Why should someone take a meal replacement shake as opposed to e ating a meal?

People drink meal replacements because they don't know any better. Meal replacements are just a scam...a bad way to get the nutrients you should be getting from real food and for a high price. Most of them contain cheap ingredients and are sold as supplements which means you are not protected from contamination, poor quality, false labels, mandatory label warnings, testing, etc. as are food and drugs in the US.

You're asking for personal testimony which is about the worst way to get good information. Here's why.

Consider where you're trying to get your information. Rememeber you're asking strangers of unknown knowledge, character, integrity, experience, intelligence, etc. for answers. Unless they provide you with good links to credible outside sources or other citations and references, what you will get will be mostly opinions and not facts. And, the more difficult your question is to answer, the more likely the answers you get will be misleading or just plain wrong. Always look for validation (references, etc.) before believing what you read. If someone replies that they had some experience with something, don't believe it. The opinions of people are too often infused with misunderstanding, miscommunication, misinterpretation, prejudice, rumor, superstition, myths, or simple ignorance.

Asking other's for opinions is also unscientific and fraught with potential pitfalls. When scientists want to know if something works, they have to do long, tedious, and very expensive double blind, triple controlled cross over studies to get statistically significant results which have real meaning. If personal testimony meant anything, they would factor that into their results. And, they never do that, because, personal testimony is too subjective and just about worthless. That doesn't mean it is always wrong. It only means it is unreliable.

So, review your answers but don't stop there. If you want the truth, you'll have to work for it. Use reliable, credible sources to confirm what you've learned. Check all citations and references. Ask other people you know to be qualified to answer your question. And, if it's important, consult with a known expert in the field; perhaps a doctor, scientist, college professor, etc. to validate the data or information you've gathered. Beware the websites with advertising and trust most those which are endorsed or operated by known credible institutions such as universities, government agencies, professional societies, regulatory agencies, nonprofit corporations, etc. Dot gov and dot edu is usually better than dot com.

Above all, be skeptical, use critical thinking, and avoid forming an opinion until you have the collected the best possible information. People who just pass along the opinions of others are the reason the online community is fraught with urban legends, myths, and lots of bad information...especially in this forum.

Also, there is only one reason you can be on a plateau. You are no longer burn more energy than you consume. It could be cheating. It could be missing some intake. It could be not tracking energy in and out. It could be you lost weight and forget to decrease your maximum daily intake alowance. Etc. As long as you're expending more energy than you're consuming, you have to burn your body....usually fat.

Good luck and good health!!

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Meal replacement shakes are essentially highly processed food. They (or any food) do not have a particular ingredient that will help with weight loss, they are simply low calorie fuel. So yes, they are for convenience.

Are they bad for you?

Not particularly, a cooked balance whole food meal (i.e. not processed [much, if at all]) will of course be much better, but it (the shake) will contain a balance of carbs and protein and perhaps somewhat fortified with vitamins, it SHOULD contain fat too, to be balanced, but of course every diet fad person thinks that fat in = fat stored so they can't sell their product with balanced fat content.

*additional ramble*

What I always want to stress to people is, in order to be better for life, you need to make sensible improvements to diet. I don't mean this perfect meal that takes 45 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook every day, just swap processed stuff for less processed stuff, sugary stuff for less sugary stuff (cereal for eggs is a great start, a little toast is ok if eggs are too boring), an elevator for a flight of stairs. Practical stuff. So when you lower calories so you are loosing weight, the quality needs to go UP, not down, just because something is lower calorie doesn't mean its better for you. Be proud of yourself when you eat a good whole meal that tastes good, season things you find bland (add salt and pepper to an omellete, get some chillies/paprika and natural yoghurt to make a little sauce for that plain chicken breast that you find boring).