im built for comfort, i aint built for speed. im also built for an early grave and a crane to get me into the coffin, so i figured i might want to have a look at changing that.
ive only been taking huel for a week now, once a day with 3 scoops as suggested, no problems so far and so im looking to replace more meals and take a serious look at using this to lose the weight.
my question is, just how drastic can i go with this? it doesnt need to be exact with weights and measures and timetables. i read the “fat loss” guide but most of the chatter im seeing here is people looking to lose a few pounds and slim down for the holidays, what if someone wants one of those pictures holding out their comically oversized clown trousers? think i have a shot at that with huel?
im planning to cut down to 2 scoops twice a day and a regular meal of an evening, but im wondering if 1 scoop is doable? in 6 months or so i may even be able to buy some scales that go up to my weight and then i can actually track my progress. heres hoping.
I’m in the exact same boat with my weight, wanting to loose quiet an amount and it’s my first week trying Huel.
My aim is to have 2 3 scoop shakes, 1 for breakfast and 1 for lunch and and then an evening meal, I’ve downloaded the myfitnesspal app like others have suggested and am watching the calories.
My aim is for around 2100kcal a day and can’t see why it couldn’t be achieved?
Hi there - I started with two three scoop meals and an evening meal some nine months ago. Now I am on one three scoop meal at around midday (counts as intermittent fasting) and a high protein/veg low/limited carb meal at night.
I was not specifically looking for fast weight loss and have often snacked as well + I have a single scoop at night with raw cacao powder and a little water. I have still lost 1.5 stone (9.5kg).
If I wanted to lose weigh fast I would do one three scoop meal at midday (with banana, baby spinach and blueberries) and one really well balanced meal at night (No processed food!!!)
I would also only drink water with a little pure lemon juice.
aye ive seen some folks who have all that excess skin after some drastic weight loss, maybe ill be holding that out instead of my trousers. i havent been mixing anything in with my huel other than a flavour sachet with my vanilla bag, i drink plenty of water and tea as well. my evening meal is likely to be the letdown as im not one for calorie counting, which is why im trying the bag of powder, so i can just use less of it in the mix rather than balancing out my plate. but as long as i cut my regular eating habit in half and replace 2 meals with huel im thinking its going to be decent enough. i may have a crack at 1 scoop for breakfast and 2 scoops for lunch. i guess trial and error is the thing here. the calculator linked on the guides page tells me 2000ish cal to lose 2lb a week, so give it 4 years and i may fit the branded tshirt i got with my first order. ill stick it in a glass case with a “break incase of thinness” label slapped on it somewhere.
Is it the effort of calorie counting that you don’t like the idea of, or is it the principle? I only ask because the app most people on here seem to use for calorie counting, including myself (MyFitnessPal) allows you literally just scan the barcode of whatever you’re eating, say how much of it you’re eating, and that’s your calories logged (anything without a barcode can be searched for and it’s really not that much harder)
It takes the effort out of calorie counting because you don’t have to spend time finding out what the nutritional value of your food is and tediously recording calories - but you do get a reasonably accurate (as in, no less accurate than if you were to manually log it all on your own) calorie log as a result.
I pretty much discounted the idea until I actually tried it, but it’s been really useful. It’s especially useful for if you don’t 100% stick to the plan - as long as you still log everything - because it gives you a much better idea of exactly how badly you’re deviating from the plan (otherwise we tend to downplay it in our minds)
no principals against it, entirely the effort of making something balanced. ive always been a fussy eater, my diet for years has been meat, pasta and rice, almost exclusively. ill make up a curry, chili, lasagna, bolognese, things like that. all out of a jar mind you, nothing but salt and sugar with tomato sauce mixed in, the trouble being im the only person in the house eating it so a mix that “feeds 4 people” will go between me and the dog. i know making my own would make all the difference in the world, but thats the effort part and im sure thats why lots of people are on this very website. something like that is still going to be my evening meal, because thats basically all i know how to make anyway. but instead of having that twice a day, one of those is being replaced by huel, and next week my morning fry up or sausage and bacon butty will also be being replaced by huel. ill likely throw in an apple for a snack through the day, but thats going to be it. 2 mixes, 1 (smaller) dinner.
i know the right way to do things would be to change everything i eat and cut down massively, unfortunately thats not going to happen with me because i cant cook and vindaloo tastes too damn good. but less vindaloo and two huel mixes a day, i can work with that. throwing scoops of powder into water is something even i can manage.
That depends - these days I think anyone with any sense generally advises against massive unsustainable changes to your diet. It’s more important to find a balance between healthy and enjoyable - if your diet is healthy but not remotely enjoyable you’ll be back on your old diet pretty quickly.
Personally I still think you’d benefit from the calorie counting app, especially if you’re mostly just cooking using jar sauces (jars have barcodes so they’re very easy to log :p). A calorie counting app isn’t there primarily to help you plan or prepare a balanced meal, just to record the meals you eat and tell you roughly how many calories you need to aim for - the only thing you need to do is to be honest about what you’re eating today. If it turns out you’re downing 5,000 calories on a daily basis, it’ll tell you that, and it’ll also give you a better idea which foods are pushing you over the edge (e.g. a 5 pack of donuts is the difference between a 2,500 and a 4,000 calorie diet :p). And perhaps surprisingly, that gives you a lot more motivation to start making healthier choices, where “healthier” is relative - it doesn’t have to mean leafy salads for lunch, it could just mean not buying a 5 pack of donuts every day, rather than simply trying to overhaul your diet without really understanding where/how badly you’re going wrong.
oh i know where im going wrong, giant quantities of bad food for many many years lol. i dont tend to snack or have the sweet tooth, but when i sit down to breakfast, lunch and dinner, im eating like its going out of fashion. if i scanned the code on any jar of my cooking sauces it would probably tell me yeah thats a bad thing to eat but at least its for a family of 4 people… and then i sit down to eat the whole lot myself and its gonna ring some serious alarm bells. i probably am chowing down 5000 calories in my 3 a day, im 6’3 and pushing close to 40st, that britains fattest man title could be within my grasp with the channel 5 show to go with it, but call me crazy, im not about that glamorous celebrity life.
i know im not going to be able to change my evening eats, i can cut it down but if i were to go 100% huel or swap out for food i just dont like then as you say im going to fall off this wagon pretty quick. switching breakfast from 2kcal or so of sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, black puddin and toast for a single scoop of huel should make a huge difference. swapping lunch of a pile of meat and pasta or rice, another 2k or so, for a double / single scoop drink is also another big step in that direction. so far ive not been feeling hungry on 3 scoops of huel, so im thinking its going to work out. i gotta eat something though, so tea time is me time i guess. 1 bad meal a day instead of 3, have mercy, a fat man needs to eat. and im still in my first week lol this could all go spectacularly right or wrong yet, i dont really know.
Whatever works for you - at 40 stone (I know you’re not actually 40 stone but you said you were pushing close to it) your TDEE is around 7000 calories (at least according to the calculator I’m using - I’ve no idea if it gets less accurate in the higher ranges) so any kind of limitation on your calories will probably help. If 7000 is accurate then in theory, even eating 5000 a day will lose you around 4lbs a week. (edit: it’s probably not accurate - it looks like the calculator I’m using is wildly off when you look at anything over 20 stone or so)
It might be worth being open to watching/planning your diet better once you’ve lost some though - at 30 stone, 5000 kcal/day should in theory keep you roughly the same weight, and if you keep losing weight and intend to lose more, you might need to keep a closer eye on it. Hopefully by that point you’d also feel a lot more motivated though!
Besides that though, it might be worth seeking advice from a qualified doctor/nutritionist (there are a few of the latter on here :p) because with the best will in the world, I’ve absolutely no idea what other things you might need to know if you’re trying to lose weight from 40 stone. I’m currently trying to lose a fair bit of weight, but I started at 19 stone and was able to commute to work on my bike to help the process, so my experience is not really comparable.
I followed this conversation, and wanted to give some advice out of my own experiences.
Luckily I took the time to find out how many kilos 1 stone is.
This is the only advice I have , don’t do this on your own.
I really don’t want too discourage you, I think you should go on with it.
I came from 150kgs, but that’s a long way,from where you are
Good luck and al the best
thanks bud, and to everyone else, thanks for the advice. i know its gonna be a long slow process but im pretty good for willpower, i quit smoking and stopped biting my nails by just deciding to. so far i havent had any pangs of hunger from swapping to one huel a day, im switching to two soon and as long as i dont have any adverse reactions then i think im set on this for a good few years. im gonna have a butchers for a set of scales that can take group bookings so i can check my progress as i go.
if danlking is right and im currently on around 7k calories a day, then my planned intake is going to go down by around half, if not more. so i expect to see some noticable changes fairly quick and can figure out some sort of balance as i go along. nothings set in stone yet, but best foot forwards and all that.
Yeah, I wouldn’t bank on that, I’ve had a look at a few calculators since then and the one I use seems to be way off in this case. I’m guessing it treats your TDEE is a constant ratio, something like X times body weight, which is a clearly a bit too simplistic. Other calculators say around 4500 calories a day, but even then, switching to a moderate amount of huel for a meal or two should still make a massive difference
Ok phrank,
I respect your thinking.
I would say, don’t go too fast.
I mean you’re going to cut too much off your calories.
Let’s say your taking 5000 calories a day now,
Breakfast 1000 lunch 1500 dinner 2500 . You’re going with 1scoop =less than 250 calories for breakfast and 2 scoops = +- 300calories for lunch and a dinner of around 1000calories , that’s from 5000 to 1550.
That’s making it hard on yourself.
I suggest taking a 500calorie breakfast, 250 calorie morning snack a 500calorie lunch a 250 calorie afternoon snack and a max of 1500 calories dinner gives you a total of 3000calories , way less than what you have now, and more doable on the long run.
You also want to workout you mentioned,again go slow.
Find out what you can do, and take it from there, I mean if you’re at 250kg I guess it’s difficult to walk. I was at 150kg and I was gassed out after 10minutes off walking.
I guess I’m saying build it slow and steady.
Good luck and grtz
yeah looking at the numbers it is kinda drastic, i think because i was counting the 3 scoops as a recommended serving i should cut down from that, rather than looking at what those scoops represented in the actual figures. maybe starting out slow and cutting down over time would be the way to go about it, since ive never actually dieted before i may have it all ass backwards in my head jumping in the deep end like that.
i put in a half hour walk a day with the dog and thats likely to build over time. throw on an audiobook and stomp around the fields, thats going to be my exercise of choice, ill just take it longer and longer as i go. this heatwave has been a knacker on that one but with that hopefully over i can crack on again.
thanks again chaps, all the info is a big help as i settle into the long slog.
One more thing I’d like to add… It’s not just about the calories you’re consuming, Huel is full of really good, clean protein, vitamins and minerals. Don’t underestimate the power of putting good stuff in your body. Putting 2000 cal of your normal food in to your body is not the same as putting that amount of Huel in. I’ve noticed a massive difference to how I feel from replacing two meals a day. My body feels satisfied because it’s getting all the nutrients it needs. Well done for making a start and Good luck!
Hey phrank,
that’s exactly what i wanted too show you, be realistic about those figures.
I’m fighting the food demon for 49years now,and I will be fighting him for the rest of my life. But I’m starting to win more battles than i lose now.
I’ve read you really like spaghetti sauce, why not making your own, it takes only a moment off your time.
Throw in all de veggies you like, some good grounded beef, spice it up too you’re licking, make a big batch, freeze it in portions. Now you have food you like, but it’s much healthier than those cans.
Walking the dog is a good way to start, try to trow in some strength training also, it helps a lot with burning calories . But always listen to your body
Set realistic goals for yourself
Looking forward to see your progress,slow and steady
It’s been a while, tbh I had kinda forgot about this place. Picked up a few bags and have been working through them and just came back to order more.
Progress was going great until I got laid low with a virus and I’ve been slow on getting back into the routine, but I lost just over 5st in 6 months, about 80lbs give or take. Having 2 scoops twice a day and a regular dinner (regular for me, a mountain of meat to anyone else) 5 days a week and sticking to usual at weekends. So I wasn’t even being all that fastidious with it and could likely have done more.
Anyhow, back on the horse and all that. Long ways to go.
Nicely done. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and all that, but it sounds like you’ve got some good foundations. I hope that you’re able to continue (minus crappy viruses, that is).
It’s great reading some positive news. I’ve been Hueling for a while now, but having seen a few pictures taken of me lately, it’s reminded me that I really do need to put some effort in to shifting pounds too!
