The Man Shake VS The Lady Shake

The Man Shake and The Lady Shake are probably the most popular gender-specific weight loss shakes available in Australia. These meal replacement products are made and marketed by Cranky Health, a NSW company founded by Adam MacDougall. Adam “Mad Dog” MacDougall is a former League player (Knights, Roosters, and Rabbitohs) and the face of The Man Shake. His wife Belinda heads up The Lady Shake. So what’s the difference between these two shakes?

Adam MacDougall Man Shake

What exactly is a Meal Replacement Shake?

A meal replacement shake is a drink designed to substitute a solid meal. Why would you want to substitute a solid plate of food with a glass of liquid? There are two main reasons: controlled nutrition and convenience. The controlled nutrition comes by formulating a specific combination of macro and micro nutrients in powder form. The convenience comes from the ease of scooping the powder into a container and shaking it up with water. A couple of Man Shakes a day in place of two meals gets rid of a lot of guesswork when doing calorie control.

Belinda MacDougall Lady Shake

Meal Replacement for Weight Loss

Both The Man Shake and The Lady Shake are designed to replace one or two regular meals per day, for the purpose of controlling calorie intake. Weight loss is promoted because the shakes have much lower calories (209-204 calories per serve) than most regular meals. Since Calorie is King, a person substituting the shakes for meals will lose weight. The shakes have a high protein (about 50g/100g) and dietary fibre (10+g/100g) content, which help to reduce the feeling of having skipped a meal.

Evidence says they Work

Many studies show that meal replacement shakes work. Scientific peer-reviewed studies aside, just about everyone knows someone who has tried them with success. There are endless “before and after” photos on the internet showing how normal people make progress with meal replacement shakes. From a simple calories in/calories out (thermodynamics) basis, they have to work!

Average Weight Loss per Week on The Lady Shake

According to reputable, peer-reviewed studies like this one, women who are on meal replacement shakes like The Lady Shake lose about one kilogramme per week. A lot depends on how many meals you replace and how much in-between meal snacking you do. One highly cited study published in Obesity Facts found that women who used meal-replacement shakes as part of a weight-loss program lost an average of 6.3 kg over a 12-week period. The study concluded that meal-replacement shakes can be an effective tool for weight loss in women.

Before and After The Lady Shake

Many thousands of people have achieved weight loss success with The Man Shake and The Lady Shake, but statistics and data are just abstractions until they affect you. Consider the situation Teka (before and after pictures above) was in, having experienced multiple life events which left her and her husband with unhealthy eating habits and excess weight to show for it. Finally turning to The Lady Shake and The Man Shake in preparation for surgery, they both saw the kilos melt off as they stuck to the meal replacement plan. In the end the weight-loss surgery was unnecessary as Teka lost 32kg and her husband lost 35kg to get a clean bill of health!

Lady Shake Calories

Man Shake VS Lady Shake Calories

The Man Shake has 209 calories (871kJ) per serve whilst The Lady Shake has 204 calories (853kJ) per serve. If you replace two meals with shakes, your daily calorie count before your main meal and snacks would be 408-418 calories. That gives you a 1,100 calorie window if you are trying to hit a 1500 calorie target.

Man Shake Calories

Man Shake VS Lady Shake Protein

Both The Man Shake and The Lady Shake are high in protein, but The Man Shake has 7% more than The Lady Shake (53.5g/100g compared to 50g/100g). There are some good reasons to put lots of protein in a meal replacement shake. Protein is more filling than carbohydrates. The body of a person undergoing calorie restriction might be strained and stressed. In such situations, it is important for there to be a good supply of muscle repairing protein at hand. Finally, protein has fewer calories by weight than fat and it “burns” slower than carbs.

Man Shake Lady Shake Protein

Man Shake VS Lady Shake Fat

It is a good idea for a meal replacement shake to have some fat, but not much. Fat is an essential nutrient with the highest calories. It satisfies the body’s hunger sensation like no other nutrient. Most effective meal replacement shakes include fat for these reasons, and The Lady Shake and the Man Shake are no exception. The Man Shake has more, with 7.1g fat per serve, compared to 4.5g/serve in The Lady Shake.

Man Shake Lady Shake Fat

Man Shakes VS Lady Shakes Carbohydrates

In terms of macros, carbohydrates are the real differentiation point between The Man Shake and The Lady Shake. The Lady Shake has 28.8g carbs per serve, compared to 20g carbs in a serve of The Man Shake. Effectively, The Lady Shake has 44% more carbohydrates than The Man Shake. Why is this? Probably because men, with more muscle mass than women, require more protein. Since their formulation has more protein, they have do make do with less carbs in order to hit the 200 calorie/serve target. Maybe? We’re not sure.

Man Shake Lady Shake Carbs

Sugar in The Man Shake and The Lady Shake

With 44% more carbs than The Man Shake, you would probably think that The Lady Shake has much more sugar too? The Lady Shake has 8.7g sugar per serve, compared to 9.4g sugar in a serve of The Man Shake. That’s right, The Lady Shake has less sugar than The Man Shake! On the nutrition label of both products, they’ve separated the sugars into “sugars, Lactose, Galactose” categories, so you need to add them up to get the total sugar values.

Micronutrients

Both The Man Shake and The Lady Shake are jam-packed with micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). You would not be too far wrong in thinking about them as having half of a typical multivitamin capsule mixed in with the other ingredients. If you are familiar with vitamin and mineral supplements, you probably know that they are often separately formulated for men and women according to their typical needs. A key difference between The Man Shake and The Lady Shake is that their micronutrients follow the same principle. Lots more zinc in The Man Shake, way more Folate in The Lady Shake, and so on.

Man Shake Nutrition

Man Shake Ingredients

The Man Shake’s ingredients are formulated to benefit men’s physiology, with a comprehensive blend of macros, vitamins and minerals. Specifically, the ingredients are:

Protein Blend (milk Protein Isolate, Whey Protein isolate), Fibresol-2 Soluble Maize Fibre, Thickeners (Maize Starch,Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum) Coffee (6.7%)^, Cocoa* (6.5%), Medium Chain Triglycerides, Sweet Potato Flour, Minerals (calcium Phospate, Magnesium Oxide, Ferric Phyrophophate, Zinc, Sulphate, Potassium Iodine), vitamins (C, B3, E, B2, B6, B1, A, Folate, B12, D) Flavours, Flaxseed, Psyllium husk, Probiotics (Lactobacillus Acidophilus Rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium Lactis, Bacillus Coagulans), Chia, Beetroot Powder**, Sweetner (Sucralose), Green Tea Extract, Soy Lecithin.

*Chocolate Flavour Only

^Coffee Flavour Only

**Strawberry Flavour Only

Lady Shake Nutrition

Lady Shake Ingredients

The Lady Shake differs from The Man Shake in the relative levels of macro and micro-nutrients. For example. the Lady Shake has 4.5mg iron per serve, compared to 2.8mg iron per serve in The Man Shake. This is probably because women are at a greater risk of iron deficiency than men, because of their menstrual cycles. Specific ingredients in The Lady Shake are:

Lady Shake Protein Blend (Milk Protein Isolate, Hydrolysed Whey Protein Isolate, Soy Protein Isolate), Rice Flour, Soluble Fibre, Waxy Maize Starch, Flavours, Medium Chain Triglycerides (from Vegetable contains mono and digilycerides of fatty acids), Vitamin & Mineral Blend, Green Tea Extract, Sweetener (Sucralose), L Carnitine L Tartrate.

Can a Man drink The Lady Shake Safely?

Yes, a man can safely drink The Lady Shake without any negative repercussions. They’re formulated to work best for the general requirements of the genders they are targeted to, but there is nothing harmful in either of them. Guys, if there is a pack of The Lady Shake in the pantry and you need a drinkable meal, don’t hold back!

Can a Lady take The Man Shake?

Since there are no hormones in either The Man Shake nor The Lady Shake, it is perfectly safe for a lady to take The Man Shake. In the absence of The Lady Shake, a lady can drink a Man Shake without concern. However, The Man Shake has a balance of micronutrients which are skewed towards men’s health and wellbeing.

Meal Replacement Shakes

How Much Weight can you Lose?

At 200 calories per shake, The Lady Shake is about 300 calories less than a typical lunch or breakfast. In other words, each shake creates a calorie deficit of 300. Calorie deficits cause weight loss, and in most cases, people who substitute their usual meals for low calorie shakes will succeed in reaching their calorie deficit threshold. You can expect to lose an average of one kilogram per week over a couple of months whilst following the system, but some people may lose significantly more depending on the size of their calorie deficit.

However, they should not be used to replace more than two meals per day. Ideally, a normal meal and a normal snack should be eaten in addition to two meal replacement shakes every day. Of course, they will not work if you eat extra food to compensate for the reduced calories!

Check these out to learn more and get a discount from their websites:

The Story by A Current Affair

This is what Channel 9 reported on The Man Shake: