Warning about very low calorie diets

Hi all
I’ve noticed a few posters talking about cutting their calories to really low amounts in order to lose weight. There was a really interesting programme on the other night following the progress of people who had done similar, notably a man who was on The Biggest Loser and also one who was on about 600 calories a day with a well known diet shake brand.

Both lost amazing amounts of weight but then piled it back on. I can completely understand the desire to lose weight fast, especially if you have a lot of lose, but the problem with cutting your calories too much is that it screws up metabolic rate, making it almost impossible to go back to a regular amount of calories

I believe that huel is a great way to aid weight loss (I’ve lost 10lbs since January) but please be careful when dropping your calories - losing weight only to pile it back on again because it’s unmaintainable is a dreadful thing to have to go through!

Best of luck to you all

Tara x

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Some sound advice, Tara. Thanks a lot. If anyone is in doubt about how to use Huel effectively if weight loss is your goal, head to this informative article written by our nutritionist - https://huel.com/pages/guide-to-fat-loss

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A good call, it’s a trap many people fall into.

It’s one of the main reasons alternate day fasting diets are a healthier way to go. The wide variations in daily calorie intake means the metabolic rate isn’t affected.

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New York Times ran a couple of insightful articles last year:

Why You Can’t Lose Weight on a Diet (The problem isn’t willpower. It’s neuroscience.)

After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight (The difficulty in keeping weight off reflects a changing metabolism, not a pathological lack of willpower.)

At first read, dieters might be a little disheartened. But I think there are a couple of positives to take away. 1) You aren’t a failure when you regain weight, and 2) Huel can be utilized as a great tool because of the ease in counting calories and the overall healthiness of Huel. But like @Tara1608 said, don’t cut the calories drastically. A slight caloric reduction is much more beneficial.

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Great articles Ric. I used to watch the Biggest Loser and even at the time my husband and I kept saying it wasn’t sustainable! Those people were working out at a level that you could never keep up in the real world and eating next to nothing in a closely guarded environment. Must have been so tough for them to go through all that and then end up back at square one

In the end, what works for one person to lose weight won’t work for another. It’s a trial and error process.

What I noticed when I lost a lot of weight a few years ago was that I started running places for no reason than it being easy to do. That’s the kind of thing you can’t plan for.

Yeah, I saw that program as well. Very recognizable, I’ve been on many diets and everytime I regained the weight, and the next diet was harder than the first. For me, Huel has been a great help for the mornings to have a quick breakfast, with 2 scoops being enough for 2,5 to 3 hours before my morning snack. Also, Huel provides me with the right balance for the nutrients I need to eat according to the TDEE calculator.