I’m not one to jump on a diet or health-trend bandwagon. Despite having lost 40 lbs at one point in my life, I’ve basically tried to lose weight with a general policy of cutting calories and increasing activity. However, something that has always been a struggle, having a desk job, is reducing my hunger level throughout the day. It’s really easy to keep walking over to the vending machine and grabbing something new every couple of hours. Especially at my current job where we have an awesome self-serve market that filled with all kinds of goodies.

Something I know about myself is that if I can get a decent amount of calories in me, first thing in the morning, I can stave off my snacking till later in the day, or even until lunch time. For a while I was grabbing a breakfast sandwich at the gas station each morning, since it had protein in it that would help satiate me longer However, it was also loaded with cheese and other yummy stuff that probably was self-defeating. So, I decided to try a meal shake for breakfast.

One of the brands I had sampled in the past, and enjoyed is VEGA. In particular, their chocolate flavor is rich and smooth, and doesn’t taste cloyingly sweet. The price isn’t too bad, $36 for 18 servings, which with the addition of milk and a banana, I’m getting breakfast for around $3 each morning. I’m not a huge dairy milk fan (doesn’t always agree with me), so I’m using coconut milk, which gives the shake a bit of a tropical flavor. I could blend my banana into the shake, but I’m trying to be efficient with my time, so I just eat that on the side.

Apart from the solid flavor, I’ve found the texture to be quite pleasant as well. It’s not chalky, and when I shake it in a blender bottle, I’m able to get it pretty smooth. As with most shakes like this, it’s a thick substance, when made to recipe. There’s just no getting around that, but I’ve never felt like the texture is off-putting in any way. One of the reasons I chose their Essentials Shake is because it’s also loaded up with lots of vitamins and is more well rounded than just a simple protein shake. I’m not looking to bulk up, so having a more balanced mix works well for me.

It’s now been a couple of weeks since I started this routine, and yesterday I weighed in at my lowest weight since August of last year. I’m finding that I’m able to keep my hunger more in check in the mornings, and have been able to push my lunch later in the day. I still do some snacking at work, but in general I’m keeping it to just 1-2 per day instead of some times when I’ve been visiting the snacks every hour and a half.

I want to be clear though that I’m also needing to be smart with my other eating. This isn’t some magical diet drink, but a tool that I’m using to get my weight back down where I want it. I still need to keep up my exercising, and watch my calories the rest of the day, but having a solid start has helped a lot to keep me in a routine that works.

If you’re looking to use a shake to supplement your diet, I’d recommend giving VEGA a try. I think it’s a great mix, with good flavor and consistency. It’s reasonably priced, easy to make, and does the job I want it to to.