14 days of only Huel! Just the beginning

[Daniel]

Hey All,

I recently joined the forum as it is such an awesome community of Huelers like myself. I decided to make a fairly steep nutritional lifestyle change to not only cut fat but become more healthy all around. I see some of the posts within this forum and I am completely amazed at some of the journeys shared which got me motivated to continue and share mine.

Now for some context, I am a 25 year old male, 6 ft 1’ who used to binge on fast food multiple times a day taking in well over 4,000 calories a day! I know… it was bad. My girlfriend and I decided to both diet together and watch what we eat a little over 2 weeks ago. She is now a hueler but I will get to that later.

I embarked on this journey weighing in at 255lbs striving for my goal weight of 195-200lbs. I decided to hop in head first, dropping all my old eating habits. I decided to shoot for 4 shakes a day with 2 scoops in each coming in at 1,600 calories a day. Day one was super easy besides acquiring the taste, don’t worry if you are on your first week it gets sooo much better! Day two I cut it down to 3 shakes coming in at 1,200 calories because surprisingly I wasn’t hungry at all after day one. I have continued one the 3 shakes a day for the last 14 days, along with a bunch of water!

Here are the results, I am fairly active and enjoy playing softball 5 nights a week usually playing 7-10 games. I went from 255 to 242 week one and then from 242 to 234 week two. I stick to a pretty strict regimen consuming huel at 12pm, 5pm, then at 8/9pm daily. Over 20lbs lost and this only the beginning. I do not plan on consuming any regular food for at least another month due to friend and family events like weddings which will ultimately cause me to eat “normal food”. I found that documenting starting and end weights on the finished huel bag has really kept me dialed in and focused while I continue to just consume Huel. Cravings do come, but not nearly as much as they did in week one.

I am beyond happy with the results so far. My girlfriend has had a really hard time sticking to her conventional diet which is why she decided to hop on to the huel life! I hope she enjoys it as much as I have since she is just starting tomorrow.

Huel has truly changed my life and I look forward to seeing everyones journey on here as well! Before and after pics to come towards the end of the year hopefully near my goal weight!

[Dan_Huel]

Thanks for sharing Daniel and welcome to the team! Keep up the good work.

[R_B]

Awesome!. Keep it up!

[MNSk8r]

@Daniel - Congratulations on your journey so far. I know exactly what you mean by your statement, " Huel has truly changed my life…" I have been using Huel 2x per day since April 26, 2019. I am 55 years old and I started April 1, 2019, at 248 lbs. I have also been doing Intermittent Fasting of 17:7 and just this morning I hit 198.4 lbs. Down 49.6 lbs. 14.4 lbs to get to my goal. I have not been under 200 lbs in over 20 years. It helps to keep me motivated, although seeing progress it hasn’t been that hard, to see stories like yours. Keep up the good work. You will be at 195 in no time!.

[TXCiclista]

Is it safe to use Huel as a replacement for all meals (in general)? And isn’t 1200 calories/day for an active person risking catabolism? Not a nutritionist, so genuinely curious here.

[Deron]

@TXCiclista

And isn’t 1200 calories/day for an active person risking catabolism?

Yeah, that’s the point. It should cause catabolism. The OP is trying to shed extra body fat. The idea is that any extra energy still needed beyond the amount consumed would come from the freed fatty acids from adipose stores. And since the body really doesn’t use protein/amino-acids for energy (it will only do it as last resort if glycogen and fat stores are really low), there’s not too much danger in “wasting away” his muscles. Although weight loss is often accompanied by a mild decrease in muscle mass, but some of that might be because it’s no longer necessary to have quite the same muscle to move around less total body mass.

And as far as “is an all Huel diet safe”? It’s safer than the standard American Diet, I’d wager.

[Daniel]

Thats so awesome! I cant wait to see you hit that goal! Definitely ping the forum when you do! Weighed in at 229 this morning. ~26lbs Energy is up but I plan to start incorporating food back in at the one month mark, I would love to chat about some meals you find to be fulfilling yet healthy something Im not used to at all, the main reason Huel works so well for me. Keep me posted on your progress!

[TXCiclista]

@Deron

@TXCiclista

And isn’t 1200 calories/day for an active person risking catabolism?

Yeah, that’s the point. It should cause catabolism. The OP is trying to shed extra body fat. The idea is that any extra energy still needed beyond the amount consumed would come from the freed fatty acids from adipose stores. And since the body really doesn’t use protein/amino-acids for energy (it will only do it as last resort if glycogen and fat stores are really low), there’s not too much danger in “wasting away” his muscles. Although weight loss is often accompanied by a mild decrease in muscle mass, but some of that might be because it’s no longer necessary to have quite the same muscle to move around less total body mass.

Thanks. I’ve had it in my head for years that “catabolism” was the body breaking down muscle for energy, and was the opposite of “metabolism.” Your response got me Googling and I see now I misunderstood the word entirely.

[MNSk8r]

@Daniel - Just to give you a little more information. I do eat a normal meal at home in the evenings. My eating window is 7 hours. 1 Huel @ 12:30 PM, 1 Huel @ 4:00 PM & Dinner (food I can actually chew) around 7:00 PM. The dinners we are doing now are Weight Watchers approved “Hello Fresh” meals that are delivered to us weekly (about 3 - 4 meals per week). Other days are fairly healthy meals (using frozen chicken or other proteins, different frozen veggie bags, making stir-fries) with the occasional Pizza or something once every few months.

[Deron]

Catabolism is a broad term and it generally means the breakdown and use or “consumption” of stored nutrients. The opposite would be anabolism, I think.

[Daniel]

Hey all, just looping back to the thread since today is day 30 of just Huel. What can I say! I absolutely love this stuff. My energy continues to be at an all time high.

Soooooo for the results. I weighed in this morning at 216.8lbs down a total of 38.6lbs in a total of one month. I am still very active playing softball 5 nights a week and the huel is enough to keep me going (still 3 shakes a day with 2 scoops).

Hoping to reach my goal of 195 by the end of next month!

Now on a more serious note, for all you experienced huelers! What type of foods should I begin to incorporate back into my diet to be able to eat normal foods again in combination with huel. I was thinking basic foods like cottage cheese, crackers, eggs etc. Any other healthy foods that y’all can recommend?

I will be going back to straight huel after 2 weeks of normal eating. The normal diet is due to family events and weddings which is why I’m trying to slowly get back to “regular food”.

Thanks all!

[Deron]

@Daniel

What type of foods should I begin to incorporate back into my diet to be able to eat normal foods again in combination with huel. I was thinking basic foods like cottage cheese, crackers, eggs etc. Any other healthy foods that y’all can recommend?

Well… you’re gonna get a different answer from people depending on what they consider healthy.

First, consider the fact that you’ve now eaten a plant-based diet for 30 days. You probably didn’t start out intending to do so, but that’s what Huel is. It is a balanced, plant-based, mostly whole food, with minimal processing. Since you already had great success with this, why not continue your new diet in the same vein as Huel?

Your go to foods will be whole foods, plant based. So that’s stuff like potatoes, oats, rice, beans, lentils, whole fruits, non-starchy vegetables, carrots, peas, peanuts, nuts, seeds, etc.

Skip the cottage cheese, bro. That’ got some saturated fat, with a smidgen of trans fat. Your body did great without any of that the last 30 days, so why re-introduce it? You don’t need cheese. I ditched dairy in January of this year and I have been much better without it.

I’ve read a lot of articles/abstracts on food and human health. Without a doubt, beans have the most evidence for health. Followed closely by blueberries, then avocados. Apples have a lot of good data, too. I am of the opinion that all people should try to incorporate at least a little beans/lentils into their diet most days. I also try to get at least one citrus fruit, one apple, and one serving of berries most days.

Did you know that blueberries are so healthy that they actually lowered the mortality for cancers in smokers? Not that it should give permission to smoke, but in those who already had lung cancer, the blueberries actually improved their outcomes.

[Daniel]

I love your knowledge! I definitely will give all your recommendations a try. I guess I am worried that if I do eat meat at a wedding coming up here in 2 weeks it will upset my stomach since my body has gone without it for an extended time.

Im going to do the plant based options you just suggested to start out! I’ll keep the dairy notion in mind.

Thank you again for all the help! I will definitely get back to the solely huel diet shortly just because it is so easy to stick to and the results prove it. I have felt the shift in my energy and the fact that I am no longer tired mid day. Im so happy I decided to try this product!