Hi all, as sharing ones goals is increasing the likelyhood to actually achieve them, I wanted to put my Huel journey out there for you to see and comment on (and to hold me accountable!). I just have decided that Huel can help me with my goals and I ordered the first packs. But before going into my experience let me give you a bit of a background on myself.
I am working in the consulting industry, so I have a lot of long working days and a lot of travel at short notice, making a healthy lifestyle tricky as you don’t get to plan your meals a lot. So, over the years in my job I have gained some weight and I reached the point where I now want to do something about it. I feel that I am working to much, but inefficiently and I hope that getting in shape will also help me become more focussed and efficient at work, creating the time I need to do so.
I am a big fan of quantifying things, so I do already keep track of my movement, weight and sleep. Seeing improvements on clear performance indicators helps me stay motivated. I might share a few data points from time to time to let you know my progress and to get your input on what else I could be doing.
Starting point:
- 186cm tall
- ~100kg
- 28% body fat
- sedentary lifestyle ~5000 steps a day
- little sleep: ~5h per night
My goals:
- 85kg
- 20% body fat
- decent overall fitness, first goal is to do the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge in July in hopefully about 30min and, doing a 10K a bit later in the year
My plan:
- Set up a workout plan that will help me get into shape (a personal trainer will help me with that) and go running again.
- Become more active overall (walking instead of taking the bus etc)
- Change my eating habits.
How does Huel fit into this: I noticed I eat a lot of the wrong foods when at work (and I am at work a lot). To gain control about my food intake I want to replace the unhealthy take-out food options provided around my workplace Huel, I can also take Huel on travel, so it should be a good option for business travel as well.
I am not intending to go 100% Huel. When with my family I will still eat “regular food”. I consider eating together very important, especially as I have a little daughter (1 1/2 yo).
Wish me luck, I will let you know how it goes.
I got my bags of Huel and here are my initial reactions
My first experiences:
Crickey, these bags are big! Did not expect to have such massive bags. They are larger than the bags of our dry cat food. The Huel bags definetely appeared smaller in the online shop. Challenge one: I need to find a place in the kitchen for these bags. Challenge two: How do I mix it. Unfortunately I ordered it on Amazon and only realized afterwards that Huel provides a free shaker if you order here. I will order my next packages here to get the mixer and use my cocktail shaker or blender in the meantime.
Curious I want to try Huel, and open one of the bags. It has a strange consistency, slightly reminding me of saw-dust and I am wondering if this is going to dissolve in water. To find out, I try to mix my first meal of Huel (one scoop ~170ml of water). My first batch does not work out. Huel has formed a solid layer on the bottem and does not like to mix. That can’t be quite right, so I read the instructions again: Lesson learned: Water first, Huel second (as with acids!). With a bit more of physicial labour I get the Huel to mix and finally try it: It is very sweet. Not bad, but a bit chemical. The consistency is fine, it is easy to drink and the saw-dusty properties have given way to a smooth overall consistency with just a few blobs of Huel that resisted the mixing. Not bad.
Experiences over the weekend:
I now have eaten 3 scoops of Huel 2x daily + one regular meal over the weekend and I don’t feel like I am missing anything. The taste is acceptable (still a bit sweet) and I am getting used to down the required quantities, but I do still become hungry around mealtimes. I think this is because I haven’t quite gotten enough energy for the day and have to up my Huel intake to really make up for the amount of calories needed. I will probably add a snack in the afternoon of a scoop or two to get me through the day.
Results
On day three my weight has already dropped by a kilo, but being a scientist by training I will observe my weight for a longer time period before making any statement of causality.
I also noticed side effect that I did not quite expect: My stool is rather soft and I need to go to the bathroom several times a day. I will keep an eye on it and see if it will vanish with time.
Hi Rueter,
Whilst your status share and aspirations are admirable I gotta say that, in my opinion, your goal setting needs some honing …the great news for you is that I help people to set very clear vision of their future, with measurable and time bound strategies and goals to get them to where they aspire to be.
If you’d like me to provide some tips on how you can blast through your current “goals” then let me know…
Good luck and speak very soon. :0).
Colin
Hi @Colin_McGregor
Thanks for your response. I would be very interested to hear your opinion. Overall I set my goal as “get back in the normal range” and there is surely room for fine-tuning! Please do share your tips - your knowledge would be greatly appreciated.
JosRoot
I still poop thrice a day with some wind (worse on days where I eat more solid food tbh!).
Day 4
I have increased my intake to 2x 2 scoops for breakfast and afternoon snack and once 3 scoops for lunch. The afternoon snack is important for me, as my working days are long, so dinner is rather late. Together with a solid food dinner I reach about 2000 cals per day. Huel Vanilla still goes down easily and I am not bored by it. Overall I feel focussed at work and I cut down my coffee intake drastically as I don’t seem to need it any more (down to 2 cups from 5).
Weight-wise the results are more clear now as well: I am down 2.5kg, so I don’t believe this to be just an outlier any more. Still need to make sure that I am not only loosing water (based on my scales the body fat is constant). I have increased my activity to get 10K steps a day and will try to add some exercise to build muscle mass as well.
And finally:My bowel movements are back to normal (sorry @Pott55).
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Here I am again, about a week in (Day 11)
The numbers:
Weight: 96.3 (-3kg)
Body fat: 26% (-2%)
The experience
Huel is still going in well, and I start to actually look forward to it. During the bank holiday weekend I was travelling with the family I forgot to mix some in the morning for lunch, so I was forced to eat out. I also ate some fried eggs in the morning at the B&B and we had a the family dinner every evening. The days I didn’t have Huel twice I felt bloated and greasy by the end of the day and had the need to move more or squeeze in some exercise. Overall, despite definitely eating some stuff I shouldn’t have, I kept my weight over the weekend, with only one meal of Huel and I consider that a good sign. Also, I seem to start shedding some of my body fat, as my body fat hovers around 26% now.
As mentioned in another threat, I like the fact that Huel really cuts down on my choice fatique. So I don’t have to look around for a good food option. When you are travelling and not knowing the area Huel is a big time saver. At work it just cuts down the need to decide: What do I eat today. Also, it removes the need to fight the inner weakness when making the lunch purchasing decision. It really is a nice
So interim outcome: Huel works well for me and makes me want to move more. Even though beforehand I was in no way interested in doing lots of exercise I squeeze in some extra steps where I can during the day and go running twice a week. My urge for sweet stuff has significantly dropped (I used to drink my coffee with three spoons of sugar before, now I drink it without). I will definetely order more.
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More than two weeks down the line, I am still on Huel (Day 18)
The numbers:
Weight: 94.9 (-4.4kg)
Body fat: 26% (-2%)
The experience
Huel has become a stable part of my daily routine. While I am still getting questions about it at work, it is now the normal thing for me to eat for breakfast and lunch. I start to develop my routines for travelling and got a few extra shakers, so that I have one for work, one for home and one for business trips. Travelling with Huel works fine, but I haven’t found good ways to manage to drink Huel during client meetings, when there is lunch and/or dinner provided, so in these cases I am breaking my routine. Still, the overall pattern of weight loss proceeds and I keep having good energy levels throughout the day, without any post lunch fatique and the effects of blood glucose swings (aka the sugar roller-coaster). Coffee intake is still down and things start to feel very normal overall.