Joylent review: days 4 to 6 #HealthAndFitnessWeek

Shiny’s Holly and Sadie are doing 10 days on Joylent, the EU equivalent of Soylent, which is a powdered complete food for humans. Find out more about the project here, and read Holly and Sadie’s write-ups of days 1 to 3 here.

Holly – day 4

After a disastrous day yesterday (I ended up eating loads of food because I miscalculated my Joylent ration the day before), today has been much better. I now know that a full bag of Joylent weighs 540g – amazingly, it doesn’t say this anywhere on the packaging or the website. Here’s the calculation I did:

One whole bag is 2119 calories
Half a bag is 1059.5 calories
One bag is 540g
Half a bag is 270g
Half of 270g is 135g
Two portions of 135g a day makes 1060 calories
Leaving 240ish for treats.

I’ve worked out that 135g of Joylent powder comes up to 300ml on the shaker, so I won’t need to weigh the powder at work. It’s a WHOLE lot more food than it seemed when I miscalculated on Thursday, and I’m feeling a lot more confident about my ability to stick to 1060 cals of Joylent a day now I know that means two thick shakes rather than one very thin one!

So 1060 plus treat is what I’m going to do from now on, given that I usually eat 1300 calories and am trying to stick to that. It’s much easier if you do their recommended thing of eating one entire bag a day, but I’m guessing most people will mix Joylent with food, so you need to know how to calculate a meal.

After the initial trial period of using just Joylent (yesterday notwithstanding!), I’m feeling like I’ll almost certainly keep using it for some meals, in combination with food. I might get some foodsaver bags and measure out some 135g portions (or however much I end up having) so I can have those ready to go.

Today has been a really quiet, stay-at-home Saturday after two parties last night, so eating just Joylent has been easy peasy. I wavered a bit when my housemate made toast (that smell!) but that won’t be necessary after the trial period, when I can just have some toast if I want some. I’m feeling a lot more confident that Joylent will fit into my lifestyle, which is what I was hoping for.

Sadie – day 4

I knew this weekend was going to be a lazy one, so I felt prepared about taking on the Joylent challenge at full speed – part of the reason weekdays have been difficult is because they involve a lot of cycling (to and from work) and being surrounded by colleagues who are eating otherwise normal food for lunch, which can be distracting (especially when said meals are burritos).

Anyway, Saturday went swimmingly. I only left the house for a walk and to do a bit of shopping, so I found the Joylent provided me with more than enough energy to function – unlike on other days, I felt full, and definitely didn’t experience that same “dip” that I often get at 3pm. Whether this is down to the Joylent diet or my generous lie-in, however, is unknown.

The only problem was when I had a few drinks later that evening. I was at a party, and was easily avoiding the bowls of Doritos dotted around, but alcohol was another story! It seems that the Joylent hadn’t provided as good a lining for my stomach as solid foods would have. I got drunk as quickly as if I’d eaten nothing all day.

Holly – day 5

Another easy day! Weekends seem simpler than weekdays in terms of eating Joylent. Today I had a shake for breakfast, then took my lunch shake with me to my 5-hour sewing masterclass (yes, I’m cool), where I also had a slice of cake as my daily treat. Then I had a Queen gig in the evening, but wouldn’t have been allowed to take the shake into the venue with me, so I drank that before I went. I was pretty hungry by the end of the gig because it had been hours since I’d eaten, but I’m finding that apparent hunger is often actually thirst, and a glass of water sorts it out. I’ve probably been horribly under-hydrated for years!

In terms of health benefits, I haven’t noticed much of a difference yet, but I have lost 3 pounds in a week. That’s probably partly because I’d put on a bit of temporary weight from Christmas and Las Vegas, and partly because I hugely underestimated my Joylent needs at the beginning. It’s nice to be a bit slimmer, but 3 pounds a week is a bit too much, so hopefully it’ll slow down now. If not, I’ll need to look at eating more Joylent each day.

Sadie – day 5

I woke up feeling incredibly hungry, but since it was well past 12 noon and I wasn’t likely to do much today I decided to stick to Joylent if I could. I found that a thick shake was fairly good for the (slight) hangover, but didn’t quite beat back my craving for something greasy. I cheated with a bit of bacon and toast.

I was back on it for dinner though and didn’t have anything else this evening. I’m definitely keen on the thicker shakes – if you dilute it too much, it just tastes like water with bits floating around in it, which is a gross texture.

Holly – day 6

This was probably the easiest day yet. Joylent for breakfast, Joylent for lunch, Joylent for dinner. I felt more energetic than usual today, and my stomach is definitely flatter than when I’m eating proper meals. I’m actually getting to the point where I look forward to drinking Joylent, and kind of crave the taste. I guess that’s my body getting used to this being my food source now.

Looking at my calendar, I’ve got quite a few social things this week – it’ll be interesting to see how they work with a Joylent-only diet. I’m guessing they won’t…

Sadie – day 6

I’ve decided that in order to get the most out of this trial without a nagging hunger in my belly, I’m going to have Joylent for breakfast and dinner, and have a healthy solid meal for lunch. Surviving on Joylent alone is just too difficult (and obviously isn’t what it’s intended for anyway).

Today, I had a delicious chicken teriyaki and it felt really good to have something a bit more filling. My energy levels were restored and I was perfectly happy with a Joylent dinner again. I’ll be doing the same tomorrow!

It’s #HealthAndFitnessWeek on ShinyShiny! We’re here to help you keep running, swimming, and nourishing your way to the healthier, happier self you imagined when you wrote your new year’s resolutions. See all the posts here.