having only eaten 600 calories? I recently cut calories to about 1300-1500 but kept waking up in the night feeling wired and it took ages to get back to sleep.
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Like I said. The first few fast days aren't easy, particularly if like me you ate basically junk before. But after a couple of weeks your body just accepts the new regime.

My first step was switching to black tea without sugar, to black coffee without sugar. I found coffee easier to drink black than tea.

Then it was a case of finding 600 calorie meals that filled me up and kept me reasonably full for as long as possible. So mostly high protein, low carb meals with plenty of veg.

I certainly found fasting two days a week easier than calorie restriction for 7 days a week The main advantage for me is fasting allows me to eat food I enjoy, including the odd takeaway.

I did also did almost cut of stuff like bread, cheese, processed meats and fast food in general. But once I'd lost weight and settled into fasting twice a week. I still enjoy those types of foods on the odd occasion.

Like most successful diets, it's more to do with balance and moderation, than all out restriction.
 
The_Arbiter said:
Ditch the milk at least. If you're happy to shake your way to losing weight, milk isn't doing you any favours. You've probably done in your taste buds a bit, try to refrain from a sweetening up stuff. Just part of the battle sadly.
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Its not so much to do with the sweet, the overall taste is much better and tolerable with some milk added in, similarly to coffee / tea.
 
Feek said:
Of course calorie deficit works, it’s the only way to lose weight.

But 800 calories/day is stupid. Ask your doctor what (s)he thinks of it.
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Its not 800 calories everyday.

Its 800 calories two days and normal food on Wednesday and weekends.

So mon / tues, then again thurs / fri.

Normal food Weds, Sat, Sun.
 
200sols said:
They might prescribe it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46363869
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Exactly this, I already knew it works for type 2 diabetes and as such am hoping it also works for my heart blockage. Its also to prevent becoming diabetic soon.

I either do this now or I'm dead within 5 years.

The thing is you have to do it for at least 3 months. I ate more normal food during my first week then planned, but am now going to try to cut back to just cereal or porridge when too hungry.

The NHS shakes are also only 200 calories so you would have to make 4 a day instead of just 2 x Bulk 1 shakes. I also dont drink the whole shake in one go, spread the two shakes out over 4 times to manage hunger.
 
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Also its right here on the NHS site https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/very-low-calorie-diets/

A very low calorie diet is a clinically supervised diet plan that involves eating about 800 calories a day or fewer. They are sometimes considered for obese and severely obese people who are managing diabetes, going to have surgery or preparing for fertility treatment.

The diet usually involves replacing normal food with low-calorie shakes, soups, bars, or porridge containing milk.
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The shakes I have are also recommended to have 1-2 a day, so even just 400 calories on some days if you can manage.
 
The_Arbiter said:
Depends what's in them, which dictates if they are unhealthy or not, optimal vs a optimal balanced diet.
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Its basically powdered muesli

23uQPrk.jpg

Feek said:
In which case @BallistixOnZ490 should go to his doctor and get it prescribed. Embarking on something like this shouldn't be done without proper medical advice.
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Plenty of people already take these shakes without seeing doctors. What you get in Huel or Bulk powders is much more complete than the NHS shakes. They are tried and tested as full meal replacements already, and surprisingly taste pleasant, just obviously not the best and still require a lot of willpower to stick to.

I'm now on my second week and wont be getting any weekend takeaway again. Having at least two different flavours helps to not get fed up them too, the chocolate one tastes like digestive biscuit soup and is still 2.6g sugar per shake.
 
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Although I'm totally behind IF (I'm more of a window guy than a low cal vs high cal day guy), why the need for the shakes? It sounds like you're not uninterested in cooking, so why not just make decent meals? I'm talking leafy greens, salads etc.
 
I don't know why people put themselves through misery diets. It won't solve your weight problem.

Do exercise. Eat decent food. You won't achieve anything unless you make permanent lifestyle changes.
 
BallistixOnZ490 said:
Its basically powdered muesli

https://i.imgur.com/23uQPrk.jpg


Plenty of people already take these shakes without seeing doctors. What you get in Huel or Bulk powders is much more complete than the NHS shakes. They are tried and tested as full meal replacements already, and surprisingly taste pleasant, just obviously not the best and still require a lot of willpower to stick to.

I'm now on my second week and wont be getting any weekend takeaway again. Having at least two different flavours helps to not get fed up them too, the chocolate one tastes like digestive biscuit soup and is still 2.6g sugar per shake.
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If it works for you in losing weight and/or getting off fast food that's great, keep it up. But that certainly isn't musili. Lots of powders in there, with thickeners to bulk up, added vitamins to bulk out the nutrition tables. If these things were an exact replacement for varied balanced diets they would be used, endorsed and sponsored within the sporting communities.
 
BallistixOnZ490 said:
Exactly this, I already knew it works for type 2 diabetes and as such am hoping it also works for my heart blockage. Its also to prevent becoming diabetic soon.

I either do this now or I'm dead within 5 years.

The thing is you have to do it for at least 3 months. I ate more normal food during my first week then planned, but am now going to try to cut back to just cereal or porridge when too hungry.

The NHS shakes are also only 200 calories so you would have to make 4 a day instead of just 2 x Bulk 1 shakes. I also dont drink the whole shake in one go, spread the two shakes out over 4 times to manage hunger.
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Check what's in the cereals before the purchase as the majority aren't ideal for your situation. The ones with dried fruit will likely contain additional sugar in one form or another. Stick to the ones that have very few ingredients, and at best a single one. This is the easiest way of identifying if they're ideal for you. They're also very expensive, especially the good ones!
 
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