I am seeing a lot of people my size flocked to very low calorie diet shakes (VLCD) which provide around 600 calories a day and leave you feeling as miserable as death. Inevitably in my experience i end up cycling between binging and starving. I did lose 5 stone some time back following the Atkins diet, and although i felt good, it didn’t feel right eating nothing but meat, veg and fat for the long term and inevitably the weight came back fast when i stopped.
So, i’m really happy to come across Huel, as it allows me to accurately measure out a reasonable daily calorie intake, it tastes good, and is very filling and satisfying - something hard to come by when you are dieting!
I am trying to eat exclusively Huel but will occasionally eat low calorie meals when out with friends as i don’t want to stop socialising.
My beginning weight is 272lbs (123kg, or 19 stone 6lbs), i’m a female and only 5ft4 tall, so this weight is massively unhealthy for me and the heaviest i’ve ever been.
If there’s anyone else out there who has a lot of weight to lose and is using Huel, it’d be great to hear from you.
Here is how i inducted myself onto eating Huel… i didn’t want to go crazy and start eating 500 calories a day as i knew this would fail pretty quick. So i tried the opposite…
For the first few days i ‘free fed’ on Huel and had a small meal in the evening. I got to eat as much Huel as i liked with no restrictions. The first day i had more than 2600 calories… and still felt a little hungry!. The second day i had around 2000 calories, and i’ve naturally dropped from there over the past week to now having around 1500 calories a day total.
I didn’t make a big conscious effort to do this, it happened naturally. As the days go on, i noticed i just wasn’t as hungry anymore, my Huel shakes lasted me much longer, and i just didn’t need as much. I think a BIG part of this comes down to the effects of sugar on my body, and cutting out the sugar whilst eating something filling and healthy naturally pushes my body back into order.
So, now i’m getting used to it, i’m going to aim for around 1600 - 1900 calories a day. I know some women would put on weight at this number of calories, but for me, i can feel the difference in my body already and i am not due an official weigh in until tomorrow. I have seen some people say that overweight folk need the same amount of calories as anyone else and this is simply not true, when you are overweight, especially as big as i am and bigger, just walking up the stairs requires big amounts of energy, as does walking since you are pulling along a big weight, like a normal person carrying backpacks full of weights with them. It frustrates me that people of a normal weight judge and do not realise this important point… try carrying around a 50kg weight on your back and you have an idea…
Activity-wise, i walk my dog every day, and it’s been a struggle to build up to this. When i first got my dog i struggled to walk round the corner and back, now i’ve built it up to walking between 1 and 3 miles on ‘school days’ and a quick 5 minutes round the block on weekends. I am never going to be an athlete, but i’d love to be able to take my dog on a 10 mile hike one day :).
Hi I am new to Huel just started this week with two Huel meals and a normal meal. I’m male 123kg and aiming to lose about 40kg. I’m 5f 10 so definitely overweight and it’s about time I did something about it. Good luck hope all goes well for you!
Good luck to you both. Let us know how it goes in the future.
Your bones and muscles are incredibly strong because as you say, you are hoisting and carrying extra weight with every step you take, so you will need a lot more calories in order to not lose those muscles as you are dropping fat.
I find that if I am getting hungry before my next meal is due, I can add more water to make it thinner but it fills up my stomach more. Others have said that making it thicker helps as its heavier in the tummy. Have you tried experimenting with different amounts of water to find what is right for you?
I wasn’t massively overweight but I wanted to lose 20 kg, I’ve lost 14 already but not 100% on Huel. Even entire weeks were without Huel. When I don’t have Huel I normally take a centrum pill to avoid some form of withdrawal of vitamins.
Huel helps count calories and having a balanced nutrition but I didn’t want to interrupt my social life and meals with family.
I’ll say this, it’s way easier with Huel, when you start eating solid food you feel more the emptyness and it was really hard for a while. I weight myself every day and you start getting the feeling of how some days it goes up and some days it goes down all of a sudden. If you do it once a week you may randomly measure yourself in a weird stage of the cycle and find a measurement which is not entirely an accurate view of your progress.
I didn’t want to do it through exercise because I knew at some point I’d quit that, but I could get used to eating less.
Also, it will take time, it’s better to do it slowly but steady than to do shocks like that, I’ve heard of this 600 calories plans and they sound absolutely unhealthy! I don’t think you can lose more than 1 kg per week without feeling absolutely ruined.
A few tips that may help,
Some apps like MyFitnessPal help keep track of calories.
Count the oil / butter when you are cooking, you are also eating that.
I drink quite a fare share of tea but I don’t have any milk or sugar with it (never did), if you add milk or sugar then it stops helping.
Low calorie snacks like fruit ice lollies, I like the new Kettle bites too.
I take low calorie fizzy drinks every day, but Diet Coke in particular seems to have very bad effects, I used to have that and I stopped, it made me hungry all the time, there’s a lot of stuff to read about it, not sure how certain, but it’s true overweight people tend to drink Diet Coke.
Anyway, your path is much longer and difficult than mine but I can say this.
None of my clothes fit any longer and I don’t want to buy new ones until I get to the end.
My face is so different, like 15 years ago but aged.
I feel so much more energetic every day, I sleep better, I move better, my legs feel lighter.
20kg is a lot and I didn’t even realize in my every day life I was so overweight, 40-50kg I can’t imagine the other changes you will start experiencing, but it’s worth it, I hope you succeed and you learn to sustain a healthy lifestyle!
alleworcase - i prefer Huel made up similar to the instructions, or just slightly thicker, it tastes much better. I try to not gulp it down and spread it out over about 20 minutes or so, it seems to be what works best for me. If i gulp in one go i would happily go to the kitchen and have another because i’m still hungry, but if i eat it too slow it feels like i haven’t eaten at all.
fd8s0 - that’s impressive, 14kg down, i know how much effort it takes to get there… yep, the 600 calories plans are as dire as they sound, some people claim they don’t feel hungry on them (they’re lying or trying to trick their brain!), especially since the VLCD shakes (surprisingly) contain a fair amount of sugar, it makes it much harder than it needs to be.
Thanks for the tips - i do drink sugar free fizzy drinks myself as my ‘treat’, when you are in the habit of binge eating they definitely don’t help and leave you craving more sugar. So far on Huel, it’s been OK though and not had that effect on me, will keep an eye out for it. Tea and coffee, i don’t drink much at the moment as it’s so warm, i like making iced herbal teas at the moment - come the winter though this could be an issue for me, especially if i find myself near a Costa, i do like snuggling up with a large latte.
Thanks again everyone.
p.s, it’s weigh-day today, i’m 2lbs down this week :).
I’m around 4stone overweight. 15 months ago I bought a fitbit, I struggled to make my target 10k steps a day. Very, very slowly I made progress and now my step target us 15k steps a day and I make that fairly easily most days (school days are easy) We don’t need to be athletes but taking the dog on a 10 mile hike is very definitely achievable xx
To keep this on (Huel) topic, one of the things I’ve noticed since taking Huel is that my food cravings have completely diminished. I would describe myself as a chocoholic and I realised one day, very early on into my Huelling, that my need for chocolate had completely disappeared!
15k steps a day is great! I walked 2 miles yesterday and only managed 5000 steps, and feel pretty shattered. I work from home which really helps (in that i can walk anytime) and doesn’t help (in that i have nowhere to walk to if i’m not motivated, and i am always 2 steps away from the fridge). What was pretty shocking to me was that i couldn’t walk to the end of the road and back without being in agony a few weeks ago (literally less than 100 meters), i’m only 33 years old!
Huel is reducing cravings in me also. Infact i’ve been surprised by this effect as previously the only way to reduce cravings was to go extremely low carb. Never thought it was possible to feel this full and crave stuff this little whilst eating so healthily. I’ve also had an energy / concentration surge and gone back to managing my business after too many months spent “working” on my Netflix viewing list.
Hi. I am using Huel to lose weight too. I am and 15 stone 11lb, 5 foot, 3 inch, 35 year old female.
I have just tried my first Huel and I have come across 2 issues.
The vanilla tastes weird to me, like it needs salt or something. I am going to try the unflavored one later and see if that one is different.
I am not sure I will be able to consume a full 500ml portion at a time. I just don’t know if my body can handle the volume. I think I will split my Huel meals into little and often, or just have smaller portions, so 2 scoops instead of 3.
My plan is to use it a bit like the slimfast plan, 2 huel meals a day, 2 healthy snacks a day and 1 balanced meal.
You can certainly add a little salt to Huel without causing a problem. Huel is very low in salt, way below recommended maximums so there’s room there to add extra if you want!
i also split my Huel into smaller portions sometimes, i’ll make up a ‘full portion’ and just put some of it aside in the fridge for later, it tastes quite different freshly made vs chilled for an hour or two in the fridge, i like the variation.
I found adding a little soy sauce helped and using half unflavoured and half vanilla, and some ice.
I did find today I csnt seem to deal with the liquid nature of it, so added some rice and veg, just for something to chew on each mouthful.
I ended up getting a fried chicken meal when out with one of my kids today, and felt super guilty all afternoon. Then my husband said “things won’t change over night, give it time, one “bad” meal here and there isn’t a big deal, and you know you, give it 2 weeks and you’ll be eating more fruit and veg than a bunny”
If i happen to be out, i will eat something i feel like eating (i try and stay away from high-sugar stuff because that gives me cravings, but something like fried chicken i’d eat especially if it’s KFC, i can’t help myself), and i just log the calories and adjust my Huel downwards accordingly for that day. I think for me, the danger is if i then think “i’ve blown it” and start eating like a pig for the rest of the day (week/month/year), but, it takes 3500 calories to put on 1lb of fat, so even having a big 2000 calorie blow out isn’t the end of the world, easy to fix within a few days… which is exactly what your husband is saying of course.
One pleasant side effect i’ve found with Huel is that over time my stomach appears to be shrinking, i am more satisfied on less ‘content’ so when i do cheat i don’t need to eat as much.
AWESOME thread! Thank you!
I’m 5st OW 42yr old 5’2" short female - not good!
History of EDs 20yrs ago - and whilst I don’t now have a classic ED as such I have never in my life, that I can rmbr, managed to not obsess about food and exercise!
I’m now trying to find what will be my life balance - 4eva!
I’ve discovered I LOVE yoga and am building up my classes/practice there - I concur Adrienne is wonderful!
I’m also starting to think/realise that I may never be free from food obsession and that I just need to learn better coping strategies - and I think Huel could be key to that.
I’m transitioning to 90% Huel Mon-Fri - evening meals this week - lunches & evening meals next.
I refuse to give up my eggs for breakii - LOVE them! and I LOVE grenade CarbKilla bars and enjoy a half with coffee am+arvo - but that seems like a great balance for me - if I can stick to it.
I too feel soOo much better after a Huel meal and less issues with sugar cravings - tho I have been actively avoiding processed sugar for best part of a year now - feel soOo much better - and have drunk 2-3L water a day for 20+years.
xx
Sounds like you have a good plan figured out FiFi, good to have you with us :).
Still going strong here, eaten out a little more than i’d like the past week but i’m staying within my allowances and Huel is helping massively with that.
Yep, your story is the same as mine. I too last 5 stone on Atkins, ran two marathons and kept the weight off, but then kept getting kidney stones and my diet had to change.
I’m 188cm tall and was 136kg when I started Huel in May. I’m 131kg now and I’m finding it really easy. It’s taught me that when I drink alcohol in any amount, I want to binge eat. I also binge when I am stressed. I never knew either of these before.
Atkins also lead me to bad habits, like eating lots of meat and nuts without moderation. I am now shocked by the calorific value of these and am learning to moderate.
I have had the odd weekend like last weekend where I had beer and a take out on Friday night, a BBQ on Saturday (without booze) and again on Sunday (without booze). I put on a kilo over the weekend and still feel pretty bloated and rough, but I’m back on the Huel and refocusing for a weekend away this weekend. I’ll take my Huel with me (200g a day).
I’m not massively overweight but certainly have weight to lose. Started Huel 3 weeks ago. I’m 5ft 10, male, active 3 times a week with exercise and weighed in at 102kg
I’ve had myself accurately weighed today, 90kg
That’s a 12kg loss in three weeks, almost two stone !!
I started with two, but now having three shakes a day with a usual cooked meal in the evening. Having on average 1900 calories a day
I’m also drinking loads of water, stopped tea & coffee, and snacks in between Huel shakes are limited to foods such as a hard boiled egg, a handful of cashews/almonds or 1/3 a Trek protein bar (they come in a bar of three blocks)
At that rate of weight loss I could be under eating, but I don’t feel hungry and tend to have a fairly huge meal in the evening
The hardest part of any journey in life is starting so good on you Donna.
Remember Huel is not a fat loss (remember fat is what you are wanting to lose) tool the only way you will lose fat is by eating less energy than your body burns during the day.
3500 calories worth of energy in a pound of fat so drop your needed caloric intake by 500 a day and you lose 1 pound a week which is a healthy and sustainable way of dieting, any less and it will be hard psychologically hence why people drop out of diets.
Your right in that you will need more calories if you are heavier so lets look at how much you might need, if you do little to no exercise (getting your heart rate up for more than half an hour) which would be your base rate of energy burn, looking at your height and weight you would need 2300 to maintain your fat stores so dropping down to 1800 would result in 1 pound a week and 1300 2pounds a week,any less would be detrimental to your health and mental wellbeing.
The more time you take in your journey they more good habits you will instil into yourself and the more rewarding it will be when you complete it not that being healthy is something your should be completing because it is a lifestyle change.
I’m three weeks + into my Huel jouney now, and I’ve started to notice I am getting hungry quicker between meals. Typically I was having a shake around 7.30am, my next not until 12pm with perhaps a small snack in between
Now I seem to be hungry a couple of hours after my first shake, and am tempted to have my second around 10am. I’m taking a third shake with me on my journeys these days and will typically have that now around 1pm - which leaves me hungry around 4pm. I don’t tend to have my evening meal until after 8pm so that leaves me wanting more snacks before hand
When I started with Huel my average calorie consumption was around 1800 per day and I have lost loads of weight, the last few days I appear to be having around 2100 calories
Anyone else notice this ? A craving for more Huel throughout the day ??
