What is Shakeology?
How does Shakeology work?
What are the Shakeology ingredients?
Where can I find Shakeology recipes?
How much does Shakeology cost?
My decision to find meal replacement product that offered healthy ingredients that would help me lose some weight relatively quickly and benefit my exercise program. I have used whey protein shake products and recipes in the past and during the course of my online research I came across a Team Beachbody Shakeology review.
“IMPORTANT NOTE: IT’S SPELLED “SHAKEOLOGY”, NOT SHAKOLOGY OR ANY OF THE OTHER NUMEROUS MISSPELLINGS I HAVE HAPPENED ACROSS. IT IS ALSO NOT A SHAKEOLOGY CLEANSE AS MANY PEOPLE REFER TO IT. IT IS A NUTRITIONALLY COMPLETE MEAL REPLACEMENT PRODUCT.”
If you are not familiar with Team Beachbody, they are the folks that are behind some of the most innovative and effective workout programs on the market. Programs like P90X and Body Beast Workouts. The bottom line is that they don’t mess around and put garbage on the market. Their products are the always based on sound nutritional principles and actual scientific research not junk science.
In my case I spent some time reading Shakeology reviews and researching the product ingredients and assertions before deciding to buy Shakeology and to judge for myself. Truth be told, I don’t blame anyone for being hesitant to spend some money and try something that claims to offer any kind of weight loss results. There are a very large number of products that make all sorts of outlandish claims. Some of these products and programs can even be hazardous to your health. Shakeology is not one of them. This Shakeology review will cover everything you need to know about the product and clearly illustrate the level of quality you can expect if you decide to purchase it. that I apologize in advance for the length of this piece, but I believe in being detailed.
What appealed to me about Shakeology
As I stated earlier, I’m a bit of a fitness enthusiast. Unfortunately, I am also human. I stray from sound nutritional principles or fall of the wagon from time to time. I tend to put on a few pounds, ok, so what, more like 10-15lbs, during the winter months every year. Why do I do it to myself? Because I’m a glutton for punishment and I love pizza! That being said, I knew I needed to take drastic action to get in summer shape. I decided on a new workout program called Body Beast. In researching the workout and it’s creators Team Beachbody I learned about Shakology. Just kidding of course, I know it’s spelled Shakeology
The main area of concern for me was whether or not this product would deliver its promised energy. I was also concerned about the overall nutritional values and whether they would have a positive impact on my overall health. My last concern was that due to my winter binging, would I be able to handle the food cravings that often accompany liquid meal replacement diets.
Reading the Shakeology reviews provided me with a good a place to gather some real feedback on whether the product would deliver on the promise. As a natural skeptic I was doubtful at first, I can happily report that my skepticism in this case was misplaced.
On to the review…
What is Shakeology?
Let me start with what it is not, it’s not a detox or cleanse. If you were looking for a magic bullet that will solve all your health and weight loss problems I have to disappoint you because it’s not that either. It is also not a supplement like Garcinia or a steroid. It is a nutritionally complete shake based meal replacement diet offering more shake recipes than you would suspect. As the official website describes it, Shakeology is “a meal replacement comprising various healthy and natural nutrients”.
Here are the key details:
Meal replacement
As you should have already gathered, this product is meant to actually replace a meal. Team Beachbody cleverly refers to it as “Referring to it as nutrition simplified”. They aren’t off base with the claim either. Shakeology is actually more than just the equivalent of a meal in terms of nutrition. Big time bonus for those of us who don’t enjoy spending time in the kitchen, this thing is easy to make quickly!
It improves absorption of nutrients and has a detoxifying effect on the body
As I have already stated, Shakeology is not a detox diet, but it does have a detoxifying effect on your body. Because of the nutrients that are packed into the shakes it also promotes better absorption of nutrients. How do I know it has a detoxifying effect? I know because I felt better within a very short time of beginning the program. Gone was that sluggish, overstuffed and sometimes uncomfortable feeling you get when you don’t put the right foods and nutrients in your body. It becomes very noticeable after a while. You end up feeling refreshed, more alarmed as well as feeling better in general.
The improved absorption of nutrients became apparent as I experienced and marked improvement in my energy levels after starting Shakeology. It contains all the nutrients the body really needs and nothing more. The nutritional contents of the shakes are absorbed by the body rapidly as they are highly bio-available due to their liquid form. Shakeology shakes are rapidly put to use by your body. The overall result being that your body can use more nutrients from all the other meals throughout the day.
Weight loss
This is just a simple math equation. By replacing one meal daily where you would normally consume more calories in an effort to obtain the same nutritional value, you are providing the body with the exact same nutritional content with 50% less calories. This is just a sound, clinically proven diet principle that works.
One of the biggest roadblocks to weight loss is food cravings. For me Shakeology eliminated the food cravings. After consuming one of the shakes I always feel quite full. I won’t lie and tell you that the diet started that way for me… more on this aspect of the program later in the review. Ultimately I ended up feeling full longer with the shakes than I did with my normal meals. This is probably the net result of training your body to need less in terms of quantity.
Improved digestion
I am one of those people that experiences digestion issues from time to time in the form of bloating. Since I started with Shakeology shakes I have experienced far less bloating than I was at the outset.
Lower cholesterol
Now I’m not going to get all crazy here and make a blanket medical claim. I happened to have bloodwork before and after starting with Shakeology for another medical reason and my cholesterol levels were improved. By levels I am referring to lowered bad cholesterol and increased good cholesterol values. Unlike many reviews might claim I won’t go so far as to say this was definitely due to the diet. I only offer it by way of detailing my personal experience.
The Shakeology ingredients
In this Shakeology review I wanted to familiarize you with the ingredients without you having to search on other sites. Here is a condensed list of the ingredients for Shakeology shakes:
- Isolated whey protein, an easily absorbable source of high-quality protein
Packed with essential amino acids that are ideal for building and maintaining muscle mass. - Phytonutrients, including flavonoids, polyphenols, anthocyanins, and catechins.
These are well known for their antioxidant properties, which help rid the body of molecules known as free radicals. Free radicals have been shown to damage cells, hasten the body’s aging process and even more for some degenerative conditions. - Prebiotics
Are known to help foster “friendly” bacteria that help the digestive track. They also help with absorption of certain minerals. - Digestive Enzymes
Derived from sources like Pineapple and Papaya these enzymes help food to be broken down into its individual components, thus improving absorption of nutrients. - 23 vitamins and minerals
23 essential vitamins and minerals are added to the shakes to support overall health and nutritional balance.
Taste and preparation
Having used quite a few different whey protein shakes in the past I can quite honestly say that many are NOT GOOD AT ALL. Score a point for Shakeology here… The chocolate shake actually tastes and smells quite good (the strawberry was also quite tasty). I did not use any of the other flavors beyond those two so I can’t comment on the taste. Now I want to go on the record that despite the taste being quite good, these are still whey based shakes and as such the taste will take some getting used to for most people. What does that mean? It means that some people will probably have to suck it up and chug these rapidly to minimize any unpleasantness due to individual tolerances. I just wanted to get that out there.
Preparation as you might imagine is very easy. You just take one scoop of Shakeology and one cup of water or milk (I use almond milk for two reasons… I don’t care for regular milk and the extra protein it adds). You also add two scoops of ice as to get that milkshake type texture though this is optional. Put the ingredients in a blender and you are off to the races. The whole process takes less than 3 minutes. If you don’t have access to a blender handy a shaker bottle will work, it just isn’t quite as smoothly and completely blended.
The adjustment phase and food cravings
If this is your first experience with meal replacement shakes I’m not gonna lie… over the first two or three days you will feel a little more hungry than usual. Let’s face it, nothing in life that’s worthwhile is ever easy, Shakeology is no different. This is not an unusual effect of shake diets. You are replacing solid food with liquid and your body will need time to adjust. If you are like me, all of the sudden you will be in the groove and consuming the shakes in place of solid food will feel normal. This program is no different than any other nutritional program, if you do feel hungry you can just consume a small health snack like a piece of fruit or a handful of almonds.
High quality fuel for your workouts
If you are already into fitness, be it weight training, cardio, water sports or whatever you will find this meal replacement to be a great fit as it provides a lot of energy. Who knows, you may even be motivated to amp up your workouts and try a more intense fitness program and like The Insanity Workout or Focus T25. These programs are well documented thru numerous online reviews to be extremely effective. Combine them with a meal replacement strategy like Shakeology shakes and the weight loss comes very, very quickly.
Additional benefits of the Shakeology diet program
An added bonus of this particular diet program, aside from the previously covered weight loss that can be achieved, there are some other benefits to the Shakeology program as well.
- Time savings, it’s pretty quick and easy to whip up and consume a quick shake as opposed to the time that would be spent preparing and consuming a meal. I make schedule mine for the mornings as a breakfast. It frees up some extra time so I can meditate or do some pre-work yoga (or even just kick back and watch some TV) before I head out the door. It really has been a major stress reliever which is also known to be factor in weight gain/loss.
- That brings me to the point of what I like to call the “mood effect”. This is just my experience and results may vary, but I find my weight loss shakes definitely put me in a better mood. This little excerpt comes directly from the Shakeology product website and lends some credence to my personal experience:
“One scoop of Shakeology provides 100% of the daily recommended intake of vitamin B12. B12 is often linked with good mood maintenance; B vitamins are also essential for the production and proper functioning of neurotransmitters like dopamine, crucial to the experience of pleasure. Shakeology also contains cacao, which is very high in phenylethylamine (PEA). PEA acts as a neuromodulator to enhance one’s mood.”
- I have also found that as a result of my lifestyle change and improved nutrition that I have experiences positive impacts on my cognitive focus and alertness. Again, this is my Shakeology review so this may not be the case for everyone.
- Another positive impact I have experienced while on Shakeology is a boost in energy levels. But, truthfully, I have been able to cut out virtually all of my caffeine since I made this part of my regular diet. You may find the excess energy motivates you to try a workout like the Body Beast program (also by Team Beachbody) like I have. It is literally a beast of a program, but it GETS RESULTS!
How much weight loss can I expect?
Let’s face it Shakeology reviews would be pointless without covering the subject of weight loss in more specific terms. First I feel it is important to start with an important point to remember, this meal replacement has many benefits aside from weight loss, like, improved overall health, time and money saving, and it is a great source of energy. That being said, expecting that it will produce magical results would be downright foolish and set you up for disappointment.
My personal experience was a 13lb weight loss in 30 days. There are a few points I need to make and I believe they are important for your decision making process. I did intense weight training with the Body Beast workout. I tightened up my entire diet and was very strict. The 13lb weight loss figure does not take into account the lean muscle that I gained over the 30 day period. A more telling number would be the fact that I moved from a size 34 inch waste to a very comfortable 32 with the belly fat I was carrying being significantly reduced.
With all of that in mind I’m extremely comfortable saying that I would expect most people should see weight loss in the neighborhood of 10lbs. How much more or less is going to depend upon the effort you put into getting yourself right nutritionally and on the physical fitness front. The takeaway should be that regardless of the exact weight loss figures you will look better. I felt that in addition to the weight loss my skin even looked smoother and healthier, refreshed looking so to speak.
One thing many Shakeology reviews don’t cover, how much does it cost?
Before trying Shakeology I took the time to compare what the product costs and some of the things I most commonly consumed before I began the diet change. This should be a major takeaway from my Shakeology review – it’s relatively inexpensive!
Why did I bother to take the time for this particular Shakeology cost comparison? Well I like most people was initially put off by the upfront cost of the diet. In doing the math, I was much more comfortable with the expenditure after I did the math and calculated how much you spend on breakfast during the entire month or snacks just to satisfy food cravings. Once you calculate those expenses you really can’t call Shakeology expensive.
You see, if you try and squeeze some healthy ingredients in your breakfast (proteins, vitamins, minerals…) it will be a lot more than paying for Shakeology. Besides you are paying more for food with less nutrients and health benefits.
Where can you buy Shakeology from?
What would the benefit of Shakeology reviews be without answering the question I know you’ve had in your mind all along… Where Can I Buy Shakeology shakes? That’s very simple… you can purchase all of the products from the official Team Beachbody Shakeology website or Amazon.com. If you would feel more comfortable taking a small sample plunge first you can purchase the 3 Day Refresh program (also from Team Beachbody) which includes Shakeology shakes. I have used and reviewed that product here if you want to learn more about it. For sake of time savings I will just tell you that the 3 Day Refresh is also very effective in achieving its intended purpose of giving your body a quick nutritional reset. Regardless of where you decide to purchase from I definitely recommend the chocolate #1 and the strawberry as my second choice.
Conclusion and my rating
So that’s it in a nutshell, If you are looking to drop a few pounds or get on the track to better overall health this meal replacement diet plan might be just what you were looking for. My personal rating of the product is:
I hope that this Shakeology review helped you decide whether or not to give the program a shot. I like it and think it is well worth the investment.
If you are still not sure watch this Shakeology reviews video:
#shakeology #shakology #shakeologyreviews
Helpful sites for information on nutrition:
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