How and When to Customise Your Shake Day

Ready to lose weight? What better way to start than by ordering the 30-Day Weight Loss System. Open the box, and follow the simple instructions and…bam! Results! Well, not exactly. While this may work for many, there are some individuals who may need to customise their systems, in particular their Shake Days.

Within the Isagenix 30-Day Weight Loss System, a Shake Day consists of two IsaLean^TM Shakes, two 100-150 calorie snacks and a 400-600 calorie meal, which adds up to between 1,000 and 1,400 calories per day. (See our recommended Shake Day schedule). In the UK, an average adult male requires 2,500 calories per day, and an average adult female requires 2,000 calories per day. Some people may require more or less energy based on their activity level, gender and body size (1). To lose between 0.5 and 1.0 kg per week, you’ll need to eat 500-600 fewer calories per day. So, for an average male this would be around 1,900 calories per day, and 1,400 calories per day for females (2).

If you find comfort in the one-size-fits-all instructions offered by the 30-Day Weight Loss System, the idea of modifying your Shake Day may be a little intimidating at first. But don’t worry! We’ve put together a step-by-step guide that will not only help you to determine whether you need to modify your Shake Day, but will also show you how to customise your Shake Day to help ensure success.

Steps to Customised Shake Days

STEP 1: Do you need extra calories?

As a first step in figuring out whether you may need to modify your Shake Day, ask yourself:

• How active are you?
• Do you work in a physically demanding job?
• Do you feel tired or as though you lack energy?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you might want to try adding to your IsaLean Shake. This is because people who are more active need more energy than the average sedentary adult (3).

STEP 2: What is your target calorie goal?

There are two ways to estimate your target calorie goal. Follow this link to help you calculate a rough estimate of how many calories you should be eating to maintain your current weight. To calculate a target calorie goal for Shake Days, subtract 500 from this figure.

To determine your daily target calorie goal for weight loss, you could record the number of calories you’re consuming each day over a seven-day period, and then reduce this number by 500. Using a calorie checker such as this one from NHS Choices, keep a record of all the foods and drinks you consume as meals and snacks each day. At the end of the seven days, calculate the average calorie intake per day. Subtract 500 from this number, and this will provide a target calorie goal for your Shake Days.

STEP 3: What can I add to my shake?

Now that you’ve set your target calorie goal for your Shake Day, it’s time to find out how you can adapt your shakes to meet this target.

The best way to do this is to add calories to your IsaLean Shakes. (Please note: these figures are per shake, so depending on your calorie target you may not need to add to both of your daily shakes.)

Food	Amount	Additional calories (4,5)
Powdered peanut butter	12g	48 kcal
Fresh or frozen raspberries	80g	32 kcal
Banana	100g	81 kcal
Peanut butter (no added sugar)	15g	90 kcal
Oats	25g	95 kcal
Replace water with skimmed milk	240ml	82 kcal

 

You could also increase the calories in your snacks. The calorie content of some common snacks are listed below:

Food	Amount	Additional calories (4,5)
Melon chunks	80g	15 kcal
Isagenix Snacks	2 wafers	30 kcal
IsaDelight	1 square / 2 squares	60 kcal / 120 kcal
Banana	100g	81 kcal
Almonds	15g	89 kcal
Hummus with carrot sticks	1 carrot (80g) with  20g hummus	91 kcal
Low fat yogurt with raspberries	125g low fat yogurt with 80g raspberries	91 kcal
IsaPro	1 scoop mixed with water	100 kcal
IsaLean bar	Half a bar – 1 bar	130 kcal / 260 kcal
Reduced fat cheddar cheese with oatcakes	2 oatcakes with 30g cheese	185 kcal

Don’t be afraid to try different things – some days you could add to your shake, other days you could have an extra snack. The more variety in your diet, the better!

Below is an example of what a Shake Day might look like for someone with a 1,600 calorie target goal.

Meal	Components	Calories (4,5)
Breakfast	IsaLean Shake	240 kcal
	100g banana	81 kcal
Mid-morning snack	30g reduced fat cheddar cheese	94 kcal
	2 oatcakes	90 kcal
Lunch	IsaLean Shake	240 kcal
	80g raspberries	32 kcal
	25g oats	95 kcal
Mid-afternoon snack	Half an IsaLean Bar	130 kcal
Evening meal	100g baked salmon	232 kcal
	20g cashew nuts (unsalted)	115 kcal
	80g cooked broccoli	27 kcal
	80g cooked green beans	21 kcal
	50g whole wheat noodles	181 kcal
Total energy intake for the day:		1,578 kcal

 

One of the great things about the Isagenix 30-Day Weight Loss System is that it is easily customised to the individual to make losing weight easier. Don’t be afraid to personalise your Shake Days. Often a unique approach, tailored to the individual, is the best way to ensure healthy, sustainable weight loss. Happy shaking!

References

1. Public Health England. Government Dietary Recommendations. 2016. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/618167/government_dietary_recommendations.pdf (accessed 01/08 2017)
2. NHS Choices. Cut down on your calories. 2015. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/eat-less.aspx (accessed 01/08 2017)
3. NHS Choices. What should my daily intake of calories be? 2016. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1126.aspx (accessed 01/08 2017)
4. Public Health England. Composition of foods integrated dataset (CoFID). 2015. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid (accessed 21/07/2017)
5. Retail data. Taken from: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/ (accessed 21/07/2017)