Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Response to: Ask The Dietitian: What’s The Deal With Shakeology? by Abby Langer

After coming across this on facebook today, I thought I'd add in my two cents.
I think the tone of this article was a little "high and mighty".   To be frank, the entire second paragraph was childish and bitchy. That aside, I feel that there were some very critical things wrong here:

"You can’t fairly compare whole food to a drink." - You are very correct.  Whole foods are definitely the best option for nutrition.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of people struggle with that, for various reasons.  For me, I have sensory/texture issues that make it so I cannot eat most fruits/vegetables without triggering my gag reflex... so Shakeology fills that gap in my nutrition for me.  It's obviously a better alternative than not eating any fruits or vegetables at all, don't you think?

"The only thing Shakeology should be replacing, if anything, is $41 worth of crap food like the chips and chocolate bars that are in your pantry." - Also true.  But you're failing to acknowledge that THAT is what people struggle with the most, in my experience.  Do you have any idea how hard it would be for a person to go from eating junk foods all the time to being a perfect whole foods eater?  That's completely unrealistic.  There's nothing wrong with learning how to get there, and getting help in the process.  And yes, my chocolate shake is MUCH healthier than any chocolate bar in someone's pantry.  Does your chocolate bar have superfoods and probiotics in it? ;)

"Essentially these are protein shakes, but the 17 grams per shake is a bit below the 20-25 grams of protein that I recommend per meal." - It's not marketed as a protein shake, actually.  And if any person is advocating that Shakeology is a protein shake, then they're misinformed or under-educated about it. Not to mention, you can easily kick that protein up to 20-25 grams by adding milk, peanut butter, yogurt, etc to your shake.

"Each shake has only 160 calories, which is about 340 calories short of an actual meal by my recommendations. You’re basically relying on 17 grams of protein to keep you full until your next meal or snack, and good luck to you." - Once again, almost everyone I know adds things to their shake (milk, fruits, veggies, etc), upping the caloric content.  Secondly?  Shakeology DOES keep me full, for about 2.5-3 hours, and I know for a fact that I'm not alone there.

"Something that does irk me about Shakeology, and I have to mention this, is the ‘Team Beachbody’ thing that it’s associated with. Can we please stop talking about beach bodies? A beach body is a body in a bathing suit. A fat body, a thin body, a pink, green, yellow, or orange body. Whatever body you have is your beach body. Let’s stop idealizing the ‘perfect bikini body’, because that BS doesn’t exist. Be the healthiest and happiest that you can be, and stop trying to fit into society’s warped vision of ‘beach body’, which we all know is unrealistic for 99% of us." - I'm sorry you're so angry about this and clearly feel attacked, but not ONE of the coaches on the team I'm a part of talks about getting a "perfect bikini body".  We're all here to help you be the best version of you that you can be.  Quite frankly, my entire business revolves around the fact that "skinny" isn't a goal you should have (#strongnotskinny , anyone?).  A Beachbody IS a body on a beach.  And you should be happy with that body and proud of it, no matter what it looks like, as long as it's healthy!  That's why good coaches exist in this business.  That's what we're here for.  So please don't trash a company due to your incorrect views of it.

Shakeology isn't the healthiest thing ever on the planet Earth.  But do you know what it IS?  Way healthier than the majority of what people are eating on a daily basis.  A wonderful source of vitamins and minerals that a lot of people lack.  A great source of pre- and probiotics to help your digestive system.  A great substitute for the breakfast that I don't eat.  A good substitute for fruits and vegetables that I'm lacking due to my texture issues.  A source of nutrients that's helped my hair and nails be so much stronger than they ever were.  An energy providing drink that's a clearly way better option than soda.  The only thing that's ever been able to even TOUCH my levels of fatigue when my body spends too much time attacking itself.

And it's delicious.  I rest my case. :)

5 comments:

  1. Amen!!! I just read that other post too, and as someone who has been using Shakeo since just August, I LOVE it!! It DOES keep me full, and keeps my energy levels up instead of the crashes I get from eating bread or drinking a bunch of coffee and tea. AND it tastes wonderful, and seriously, way reduces my cravings! You're spot on too about it being a stepping stone to learning to eat healthy food--I'm definitely one of those people who used to be addicted to soda and chips in bread things, and since I started Shakeology those cravings have gone WAY down and I have much more self control in part because the cravings are no longer so strong that they half-control me.
    Thanks for standing up for it! #teambeachbody #iloveshakeology

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    1. Thank you so much for your input! I honestly think that's one of my favorite things about it, the fact that it reduces my sugar cravings! :)

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  2. Great rebuttal! As a veterinarian I work in a very fast pace 9-5 job where I literally do not have a scheduled lunch break (and even if I had, we usually worked through it) so before Shakeology I would try to bring a healthy whole foods meal, but you know what always happened? I'd never get a chance to eat it! Then my cravings were overwhelming when I got off work, ruining my entire day. Now I have something healthy and tasty that I can slurp down quickly as I write records or between surgeries and not crash and burn anymore!

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  3. You are challenging a credentialed registered dietician with anecdotal experiential emotion. (Do you know what it takes to obtain those credentials?) You do you, but this was an honest science based critique. Whether you like what she had to say or not, what she presented was fact and I don't believe you have the credentials to tear apart the critique. By all means if it works for you, keep at it, but you are regurgitating a sales pitch, which you benefit from financially. I think I'm going with the RD on this one.

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    1. Respectfully, it's not a sales pitch, considering I don't try to get people to buy Shakeology. But thank you for making incorrect assumptions!

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