Hi everyone, I’ve just placed my first order for the 112 meal pack.
My name is chris and I’m a 40 year old dad of three kids living in Newcastle upon Tyne England.
I eat terribly. I have tried all sorts of diet and lifestyle changes in my life, the most successful being juicing in 2015 where I managed to lose 4 stone and come off life long medication.
Having regained most of that weight now and with my health not where I want it I was about to start another juice fast when I saw a facebook post about huel.
Price wise heul will work out a saving of around £30 per week and from a nutrient perspective it would appear that huel will match, if not surpass, what I could extract from fruits and vegetables so I made an instant decision to throw myself head first into this and do a five week huel experiment.
My order should be with me by Tuesday so I will be starting this on Wednesday 11th of January.
My Plan:
Replace all 4 meals throughout the day for 3 full days with huel. The other 4 days I will still consume 3 meals of huel and eat evening meals with my girlfriend.
Take photographs, measurements and weight before and after.
Document and share my journey on here and other platforms (facebook, twitter, instagram and youtube) as and when I find the time.
Give my honest opinion.
That’s about it really, just away now to read some of the other posts. Must say I’m very nervous to see if it lives up to the reviews I’ve read.
As tempting as it may be I along with others here would advise against going 100% Huel from the off. There is an adjustment period with Huel. Many people including myself experienced heartburn, stomach cramps, gas, etc when first taking Huel. You also have to experiment with portion sizes, how much water to Huel, flavours etc…
I would say it took 4-5 months for my body to adjust completely to Huel. When I first started I mainly got heartburn from the above symptoms. I think a large part of this was my portion size was too big. I started off with the “3 level scoops” thing. To be more consistent I weighed out my scoops and 3 came in at 120g but at that amount I struggled with consuming it and how I felt after. Now my portion size is 90g and I don’t have any problems.
Yep, both due to ingredients and to lifestyle. My advice, at least initially, would be to use huel for breakfast and/or lunch, and have a normal evening meal.
Then a few weeks in maybe go 100%.
Regardless, good luck on the journey and congrats on making the change!
thank you for replying. I suffer terrible stomach acid anyway which I had hoped huel would help combat. Looks unlikey from what you are saying. Do you know what in the huel specifically caused the heartburn/stomach acid? All I can do is try. It’s only 5 weeks and if I do suffer it worse I will adjust my plan to include alkaline rich meals.
I think it’ll help, but switching to Huel can be a pretty radical change in diet.
Speaking for just myself; I went from an unbalanced and unhealthy diet to (on paper at least) ‘perfect’ nutrition. I didn’t get any stomach discomfort to speak of, but all of a sudden I was getting a lot more protein and fibre than I was used to so there there was adjustment around that (symptoms being a few days of excessive wind).
Whether it’ll help with your stomach acid really depends on what triggers it, but if you’re coming from a place where your diet can be improved, there’s no reason not to give it a go. I’d just get into it slowly as it can surprising what radically changing your diet can do and since switching to liquid meals is a big enough mental change in or itself, gentle adjustment can help you really get the most of it.
Any rapid change in diet can cause stomach problems. If you have a sensitive stomach, then I think you should heed the recommendations above to not just consume 100% Huel for five weeks like that.
I went 100% Huel straight off the bat for two weeks, and experienced zero stomach problems whatsoever. But I also have a stomach of iron, and my diet wasn’t too dissimilar to Huel initially anyway. My only problem with going 100% Huel was that I badly wanted to eat other foods after the first week. Eating nothing but powdered goop can be a bit tiring in my experience.
Hi thanks for your replies. Yesterday was my first day. I did three huel and then a nice plate of gammon, eggs, chips and peas for my evening meal. I’m not really setting any expectations with huel, I just want something easy and nutritious to reach for rather than crisps, chocolate and cheese sandwiches (three of my biggest current food sources). Yesterday I managed an entire day without any major urge to eat crap so I’m counting that a success.
I do take on board your views on easing into it and I understand why people who have experience are advising to do so but I’ve never really been one to do things half hearted. Id rather go all in and see. After all, it’s only an experiment. No doubt I’ll be back eating crap before I know it and wishing I’d listened to you all but for now it’s onwards and upwards.