Hi, I have recently jumped on the Huel wagon (although not tried it yet). I’m getting married on the 31st January so looking to slim down a bit.
I will be doing a weekly weigh in - starting weight being taken on the 1st January. I’m going to run 5k every evening after work Monday - Friday with rest days on the weekend.
I’m going to have Huel for breakfast and lunch each day.
Breakfast with a spoon of decaf coffee mixed in and lunch with a banana blended in.
High protein 600/700 calorie meal for dinner. I won’t be drinking any coffee or normal tea through the day like I usually do with 2 sugars and milk. Looking to drink a flavoured green tea that I like through the day as well as 2-3 litres of water.
Normally eat relatively healthy but I never eat breakfast but I do always have a coffee on the way to work at about 0430 - 0500 with breakfast/lunch around 1100. Then dinner about 1800. No real snacks in between.
The idea of huel is for controlled calories and to eat at regular times and slim down around 7-8kg or at least 2" off the waist - probably not achievable in 4 weeks but will be interested to see what I do achieve in that time. The reason I have said about waist size and weight is because if you gain muscle you may not see the weight loss on the scales but you will see it in the size of your clothes.
I will add to this thread on the 1st, 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th January with my results.
Hi & welcome! Will look forward to your updates, good luck on your mission (hardcore ditching coffee!) and a huge congratulations to you ahead of your big day.
Thankyou, currently run 5k 3 days a week with 2 days weight training in between so will drop the weight training and run 5 days instead. Hopefully will be ok. If I feel like it’s a bit much may be il swim instead on alternate days.
Honestly I wouldn’t pay any attention to this. Always blows my mind when it comes up on here.
You’d have to have an elite level training plan with elite nutrition and flawless rest to even come close to 1lb per week muscle gain, not to mention some help from certain substances.
Besides, you’re unlikely to have a net gain of muscle mass while in a caloric deficit. Muscle building requires a tonne of energy and takes a long time.
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You’re already on the right path with the run however, I would suggest bursts of sprinting in between a full flat out sprint (not too much that you have a heart attact), then back down to your normal speed.
This will burn much more off your waisteline in a shorter period of time.
Previosly, I used an app that I would listen to whilst on a run that would tell me the speeds at which I needed to run at. I did however, do other exercises too.
Ha thanks! Is that the same as fartlek training? At the gym they have a curved speed training treadmill would it be worth doing it on that? Any other exercises recommended for busting the waist line? Cheers
Are you a good swimmer? I’ve lost 3.5 stone in total of body body fat over the last couple of years. Obviously I’ve made changes to what I eat and overhauled my lifestyle but swimming has been my primary exercise. Technically I’m quite a good swimmer. Weekdays I swim about 2k in 45 minutes and weekends double that. I maintain a steady pace throughout which I think is quite good for burning fat.
Rowing is also one of the best all round exercises you can do. Works like 85% of your body and does cardio and strength training in one. Not sure if that is what you want for these 4 weeks though.
I know I have left it a little late got to love a challenge though. I was 15.5 stone and im 186cm tall. I fractured my skull one of the side effects was loss of appetite I lost about a stone in 3 weeks because of this (at beginning of October) and couldnt exercise for a further 3 weeks after that. Iv managed to keep the weight off but not lose any more and find myself tired quite a lot, but I think it’s due to my diet I eat dinner around 1800 and then don’t eat again until around 1100 the next day which consists of soup, fruit and a fat free yoghurt normally. So although I want to slim down further I want to make sure I’m getting the right nutrients from what I’m eating which will hopefully stop me feeling tired. I think the ideal weight for my height is around 13st. My honeymoon is in May do that’s my target date as we are going to Mexico.
I’m not a bad swimmer but not great the biggest problem I have with swimming is the breathing aspect of it. Inhaling above water and exhaling under water I just can’t seem to get the rythym of it. Any tips would be great. I’m pretty good at cycling long distance but like rowing I’m not sure if that’s the best exercise to go for. Some people have said weight training os more effective than cardio as your metabolism continues to burn after the workout, how true that is I don’t know though.
That kind of eating regime isn’t exactly ideal. Tiredness can also come in many forms. A common and often overlooked one is vitamin D deficiency. It’s very common in this country (assuming you are a brit) as we can only generate vitamin D for about half of the year. I suffered with tiredness for a long time. Eventually I paid £90 for a private blood test for test for all the common signs of tiredness, like vit d, iron levels, etc and it did show my vit d levels were border low to very low. I now take a 25ug supplement each morning and I definitely have more energy than before. If you really want to take your health more seriously you need to know what you’re dealing with. My blood test highlighted other areas of concern which I’ve hopefully addressed. I’ll find out in Jan or Feb when I do another one. You won’t get this from the NHS so it’s private only but there’s loads of companies. The one I used is called https://www.forthwithlife.co.uk/
Regarding swimming, you already have the right concept. A lot of people actually try and exhale and inhale above water which is their first problem. Assuming we’re talking about freestyle, you want to exhale about 80% of your air through your nose and have 95% of your air gone before you turn your head out the water. Your exhale wants to be 2 to 3 times longer than your inhale. In real terms, I hold my breathe for the first stroke then start breathing out. I breathe every 3 strokes.
Thing with swimming is you just have to keep doing it and doing it and eventually it will feel right. I used to breathe every 4 and only on my right. I changed to 3 but it took ages for it to feel right breathing on my left. Same as kicking, I changed from constant kick to 1 kick per stroke (called the 2 beat kick), that took 6 months to feel right lol. You already have the right idea, so you just need to do it. I would think breathing should only take 3 hours or so to start to feel right.
Awesome - may consider the blood test. Does the huel not contain vitamin d, if not is it worth trying it as well as the huel do you think? My eating regime is poor. I live in Portsmouth and drive to and from London every day spending between 4-6 hours driving then working on which ever site I’m on for 8-10 hours. So it’s hard to keep a routine eating and having time to prep food with 2 children at home too, time is valuable - another reason iv opted for huel. I’m gonna give the swimming a go I think and keep the running at 3 days with swimming in between. I also suffer from asthma and swimming is a great exercise for this, so just need to getting the breathing right. Thankyou
Huel does contain vit d but remember Huel is only nutritionally complete if you consume 2000kcal per day. If you consume 1000kcal of Huel the rest of your macro’s and micro’s need to come from the rest of the food you eat. Here lies the problem as few foods contain vit d so during the winter especially you won’t be getting enough vit d. The Government have published advice recommending everybody take vit d supplements during the winter so taking a supplement wouldn’t be a bad idea but this is why I advocate a blood test so you can see where you need to improve things.
got to love a challenge though. I was 15.5 stone and im 186cm tall. I fractured my skull one of the side effects was loss of appetite I lost about a stone in 3 weeks because of this (at beginning of October) and couldnt exercise for a further 3 weeks after that. Iv managed to keep the weight off but not lose any more and find myself tired quite a lot, but I think it’s due to my diet I eat dinner around 1800 and then don’t eat again until around 1100 the next day which consists of soup, fruit and a fat free yoghurt normally. So although I want to slim down further I want to make sure I’m getting the right nutrients from what I’m eating which will hopefully stop me feeling tired. I think the ideal weight for my height is around 13st. My honeymoon is in May do that’s my target date as we are going to Mexico.