Hey all thought i’d post my questions and worries on here.
Im looking to start using Huel but on a small scale. Reason being i’m worried it’s going to shock my body and i don’t want that.
The reason behind me choosing Huel is down to finding it so easy yet beneficial for me. I’m finding is very hard to have time to make breakfast and lunch, as im out of the road a lot. I get very hungry throughout the day, and then fall for going for a quick easy mcdonald’s fix. During the evening i get tired alot and end up snacking.
Can you guys give me some reassurance and some tips on starting on a small scale, maybe with some fruits added and extras added. I dont want to go 100% Huel I want to start small and slowly build up from there.
My ideal plan would be like this,
Breakfast
1 1/2 Scoop Huel with Bannana
Lunch
1 1/2 Scoop Huel with Peanut Butter
Dinner
Normal balance Meal
Many thanks in advance everyone. if there anything else you need to know about me let me know.
Adding the banana will add more carbs in the morning, and the peanut butter will add a little more fats and protein to your lunch.
Personally, I don’t add food to my Huel as I like to keep my macros around 30/30/40 (as in, percentages of fats, proteins and carbohydrates).
My recommendation if you’re going to add to your Huel, would be to flip your breakfast and lunch meals around - so you have your protein and fats in the morning.
Adding to what @pookey says I would also probably increase the amount of Huel. 1.5 scoops of Huel and a medium (100g) banana is only 208kcal, not a very significant breakfast for anyone, adding a heaped tablespoon of peanut butter is even less. I would highly recommend reading about your calorie needs and not try and cut too many calories too soon. Deficit is good as long as it is gradual and maintainable.
The issue i’m having right now, is trying to figure out what I need and how much Huel I need to take in the morning and lunchtime. There’s too many numbers to convert and i’m lost on where to start.
My calories intake is similar to the link you sent me, but I don’t want to have just Huel on its own. I want to add extra to it and have a variety.
Step 2 - What percentage of your diet will be Huel?
This is entirely up to you and your personal circumstances. Some people consume 100% Huel, whereas others replace just one meal a day. I enjoy a family meal in the evening, so I mix ⅔ of my daily calories and have it for breakfast and lunch, and then eat a meal with the family in the evening. It works out as follows:
Total calories I approximately need per day = 2212
If I wanted 100% Huel, I would simply mix 2212 calories worth and leave it in the fridge to drink throughout the day.
from the article you linked me this would be ideal, but i would need to change the calories to relate to additional fruit and peanut butter and so forth. Would this guide be an ideal start into Huel?
Going off personal experience I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I thought the same, that I should build up gradually in case my body didn’t react too well, but in the end I liked it that much I just started having it for almost every meal straight away, and didn’t have any side effects whatsoever. I feel exactly the same having mostly Huel every day as before when I was eating regular food. Then again I used to eat pretty healthily anyway, so changing to Huel probably wasn’t that big of a change. I don’t see much point in counting calories to exact amounts, I just like to have a rough figure. 3 lots of 500 calorie Huel portions a day and I reserve the other 500 for things like drinks, snacks etc. Since I can see from my Microsoft Band that I average about 2400 calories a day in exercise I expect to see a slow but steady decrease in my weight, and that’s exactly what I’ve been getting.
If you are anything like me, you eat the same things for breakfast most days, therefore you can use something like MFP to gauge how much a meal contains and then use that as a ball park figure. My standard breakfast is about 850kcal. Then often in the evening when I cook a recipe it will include some basic nutritional information for you.
As @Dave_Herod says, you don’t need exact figures, as long as you are in a deficit you will lose weight.