I’m just starting out on my Huel journey with the Huel Black range and I am hoping it will help me change my relationship with food and help me shed a few lbs.
Apologies for the long post - in July last year, I was really poorly. I lost 10lbs in about 1.5 weeks even though I was eating like a horse. I also had an insatiable thirst, was peeing for England and I was exhausted. My mum cried to me one day thinking that I had bulimia and begged me to get help. Obviously I knew I wasn’t bulimic so I referred myself for a blood test and my HbA1C (3 month average blood glucose) came back at 105mmol/l when it should be below 42mmol/l and my body was basically eating itself. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 27.
Since being on Insulin injections, I have gained back all of the weight lost from Ketoacidosis (and some!). I’ve really struggled to come to terms with this and have suffered on and off with a condition called Diabulimia.
In April I ended up catching Coronavirus and was quite poorly for over 4 weeks, but am still getting episodes of breathlessness now. It is making exercise tough so I have gained even more weight. Frankly my experience with Coronavirus has scared the sh*t out of me and has made me think about what I am doing to my body. I’ve given myself a stern talking to and here I am. I realised how lucky I am - the universe has tried to kill me off twice in the last year but my body has fought on so I owe it a lot! I want to lose weight in a healthy and diabetic-friendly way.
I am currently 12st 1lb and my aim is to get to 11st. My colleague and I have agreed to have a weekly weigh-in on a Friday morning so we can hold each other accountable!
Any tips would be gratefully received but I am going to stop rambling here! I’m looking forward to joining you all and getting my body back to how I want it to be
wow you’ve been through the wringer Jade for sure! you will find a lot of people on here who have seen a lot of success with weight loss and diabetes reversal - myself included. Given your recent ill health, all I can suggest is to take it easy and not get hung up on the weigh in. its very common to see good results initially then a plateau of apparent low to zero loss. this is pretty normal but can be demoralising if you’re constantly looking at the scales. Aim for a good balanced diet on a reasonable calorie deficit and try light cardio every day as your lungs allow. This can be anything, walking, cycling, climbing stairs etc. until your strength starts building up and you can increase the exercise and reduce the calories more. good luck!
Thank you for your reply and support Phil, I am normally quite active - I’m a horse rider and a Prison Officer so am finding it frustrating that some days I get out of breath walking 100m. I’m putting pressure on myself to get back to normal as we have an annual fitness test for work which includes a bleep test I don’t think I could walk it at the moment.
But yes, slow and steady until my body will allow for more!
you could look into getting a hybrid bicycle that allows you to control the amount of assistance that the electric motor provides so you can work on building up your strength but not get stranded somewhere if you run out of steam
Hey Jade, it’s so nice to have you here. Damn, I’m so sorry to hear about the year you’ve had, I couldn’t possibly start to appreciate how tough this must have been for you.
It’s positive that you’ve got a diagnosis, but it must have been a really tough transition.
We have plenty of people here using Huel for weight loss, many with health conditions like diabetes too. We have a guide here on Fat-Loss. The main thing from me is don’t try and go to fast. We see a lot of people going for large, rapid weight loss and that is hard to maintain at best and dangerous at worst. Take it easy and aim for half a kilo a week (or about 1lb).
Keep us posted and read around the forum as there are tons of tips to take from people going through similar journeys as you.
My goodness, what a year you’ve had. It’s great that you have made a commitment to getting your health back but take it easy on yourself, you have done amazingly to come through such a shitty year and you are still getting your strength back after corona. Slow and steady wins the race - no rush.
Wowsers that’s a tough year and no mistake. Good on your for getting through it so far. I can not recommend Huel Black Rdition highly enough it has played a key role in my health improvements in a short space of time and continues so to do.
This lot are a friendly bunch so if you get any questions about mixing and flavours and all that jazz you’re sure to get some answers here so check in regularly and join in!
I’m pretty much a newbie too so can tell you for certain that if you have your TDEE calculated correctly and eat consume at a deficit to that (normal is about -500 calories) including Huel of course, then you definitely will lose weight. Just be aware that any exercise that causes soreness or inflammation is going to cause you to retain water so you may not always see a quick response on the scales right away.
Thank you all for your responses. I’m looking forward to it and so far I am liking the taste (but will be ordering the booster selection box to try some alternative flavours!)
The Huel Black appealed due to its low carb contents so lower carbs = less insulin.
Talort - thank you for the advice regarding exercise and water retention - I didn’t know that.
Hi Jade. Just wanted to echo that it really does sound like you have had far more than your fair share of challenges this past year and we are all here behind you 100%. Your next year can only be better xxxx
I’ll take that! I haven’t been perfect and the next few weeks will be a challenge - I’m moving 100 miles away from home next month and it is also my birthday so there are LOTS of celebrations coming up! SIGH
I don’t think I could walk it at the moment.