I tried the Coke approach, it didn't make much difference.

But maybe my stains are tougher.

Why are you bad about eating breakfast and lunch?

I typically grab a Luna bar for breakfast and jump into work. It is typically 1 or 2 when I remember to take a break to forage for lunch, which is something simple thrown together. Cheese and salami, a frozen meal from Trader Joes, if I remember to buy some. Often I just grab a bite of something and then am starving by dinner time. I need a different routine.

Soylent powder for 56 meals (almost 2 a day for a month) is $108 if you subscribe to monthly deliveries. I know, less than $2 a meal - cost of two Luna bars. Ok, so maybe not crazy expensive.

But the thought of drinking breakfast and lunch and not having something with crunch or texture - not sure if I could do that. There are lots of such diet plans out there that advocate this. Just haven't been able to commit to it.

You can use a pumice stone in your toilet for stains and it doesn't harm the porcelain. There's a special one for toilets you can buy that has a handle so you're not sticking your hand in the water. I think it's called Pumie. It's near where the plungers and stuff are (at least, that's where it is in our grocery store).

But the thought of drinking breakfast and lunch and not having something with crunch or texture - not sure if I could do that.

It doesn't sound very appealing to me. I love food too much. Plus, from searching for reviews, I don't think it's particularly tasty and it may give you super stinky gas.

I need a different routine.

Can you manage yourself with alarms or calendar reminders? Like, just blocking off 30 minutes to eat? I do that when I have a ton of meetings or a hectic day.

For breakfast I made a frittata (~30 minutes of work including cook time) and sliced it up into servings that I can pop in the microwave for 30 seconds and eat at the counter while I'm pouring my coffee into a travel mug. I also try to cook up a giant pot of something in a slow cooker, so it's low effort and something I can pop in the microwave for dinner. Or lunch if I'm working from home.

Post-toasties:

And these are just ideas, of course. You should find something that will work for you.

What's the difference in price between Soylent and Ensure or other meal replacement shakes you can get at the grocery store?

I don't know, Jessica.

shrift, suggestions and ideas are very welcome. I'm so frustrated with my current health.

I don't think Soylent offers any nutritional benefits over eating food so I would only recommend it for someone who has no attachment to the food, in other words someone for whom ease and the freedom to not think about food outweigh the enjoyment of flavor, texture, etc. I wouldn't assume it's any better for you than what you are currently eating.

Yeah, those are good ideas, shrift. The SO & I are currently doing the vox anti detox diet. We like it so much we just keep going around and around and basically eat four days of it and sub in two extra things every week. I'm down a couple of pounds just from doing that, haven't gotten back on the water or the workouts yet. The recipes are all pretty simple to make, inexpensive, and delicious. Except the turnips and barley, we didn't care for that one. There are vegetarian variants. So we're pseudo pescetarian at the moment. Ova lacto pescetarian...

I just had lunch, and the wonderful thing about having salmon in a regular menu planning rotation is that the next day you have leftover salmon for salmon avocado feta salads. Nom nom nom. I'm finding that, really, I'm just lazy. So I'll happily reach for celery sticks and hummus as a snack as easily as chips, if, and this is the key point, someone has already cut them up for me. Even if that person is past me. It's just as easy for present me to throw together a salad for lunch instead of ramen, if past me has cleaned and prepped the ingredients. The vox anti detox diet makes that easy for me. On one day I chop veggies and make quinoa and wash salad greens, and then the rest of the week I just grab from that to cook.

I do supplement with protein powder drinks, which are not meal replacement. They're not complete nutrition, but they help me keep my protein needs in balance. The biggest challenge for me is keeping the boxes of berries around long enough to use them in the recipes that call for them, because left to my own devices, I am a berry eating fiend and have zero self control. I was always like that, even as a kid, and would happily eat myself sick on blueberries given the opportunity. And fruit is sugary, sure, but still, it's better grabbing that as a snack than candy.