First day on Huel

Morning all!

My first day on Huel today, both nervous and excited! Will be having my first shake in the next 20-30 mins!

I have decided to go for a shake for breakfast and lunch, but have an evening meal myself. My main question is, and apologies if it is somewhere in all of this, how is the best thing to work Huel? I’ve tried looking at the articles etc, but i can’t really find the right article on what foods i can eat along side Huel to make it work effectively. Like i know fruit is good for me, however how much/little should i be eating along side it? I know it seems obvious, but i want to get the most out of this and don’t want to stock up on bananas, apples, grapes etc if they will add to my weight.

Also, how many calories should i be putting into an evening meal? I have a friend at work who does a different shake diet and he can only have a 600 calorie meal in the evening to go with his shakes in the day.

I guess essentially i am looking for a guide on the best way to use Huel and how to work it into my everyday life, what i can and can’t eat etc

Thanks

Im not sure what you mean by

Huel is not a weight loss drink, its just food.

However you can use it to lose weight by knowing how many calories you need in a day to maintain your weight (your TDEE) and eating less than that to lose weight (between 250-500 calories less)

You will need to use a TDEE calculator to find your TDEE.
Then eat an appropriate number of calories.
Record everything you eat eg in an app like MyFitnessPal.

In terms of food you want to eat along side Huel its totally up to you, the only thing that is going to help you lose weight is by consuming less calories.
So make sure you stick to your goal number of calories for the day with what ever you eat with Huel.

The best way to ensure your stick to your calories is to weigh your food. Huel scoops can be wildly inaccurate and its better to weigh out exact amounts.

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I know it isn’t a weight loss drink, nor is it a meal replacement and it is seen as just food. I googled the answers i was looking for rather than searching the website and managed to find the results i needed to see. Hopefully i will be able to pass on my results next week for week 1!

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You don’t really need anything alongside Huel, as it is a complete food, and adding fruit or whatever to the Huel just ads to your calorie and carbohydrate intake. If you’re trying to lose weight that probably isn’t a great idea. If you’re going to have a meal that isn’t Huel, I’d say a low-starch meal with some kind of protein and plenty of green vegetables (and some yellow) would be good.

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Hey @Magicman13- In relation to what you can eat alongside Huel- what the others have said is correct- you can eat anything you want as Huel is just food. Fruit is definitely a good option but is high in sugar (natural) and some can be high in calories. I find that fruit doesnt fill me as much as other things so its really your personal preference.

Try downloading My Fitness Pal and working out your calorie allowance for the day. Once you remove your huel cals from this- this will show you how much calories you have left. Then as long as you eat healthy options around this- then you should be fine.
A typical day for me on a 1200cal allowance is:

1 x 2 scoop huel shake for breakfast
1 salad with Quorn chicken for lunch and a low cal Caesar dressing
1 medley of 50g blueberries and Strawberries
Usually a 500ish cal dinner- the new M&S plant kitchen range is awesome and you can get a pulled Jackfruit pizza for only 350 cals. I usually have that with a side of veggies.
I like to have a snack after dinner so like a protein bar (if i have been to the gym) or a special K bar- not the healthiest but these curb my cravings as well as a low cal hot chocolate.
Also if I know I will have more cals left during the day I grab some veggie sushi or something as I love it :slight_smile:

Seems to be working well for me as im steady at 2lb loss a week- managed to loose 1st 2lb so far :blush: so im delighted.

Good luck and remember to refrigerate your shake overnight- so much nicer!!!

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Thanks @Watsername, I downloaded MyFitnessPal today and have been updating it as i go. So far i have had 2 shakes, one
3 scoop chocolate with water, then at lunch a 3 scoop vanilla shake with soya milk as the local shop didn’t have almond milk and i wanted to see the difference. Then this afternoon i have just had just plain sliced chicken breast as a snack.

I will certainly be doing more research into what is best to go along side Huel. I know it is just food and to not look at it any differently, but it is hard not to at this moment. I want to do 2 shakes a day whilst at work (Breakfast/Lunch) for a month and see where i am at then, perhaps reduce it to one shake a day then.

You sound like you are doing amazing though, well done! If i manage to lose 2lb a week i will be very happy!

Also, what is the difference refrigerating the shake does? I did read about it, is it just because it is colder? And do you use Milk of some form or water?

Thanks

@Magicman13 how many calories are you having per day?

Refrigerating it makes it colder yes but also thicker- i found it is a lot more filling this way. I just make it with water and havent tried any milks as of yet. I may give it a go but I try to keep my cals for other things- I like my chewing :smiley:

Honestly if you work out your calories then you can have more than a chicken breast as a snack- I would not be able to stick to it if I only looked forward to eating that lol

I used TDEE to calcuate my calories and am currently working to an 800 cal per day deficit. I have quite a lot to lose, ultimate aim is 100lbs, so while I’m not finding it a struggle at all at the moment I doubt I will maintain that level of calorie deficit for the entire journey. It’s working for me right now though and I’ve lost 1st 3lbs so far. I replace breakfast and lunch, also have fruit and yogurt, and a healthy meal in the evening of about 500 cals. I also use MyFitnessPal and it’s absolutely brilliant for keeping me on track. Good luck!

Did you get the starters booklet that came with your first order? If so, check out Melanie’s example schedule.

It helped me get a basic idea of how much calories and how many scopes to use for either losing, maintaining or gaining weight.

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