# Results: 1 year on Huel **URL:** \ **Category:** Experiences\ **Created:** [December 2, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://discuss.huel.com/t/results-1-year-on-huel/7537 "2017-12-02T14:31:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![belayatron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@belayatron](https://discuss.huel.com/u/belayatron)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://discuss.huel.com/t/results-1-year-on-huel/7537/1 "2017-12-02T14:31:23Z")
My 1 year (ish) on Huel: **Summary/TLDR:** - Amazing for me, big increases to health, no more “hunger lulls” after lunch, stable weight loss of over 10kg, money saver and most importantly, very convenient (see detail for tips). **More detail:** I (mid 30s, 100kg, normal height), started Huel as soon as I came back from my Xmas holiday last year. My priorities were (in order): - Eat healthier at work/avoid snacks - Become more healthy generally - Increase convenience (allowing me to eat breakfast( - Save money - Possible weight loss I chose to use Huel only for breakfast and lunch on work days, eating in an uncontrolled fashion at all other times (takeaways, snacking, ice cream etc = fine outside of those times). The rational being it would still have a net result of me eating healthier + not make me feel like I was on a diet (sustainable) + mean I’d eat breakfast (I tend not to have time to make a healthy breakfast). I selected a meal/portion size of 2 level huel scoops. After a lot of trial and error, I use the unsweetened/unflavoured version with strawberry flavouring added. It was a complete success for me, I’ve become noticeably healthier and more energetic, lost over 10kg (stable i.e. not a fluctuation due to water loss), and expect Huel to be a long term feature of my life now. I thought it might be useful to give a couple of thoughts/tips for new people. Please keep in mind this is just my opinion/a sample size of 1! It may not be true for you!: **1).** Possibly my main tip: I recommended Huel to around 10 people over the year. In **every** situation, the people who ended up loving it/sticking with it long term (4) found benefit from it in **the first day**. The people who didn’t like the texture, had stomach issues etc etc never magically started liking it. It’s a shame, but if you start using it and within 3 days you’re having issues/not liking it, I suspect unfortunately you never will. The first day I liked the texture, didn’t mind the flavour (!) and was amazed at the energy rush/lack of a post lunch energy slump. - Recommendation: start with the small sample bags first and only proceed to bigger bags if you really like it. - I’d also suggest getting a flavouring sample pack at the same time (my personal favourite is strawberry) **2).** I prefer the unsweetened/unflavoured version as you can then add all kinds of different flavours to it to stop it becoming boring. The flavour of the vanilla one can become very boring after a while. If you do choose the vanilla one and find it oddly artificial/sweet, if you leave it for a few minutes after mixing, the sweetener dissolves better = it becomes much more mellow. **3).** For me convenience is key and possibly the biggest benefit of Huel. When it’s so easy to make a meal, you use Huel instead of snacking/crisps etc. I’d **strongly** suggest maximising it’s convenience for you as soon as you start to benefit fully from this aspect of Huel (see photo at bottom of my setup) My process is: - When I get a new bag of Huel, I add the flavouring directly to the bag and shake it = avoids needing to add it to each portion. - Each fortnight, I distribute 2 weeks worth of portions into 20 small glass jars and seal the tops. - This means on a work morning, I simply fill my beaker with water, empty a jar into it, shake it, pop another jar in my bag and leave = whole process of making breakfast and packing lunch takes 10 seconds! **4).** If (like me), you only have a meal portion of 2scoops/350ish mil water, get a smaller beaker = saves a lot of bag space. I found myprotein’s “shaker bottle mini” worked perfectly for me and was only a pound or so. **5).** When shaking, always add the water first and make sure you shake as soon as possible after adding the powder. This reduces “clumping”. I’ve never bothered using a mixer and if there are occasional lumps you get used to them. **6).** Weight loss. As an experiment I tracked my weight/fat/water composition over the year even though weight loss wasn’t my main driver. Interestingly, I experienced an immediate large weight drop (i.e. first 2 weeks). It then stayed static for around 30 days… I went on holiday for a week (no Huel, very active but eating a fair bit) and gained almost all my weight back ☹ Huel brought it down again and then it again stayed static for almost 5 months. It then started slowly lowering in a very predictable fashion. When I went on holiday again and returned interestingly it hadn’t changed. I lost almost all of the 10+kg loss after 6 months on it. I’m not quite sure what was going on, but I suspect the initial loss was water loss (even though my machine didn’t pick this up/not sure how accurate they are), where as real body type changes took a lot longer. 6+ months my body shape changed very obviously going down a shirt and trouser size. I guess it’s worth keeping this in mind. For me, it took a while for real physiological changes (and associated weight loss) to happen. **Thanks Huel!** Hope some of this helps someone. I’m ashamed to say it’s not a major driver, but if I fold down a Huel bag and put it alongside the landfill waste I would generate from the equivalent work lunches, it’s also majorly majorly cut down the amount of post-consumer waste I generate. ![IMG_1572](https://cdck-file-uploads-us1.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/flex020/uploads/huel/original/2X/5/5e65a279d80d7b03dc1501cca62c83693999aeaa.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![aaronjbeetle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.huel.com/aaronjbeetle/32/4105_2.png) [@aaronjbeetle](https://discuss.huel.com/u/aaronjbeetle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://discuss.huel.com/t/results-1-year-on-huel/7537/2 "2017-12-02T17:41:46Z")
Awesome write up. Thank you for sharing! ---
**Author:** ![hunzas](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.huel.com/hunzas/32/8275_2.png) [@hunzas](https://discuss.huel.com/u/hunzas)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 11:55am UTC](https://discuss.huel.com/t/results-1-year-on-huel/7537/3 "2017-12-03T11:55:07Z")
Very interesting overview of your year; great reading. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![Rosie\_Schofield](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discuss.huel.com/rosie_schofield/32/3957_2.png) [@Rosie\_Schofield](https://discuss.huel.com/u/Rosie_Schofield)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://discuss.huel.com/t/results-1-year-on-huel/7537/4 "2017-12-03T13:27:44Z")
Great to hear how beneficial you have found Huel! ---
**Author:** ![belayatron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@belayatron](https://discuss.huel.com/u/belayatron)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 6:46am UTC](https://discuss.huel.com/t/results-1-year-on-huel/7537/5 "2017-12-04T06:46:14Z")
Great thanks everyone 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NewbishDelight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NewbishDelight](https://discuss.huel.com/u/NewbishDelight)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 9:14am UTC](https://discuss.huel.com/t/results-1-year-on-huel/7537/6 "2017-12-05T09:14:09Z")
Great write up!