Thought an overview of my first month and some tips might be useful for first timers.
Why:
At home, I love food, cooking and the social aspect of food and would never replace that.
Work is a different matter however.
Realistically I never eat breakfast (unless it’s a pastry), or have time/money for a healthy work lunch.
Huel works perfectly for this and hence for just under a month, I’ve been using it just to replace work breakfasts and work lunches.
I eat regular food at all other times.
Results:
I’ve found it fantastic, almost life changing…
I’ve been almost hyper with energy, have no “food lulls” at work following lunch, have saved a fair bit of money and surprising amount of time. I’ve also lost a bit of weight.
The time saving aspect was the most un-expected benefit.
Breakfast for me now takes 30secs to prepare and I can drink whilst commuting.
Lunch again takes 30secs, leaving a full lunch hour to chill properly.
Tips:
I can’t recommend enough giving huel a go for a month and seeing if you get the same effects.
I think how you use it is a personal thing, but here’s how I did it.
1). Flavours.
You can order flavour samples online, to be refunded on your next order. They weren’t for me, but if you do use them I find they have to sit a while after mixing before drinking (to allow the sweetener to fully dissolve and spread).
For me I found the unflavoured one worked best, allowing me to flavour it myself if necessary, without getting bored of the taste. I tried a few options (powdered cranberry etc), but in the end have found 1tsp per serving of powdered cacao is a good balance of tasty vs convenience.
I’ve found adding the cacao directly to the big huel bag and mixing works fine = again means time saved when preparing.
2). Convenience.
For me the key benefit of Huel is convenience. If you make an effort to maximise this, it ends up working much better for you.
I’ve bought 10 little jars from amazon and each weekend, using a jam funnel, I fill them with Huel ready for the next week. As I’m not replacing all my food with Huel, I’m happy approximating 3 scoops in each rather than weighing.
This means on a work morning I simply fill my beaker with water, empty a jar into it, shake it and walk out the door (slipping one more jar into my pocket for lunch), that’s it.
3). Shaker
Always fill the shaker with water first, then add powder.
On the first shake, try to make sure the powder won’t head directly into the drinking area, as it can get stuck.
Buy one of those wire mixing balls from amazon and add to the shaker.
The ‘guard’ in theory is there to aid mixing, as you shake the liquid you are forcing the mix through the mesh and also creating turbulence, breaking the lumps up allowing them to mix properly. Obviously if you are not encountering lumps then you must have a good arm technique ;D
I forgot it once and ended up with my most lumpy Huel so far (despite shaking it like a madman), but then I also have never encountered your clumping issue
I know it may seem that way, but it is actually a ‘strainer’ - Buchsteiner’'s word not mine. The idea to prevent any lumps from a smoothie or ice being swallowed. So if you are still getting lumps in your Huel, then replacing the strainer after shaking will mean you won’t consume any residual lumps. However, lumps are easily preventable with a good technique. Check out our Top 10 Tricks and Tips video.
In short: Add water, add Huel, shake hard for 10-20 seconds, top up with more water and reshake for 10-20.
I’ve just done 1 month on Huel too and the second months supply came today. I’ve been very skeptical of stuff like this in the past, but I decided to take the plunge and see for myself. So I ordered 2 bags of vanilla and I have it with water and ice for breakfast and lunch 5 days a week with regular meals in the evening. During the weekend I don’t have huel and just have regular meals.
I feel a big difference in my energy and mood and also I was worried that I would struggle to curb my hunger as I tend to do 1 hour in the gym 3-4 days a week. So far I’ve been having Huel at 9am and I’m not hungry until after training when I finish around 3:30pm and when I have Huel at lunchtime I tend to not be hungry until around 7-7:30pm. One of the things I’ve stopped doing is snacking in between too which has been a big surprise for me.
Huel isn’t for everyone but from month 1, I’ve saved a lot of money and ultimately time. I admit there were times that I felt slightly bored with it however I’ve noticed a difference in weight and I’ve just had to be disciplined with myself. Knowing it is £40 per month that covers breakfast/lunch for 4 weeks for me just makes it worth maintaining.
Huel is supposed to last (in its bag) for a year, so I’d doubt it would have a problem, as long as it’s not in direct sunlight, for 5 days (I only prepare one week in advance at a time).
You could always keep the jars in a cupboard if you were worried. I store mine in a kind of pantry = usually completely dark (the light in the photo is from a bulb).
