Drinking your way to health: the attributes of
the Shake Diet
If you are having trouble eating the required
number of meals each day to stay healthy, or you just have no time
to prepare all the meals that other diets require, then the shake
diet should be given some consideration. Even if you desire to
shed a couple of pounds but are having an uneasy time doing all
the things that are needed to be successful, the shake diet may be
able to help you. The shake diet has certain elements to it that
may be of help to anyone who uses it.
What is the shake diet?
The shake diet is a diet plan that uses shakes
high in protein as a replacement for some of the meals had during
the day. So instead of eating six meals each day you would have
say three major meals and three diet shakes. There are some
variations of the shake diet where all the daily meals are
replaced with a diet shake.
Shake diets are usually made up of shakes made
with items found in the home or can be made with a protein powder
as its base. So diet shakes will include, bananas, fruits and
vegetables, oats and in some cases low fat milk.
Many nutritionists believe in persons losing
weight by maintaining a well-balanced diet that includes whole
foods and fruits and vegetables. Yet studies show that the shake
diet was as effective for producing weight loss as much as a
conventional weight loss diet.
Usefulness of the shake diet
If you are seeking to kick start your program,
you can do so with the shake diet, as it allows you to keep track
of your caloric intake. So if you are on a strict caloric control
and you are trying not to exceed a particular caloric limit, a
shake diet can help you to stay with your set limits.
The shake diet allows you to vary what you use
in the shakes. You can also adjust your caloric intake to find the
optimum level of calories that will best help support good health
and assist in weight control. When embarking on the shake diet you
are advised to gradually ease into it. Do not cut your caloric
intake dramatically, but rather you should take a more structured
approach and slowly cut calories over a period of time.
How long can you stay on the shake diet?
If you use the shake diet for the bulk of or
all of your meals, then you can be on this kind shake diet for
about four months. You can then simply reduce the amount of shakes
you consume per day to about three and include normal meals. If
you are already having your normal meals and replacing a couple
others, then you can maintain or reduce the shakes in your diet as
you see fit. Studies show that women maintained their weight loss
for longer periods of time when they consume at least one shake
per day. Others who did not consume any shakes after weight loss
regained all the lost weight.
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