Ask Shannon: Fitness and Nutrition Q & A at Her Active Life

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Ask Shannon: Fitness and Nutrition Q & A

Posted April 29, 2008 at 04:00 PM by Shannon Clark

Section: Her Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Supplements

stirfry With years of training under her belt, resident fitness and nutrition expert Shannon Clark is ready to help you on your way to a healthy, informed lifestyle. Got a question? Email her your inquiries, and be sure to check back every week for the latest Q&A.

Q: I’m finding that I’ve really been relying on meal replacements lately. I just don’t seem to have time to prepare healthy meals and I find I feel more comfortable using these than eating out because meals from restaurants always have so many calories. What is this doing to my nutrition though? How long can I get away with using meal replacement products?

A: Welcome to the busy life! This is something that a lot of people experience because just as they get some free time, it gets yanked away with another demand. Unfortunately this is a way of life for most people and cooking healthy meals tends to fall by the wayside.
Meal replacement products can be a good option at times because, you’re right, they’re calorie controlled and often contain a mix of protein, carbohydrates, and some fat. That’s more than you can say about some fast food menu choices.

Now, the big issue with meal replacement products is going to be satiety (if it’s a beverage, you likely aren’t feeling all that full after drinking it, are you?), and then lack of dietary fiber.

Both of these factors can be easily overcome by throwing in a small salad or vegetable stir-fry (or steamed vegetables if you prefer). You can readily buy pre-chopped vegetables as well as salads from your local grocery store so this really should not add a lot more time to your day and is something you can always have on hand (many can be stored in the freezer).

This will also help to increase the vitamin content of the meal as well, which is another thing that can lack at times with certain meal replacements.

I think another important factor that must be addressed though is that without eating a lot of solid meals, you aren’t really teaching yourself how to eat healthy per say. Relying on prepared mini-meals like this will definitely control your weight, but it’s not exactly the best long-term approach for ‘real life.’

At the very least, make an effort to grab a piece of fruit or a whole grain roll with peanut butter in the morning and have a solid evening meal. Even if your solid meal is a frozen dinner, try tossing in some fresh vegetables along with maybe a can of tuna or a cooked chicken breast that you made over the weekend.

There are lots of simple solutions to making meal times easier for you during the week as long as you get creative and are willing to spend a bit of time preparing once in a while.

A really great idea is make big batches of your favorite stir-fries, soups, and stews, and then freeze them in old margarine containers. These should keep for weeks at a time and all you will need to do is take them out to thaw in the morning. When dinner rolls around, stick it in a bowl and then either microwave it or place it in the oven to heat and you’ve got a much more nutritious meal than anything you’d get out of the can.

So, to answer your question, yes, you can use meal replacement products in times of emergency but do your best not to get stuck on them for too long. You really do need to learn to instill good eating habits into your life and meal replacements are simple not going to do it.