Shakeology Review

Second, only to this is my severe dislike for pyramid-selling schemes or multi-level marketing products, and although I’m not going to say straight out of the blocks what my opinion of this one is, I’m sure you’ll quickly get the idea. This is a review of Shakeology, a packet-mix brand of nutritional shakes.

Shakeology comes from the brand Beachbody (or Team Beachbody), a home workout and nutrition program that, like similar programs, offers a workout program (On-demand) and meal planning supplemented with shakes.

With its promotion of success stories and the testimonials of vocal fans, Team Beachbody brings you the promise of a seriously impressive new set of abdominal muscles (with, no doubt, a lot of sweat and more than a little self-deprivation). But be warned, *results may vary.

There is no denying that Shakeology and the Beachbody brand are popular with a wide fan base. Would this be a product that I would take to keep my weight in check? Or even to give me a daily dose of healthy nutrients?

What is Shakeology?

To me ‘Shakeology’ sounds like a cult, a science discipline, or a lengthy book about a dance move. I’m guessing that the founders are hoping you think it’s more the science than the dance or the cult (it's not a cult!).

The idea of Beachbody Shakeology is that you can take a drink a day which provides potent nutrition through a blend of superfoods, vitamins and minerals, which will enable you to achieve your ‘goals’ (the subtle message here being of achieving a beach body).

The temptation with this product is that it takes away the ‘fuss’ of looking after yourself nutritionally, i.e. preparing and cooking a balanced meal every mealtime and fulfilling your nutritional needs through what you eat. I mean, who doesn’t want just to shake, and go?

So I’m going to take a closer look at this brand, the Shakeology products, and what people are saying about them to see how they have become synonymous with fitness, weight loss, wellness, and achieving your goals.

Background on Beachbody, LLC

Beachbody was founded in 1998 by Carl Daikeler and Jon Congdon, with one vision: ‘to help you live a healthy, fulfilling life’. In 2015 the company achieved $1billion in gross sales.

Their ‘fitness solutions’ include the P90X® Series, INSANITY®, FOCUS T25®, 21 Day Fix®, Body Beast®, PiYo®, and Hip Hop Abs®. The basic premise of ‘Team Beachbody’ is that you join a private group on a social media platform and their ‘coach’ supports you to reach your goals through daily workouts and meal planning. There are also financial incentives and the company has ‘awarded’ over $10 million to Beachbody Challenge winners.

So where do the shakes come in?

The Shakeology shakes are part of the supplement range within their nutritional program. They are formulated to help you: Lose weight, Reduce junk food cravings, Provide healthy energy, and Support your digestion and regularity.

The claim is that by using ingredients that make you feel full and giving the body the nutrients it needs so you feel satisfied and less likely to snack or eat junk food, they also formulate it so that it tastes like a ‘treat’. Refueling after a workout is another way of promoting the shakes to the Beachbody on Demand crowd.

Shakeology Distributors

One thing that I feel you need to know about the brand is that it is built on the notion that you, first of all, buy your way into this program (workouts and the ‘support’ aspect of reaching your goal are not free), and once you have achieved your goals you then promote it to others by yourself becoming a coach (i.e. selling the program to others, based on your own success).

Note: there are 350k+ coaches worldwide. That’s a lot!!

People do this on various social media platforms and will often promote it as being ‘self-employed’ or freelancing. Combined with the marketing power behind the brand, and products such as Beachbody Shakeology to promote in your ‘nutrition plan’ how could you fail to get results?

Shakeology Ingredients

What goes into the shakes and how can they provide all the things that are claimed?

There are a number of flavors to choose from so I’m going to take a look at the Greenberry Shakeology flavor as it seems to most closely resemble the Super Greens products I’m most interested in.

Formulated with mouthwatering fruit and healthy greens, Greenberry Shakeology is a nutritional powerhouse that was one of Shakeology's inaugural flavors

The advertised ingredients are:

Straight away I’m disappointed at the use of proprietary blends.

I feel like calling your product a ‘Powerful Food Formula’ and then hiding how much of these powerful ingredients you use is a bit pointless. A serving size is 35.5g, and I count a total of 37 ingredients in this list, but we really don't know how much of each ingredient and so there could be small servings of each of these ingredients within one scoop.

I also see from the nutritional breakdown that there is 7g sugar in a serving which is quite high for a super greens product.

How Does Shakeology Taste?

As the flavors are varied there may just be one for every taste. The shakes come in a range from chocolate, vanilla, tropical strawberry, vega, cafe latte.

The Greenberry flavor is supposed to taste fresh and less like a dessert than the other flavors.

Side Effects

As with all products being used for the first time customers are advised to seek the advice of a medical practitioner. I would caution against taking this product if you have a known allergy or have ever experienced a reaction to any of the ingredients.

Does Shakeology Actually Work?

Here’s the issue I have with this product, there is so much promoting fitness and ‘healthy lifestyles’ on the website, I can’t tell exactly what is being suggested as the outcome for this particular product.

There is one page on the site, under ‘Research’ which makes the claim that a scientific study has been undertaken claiming ‘Drinking Shakeology reduced the desire to eat by 58% compared to a placebo’.

The ‘clinical trial’ was an independent study sponsored by Shakeology. And that’s where I lost interest.

I honestly believe that things like this can help you if you want to lose weight (as part of a calorie-controlled diet and whilst undergoing an exercise program). But the products available through Shakeology claim many other things.

The Greenberry flavor contains some really potent plant ingredients, but not enough of them to really be making a noticeable difference.

Shakeology Customer Reviews

I see from a quick google search that an ex-Beachbody coach has suggested that a large proportion of reviews are written by Beachbody coaches (I can't back this claim up though). So I’ll take my usual look at Amazon but with a pinch of salt for each one…

Of the Chocolate flavor a handful of reviewers say:

Some people love it, some hate it. We Love it!Ashley. 5 stars

Overpriced, can get same ingredients for one-third the priceBriana. 2 stars

Don’t believe this is a 30-day supplyLock. 1 star

There are examples of where people are using (and giving to their family) the Shakeology shakes as a meal replacement.

This has warning signals going off in my head, although I read that for one customer (who could have potentially also been a coach) it was for the reason that there is a lack of availability of gluten-free food in their area.

I don’t believe that you should be replacing meals with shakes unless you have been instructed by a Doctor to do so, and then they should be a scientifically researched meal replacement therapy product.

Money Back Guarantee / Returns Policy

I couldn’t find a money-back guarantee on their site, nor what to do if I wanted to return products.

Where to Buy Shakeology?

You can buy Shakeology through the teambeachbody online shop, direct from Shakeology official site or from Amazon.

Is It Worth the Price?

A 30-serving bag is $129.99 (USD). 24 single-serve packets are also $129.99. This works out at about $4.33 per serving. This is about the cost of a daily take-out coffee or a smoothie from a store.

So, while this isn’t the most expensive product on the market (actually, it’s priced at about mid-range), it’s also not the cheapest. I’m not prepared to call it to value for money due to the use of proprietary blends, so we don’t know how much of each ingredient we are getting in a serving.

The simple facts are (a) it’s a proprietary blend and (b) in order for the ranks of ‘coaches’ (i.e. ‘distributors’) to earn themselves a cut, this product has to be overpriced. It just has to be.

It can’t be called value for money as so many people are involved in marketing and promoting it. As a product from an MLM company, you can expect this slightly higher price, but some people (who are using it as a meal-replacement) may consider it to be value for money. It’s cheaper than a burger and fries.

The Bottom Line

In order to be a Beachbody ‘coach,’ you need to buy the products every month. Added to this you should be promoting their products visibly – which means firstly buying and then advertising – their other accessories and products. So you are both a coach/distributor and customer too.

There is a slew of bad reviews about the whole package, workouts, support, and nutritional programs, from members of the public and one-time coaches alike.

The problem with claiming so much and promising such staggering results is that if you don’t deliver people are seriously disappointed. And the problem with results is it’s all down to personal effort.

I can’t tell if these are weight loss products, general nutritional support products or, as with the Greenberry flavor, trying to be something more. I think I’ll stick to researching the super greens and will report back when I find a good one!

LifeHacker Guy Greens Recommendation

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