I’m 44 yrs old and 18st 5 lbs and 6ft tall with a BMI of 34.8 with a low activity level.
I have been using HUEL gluten free for a few weeks now, Taking the advice and replacing one meal for a week using the 5/1 method using 100g of Huel and 500g of water at around 7.15 to 7.30am.
In the second week I used Huel at lunchtime 12.30pm with the same 5/1 proportion. This was fine for a week but since then I’m feeling hungry when I returned home around 5pm.
I tried increasing the cals to 600 (146 grams) in 500ml of water. This was a lot to consume and was a very thick consistency, but the hunger still remained and I was putting on weight snacking in the hours before dinner. My wife and I often eat around 8pm with a non Huel meal that follows our child’s bath and bedtime routine. Knowing what calories I have eaten and knowing they are good calories hasn’t increased my willpower to improve my non Huel diet. I don’t have a problem with eating the same food over and over. I prefer to have choices removed simplifying my lifestyle. Going 100% Huel would disrupt the family meal time which is important when trying to show an example to a young child.
Before Huel my diet was terrible and I was worried about how I could get myself out of an unhealthy lifecycle. I don’t smoke and rarely drink and I’ve now cut caffeine out of my diet. I should be looking at around 1800 cals a day for a weekly weight loss of 2lbs, but that isn’t happening.
I’m now trying Breakfast at 410 cals (100g) and lunch at 500 cals (122g) both in 500ml of water and I’ll see how that goes.
The health benefits of Huel have been amazing. My skin has improving significantly, no dryness or itching. My eyesight feels sharper clearer. I was borderline diabetic and have high cholesterol. I’m on GP prescribed medication for gastric reflux and since using Huel I’ve not experienced any flare up. My stomach isn’t bloated. I’m not full of gas and my digestion has improved. I’m looking forward to the next blood test at the GP to see what improvements Huel has made to my health.
I’m thinking of stopping daily use of the reflux medication and just use it as an when I feel I need it. I’m also thinking of joining a gym for cardio purposes to assist in weight loss and increase my fitness levels.
Any tips on any low carb and high protein snacks that can will the void between 5pm - 8 pm would be appreciated.
I found a similar problem when I first started using Huel, I was finding that while it made me feel very full for a while I was finding myself starving hungry before my next Huel meal and in that last couple of hours before having a proper dinner.
I think the main reason for this was that I dropped my daily intake of calories by about 400 so my body was simply not used to the reduced calorific intake and within a couple of weeks it was used to it so things got better.
However I also found one thing that made a massive change was breaking my Huel down into a number of smaller drinks throughout the day rather than one large one for breakfast and lunch. So instead of having 120g at 8am and 120g at 2pm with nothing else until dinner at about 8 I split it down into 60g at 8am, 11am, 2pm and 5pm and I found that way left me going the whole day without feeling so hungry I had to snack at any point. That’s the joy of Huel, because it’s so easy to make up drinks it’s very easy to consume it on a schedule that doesn’t fit well with regular food.
I’m a little older than you but had similar experiences. I dropped down to 1500 calories a day to try and shift a kilo a week (look for the Mathematical Diet post for great spreadsheet that really helps). I find myself basically hungry all the time but push through it. You have to get used to a more even level of energy - no peaks and troughs.
I too have the skin thing, but I’m, pretty much on 80% of Huel across the week, so it’s quite pronounced
Firstly, isn’t it great when Hueler’s just take the words right out of your mouth/fingertips! My advice would also have been to break it down. Although I eat a bit more for lunch/breakfast, I’d say this is the best way to go about it.
Also, 2lb is quite a lot to try and lose and I wonder if maybe if you are trying to lose too much?
So great to hear about your positive experiences and hope that your cholesterol results are positive. Keep up the hard work.
So far so good, the split seems to be working. I make 2 batches of 122g a day and split them into 4 meals taken at 7:15, 12:00, 15:00 and 17:00 and still have the family meal around 8pm. I’ve also introduced a 30 mins walk during my lunch break, burning off an additional 800 cals a week.