Optavia shake hacks refer to making small yet notable changes in the texture or flavor of Optavia Fueling shakes to make them taste yummy without adding extra calories. These hacks involve adjusting various elements to increase their sweetness, enhance creaminess, or reduce the bitter aftertaste from some of the sweeteners.
Hacking your Optavia shakes helps to add variety by adding additional ingredients like coffee or almond milk, changing consistency by blending or freezing, as well as cooking and baking to create waffles or pancakes. Our favorite hacks include Optavia vanilla shake hacks, Optavia chocolate shake hacks, and Optavia Strawberry shake hacks.
When asking what’s the point of hacking Optavia shakes, in my case, the answer is simple. It’s extremely hard to stick to the same diet and eat Optavia Fuelings every day if you hate them. A 2016 study by Maya Vadiveloo from Harvard School of Public Health found that regardless of the specific weight-loss plan the participants followed, those who increased their dietary variety had better results.
After 6 months, the participants in the increased variety group had lost more weight, had a smaller waist circumference, and had less body fat compared to those in the stable variety group. This trend continued even after 2 years, with the increased variety group maintaining greater weight loss and further reducing waist circumference compared to the other groups.
So the benefits of making Optavia shake hacks are to help to make them taste better and reduce boredom so that you can look forward to what you’re eating. Plus, if you do the Optavia diet on your own without a coach, making Optavia shake recipes from Fueling alternatives makes your weight loss journey more budget-friendly.
1. Optavia Shake Hack With Coffee
Optavia shake hacks with coffee refers to adding low-calorie coffee to Optavia shake Fuelings. I mix one shot of Starbucks doppio every morning with selected Optavia shakes. My favorite ones are creamy vanilla shake mix and mocha shake mix. If Starbucks is not around, I’m happy to buy any coffee shakes without added sugar. Here’s a photo of my ready-to-drink Stok cold brew coffee I bought in Walmart.
When mixing, I only use 12 fl oz, which has around 15 calories. (I don’t use the whole bottle.) This one has strong flowery and nutty flavors, which immediately reduces the sweetness of Optavia shakes.
2. Optavia Almond Milk Shake Hacks
You can make an Optavia milkshake hack by mixing almond milk with one of the Optavia shakes. This will help to reduce the sweetness from some of the overly sweet Fuelings. It’s important to use almond milk. Although almond milk has a nutty flavor, I found that it helps to neutralize the sweetness of the wild strawberry shake mix. Here’s a photo of my Optavia Wild Strawberry Shake Mix blended with almond milk.
(I use almond milk becasue it contains no lactose and tends to have fewer calories than cow’s milk.) This way, my smoothie is filling but doesn’t contain too much sugar. 3 fl oz of almond milk has around 27 calories. Choose low-calorie options such as unsweetened almond milk (or oat milk).
3. Optavia Milkshake Hacks
Optavia milkshake hack refers to making a milkshake from Optavia Fuelings by mixing it with low-calorie ice cream or sorbets. Ideally, you want to find an ice cream that has minimum calories, such as Halo Top. Here’s a photo of me holding my favorite low-calorie Halo Top sea salt ice cream.
I like to use Halo Top because they have more proteins, but I’m always careful with serving size. I scoop no more than a quarter cup per shake, which is around 60 calories. (I don’t recommend using the whole pint.) I also like low-calorie Yasso ice cream, but they only sell them in popsicles, not in pints. If you don’t want to add more calories, try sorbet. Here’s a photo of the strawberry sorbet I bought the other night from Frozen Farmers.
This one has only 20 calories per serving, and it’s perfect to hack Optavia Tropical Fruit Smoothie Mix and enhance the flavor.
4. Optavia Lemon Shake Hack
You can make Optavia Lemon shake hacks to make your Optavia shakes less sweet. Add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice. For me, lime works great. I squeeze usually a quarter of the lime into the shake and blend it in my K400 blender to ensure the juice is spread evenly. Here’s how I like to chop my limes.
I cut my limes in wedges and squeeze juice from just one. A dash of acid not only gives a fresh citrusy flavor but can also counteract the excess sweetness. I don’t use lemons as these tend to be sweeter. For those overly sweet shakes, I prefer to use lime juice as they have a more bitter flavor.
5. Optavia Vegetable Shake Hack
The Optavia Vegetable shake hack refers to blending low-carb vegetables like cucumber, bell peppers, and kale into your Optavia shakes. I make smoothies all the time. If smoothies are more your thing, try it. Although I like to make smoothies from fruits becasue they’re easier to make, I try to focus mostly on veggies as these have fewer calories. You can use some fruits for Optavia shake hacks, but be mindful of the portion size. For Optavia’s creamy chocolate shake mix, I like to use I like to add Romaine lettuce, avocados, and beets.
I love chocolate spinach smoothies! For the creamy vanilla shake mix, I like to combine carrots, kale, and zucchini. And just to you know, the Optavia vanilla shake does not taste like vanilla. Thanks to the soy protein isolate, it has an earthy texture. And, because it’s packed with sweeteners, it also has this horrible aftertaste. I don’t use cauliflower or broccoli as these do not mix well with some of the Optavia flavors.
6. Optavia Frappe Shake Hack
Some of the Optavia shakes that I genuinely like are Mocha and Caramel Macchiato. For these, I don’t add anything apart from ½ cup of ice cubes and mix it in my KitchenAid K400 blender. This makes the shakes super foamy and creamy, without adding any condiments. Here’s a photo of my Optavia Mocha Frappe. (Yes, I also added a small ice cream scoop.)
I love to blend shakes with ice. It makes them not only taste better but also more refreshing. However, you can customize the flavor as much as you want so it fits your taste preferences. Choose the Optavia shake. Select 2-3 veggies. Add ice (plenty of ice). Blend and enjoy!
7. Optavia Fruit-Infused Shake Hack
You can make your Optavia shakes taste better by mixing them with fruit-infused water. I noticed that when I add bitter (or sour) flavors, it helps hide the artificial sweet flavor. I like to use homemade cucumber water or unsweetened cranberry juice as my base to balance the sweet flavor. I often mix it in the evening and leave it in my fridge overnight. I also like to mix it with alkaline water or fruity fizzy water, as long as it has zero calories.
8. Optavia Shake Hack With Waffle
Optavia shake hack waffle refers to making waffles from the Optavia shake mix, in combination with sugar-free syrups, egg whites, oil spray, and baking powder.
Start by pouring the Optavia shake sachet into a large bowl and mixing it with flour, salt, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter, and vanilla extract. Pour the milk mixture into the shake mixture. Mix until blended. Preheat the waffle iron. (for that, you may need to get a waffle maker, something like DASH mini. Lastly, cook the waffles until they’re golden and crisp.
9. Optavia Hot Chocolate Shake Hack
Creating an Optavia Chocolate Shake hack is another way to enhance my Optavia Fuelings, even when doing it from Chocolate Chip Cookie. If I want fewer calories, I choose Godiva’s dark chocolate hot cocoa (this one has a luscious dark chocolate flavor).
If I feel like iced hot chocolate, I choose the fancy Serendipity brand. I try to stay away from low-calorie options as these are usually packed with artificial flavors (which can ruin the taste).
10. Optavia Sea Salt Shake Hack
Optavia sea salt shake hacks refer to using salt for your favorite Optavia shakes to further enhance their flavor. According to a 1997 study by Paul Breslin from Monell Chemical Senses Center published in Nature Journal, salt helps to filter out flavors, which means that it can make bad tastes (like bitterness) less strong and good tastes (like sweetness) more intense.
Add a small sprinkle of unprocessed sea salt together with your Optavia shakes into your blender, add 2 fl. oz. of water, and mix for 30 seconds. It works best with Optavia peanut butter shake mix and caramel macchiato shake mix.
What Are The Benefits of Making Optavia Shake Hacks?
The benefits of making Optavia shake hacks include improving the taste, overcoming the unpalatability of the Fuelings, making the shakes more enjoyable, and reducing the artificial and unpleasant flavors and textures caused by ingredients like sugar substitutes, whey protein powder, and soy protein isolates.
- Improving the taste. Optavia shake hacks are beneficial in improving the taste of certain Optavia shakes that may not be very palatable to consume, especially when you’re eating them 5 times per day for 6-12 months.
- Making the shakes more enjoyable. Optavia shake hacks provide a fun and creative way to make your Optavia diet more enjoyable by adding variety and enhancing the taste of the Fuelings.
- Reduce the artificial aftertaste. According to the Optavia shakes Nutritional Facts listed behind each container, shakes contain maltodextrin, steviol glycosides, and other sweeteners. Maltodextrin does neutralize the bitterness of the whey protein concentrate, but it also has a delightful aftertaste that’s just unbearable to drink.
On the other hand, shakes with soy protein concentrate have a nutty flavor with a smooth to medium grainy texture and a slightly metallic aftertaste. This can make the shakes taste gritty, bland, and grossly artificial. Here’s a photo of the Optavia nutritional label from some of the shakes I had at home.
For me, that list of ingredients seems super artificial and there seems to be no shortage of preservatives.
How Do You Do Optavia Shake Hacks when Following Optavia on Your Own?
This list shows you how to do Optavia shake hacks when following Optavia on your own.
- Make a Greek Yogurt Smoothie. Create a Greek yogurt smoothie by using homemade Greek yogurt as a base for your Optavia shake. You can mix it with other ingredients to enhance the flavor and nutritional profile.
- Try Kefir Protein Smoothies. Use kefir, a fermented milk drink, to make protein-rich smoothies. Blend it with Optavia-approved ingredients to create a delicious and nutritious shake hack.
- Make Cottage Cheese Smoothie. Use cottage cheese as a key ingredient in your smoothies to add creaminess and a boost of protein. Combine it with other flavorings and low-calorie ingredients for a satisfying Optavia shake hack alternative.
- Create Coffee Protein Shakes. This one is super simple. Make a protein shake with low-carb protein powder and incorporate 1-2 shots of coffee for a delightful coffee-flavored Optavia shake hack.
- Cashew Milk Protein Shake. Create a protein shake using cashew milk as the base. Since cashew milk might contain lower protein levels, consider supplementing it with additional proteins from either protein powder or nuts.
The main idea of doing Optavia by yourself without a coach is to follow the 5 and 1 plan methods, but without spending extra money for expensive Fuelings.
These are awesome! I love everyone of yours that I’ve tried. Thanks for sharing