Hi there,
I’d like to share my first 8 days having Huel food and nothing else: I feel honestly much better than before but I’m not experiencing any weight or centimeters loss.
My Basal Metabolic Rate is 1.605 calories/day and I’m having a total of 1.000 calories per day divided as follows: 200 at breakfast (1 scoop), 400 at lunch (2 scoops), 200 mid-afternoon-snack and 200 at dinner. So, I expected the -605 calories/day cut off take me to a 5 kgs loss in one month, means an average of 1,25 kg/week, but surprisingly weight is pretty the same. Am I doing something wrong?
As told, I feel much better than before and I will continue… Many small disturbances have disappeared and I have the feeling of being lighter but I cannot find a confirmation on the scale. Ah, if you are thinking probably my scale is broken, also waistline is (maybe) only 3 centimeters less than 9 days ago. ; ) Any idea or suggestion?
Thank you
Different bodies take different times to adapt to new meal plans. Also when bodies suddenly intake less they try and hold onto fats, once burnt through said fats the body will start to lose weight.
I personally don’t think 7 days is enough to judge. Also depends on any work outs and movement you do throughout the day.
I agree. In fact many people actually lose a lot of weight in the first week and then it slows down. People are different as Martyn says.
If 1000 calories is your total calorie intake in a day, that is quite low to sustain long termm.
You will lose the weight, but I’d step away from the scale for a while. 8 days is not long enough to measure any real change, and people’s weight will naturally fluctuate up and down a little bit anyway. If you’re feeling better and have more energy, that’s the best measure so far. Weight is lost through long term habits and lifestyle changes rather than crash diets. People take years to gain weight- it takes just as long to lose it again!
1000 calories is extremely low and might not be sustainable for you. Don’t be afraid to consume more calories, it will actually help with weight loss long term because it means you’re more likely to stick with it and will maintain enough energy.
Thanks to everyone who replied, I think al of you are right.
I decided to take 1,000 calories a day “mathematically” and never noticed fatigue or lack of strength but objectively I think my body may have been “scared” and entered “low consumption mode”. I’ll introduce a regular meal every 3 Huel meals and see how it goes.
In addition, I believe that, very trivially, my body is much more hydrated now drinking 500ml twice a day than I did not drink before, and therefore part of the weight could be water.
Good day everyone ; )
Hey Diego, welcome to Huel!
As others have suggested 8 days is pretty short for seeing results. The fact you’re lost 3cm of your waistline is already pretty impressive.
I wouldn’t worry about starvation mode but we typically use 1200kcal as the floor for a weight loss diet but this will vary depending on your starting weight, height and physical activity.
I know you said you’ve worked out your BMR but you could try doing it again via this site and you could also check out our article for more info.
Also, you could consider one of those weighing scales that measure more than just body mass. These are not expensive (and not super accurate), and can tell you a bit more about your composition (muscle vs. fat vs. water). This might make it easier for you to understand your progress (or apparent lack of it).
I have been using Huel as an aid to my weight loss for some time now and I just thought you might be interested in the results.
I recently built a crazy thing that logs my weight and other body stats my scales can apparently measure, and reports them publicly on the internet. You can check that out here: https://kn100.me/weight-loss/.
The reason I share this with you (apart from being a self congratulatory douche 
) is to give you some perspective on is just how wildly variable weight can be. Just recently you’ll see an enormous spike up of almost 2kg, which is attributable to a rather large and gluttonous meal at a restaurant I had the day before - but you can also see how quickly it came back down.
Some general advice: Don’t try to lose weight faster than about 1kg a week - and even that is pretty extreme. Also, Ensure you’re getting loads of water. Consistency is more important than speed.
My rough plan is: Eat roughly 1500kcal every day (logged using an app like Lifesum. Usually eat 1 or 2 Huels a day, generally Black edition, sometimes with added protein in the form of whey powder. I now go to the gym two or three times a week for 30-40 minutes a session, mainly focusing on strength training. This is more to stave off muscle loss rather than to gain muscle, but I’m surprisingly seeing gains. I generally let loose 1 day a week where I don’t log calories, but I reckon I’m eating less than I would on these days than I did back when I was larger solely because I now find it hard to eat larger amounts.