Going 100% Huel

Morning everyone,

Today is my first day trying Huel. I’m going to be having nothing but Huel shakes (with a bit of added fruit) to help my weight loss.

I struggle with dieting and have just been eating whatever I want lately, which is definitely showing… I’ve put my stats below for anyone interested and will update the forum daily to help keep me motivated. :muscle:

Age: 19
Current Weight: 134.4 lbs
Goal Weight: 120 lbs
Height: 5’5”

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According to https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html

Your BMI is normal (at least until you reach 150lbs). I wish you good luck in your journey, but I just don’t want you to stress too much about your current weight.

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Hey Georgia,

I agree with @JKDOS, just make sure you’re losing weight for the right reasons.

If you want to maintain this weight loss for the long-term you’re best to make more gradual changes rather than big drastic changes to your diet that you won’t keep in a month or so.

Also, if you do choose to go 100% Huel, ease yourself in and try one meal a week and work your way up. If you’re not used to a high fibre diet you may run into digestive issues.

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I do not suggest this method. Going all-in often times creates digestive issues. There’s no harm in using Huel once per day for a month, then twice per day. You’ll likely still lose weight going in gradually. Using a meal replacement 100% of the time is not in your best interest.

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Excited for you to start your Huel journey! I am almost a year in, and I think you’ll find a great community here. :slight_smile:

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Let me play devil’s advocate for a moment here.

For a person who, as she mentioned, has struggled with diets, going on a mono-diet (100% Huel being the specific example here) may help in some cases. There are many paths to weight loss, but the one unifying factor is discipline and “stick-to-itiveness”. This is a factor of both motivation and ability to deal with any rules to a program. Some of the diets out there are just complicated AF. And this complication could be a reason some people give up or “fail” at that particular diet. In the case of going 100% Huel, that problem has been removed from the list of hurdles that a dieter may face. Make it simple, and it may be easier for someone to follow. Then their brain can be freed up to think about other things. Another way of saying it is that a simple mono-diet can reduce anxiety or apprehension about a diet program because you only need to eat one food. No more having to worry about, “Is this compliant with the diet? How about that food? What will I eat? How will I cook these new foods?” 100% Huel with or without fruit blended in is super easy.

Now, most people will not sustain 100% Huel lifelong, nor is that a goal that anyone should set (IMO). But a period of time set aside for a 100% Huel diet in order to “reset” the body might be good. If it eliminates the sugars and saturated fats, it can help re-establish insulin sensitivity, making weight loss and long-term weight management easier. If it gets results in a rather short period of time, it can also provide positive reinforcement.

Just understand that when the 100% Huel diet period is over, you’ll need a long-term comprehensive diet plan in place. Going back to standard American diet will only reverse any progress made from the 100% Huel time period. But if you look at the ingredients of Huel itself, it can give you a good starting point for a long-term plan. Whole plant foods, low added sugar, decent fiber intake, balanced macronutrients, etc. Eating things like oatmeal, incorporating peas and rice into your meals, sunflower seeds, flax seeds. The foods that Huel is made from. And take it from there.

Now… all of the above said… if your stomach and intestines cannot handle going “all in” on Huel day 1, you may be forced to titrate up to a 100% Huel diet over a period of a week or so. But other than the digestive side effects, there’s no real harm in going all in on Huel for a period of time. And it’s probably better than standard american diet.

The real question is this: when you go into the ocean at the beach, are you the kind of person who gradually wades in or do you just run in and submerge right away? It’s gonna feel cold the first few seconds, so some people prefer to just dive right in and get it over with. Knowing that it will quickly feel warmer.

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If you haven’t discovered this yet, I would recommend consuming several single-scoop shakes instead of a few double-scoop shakes. A lot of people have found that switching to 100% Huel can cause some significant digestive upset, including spontaneous diarrhea. Some people, including myself, found that consuming smaller shakes made a huge difference with this. This also helped me curb snacking because I could just make a single-scoop shake to get me between traditional meal times. Warmer shakes also help you feel more full.

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