This may be slightly off track but not sure where to post? I exercise every morning. I have 2 or 3 scoops in the morning but also small bowl oats to try and counteract the exhaustion I feel after exercise. Then when I return from the exercise at about 11 I am very hungry and feel I have to have a meal to counteract it. Would like to lose weight but think I’m gaining it and the Huel is rather like an apperitif. So I wonder when I read about people even the founder of Huel having just 2 meals of Huel in the day and an ordinary meal at night - when does he exercise? If in the morning surely he needs more carbs?
Depends on the type of exercise and the intensity. Plus everyone reacts differently I suppose. I personally don’t feel hungry at all after I’ve done a weights session. Very thirsty if I’m not focused on drinking enough water whilst Im exercising, but not hungry.
I gather cardio is more likely to make you feel hungry, but can’t really comment.
One interesting theory I’ve heard is that much of the post exercise hunger/cravings people experience is psychological and comes more from the thinking of “I deserve a treat as I just did a ton of exercise”
Generally I’d have thought most people don’t exercise for a long enough duration or high enough intensity to trigger genuine hunger. If someone does 30 minutes on a treadmill and then claims to be ravenous I’d be inclined to suggest a big glass of water and wait 20 minutes to see if it passes.
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If you’re having three scoops of huel and a small bowl of oats that’s going to be in the region of 750 calories for breakfast. Whether this is good for helping you lose weight is going to depend a lot on your height, weight and activity level. Personally I am 6’3, ~96kg and do strenuous exercise 1-2hrs a day and am at a small surplus at around 2500 calories.
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Why don’t you ask him? @Julian
I’m also hungry after exercise, not immediately but about 1/2 to 3/4 hours afterwards. So can’t lose weight as long as I’m exercising. I know from my own research I have insulin resistance, the NHS advice is to eat every 3 hours low glycaemic index food. The reason I have slightly soaked small amount of oats is that a dietitian friend said that Huel won’t be as low glycaemic index as required as its ground to powder so easier to absorb. This makes sense. I only exercise for 1 hour but still get the exhaustion symptoms and hunger. Don’t get this if don’t exercise. So if only do slow walking and housework etc for example could manage on 2 scoops of Huel morning and lunch time. Anyway a few years ago I posted about this before. Still haven’t solved my problem which had for donkey’s years. Anyone else exercises in the morning and gets extreme exhaustion and hunger and needs to eat more than a few scoops of Huel? p.s. I will ask Julian
- What exercise are you doing? What intensity?
- What exhaustion symptoms are you getting?
- What type of hunger? Cravings for particular food? Have you tried drinking water to see if the feeling of hunger passes?
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Hi Liath Thanks for your reply. It’s not lack of water as I drink throughout the class. Well i could try drinking when i get home to see what effect that has so thanks. I go to a pilates class or zumba tone which is basically a low intensity aerobic 3/4 hr class with weights - I just use a 0.5 weight. Feel absolutely normal when showering and walking home which takes about 3/4 hour. When get home at about 11 am realize I am hungry, start eating healthy stuff and the exhaustion comes on and still hungry. Want a lot of sweet stuff as if I haven’t had enough energy inside myself to do the class although feel ok when doing the class, its the recovery from it - and am making up for not having eaten enough before the class perhaps. Lie down on settee, all muscles I have worked are aching and feel exhausted., ‘ill exhausted’ i call it, washed out, not healthy tiredness. Sometimes recover after about 3 hours which is gradual , sometimes never recover and sleep it off by going to bed early. Its not ME as I’m ok if don’t exercise apart from slowish walking and the like - unless one can have mild ME which I soppose is possible. Always wondering if others feel the same. Its exhaustion after taxing the body.
That does seem to be an unusual response to a low intensity aerobic workout. It shouldn’t be making you feel exhausted.
I’d suggest you consult your doctor. You mentioned that you know from your own research that you are insulin resistant, have you had this checked by a doctor?
It certainly sounds like something is not quite right as that level of exercise is unlikely to be depleting your glycogen stores to the point where you experience such an extreme level of exhaustion unless there is an underlying issue.
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Hi @hbmcd - it’s probably more appropriate for me to respond.
Typically, I exercise around 6.30am/7.30am (depending on the day) and again around 5.30pm. I get hungry, sure, but hunger is complex and involves both physiological and psychological factors. I have between 1 and 3 Huel’s per day (lately Black Edition).
Your dietitian friend isn’t quite correct as GI involves a number of factors. Huel products are low GI; we’ve had them measured - more info here.
When you’re exercising, you’re burning fuel and this may need replenishing and hunger is a good sign of this.
I can help you more, but would you please post a ‘typical’ day’s food intake with times and when you exercise?
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Thanks for your response James.
I’m always experimenting with food and exercise in order to get my problem under control which I never succeed in doing. Some days worse than others which would suggest its about food intake but its not as simple as this A month ago I was having 3 scoops Huel an hour before exercise class, now lowered to 2, influenced by posts read on Huel forum.
I always exercise between 9 or 10 or 10 and 11, would like to do more if it were not for this problem . I get up at about 6, have a coffee and water 6.30. At 8 - 8.30am approx I have 2 scoops of Huel taken over 5 - 10 minutes.
**A better typical day ** Again 2 scoops Huel and small amount of oats before class which is zumba tone 9.15-10.
(nb I only have the oats as advised by a nutritionist friend to try this for extra energy before exercise and only been doing this for a week - results - too early to tell - if I don’t exercise or just walking and housework I don’t get hungry until about 10.30 or 11 or even later). One more scoop Huel 15 minutes after class. When getting home about 10.45 hungry and the usual cereal to start off with - oats soaked with soya milk and a little natural sweetner, + shredded wheat OR soup and a little bread. Start feeling tired but not as bad as often is and rest for a couple of hours (lying on settee) and it wears off so that by about 2pm I’m fully recovered. Normal healthyish meal at about 4 to 5.30 pm. Always want a sweet thing after this meal but craving not bad as when feel exhausted after exercise.
**Saturday just gone I tried again a small swim followed by yoga 11-12. ** Turned out exhausted, tried this swim before and its been the same. Just the yoga on own ok. ****2 scoops Huel 8 - 8.30 and small bowl oats, soya milk and healthy sweetner . Swim 9 - 9.20. 1 scoop Huel in changing room afterwards. Yoga 10-11. On this occasion didn’t eat until about 1 or 2 which was probably too late. Home made soup. 1.30ish, (started to feel v tired after this ) + hungry - 2ish hour later potatoe, sweet potatoe, quorn burger, sprouts and broccoli, gravy. Felt myself getting more and more tired - exhausted tired and didn’t recover. Fell asleep in front of TV and went to bed early.
rea
One bad but typical****day Yesterday my class was pilates 8.30-9.30am. After the class had 1 more scoop of Huel. Walked home which is about 15 minutes. Hungry. Had oats soaked for a few minutes and some other cereal today which was Shredded wheat with a small amount of natural sweeter - with soya milk. I’m almost vegetarian eating a small amount of fish and cheese. The tiredness started coming on almost as I was eating or very soon afterwards, gradually over 1/2 hour. Tiredness continued, hungry and had a small Heinz vegetable soup with home cooked peas and broccoli added at about 12. After this basically spent the rest of the day on the sofa lying down. Met a friend for a walk 2pm ,still extremely tired, could only walk slowly and could feel all the muscles I had worked aching although have been doing the same exercises for years. I do this walk with a friend at the same time every Sunday, sometimes tiredness wears off a bit by this time but this day it didn’t. Arrived home 4.30, only had snacks as too tired to cook anything. Snacks liquirice sweets and oat cakes. Basically went to sleep in front of TV at 8am, went to bed 8am and slept 9 hours till 5 when felt refreshed as had slept it off. p.s I only crave sweets when tired as described. If I don’t do any demanding exercise don’t crave the sweets and don’t feel what I descirbe as ‘ill tired’ only the mild ‘natural healthy tired’ maybe at t he end of the day.
You could switch up what time you exercise? I do a HIIT class first thing and have a 400kcal huel straight after (a bit of it before if I’m ravenous so I don’t pass out) and then half a bar if I’m hungry before my lunchtime Huel. I was hungry when I first started doing it, but after a couple of days I got used to it and now it’s just part of my routine. I second what @JamesCollier said about hunger being physical and psychological: psychological hunger can be just as compelling (sometimes moreso). Also, fasted exercise can actually sometimes make me less tired than having a small meal beforehand, but this is only my own experience, I am not any kind of medical professional. I would say listen to your body and try exercising/eating at different times and you should find what works for you, but see a doctor if it is still giving you grief.
Reading through one thing that stands out to me is that your diet seems to be quite carb focused and doesn’t seem to contain many sources of protein. Maybe worth logging everything in something like my fitness pal for a couple days and looking at total calorie intake and macro splits.
Insufficient protein can impact your ability to repair and recover after exercise and can also impact satiety/hunger. Although Huel has good levels of protein you are consuming quite small portions (1-2 scoops). If you are following a largely vegetarian diet it’s important you have a good source of plant protein (beans, pulses, etc).
If you are reliant on carbs for most of your energy supply it can leave you much more susceptible to peaks and troughs in blood sugar levels which can cause “crash” symptoms of extreme exhaustion and low energy.
I’d also look at something like a TDEE calculator to check you are eating enough calories.
One last thing - are you getting enough sleep?
Something to look at in any case.
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cannot emphasise enough how important sleep is, especially if you are working out regularly!
Thanks Carly, read with interest. Will look into it. Think I get enough protein - have 3 scoops of Huel every day and eat a lot of beans and pulses. I know about the fashion to eat protein and veg but that not possible for vegetarians, think its inevitable that grains are eaten. I get loads of sleep at night! James responded this morning, has this appeared on the site, maybe not. Thanks again
What? It’s not fashion to at protein and veg, it’s science and vegetarians/vegans can easily eat enough proteins and nutrients that are plant based.
Thanks for the detailed info.
@mae24 and @Liath both make great points on the sleep, carb focus and hunger. It does sound like your hunger has a notable psychological element; you could take control of this, but delaying eating by a further 30 mins from when you would usually eat following the hunger pangs.
The tiredness is more of a concern, however. You’ve mentioned insulin resistance above and it may be linked to this. If this is having an adverse effect on your life, then it may be worth speaking to your doctor.
Hi. When was the last time you had a full blood profile done? If you haven’t had one then perhaps you should ask your GP about this.
I agree with you. I meant to say its fashionable to say vegetarians don’t get enough protein and should eat meat and fish and veg
Might be spotting patterns where none exist, but have you been tested for Coeliac disease? In the examples you gave you reported the exhaustion, lethargy and muscle aches after you’d eaten Shredded Wheat or Bread with soup.
Another thing worth getting checked with your doctor along with a confirmation of any insulin resistance?
Obviously I’m not a doctor, so just making suggestions about possible areas to check. It rang a bell as a friend who was finally diagnosed with Coeliac disease used to literally fall asleep in meetings after lunch where she had a large white bread sandwich. After she got her diagnosis she cut out gluten and hasn’t had the issue since. But please don’t self diagnose by reading stuff on the internet. Go to your doctor and get proper tests done.
Having read the information provided I am thinking about oxidative stress (os). There are links of os to chronic fatigue and also insulin resistance.