Started Day 2 with my favorite bowl of cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, had a latte from Starbucks and had about 1200 calories of Soylent throughout the rest of the day. Again, I experienced complete satisfaction and zero cravings for the various goodies I keep stocked in my house; cookies, soda, potato chips, crackers, etc.
My husband didn't have any solid food until his third day, grabbing a burger from Sonic. He reports much the same results as I do in the satisfaction/cravings department, and he has been more alert at work. He's on the graveyard shift, so that's really saying something. He has dropped 3 lbs and I remain about the same so far. Both of us are already very close to our ideal weights, so I don't expect we'll be reporting much in that area.
I will note that we've been having trouble sleeping for about a month. So far, Soylent hasn't had any positive or negative effects on sleep yet, but I'm optimistic that as we continue to feed ourselves with this stuff, sleep will improve. We'll see.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Friday, June 6, 2014
Day One
First impressions:
Ok, it tastes like a boring protein shake. There's a hint of vanilla and it's slightly sweet. The "non-vegan" variety of Soylent comes with a tube of fish oil that you add, along with water, to each prepared batch. This GROSSES ME OUT BEYOND BELIEF, but I can't taste it. So hooray!
Update: Just added cinnamon and a few ice cubes. Now it almost resembles an iced latte.
I will not add sugar
I will not add sugar
I will not add sugar
Update #2: Ok, it took me about 45 minutes to finish that little glass. Wasn't tasty enough to keep me interested in downing it like I would, say, a coffee or a soda. But I'm not hungry, and I guess that's the point.
Update #3: I still wasn't hungry at around 4pm, thanks to my morning glass of around 500 calories of Soylent. But I made myself drink another one, all at once this time, as I was headed downtown to spend the evening with friends. According to my weight and height, I had about 200-400 more calories left to play with, so I spent them on a light dinner at a Mexican restaurant (chips and salsa implied). I was never hungry, but I ate for fun, and to taste the foods I love. Over-eating was not possible, and that was very strange for me. I can usually eat Mexican until I'm blue in the face; stopping not because I don't want more but because I couldn't fit anymore in my body. This time was different, though. It wasn't hard to quit. I enjoyed the food for what it was and did not, for once, binge until all that joy turned into the stomach sickness and guilt of over-eating. So so weird.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Ongoing Q & A
Last Updated on 06-10-14 @ 1:35 AM CST
This post is where I'll store inquiries (and valid comments worth replying to) from friends and family, collected from Facebook, Twitter and real life discussions.
--------------
Q: Does Soylent have Folic Acid?
A: Yup. Here are the Nutritional Facts: http://www.soylent.me/#nutrition
More specific breakdown here: http://blog.soylent.me/.../soylent-micronutrient-breakdown
On Folic Acid - "Vitamin B9 (400ug) as Folic Acid - Acts as a coenzyme in the form of tetrahydrofolate (THF) which is important for the formation of nucleotides and amino acids. Due to its importance in the formation of nucleotides, it is especially needed during times of cell division such as pregnancy and infancy. People lacking sufficient levels of Folic Acid often suffer from anemia and/or improper absorption of nutrients. Pregnant women lacking Folic Acid may give birth to infants with spina bifida at a higher than normal incidence."
Follow-up response from my friend:
Dang it! My body can't process inactive folic acid. It just builds up in my kidneys, and causes all sorts of problems. Folic acid is only needed by pregnant women in that amount, I wish they'd leave it out, and let folks supplement.
My response:
That's too bad. But you can build your own! http://diy.soylent.me/
---------------
Q: What about the soy? Is that an estrogen concern?
A: Actually, it's 6g of Soy Lecithin.
"While derived from soy, lecithin is completely isolated from proteins and phytoestrogens from the plant and thus is safe for consumption by those with a soy allergy."
Basically, doesn't even register on the scale I guess.
Source: http://blog.soylent.me/post/73232819517/there-is-more-to-food-than-nutrition-even-a
----------------
C: That sounds boring as hell, and completely joyless. Who wants to turn a fun socially healthy thing into (essentially) a medical injection?
A: Joyless, yeah. It likely will be. But you don't have to give up eating socially. In fact, you shouldn't! But many (myself included) consider it a viable alternative to occasions when eating is expensive, time sensitive and devoid of social stimulation.
------------------
Q: Where can I buy some?
A: http://www.soylent.me/
------------------
Q: What does it taste like?
A: A lamo protein shake. Slightly sweet, slightly vanilla flavored, a little watery. Nothing exciting. Adding cinnamon and ice cubes gave it an almost iced latte taste.
------------------
Q: I gotta know this. Why would ANY company name their protein drink Soylent? The name itself drives 98% of the people away right?
A: The developer did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit awhile back and someone asked this question, and his answer was pretty awesome, imo.
He said the reason he liked the title is because it exposes the prejudice in people who are unwilling to look beyond the front page anyway. If you're inclined to allow Hollywood to influence your judgments in the real world, then an idea as innovative as this is probably not something you'd be comfortable trying. (Perhaps you'd better wait for a celebrity endorsement.) The title weeds those folks out pretty quickly. For those who can separate the two, the nod to the movie allowed for a quick and easy explanation about what Soylent is, as it's essentially the same idea. Only, you know, not touched by the government and not made of people.
Greg and I hated the name too, until we read that. Ha.
Update: Found the AMA. I guess I read more into it than was actually there, but I stand by it anyway.
------------------
More to come, I'm sure.
This post is where I'll store inquiries (and valid comments worth replying to) from friends and family, collected from Facebook, Twitter and real life discussions.
--------------
Q: Does Soylent have Folic Acid?
A: Yup. Here are the Nutritional Facts: http://www.soylent.me/#nutrition
More specific breakdown here: http://blog.soylent.me/.../soylent-micronutrient-breakdown
On Folic Acid - "Vitamin B9 (400ug) as Folic Acid - Acts as a coenzyme in the form of tetrahydrofolate (THF) which is important for the formation of nucleotides and amino acids. Due to its importance in the formation of nucleotides, it is especially needed during times of cell division such as pregnancy and infancy. People lacking sufficient levels of Folic Acid often suffer from anemia and/or improper absorption of nutrients. Pregnant women lacking Folic Acid may give birth to infants with spina bifida at a higher than normal incidence."
Follow-up response from my friend:
Dang it! My body can't process inactive folic acid. It just builds up in my kidneys, and causes all sorts of problems. Folic acid is only needed by pregnant women in that amount, I wish they'd leave it out, and let folks supplement.
My response:
That's too bad. But you can build your own! http://diy.soylent.me/
---------------
Q: What about the soy? Is that an estrogen concern?
A: Actually, it's 6g of Soy Lecithin.
"While derived from soy, lecithin is completely isolated from proteins and phytoestrogens from the plant and thus is safe for consumption by those with a soy allergy."
Basically, doesn't even register on the scale I guess.
Source: http://blog.soylent.me/post/73232819517/there-is-more-to-food-than-nutrition-even-a
----------------
C: That sounds boring as hell, and completely joyless. Who wants to turn a fun socially healthy thing into (essentially) a medical injection?
A: Joyless, yeah. It likely will be. But you don't have to give up eating socially. In fact, you shouldn't! But many (myself included) consider it a viable alternative to occasions when eating is expensive, time sensitive and devoid of social stimulation.
------------------
Q: Where can I buy some?
A: http://www.soylent.me/
------------------
Q: What does it taste like?
A: A lamo protein shake. Slightly sweet, slightly vanilla flavored, a little watery. Nothing exciting. Adding cinnamon and ice cubes gave it an almost iced latte taste.
------------------
Q: I gotta know this. Why would ANY company name their protein drink Soylent? The name itself drives 98% of the people away right?
A: The developer did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit awhile back and someone asked this question, and his answer was pretty awesome, imo.
He said the reason he liked the title is because it exposes the prejudice in people who are unwilling to look beyond the front page anyway. If you're inclined to allow Hollywood to influence your judgments in the real world, then an idea as innovative as this is probably not something you'd be comfortable trying. (Perhaps you'd better wait for a celebrity endorsement.) The title weeds those folks out pretty quickly. For those who can separate the two, the nod to the movie allowed for a quick and easy explanation about what Soylent is, as it's essentially the same idea. Only, you know, not touched by the government and not made of people.
Greg and I hated the name too, until we read that. Ha.
Update: Found the AMA. I guess I read more into it than was actually there, but I stand by it anyway.
------------------
More to come, I'm sure.
Well, I guess it's not a hoax!
It's been more than a year since my husband and I helped back an idea which we've been told, repeatedly, is too crazy and too weird to ever work; replacing food with a 100% nutritionally balanced drink thingy.
Trust me, we were the first to balk at this, but after our initial disbelief and some don't-they-know-that's-a-movie-about-cannibalism comments, we opened ourselves up to the possibility. Fine. What if you can get everything you need to survive from a drink? Why would you want to? I really like food! The short answer: to save time, to save money, to have full nutritional efficiency, to avoid food allergy complications, to gain needed weight, to lose excess weight, and (in many parts of the world) to supplement a lack of natural resources. Oh and Soylent doesn't expire or go bad until you add water for consumption. So you can stock pile it, like we did.
Ok. But how different is this from, say, protein shakes? Can you live off of Slimfast? The short answer: Maybe, but those were developed as supplements, not replacements. So you'd still have to depend on a secondary source. (I'll be eating a secondary source anyway, namely cake. Probably dinner out once or twice a week for social reasons, but mostly cake.) Regardless, Slimfast is not 100% balanced. NO product is, whether from a factory or from the earth itself. Until now.
Right now, we have to consume many different things to have balanced and healthy bodies. Just look at that food pyramid! Meh. That takes a lot of planning, careful purchasing and careful preparation. Let's be honest, we suck at that! And because we suck at that, we've developed unhealthy shortcuts that have resulted in some pretty terrible long term health problems. Heart Disease, Diabetes and Obesity aside, what about other things that may be effected by our diet, having negative effects on our well being? Headaches, feeling tired all the time, skin problems, manageable (but no less frustrating) weight issues effecting self image, food allergies, random chronic health complications you may have to juggle on top of eating right - the list goes on and on and on.
Will Soylent solve these problems and save the world? I don't know, guys. That would be a dream come true. So hey, we're giving it a shot.
Personally, I find aaaallll of this extremely hard to believe. And the number one item on my list of YEAH-RIGHT-I'LL-BELIEVE-IT-WHEN-I-SEE-IT is the claim that one experiences no cravings when consuming Soylent.
NO. CRAVINGS.
WUT
One self-proclaimed habitual snacker reported that he walked past his favorite food items every day with zero desire to eat them; that Soylent was fully and completely satisfying and he simply didn't want anything more.
.......
I CALL SHENANIGANS!
But time will tell. We begin tomorrow morning. Apparently, you mix this powder with water and simply drink it, as needed. No complicated weighing and measuring of ingredients or keeping track of your intake. When you're hungry, have a swig. Greg and I will be having our blood tested periodically to see what it does, but other than that ... yeah. That's it. Weird. Awesome!
Guess I have a supplemental cake to go bake. We'll see if I even want it.
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