Hi all, just got my package today so I felt I should introduce myself. I’m Shane, 45 and like many people, feel the need to improve my diet and be healthier. A colleague introduced Huel to me - he started taking it just over a week ago - and after looking at the product and reading lots of posts on this forum I decided to give it a shot!
Before I go on, I want to say how great this forum is. After placing my order yesterday afternoon, I spent about 3 hours last night reading tons of posts on here. This place is so supportive! It’s so nice to see a community where everyone is nice to each other - we need more of this on the Internet!
As for me, I’m reasonably active. I’m a fan of P90X3 and have done a few rounds of it. I’ve just started a new round, so this is a great time to supplement my diet with Huel.I’m not under any false impression here; I’m aware it’s not a weight loss drink. Having said that, I’m impressed by the number of people on here who have lost weight progressively over time, and I’m excited to see what Huel can do for me!
I purchased two bags of the berry flavour. I figured I could replace either lunch or dinner (dinner 6 days a week; lunch on Sundays as I only get 30 minutes for lunch at work). I had my first drink this evening. I’ve had protein drinks before so I’m used to the powdery/chalk-like consistency of some of them. I mixed 3 scoops with 400ml water and added a banana, then after blending I added a further 170ml water, as per the instructions. It tasted pretty good! Not too sweet, not overpowering. A little chalk-like but certainly nothing to make me gag or feel unpleasant. It’s early days, but I don’t think I’ll have any issue with the taste and/or consistency. Oh, I’ve also ordered some Flavdrops, so we’ll see if they help when they arrive.
Anyway, I’ve rambled enough already. For those who persisted, thanks for reading! It’ll be nice to make some friends in this community and share stories with others!
Thanks for the welcome I agree; I don’t see any issue with taste at all. I guess if you’ve had protein drinks before then it’s not too hard to get used to!
Thanks, Chris! Do you know what? I was reading your thread last night until 1am - it was riveting! There’s not much I could add - so many people had said so many nice things - except to say I really admire your consistency and determination! The details you post in your, er, posts are really useful (both for yourself and for others)!
I’m thrilled to be on this journey with so many cool people
Day 2 of Huel; I mixed a load of blueberries with my drink this evening. To be honest they didn’t really add much to the flavour!
Anyway, yesterday’s start went well. I was really hungry when it came to dinner time, and as I drank my Huel I thought to myself, “is this really going to fill me up?” Well it did, and it didn’t. After finishing I felt strange, in that I kind of felt full (and a little bloated) but still a bit hungry at the same time. For the rest of the evening I felt very slightly hungry. I was worried I’d crave a snack as the night went on but it was weird - the feeling of hunger stayed exactly the same. At the same time, I didn’t crave anything to eat at all. It’s almost as if I had a feeling of “fake hunger”.
This morning I woke up feeling only slightly peckish, and I usually wake up pretty hungry. Even as the day went on, I never experienced any feeling of being really hungry.
Is this a normal reaction? I quite like it actually. My hunger felt manageable!
Haha I totally get what you mean! I chalk it down to something like our muscle-memory, or whatever mechanism it is that remembers our routine and physical habits. For me, my mind couldn’t accept that just liquid, regardless of its nutritional completeness, was a meal. It wanted SOMETHING, like chewing, or savouriness, or crunch, just the food routine I was previously accustomed to. This could be what contributes to the peckishness without real hunger for nutrients, I feel.
But like all habits, it can be changed over time! My mind now looks at my 112g of Huel as a good complete meal that’ll keep me sated for a couple hours. Heck, it views the portion of Huel as more of a meal than a nutritionally unbalanced meal like a coupla KFC chicken pieces or pizza!
I remember hearing about researchers in Japan who were developing a way of imitating these sensory experiences to enhance liquid meals like Huel. I couldn’t find an article on it but I’m pretty sure it was on this episode of the BBC’s “Crowd Science” podcast:
So I’m now on day 4 of Huel and its going well! And by that I mean I’ve had no adverse side effects at all (you know what I’m referring to…)
I’m pleasantly surprise by how my hunger has been suppressed since taking it. I do still feel hungry - at the appropriate times - but I’m not feeling hungry before bedtime like I used to. It’s great!
I’ve just set up a subscription; I’m going to replace lunch and dinner with Huel - this is mostly a cost cutting effort on my part. So starting next week I’ll be 2/3 Huel-based. Looking forward to it! I’ll update this post when I get started.
To be honest, I haven’t used it every day (yet), but I will do very soon. When I have used it, it’s been great! The flavdrops helped with flavour, and I’ve stayed full for 4-5 hours after each drink. I never had a single issue with flatulence or bowel trouble (yay!); it’s all gone swimmingly!
One thing I have noticed (and I’m not sure it’s placebo or Huel actually influenced this) is that my mood has been a lot better recently, and it’s certainly helped in my job (I work in retail). I’d like to think that getting better nutrition is playing a key role here!
…I’ll report back again once I move to two Huel meals a day (should be by the end of this week)!
I agree; I don’t see any issue with taste at all. I guess if you’ve had protein drinks before then it’s not too hard to get used to!
