Just wondering how much I should be taking as huel seems to be somewhat lacking in the calorie department per hit.
My aim was to replace breakfast and lunch, and then have a cooked dinner. However, I’m concerned that 2 shakes (6 scoops total) @ 1000 calories isn’t enough as my evening meal will likely be <1.5k calories, leaving me shy of my 2500 calorie goal.
Should I be adding more scoops? On the label, it states that huel can supplement up to 5 meals per day. Who was ever eating 5 meals per day?!
In hindsight, I’m somewhat concerned that I may lose out on the convenience of huel if i’m spending the majority of my day drinking it in the kitchen.
Male, mid 30’s, 6’1, around 80kg. Not currently that active however weight doesn’t seem to stay on too easily (but then again I never ate 5 meals per day).
Your 2500 calorie target is higher than most so to hit that you will need more of something.
There are people on this forum which for whatever reason consume nothing but Huel so you can have as much or as little as you want.
If you make Huel up with something other than water, such as vegan or diary milks you can increase the number of calories per shake. But obviously adding more Huel does the same. And maybe try leaving the kitchen while drinking it so you can be more productive?
Haha you would be a good youtuber or some sort with your clickbait title
If you want to consume more calories it’s always easier to drink your calories rather than eat them. Of yourse one option would be to take more scoops of huel (which would also add nutritional value as with 1000 huel calories you are technically not at the optimum of vitaminc etc yet). But if this would make the “meal” to large in quantity for you it might be a really good idea to make huel with something else than water, as already mentioned in a comment before.
Try to add something which contains fat. As fat has more calories per g than carbohydrates or protein. Maybe a splash of coconut oil? If that sounds appealing to you is another question
You don’t seem to be a snacker as you’re wondering who the hell would eat 5 meals haha but if you’re losing weight or are concerned to lose weight you might want snack on some high(er) calorie “healthier” snacks such as nuts or huel bars for example.
My daily calorie goal is 2500 too and i’m doing almost what you want :
Breakfast : I used to make a shaker with instant oats, whey and peanut butter but it has an heavy glycaemic load. I’ve replaced with 150g of huel (600 ckal)
At noon, when i can i cook real food with a target of 800 cal. If i can’t have good food, i drink a huel meal with 650 kCal and add some more food to acheive 800 cal
At 4PM I eat a huel bar or a vitaline bar or some walnuts, pistachio, cashew nuts, etc. depending on the amount of lipid i already have eaten.
For dinner i always eat normal food
Then i do sports (1h, maximum intensity) and after that i eat again
That is for week days
On weekends, i just eat normal food
Why do you need 2500 calories per day? Seems high. Do you do a lot of sports?
I do 1h15, 3 times a week and I should need 2300 calories per day but try to gain mass so i have added an extra 200 cal
I’ll give it a try with soy milk and an extra scoop then. That should buff it to 700 calories ish.
If you, or anyone else has any other ideas of what else I can add to boost the calorie number higher still, I’m all ears. I will say though, I’m reluctant to venture into the blender/nutri bullet world again as I make as much mess with one of those as I do cooking.
Apologies to everyone for the late reply, my account was temporarily suspended. Not something I’m a stranger to, but coming only 10 minutes after my account creation that’s a pb. Credit to the moderatoration sensation for finding context where others haven’t and keeping the post active.
Anyway, looks like my reply to coup slipped through after the ban was lifted, so I’ll reply individually to the others now.
@sopsc Thanks for this. Coconut oil is a good idea, but it does somewhat resemble a jar of candle wax. Have you any experience of putting it in a shaker? At £10 a pop I think I’ll need a testimonial before risking that one. Nut snacks I’ll defo give a try.
@vanquish I guess I was looking at 2500 because that’s what I’ve read online. To be honest I’ve no idea how much I actually need, I’d just rather go more over less as I’ve always been slim and before now my appetite has been much stronger. From what you’re saying I think for maximum effectiveness I’m going to have to use huel alongside food if I really want to keep the weight on. Thank you
@dharkhig We’ve gone from 5 meals per day to 6! I’ll aim for 10 and see how it goes. Also, kudos for the use of the word, ‘Elevenses’.
@GTIPuG I’m not even sure what to say to this… Do I need to wear a witches hat and mix it in a cauldron? I’m also vegan but that’s my fault for not mentioning it. Thank you though.
Oh yeah of course that’s true with the coconut oil. It gets liquid when it’s warmed (In summer for example it’s liqid even at roomtemperature), so if you mix it in a blender (without ice) it should get liquid because of the movement and created “heat” of the machine… but yeah if you’ll cool it again it gets waxy so maybe not that easy to drink
If you’ve no specific goal of bulking up or losing weight then you could just listen to your body and see how it goes, rather than calorie counting. Like you say, you’re someone who has never really been overweight. I’m the same and that’s what I do.
I have Huel (with water) for breakfast/lunch, a Huel bar when I get home from work and then dinner is usually quite late but it’s a regular meal, sometimes with pudding. I’m pretty active, running 4 times a week plus some cycling and that amount of Huel has been keeping my weight stable at 65kg.
P.S. Huel with Oat milk instead of water adds another 200 calories and tastes amazing but it does become expensive and it’s a LOT of fibre.
My target is even a bit higher than yours, but I wouldn’t mind gaining a bit.
Currently, I’m having my shakes at 171g (4,5scp) which adds up to 689 kcal per meal.
Having 4 of those per day and you’re already past the 2500 target, but that would leave
barely any room for ‘regular meals’. So, if you intend to have a specific target I’d suggest
considering why aiming for a target and what this target would be (ie. TDEE calculator).
After that, think of how you want to go for this target.
I’m at 4 x 171g Huel + 650ml water and on top of that a little snack once or twice a day (like nuts).
Usually, my calorie intake is a bit over 3.000 kcal which might seem like a lot (and is).
Since recently, I’ve started using a Garmin Vivosport to track activity and all while already
using MyFitnessPall to record my calorie intake. According to the Garmin Connect app, my
activity adds up to between 1500-2500 kcal per day on days I’m working.
I don’t reckon I could stomach even a few sips… you are crazy !