Written by: Brandon Jones-Chow Lin On
Brandon Jones-Chow Lin On is a junior political science major and president of the Model United Nations Club at NSU. For one week, he decided to replace all of his meals with a Soylent mixture. According to soylent.com, the mixture is a meal replacement drink that possesses what a person needs to be healthy, and it is a new option for maintaining the ideal diet. According to soylent.com, the mixture has a smooth texture with a subtle delicious flavor, but Jones-Chow Lin On said it is a bland but functional drink.
The reason I decided to embark on this journey was because, after scouring the internet at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday, I came across a video on Buzzfeed about a group of people who were only drinking Soylent for a week. I had already come to the conclusion a few days before that I needed to find a way to control my calorie intake and eat healthier. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to achieve my goals, and who doesn’t make impulsive purchases when they are sleep deprived?
It took about four days for my Soylent package to arrive at my doorstep. It came with everything I would need for a week of only Soylent, which were the Soylent powder and a nifty shake jug. I actually got excited while opening everything, as a feeling that I was “improving” myself washed over me.
I officially started my new diet on a Monday. The first three days were easy. I woke up, made my jug of Soylent, which would last me the entire day, and began my regular routine. I was able to save a lot of time, since I did not have to go out to eat or cook for myself. All of the time that I would usually dedicate to food preparation was reduced to putting powder into a jug of water and shaking until I felt satisfied, which was about two minutes.
These three days were what I called “the golden age” of my journey. I was still excited that I was trying something new, and I was not missing solid food. During this time, I started having thoughts like, “I may never eat solid food again,” and “This is the way of the future.”
The fourth day of my diet was when it started to go downhill. I began craving the feeling of chewing solid foods. Every sip of Soylent reminded me of how much I wanted a burger. It had not affected my mood at all, and I was still able to feel the benefit of the time I had saved. However, I could tell that this was going to be a long week.
On days five and six, I saw a change in my mood. Everything seemed greyer, and all I wanted was real food. I called these two days “the dark ages.” I was going a bit crazy, and the time I was saving was no longer worth it. I started asking myself, “Why am I subjecting myself to this?” and “I truly hope this is not the way of the future.”
Finally, on day seven, I cheated and ended my journey a bit early. I called this “even God took a rest on day seven.”
I will probably never do this to myself again, nor would I recommend it to anyone else. Soylent was not something I could drink every day for every meal. However, it is good for when you are in a rush, since it saves time, and, for the times that I drank it, I did not feel hungry. Although this drink is meant to replace meals, it’s almost impossible to live off Soylent.
