Do you use them when you don’t have time to cook or don’t want to? Do you use them to avoid gaining weight? What is your opinion about their potential health implications?
I use them to not lose weight to my cancer 🤷♀️
Soylent is great. I don’t use it on the regular but it works for all the things you’d want one to work for. 400 calories downed quick and satiates for about 3 hours.
I second this, though the powder isn’t as good in its current rendition it helps control my portion sizing and helps me focus through the post lunch shift
Isn’t that people?
I drank huel for a while, then plenny. I switched because plenny doesn’t add thickener, which makes it way easier to drink and use in smoothies and stuff
I used them when I had covid and lost my sense of taste. When you can’t taste, all food is just a gross mush in your mouth.
I tried to get into it, but between finding recipes and washing the blender, it wasn’t less effort or money than just making a sandwich. I did not find it helpful as a diet aid, because I would still be hungry after a “meal replacement.” If I don’t have time to cook, I don’t have time to blend. If I make a bunch in advance, I can just as easily make a bunch of salads in containers.
I’m already fat and disabled, though, and I work from home, so factor that into my experience.
When we get sick we rely on Ensure to keep our nutrients up when we can’t eat, but I’ve never used them to replace a proper meal because they are wholly unsatisfying, I would need a sandwich or something to top off my fat ass.
I tried Soylent for a little bit. It was okay. I think they work well as a once-in-awhile kinda thing, or in particularly strenuous or limiting conditions, but relying on them for any real length of time would be a little sad imo.
I’d still look for some for a solo road trip of any sort, they’re preferable to most road food.
I use them because I have a lot of food allergies and it’s inconvenient to eat in public. But I don’t enjoy it.
I started having a Soylent shake for lunch last week. I hate having to deal with eating during my work day (WFH), and want to stop doordashing. It’s worked well, I’m hungry by dinner and it has better nutrition than what I normally eat.
Will keep on doing it this week and see how it goes.
I don’t use them and wouldn’t use them. I like food, and would rather cut into other things’ time to cook and eat.
I generally have a pretty negative opinion of the idea of “replacing meals” with soilent-esque products. I understand the various reasons people use these, and don’t blame them, but to me it’s treating a symptom rather than the problems that cause it.
I drink Soylent when I’m in a can’t-be-arsed mood.
Had the Aussie version of Soylent, Aussielent for a few months. I don’t get as much satisfaction from food as others, so for me it was awesome, I saved so much time not preparing food, and I didn’t need to think about balancing my diet.
Then I started my relationship and had to start eating normie food again. Let me go back to the Nebuchadnezza and eat my nutrient slop.
Probably saved my life during a severe anxious period where I was physically unable to eat enough regular food and became dangerously underweight very fast.
Nowadays, useful as a convenience when I don’t have time to make proper food, or just to switch it up a bit. I enjoy these particular shakes I get so sometimes I just get them because I like them.
Exactly this, extreme stress was making eating very difficult and meal replacement shakes helped so much.
I have a subscription to Holfood and I love it. It definitely makes life easier. For me, the advantages I get from meal replacement shakes are
- it saves me from having to decide what to eat so I can put that energy towards things I actually care to do
- it’s not very filling, so i can have a shake fairly soon after a solid meal and fit more calories into my day
- Probably much healthier than any other meal I can make in the same amount of time
- Very tasty in my opinion, but that’s down to personal preference
- Makes solid meals much more enjoyable because they’re no longer mandatory, you don’t have to eat so much that you get sick of the foods you normally enjoy, and you can choose your solid meals to maximize enjoyment rather than nutritional value
The main con is that it’s expensive relative to cooking for yourself. But if you factor in the time savings, it may not actually be any more expensive.
I looked into them because I hate cooking, often forget to dedicate time to preparing food and then over eat junk because of convenience, but the cost to get them where I live didn’t make sense for me. If I could find something local and cheaper I’d definitely give it a go.
