Liquid Diet

I'm experimenting with a new diet: the liquid diet. With the exception of my salad at night, all the calories I consume are in the form of shakes. I'd like to share with you the advantages and disadvantages.

The reason I started this diet was because I was tired of sitting down every 2.5-3 hours to eat something. One of the principles of a good a nutrition plan is to eat smaller meals more frequently. This keeps your metabolism high and it ensures that your body will never sense hunger. But sometimes this can be highly inconvenient, as I can attest. It's hard to eat when you have meetings, appointments, clients, errands, and other arrangements. I can't be working with a client and then stop everything to eat a burrito. It would be rude and unsatisfying. Unless you work in an office with access to a microwave, refrigerator, and other appliances, eating five or six meals per day is unrealistic.

So convenience and portability is the probably the number one advantage. Shakes are portable and they can go anywhere. You can sip them while talking with people, while walking through a store, training clients, or sitting in a meeting. It's not considered rude to drink in the presence of others, especially in this day and age of bottled water. They don't require utensils, napkins, or a place to eat.

Shakes are easy to make. All you need is a blender to make them. The only ingredients in my shakes are: various protein powders, frozen fruit, a few packets of Stevia or Splenda as a sweetener, ice, plant-based milks (hemp, almond, and rice) and some chopped nuts. It takes very little time to make a quality shake with a lot of nutrition. Every night I spend about 10-15 minutes making the shakes that I'll need to bring with me.

But don't liquid calories lead to fat gain? Yes and no. Liquid calories such as soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, and teas have little to no nutrition, and are not satiating. But shakes made with fruits, vegetables, powders, and other whole foods provide plenty of nutrition, hydration, and are thicker and more luscious than liquid calories. They're like complete meals in a liquid form.

There are a couple of disadvantages. It's inconvenient to urinate every 60-90 minutes, but this is better than being parched and dehydrated. Usually you'll be close to a bathroom so it's not a problem. It's only a problem when in the car, or when you really need to go to the restroom while talking with someone.

Another problem is keeping these shakes cool. You might have to put them in a cooler with plenty of ice if you don't have access to a refrigerator. Camelback's Chill Jacket doesn't seem to work very well. One solution is to fill one water bottle with ice, or stop at a Starbucks or 7 Eleven and put ice in the shake. As for water bottles, I prefer the 24-oz Camelbacks with the straw that flips.

Try this diet for a couple days and see how you like it. If you don't like shakes, then obviously that will be a problem. If you don't like fruit, that would be another problem. Some people don't consider shakes a meal, and would much rather eat something hot. That's fine, as long as it's convenient.

Kevin