My first delivery arrives tomorrow and I cant wait.
This forum has been a real help in planning and I think I have most bases covered. New blender arrived today, frozen fruit in place, strawberry flavouring order and a box of Huel bars to help the transition.
I plan to go 100% as I have in the past successfully gone to a veg juicing diet from Joe Cross and managed the transition from solid food to pure veg juice without any physical impacts and lost 2st in 3 weeks. Unfortunately I found the constraint of juice to food too difficult to sustain and I am hoping the balance of Huel and the odd meal will be more viable.
I’ve booked a week of work from home in case I get the ‘fibre impact’ some have experienced and am really looking forward to feeling clean inside, more level during the day without the ups and downs and with a gradual increase of exercise some real health benefits and weight loss.
New bio scales arrive in the morning (love Amazon Prime) and will publish progress.
So Day 1 was dinner only on Huel as it arrived at 1600. Got off to a good start as my XL t-shirt fits!
I blended three meals with chilled water:
Straight out the packet vanilla - ok but a little bland
Adding Huel flavour pouch strawberry - strong flavour, nice but a little after taste detracts
Adding frozen mixed summer fruits - bingo! Love it.
Added a double espresso to the plain one for breakfast and it was great.
As per the advice they are all so much better after a night in the fridge; both taste and texture.
Planning to permanently go 100% for 3 or 4 days a week and breakfast and lunch on the other 3 or 4 days per week. Kids home 3 or 4 days a week so will eat an evening meal with them when they are here.
My main focus is some weight loss but also looking to gain from the balanced intake, money saved (cooking for one is expensive in comparison) and enjoying the lack of time preparing and cleaning up meals.
In parallel I am gradually introducing more exercise, cycling, concept2 rower and TRX workouts.
I am male, 6ft dead and 46 years old today So time to get my body healthier for the run into retirement!
Stats at Day 1 are:
Weight 115.4 kg
Body fat 45.5%
Bone 2.1 kg
Water 39.6%
Muscle 35.1%
So will be interest how that changes over the coming weeks.
No ‘protests’ (as the Huel book puts it) but it early days. Working from home for the week just in case!
Posting here to benefit from the knowledge and experience of you all and who know a bit of encouragement should I be tempted to wander from the path to a healthier life.
I have been using Huel for 2 weeks now and have been really impressed with how easy it was to integrate into my day. I have the opposite problem to you, I struggle to make sure I get enough calories a day. I never used to have breakfast and often would go through till 14:00 or 15:00 with no food. Huel has meant I get a breakfast which keeps me satisfied till lunchtime and only need a couple of minutes to have lunch (Huel), I have been feeling really good since and long may it continue.
I wish you the best of luck in your weightloss goals and even if the pounds don’t fly off you know you are getting a balanced meal without the usual hassles involved
Great to hear from you! Thanks for getting involved from Huel and really awesome that you are benefitting from the wealth of knowledgeable Huelers on the forum - that’s what it’s hear for!
Sounds like you have already nailed some of your favourite combinations, Huel is so versatile that the flavour can so easily be adapted with the smallest of tweaks.
Do you like Mint Choc Chip ice cream? If so, try this:
Add 400ml cold water first, then:
3 scoops of Huel
½ cap peppermint extract
1 teaspoon of Huel Cacao Flavour System or some drinking chocolate.
Day 3 was fine; definite adjustment going on in the gut but no ‘sudden feelings of urgency!’, quite the opposite I seem to be in the other camp and have gone less regular.
The to be expected hunger pangs were very mild compared to the adoption of a 100% juicing diet in the past; a lot easier to manage.
Overall feeling a lot more ‘level’. No more peaks and troughs and no 15:00 slump during the working day.
Recipe wise I have adjusted my routine a little. I make the vanilla Huels up at night and leave in the fridge overnight. I now add espresso freshly for my breakfast and mix it again in the blender. I then blend in frozen fruit and a banana for my lunch and dinner meals. This is to counteract the breakdown of the nutrients from the fruit overnight and IMHO tastes better (subtle).
One tip for adjusting to Huel is the frozen berries not break down 100% so you get ‘bits’ like you do in a homemade smoothie. This has the benefit of you not noticing any powderness/bits from the Huel itself so IMO really aids the adoption/normalisation of having Huel.
Day 4 today and WOW what a sleep and light feeling I had when I woke up! Had quite a hard workout last night but felt THE best I had waking this morning since I can remember.
So far a really positive experience.
PS: I am also saving on dishwasher tablets! Another Huel benefit
So time to get my body healthier for the run into retirement!