Here is the situation, I’m morbidly obese, fat, gargantuan however you want to say it. Due to some high stress situations, I’ve got in a bad habit of eating 1 meal a day. Recently I’ve started a GLP-1 medication and went to 1mg a couple weeks ago. As a result I’m getting about 400 - 800 with some of those coming from rockstar to stay awake. It’s a terrible situation and going about like you’d expect, if you expect I feel like the living dead. I’ve done tons of research (because that’s what I do) and I think Huel has the answers. Here is my tentative plan.
Breakfast: Huel Black sipped over a couple of hours. Huel Enerfy+ (temporary replacement for Rockstar healthier and cheaper. the goal is to get this to a once in a while thing)
Lunch: Huel Supperblend again sipped over a couple of hours.
Dinner: Basically, what I’m eating now 400 - 600 calories focusing on protein first.
Add a couple of snakes in there and I should be in a sustainable range. I will be talking to my Dr about this plan as well, but I wanted to see if anyone who knows more about Huel then I do sees any obvious errors in this idea.
I’m not sure what size shakes you are intending to use (and I’m not sure what calories are in super blend as I’m in the UK and it’s not available here) but sounds like you could’ve consuming more calories from that. You are definitely wanting to be looking at less than 2000cals a day to start.
Supper blend is about 250 calories. Nutritionally you can think of it as one scope of black with greens and “superblends” added. So, I’m using it to fill my fruit and vegetable void while still getting all three macros in the meal.
With how things are going right now I don’t think I could eat 2000 calories a day unless I just ate junk until I was sick all day.
It’s just weird for me to be in a situation where I’m trying to add calories to my diet.
Well that sounds like a good start. I think getting into too big a calorie deficit is where people become unstuck because they feel hungry all the time, and hunger is demotivating.
Losing weight gradually is where you benefit more as it’s easier to sustain long term. My weight fluctuates a bit although I’ve never been obese. And of course you can adjust things as you go along.
With me the wagovy kills all apatite. When I say what I’m eating right now, that’s eating until I’m uncomfortably full. Clearly that’s not a long-term strategy. I’m hoping I can sip on a shake over the course of a couple hours instead of forcing food down multiple times a day.
Welcome to the forum! Seems you’ve made it onto the UK one we have a US one but happy to help here!
It’s very difficult pinpoint specific advice for people as everyone is different right? You’ve almost hit the nail on the head with what you say but think we can help a little more. My only caveat to this is that the advice I give will be generic, but we always advise that with any medication, you seek a doctor’s advice!
Huel can be a helpful tool to support intake for those taking GLP-1 medications. Many of our meal products, such as our Black Edition Powder, is nutritious, portion controlled, and a source of protein and fiber. When appetite is low or eating feels like a chore, Huel provides nutrient dense meals and snacks to make it easier to stay nourished, energized, and on track with your goals. We have a specific page with some products we think help with GLP-1 - https://huel.com/collections/glp-1-foods-and-meals
Well done for your proactive approach. Just a couple of psychological observations, that come from the domain of traditional yoga wisdom.
in order to wean oneself off an obsession with food, it helps to drop anything addictive, that’s full of zizz (ultra flavoursome, sugary, fatty, salty…), and put together a diet that is, to the senses, rather dull and bland. Then the mind will gradually lose interest in eating of its own accord. It won’t count the seconds until the next food event. IMHO Huel products fit the bill quite well. They’re healthy and nutritious, not bad to eat, but not exciting.
You mention “sipping over a couple of hours”. IMHO that’s turning the whole “putting things in my mouth” into a bit of an all day event. From a psychological perspective, I’d choose to consume (neither too fast, not greedily, nor too slow, dragging it out) and then move on. Empty my mind of thoughts about food. Double-down on my interests in other things.
Good luck!
ps paradoxically, from the perspective of stopping thinking about food in a way that is excessive or unhealthy, it is recommended to focus on ones food whilst eating it, to savour it. Apparently this is because it influences digestion, awareness of what one is eating stimulates the appropriate digestive processes. That’s another advantage of eating something bland, it doesn’t matter how much you focus, you won’t get excited.
pps there’s a recommendation from Ayurveda that meals should contain something crunchy as well. Is that merely for a sensation of “satisfaction”? Or is there some deeper reason? Nuts might just about do it. Note that nuts should be chewed an enormous amount if they are to be digested properly. Food is such an infinite subject when you look into it!