Should You Use Meal Replacement Shakes to Cut Calories from Your Daily Diet?

Yes, you can use meal replacement shakes to cut calories, though calories aren’t necessarily the most important component of weight loss, nor the primary reason to use meal replacement shakes. Rather, they are suitable for rather normalizing daily calorie intake and providing optimized nutrition.

Did you ever wonder how normal calorie diets like the keto diet work? Or why do some people with calorie restrictions fail to lose body weight adequately?

The reason is simple, nutritional imbalances and deficiencies may lead to a slow down in resting metabolic rate. Studies show that 60-75% of all energy expenditure in sedentary individuals is due to resting metabolic rate.

Thus, cutting down calories is not the best way to reduce body weight or normalize metabolic activity levels. It appears that nutritional imbalances slow down resting metabolic rate. That is why even calorie restriction fails to cause weight loss in many.

Thus, the better approach is to consume foods that may help boost resting metabolic rate, and one such approach could be using properly balanced meal replacement shakes. They work by cutting down carbs and sugars and providing high-quality fats, proteins, and micronutrients. Their prolonged use would ultimately boost resting metabolic rate.

It means that cutting down calories should not be about starving oneself. Instead, it should be focused on normalizing calorie intake, and getting high-quality calories from nutrient-dense foods.

How to Use a Meal Replacement Shake for Weight Loss?

It depends significantly on the weight loss targets and how quickly one wants to lose body weight. For example, some individuals need to replace just one meal a day with a meal replacement shake. This might involve replacing that fast food meal you have during your quick lunch, with an optimized meal replacement shake. For those needing guidance beyond one meal a day, or those looking for aggressive results, you can replace two meals a day with a quality meal replacement shake.

An optimized meal replacement shake would be enough to prevent nutritional deficiencies, as one meal shake roughly provides 50% of all macro and micronutrients required for a person to stay healthy. Meal replacement shakes can fit into most diet protocols. One can even use a meal supplement shake as a part of specific diets like the keto diet. In addition, it may also help prevent nutritional deficiencies in those practicing intermittent fasting or other methods to reduce calorie intake.

When looking for shakes, avoid low-calorie (100-250 calorie) meal replacement shakes. These are typically proteins shakes disguised and marketed as a meal replacement shake and often filled with sugars and artificial ingredients. Remember, significantly reducing daily calorie intake is not the best way to achieve weight loss. Moreover, even if such methods work in the short run, it is not something that can be practiced for long, else one may do more damage to health due to nutritional deficiencies. 

Severely restricting calorie intake through dietary measures may weaken bones, cause hormonal changes, affect mental health, and even negatively influence other organs' working. However, using meal replacement shakes ensures that one is consuming high-quality calories, has a well-balanced diet, and is consuming something that is nutrient dense and has optimal calories. 

By using meal replacement shakes, one would not suffer from issues like fatigue and mood swings and instead would feel energized. What is good about meal replacement shakes is that two portions of them can fulfil all the needs for micronutrients.

Benefits of Taking a Weight Loss Meal Replacement Shake

There are many benefits of using meal replacement shakes for improving metabolic health. Perhaps the most evident benefit is comfort. It simply eliminates the hardship involved in meal planning. 

Take an example of one of the most recommended fast weight loss or diabetes reversal plans, like a very low carb diet (VLCD). Planning such a diet without meal replacement shakes would be highly challenging and require much knowledge of the nutritional properties of various foods. However, with meal replacement shakes it is pretty simple. It means consuming two scoops of the powder twice daily. And that is it, as two servings of the shake are enough to fulfil all the nutritional requirements, along with a simple third meal that is low in carbohydrates and higher in protein and healthy fats.

Another benefit of using meal replacement plans is compliance. Many people are pretty enthusiastic when starting to make dietary changes, but things often change for the worse in the later stages. However, meal replacement plans make it much easier to stick to the program for longer, helping to achieve better results.

However, the more significant benefit of a weight loss meal replacement shake is its excellent content of various vital nutrients. It is almost impossible to create your own smoothie at home that would be equivalent to a meal replacement shake. Just imagine that two scoops of the best meal replacement shake provide 400 calories, 55% of high-quality proteins, enough healthy fats, and 50% of all the necessary micronutrients from various vitamins and minerals. 

Another good thing about such meal replacement shakes is that they are quite easy to digest. They have added digestive enzymes, probiotics and prebiotic fiber. All this means that one would not feel stomach discomfort when making significant dietary changes.

Finally, meal replacement plans are free from added sugars and are low in carbs. This may be especially good for those living with certain metabolic health challenges or are concerned about diabetes.

How to Get Success with Meal Replacement Shakes?

Of course, one should always start by identifying the objectives of making dietary changes. For some, it could be weight loss. For others, it is managing blood pressure or focusing on cardiovascular health. Next, one should identify what to exclude and what nutrients to include in a regular diet.

Look for a meal replacement shake that does not contain any nutrients that are bad for health. It should be free from artificial ingredients and very low in carbs, without added sugars. It should only contain high-quality nutrients and provide sufficient calories to feel energized throughout the day.

Another way to make your weight loss or diet plan a success could be by incorporating some recipes. For example, one may also use meal replacement powder to prepare smoothies, smoothie bowls and various low-carb baked items. Also, you can learn more about healthy foods that combine well with a meal replacement shake. 

One should make a clear plan about using a meal replacement shake. For example, one may consume meal replacement shakes twice a day, and enjoy a high protein, low carbohydrate meal as a third meal of the day. This could be quite an effortless way of improving metabolic health, cutting down carbohydrates, and not compromising on the intake of vital nutrients. 

Generally, it is good to create a diet plan that one can stick to for long enough and is safe. As cutting down on calories is not the right way. Instead, use meal replacement shakes to boost the intake of vital nutrients and normalize total calorie intake.

Final Thoughts

Meal replacement shakes are one of the most healthy and comfortable ways to assist with weight loss, and require minimal dietary planning. While one could technically use the shakes to replace all meals completely, a more practical approach would be to replace 1-2 meals a day with meal replacement shakes.

It is vital to understand that the weight loss journey can be enjoyable and not a source of worry, as stress is one of the significant failure factors of any diet plan. Not only that, if a diet plan is too difficult to follow, one is more likely to give up their weight loss efforts. Therefore, the whole purpose of using meal replacement shakes is to make a weight loss journey enjoyable, simple to follow, and safe for health.