Unless you’re brand new to the Code Red Lifestyle, you know we emphasize real food, water, and sleep.

The skilled marketing of powerful industries have us programmed to look for quick fixes to our health issues, instead of long-term solutions like the Code Red Lifestyle.

Plus, human beings in general like shortcuts. It’s part of how we’re wired, and there are times when it can be really useful and lead to amazing innovations. In that context, it’s a gift!

But like most facets of human nature, it’s a double edged sword, because sometimes the shortcuts we come up with hurt more than they help.

One area where this is readily apparent is the introduction of protein and meal replacement shakes.

“Don’t have time to eat? Need ‘healthy’ protein to build muscle? Use our magic powder!”

For a long time I’d let people have an occasional protein shake, but I recently stopped allowing it altogether.

Our bodies don’t know how to break that stuff down. They do their best, of course, but we’re designed to digest real, whole food.

Plus, it’s too easy for us to rely on that stuff instead of buckling down and getting used to eating real food.

That’s why I prefer you eat your calories in the form of that real, whole food, vs. drink them in the form of magic powders and high-carb sugar-drenched “weight loss” shakes.

A couple places where I allow a little wiggle room:

Homemade smoothies. They must be absent any protein or meal replacement powders, and made with real food and either water or your favorite unsweetened Code Red-approved non-dairy milk. You can sweeten them with Stevia or Monk Fruit, if you like.

I prefer smoothies to juicing, because juicing eliminates all the fiber. Keep the fiber and make smoothies instead.

Bulletproof coffee or tea. This is a great high-fat meal, but remember that coffee and bulletproof coffee ingredients don’t have many vitamins, minerals, or nutrients.

If you make a habit of relying exclusively on bulletproof beverages, your body will miss out on key nourishment.

So drink your bulletproof beverage with a meal; or at the very least, eat a veggie with it.

You can’t go wrong with real, whole food, so if in doubt, stick with that.

And steer clear of drinking your calories, with the exception the two items listed above.

You don’t need those bull crap shake mixes to create fast, simple meals that promote fast, safe weight loss and healing (plus, unlike shake mixes, actually fill you up!).