You are looking at things in single data points. Shopping for food is not always tedious. Cooking is not always tedious. Eating is not always tedious. Cleaning up after is not always tedious. But cooking/eating healthy actually does take a non-trivial amount of time and effort. This is one reason why fast food is so popular. Convenience. Do you think most people eat at McD's because they view that as a great meal? I don't. It is about convenience. No matter how you look at it... preparing food does take time. Maybe it doesn't need to take hours every meal, but it still takes time. Shopping, prep, cleanup... it all takes some time. So what is so wrong with trading a fast McD's burger for a fast nutrient shake? Or having a fast nutrient shake every morning instead of a bowl of cereal?
People talk as if they eat some gourmet meal surrounded by friends, 3 times a day, everyday and would miss that immensely if they drank nutrient shakes. Today I had cereal for breakfast and a Subway sandwich for lunch. Both cases I ate alone. I ate those things because I needed to eat, they were near me and I viewed them as the healthier choice given the options I had in front of me. Both of those meals could easily have been replaced with a filling shake and I would not have reduced my daily food pleasure. Tonight... tonight I will eat a nice meal. And enjoy it.
