So I started on Huel back in September… To begin with it was my breakfast. The goal was to lose some weight through just a little bit of calorie intake control :)…
I quite liked the stuff, so increased intake to also be lunch… So at least 9/10 lunches were Huel, and the same with breakfast. I didn’t lose any weight though. I’m 181cm and 86kgs now, and was the same in September… I don’t do much targeted excercise, but I do have a baby that I carry around a bit and take some walks with etc.
So around November 20th I decided to plan some serious weightloss until christmas. So I went full time Huel, with some quite strict intake… So 3 Huel spoons in 500 ml three times a day… So about 1500 calories give or take… So it should produce significant results!. Now 2½ weeks later the net loss is - 0 kgs… And I’m seriously wondering why… I’ve had cheat dinners due to 2 parties I attended, but otherwise it’s been those 1500 calories a day, and I’m feeling great!.. Only around midnight if I’m still awake I start feeling hungry.
What’s going on here?. I’ve slowly ramped up, and still NO loss what so ever.
I did not… Those were christmas parties, so quite unhealthy :)… But compared to otherwise being 8-900 calories below what I need, I should still see at least SOME loss.
That is odd, for someone of your height and weight 1500cals a day should have shown a loss even if you are sedentary, cos your calories deficit if what you say is accurate is gonna be around/at least 500 cals. Assuming there were just 2 cheat meals in that time, what else are you consuming? Snacks, milky drinks, beer, sugary soft drinks, sugar in tea, coffee etc?
Exactly… I drink carbonated water and normal water as well as coffee - black.
I drink tea maybe once or twice a week with a little bit of honey in it, and I eat some salted almonds now and then when I need something crunchy.
Even at the WORST count I can’t imagine more than 150 calories coming in “hidden” as such…
How frustrating for you I’ve been religiously counting calories with myfitnesspal and been steadily losing around 1lb per week on a 500 calorie deficit since mid October. That’s using Huel to replace two meals a day (occasionally three meals when I cba cooking)
Yes, I have never in my life calorie counted, but decided to lose a bit of weight earlier this year. MFP and calorie counting has been valuable. I always weigh my Huel rather than scoops too. I found calorie counting perfect for this, have now reached my desired weight and it has been stable once I reached it. I never really weighed myself regularly but now I do so every Monday morning.
I always weigh my Huel too. In fact I weigh all my meal ingredients. Too hit and miss otherwise IMO. I occasionally go out for lunch with a friend, then I have to approximate of course. Haven’t done bad so far.
Do you weigh under same conditions? I.e. always after your morning toilet business is done? That could mess with your weight measurements.
Edit: Try playing around with this calculator: https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
For example, the difference between me maintaining 66kg and 70kg is only 55 calories! That’s very little calories, but results in 4 kg difference over time. So bottom line, reduce your intake by 100-200 calories and you might see more results. I’d also give it more time, and careful with your cheat meals, they can make a big difference, especially in a tiny timeframe such as 2 weeks.
It’s quite good to weigh yourself at the same time every morning, and after going to the toilet but before having breakfast.
Make a note of your daily weight, but then average it for the week.
Your weight can fluctuate by as much as 3kg on different days depending on hydration and other factors (even more so for females) - so just weighing once a week on one day could give you variable readings.
Never get too worried about minor fluctuations up and down - look at the general trend over the course of a few weeks / months.
Also, when embarking on a weight loss plan, it always takes a few weeks, or longer to see any real changes to your weight: this demotivates so many people when they work really hard and count calories yet dont see the results on the scales. It takes a while for the fat cells to shrink - they initially replace the lost fat with water and can actually swell and weigh more when you first start a weight loss diet. Then your endocrine system will change slowly over time and you will see the real changes in your weight and shape. I saw an excellent diagram recently demonstrating the biology of what happens to the fat cells in the body when cutting calories - I’ll see if I can find it
This isn’t the one I was thinking of and it simplifies the process massively.
But no-one wants a full biology lesson right now anyway!
This diagram gives you the basic idea
I’ve been religiously counting calories with myfitnesspal and been steadily losing around 1lb per week on a 500 calorie deficit since mid October. That’s using Huel to replace two meals a day (occasionally three meals when I cba cooking)