Hey everyone I was one of the people chosen to try out the XL Meal Powder and again want to thank everyone at Animal for the opportunity, heres a little info on me followed by my review:
My names Mike, I'm 26 years old, been training and playing sports since I was in my teens. Currently I'm 6ft and hover between 218-222. I'm pretty consistent with my diet and training but obviously life happens and a product like this can definitely come in to play on those busy days where you can't fit in all your solid food meals. Im a full time firefighter paramedic, married, and have an awesome little 16mo old boy who's becoming quite the little wild man so keeping up with him and his schedule makes life even more interesting!
So thoughts on the product
Mixability: Great! Instructions are 3 scoops in 10-12oz of water, which water wise doesn't seem like a lot when you see how much powder you're adding but it mixed up great with just a spoon. No clumps, nothing stuck to the spoon or sides of the cup and no big settled lumps on the bottom, just nice and smooth.
Taste: So the product doesn't specify a flavor but it is chocolate and a really good chocolate flavor at that. It tastes almost like the dark chocolate cacao bars, no bad after taste at all and really easy to drink and enjoy. Some powders I've had from companies I wonder if they ever taste it themselves before labeling it a flavor but there's no question about it that Animal really did a great job with the blend of ingredients and came up with an awesome flavor.
Texture: This is a big one for people, no one likes drinking a meal replacement that turns into concrete when mixed and then sits heavy in your stomach with that full water bloat feeling, this doesn't have that at all. The texture is very smooth, it doesn't sit heavy at all, and your not cleaning clumps off your teeth because it dissolves perfectly in water when you mix it.
Convenience: No brainer here, when on the go or in a hurry being able to throw 3 scoops of this in a shaker and slam back a meal anytime by just adding water makes life easy. I can definitely see me keeping this on me at work when were running calls all day long back and forth from the hospital or stuck on scene of an incident, I can just head back to the truck, mix it up real quick and be on my way until I can get a solid meal in me. Huge bonus for busy people!
Digestibility: Another big area for people and I have to say again great job. It doesn't sit heavy at all but keeps you full. It goes down easy, no upset stomach or running to the bathroom. The ingredients profile they sent out will show you that nothing in it should cause a problem for anyone even with real sensitive stomachs. All the protein and carb sources included in the powder are commonly eaten in everyday diets and again shows the work they put in to the product with picking ingredients that are really easy to digest, but still pack a good nutritional value and can be versatile in any diet.
Overall thoughts, I'm excited I got to try this product out and I can't wait to see it hit the market. I think Animal and everyone involved did an awesome job and it'll be a great addition to peoples arsenal of supplements to help keep them on track. I'm hoping the product comes with plenty of servings at a great price because I will absolutely be keeping stocked up at my house.
If anyone is interested I'll post a video of it mixed up on my instagram @mfittin and please if anyone has any questions or comments I'll answer them the best I can.
Thanks again Animal, Universal, and Evan Centopani!
Mike
That would be my assessment almost exactly! Digestibility and content is most important to me.