Hey guys I am brand new to this product and really excited to get started with my journey ahead. I will be going 100% Huel for all meals for the next couple of months, in attempts to lose 80lbs! Anyone who has had experience with going 100% Huel, please help me out if you can. Im a little nervous not sure if replacing every meal is actually healthy? But, from what ive read it should be fine.
First, I want to let everyone know where I sit today:
Age: 20
Sex: Male
From: USA
Weight: 285lbs
Height: 6’ 0"
Health: Decent but have some asthma and anxiety issues. E-Cig user (quitting).
Diet: Eat whatever, whenever.
Activity: Low - None (Sedentary Job)
The 100% Huel Diet Plan:
I plan to eat nothing besides Huel. Eat 2000 calories a day/ 5 (2)scoop servings. On top of that go to the gym at least 1 time a week, and train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 1 time per week, and hopefully get some mountain biking in as well.
I plan on updating once a week on progress and how I am feeling in general. Thanks for the read and any engagement/support is appreciated.
Yes, you’ll be absolutely fine in terms of nutrition and health. Now, if you hurt yourself training, that ain’t Huel’s fault
But seriously, a “mono diet” has some psychological advantages for someone who wants to shed excess body fat and is currently eating whatever they want. The brain becomes sort of used to or semi tired of eating the same thing every day and you’ll subtly eat less than you otherwise would, without noticing and without great mental efforts. It can reprogram your taste preferences and eating habits. It’s kinda like wiping the slate clean and allowing you to start fresh. You no longer need to fret over “what will I eat to lose weight”. It’s pre decided for you and frees up your brain to focus on other things. A “mental crutch” of sorts to help you. Because significant weight loss can be a real mental struggle. I know from experience as my BMI many years ago was basically what yours is now. I am 5 ft 10 or 11 inch, and my max weight was 277 lbs. BMI 39. Today I am a BMI of 21.
My trick or mental crutch last year was to start an intermittent fasting regimen of eating in an 8 hr window and fasting 16 hours daily. It redirected my thoughts to focus first on establishing a 16 hr fasting window, which took away some of the stress of trying to lose weight. “What if I don’t…” “What will I eat…” “How much calories…” Nope. Every time those thoughts came to mind, I would stop and refocus on my one thing: making it to the 16 hr mark without food.
I am not saying that intermittent fasting or a mono diet with Huel are mere placebos. There is science and logic behind each of these strategies as they both promote better insulin sensitivity which is one of the main driving factors behind body fat loss. Rather, these strategies are very simple to apply. Making major changes in diet can be daunting and having a simple plan early in the weight loss program can make it more likely to succeed.
The real hurdle with weight loss is mental. We know the science behind weight loss. We know eating the standard American diet causes insulin resistance. We know we shouldn’t be consuming sugary beverages and lots of saturated fat. There’s no more mystery to what makes us fat. The real barrier is not partaking in this standard American diet when it’s so convenient to do so. Having a simple plan like a Huel mono diet or intermittent fasting plan is a great way to redirect thoughts and stay away from convenient packaged foods that we know are the real source of the problem.
Two little tricks that many of us have found help adjust to Huel. 1) taking a pro biotic for a few weeks at first helps. Your intestinal Flora will change when you go all Huel. 2) Beano or other OTC digestive enzymes PRN
Thank you so much for such a great and explanatory write up. One question I have for you after reading is how do/did you use Huel while losing your weight? And how long did it take for you to lose that much weight?
Good for you! I am doing the same, 100%, having just started this week. Same weight loss goal. The carrot I put in front of myself is that I’m running a marathon in May. Kind of a good motivator, lol. I’ll follow your journey.
I have only recently started Huel, but I switched to it from a competing product which I have lost close to 75 lbs on. Huel is just better, and I’m sure I would have had the same results if I had done Huel from the get-go.
I think you will do well if you stick to it. You will need to transition as recommended, and maybe take supplemental electrolytes for some time.
I’m male 6’2". I do 1800 calories per day, 3 meals. Loss has been pretty fast. I would still lose on 2000.
Daily walking helps me tremendously, nothing extreme needed. I walk 30-45 minutes per day and do no other exercise.
With regards to this - " I will be going 100% Huel for all meals for the next couple of months, in attempts to lose 80lbs!" It reads like you expect to lose 80 lbs in the next couple of months – I’m not sure that’s your intent, but its very aggressive. According to my favorite calculator ( https://www.losertown.org/eats/cal.php ), if you stick to your 2000 calorie plan and don’t cheat, you are projected to meet your goal around April. Slipping up around the holidays will set you back further.
The main advice that I would give you is that I find it easier to split into 3 meals, because if you have to eat a non-huel meal, you have more calories of wiggle room to work with. You do need some big shaker jars though.
I did not go 100% Huel. The wife is a really good cook (and my skills are on par), so I’d be missing out. But I use one dose of Huel as my dinner at work. I found that I could not consistently get to break at the same time and sometimes I didn’t have a good option to heat up my food. So I bring Huel and then I can drink it whenever I need regardless of how busy it is at work that day.
So I started my second weight loss journey around Jan 2018. I adjusted myself into a daily 16 to 17 hour fast. I would finish my Huel by 18:30 and then would not break my fast until 11:00 or 11:30 the next day, eating a regular meal for breakfast. Between my breakfast and my Huel dinner I would have a snack if needed, mid afternoon. After a month of getting used to fasting, I began to re-introduce exercise but in the fasted state. That actually took longer to get used to than the 16-hr daily fast. Trying to do strength training at 10:00 each morning, near the end of my fast, was something that took a while to get used to. But as I got more insulin sensitive and used to fasting for longer periods, I found I was able to exercise 30 - 45 minutes with little reduction in my capacity. But this was during the period of weight loss, so my exercise was being fueled by my excess body fat stores. Then around January 2019 I had made the decision to remove all meat/dairy from the diet. I had been researching the negative health impacts of animal products on human health. I also realized that a good portion of my total food intake was plant-based anyway. So, I gave it a beta test in Jan. And I haven’t felt the need to go back. I’ve been plant-based since. The combination of daily fasting and removing meat/dairy really accelerated the weight loss beyond what I imagined would be possible. My original goal was to get down to 86 kg since I didn’t even think anything less was possible. Boy, was a I wrong. I am not trying to minimize anyone’s weight loss journey, especially since I had struggled for years and was even a type 2 diabetic at one point. But, I am surprised at how stupid easy it is to be thin once the science of insulin resistance is understood and a proper long-term diet program is chosen. Removing meat/dairy really improves insulin sensitivity (as does intermittent fasting). Weight loss became automatic and “effortless” once I learned the science and directed my discipline to be able to fast and not need meat/dairy. But to answer your question, my second weight loss journey using Huel took about 15 months. I still stick with the program and the weight has then remained the same for the last 5 months or so. So I basically changed my dietary patterns, weight loss then naturally occurred and now I am at a new plateau with the same program. It’s a way of eating rather than a temporary diet.
Now that I’m a lean 66/67 kg and 32 inch waist, I don’t have those fat stores anymore. These days I will sometimes break my fast at the 14 hr mark with fruit, then exercise, then eat my first real meal. I found that if I exercise fasted these days, I conk out too quick and my workout becomes ineffective.
Note that I originally lost a good 28 kg before 2018 doing the vigorous exercise thing. I would exercise up to 3 hours a day some days and then try to restrict calories. Obviously this is not great for being lean. yes, I did improve my health some and got less fat. And I was quite strong. But the exercise regimen made me hungry AF. Trying to count/restrict calories and maximize exercise is futile. Once I understood about insulin resistance and it’s roots for abdominal obesity and diabetes, I found a much better way. The second weight loss journey was way easier. I still exercise, but not nearly to the extent I used to. I no longer have to panic eat. It’s freedom.
Agreed. 80 pounds of fat loss is something that will take a good 12 to 15 months, IMO.
Weight loss will be pretty rapid at first and will then slow as a person gets closer to a more ideal weight. It’s rarely a linear decline over the long run.
Thank you for that link - it’s interesting (and somewhat depressing!). I’ve lost about 20 lbs over the last 6 months and would still like to lose 40 more. According to the calculator, it’s going to take me until February 2021! As a 53-year-old woman, it’s a constant struggle to get the weight off and keep it off.
I do Huel twice a day and have a regular dinner. I work out with a trainer 4 days a week and try to walk one mile during my lunch hour 5 days a week. Like Deron, I also fast overnight for about 14 hours before I have my breakfast shake. Tracking my meals throughout the day with MyFitnessPal has helped, since it makes me really think about if I want to indulge in that alcohol or dessert.
As someone else suggested, take it slow when starting with Huel. I started with one a day and over a couple of weeks worked up to 2 a day. I like the regular vanilla flavor and add a couple of tablespoons of ground chia to thicken it up a bit. I make two in the blender the night before so I can just grab them and go in the morning. It makes life so much easier!
I lost 80 lbs on Huel. Now I am using it to add muscle to fill up some of this stretched skin. I started with the same eating plan as you, but eventually started eating a pizza every other weekend. It kept me on track to have something to look forward to.
For a while I was having Vite Ramen for dinner, but I switched back to just Huel lately. Huel is so cheap, and I need a lot of protein to build muscle. I don’t feel like using any protein supplements, just Huel. I bought an exercise machine, and every day I work out five times, twice in the morning and three times after work, and after every set I have 400 calories of Huel. I’ve never felt better. My own mom didn’t even recognize me the other day.
Oh, man. This story is kinda bringing me back to my old days of weight loss where I was doing up to 3 hrs a day of exercise. I did that for a little over a year. I got pretty strong and could ride the bike for 30 miles with no problem. I knew it wasn’t something I’d keep up for life, but it was kinda fun when I was going full HAM on the exercise. Lots of listening to my music while doing it. And it made me so tired at bedtime. I never slept better than during this time period. I didn’t have a relationship and it was just me and the dog so I had a lot of extra time to spare for exercise. It was a time in my life where I just lived simply and focused on improving myself.
Unfortunately, it did have the “side effect” of making me hungry all the time. I now prefer my current approach of putting diet and fasting first and exercise is secondary. These days I limit most exercise sessions to 30 - 45 minutes. I prefer to do it fully fasted or with only a few pieces of fruit before the workout. I also wait for a good 30 to 60 minutes to eat after I finish the workout.
