First week on Huel!

I’ve been on Huel for a week now.
A little about me

  • I’m 35 and in recovery from anorexia, gained most of my weight back but need to gain the rest of it

  • In recovery I didn’t have a return of hunger full signals, no matter how mechanically I eat following nhs meal plans from a dietitian, I’m violently not hungry in the day and hungry when I’m asleep (I wake up due to hypoglycaemia crashes) I swear my body clock is backwards

  • I also am diagnosed with bipolar, chronic fatigue and all that crappy stuff however I’ve used that to help people by volunteering for the nhs mental health services. I have a mental health eating disorder specialised nurse also who I see weekly, so no need to worry about Huel not being right for me etc

So my first week. I gained 1kg just adding one cup of Huel to my regular one meal a day (I seem to gain weight faster eating more nutrionally beneficial food, I mean I’ve gained a lot of weight and eating healthy seems to help me get there faster) using 3 scoops of Huel with water.

I’m about to add my second cup once DPD brings me my second shaker (I prefer Huel when it’s been in the fridge overnight).

Caramel and mint chocolate flavours are the best

I had an energy boost day 3-5 but then it seemed to wear off. I’m thinking that’s when I should have added my second cup but my treatment team said I should also wait a week before adding another cup and do it slowly (think a bit broken digestion from years of eating disorders) and well I do what they say even when I think I know better but then I’ve also done well in recovery so I’m glad that I do.

It does not make me bloated and sluggish/completely fatigued unable to move like eating anything else in the day does. It’s just like drinking a drink. It’s literally blowing my mind.

I had the room clearing symptoms but I found out it was orange juice. For some reason if drink orange juice while drinking Huel my digestive system does not like it. I thought it was the Huel but I ran out of orange juice and the room clearing symptoms went away and today I got some more omfg. I don’t have it from Huel on its own or from orange juice on its own but drinking them both in the same day. Well there were people running away from me.

I actually look forward to drinking it, which is amazing to me because I do not ever feel happy about eating in the day time. Again mind blowing.

I am so so so so so happy I don’t have to stress anymore about buying food for the day time.
Before I’d buy myself lunch food and then not eat it, feel incredibly guilty at the end of the week throwing out all the gone off food I didn’t eat (I hate waste and the fact we waste so much stuff and feel bad about the environment and stuff) and doing the same thing over and over again and that just went away overnight.

All in all I’m loving Huel so far
I wish I got up the courage to try it sooner the taste and texture made me scared to try it for ages. I’ve drank a lot of weight gain stuff the doctors gave me and it was all gross. All of it. Gives me nightmares thinking about it haha. This stuff doesn’t feel like that at all either. It’s not got that awful “drink this or else” negativity to it.

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Good luck with Huel @rhiobujo !
Interesting what you say about orange juice… I didn’t any digestive trouble when introducing Huel - no bloating or pain or flatulence or change in bowel habits, no problems at all.
BUT suddenly after 2 months of it all going completely fine, I had two days of really really bad upset stomach and bowels. It was wierd because I couldn’t put it down to anything I had eaten or drunk - I had literally only had my usual morning coffee, my usual two meals of Huel, and some steamed veg that day, oh and orange juice! I just assumed the bad bowels must have been a bug, but it was only on the two days I was drinking lots of orange juice that I had problems. Could be a coincidence, but its interesting you’ve experienced the same.
I also had trouble with the chocolate orange bars (on a different day), but put that down to the chicory root fibre as opposed to the orange in them.

Anyway, good luck, wish you all the best, hope you stay well and find Huel a beneficial addition to your diet.

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