440lbs 6'5 Starting Huel

Weight loss
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Hello folks,

So my Name is Adam, I am 6’5 440lbs of not so good American Freedom, I am pretty unfit and I would say on the verge of unhealthy well nevermind I am unhealthy clincly obese. I have decided to take this step atleast. My diet consists of whatever is easy to get fast food, soda, expensive places near my work $15-$30 per meal on the average maybe once or twice a day. I find my self to be over eating. So it is with great hope I can maintain the displine needed to just stay consisitant and hammer this out. So if anyone has any idea’s on how to stay the corse I am all ears.

Respecfully
Adam

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Adam, you and I are in the same boat. I also weigh north of 400lbs. I’m waiting to hear back on whether I got a job or not before I start Huel, but I’m happy to cheer you on!

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That’s a lot of money

For what you save using Huel you could hire someone to help you set/track/reach your goals. That might be a trainer for the physical exercise part, a dietician/nutritionist/doctor for support on your metabolic requirements, or even a psychologist for the reframing of relationships to food (and other parts of your life that may change over the next year or two)

As far as my own daily habit for staying on track: i make a full serving of Huel for breakfast because it’s so much easier than keeping fresh ingredients fresh and all the prepping and cleanup. Then i blend about a 350 calories for lunch - because taking the powder makes it easy to skip lunch - so instead of wasting an uneaten portion I down it at lunchtime to minimize the afternoon energy slump. I eat whatever for dinner, but my wife is a gluten-free vegetarian so “whatever” is still pretty health conscious. :slight_smile: I’m convinced sugar is poison so my indulgence for snacks involve crunch and salt rather than fat and sweet (with occasional exception of very dark chocolate)

You might also find some motivation for Huel if you consider how much externalized resource waste is in the typical American diet. Huel is much more efficient way to power a person. :slight_smile:

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I am gonna try hard and ill do my best to keep people posted.

Adam

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It is a lot of money, im definitely motivated to save money, and that bit about therapy is interesting, I genuinely did not think about it.

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Way to go man, taking steps to make a change. You will more than likely experience intestinal distress for a week or two but once your body adjusts it gets better. With that out of the way Huel is great on many levels; it saves a ton of $$ vs eating out, I have gained at least 2 hours back in my day from skipping meal prep/clean up, I no longer waste my food due to not getting to it before it expires (which in turn wastes my $$) and my body loves the nutrition. At first you will lose weight from the huge dip in sugar intake, as Huel has less sugar than a pint of milk, and from there you will need to do some sort of exercise. Even a daily walk around the block will help ignite your metabolism. Changes like this usually don’t happen over night either, if you slip and don’t follow your new routine it isn’t the end of the world, just get back on the Horse as it were. You will have to find a method of Hueling that suits you but for me it is two scoops of Huel and what ever fruit I feel like blending with it. I always add extra water and give it a good shake once it comes off the blender.

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I am thinking the hardest thing to overcome at the beginning for you might be the taste and texture of it, since it will be quite different than what you’re used to. Rest assured, that this was the situation for many of us, and after a few days the texture was not an issue.

For taste, there are many ways to easily flavor it up. Using a blender is probably the best way to mix it, IMO. It makes it more smooth and consistent. Also, it allows you to add a wide range of stuff.

Go to additives for my Huel are: banana, frozen berries, natural peanut butter (with no added sugar), raw cashews, no sugar added apple sauce, cinnamon.

If you like the taste of strawberry and/or blueberry, frozen berries make an easy and low glycemic index addition to vanilla Huel. And since they are frozen, you don’t have to worry about them going bad. You can get them in big packages at reasonable prices. And berries don’t have a lot of calories. Applesauce is similar. I find it’s much easier to spoon applesauce in rather than cut up apples, since blending an apple results in the same thing anyway. And applesauce lasts longer in the fridge.

A favorite of mine is 2 or 3 scoops Vanilla Huel + 2 tablespoons of PB + 1 or 2 tablespoons of applesauce + sprinkle cinnamon.

Some people find it nice to mix Huel in some kind of milk (cow, almond, soy, any milk really) or a half milk + half water mix.

So, what I am saying is that if you don’t like the vanilla huel + water simple mixture, don’t fret. With a little extra shopping for easy ingredients that are not too expensive, you can flavor it up and add variety.

Personally, I have found that I prefer my Huel drinks more diluted. But some people like it thicker. Most of us prefer it cold, though.

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I have been able to lose quite a bit of body fat. My regular routine using Huel is this:

  1. If I exercise in the morning before work, I eat a regular meal before work. If not, I continue the fast.

  2. The night before, i blend up two Huel doses. I randomize the different additives and flavors. I store them in insulated 32 ounce bottles. I’m using these right now. Makes it real easy to blend it the night before and toss it in the fridge. By the time I am ready to go to work, I just toss these in my bag, already mixed, already cold, already insulated and the Huel stays cold for 12 hours.

  1. I consume the Huel throughout the work day, whenever I feel like, and usually a partial bottle at a time.
    But it varies. After my last Huel around 1900, I start my fasting tracker on my phone. I then try to go at least 16 hours between my last Huel of the day and the first meal or Huel of the next day. If I exercise in the morning, I break the fast at 16 hours. If I do not exercise, then I try to go at least 18 hours before I break the fast.
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Thank you so much the support.

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Preint screen, this is going to be awesome the losing wt and the money, im dreading the first two weeks.

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Yep. The first week or so of any change in diet or eating habits is always the worst. The brain will protest, like a toddler. Our brain has become accustomed to certain times that we eat and it expects certain tastes and textures. And it expects xxx amount at certain meals. So when we make a significant change, it creates a psychological barrier. We often “feel” hungry too. But what I have come to understand is that a lot of what I previously thought was “hunger” and “hypoglycemia” was all psychological. The old me from years ago would think it impossible to go 18 hours without food… yet it can be done. I even rode my bike for 20 miles while fully fasted and I didn’t die (which the old me would have sworn would happen :slight_smile: .

At one point I even bought a glucometer. I felt like my blood sugar was low, only to find that it was not. The machine doesn’t lie. That’s when I started to realize my sensations of hypoglycemia were nothing more than habit and by brain acting like a toddler.

One benefit you may notice immediately from Huel is that you will feel full for quite some time after consuming it. It digests slowly and has quite a bit of fiber.

Just curious, are you on any medication for diabetes? I only ask due to the risk of hypoglycemia if making a major change in diet.

Also, even if you’re not diagnosed with diabetes, a Glucometer can be a very useful tool to help some people lose weight. Monitoring your post-meal (post-prandial) glucose levels can give you an estimate for how many carbs you are eating and how insulin sensitive you are. Just for reference, we want our 2-hour post meal blood glucose to be 140 or less. In young people and people who are slender, their post-meal blood glucose readings are often even lower, like 120 or lower. I found the glucometer was very useful for me. I got immediate feedback on what was happening post meals. In general, when my post-prandial blood sugars went lower, the weight started coming off. Less insulin release = lose body fat. And it’s way easier to measure post-prandial blood glucose than insulin levels themselves.

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@Lakota, I was where you’re at, and still am. I’m still waaaay overweight. I’m 6’2" and started at 410 pounds, I lost around 60 through diet and exercise. I’ve been a type 2 diabetic for several years. My A1C has been getting worse for a while, since I started Huel a few months ago, I’ve seen a half point drop. U have a 3 scoop shake for breakfast and lunch, then try to eat sensible food for dinner. I don’t always, but I try. :smile:

I fully believe that Huel had a major impact in my A1C for the short time I’ve been taking it.

It’s a difficult journey, but not impossible. You got this!

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I’m currently struggling with binge eating/food addiction.
I’ve found only eating noon-8pm helps me stay in control. Instead of all day, I only have eight hours that I have to control what I’m eating. Outside of that window, it’s easy…I eat nothing.

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I gotta say I read your post & felt I was having an out of body experience. Im Adam aswell in the 385 range & 6’3". I was introduced to huel this week by a coworker & loved it! Just placed my first order plan on substituting breakfast (typically drive through) & lunch with huel. Hoping to get back on track! Good luck!

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That is a significant drop in just a few months. Excellent.

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@Deron Thanks. I’m still above 7 though. I’ll find out for sure next month.

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Many years ago my A1c was a whopping 8.9%, so I know the struggle. After my weight loss, my A1c normalized and I was able to go off the Metformin. It’s a good drug and it helped me a lot. But I’d prefer to not need it, if you know what I mean.

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Mine was hovering around 8 not too long ago. The estimate is 7.3 now. I use the MySugr app, if you enter tests at least 3 times a day for a week, it will estimate your a1c. I’ve had a lot of days in the past week “in the lane” so to speak. (between 90 and 160)

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