So I just opened my first bag of Vanilla! The smell was great and the taste wasn’t bad but will take a little getting used to! Just wondering if anyone has any advice for ensuring I stay on track.
After my first cup, I still felt hungry and I’m not sure if my stomach appreciates the liquid diet as much as my mind. Don’t want a situation where my foodie urges overwhelm me and I end up falling for the rotisserie wings in my local store… Has anyone had any similar experiences? Any advice/tricks on how to make the drink maybe a little more palatable whilst maintaining the health benefits as well as ease of creation? Had a look at the recipe site but everything seemed like a meal in itself and I felt like it was maybe removing the purpose I bought it for.
As a heads up, I plan on using it as a 2/3 Meal replacement keeping dinner still in the mix (So Huel’ing my breakfast and lunch)
Hey welcome! How many scoops (or grams) are you doing in your cup of Huel? And for more complete information, what’s your H/W/gender? Could it be that you’re not consuming enough Huel?
In my experience, as Huel gives you the nutrients your body needs and has a lot of fibre, it actually reduces my cravings for random “foodie urges” (I’m a huge foodie too!)
Instant coffee; Chocolate, mocha, matcha flavour boosts all the way!!! Trust me, makes a WORLD of a difference.
So if you normally eat more than the 450 calories that’s in 3 scoops then that might be part of it as well as the liquid vs your regular solid food meal?
I’m hoping so like I mentioned I’m totally new to huel, I’m trying to lose the fat before I plan on packing on a little muscle so I’m trying to hit 500-600 calories less than my sustain. I will be having fruits and granola to attempt to balance it out with white meat/fish/vegetarian meals for dinner.
Someone suggested that I eat a cracker or something similar after to maybe attempt to trick my stomach into thinking its solid food until i get more accustomed to it
To maintain: 2997kcal
To lose 0.5kg a week: 2497kcal
To lose 1kg a week: 1997kcal
You’re much taller than me and male, so it’s no wonder you’d feel hungry with a 450kcal shake! If you eat 3 meals a day, that’s around 800kcal per meal to still lose 0.5kg a week! (boy am I jealous of you)
So yeah, some suggestions:
Perhaps you could have Huel alongside other food (if you’re still trying to get used to the idea of a liquid meal)
You could blend bananas and berries or milk with it to make it more filling
@rtrt: that’s a really good idea! I have tried this with water but if I add too much the rest of my shake gets very liquid. I’m definitely going to try this
I tried that for a while and it worked for me. Breakfast was a shake and a cracker because the cracker took away my need to chew and feel like a actually ate breakfast. So not for the calories but for the mind. After I while you get more used to a liquid meal and I could drop the cracker.
Agreed. When I started and went with the Huel recommended amount of water for 3 scoops i found it too thin/runny too. Tried a few different amounts and settled on 400ml.
Then I thought that I should be mindful of the fibre and taking on enough fluid so went with dumping a cup of coffee / tea into the shaker when finished.
Has a few other benefits, for example James Collier mentioned that it would likely delay the stomach processing Huel for a while longer due to the increase in temp.
@rtrt that’s really helpful! I also like my shakes a bit thick. The only thing I’m still trying to work out is how much water I should drink besides the shakes.
The sensible thing would be to take into account your daily total - including any non obvious sources - soups fruit etc.
As a rule of thumb for a single huel meal the team here recommend 570ml for 3 scoops iirc. When i tip in a mug of coffee to the empty shaker it shows c250ml. So i guess i’m at 620-630 which is slightly more than recommended, so that good enough for me
Hey all thanks for all your advice, I have been playing around with my huel and found that swapping my water for about 20-25% almond milk (Around 100ml Milk, 500ml water and 3 Scoops) is my ideal drink the creamy flavor of the almond milk makes the oaty taste of the huel much easier to get into and will just reduce the milk until I’m only using water.
@jeffy89 Thanks for your advice and I think I probably need a little less than that I’m currently hitting around 2100kcal a day which I’m happy with as my exercise is bare minimum currently but will be hitting the gym soon! Also, I want to point out I have been keeping an eye on your journey too it’s very interesting! Seems this community will be a huge help adjusting
@rtrt i have been decanting the first 400ml from a blender and then adding the remaining liquid to take up the dregs/product stuck in the crevices to reduce wastage! something I wouldn’t have bothered doing until you mentioned about your coffee so cheers for that one! I prefer the thicker shakes as I feels like porridge/oatmeal so I totally understand that one!
@anon52829317 Yes, I have been keeping a cracker or something to chew on handy in the morning just to help get into things.
All in all, I woke up this morning excited to make my huel which was a strange situation but it was very tasty and I’m currently on #2 Today added a banana for a flavor change.
I tend to have Huel at least once a day, sometimes twice, and I usually have a small starter ahead of my Huel - two rice crackers sandwiching an Edam slice is my current favourite. I’ll occasionally have a dessert afterwards, either as well or instead - a small piece of choc, piece of fruit, whatever - but then I’m using Huel for it’s complete nutrition, rather than for weight loss.
I also do intermittent fasting from 8pm to noon the next day, most days, which really, really suits me. I often exercise in the mornings, too, during the fast period, which I also love.
The last thing I’ll mention is that, like you, I prefer my Huel thicker and more porridge-like, and I find it helps to make it up ahead of time and leave it in the fridge for a few hours. Improves the consistency and the flavour, in my opinion. I always make up a batch just before going to bed, ready for my post-fast meal 12-14 hours later. And if I’m on a 2-Huel day, I’ll make one up immediately after lunch, so it can stay in the fridge until dinner time. Just be aware that it’s NOT recommended to leave a made-up Huel any longer than 24 hours.
How many scoops (or grams) are you doing in your cup of Huel? And for more complete information, what’s your H/W/gender? Could it be that you’re not consuming enough Huel?
If you eat 3 meals a day, that’s around 800kcal per meal to still lose 0.5kg a week! (boy am I jealous of you)