As of today, I have been using Soylent as a big part of my diet for 15 days. That is half of the month that I had originally planned to test this diet with. You can read my first two accounts here and here. In the second week and a day of having a least half of my calories come from Soylent here are some of my observations:

Not only have I noticed that I have more energy when I wake up in the morning, but I have less desire for coffee lately as well. I have always had to force myself to stop drinking coffee when I notice it gets to unhealthy levels. The past few days I have been forcing myself to make some coffee when I can sense the oncoming headache from caffeine withdrawal. I like to drink some coffee when I want to drink some coffee, but I could use less dependence on coffee. Therefore I consider this a welcome change.

I have really been noticing a strong urge to want to eat solid food when I'm planning on having Soylent. Particularly when I am around family that is eating or snacking. At first I was only noticing it when I wanted to eat junk food, but I have also started noticing it with something like carrots. I snacked on a lot of junk, but also on a lot of carrots. Still, these cravings are never really hunger. It is part desire for the taste and part unhealthy eating habits that I have learned over the years. While experiencing this does cause me a small amount of suffering, I can usually move my mind on to something else pretty easily.

On the other hand, when I do eat, the food has a richer flavor. I really enjoy it more than I had before. I can taste and actually take time to notice the individual ingredients and their subtle flavors in my food. By the time I eat a meal for the day, I am really looking forward to it. So I am going to make sure I take the time to enjoy it. I still eat way faster than I need to, but I also spend much more time appreciating the deliciousness of what I am eating.

I have noticed a change in my digestive system. Not that I think it was a huge issue (although you would have to ask my family for their opinion) I have had less gas issues coming from either end. I have read some reports that defecation levels of some Soylent users are reduced. If that is true of me, the change has been minimal.

Overall, I feel much better than I have in awhile. I feel more mentally focused. Physically, I feel less dragging from poor nutrition. I have certainly lost weight, but again I think this has more to do with tracking my calories than with using Soylent. I have lost a lot of weight by tracking calories before. The difference this time is that I am getting much more balanced nutrition. So instead of getting an “oh shit I am about to black out” feeling when I stand up after sitting for awhile, I simply stand up and feel the same as when I was sitting.

So there you have it. If you ever wanted to know what it would be like to have Soylent as a major part of your diet for half of a month, these are my impressions. I plan to update with any further observations in another week or so and a final conclusion at the 30 day mark where I will look back and weigh out whether I feel this experience has been beneficial enough to continue. Thanks for reading and feel free to ask any questions in the comments.

Kirk Aug

Kirk sometimes wishes that Soylent followed it's pop culture roots and was made in chip form. Follow Kirk on instagram @kirkaug and twitter @kirkaug.