No Energy after trying Huel

Hi Guys

I’ve been on Huel for a few days now and notice I’m hungrier than usual. Also notice that I have less energy than I used to and workouts with Huel are even more challenging. I am on 3 scoops for breakfast, 3 for lunch then a meal or something boring yet healthy like porridge. I am throwing some protein powder into my shakes because I am doing the insanity max 30 program.

Just wanted to check if anyone else is having energy issues or if it’s just me? Am I not having enough for what I’m doing?

Three scoops is ~ 500Kcal. A bowl of porridge could vary hugely, but a quick web search suggests it will come in around ~200Kcal. So you are eating ~ 1200Kcal + protein powder

I don’t know how much protein powder you are eating, but I guess its not in the order of ~1300Kcal. So probably, given the amount your are exercising, you are not getting enough energy.

Try consuming more calories?

Yeah think you are right Quidditch, it’s probably closer to 1500 I would say as I put some protein powder in my porridge (and it’s a big bowl of porridge) and Huel. More calories it is but hopefully not too many as the point is to loose weight :-\

Unless you’re lifting HEAVY wieghts and/or wnating to build muscle mass isn’t there enough protein in Huel: 15g per 50g - isn’t that the idea that it’s a complete food?
re cals - this was on another thread - it’s simple but I like it: http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=42&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=2&cpound=200&cheightmeter=180&ckg=60&cactivity=1.55&printit=0&x=72&y=13
xx

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I personally think Huel is hard to metabolise. Been a user for best part of four months and you get very little in the way of immediate energy from Huel. It’s definitely a longer burn. For that reason you don’t get the instant relief you get with normal food. Even if you’re starving, drinking three scoops of Huel doesn’t give you the carb lift you sometimes need. Though not diabetic I have been known to have a sugar crash from time to time - cold sweats, dizzy etc that only carbs can cure. I don’t get this anymore (since Huel) but I have to wait for Huel to kick in - takes around 20 minutes before energy levels gradually rise. I think this is a good thing, but took some getting used to

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I’m doing Insanity Max:30 too. I was doing Insanity with Huel, and recently switched onto :30

I don’t find I have energy problems. I agree with @fifimac that adding protein shouldn’t be required.

Can you let us know your height, weight and body fat, or go and calculate your daily calorie requirements? 1500 sounds low to me, and that might be why you’re struggling.

Try 100g of Huel, 30 minutes before morning workout (see m results of that here: http://pookey.co.uk/wordpress/30-grams-protein-withing-30-minutes-waking-results/ )
Try eating more, or speading it out, my Insanity/Huel schedule is here - http://pookey.co.uk/wordpress/huel-insanity-healthy-combination/

I came here to write about this. I started to feel lightheaded on huel and thought I was coming down with something until I remembered that its fairly low carb.

So remembering all the discussions about keto diets on the Soylent forums, I put a cube of chicken broth in warm water and voila, I feel fine again.

Not sure this is keto flu or what, but the symptoms are similar.

@trevnod Only 6 scoops per day? No wonder! I would be absolutely starving if I only had 6 scoops per day. I have at least double that as well as my evening meal.

Intresting - I don’t think Huel is low carb?
21g p/50g - bread is around 25g/50g - but Huel has the added bonus of 15g protein p/50g
xx

Yeah 3 scoops I considered a meal as that’s close to 500 calories no? So that in the morning plus another at lunch then a meal at night. Probably will look at increasing it somehow. Pookey thanks for the feedback, I will check out your insanity schedule to see how your getting on.

It’s ‘low carb’ relative to how most people eat.

It’s not low carb in the sense of having a low carb diet though. Most people’s diets are very carb heavy

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Well, I don’t know how many calories you have for your evening meal, but let’s say you were to have 500 calories, in total you would be only getting 1,500 calories for the day. According to this, the standard calorie requirements for women is 2,000 per day, and for men it is 2,500.

So if you are female I suggest adding a 3rd shaker of 3 scoops to your day, and if you’re male add a 4th shaker too.

That depends on a lot of things. If you were to follow those guidelines on certain parts of the world you’d end up with an obese population.

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I suffer with low energy as well. But then, I’m breastfeeding and working a physical hospital job!

Yes, I’m reading ‘plenty of posts’ suggesting 2k cals for women is too high.
I had a Dexa body scan done last year and despite being in top 20% of muscle mass for my demographic my BMI was only 1650!
xx

Maybe your body just needs time to get used to Huel. If you have been having a lot of sugar and/or high GI carbs in the past, your body might need to get used to no longer having that instant hit of energy.