Morning all,
A week ago I started using Huel as part of the 5 2 intermittent fasting diet. I limit myself to.300 calories in the morning and 300 calories at night on two non consecutive fast days. My goal is to get down to 70kg from 78, the 8 have crept on since I became more desk based. I’m also adding Regucol (psyllium husk) to the morning meal to aid regularity and thicken up the mixture. Anyone else tried this?
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Wouldn’t work on me. It’s basically saying eat what you like for 5 days and 600 calories on 2 days.
If I ate what I wanted (within reason) on the other 5 days I can guarantee you I wouldn’t drop weight.
Dieting shouldn’t be about having to fast either.
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The best diet = the one you can stick to!
I’m not diabetic but suffer with low blood sugar and so 5:2 wouldn’t suit me either.
But great idea to use Huel to fit your plan(s).
xx
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If you go onto google scholar and look up intermittent fasting there’s lots of evidence to suggest humans didn’t evolve with easy access to food. There are benefits to limited fasts beyond just weight loss.
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Not for me. If I don’t eat much over 24 hours I pretty much stop functioning. Not exactly a great way to live.
For me it’s all about moderation. I started walking 40 minutes a day, had 2 rich tea biscuits instead of 3 with a cup of tea, had 2 sausages instead of 3 with my dinner etc etc and over 6 months I lost 10 kgs. It’s pretty simple.
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There’s a difference between surviving and feeling good. There are many things we didn’t evolve with easy access to, but now that we have access to them it’s good to use them to our advantage.
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I don’t want to add to the naysayers because I understand that intermittent fasting can be very effective as a form of weight loss and brings other health benefits.
I’ve tried it but I can get very hangry and dealing with 3 children on a fasting day just about made life not worth living.
Nik
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People are entitled to their opinion, from my perspective I have just seen too much positive research to dismiss trying it. As a society we are clearly collectively eating too much out of habit and tradition. The flexibility this diet allows is also appealing, my partner suffered alot during my last diet because I didn’t want to go out for meals. This way nothing is being given up but there’s still an overall calorie deficit.
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The point is not whether it works for some people, or even a lot of people, but whether it works for everyone. It’s not just about opinions, it’s about experiences. Some people clearly do suffer when they attempt intermittent fasting. I worked with someone who tried it and really struggled.
I saw that BBC program about it, and I know there were dramatic improvements in the presenter’s health when he did the intermittent fasting. He got on really well with it. It’s definitely one option for people to consider, and if it works for you that’s great. But what works for one person doesn’t always work for the next person.
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You said what I was thinking beautifully. I teach maths and even though I’m not diabetic, I can tell when my blood sugar is low because I’m unable to do my job as effectively; my brain just won’t work fast enough to help kids with maths problems and keep up with behaviour issues. I actually keep single serving cartons of orange juice at work because I know it will help me think more clearly if I haven’t eaten properly (I have a bad habit of skipping meals or only eating soft, mild foods if I’m stressed out).
Funnily enough, I started Huel at the start of September and haven’t needed to get into my emergency juice stash at all this year.
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I dont recall claiming it would work for everyone, I merely asked if anyone had tried to do it with Huel.
Good idea. I did the 5:2 for about a month a couple of years ago and it was a real struggle to work out what to eat to stay within the limits. On my version it was only 300 calories a day on a Tuesday and Thursday. It did work, though I found there was a tendency to play catch up on Friday. However overall it changed my eating habits and lower my blood sugar levels (which was the point at the time)
Huel’s big win for me is the fact you can measure it and know what your taking in. For my wife she hasn’t had to make a sandwich or any dinner in the week for me for 5 months. The savings are significant. Just wihs I could get the whole family on it 
Fair enough.
I have spoken to three different doctors regarding losing weight and all have recommended the 5:2 diet with exercise. There’s a hell of a lot of research to prove it’s msny benefits
If you can stick to it of course
Actually, no, there isn’t. The research Michael Mosley used for his 5:2 diet was carried out using Dr Krista Varady’s 4:3 diet, but Mosley decided it was too difficult (he was wrong btw, 4:3 is easier to manage imo) and so reduced it to 2 days fasting but still claimed all the same benefits of the 4:3.
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I did 4:3 two years ago - cutting down to ~800 calories a day on the ‘fast’ days. I couldn’t do less than that as I was in the Gym twice a day. In three months I lost 2 stone and I’ve kept it off since as I still do a similar version of this ‘diet’. I’m only in the office 3 day a week and so on these days (which tend to be long) I do a similar version of what I started out on.
I just haven’t managed to make huel work for me yet. I don’t know if I just love food to much or if truly my heart isn’t in it.
You are absolutely right. Various family members of mine use the 5 2 diet, and they say it is fantastic for many reasons. Over pampered bodies do less well than bodies that endure a teeny bit of hardship here and there. My year in India was fantastically good for me mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Sleeping on the floor in an ashram, eating very humble food, mostly rice with some veggies curry, just twice a day, and doing physical work, did me so much good.
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It is a great idea. I’ll tell my various family members who use the 5 2 diet about this idea, using Huel for the 600 days as you mentioned.
I’m just about to start my third week, losses are going pretty steady. I can see why people have found it a struggle but it’s manageable for me so far. My stomach seems to have shrunk so my appetite on none fasting days is smaller.
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My weightloss is still pretty steady despite a wedding last weekend (with alcohol) and a leaving do on Wednesday night with curry and alcohol.
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