Trying to Lose the Baby Weight: Two Weeks of Soylent – Days 1 thru 3
Okay, okay. To be honest, I needed to lose weight long before I got pregnant. I took a sedentary job and the weight just piled on. I managed to not really gain any extra with the pregnancy, but I am still overweight and need to get in shape. I have a wedding coming up and I want to look and feel my best!
My younger sister, Robyn, has always been a good person to lean on when trying to get fit and healthy. She sent me a two-week supply of this new “powdered food” called Soylent. Named after the food consumed in Harry Harrison’s 1966 Science Fiction novel, Make Room! Make Room!, Soylent wasn’t designed to be a weight-loss solution, but rather an affordable and healthy food to be consumed daily. The founder of Soylent, software engineer Rob Rhinehart, saw food as an expensive inconvenience. I don’t share Rhinehart’s weird relationship with food, but he did create this “food of the future” that can sustain life, and even help you thrive. He sees food as fuel and that’s it. Me, on the other hand, I love food! I don’t see it as a burden, but rather, a joy. Culturally and socially, food enriches us as a society. However, my sister swears by this stuff. The theory behind Soylent leading to weight loss is, the Soylent is easy to mix, plus you don’t have to count calories. It is nutrient-rich as well, so although I am going low calorie, I’m still getting the vital nutrition I need each day.
Soylent Oil Blend
Each bag of mix comes with a vial of oil. You also get a pitcher to mix your concoction in. You just dump the bag and oil into the pitcher, fill it up with water, and give it a good shake. Next, you chill it so it’s more palatable. Each pitcher, when made to specifications, holds just over 2000 calories. So, say I am trying to consume 1200 calories while dieting, I just drink half the pitcher, then munch on some raw veggies for the rest of the calorie intake.
DAY 1
A peek inside a pouch of Soylent
I wasn’t 100% convinced, but needing a kick-start to my weight loss goals, I opened my first bag. Immediately I was hit by a familiar oatmeal aroma. Okay, that’s kinda nice, I thought to myself. I prepared the mixture, poured it over ice, then took a swig. Not bad, I thought. It tasted like a mild oatmeal, but the texture was more like a sawdust and water combo. I chugged my first portion down and went about my day. I was kinda hungry still, but it was manageable.
By 6 o’clock that night though, I was miserable. I just wanted to sleep off the hunger as I had already consumed my day’s worth and eaten my veggies. Ask my fiance, I was cranky to say the least.
DAY 2
Prepared pitcher of Soylent
I tried to drink a bigger portion in the mid-day to help tide me over past the 6 o’clock hump. It didn’t really work. I missed food and I was hungry pretty much all day. My loving fiance invited me to dinner with his family. I really wanted to go, but I was dedicated to this diet! Instead, I went to workout at my local YMCA while he took our daughter to have a delicious meal. I was envious. After the workout, I felt a bit lightheaded and decided I needed to eat, so I bought a grocery store sushi roll. It was divine compared to liquid food! But then I felt guilty. I was still within my calorie limit so I just decided to try better tomorrow.
DAY 3
Soylent over ice
The hunger is slightly better, but I am still feeling like 1200 calories is not enough, especially when most of it is in liquid form. I just keep telling my 11 week-old that mommy is drinking her formula! On a positive note, I’ve already dropped 4 lbs! I know a lot of it is water weight, but I don’t feel as bloated as I did the day before starting this journey. I am still hungry and a little irritable, but I am starting to see a payoff. I went to the gym and did 45 minutes on the treadmill. MyFitness Pal told me I hadn’t had enough calories so I ate a tilapia filet with nothing but a dash of grapeseed oil and a squirt of lemon. I have to remind myself that my stomach will shrink eventually and I will start to feel full. With any new strict diet, the first three days are the hardest.