Okay, so I’ll give you a bit of background on me. I struggle with my weight even though I enjoy cooking, because I just snack on rubbish and have the occasional binge on fish and chips or pizza that really sets me back. I way around 110KG at the moment. I’ve been hitting the gym a couple times a week and powerlifting, but I really want to get this fat off so my muscles can actually be seen and I feel less lardy in general. I also don’t get enough sleep because I always want to do something more exciting than sleep, so I feel tired during the day a lot. I figure if I can get my nutrition and exercise sorted out, I’m 2/3rds of the way there and just have to focus on dealing with my bed-time!
At University, particularly in first year, I went crazy with the life-hacking stuff. I tried polyphasic sleeping (sleeping 20 minutes every 4 hours), went vegetarian for half a year, messed around with sleep deprivation and generally did all the things that I couldn’t do at home because my parents would’ve slapped some sense into me. It was fun and I kind of got obsessed with finding the next big life changing thing. Nothing really took though and I got disheartened, always jumping from one fad to the other. I’ve moved on from that now, and when I first heard about Huel I was really skeptical. My initial response was to want to order and try it immediately, but I held off for a couple of days, read the forums, did some research. I couldn’t find any reason for it to be less healthy than my current diet, so I ordered and received my first package today.
First impression was surprise at the strength of the vanilla smell when I open the first pouch, and also very slight annoyance at powder in the top of the bag spilling out onto me. It brushed off and disappeared easy enough though!
I mixed it up in the car outside Costa with a bottle of water I’d purchased for the occasion and took a sip. If this is the less sweet version, I dread to think what the original was like! It’s very tasty, kind of like vanilla icing, but slightly sickly. I’m sure I’ll get used to the sweetness though, and if I don’t I can go hardcore and try the unsweetened version.
I hadn’t had any breakfast and it was about 2pm, so I got a granola bar and a black coffee and chugged my Huel. Was still a little hungry after, but then I’d only had 500 calories of it plus the granola bar, so it’s not surprising.
It’s pretty tasty. I thought I’d mind little lumps but they’re really not a problem, doubt I’ll worry about using a blender most of the time. In terms of how I feel - I drink a lot of coffee, so even though it sometimes gives me a mild buzz, I know what that feels like. After my Huel I felt - and still feel - like I’m on some kind of drug. I just feel aware, energised… Not quite jittery, but just totally on the ball. Its the first time I’ve had it and I did have it with coffee, so I definitely can’t attribute it completely to the Huel, but it excites me that it could be a contributing factor.
I’ve just made myself a second shake with a couple teaspoons of blueberry jam (I know, shameful extra calories defiling the pure Huel goodness!) and it adds a nice subtle flavour to it. I’m going to be using this stuff to replace most of my meals for the near future so I’ll keep you updated on my progress. I’m going to be doing the 2000kcal a day, which should help me to lose some weight (my maintenance is apparently roughly 2800kcal). I’m excited and looking forward to this journey!
Edit: I just remembered to tell you - as soon as I got the Huel home I put it into 6 reusable sandwich bags, plus the rest of today’s dose in a plastic tupperware container. This way I don’t have to be super precise with the scooping - I just have to empty the bag every day. I plan to reuse the bags for more Huel, so I don’t end up being wasteful. I probably wouldn’t have thought to do that if cutting down on waste wasn’t such a big part of this for you guys at Huel, so congrats on making me think!