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Comment by jmspring | Hacker News Reader

I look at cooking like I do coding, there is always something new to learn and it's not always going to be an easy process. In fact, since I work at home most times, if I get stuck on a particularly gnarly problem and don't have another outlet, I might distract myself with cooking (gardening, a time outside, or a nap are other options).

I've made things I've had to throw out, I've made things I've been able to tweak into other dishes, and I've made things that were quite outstanding.

As a poster above pointed out -- "whatever floats your boat". That said, there is more to the outside world than things like living like a hermit, avoiding food, spending every waking moment in front of the computer, etc. At some point, one wakes up and realizes there is more out there. And, if you are lucky to find someone who you want to share your life with, habits like those listed above (they seem to pop up frequently in posts here) are going to likely change.

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Same! I love cooking and I absolutely love food. It feels like a disgrace to me that some people would exchange actual food for some gray mud, but I guess that to each his own.

Oh, I think we all embrace some form of "gray mud" at times. Sometimes a smoothie, sometimes a diet coke and some peanut butter and jelly on toast, things that are quick and get me going in the day. Or people that do fasts, or weight loss mixes, or some of the crud I eat while on long bike rides (power bars, cliff bars, supplements in water bottles, etc).

I think giving up all food for something like Soylent is a bit silly, but at the same time, we do all make different sacrifices at times.

I wonder how Soylent's uptake would differ if they were pitching it as a quick occasional meal alternative.

Everything I've ever seen about Soylent is along the lines of "now you can eat nothing but Soylent!", which, for how much of the world enjoys both cooking and eating, seems like a tough pitch, except for a very, very small niche that, I guess, doesn't actually get any visceral pleasure from food.

As someone posted, it seems like it is catering to those interested in the "quantified day to day life". I can see the appeal, but I'd rather get out and bike, enjoy food, and do what has worked for me.

But as you point out, it would be interesting to see what the take would be as the occasional meal alternative. I wonder if it would be seen as things from GNC, etc. where there would be a small but interested market, but nothing larger.

They are still relatively young and will likely evolve into markets beyond the one they are targeting now.

That's how I use it tbh. I don't eat breakfast and I rarely eat lunch, often from the work cafe so not necessarily the healthiest. something like this ensures more consistency in my diet, and I can do the planning/prepping bit for dinner.

> "now you can eat nothing but Soylent!"

Why is the message that it is build that you can do that a problem? (If I were to use it as a temporary replacement food I still would like to know that I don't have to take particular care to fix specific things it is missing. One less thing to worry about.)

That said, I think the customer base they are aiming for (and getting) right now is the right one for the moment (somewhat reliable demand from those that stick with it, willingness to tolerate hiccups, willingness to talk about it, ...)

The problem I see is not that it can function as a temporary meal replacement, it's that the PR pieces never seem to describe anyone using it that way. It's always the "Joe hasn't eaten another food in X weeks!"

Which, frankly, is going to turn a lot of people off.

One other remark--if you're skipping a meal on occasion, and supplementing it with some easy foodstuff, you don't really need to worry about it being nutritionally balanced. Virtually any western diet will get you enough nutrients on a regular basis that you don't need to supplement with vitamins or worry about the diseases caused by a lack of some nutrient, even if your diet is restricted for a while.

Just skipping a meal every now and then isn't even a problem. Fasting through a mealtime or three isn't going to hurt anyone who is otherwise healthy and well fed for most other meals. It may be uncomfortable, but you don't need to eat every day, the body stores fat for good reason. (and as you said, a less balanced Clif bar or a handful of almonds would carry you through single-instances of missed meals pretty well too).

To me, Soylent is only interesting because they're wanting to replace every meal for normal adults living normal lives. Anything less is just better marketing of an Ensure clone.

I like cooking too. But a lot of the times for lunch I don't feel like making something. Then I have to bring it with me to class and that means there's an extra container to clean at the end of the day. Also, I don't usually have time to make much in the mornings.

Soylent works as a perfect meal substitute for when I'm lazy or short on time, and that means I have more time and money for when I want to have a nice meal.

I tried ketosoy for a week, and will likely continue... but I only replaced about half my intake each day with it. I have trouble getting 20oz of it down at once, so tend to break into 4-16oz portions... doing roughly half a pack a day combined with a real lunch or dinner and one snack (nuts, apple, etc) through the day. It actually worked out pretty well.

While I try to eat relatively nutritionally balanced, I'm not perfect. I have a broken metabolism, and chronically bad knees. This makes exercise difficult to say the least, and whatever I eat will have an effect. What it did allow me to do was consistently stay under 2000-2400 calories a day, and actually drop a little bit of weight.

I'm planning on getting a gastric sleeve later in the year, which will make something like soylent ideal for me.

That said, I love to cook and usually do at least one longer prep meal a week (friday, saturday and/or sunday)... This past saturday I made mushroom broth, followed by an asian-style soba (buckwheat) noodle soup using some of said broth with thinly sliced sirloin and veggies.

So, I can really see both sides of this. On the one hand, I love food. I try 2-3 new to me restaurants a month, and like to take lunch away from my desk. On the other, sometimes just drinking something down is far easier than taking the time to prepare a meal. I've been making several gallons of stock/broth every other week for soup for most of the past year. It takes quite a bit of time and even only doing it a day or two a week, not doing it for half my meals appeals to me. And will often cost less.

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