I’m creating this thread as a way of both sharing my experiences but also as a way to hold myself to account on my journey. I often find I can stick to my goals if I share the ups (and downs) with people, it’s not really that important that I don’t know those people, in fact it might make things easier to share openly.
I’m a 37 year old male, have been overweight/obese for most of my adult life, and suffer from both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis as well as having other health issues. I lead (led) a pretty sedentary lifestyle until recently and consumed a lot of junk - a big part of this is my work situation as I work from home and spend a lot of time in hotels which leads to both poor diet and exercise habits (if you let it, like I have).
I’ve been following Huel for a while and saw it pop up every now and again on Facebook and thought that it might be part of a regime change to help me shed some weight and improve my overall health and fitness. I knew right from the outset that it wasn’t aimed at people trying to lose weight but I also knew that it would in my situation fit into my regime change by providing me with a balance of nutrition in a way that can easily be accounted for when counting calories.
I started on the 14th of August by having Huel (3 scoops, later reduced to 2) for breakfast and lunch, blended with a banana and some frozen berries. This comes in at around 400 calories per meal. Compared to my usual intake of sugary cereal and toast with butter, this is quite a calorie reduction straight off the bat. In the evening I am making more effort to cook healthy meals and pretty much live off chicken and fish with vegetables and potatoes - the latter a necessary part of my diet as I still need that feeling of being “full” which I miss now I’ve all but given up bread.
I’m on and off the scales a bit too frequently but I only take one reading a week, at the same time, as my “weigh-in” weight. It’s odd to see my weight fluctuate daily when my calorie intake is sub-2000 calories (sometimes sub-1500) but I guess that’s pretty normal and one of the reasons you are discouraged from getting on the scales too often.
When working away I still stick to the Huel breakfast/lunch routine but with lack of kitcen facilities I have to drink it either on its own or with one of the flavours, neither are that appealing to me but I get by. I supplement the meals with fresh fruit which would normally be blended when at home (so a banana in the morning, an apple in the afternoon etc.) to ease the hunger pangs.
I have also started doing a bit of “fatty-friendly” HIIT in the hotel at night - 20 minutes of low impact (good on the knees) training which gets my heart rate up and the blood flowing - this normally knocks 200 calories off my intake plus I’m walking between the office and hotel which I never used to do.
I have also significantly increased my water intake and reduced overall sugar intake (less/no sugar in tea, no sugary drinks, no sweeties…man I miss those) which all helps.
It’s now four weeks to the day from the start and I have lost just under 13 lbs. I’m absolutely blown away by how much has come off in such a short space of time and how “easy” it has been compared to previous attempts. I know it’s only 4 weeks but I am not showing any of the signs of falling off the wagon which I normally do, usually down to missing bread like crazy.
My goal at the moment is to drop below 20st, I hope I can do this by Christmas. As a stretch target, I’d like to be less than 19st by then but that is some asking but it’s good to have something to aim for. Being < 21st will be the lightest I’ve been in my 30’s, less than 20st will be the lighest I’ve been in a looooooooong time.
Below is my diary which I intend to add to as I reach my goals. I’m using MyFitnessPal to track my progress using it’s suggested calorie intake of 2030.
Date: 14/08/2018
Weight: 21 st 5.4 lbs
Loss: N/A
Notes: First weigh-in before starting my new regime - time to shed some timber and ease the pressure on my joints. Let’s do this!!
Date: 24/08/2018
Weight: 21 st 0.8 lbs
Loss: ~4 lbs
Notes: Wow! Totally smashed my 2 lbs/week target. Setting into the new regime now and learning how to manage the hunger pangs. Average calorie intake over period 1925.
Date: 31/08/2018
Weight: 20 st 13 lbs
Loss: ~2 lbs
Notes: Tried some flavour boosts in my Huel whilst working away this week, not blown away but slightly more palatable whilst I have no blender! Average calorie intake over period 1856.
Next weigh in is due tomorrow morning but I can see in my interim weigh-ins that I’ve lost a fair bit again this week.
Huel definitely regret that one 
oh god!