Review

Thirty Days of Shakeology

Back in September of 2013 I did a trial run of thirty days of Shakeology. I started the journey with no expectations other than sticking with it for 30 days, and posted my daily recipes on Instagram as I progressed. I never drank a packaged shake of any kind before, so I was a little skeptical. However, I wanted to give it a fair shot, since I’d heard so many amazing things about itMy goal was to take it every single day, for 30 days and see what changes (if any) I noticed in my body. (Please note, this post has been updated from my original post, Sept. 2013.)

Here were my personal experiences back in 2013: 

  • With a shake for breakfast every morning, I could actually make it to lunch without feeling like gnawing my arm off, even after a long workout.
  • I felt satisfied and like I was receiving good nutrition, so I didn’t feel guilty if I couldn’t get all my vegetables for the day (nothing can replace FRESH WHOLE FOODS in my opinion, but I felt much better on the super busy days, than I did in the past without Shakeology)
  • My energy levels (given my workouts, lack of sleep and stress lately) have remained pretty high, which is surprising to me. Typically when I run myself like this, I end up getting sick. (Knock on wood…)
  • In the end, I don’t think I ended up losing any weight on the scale, but I’m not as concerned about that, since I’m at a good weight.
  • I feel like I have more muscle definition, but this could be from T25 but I noticed this before T25. Maybe it was just because I FELT better all around.
  • Lastly, I most definitely was more regular, if ya catch my drift. 😉 (Psssst… improved digestion.)

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2013 Conclusion: I’m going to continue taking Shakeology since I am currently on a program where it ships automatically to my house every month. I really like the dependability of home shipment, I do it for a few household items on Amazon too. I came home last week and BAM it was on my doorstep. No thinking about it, not another trip to the store, just right there waiting for me. Overall, I feel better. Not a miraculous OH MY GOSH THIS IS AMAZING. But I did crave a shake every single day… so my body definitely needed what was in this and you cannot beat the convenience. I had a nutritious breakfast every morning in under 5 minutes.

If you are interested in learning more, this site is LOADED with everything you need to know!

2017 UPDATE:

It’s now April of 2017, and with the exception of a month or so back in 2015 I’ve been drinking Shakeology regularly, every day (95% of days) since my original post. I still love it. I still drink the same flavor — chocolate vegan. And I still stand by it as the best tasting, most satisfying plant protein shake on the market. I’ve tried at least three others over the past few years and none of them compare to Shakeology. I don’t want to throw any of them under the bus, but there were some high quality, well-known brands.

Adding to my 2013 experience, I’d say that when I have stopped taking Shakeology, I definitely missed it. I can’t put my finger on it, but the best way to describe it is that I didn’t feel as nourished. If I skip a day or two due to various circumstances, I notice its missing and I’m always excited to drink it again.

Look, I am still technically a Beachbody coach, and I still technically have a link you can purchase it from… but I honestly don’t care if you buy from me or someone you know better. At the end of the day, I’m still drinking it because its the best fit for me and my lifestyle. After every workout it is a great way to refuel, get protein and a ton of other nutrient filled supplements into my bloodstream. Quick and easy. Some days it lasts me an hour and other days it lasts me four; it just depends on how much I’ve burned and how hungry I am.

Bottom line — NOTHING will ever replace whole, fresh, organic, produce. We should always EAT PLANTS FIRST and use shakes and supplements as just that, a supplement to our everyday nutrition. So if Shakeology is too expensive for your budget right now, just simply eat more plants. I have created a quick start guide on how to incorporate more plants into your daily nutrition. You can read about it here, or purchase it for $5 here.

Below are pictures of all 30 shakes I made on my 30 day journey. I posted them to Instagram everyday. If you click on the picture below, it will take you to the Instagram post which includs the recipe as well!

If that sounds like too much work, you can purchase a digital download I created with all 30 recipes!

Just click this tiny ‘add to cart’ button below. Once you complete your purchase with PayPal, you will receive an email with a link to download the PDF.


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Food for Thought on the Price of Shakeology

Everyone needs to make a living, so I’m sure they make a profit and charge more than the cost of production – but so does the company who produces every bag of protein powder you purchase. Wether it be from Wal Mart or Beachbody.

Everyone, everywhere needs to make a living – you just have to decide for yourself if the product is worth the price. In my opinion, I think it is. Even for someone who is willing to spend money freely on quality nutrition. I definitely had a hard time swallowing the price of Shakeology at first so I get it, 100%. But now, after almost 4 years of taking it as part of my daily nutrition, I don’t blink an eye at the cost. It is my new normal, and I include it in our budget for groceries.

If you are interested in a low-cost Vegan Sampler of Shakeology, you can purchase a sample pack online. It has Tropical Strawberry and Chocolate. Mr. Zucchini Runner drinks Tropical Strawberry everyday and I drink Chocolate! You can also take comfort in their 100% satisfaction guarantee.

ENERGYbits Review and Giveaway!

Thanks to the wonder of social media, I learned about a company called ENERGYbits® a couple weeks ago. They are based out of Boston, MA and create these little power pellets of green algae. You swallow them LIKE you would pills, but they are not pills they are little power pellets! 🙂

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When my little sample packet arrived in the mail, I was SO excited! I’m not typically excited about trying new food, because I’m so allergic to so many things. I kind of have some weird (probably unwarranted) food phobias, because of the strange reactions my body has had to certain things. Nevertheless, I was excited for these… WHY you may be asking yourself… because they are simply ONE ingredient and it is an ingredient I’ve had with no reactions! 100% organically grown spirulina algae.

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Their little informational insert says it best… especially starting at “Did you know that NASA feeds algae to the astronauts?”

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Reason number two I was so excited to receive these in the mail? I had a long run in the morning, part of which was going to be on rugged trail, with lots of hills!

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Morning came… it was 87° F with 33% humidity. I popped 27 (a lucky number for me) of these power pellets and hopped in my car to reach the mountains — a whole 3 miles away. 😀 My plan was to drive to the trailhead, run about 6 miles on the trails and then 4 miles home on the road, picking my car up later.

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I was half asleep for the first 3 miles, which is pretty typical for me, so no noticeable change in energy level. My real concern at this point was burping the algae tabs. The mere thought of 27 little green gooey blobs bouncing around in my stomach with water, didn’t seem so appealing as I was gulping them down.

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I’m happy to say that I didn’t notice ANY stomach upset whatsoever. I did burp some alage, but it didn’t taste bad.

CONFESSION TIME
I couldn’t resist tasting one as soon as I found the package in my mailbox and got it opened! It says right in the instructions that they don’t recommend chewing… wellllllllllll I was curious. 🙂 The photo collage below shows my different stages of taste testing.
1. See, it’s on my tongue!
2. Oh boy, I’m scared, it smells like the fish flake food from when I was a kid feeding my goldfish.
3. Oh wow, not that bad actually.
4. WOW! I HAVE ZOMBIE TEETH! MUST. SWISH. WATER. (seriously, if you EVER need creepy green teeth for Halloween, do yourself a favor and save your body from the fake dye and just munch on these all night. They are good for you, energy packed and you get scary horror teeth as a bonus!)
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Anyway, back to the trails! This was ~4.5 in and I was looking for a new trail that would take me UP UP UP! I wanted hills to build some glute muscles and wanted to test these bits out! And nope, I wasn’t laying low to take this picture… I was standing up and it just so happened the ground was this close to my face. Yup, I found a good UP hill.

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Looking back down the mountain behind me, I could see the trail I had just been running on.

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Once I got to the top of that hill, I recognized where I was and knew I was close to another hill I’ve always wanted to hike up, but never had the courage or energy to do so! Energy wasn’t a problem today. I was 5 miles into my run, sweating like crazy, just hiked up an incredibly steep trail and then run down the other side and I wasn’t even remotely feeling tired or run down. What the? OH YEAH. THE ENERGY BITS. I remember reading on the package that there wouldn’t be any peaks or valleys (which I was EXTREMELY excited about) and I was now experiencing what they were talking about. Up I went…

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Now, it is hard to tell from the picture — let’s put it this way — there was no running at a certain point and I was pushing my hands into my quads to get up this trail. Eventually, it got even steeper and my fear of heights and slipping down a hill got the best of me. I turned around and sat on my butt, satisfied with how far I had climbed. As I was heaving for air I focused on picture taking…

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It was a beautiful view. One day I’ll go all the way to the top. I was seriously about 20 feet away!! haha But the only way I could safely get down, was on my butt, hands and feet. Think crab crawl from grade school gym class. I’m sure it was a site.

But I did it.

Once I was upright again, I began running and had a spring in my step because of my accomplishment and ability to move without being terrified of falling!

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The way out was a heavily used forest service road and it’s at this point I’d like to mention, I brought the tin of ENERGYbits® WITH me on this run. I didn’t know how well they would work, if I would need or want more, and I wanted to see how the tabs held up! Well, I’m happy to report I scared away any and all wildlife bringing the tin with as well as warn any other runner, biker and hiker that I was hot on their tail.  0_O Seriously, it was really annoying at first. Then it became white noise… to me. I would try to hold the tin against my body with my hand when approaching people to muffle the sound, which worked really well. But once on this high use forest service road, I was following another runner out for a mile, and wasn’t about to hold my chest that whole time. It was… awkward… especially because she was at the same pace as me. Not to mention, I HATE it when I can hear another runner’s rhythm that doesn’t match my own. If I would have had a tissue in my Nathan hydration back pack, I would have stuffed it into the tin a mile into my run. Anyway, just a tip if you want to bring the tin with you.

Around mile 7 I was starting to feel slightly tired, but I wasn’t sure if I was just heating up, already bored with the road portion or needed more bits. The verdict I came to was all of the above. I saw a broken drip system and jumped on the opportunity to grab some shade, splash some water on my face and take 10 more Energy Bits. I also knew at this point that I just wanted to run to my car, instead of running home and then going to get it later. FUEL UP!

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By the time I got to my car, I think the bits had really kicked in again, because I felt the need to do ONE more hill. It’s very short, very steep and on the road. I ran down it, stopped, turned around and then SPRINTED up it the best I could after a 10.3 mile run. I rounded out my mileage at 10.5 for the day. It was the longest distance I had run in two months, since summer is the off season in AZ.

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I bonded with the little tin on my run. It talked to me for the entire run… unfortunately it talked to EVERYONE ELSE too. A guy getting in his truck at the trailhead said, “You are really rattling!” All I could say was, “UGH! I KNOW!” 🙂 They held up really well, given all the shaking around. I took 3 more when I got into my car, and chewed them cause I’m crazy like that.

All in all I would give these an A+, despite the rattling can… which is easily fixable. I am going to buy a bag of 1,000 bits and make these my new fuel for long runs. I love simple when it comes to food and these sure are simple, but pack a complex PUNCH.

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for… drumroll please… my first ever giveaway! ENERGYbits® said I can pick ONE lucky winner to receive their very own travel tin sample!

To be entered for a chance to win, do ONE* of the following:
(Only U.S. residents are eligible, sorry!)

1. Follow my blog and comment to let me know you have done so.
2. Follow me on Twitter, retweet the link to this post, and comment to let me know you have done so.
3. Follow me on Instagram, repost the photo, tag @energybits and let me know you have done so.
4. Follow me on Facebook, share my ENERGY Bits review post and let me know you have done so.
5. Share this blog post through any of your preferred social media outlets, and comment to let me know you have done so.

*If you are really ambitious, and really want this sample, you can increase your odds by doing more than one of the above. Just remember in order to get multiple entries you will need to create a new comment telling me you have done each follow.

You can follow ENERGYbits® on FacebookTwitterPinterest and Instagram!

Choosing a winner is completely random. Each comment will be assigned a number in the order it was posted and the winning number will be picked by Random.org. Drawing closes at midnight on Monday September 2nd, MST time. U.S. residents only please, sorry!