The Shakeology Experiment: Days 1-3

Several months ago I started receiving information from Beachbody about a new product called Shakeology. It's "The Healthiest Meal of the Day!" the materials said. These shakes have 70 natural ingredients, essential amino acids, antioxidants...the whole bit.

Zach has wanted to try Shakeology for several months, and now that I'm an Independent Team Beachbody Coach (and get a nice little discount on Beachbody products), I finally agreed to let him try it. Here's a brief video that explains some of the benefits of Shakeology:

http://teambeachbody.com/showcase/-/bcp/16664447001/57987?referringRepId=57987

I'm the type of person that needs to see a product in action before I can recommend it to anyone, so we decided to do a 30-day Shakeology Experiment. I'm going to take detailed notes about what he experiences during 30 days taking the shakes, and chronicle his experiences on this blog.

Last Saturday Zach kicked off his Shakeology experience with a two-day cleanse. They actually recommend a three-day cleanse, but he elected to only stay on the cleanse for the weekend. A cleanse consists of a shake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with some snacks of fruit, plenty of water/green tea, and a salad for dinner with 3 ounces of white meat. (See the Shakeology site for a more thorough explanation of the cleanse schedule!)

Day One
Zach is taking chocolate Shakeology (the other flavor is Greenberry). For the cleanse, he can only mix the Shakeology powder with water and ice. Once he's off the cleanse, there are plenty of recipes to jazz up his shake; the package came with a calendar of 30 different recipes to try!

When it's blended, the shake is really thick and filling. "I'm really full," he said. "I can see how that replaces a meal." After lunch Zach said that the shakes "are really satisfying. I'm not craving anything, even though I've only had two shakes and a banana."

For dinner that night, we went to some friends' house. Zach abstained from his usual social beer and stuck to water with his Red fish (thanks, Jason!) and spinach salad.

Day Two
Prior to drinking his first shake, Zach did an ab workout (can you say glutton for punishment?). "I'm starving right now," he said.

The rest of the day Zach was more low-key, even taking a nap on the couch (which doesn't happen much). I fixed grilled chicken for dinner, and he said it tasted "like a million bucks." I bet that was due to my superior cooking skills. Or his starvation. He wrapped up the cleanse with one last shake in the early evening, followed by a protein shake before bed to effectively end the cleanse.

Here is a breakdown of his two-day weight loss:

9/24/10     10pm     172.0 lbs.
9/25/10     9:20pm  168.4 lbs.
9/26/10     7:45am   166.4 lbs.
9/26/10     8:45am   167.0 lbs
9/27/10     6:15am   165.4 lbs.

That's just about 7 pounds lost on a very restricted calorie (about 1,000 calories per day) cleanse.

Day Three
Zach ate a normal breakfast and mixed his Shakeology to take to work for lunch. He chose the "PB&J" recipe, which includes natural peanut butter and frozen strawberries. He said the recipe was really good and a nice change from the "plain" shakes he's had thus far.

Stay tuned to see how Shakeology works as a meal replacement! I'll be interested to note Zach's energy level and hunger as he works through his first week on the program.