Shakeology Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake

Some of my clients really love their shakes, and while I generally recommend whole foods and solid meals over shakes, I do understand that they have their benefits. They are convenient, easy, and can be tasty, filling, and satisfying to many people. Personally, a shake leaves me feeling like I still haven't eaten, so I only use them when I have to.

A good shake is pretty hard to find. You see plenty of protein powders on the market, but the list of bad guys is often much longer than the good guys where the ingredients are concerned. Soy predominates the 'ready to go' shake markets, unfortunately, but Shakeology is different! No soy!

While I'm primarily reviewing the chocolate one, today, know that they also have many other flavors, plus vegan varieties that also do not use soy protein, so kudos to them!

Shakeology Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake

What to get: A box of 24 convenient packets or a tub of 30 servings.

Where to get it: You can order it directly from Team Beachbody.

Why we approve: Gluten free, uses stevia as a sweetener, lots of vitamins, minerals, and 'superfoods.' No soy based protein powders. Delicious!

Nutrition: Calories, 140 per serving (can contains two servings), Total Fat 1g, Sodium 100mg, Carbohydrates 17g, Fiber 3g, Sugars 9g, Protein 17g

Preparation: I used 1 cup of water and 6 ice cubes. That's it. It was thick and rich and delicious. It was similar to a chocolate shake from a drive thru, only more rich and chocolate tasting.

Variations: Toss in a frozen banana or a good amount of coconut milk for more of a meal. I lean more toward adding extra healthy fat, but that's because people don't get enough fat. Add fat.

Chocolate & Tropical Strawberry (not reviewed in detail)

Cons: A little low in calories and very low in fat. It's enough to tide me over, but not a true meal replacement for me unless I have some nuts on the side, or add in something like coconut milk. However, if you eat meals or snacks every 2-3 hours then this could be perfect, as this is just enough to tide one over. A little gritty, but not too bad. Expensive, but if you truly replace a meal, particularly an unhealthy meal, it may be worth it for you for the convenience. '70 Healthy Ingredients' can make it hard if you find the culprit if you are sensitive to one or more of the ingredients. That doesn't make it bad bad, but it's something to keep in mind.

Pros:  The perfect 'tide me over' size snack. It says it contains over 70 Healthy Ingredients, so if you're looking for anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, and 'superfoods,' this is one stop shopping. The chocolate shake was thick and rich and delicious. It was similar to a dark chocolate shake from a drive thru. Gluten free. Vegan varieties are available, and from what I saw, they use primarily rice protein, which is preferable to soy. Convenient. Even drinkable with water and a shaker bottle only. Delicious.

Kefir on the go

What to get: a bottle of plain Kefir
Where to get it: your local supermarket or Trader Joe's

This is the Lifeway brand, which has a nice zing to it!

What is it? a yogurt-type drink, result of natural fermentation


Why we approve: Kefir is an ancient fermented drink that provides protein, fats, carbohydrate and a modest amount of calories. One cup has 10-14 grams of protein depending on the brand and the thickness. Another really really cool thing is that due to the activity of the bacteria that turn milk into kefir, most lactose is almost entirely eliminated and it can be consumed even if you don't tolerate dairy very well.

Preparation: this is the ultimate on the go dairy product. Just open the cap, pour in a glass or enjoy directly from the bottle. Why share?

TIP: always buy full fat or reduced fat versions, stay away from non fat / zero fat.

make your own flavors with real ingredients at home, do not fall for the gazillion flavors at the store. get plain and upgrade it yourself.

 Variations:  I like Kefir on its own, but you can enhance the flavor by mixing it with fruit. Blend it with strawberries, blueberries or pomegranate. Yes, you can buy it flavored at the store, BUT that comes at the price of sweeteners and additives. No thank you! For a complete meal on the go you can pair some kefir with a fruit and nut bar, or a handful of nuts.

Trader Joes Kefir is very smooth and good for beginners. It's not too sour

Pros: tastes good, great source of protein, healthy for your digestive and immune system

Cons: can be a bit expensive, and some varieties may be way too sour; for some people just Kefir may not be enough of a meal, unless they combine it with other foods

Enjoy and be healthy!

Sparkling ice tea

What to buy: tea in bags, sparkling water
Where to buy: your closest grocery store
Why we approve: it has zero calories and is more refreshing than regular ice tea

On a hot day, we all want to reach for some soda. For a lot of us, even the diet varieties are off the list as they trigger unwanted sugar cravings. At a restaurant, I will often order unsweetened ice tea or sparkling water, but I recently discovered, that making my own ice tea at home was easy and convenient.

Preparation:
To make ice tea, I normally boil 4 cups of water and then soak 4 tea bags for about 10 minutes. I take them out and then keep the thick tea in the fridge. When I feel like it, I just use a few cubes of ice in a glass and fill it up with the tea - there you have it - delicious and refreshing.

This weekend I thought, why not add just a bit of ice tea and fill up the rest with sparkling water? The result was amazing - bubbly, touching your tongue with coolness and very very satisfying. I used cinnamon spice tea, so it was even slightly exotic. For those of you who need sweetener - honey, maple syrup or Stevia (leaves or powder) will all do just fine! If your goal is fat loss, stick to Stevia, if you are maintaining you can be a little bit more liberal and spend your calories on some of the other sweet flavorings.

Enjoy your hot summer days with a glass of sparkling ice tea and let us know what you think!

Variations: Feel free to add lemon. lime, orange or graperfuit, as well as vanilla extract, honey, maple syrup or Stevia 

Pros: refreshing, easy to make and zero calories, unless you add sweetener
Cons: you might like your sparkling drinks a lot sweeter, it works for me

Mango soda

What to buy: Soda water, Naked fruit juice
Where to buy: Vons
Why we approve: diluting juice with soda saves calories and carbohydrates and can be very refreshing

 It's summer and it's hot and you wish you could just chug down a bottle of ice cold fruit juice. For me, that moment of strong desire comes as I wait in line at the grocery store, where hundreds of little colorful bottles of fruit juice stare at me. It's after a workout and I am thirsty, but I also know there is too much sugar and calories in one of those little bottles.

The solution is easy: dilute to get more liquid and lose some calories, but dilute with ice and soda water, so you get the satisfaction of the cold drink and soda pop all wrapped into one healthy drink.

Preparation:
For this experiment I used mango juice, but you can use any of the natural fruit juices you see at the store. The bottle usually serves 2, but when you make Mango soda you can serve 6. Instead of 180 calories, you only get 60 per glass, and you can enjoy a rich juice flavor, quench your thirst and not add inches to your waist.

Here is what you need to make 1 glass of mango soda:

1/3 cup mango juice
3 cubes ice
soda water

Place mango juice and ice in the glass and pour soda water to the top. Enjoy! Let us know what other flavors you tried, I am really excited about some berry or pomegranate juice!

Variations:
You can take this experiment a step further and fresh squeeze your own juice at home, it may even be something you can teach your kids, it makes for a fun summer afternoon project!

Pros: easy to make, delicious and refreshing
Cons: it's still better to squeeze your own juice