8.7
Prepared meals that stay good enough to keep eating
$13.50/mealHighly recommended
#7 of 12 overallMeal plans
ShakeWorks Sustain review
by ShakeWorks
Nutritionally complete, decently formulated, and priced fairly. The limitation is not the product, it is that replacing meals with shakes is something very few people keep doing beyond a couple of months.
6.9With reservations
Last updated · used for 8 weeks · reviewed by Tom
Disclosure: We have no affiliate relationship with ShakeWorks and earn nothing if you buy it. We paid for this product ourselves. Full disclosure
Tom’s verdict
As a product, this is fine — well formulated, honestly tested, fairly priced. My scoring problem is with the category, not the company. Meal replacement shakes work for exactly as long as you keep drinking them, and the data on how long people do that is not encouraging. Use this to solve one specific meal you keep getting wrong and it earns its money. Use it as a strategy and you are building on something that has a predictable end date.
What we liked and what we didn’t
Strengths
- 26g of protein per serving, which is enough to actually blunt hunger
- Full micronutrient profile — this is a meal replacement rather than a protein powder
- Mixes without a blender, which sounds trivial and determines whether you keep using it
- Third-party tested for heavy metals with results published
Problems
- Two flavours, and one of them is not good
- Sucralose-sweetened, which some people will not tolerate
- Drinking your meals is a poor long-term strategy for most people
- Marketing photography implies results the product cannot deliver on its own
Best for
Replacing a specific problem meal — usually breakfast or a skipped lunch that turns into overeating at dinner.
Not for
Replacing multiple meals a day, or anyone with a history of restrictive eating.
What the evidence actually shows
Meal replacements have decent short-term trial evidence for weight loss, largely because they impose portion control. Longer-term adherence data is considerably weaker, and that gap is what drives the sustainability score down.
The formulation
26g of whey isolate per serving is a serious protein load and the main reason this works better than the sugary competition. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient and the difference between a 12g shake and a 26g shake is the difference between being hungry in an hour and not.
The micronutrient premix means this can genuinely stand in for a meal rather than sitting alongside one.
What’s in it
- Whey protein isolate (26g per serving)
- Micronised oat flour
- Vitamin and mineral premix
- Sucralose
Ingredient lists are transcribed from the packaging at the time of testing. Formulations change — check the label you receive.
Others in meal plans
7.1
Cheaper prepared meals, and you can taste where the money went
$8.25/mealRecommended