Hi, i’m steve and according to DPD my Huel package should be here in the next 30mins!
So, i’m 42, 5ft 7 and weigh 13st which may not sound too bad however all that fat is stored in my belly and as of measuring yesterday (across the belly button) is 41inches. So from the rear i look almost normal but from the side and front i look ridiculous, getting a coat done up is do-able although once done i look like i’m 9 months pregnant.
As with many other stories i’ve read, i thought it might help me to essentially blog it down here so that it may help motivate me to keep going and work harder, it always seems to help if you don’t want to feel like you’ve let yourself or anyone else down, bit like a diary i suppose but with the added that someone may read it and perhaps feel a little inspired to do the same, i know some of the stories i’ve read have helped me get to this point and things need to change whilst i’ve still got time.
My concerns with slim fast and the like is that it is difficult to get a healthy balance of everything the body may need from them and one standard meal a day so my thoughts are to use huel as breakfast and lunch then a normal family dinner (portion appropriate) in the evening having snacks of fruit and/or veg once or twice a day and keeping my water intake up. i’m hoping that this will lead to a sustainable calorie deficit but with the added benefit of getting much more nutrition from huel than i would with anything else i looked into.
If anybody has some thoughts or advice i’d love some feedback please. my only source of exersise at the moment is walking due to a damaged elbow, but i do a brisk walk at least an hour a day, everyday.
So stats as of today,
13st
41inch waist (around belly button) still managing to tuck 34w jeans underneath the belly.
Fingers crossed it works and for anyone else just starting there journey, good luck to you too.
Hey Steve, welcome to the team, it’s great to have you here!
I know you are feeling unhappy with yourself right now, but coming here and posting this is a huge step and shows a lot of courage. You can definitely rely on us to help you out and give you some tips - we’re here for you
Some tips we give to most who are looking to lose fat:
Head to a Total Daily Energy Expenditure calculator
Enter your details and select an option for exercise which you think matches your current exercise level
The number you will get is the amount of calories/energy you require every day to maintain your current bodyweight, approximately
Take this number and take away 500kcal.
500kcal deficit is what we, and many other experts, recommend to lose weight (fat) in a maintainable way
Download MyFitnessPal or a similar calorie tracker
You’ll want to get a feel for how many calories you are eating daily and to do this you need to work this out
The great thing is that Huel makes this very easy!! If two of your meals are Huel then you’ve only really got one meal to work out and your snacks. 100g (2 scoops) of Huel v3.0 = 400kcal. As you’re tracking calories you should weigh your Huel, since scoops aren’t super accurate. Most foods though make it fairly easy on the back of pack to work it out. If you’re anything like me you might have a meal routine, so you’ll only have to work out a few meals anyway!
And you’re off! Just make sure your total daily calories are about 500kcal less than your maintenance level. Here are some other bits of advice:
You might find this too much of a calorie deficit at first, you can adjust the amount to suit you!
tracking calories with food isn’t an exact science, but you’ll be able to get an idea of what is working, so listen to your body and make tweaks
you may well lose a lot of weight in the first few weeks, this will be water weight and you will likely regain this. Don’t feel disheartened this is very normal and your body will settle into a rhythm of consistent loss
Don’t worry too much about your daily weight, our weight fluctuates massively day to day, keep a track of the trends and the general direction of your weight over the course of months
I think I’m out of advice, other than top tips on making Huel, but you can have a read around here for loads of great tips! Any questions you have, have a search around the forum as you already have, if you can’t find the answer then do just ask here!
All the best!
Oh also, we’ve got like so much info on our site about this sort of thing! The top section here has loads of info on losing weight! The Guide to Fat Loss is a more detailed version of what I’ve said above!
Thanks for the advice i’ve done the calorie calculator and worked it out now so i’m on my way. For my weight, height and activity level It says 2200 cals so with a 500 deficit i should be targeting a total of 1700 or so i’m assuming i can slightly adjust for more/less activity on a day to day basis. There does seem to be lots of advice and tips/tricks that you can do with Huel and i look forward to trying some out. I think at some point i may try the hot and savoury too perhaps as an evening meal if i got three huel meals a day ever now and then.
Had my first meal this morning, started off with the berry one. I decided to use milk instead of water as i was never a fan of the old protein shakes with water so i’ve accounted for an extra 250cals (only had semi skimmed in the fridge) I must say i wasn’t sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised with the flavour and the texture! I’ve been using my wife’s slimfast whilst i waited for the huel to arrive, probably about four days or so and like others i was instantly hungry and the beast (belly) just wasn’t satisfied however with the huel i didn’t have that i was satisfied and full up till lunch time which i put down to the huel being a meal rather than a meal replacement which seems to relieve the craving for snacks so a good start, I have tomorrows chilling in the fridge and will have the two huel meals instead of one, i know it says wait 5 or so days to add another but i think i’ll be alright. I upped the walking pace today and the distance and think as from monday i’ll be back to jogging with a view to running in a few weeks time.
Looking forward to see how i feel and how the hunger is starting the two huel meals, i think i will have them as breakfast and lunch then an evening meal to take me to my calorie total. I’m probably going to weigh and measure weekly/fortnightly and hope that some of these belly inches start to shift once i get running again.
Hey thanks, much appreciated. I like the berry too.
I have the mint choc as well looking forward to trying it also have a berry ready to drink and banana ready to drink too.
Will update when i try them.
Hey, so today I tried the ready to drink berry, if I’m honest i wasn’t expecting to like it as i (wrongly) assumed it would be watery like a protein shake with water. closed my eyes and went to gulp it down as quick as possible and to my surprise it was really nice!! So now I’m going to try tommorows powder as I’ve already made todays, with water and see how it is, I’ll make it tonight so it’s chilled for the morning.
Hopefully if i like it it’ll save me the added 250cals that the milk adds which would free up some more calories for a more varied evening meal!
I’ve been reading some others thoughts on the hot meals and will definetely be trying some as perhaps an evening meal.
Started running yesterday as felt really good, i did an 8k walk in the morning the a 3k run/jog in the afternoon and it went well. Feeling really good and in a very positive place right now. I hope if you’re reading this that you are doing well too.
I am 5’7” too and started at 89 kg (14st), 2 years ago. After a year of using Huel, sensible food choices and exercise, I was down to 9st 7. I’m now 59/60 kg and happier than ever. Good luck with your journey. You’ll be fine.
How’s it going with water instead of milk? For my first week with Huel I mixed with oat milk instead of water just while I got used to the taste (plus other people’s reviews had made me really nervous I’d hate it!). Now I just chug it down with water and love it, I don’t feel I need to add anything else.
