Run forest run…or not. I hate running, but I do need to lose weight (fat). I used to enjoy sport but at a point I can’t remember when it became more about watching than playing.
I’m super busy with work (like everyone) and my ‘on the go’ diet has been awful for years. Croissant and coffee typical brekkie and a baguette for lunch. I know its not great but its honest. I’ve always been pretty clean/normal for dinner so don’t think they are my problem.
I think lack of exercise is probably my downfall but I’m wondering if Huel can help form part of my answer? I hope so.
I weighed myself for the first time in forever and I’m currently 142kg at 5 11 which I can barely believe. I don’t feel it, don’t think I look it- but I’m damn not happy with it. I was always a prop so never exactly a minnow but that’s too high. Its happened 1kg a month (say) up and down (but generally clearly up) over probably 10 years.
Back to the Huel. I’ve started with;
Breakfast- 3 scoops vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon Mocha flavouring just to keep it a bit varied;
Lunch- 3 scoops vanilla plain.
I’m actually on day 4 of the above and am quite enjoying the shakes so far. Super convenient and easy, taste is fine. Croissants are pretty dull too after a while.
My calories per day should be c.1845pd with the aim of losing 1kg per week (so having deducted c.500). I’m hoping that by limiting my calories for breakfast and lunch to the c.912 calories in the shakes above, with loads of water and a sensible dinner (we like Joe Wick’s stuff) I can stick within that target and see some results without massively upping my exercise or running- which I really struggle to find the time for.
Whilst exercise is, in my opinion, indisputably good for people to be doing it is not the biggest factor in weight loss. If you don’t eat it in the first place then you don’t have to burn it off!
Huel has been and continues to be a very useful tool in working on my own personal health and fitness goals so I hope it works for you too!
I’ve been on a diet for 18 months and lost 4st 11lbs to date. Personally, I found that burning extra calories through excercise doesn’t mean you can eat them and still lost weight so be careful with that.
Good Luck!
Seems like you’re going for the slow and sensible approach and that in the long run will work!
Good on you for having plain vanilla as I can’t stomach it lol
Snap on the exercise front…but as GTIPug says diet is key and obviously I think the more you lose weight inevitabley the more you will move around just because you can.
At your current weight I think you will find the first month or two you will lose more than a kilo a week.
Top tip if you don’t know already, making up the shake night before in a blender makes for a smoother drink the next day.
If can definately work, and something you will find immediately is that you’re concentration will improve as your blood sugar won’t be yoyoing, you won’t need your wallet anymore!, and soon enough you won’t even think about having anything else for breakfast or lunch just because of the lift you get from having Huel instead…
Thanks for the comments and advice this far. Quick update, I’ve been on Huel for 6 days now- morning and lunch each day, ‘normal’ dinner each evening.
I’ve lost bang on 1kg as of today; so 141kg. More to be done; want to get sub 140 this coming week.
I’m using 3 scoops vanilla- morning with mocha flavour system, lunch 3 scoops vanilla just as it comes. Have to say that I’m finding drinking Huel dead easy. I don’t blend, just add 3 scoops to 400ml water, shake it relatively vigorously, add in another c.200ml (to the top), shake it again and its all good. I think anyone who’s had protein/whey shakes before will find these really easy- slightly sweeter, slightly oaty taste.
I really enjoy them and may think about adding in some other flavours for some variety but right now I’m ok.
Gotta keep an eye on my evening meal as that’s obviously where my calories are much less controlled but if I can see a long term trend downwards in a week or so then I’ll stick with this on the basis that for me its a marathon not a sprint. I enjoy a bit of flexibility in the evenings.
Not sure why but really feeling wiped out today. Hungry and distracted/low concentration having had Huel for breakfast and lunch.
I’ve seen some people mention that it takes some adjusting to. Today is the first day that I’ve really felt that. Still enjoying the taste. I’m doing a few more steps each day (about 2k more each day) and nothing else has changed but I’m feeling hungry for the first time at 5pm.
I don’t weigh scoops- could that be the reason? i.e. slightly smaller scoops by accident? It feels like thats such a small margin I can’t believe it could be that. Any thoughts?
How did you come up with your calorie numbers? Is it possible that it’s a little low? Maybe try a few different calculations/websites and see what differences they come up with? Isn’t the broadest estimate 2,500 for a man to maintain weight? Your original post sounds like you started from 2,345. My guess would be your starting point would be above average rather than below.
I’d do some research and rethink your figures. If you can rethink things then maybe you can include a late afternoon healthy snack. Losing weight is going to be tough at times regardless. I maybe wrong and you are spot on with your numbers. In that case maybe move things around find another way to have something late afternoon? Keep at it, starting was the hard bit and you’ve already done that.
@aced, I also had that issue but it passed and nowadays I have to remember to finish my Huel!
weighing out does make a difference, as I use the scoop to add to my tub on the scales I can see upto 6g variation at times.
I use https://tdeecalculator.net/ for my calculations as it uses all the formulas out there and so you can really narrow down a range for the intake.
Also sippling slowly tends to keep hunger at bay, I normally sip each bottle I make over 2 hours sometimes longer.
At some point it will be your inner fat man screaming feed me lol just cos you are use to eating more maybe, as the macros of huel probably differ from your previous eating habits also not having so much sugar flowing through you, basically I think its partly mental but I am no expert.
To be honest I add fruit and I add coconut oil and chia seeds to my shakes and I think thats probably why I don’t feel half dead all the time as I am getting that natural sugar hit in small doses all day long.
Just some ideas, but keep it up soon enough you won’t even think about typical food in the morning, it will just be a rush to the blender lol I use to drink 5 cups of coffee minimum a day and I realised last week that I now barely touch the stuff.
Thanks for the comments. I used the calculator elsewhere on the Huel site to check calories for me. Total = 2845 for me based on weight/height etc so knocking off 500 as advised was really roughly my aim.
I got through that day feeling wiped out and agree it takes/requires effort. Fair point. I do sometimes get a bit wiped out but overall I’ve really bought into Huel and tbh I’m really impressed with it. Taking the thinking out of eating has been crucial so far for me.
I’ll definitely think about dragging out lunchtime shake into afternoon- good advice, thank you.
2 weeks in and I’m 2.3kg down. Start of the road but I’m happy to see i’m on a downward trend and want to maintain that. Not too focussed on easy wins/taking a long term view.
The best thing for me is that I’ve found Huel easy. It tastes great and it fills me up.
To add a bit of variety I’ve bought some of the other flavourings to vary things up a bit. Excited to see how they turn out.
Congrats on the weight loss, must be happy with that.
Sorry to labour the point and apologies if I just misread your plan. But 1845 is 1000 calories less than the 2845. Are you maintaining a 1000 calorie deficit every day? That is where I got confused because you mentioned a 500 deficit. Fair play if you are but that is pretty hard core. Either way I’m impressed.
You’ve really made me think and you’re totally right! I’ve basically been aiming for c.1800 per day thinking thats 500 off my ideal but of course its 1000 off. Really stupid error that. I’m a couple of weeks in and havent been calculating my evening meals religiously, so they will likely have been higher than 800 anyway but generally have been Joe Wicks like if that makes sense. Thanks for the comments too- to be honest I’m not that happy with the amount of weight loss! Its a psychological thing in that I’d like there to be more of an instant result whereas its obviously a longer term issue. I’m ‘ok’ with it and that the trend is down is really good. There’s room for improvement and I’d like to factor in more exercise- i’m trying to get my steps up. But to be honest what I’m really happy with in this process is the Huel- its totally taking out the thought process out of breakfast and lunch which is really good for me as it leads to bad decision making. It really works for me and I don’t find it disruptive. I mentioned croissants etc for breakfast above and thats true but also quite often I’d have nothing at all until lunch which I think was killing my metabolism- I wasn’t even hungry.
I’ve just tried the Strawberry flavour system. Man they’ve done such a good job! I’m seriously impressed Huel. The taste is really great, sweet but not too much- consistency unchanged (I don’t blend, just shake). I’d really recommend for anyone looking just for a slight variety in their Hueling, or anyone who was starting to find it just a bit bland.
I’m with you on the breakfast thing. Starting the day healthy seems to make it easier to do the right thing for the rest of the day. I shop less now which was a chance to re-evaluate what else I eat and make healthier decisions there.
Personally I don’t get the flavoring thing. Banana is the obvious one, I’d rather put actual bananas in. But each to their own.
As I say, I’m impressed with what you are doing. Keep it up and I hope you keep updating us with your progress.
aced, I am pretty close to your weight, height and I also stopped exercising and have a sedentary job. Part of the problem for me with exercising especially running is that with all that weight it can be pretty painful. I’ve been on huel a couple of weeks now 100% huel during the week and tasty but low calorie food on the weekend and I’ve lost 9 pound. I am also now able to go much longer on walks before my back starts hurting so now I can start exercising again. I’ve been using a great tool that tells you how many calories you need to lose weight for the weight, height, age and activity level that you are at. You will find that if you are as heavy as we are you need more calories for the day I’ve taken the liberty of inputting what you have told said above and it says 1910 calories per day to lose 1kg per week so your 1845 should easily cover that.The tool is http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
Thanks for the replies and comments. All about the Veg for me the flavourings really work- I think it’s just because they are super easy and convenient, taste great, add variety and mean I don’t need to shop etc. I’ve seen someone elsewhere on here say they’re good because you can have variety and choice without it costing anything in calorie intake and I think thats spot on. Basically they are zero hassle and for me thats one of the benefits of Huel.
Matthew to be honest I haven’t tried to run for a long time and I wouldn’t try at the moment. I’ve been lucky in that I have no pain anywhere and my weight hasn’t had an impact on me physically at all (yet), but I don’t want it to and don’t want to get to that point. I’m walking more and I think just being more conscious about my calorie intake generally is also having a knock on impact in that it makes me want to be a bit more active- I want to see those numbers go down! My personal goal right now is to get to 100kg by losing 1kg a week. 9 pounds is 4 kg in two weeks- you’re totally smashing it. They’re really good numbers. I’m really tempted by 100% Hueling and if I did it it would be Mon to Friday like you. One of the reasons I’m not (probably the biggest) is that it would also impact my wife and us eating together in the evening. She’s as skinny as anything and isn’t into Huel (I’ve tried!) and cooking for one doesn’t feel fair on her. Not sure how I’d get around that- could maybe do it for a week or two to see. Thanks for the calculator- I’ve used it and you’re spot on. I’m probably a bit under in my count but as I’m not measuring the evening meal religiously it gives me a bit of flexibility. I don’t know if you’ve got the flavourings but if not give them a go. Toffee is a bit bland but the others are really good.
I’m now at 3 kg’s lost in 19 days Hueling breakfast and lunch- it was really great to dip well below 140kg to 139.3 today. I know its not ‘smashing it out the park’ at just over 1kg a week but it feels really sustainable for me and I’m ok with that.
Excellent, I don’t run either walking is less impact on those knees. 100kg is my initial goal as well that would put me back to where I was in Uni. My wife also hates the smell, taste and look of huel but we don’t really have family meals and she generally cooks something much smaller for herself due to surgery she can’t eat a lot. I also like to make my huel just under and then I’ve got a bit of flexibility for a little low cal snack. I’ve just lost my 10th pound this morning (about 4.5kg) but I lost 8 of those pounds in the first 2 days due to water weight. Regarding flavours I’ve got chocolate and rhubarb and custard I had the rhubarb and custard one on a day when I didn’t mix my huel properly and I’ve kinda put myself off it. I like to experiment with huel though and next week I’ll be trying some savoury flavours like marmite. If you haven’t tried the bars they are pretty good although they are very dry so make sure you have some water nearby. 1kg a week is perfect anymore than that and you are hitting it a bit too hard.
Have you got a plan for sustaining the weight loss once you get there? My approach is to lose about another 10kg and then try to eat about 2500kcal a day. If I get 3kg heavier then back on the huel until I get down to the lower threshold and keep that up for three months and then lower the threshold.
I think we should start a 100kg club? lol
My initial target is the same, although I havent been as strict on myself as I could have been, down from 114kg to 109kg now but it was taken around 5/6 weeks.
To be honest once you reach the goal weight you may just end up staying on Huel for the sheer conveniance, I find myself having it for breakfast on the weekends too as it is so effortless.
Good luck to you both keep up the good work!
Still loving the Huel. I’ve gone 100% this week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The flavourings have/are making a massive difference. As of this morning I’m down to 138kg. Really happy with that but more to be done. 1.3kg lost in a week.
Completely uninterested in marmite! I’m a hater! Not going to lie I’m also not going to get into cooking with it. One of the things I really enjoy about it is that there’s zero thought or effort. One of my big issues is not meal planning properly- with Huel I don’t need to and thats ok- just choose a flavouring at the time.
Re long term strategy honestly I don’t know right now- I’d like to really just focus on just getting there first and then see but possibly have in mind to reduce Huel to say breakfast and the occasional lunch in the week. I think it’ll take me best part of a year to get to where I’d like to be, and I’m only about 4 weeks into that at the moment so still got a fair way to go.
Short term I don’t think I’ll stay on 100% Huel for 100% of the time either- its quite hard. In the week I can do it no problem but weekends are more awkward with family meals and not wanting to sit there with a shake (being honest). As long as I can average 1kg + loss per week I’m really happy with that. I’m running a calorie deficit that I know is a bit high on Huel days (at c.1000 less per day) but again its working ok and my step count is higher than its been for a long while.