Turning my life around with Huel - Take 2

Join me on a quest to take back my health with Huel.

Huel was first introduced to me by a colleague back in 2015 and ever since I’ve been using it very on and off. I would like to say that this pattern of using it is down to me and what priorities I’ve been putting first these past few years (not my health that’s for sure).

Me & My Health

Apart from being Vegan for ethical reasons, I’m not at all healthy. Since going vegan over 3 years ago I’ve taken over as the president of the ‘Junk Food Vegan’ club. Packets of Oreo’s & Biscoff unfortunately don’t lead to eternal life (sorry to break it to you).

My health has suffered massively over the past few years and it’s about time i addressed it. Long gone are the days of running 100 km a month and eating healthily. I blame the constant stress, work and time constraints that I’ve endured to get where i am. I doubt that i could even run 2 km without getting out of breathe now.

Last night i was scouring the internet looking a healthy vegan meal preps and whole food meal recipes. I ended my search after a few hours thinking about all the effort and ingredients needed. That’s when i thought, Huel saved me last time, can it do it again?!?

I’ve ordered the Black Edition version of Huel this time in the Salted Caramel, Coffee Caramel & Chocolate flavours, it’ll be interesting to see how they compare to the old v2.3 that i loved (though v3.0 is out now, still not tried it). The Black Edition has 50% less carbs than the standard version as well as 33% more protein. I feel like this will work better for me in the long run, though taste will also be a consideration.

Also going to buy some bottles of Huel RTD, so that i never have an excuse to not have my huel.

I’m currently sat here today writing this article at 173.5 lbs (78.7 kg) with my goal set to slim down to a modest 145 lbs (65 kg) ish. So there we are, 28.5 lbs (13 kg) to lose, that’s my goal.

My Health with Huel Plan

My plan for this first week starting on Tuesday (tomorrow) is to gently get the Huel back into my system by replacing only 1 meal a day. I highly recommend this to anyone just starting as it usually takes a week or two for your body to adjust (queue the constant farting). I will be replacing my lunch at work for this first week. It should make a difference considering that my daily lunch was whatever i picked up from Tesco, be it a packet of biscuits or a multi-pack of crisps.

After a few weeks i’m sure i’ll be introducing some light exercise into my goals, mostly running & body weight strength training but let’s take one step at a time.

I will be updating you all each week going forward with my progress, ending with the following format:

Starting Weight: 173.5 lbs (78.7 kg)

Starting Body Fat %: 24.3%

Current Weight: 173.5 lbs (78.7 kg)

Current Body Fat %: 24.3%

Weekly Weight Loss: TBC

Weekly Body Fat % Loss: TBC

Total Weight Loss: TBC

Total Body Fat % Loss: TBC

Please wish me luck, I really need it. Posting this journey as an accountability mechanism.

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Accountability mechanism… good idea.
Good luck!

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That’s the trouble with vegan food in supermarkets. Much of it is very unhealthy. If you don’t include plenty of fruit and vegetables in your diet as well as plenty of wholefoods you aren’t doing yourself any favours.

I like vegan junk food now and again…I’m more of a savoury snack than sweets and chocolate type, and the ready availability of vegan cheese these days doesn’t help. I didn’t have any cheese for years then Heather Mills launched one that was OK. Then Sheese arrived and now vegan cheese is everywhere.

Huel is great for me as it stops me snacking to an extent on some of the things I may eat.

Good luck with it

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I got this vegan cheese board from the Van Gogh cafe recently. Honestly the best thing ever.

Huel also stops me from spending on snacks and crisps. When I first moved to my new flat this year I couldn’t use huel for a bit and I instantly started buying garbage again. Amazing how much better I felt once I got huel back!

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OMG! That cheese board! <3

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I absolutely agree! I love how much vegan stuff is readily available now (even compared to 3 years ago) but finding stuff with actual nutritional value is hard. Hence, HUEL.

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This is such a great start, and wishing you all the best! My advice is to enjoy this journey too - it’s a perfect opportunity to try new ways of trying Huel products but also to try new foods and recipes. Take note of @Herbivore’s fauxmage board, I’m incredibly jealous. :joy:

Cliché time… it’s a marathon, not a sprint. But you seem prepared and I’m looking forward to hearing your updates!

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Thank you for sharing! I wish you luck and a successful journey :muscle:. Step by step and forgive yourself in case you should have a weak moment. That’s just part of it. Consistency is key here. You’re gonna rock it :grinning:!

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to updating you every Wednesday! :muscle:

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That cheese board is amazing.

Week 1 - Completed!

The first few days of re-adjustment where horrible like usual, however OMG I feel sooooo much better already. Having the RTD Huel at work has been a god sent!

I think I’ve smashed my 1st week, these are the results. Losing 2% of my body fat percentage, 2.6kg lost (2kg of which was visceral fat, 0.5kg muscle mass :frowning:)

Starting Weight: 173.5lbs (78.7kg)

Starting Body Fat %: 24.3%

Current Weight: 167.7 lbs (76.1 kg)

Current Body Fat %: 22.3%

Weekly Weight Loss: 5.8lbs (2.6kg)

Weekly Body Fat % Loss: 2%

Total Weight Loss: 5.8lbs (2.6kg)

Total Body Fat % Loss: 2%

Looking forward to smashing the next week now!

FYI - This has been achieved by a change in diet ONLY and not using exercise (however i do plan to start exercising soon), and also only using Huel RTD once per day and having a high fibre breakfast and a healthy vegan evening meal.

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This is so great to hear, congratulations! Bring on the next week!

I just want to prepare you that your weight loss may not be so huge every week, it might stall or slow down a little but that is ok - good, even! Losing weight slowly will give you more chance to keep it off and not yo-yo!

Still this is great work! What do you think you will do for your exercise?

Thank you Tim, don’t worry I understand it’ll slow down but I’m working towards a 12 week goal so I’m okay with that :grinning:

In terms of exercise I’m going to start with some body weight exercises and maybe the odd run thrown in there, I’ll see where it takes me.

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I’ve not quit or forgotten about this blog, I’ve had COVID-19 :frowning: trying to stay fully committed whilst ill was very difficult but I didn’t do too badly.

My results aren’t great, this past 2 weeks I lost A LOT more muscle mass (not that I thought I had any to lose) than body fat, BUT I did still lose some (silver lining). Therefore my Body Fat % didn’t drop much because of the muscle loss.

I’m a bit saddened by the results of the past 2 weeks overall, but I did have COVID. So I’m going to pick myself up and try and have a good next week.

Here are the results:

Starting Weight: 173.5lbs (78.7kg)

Starting Body Fat %: 24.3%

Current Weight: 164.0 lbs (74.4 kg)

Current Body Fat %: 22.0%

Weekly Weight Loss: 3.8lbs (1.7kg)

Weekly Body Fat % Loss: 0.3%

Total Weight Loss: 9.5lbs (4.3kg)

Total Body Fat % Loss: 2.3%

Ah Simon, do not feel bad about this at all. This isn’t in your control, you can’t help if you get ill! You’ve lost 4kg and that is fantastic and you should be proud. Heck, I’m proud for you!

I wouldn’t look too much into the numbers on muscle mass/fat mass. The home machines can be a little inaccurate and are based on estimations from mathematical formulas.

:point_up: this! Don’t worry about it and get back on it. You’re doing great!

Thanks Tim!

I am however using a £20,000 BodiTrax machine for the figures I’m using :sweat_smile:

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Enjoying what I’m reading. I wish you all the best luck. I have just got my first two bags of Huel Black. I’m starting gradual with it. I have put weight on and while I have lost some. I seem to put on when I’m away from home by eating rubbish. I have had a couple of shakes so far and so far so good. I plan to increase this to two per day over time. Wasn’t sure what to expect but so far so good.

Such a remarkable story. Just wanted to see how you’ve been doing? I, too returned to Huel after a hiatus. Lost 114 lbs within a 12 month period and gradually gained back 29 of it due to “weekend warrior” activities of indulging. For me it’s all about finding a balance and having self discipline. I can often have a pretty stressful work life and my relievers tend to be very polarizing (either intense kickboxing sessions or drinks/making dietary mistakes). Nonetheless, I’m excited to get back at it and focus on what matters. Huel has been instrumental in achieving my health goals and I’m confident that such will be the case this time around.

Hope you’ve stuck with it!

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Thanks for sharing and good luck on your journey. Great to see you are making good progress already!

Last year I started to hold myself accountable, having reached an all-time high of around 266lb I was feeling horrendous, couldn’t climb stairs without feeling out of breath. It got to a point where I thought enough is enough, I had made plans with my partner to start a family and this was a perfect opportunity to turn my life around. I found a gym and a routine that worked for me, kept it simple and stuck to a calorie deficit and in just one year I had managed to get down to 230lb.

This year however I have really struggled, was getting really sick of the ‘diet’ ready meals I was relying on for lunch and after paying more attention to the labels I was starting to realise how far from nutritional they really were. It was an absolute no-brainer to switch these meals for Huel Hot & Savoury and thankfully so far it seems to be paying off.

I really would recommend trying to fit some exercises into your routine. I’ve found that it really helps me to hold myself to account, less likely to stray from my diet knowing that I’ve put that effort in each morning and those endorphins really set you up for the day.

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Just curious what your exercise regime is? What body weight exercises are you doing?