I’ve recently taken an interest in supplementing some meals with Huel to save time and money and as someone who is financial planner during the day I naturally started to see if I can find any heuristics in how I approach my diet and starting to weigh the cost/benefit of what I eat during the day.
I have been weightlifting 3-4 times a week for a year and basically just eating whatever, just trying to hit my Protein goal of around 120-180g a day by chugging whey protein shakes during the day. I reckon I’ve been eating well over maintenance.
The issue arises however when I want to calculate my maintenance calories, I am not sure whether the normal calculator works for me. I am 180cm tall, weigh 94kg and according to the BMI I am obese and I think it is because BMI does not account for bodybuilding (as muscles are heavier than other forms of tissue), are there alternative calorie calculators I should use or can I use the same calorie calculator as everyone else?
Already ordered some Huel Black, I am just concerned that I might accidentally start overfeeding myself
I think its probably unlikely that you will overfeed yourself just on Huel, as its nutrient dense and quite filling. I use huel for two meals during the day for two reasons 1) its the quickest possible way to get the food i need and 2) because its financially cheaper. I am not short of money but spending £10 or more a day on buying a couple of meals that are nutritionally questionable surely doesnt make sense, especially when it takes time that i simply don’t have. This has the added benefit of meaning that if you dont go to the shop you cant be tempted to buy other less healthy ‘treat’ foods.
If you replace your daytime meals with Huel then it will almost certainly be the best option on a health and speed vs cost equation. Save money and time, eat better, whats not to like?
In terms of calories, my advice would be forget about using formulas or trying to calculate it. The simplest, easiest and most accurate way is simply monitor. For a couple of weeks write down or log everything you eat and drink and monitor your weight. At the end of the few weeks (ideally a month) you can see exactly what your average calorie intake is and exactly what your weight is doing. For every pound gained or lost in a week its likely that you had an average calorie deficit or surplus of 500 calories per day. You can adjust up and down as needed and know exactly what your maintenance is without any guess work or assumptions.
You’re correct that the BMI calculation goes a bit off as your muscle composition goes above a certain point.
Calorie calculators are just a guide so if you’ve been doing this for a year and not losing/gaining weight, then you will be eating the right amount of calories to maintain your body weight. In this instance I wouldn’t worry about a calorie calculator.
If you want to include a serving of Huel Black Edition in your diet, this is 400kcal, so you’ll want to remove 400kcal of food from elsewhere in your diet to accommodate for Huel.