Newbie and eager to receive help

Weight loss
1

Good evening all!!

I am about to embark on my journey with Huel tomorrow and am at a loss of how to work out exactly what I need in order to replace meals/lose some weight.
I am a 5’9 female who is sitting at the 92kg mark, relatively active through competing horses but a sedentary Mon-Fri London Commuter.

My whole ambition for Huel was to replace the ad-hoc eating pattern that has been part of my lifestyle for certainly the past 2 years. Prior to becoming a civilian, I had a 15 year career with the Army and my physical lifestyle was at its peak with running Marathons and generally being much more active than I am now.

Over the next 5/6 months, I need to lose approx 2 stone which would bring me back to where I once was and hopefully having adopted a new way of eating.

So, what do I do with Monday 20th June to start this journey - any help/advice/ meal plan would be really appreciated. I am good with routine and can happily stick to it but I need to be told what to take. I hope to start with 2 meal replacements first off.

Thank you all in advance :slight_smile:

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2

There is a great spreadsheet over here: The Mathematical Diet you can input your height, age, weight and how much you want to lose and it gives you a breakdown of how much Huel you’d need every day at each week as you’re losing. I use this but sometimes have food too, so, i reduce my Huel on those days (i know that 100g of Huel is 410 calories and i tend to look for snack or light meals that are around 400 calories).

Hope this helps.

Good luck :slight_smile:

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Thank you so much for the pointer - I will have a look now :slight_smile:
Just trying to prepare for tomorrow’s 2 Huel meals x

4

There are so many threads on this forum with loads of advice, it’s worth having a good dig and a read

I only started two weeks ago, have found it really easy to stick to two Huel meals a day. I mix mine with a little banana and a few raspberries. Simple. All made the night before with a blender and then put in the fridge ready for the next morning / day

5

Good luck with your weight loss goals. If you you don’t need to be as specific as on the shared spreadsheet, then you can head here to assess you daily calorie intake - http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

Then use this table -

Or follow these instructions, step 3 of 7 Tips to Huel heaven!

First, work out how many calories you need enter your age, weight, height and physical activity level into this calorie counter - http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

Aligning your calories with your goals we recommend you aim to lose one pound per week. Removing 500 calories per day from the amount you discovered in the previous step, a 500 calorie deficit, will see you lose a pound a week. If you want to gain weight, add 500 calories per day. Losing or gaining more than this is very difficult and is much more unsustainable, meaning your more unlikely to be successful. These goals are a marathon not a sprint!

Working out how much Huel you need once you know how many calories you’ll need per day, the next stage is to break it down into how many meals or snacks you need per day. For example, if you needed 2211 calories:

Without Snacks

  • Breakfast: Huel, 737 calories
  • Lunch: Huel, 737 calories
  • Dinner: Normal meal of approximately 737 calories.
  • Total calories: 2211

With Snacks

  • Breakfast: Huel, 500 calories
  • Midmorning snack: 237
  • Lunch: Huel, 500 calories
  • Afternoon Snack: 237
  • Dinner: Normal meal of approximately 737 calories.
  • Total calories: 2211

Hope that helps too.

1 Like
6

Tim,

Thank you so much for this much clearer explanation.

I need to now be on 1533 calories a day (thats minus 500 calories from my current intake). Can you help me with the break down on that with snacks…

I have tried using Huel first thing in the morning and it makes me feel really ill so today I used a portion mid afternoon and that sat better with me. I do feel though that I still need snack throughout the day and its just keeping track with that.

Current weight today 93.4kg

7

Hello,

Thought I’d share what I’ve been doing past and present in the event it might be useful.

Female. 40. Sedentary life style. truck driver. Very nearly 13 stone at start.

Bought huel with intention of going 100%, however, although I tolerated it and eventually enjoyed huel, I found that nothing but huel was a bit depressing. Also cooking for partner was the worst! I quickly fell off that wagon.

Fast forward 6 weeks and holiday passed, partner and I decided enough was enough and made a plan for change. Purchased a spirallizer and a George Foreman grill. I now have a regime I enjoy very much and feel I can quite easily stick to long term. It is as follows. …

Mon - Fri
2 huel drinks prepared in the evening. Preped with 2 scoops each(so combined just over 600+ calls of huel). Pop in fridge for work in morning.
I rise at 4am for work. I’m not hungry in morning. I intentionally hold of till about 10am for first ‘meal/drink’. 2nd meal / drink at 14.00. Basically I wait till I’m hungry but I know I’ll be starving and grumpy if I consume it all too quickly so I discipline my self to wait till these times.

I get home around 7pm.

Evening Meals consist of a protein ie. Chicken breast, pork loin, lamb leg or salmon. Sometimes omelette.
And as much veg as I want - A large portion of courgetti mixed with onions or leeks mushrooms peppers tomatoes etc etc fried off in a little coconut oil And a teaspoon or two of pesto through for flavour. Very very quick and a favourite.
Or
Roasted veg with thyme and rosemary and garlic. Though prep takes longer and I’m usually tired grumpy and hangry by finish time so this tends to be weekend food.
Or
Cauliflower rice.

I make homemade tzatziki and tomato salsa as I hate dry food so I use these as condiment.

Additionally I change flavours with herbs or by adding a little chorizo to the veg.

Basically I’m eating lots in my meals and I full in the evening. I don’t count calories but the meals are fairly carb free and so seem to fill me with out bloating and I am losing weight so I’m assuming there’s a calorie deficit achieved there.

I find weekends hardest. Maybe I should start using huel then too. Instead I weetabix in morning. Share something with hubby that’s healthy for lunch and have a similar meal to through the week but with more effort ie stuff the chic breasts with mozzarella and sundries tomatoes and wrap in Parma ham. Beef stroganoff. Something like that.

We have a treat when we lose a combined stone. 2 treats so far. To be honest our tastes seem to have changed. Things taste to sweet. The Indian that I do looked forward to was nice but to be honest not as nice as I remembered. I’m as happy with my courgetti!! I love that stuff.

Everyone’s different but this is my method. I love my huel drinks. They fill me up and I’m happy. I could do this indefinitely as it doesn’t feel like a diet although I am hungry the food I’m choosing tastes good and I look forward to my meals. No more dry chicken breast and salad leaves.

Good luck. Look forward to reading how you get on.

Edited because I more or less ignored Huel!
I’d like to add that I’d really struggle if not for huel. I don’t have to make decisions when I’m hungry during the day.
There’s only so many places you can park with an articulated lorry to get lunch out and about. It’s too easy to park in services and buy a McDonalds. M&S food to go - there’s too many tempting choices to buy just one sandwich. Plus it’s very costly. Industrial estate burger vans… The bacon smells delicious.
You can see where I’d fall. Huel saves me from this.

3 Likes
8

Hi Rebecca. Long time Huel user and advocate, here. :slight_smile:

Something I found incredibly tough when I began Huel was the morning shake. To save you the boring details, I then realised it was because of the pseudo-dehydration Huel gives me (maybe a pro can advise? @Julian?) I combatted this by taking on a lot more water. Voila, no more post-shake nausea. I do seem to remember reading somewhere that you will need to increase your water intake when taking Huel.

Huel has highlighted the importance of hydration. I usually wake up and immediately drink 500ml-1L of water. I then have my 500ml Huel shake. I usually drink 500ml of water with each of my 5 shakes (that’s alongside, not including the 500ml used with the Huel). I abide by the litre per 25kg bodyweight, and add a litre in the morning and 500ml at night. More if it’s a gym day. I often go through 4-5L of water per day without even thinking.

I’m not for one moment suggesting you follow my track, but that’s my story. Try drinking more water before your Huel. Good luck with your goal!

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@blenks is right. Ensuring you consume lots of water is advisable.

This is because Huel is high is fibre and fibre acts like a sponge, so it’s important to consume lots of water when using Huel.

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Since you use about half a litre of water every time you make Huel, isn’t that already a lot? I seem to remember one of the dietitians who blindly tested Huel said that was one of their few concerns, that drinking over 2 litres of water a day seemed like it could be too much for some people.

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This is why I only use 300ml of liquid per 2 scoops of Huel up per meal. I can’t tolerate the volume of 500ml and it would take me far to long to consume the whole portion. But I have found I am drinking more water each day and it’s nothing but a good thing.

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I’d be interested to see that study. 2L of water a day is, for most fully grown adult males, far too little water.

The water mixed with Huel no longer has the effect of plain water. It serves as a mixing agent to complete Huel. So you can’t count that as water consumed per day.

I am fit and healthy, healthier than I’ve ever been, and I drink substantial amounts of water. I’ve often consumed 2L of plain water and two Huels at 500ml each before 11am.

Try it! Huel follows shortly behind water in my most favourite liquids that don’t contain alcohol…

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13

“The recommended dilution would mean consuming 2.3L daily which may be too much for some people to tolerate.”

2 litres is far too little based on what? If it’s about that “8 glasses of water a day” thing, I’ve read that was a myth with no scientific evidence to back it up and no one seems to know who invented that guideline in the first place.

As for water “not counting” because it’s been mixed with something else, that sounds like absolute nonsense to me. The water in food is still water, it’s not like it’s not there any more once it’s mixed with something else.

14

There’s water in beer, that dehydrates you because of another component. Coca Cola dehydrates you for the same reason, yet it also is mostly water.

Huel, by this layman logic, also contains a lot of water but it’s the hydrated fibre that the dehydrates you.

I will never go by NHS guidelines for anything so I agree with you on the ‘8 glasses’ rule.

I’m about to start work however I will also never trust a dietician who says 2.3L may be too much for some people to handle. Yeah sure, if you’re 40kg and underweight, maybe. But I’m not. And I’m definitely not going to stop at 2L for a reason that is yet to be explained.

I’ve just done a quick google using many different terms: optimal water intake; unbiased water consumption; water consumption per weight; water per day for adults. None said 2.3L is too much, and 90% were reputable sources you’ll more than likely recognise.

15

Furthermore, you consume water with porridge, but don’t count that towards your daily water intake, do you? Think of Huel like that.

16

http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/283/5/R993.long

“This conclusion is supported by published studies showing that caffeinated drinks (and, to a lesser extent, mild alcoholic beverages like beer in moderation) may indeed be counted toward the daily total, as well as by the large body of published experiments that attest to the precision and effectiveness of the osmoregulatory system for maintaining water balance.”

“A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 liters daily in most instances. An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 milliliter for each calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.”

17

I’ve seen this argument (discussion, sorry) come up a few times.

There’s evidence online that points to all kind of conclusions, and it’s really hard to read these without applying your own confirmation bias to solidify your beliefs.

My advise is that if you’re thirsty, you drink. If you’re not - don’t.

We’re in a world now where resources are in abundance, and we’ve somehow programmed ourselves away from just listening to the body. People are eating for comfort, or drinking to fulfill a quota; take a step back, listen to your body, and do what feels right for you.

There’s no one size fits all for this.

18

Ok, you evidently know stuff.

What I know is if I feel dehydrated, I’m going to drink water. It seems to me it’s no coincidence that my [dehydration] headaches go away and I feel better in general when I drink four or more litres of water per day on top of food and/or Huel, and I’m sure I’m not the only person to vouch for this.

19

That’s exactly how I judge it. If you’re low on water, your body will let you know. I’m not sure at what point water intoxication happens (probably a hell of a lot), but I’d be wary of drinking massive amounts of water.

20

I think as long as your pee is straw coloured and no darker,which is what I adhere too, you’re hydration levels will be pretty much spot on. If you want to drink more I don’t see any problem with that other then needing a nearby toilet a little more often.