Hi all. I have a really abusive relationship with food, always have! A couple of years ago I lost a load of weight and started to feel good about myself then started piling it on again (as I always do! See photo for my life as a yo-yo dieter!) but it wasn’t getting too out of hand then along came lockdown…
My daily three mile round walk to work was gone and I was left unattended with the fridge and food cupboards plus an unquenchable thirst for booze.
I am now the biggest and most unhealthy I have ever been. I’m breathless, bloated and achy with terrible skin and big bags under my eyes.
One of my friends has had great success with Huel so this is my last ditch attempt! The thought of a liquid diet has never, ever appealed to me, I live for food, all the flavours and textures so this is going to be hard!
I’ve just started and am currently on a shake for breakfast and one for lunch (at a total of 600 calories). I’m supposed to be having a healthy tea but haven’t got my head around that bit yet… (one step at a time hey)
Any hints, tips, support greatly appreciated. This is gonna be hard!
Hey Ambelina, welcome to the forum and good luck! The good news seems to be that you’re good at losing weight, so you can do it again, with or without Huel. The real question and challenge will be later on, when you lose the weight and want to be sure not to put it on again.
I’ve recently lost a lot of weight (BMI 30+ down to just under 25) for the second time, and am asking myself similar questions.
Huel’s only a part of how I lost weight and plan to stay healthy, but where it really shines is in substituting what I’d eat for low effort/low willpower meals. I usually have it for all breakfasts and weekday lunches, but on ‘bad days’ occasionally just eat 100% Huel. It helps me dodge major mistakes, basically.
I don’t think Huel alone is enough for me to avoid regaining weight though. Another trick that’s helped me, though, is get used to Huel 67%, 50% and then 33% sweet. I also got a food processor and learned to make healthier ice cream with frozen bananas, and Nakd-style fruit/nut bars. It means I can make myself a dessert when I want it (chocolate/almond ice cream earlier today), and it’s healthier than what I’d normally eat.
Hiya!
Welcome to the forum 
♂
‘Dieting’ in general is, in my opinion, almost always a bad thing. Rather than derive yourself for six months to drop the weight(then inevitably ‘treat yourself’ afterwards and put it back on) I think it’s better to look to make long term changes. This is where Huel can be a massive advantage - two meals a day of Huel can be a healthy, achievable and realistic long term routine.
I wish you the best of luck in your journey! 
Welcome!
Huel is going to help you a lot. But Huel is not the answer, if you put so many hope in Huel, the probabilities of ending hating yourself or Huel are quite high if you dont achieve results.
My advice is to analyse that toxic relationship with food that you said and find the reason behind it. Analyse the also what kind of food that you eat should be repoved and just cut it out (when grocering dont buy junk food on the supermarkets or remove the food delivery apps).
Make a meal plan and stick to eat. Integrate Huel where fits you best, like breakfast or at lunch. (For example I dont like Huel at dinner and I love it at lunch).
And remember Huel is great because of the nutrition and the completeness as a food, but its not magic. Its just food, you could get easily fat with it.
At the end of the day, for weight loss you just need a deficit in calories and Huel is great to measure very precisely your total balance. But it wont make miracles, Huel should be just a tiny part of your project.
Yup, I realise Huel isn’t going to sort out my poor relationship with food, I’m just really hoping it stops me obsessing over food so much and hopefully it’ll be great for those days I tell myself I haven’t got anything healthy in etc so give myself a free pass and end up eating junk. This way I have a balanced ‘meal’ ready to go.
It’s all part of the journey. We’ll see how it goes…
It actually helped for me, I had a bad relationship with food but I did 100% Huel for a month and it reset my palette. Now when I have a pack of crisps or bar of chocolate / can of coke (for a treat) one is enough, I no longer crave snacks or binge eat. It’s hard at first to get away from sugar etc but for me it did work.
Good luck.
Hi
My mum had the same kind of relationship with food as you and she recomends litening to youtube videos by Marisa Peer or her book: You Can Be Thin.
She helps you reprogram your mind and how you think about food to help you fix your relationship with food and with yourself.
For example she says to think ‘I could eat now’ rather than ‘I am starving’ as it prevents you from over eating.
Mum highly recommends her and her videos and books helped her.
I would also say, don’t call it a last ditch attempt. Reword it to something more positive for your future self as its a lifestyle choice not a 6 month fad.
Keep us updated on how you go and don’t forget falling off the bandwagon is fine as long as you remember to get back up.
Check out this thread and article
Thanks guys.
Yeah, it’s been a life long struggle with food. I spend all day thinking about food and what I’m going to eat next, even while I’m already eating! I cook and bake from scratch most of the time so it’s not processed junk but love butter, cheese, carbs etc and have no self control. Food excites me, I love it!
I also go through phases of ‘secret eating’ when I’m at my worst where I’ll shovel food in quickly in private and then sit and eat a ‘normal’ meal with people. Not good!
I’m hoping Huel for lunch and breakfast may take some of that obsession away, it may not, but it’s certainly worth a try!
At the moment, I don’t feel quite in the right headspace for losing weight but hoping it’ll kick in soon.
I’m also hoping owning up to my bad habits with food to other people will help me feel some kind of accountability.
I would love for this weight loss to be the final time I need to do this where I can just maintain rather than self destruct. Time will tell…
My tip is to not demonise food, and dont eat like if you were a drug addict, enjoy it with family and friends, its completely normal. Organise yourself some food treats during the day or the week so you will pacifically wait and have them instead of eating in the shadows like a racoon and feeling ashamed.
My diet is focused towards healthy food, but I do enjoy from time to time junk food or fatty foods like cheese. There is nothing bad about your diet as long the basic nutrition is fullfilled and the balance of calories in and out per month is stable.
This is a really good point. I’ve been lucky that recently in my city there has been quite a surge in healthy (and in particular plant based) eateries and store offerings. This really has helped me a lot by providing the option of more choices and being able to try out things that I didn’t have the opportunity to before such as good quality meat and dairy analogues. These were pretty thin on the ground last year but seem to have surged recently – perhaps in response to the collapse in dairy and meat production due to the covid response.
Hey Ambelina, I’m not going to give you advice online because it sounds like your best bet is to chat to a registered nutritionist or dietitian in a 1:1 setting. I really feel for you but it’s important to understand the route causes of your eating habits before looking for solutions, even if you think you’re figured out the causes.
Honestly, if you feel incorporating Huel into your diet is going to be hard and doesn’t match your lifestyle, have a think to why this might be otherwise Huel is simply going to create another peak and trough in the graph you’ve shared.
Huel can certainly become a piece of the puzzle especially if you’re struggling to find something healthy to grab and eat quickly. Have a think on the above, sustainability and long-term health is the goal.
If you enjoy cooking, Huel can be a fun challenge to cook with too. I prefer to eat my Huel in baked goods which can become quite tasty with spices and other flavorings (I prefer to add a minimum of other ingredients to maximise the Huel in my meal). Some recipes to start with here on the site. Cheers!
Ooh thanks! I’d not even thought of cooking with it to be honest!
I’ll check out some recipes.
Well I’m a few weeks in now and mostly I’m enjoying it. My skin has improved massively (in recent years I’ve been suffering with lots of tiny angry spots and nothing has helped until now!) from a mental point of view I’m really enjoying not having to think about food until tea time (I’m just doing breakfast and lunch on Huel). I can actually feel my shoulders relax as I’m mixing my Huel at night for the next day because I don’t have to obsess over what I’m going to eat.
It’s early days but so far, so good…
Is your recipe on the Huel site?
Yum! They look delicious!
Hi Colin. Your making me feel hungry. Not seen the cacao buttons before. The biscuits look good dunkers for tea. Enjoy. 
I think it’s this one (without the jam)