To shake or not to shake?

Everything in my being says that meal-replacement shakes and diet shakes are in the same category as hair-crimping and low-rise jeans. They are out of date and to be avoided at all costs.

But recently my friend (who, by the way, has said it’s ok for me to write this blog) has decided she wants to lose weight and that starting a meal replacement shake diet is the best way for her to do this. As soon as I knew she was embarking on this journey, I felt compelled to open up a conversation with her about why she was doing it, voicing my concerns about her methods.

As someone who has been through the throws of diet culture and started every fad diet under the sun at one point or another, and then come out the other side feeling released from the influence of such a toxic industry, it seems obvious to me that meal replacement shakes are a no-no. But type in ‘meal replacement shakes’ into google and you get over 50 million results, and pretty much all of them are links to buy them, so they’re obviously a very viable product.

To be honest, I can understand why. There is so much pressure out there to feel the need to lose weight, and so many products that claim to help you do it, that it can feel totally overwhelming. It’s not uncommon for people to lack knowledge about the best ways to go about changing their shape.

Add onto that a hectic work schedule, a lack of motivation after trying a number of different diets and the pressure to lose weight fast, and soon a meal replacement shake seems like quite an appealing idea. Milkshakes are enjoyable and filling. They require no time or thought. My friend said that the meals she had been eating (that weren't shakes) had been healthier than she would normally eat, and she lost 9lbs in the first two weeks, so the diet clearly does what it says on the tin.

So why am I so against these shakes? Why am I against these types of diets in general?

I was really glad to have an honest conversation with my friend because it forced me to really face up to my opinions and question them. Did I just have a preconceived idea because I am effectively a bitter ex-wife of diets? Maybe they’ve changed, maybe we just weren’t meant to be, maybe they’re not for me but someone else can love them dearly and have a long and happy relationship…

But I have to say that on confronting my perceptions, I stand by my judgement. And here’s why:

1. We don’t eat nutrients, we eat food. Meal replacement diets often claim to have ‘all the vitamins and minerals that you need’ or some BS like that. Well, I certainly couldn’t read the ingredients and tell you if that’s true or not because I don’t have good enough knowledge, and I’m sure most of their consumers don’t either. The fact is, whether it’s true or not, we don’t eat nutrients, we eat food. While its primary function is to fuel us, food serves more than this purpose. It is a way of experiencing culture, it is a means to socialise, it is a science, and ultimately it’s something to be enjoyed. Forget what diet culture tells you – it is ok, no, it is GOOD, to enjoy food, and you should never feel guilty about that.

2. It’s not sustainable. If you don’t see shakes as part of your long term nutrition (and I’m talking 10 years+) then at some point you’re going to have to revert back to food. Maybe you want to lose the bulk of your weight first to give you a head start, I get it. But the only way to maintain that weight loss will be to eat a nutritious, healthy and balanced diet once you’ve ditched the shakes. To me it makes more sense to start as you mean to go on, facing up to food in a healthy way and understanding as soon as possible how to nourish your body. Moreover, the shock of going back to normal food means your body struggles to process it which can lead to faster weight gain and other unpleasant side-effects, which can then lead to loss of motivation. Studies show that people gain more weight after a crash diet than they lost during the diet.

3. It promotes the all-or-nothing mentality. Whether the milkshakes fill you up or not, replacing your meals with pre-determined drinks is restrictive behaviour. Some shake brands do suggest that you only drink them if you don't have time to prepare a healthy meal, but most people using these diets will rely fully on the milkshakes for the weight loss. This restrictive behaviour, in many cases, leads to binging. It’s the age old ‘I’ve been “good” all week so I’ll eat what I want all weekend’. But binge eating is dangerous. In the short term it can cause food anxiety and feelings of guilt – no one wants that. Longer term, it inhibits your weight loss by up to 50% and that in turn can also induce negative feelings about yourself.

4. It perpetuates the drive for fast results. Healthy weight loss should happen at a slow and steady rate. Research suggests a sustainable and healthy rate of loss is about 1–2lbs per week. Healthy on a nutritional level means you are providing your body with the necessary macro and micro nutrients. On a psychological level it means that your relationship with food only improves, that you continue to enjoy food and your social life, and that you experience a shift in your ability to make decisions around food that lead to healthier choices. It means that losing weight takes more time and as humans, we often find it difficult to think long term, preferring instant results. But if we can overcome this, our efforts are more likely to be successful and we can save ourselves the future time, effort and stress.

5. You’re worth more. You just are. Milkshakes might be bearable, or even enjoyable, but that enjoyment is not the sole reason why someone sticks to a diet like this…it’s the pressure to look a certain way, a desire to be a certain size, the feeling you need to change who you are. You are worth more than your body shape, and what society has told you for years you should look like. You are worth the effort to treat yourself with respect, love and kindness.

I want to summarise this by saying that if you chose meal replacement shakes or a similar diet, I don’t judge you. It is completely understandable to me why you would want to. But having been through an eating disorder and now feeling free from diet culture, I can’t help but see that the reasons anyone would chose these diets was because of a poor relationship with food and themselves. And wouldn’t the better option be to build up those relationships, diminishing any need for such a harmful industry. I want to assure everyone who turns to these diets as a last resort…there are plenty of ways to lose weight in a healthy and sustainable way, by building a healthier relationship with food and with your body.

This whole diet culture? Let’s just shake it off.

To shake or not to shake?