Getting fitter, thinner and healthier

Weight loss
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Hi everyone,
Today is my first day with Huel after purchasing my powder last week and lurking round the Forum for advice and top tips. I would like to lose weight and get fitter and healthier, and I’m incorporating Huel into my plans.
Since my job has gotten more and more sedentary over the past few years, my weight has gone up quite alarmingly. I now work from home and my phone gives me an electronic pat on the head if I can just about manage the school run (11 minutes of walking, keep it up!). I’ve never had a weight problem until having kids and then this home-working job so I don’t have any tried and tested means of slimming down. Get active! you say. Well yes, easier said than done. I’m moving to a new job next month which will be full on and will require many hours at this desk. I’ll need to factor in exercise once I’m established in the job though, so I don’t die in this office but! My weight, lack of fitness and age (51) is such that I really do need to lose weight before I ping every muscle and tendon trying an exercise class. I’ve done that before and it’s painful and delays everything while you recover. I have a spin bike and I will be doing low impact exercise, so I’m not looking for fitness solutions for now. I’m just saying that I’m wary of running and similar because at the moment I’m just too heavy.

However, that’s not my only motivation for trying Huel. I get very tired during the day, and I get very hungry. Usually, I’m not someone who can be bothered eating much, but recently I feel as though I haven’t eaten for a week prior to each meal. This is alarming to me considering my weight and age and I don’t want to be flirting with diabetes at any point – I’m currently at risk for that. Also, I have a lot of acid reflux partly because of being overweight, but really I’ve had painful heartburn and spasms of my oesophagus all of my adult life even when slim. This is now starting to affect my voice from having reflux when lying down at night. I dislike taking part in meetings where I sound as though I’m too timid to speak. Also, my finger joints and feet have started hurting and I guess arthritis is on the horizon, having seen the state of my Mum’s hands.

I think that if I was a lot healthier, slimmer and fitter, these problems would ease to some extent. Again, not looking for solutions to these issues here. But my aim is to have a nutrient-rich and calorie-controlled intake for most of the time, which should help me lose weight, feel better and look better.

So, I won’t be posting weight loss unless it’s interesting and no pictures of my fat tum as motivation/self-shaming (who’s going to be motivated by seeing my well-padded carcass? Not me, for a start). But I will post what I’m doing with Huel because I found it very helpful when people posted their recipes. If anyone can invent a pizza flavour I will be eternally grateful because I don’t have a sweet tooth and won’t be eating cocoa recipes, for example. I’ve seen a recipe for a Virgin Mary which I’ll definitely be trying. I may even make it ‘Bloody’ on Fridays…

OK. Today for breakfast, I had a banana and strawberry shake, with 1 scoop unsweetened, 1 scoop vanilla. I blended it up last night and left it in the fridge. It was nice enough. The overall taste is a bit flour-y and a bit oat-y. (I am a small person, sedentary, trying to achieve weight loss, so I’ll be going with 2 scoops per meal.)
For lunch, I’m having a shake made with banana and a tablespoon of peanut butter with 2 scoops unsweetened. The only sweetness I’m getting in this shake is through the banana which is fine with me; the peanut butter is a nice background and gives a slight peanut-y aftertaste which is OK. As you can tell, I’m starting safe because I want this to work! So that’s that! Omelette for dinner, probably. Let’s see how I get on.

5 Likes
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Good luck. Keep us updated with your progress!

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Thanks @MarkyT!

I had a lemon and ginger shake this morning: grated rind of one lemon plus a squeeze of lemon juice, a 3cm cube of ginger and a banana. It was delicious and refreshing but I may go down to half a banana as I don’t need it to be that sweet and the fibrous bits of the ginger left at the bottom were like a mouthful of wet dog hair. Due to a complete lack of tomato juice in this house and a raging Storm Callum making shopping a no-go, I can’t make my Virgin Mary for this afternoon. I’m going with apple and cinnamon and I expect it will be pleasant*.

The very best thing so far that I’m delighted with? The fact that I’m not hungry during the day. I get bored at my desk alone in my office and hunger often sends me to the kitchen as much for something to do as for something to eat.

*Edited to add: I stewed and mushed a pear and 2 small apples, then added to my Huel with some cinnamon. It was delicious hot and cold. Still looking for savoury perfection though…

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These two cancel each other out, you ain’t dead yet! :wink:

Great to have you on the team and thanks for taking the time to post here. Look after yourself and keep us posted :slight_smile:

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Thanks @Tim_Huel!

I had a work week on Huel and the first thing I noticed was that by the Friday I was feeling a little bit healthier. So much so that when I had my customary Friday nights glasses of red wine, the next morning I felt fine. Usually I feel a bit ill and sleepy. I’ve not been regularly Huelling since the past week has seen me leave my job and look after a house guest which has knocked me off my Huel routine.

At the moment, the most interesting thing I’m doing with Huel is trying to find recipes that I like. I’ll start posting my thoughts on the recipes posts instead of here, in case they’re of any help to anyone. But I have to say, I was really looking forward to my Virgin Mary Huel. Oh my god, it was awful. Even with the fact I’d run out of Worcester Sauce, it was still hands-down the most disgusting thing I’ve tasted in a while - I couldn’t finish it. Gutted. I love Bloody Marys, so this is a blow. So I’m still searching for more savoury recipes, but to be honest, although I’m not a fruit fan, the shakes I make with fresh and frozen food are pretty nice.