Hi all - I thought I’d post on here about my experiences with attempting to lose weight using Huel (and other things).
Some months back, I realised I was struggling to take the dog out for a walk, being tired and having to stop every now and again to rest on a walk I knew very well. While I’ve been “big” since I was in my 20s, over time the weight has very slowly piled on and piled on. I went from an XL to a 2XL, and most recently a 3XL, and I’ve long stopped shopping in ordinary shops like Gap and Top Man, having to buy my clothes from specialist shops. I was, after Xmas 2017, 130.9kg(20st 8lb) and at 44 years old and 180cm tall (5 foot 11) this put me well and truly in the morbidly obese BMI category.
It was an interesting news article I read on the BBC news website that caught my eye a few months ago which put me on to “replacement meals”. Someone went on a “liquid diet” for some 17 weeks and managed to stop their type 2 diabetes. They did it by rationing their calories through a diet of liquid meals. Googling it, I found Huel.
Over the next few months and in the lead up to Xmas, I formulated some plan: something I needed to do to get me back to whatever “normal” was. I researched a lot of stuff, looking at these Huel Forums for example, and reading and understanding.
See, I’ve been on plenty of diets before now, but they’ve either been quite faddy or my heart just wasn’t in it. It became a game and I was laughing at my size, joking about eating doughnuts, joining in with any jokes about the weight that might be in earshot. It was all just one big joke.
I guess it just comes down to this. You can have anything you want “as part of a calorie controlled diet”. Yeah, we all know that, but I guess it takes a while to sink in! The New Year was a good start for me, and from the day I went back to work (8th January), I’ve promised myself that I needed to lose weight. Type 2 diabetes, after all, is just another doughnut away.
So here’s my plan. Through the various calculations online about BMI and TDEE and all the other great stuff, I’ve decided to limit myself to 2000 calories a day. While at work, I shall have Huel, two scoops for breakfast, and three for my lunch (which I’m trying to have as late in the day as I can). Then a proper evening meal, and never busting that 2000 calorie intake.
Like many others, I’m using MyFitnessPal to keep tabs on my intake. It’s an amazing programme, and I don’t think I could do it without it! I’m also using Huel to help me manage my cravings and so far it has worked 100%.
I took Huel just once a day (as recommended on here) for the first week. I didn’t get any unwanted side effects except for some acid which I still get from time to time. But now I enjoy the taste, enjoy the fact I’m always full and enjoying the fact I’m losing weight!
After some 3 weeks of doing this, I’m almost 6kg (nearly 1 stone) down. I know it’s unrealistic to expect this rate of loss all the time, but it’s working, I can feel it, and already I feel a little better walking the dog!
For me, the combination of Huel (stops the cravings, makes me full) and MFP are helping me so much. I’m glad I’ve started. I’ve got a long way to go - I’ve calculated that a 0.5kg (1lb) average loss per week means I have to do this for around 100 weeks (2 years) to get down to a normal BMI (what other target is there?!)
I know my only problem now is motivation. What will happen in 20 weeks time? Will I still be as focussed? Maybe not. A lot of my other diets failed because I just “couldn’t be arsed”. However, I feel better this time around - I have another person I know who’s losing weight too in a similar fashion, and we’re going to both keep each other motivated. I hope it all works, and in two years time, I can go back into Gap or Top Man and say “Do you have this shirt in a medium?” 
Sorry for the long post - but the feedback I’ve seen on other posts gives me the impression you lot are a friendly bunch and very helpful. Thank you, everyone.
MrPloppy.