How much should I order? Brand new Huelie, please help!

I am on a limited budget as well. For my snacks, I like broccoli with hummus, a fruit like an apple, or pork rinds. The hummus may seem expensive, but it lasts a long time. Like a four dollar one lasts me about a week and it makes the broccoli taste a lot better. I might also do cucumbers. Pork rinds are a lot of calories, but I like them because they are very carb heavy, they are cheap, and also, they are filling so if you eat them, they actually end up being fewer calories. For example, it is very doable to eat 15 pork rinds because they are rich and filling. However, the idea of eating something like 15 Doritos is ridiculous. I also have the hot pop popcorn maker which cost me $11, and you can use that to make popcorn in your microwave. You just buy the big bags of popcorn that you would normally make on the stove, but this popcorn maker allows you to make that popcorn in the microwave and it is actually really cheap. Popcorn is also healthy unless you do unhealthy things to it. If you want an actual meal, a cheap meal that I like a lot better than Ramen is beans. You can just get those big bags of dried beans, and cook them in a crockpot with water and seasonings. It will last for a long time and it is actually very cheap. Some people insist on soaking the beans ahead of time, but I just do them in the crockpot and because they’re cooking for so long, I don’t really soak them ahead of time and they come out fine. You could add some garlic or some seasoning or some bacon and it comes out to be really cheap. Peanut butter is also really cheap. If you are really having trouble with money, you could supplement your snacks and things by visiting a food pantry. They often have things like peanut butter and bags of beans, and they are designed for people who are struggling with their budget or who don’t have an income. Using them may be very stigmatized, but you shouldn’t let the stigma figure into your decision of whether you need help from one. Many of them are designed to be supplementary anyways, and so you couldn’t just get all of your food needs from wine, but if you were just having Huel and eating some snacks, then it would be OK. Or if you think that you can go without snacks, you could just do that too. And actually, if you think of the calories are calories, Ramen is actually pretty expensive compared to something like beans or even beans and rice. Grapes are also a very good snack because you can get a huge thing of them and they will last for awhile. Bananas are also really really cheap although I don’t like bananas that much because I am trying to avoid foods that can cause blood sugar spikes, and because they make me fall in the short term, but I get hungry fast after that. Potatoes, and they actually have a lot more nutrition than people give them credit for. Especially if they can be pretty healthy.I’m talking about like the potatoes that you get at the store, not like french fries were those ones in the frozen i’m talking about like the potatoes that you get at the store, not like french fries were those ones in the frozen aisle. aisle. Eggs are also very cute. You can even scramble them in the microwave. And if you want spices and things, it is cheaper to get those I’ll of the grocery store. You might see something like not Meg or $44 a pound and not want to buy that, but actually, if you were only getting one or 2 ounces of nutMeg, it is a lot cheaper than buying it from those little jars at the grocery store. The book I was good because you can just get exactly how much you need. I don’t know why more people don’t use it. You can also use the book I’ll to get things like nuts, sunflower seeds, and other things. If you are going to go the route of making your own trail mix, the book I’ll might be a good option. I don’t like trail mix so I wouldn’t do that, but it could be a good option if you like that. I more like salty snacks. Peanut butter is a lot of calories though, so even though it is cheap, you would need to be very careful about how much you use, or just don’t use peanut butter since you were trying to lose weight. Oatmeal is also cheap if you actually buy it in the bags and don’t do those instant packets, but Huel is way better even though it is based on oatmeal because it has more protein, it is nutritionally complete, it has more fiber, and it is way more filling. So even though oatmeal is a cheap option, you can actually use Huel in a bowl and it taste similar to oatmeal, so probably having a meal as part of your regime is not a good idea. And before you actually not the idea of taking donated food, sometimes grocery stores and things will donate their own food to these places are going to throw away anyways, and so if someone doesn’t take it, just going to get bad and get thrown out. You can also buy whole spices and grind them with a two dollar grinder so they will last longer. You might get bored with just one flavor, so you may want to use them as flavorings. You can make beans as a savory dish, or you can make them as more of the sweet, baked bean version. I just like losing my shaker. I don’t use a blender because they are expensive, and I think it is fine the way it is. I did get three metal blender balls for six dollars though. I think it is filling and I could live on it full-time, but I just don’t because of preference. I have it for my main meals, and then just have snacks. I don’t just look at how many calories something is. I will get help filling it will be. Maybe something is a lot of calories, but is very filling and I won’t beat that much of it. But I would also say to measure portion sizes. Don’t just estimate. If you are going to be bored actually measure it, or count the number of pieces. Like the packages may say that one serving is between nine and 11 pieces, so just count that out and it will even out at the end. But don’t just guess. Also, if you make something for yourself like if you make chili or something, you have to be like, this is going to last me this long. Like maybe I make a crock pot of beans and I might be like, these beans are going to last me for four days. Every time I go to get some beans, I have to think about whether I am on track or not. If I am not on track, then something is wrong. I am either eating too much, I am getting hungry too easily, or something is happening. Maybe it could be that I am trying to eat too few calories and that isn’t sustainable. You may want to try to lose weight as fast as possible, but I have had the best luck losing weight slowly doing things that are sustainable, so just cut back on your calories a little bit. Some of these people say they lost 16 pounds in one month or something like that, and that could’ve been water weight, but that isn’t really the average. You have to remember that once you lose this weight, you have to keep it off, and research actually shows that most people who lose this weight don’t keep it off, so it’s better to go slowly, and actually incorporate lasting changes into your life that will keep this weight off. Huel counts because it is a lasting change in my life. I like having it, and it has replaced things for me like frozen food and ordering out and it is something that I can stick with and I don’t feel like that I have to do this for a certain amount of time and then I can stop. I would rather have this instead of have a hot pocket that I don’t like with cheese that is like plastic and meat that he’s like rubber. I also did the pork rinds because it was the only way that I could give up other things that were really causing me trouble like Doritos. I can’t have Doritos in my life because I can’t stick to the serving size that it says. It is impossible for me, and trying to stick to the serving size is harder than just not having them. However, I can stick to the serving size of the pork rinds. If I had Doritos, I might eat a whole family size bag and one day and that never happens with the pork rinds. If you are vegan, that obviously won’t work. I know they have things like kale chips and things, but I’m not sure how they taste, and they are actually very expensive. You could try to make your own, but it would take a lot of time to prepare all those vegetables and it isn’t very convenient. Some people have said that when they crave Doritos or something if they can just have celery in that does it for them. That does not work for me though. I do love celery and dip, but that does not replace my craving if I am craving Doritos or cheese its.

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If you really want to lose fat you should eat 5-6 times a day while counting your calories. I’m a 6’ Male at about 260lbs, I’m just starting a fat loss regiment again but have a hard time losing fat my entire life, bouncing back and forth as I get tired of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Products like huel will help you maintain your weight once you get there and can aid in the fat loss process. I have lost a lot of fat 2 seperate times in my life by sticking to a high protein diet like the one I’ll give you below. And 2 other times by using meal replacements. So if you want to lose weight fast you should follow the science I used and is widely known. Lindora Medical clinic pioneered it well over a decade ago, now over the past 8+ years that science has been applied across many platforms including body building. That’s because It puts your body in an anobolic state, kick starting your metabolism, which builds more muscle and burns more fat. I don’t follow it at the moment because I’m working too much but have went from 265 to 205 in about 5 months without much of any exercise and another time from 260 to 185 in 6 months, but this time I lost more fat and gained a lot of muscle by working out 30mins - 1 1/2 hours a day. (Running or weight training) So you don’t have to exercise but a minimum of 15 mins per day with go a long ways. More so if you increase how long you work out. As your body begins to get used to it, so many people start to plataue with their diet.

If you are worried about being hungry just follow this diet because you get to eat 5 to 6 times a day! It is possible you can eat more than you do now and lose the weight, as long as you eat the correct portions, consume nothing but healthy food and at the correct times.

Diet:
You have to eat every 3 hours, and make sure your last snack or meal is not more than 2-3 hours before bed.
Meal - snack - meal - snack - meal + optional snack depending when you go to sleep.

Snacks should be high in protein. Cottage cheese, a glass of milk, half a can of tuna, 6oz of chicken. Things like Kale chips are ok if you need to put something in your stomach but mostly everything needs to be straight up protein. I only mention this because kale chips are easy to pack and instead of ruining your diet by snacking on something bad i always carried kale chips around if the cravings became too much. If you know someone with access to lindora snacks those are great to have, but luckly there is a product like huel so it makes things very simple.

Meals need to be high in protien and the only sugar you consume should be simple sugars (natural sugar, not refined). Try to have chicken salads as much as possible, with iceburg lettuce only. That’s what lindora tells you because it cleans you out. Iceburg lettuce literally just goes straight through you and scrapes out all the bad stuff.

Meal plan example:

Keep in mind, you can sub out the meals for 2 scoops of huel with milk or swap the snacks for the other things I mentioned above.

Breakfast: 1 piece of whole wheat toast, half a grapefruit, 1 egg + 3 egg whites or just 2 eggs.

3 hours later 1 or 2 scoops of huel for a snack with water or just 1 cup of milk.

Lunch: iceburg lettuce, 6oz chicken breast, asian or Italian dressing and 1 orange.

Then 1 scoop of huel in half a cup of water half a cup of milk.

Dinner: lots broccoli cooked with italian seasoning, 6oz of chicken breast and 10 cherries.

Then another snack like huel or milk no closer than 2 hours before bed.


Something else I liked for Breakfast was: 2 eggs, 5 cage free egg whites (comes in a box) & Kale. You heat half a teaspoon of olive oil in a standard frying pan. Then blanch the kale, enough that you fill a standard frying pan full. Add a tiny pinch of salt (or use celery salt which requires less) and other seasonings like garlic with a little parmesan cheese.

What is did was Cook the chicken breast on a George Foreman grill and only used Tony Catcher’s Cajun Seasoning. A very light dusting would make the chicken taste amazing! It has salt in it so you don’t need to add anything but it.

Let Huel act as your snacks and meals , you just have to figure out how much you need. As in, how much would you need to consume to be equal to your meal or a 6oz serving of chicken. So try to consume nothing but huel, chicken, veggies, salads and other low fat proteins. Never consume fruit unless it’s with a meal. Snacking on fruit is very bad and is something the weight loss science tells you not to so. Trust me when I say this as the fruit factor is very important! I literally cringe at the people adding a bunch of fruit to shakes or thinking fruit alone is a viable snack. Fruit with low brix are the best way to go. That means, no pineapple or pears if you can help it. Either way you want to lower the sugar intake.

So if you can’t follow this diet. The next best thing is eating 1 meal per day and subbing out 2 meals for huel with milk, soy milk or water. The amount of huel just depends on what your body needs. For myself I am perfectly content with 2 scoops and milk but for this diet you may need more. I used this method in the past with Herbalife and it worked. Except I lost a ton of muscle and I was hungry all the time. Huel is much better for you and actual curves appetite much better.

Stay away from snacks like trail mix, nuts, beef/jerky products and most protein bars as they usually have a lot of refined sugars or sugar alcohols (claiming to be sugar free). There are some viable protien bar options but they are very hard to find. I have never seen any Fruit and or fiber bars that would be healthh for any fat loss diet.

For myself, I have to consume less than 1,500 calories a day to see any real fat loss because thats just how my body works. Everyone’s nody is different! Even as a body builder when I was down to weight, i could run for 30mins to 1 hour, then cross train for 3 hours (lifting weights and high cardio workouts) 6 days a week and i still couldn’t consume more than 2,300 calories or I would gain fat.

Just to mention also, I have always had a hard time working out while losing fat. Eating 3 times a day it’s pretty much impossible for me because I become to hungry. So keep that in mind if you do go with that option. The diet is usually more important than gaining or keeping muscle. You can do that once you knock off some of the weight. But if you can exercise you really should. Just 15 mins a day will really help your metabolism, which means more calories are getting burned. It’s like doing a little extra work for double the reward.

I hope this helped and doesn’t sound crazy. Even if you don’t take any advice from me. Understanding the science is very important ti losing weight. You can never follow what someone else is doing and know it will work for you, because our bodies have different chemistry. I can be 6’ 200 lbs and another guy can be the exact same and we could eat and do the same things but I lose fat and he stays the same. It’s a fact.

-Cheers

Last year I lost 60 pounds by doing the exact opposite. I practice daily 16 to 18 hour intermittent fasting, concentrating my two meals into a 6 to 8 hour window. I eat big when I eat. I never counted macros or calories. I stopped rigorous exercise and went to moderate exercise in the fasted state only, to limit it’s hunger inducing effects.

This program has been the single best improvement to my physical and mental health ever. I no longer panic eat. I am free from having to eat so often. It has also helped me become more disciplined overall.

6 meals a day? I Ain’t got time for that. The human body is efficient if we don’t eat things that cause insulin resistance. No need to micromanage our calories. People weren’t fat a hundred years ago and they weren’t eating 6 times a day or counting calories? What changed? We started eating more cheese, chicken, and things with sucrose and high fructose corn syrup. Those are the things making us insulin resistant.

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Do you think there could be different models of body that respond better or worse to these first plans?

I have wondered if the problem people have with diet is because we are convinced there is a single best plan for everyone, rather than teaching people to be aware of their health and do what works for them.

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There is probably much truth to that.

Olive Branch to the 6 meal a day proponents: in people who have impulse control issues or portion size issues, this program may benefit them. To ask them to fast may not be possible. So it may be better to have them do 6 very small meals a day so that they feel food in their GI track at all times. If they end up eating less foods that were causing their insulin resistance, then it is a win for them. It’s a step in the right direction for them.

But to play devil’s advocate, all human bodies have a lot in common. There are some unified, identical endocrine processes that control all humans body fat. There are some things we are eating that are causing us have the hormone imbalances leading to obesity. We may disagree on the interpretation of some studies. And it may not be 100% clear. And we may have not fully uncovered the exact causes of this insulin resistant. But, it doesn’t mean there are “different truths for different people”. Yes, different body types. But our bodies are a lot more alike than different. We musnt yield personal responsibility to this. Something out there is making us (former me, included) fat and unhealthy. And once we uncover what it is, and have enough evidence to say “this is most likely the cause”, then we can either choose to believe or deny.

I don’t think there’s as much wiggle room for what is actually healthy for a human body or not as we’d like to believe. And I’m not saying that I always practice good eating habits. But I am without excuse. It is my fault that I was obese and diabetic at one point.

The ultimate problem with allowing people to do “what works for them” is that they may get short term results but end up harming their bodies in the long run. That’s where we need to turn to scientific method to help us see the big picture.

Case in point. I lost a lot of weight last year using IF. But I was still eating stuff that I now learned are bad for me. I was eating a lot of pork and dairy. I did lose weight. And I may have increased my risk for colon and prostate cancer 20 years from now. Maybe. The literature is pretty clear that IF is healthy. Pork and dairy… not so much. It’s my fault, though. They do taste good.

Not to belabor a point, but what if 6 small meals a day is actually not good for us in the long run? Although it may yield body fat loss in some people, what if this is not actually the best way to lose weight? What if the other benefits of going through a daily fast (autophagy, changes in other hormones like GH and cortisol) have other life beneficial effects which are missed on a program that keeps insulin spiked 6 times a day? Doesn’t the gut bacteria get a short break during a fast? Could part of the health benefits of IF come from that? I don’t know.

What if it turns out that fiber is actually the most important thing of all? What if all these health and obesity issues stem from the fact that our diets are too low in fiber which alters our GI Flora and GI permeability and leads to more inflammation and atherosclerosis and insulin resistance? What if the common link is lack of fiber and had we just kept our fiber up over the last 100 years, we wouldn’t be seeing these issues and we’d never have invented a keto diet or veganism ? Makes me think.

There are definitely different best ways for different people. For me, the most important characteristic of a diet is its simplicity. Drinking Huel RTD three times a day works great in my case. For other people its cost, or taste, or variety, or something else.

The most cost effective, delicious, healthy, and easy to cook recipes don’t do it for me simply because they are recipes; I would still have to buy the ingredients at the grocery store, risk being stuck behind a baby boomer in the self checkout aisle, cook several times a day (or waste Sunday cooking for the whole week), wash an ungodly amount of dishes, etc.

There is a sort of placebo effect that determines a diets effectiveness too. If you enjoy a particular weight loss strategy, and believe it will work, you are more likely to stick with it, and any plan is better than no plan.

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It’s a scientific fact that eating smaller portions more often, promotes fat loss and muscle gain. If it wasn’t so effective then all professional body builders wouldn’t be doing it. Of course there is more than 1 way to lose weight loss including the warrior diet which is similar to yours. A lot of Military professionals will follow the same diet and was common in ancient times like you mentioned. All you do is eat 1 large healthy meal a day.

Not everyone wants to lose muscle so they should be aware of all options. I only gave this person my diet knowledge because she mentioned snacking. Snacking is the worst thing to do in most case. However everyone’s body is different so there is no cure all for everyone.

It’s good you found something that works for you and you are happy with. I can’t fast so i would never follow that diet. Plus by body in particular would lose a lot of muscle and that’s not something I want.

Cheers!

Well said, any plan is better than no plan! Cheers to you and your health.

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Understood. Glad your 6MAD thing works for you. Sounds … complicated, to me.

I was responding to your assertion that “if you really want to lose fat you should eat 6 times a day”, and statements like “You have to eat every 3 hours”. I wanted to point to a personal example of myself who did the exact opposite and lost a lot weight. I wanted to show an example of where, at least in one person, this assertion was flat wrong.

I used to eat multiple times a day. That’s what kept me stuck in my loop and I was never able to get as lean and healthy as I am today. And I did it with much less effort than doing the multiple meals a day like I did when I was exercising 2 to 3 hours a day many years ago.

To the statement that it’s a scientific fact… I am now gaining muscle and still remaining trim doing my 16 hr daily fast, and specifically exercising as late into the fasted state as possible. I start my exercise about 14 to 15 hours after my last eaten meal. I’m already up to higher kettlebell weights than when I started fasted training months ago. And today I finally put the step stool aside since I can now do an actual pullup without it. So clearly I am able to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time while practicing IF. I must be an exception.

Let’s just take a step back and recognize the complexity of trying to coordinate 6 small meals a day every single day, including vacation, and at work. 6SMAD is not a long-term sustainable meal plan for many many people.

Although… if one were to embark on a 6SMAD plan, then Huel would definitely be the way to go. Make 3 Huel shakes in the morning, drink half at a time, 6 times a day? Yeah, that may be possible and not too inconvenient.

And since you brought up the subject of scientific fact… what is your opinion on dairy and chicken consumption and human health? Since you advised eating these things in your original post. What does the scientific literature say about human populations that consume these things? Not my opinion or your opinion, but what does science say? I’m curious for your input on this. And, keep in mind, I was an omnivore last year when I lost the 60 lbs, so I am not judging or trying to convert anyone to any political leanings. (I used to eat 3 Debbie Snacks for desert many years ago when I was a fat ****. And one day I will reap the consequences of my decade of improper eating. That will be my cross to bear.) I am actually genuinely interested in what science has to say about consumption of dairy and chicken and it’s impacts on human health. Bad, good, neutral? Conflicting data?

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You absolutely should not be on a huel only diet. I’m a student and I used to do heroin, for like ten years. So not only do i get busy, I’m literally never hungry exacerbated by stress of being a student. I drink huel cause it’s fast, and i will literally go without eating until I become weak if i don’t play attention or have time. You really should be eating at least one solid meal with some fruit and shit. Some nutritionists argue that if the vitamins you are consuming do not come from food, they really aren’t doing a whole lot. As far as meal replacement I’ve looked into, this has the most natural sources of vitamins and stuff but you still need to eat food. You’re going to realize how important meat is after you go 3-4 days without it

Diets high in plant based proteins are demonstrably safer than diets high in animal protein. I eat meat once every other friday (and its this week, yay) but I might someday give it up. I really feel better than I have in years, and I’ve been eating mostly Huel since May.

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How can you tell anyone what they should or should not be doing?

There are people who consume only Huel; that’s why the “nutritionally complete food” is important. Huel IS food. It’s not a supplement like boost or ensure or whatever carb-loaded whey-protein gunk is sold as convenient.

Do whatever you want for yourself, but please be careful what opinion you sell as fact to others.

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Here’s an interesting read I came across this weekend.

“A statistically significant, positive association was seen between animal protein intake and obesity; those in higher quartiles of vegetable protein intake had lower odds of being obese. These results indicate that animal and vegetable protein may relate differently to occurrence of obesity in the long run.”

Prospective cohort study, n = 1730, followed for 8 years.

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I went a month without meat starting in late December 2018. I had my annual blood work last week. My HDL is now the highest it’s ever been, 57. I was never able to get it above the low 40s, even when I was on my 3 hr a day exercise regimen. My triglycerides are 43. Freaking 43! A high HDL and low TG are predictors of a low risk of developing heart disease. Oh and my hemoglobin A1c is 4.9.

Now, how much of that is the IF verses Huel verses “vegan diet” for one month? It may be a combo of all three. However, I will say that I have not missed meat in the last month. I feel fine. I am exercising and getting stronger. Apparently my body doesn’t need meat, at least not now.

Oh, and adding greens to my powdered Berry Huel tastes pretty good. The berry flavor either blends well or covers it up enough to make the taste pleasing. A tangent, but I just wanted to throw that out there.

@Travis_Stockwel

Here is an example of a man who ate only white potatoes for an entire year. He was healthy and lost weight. He didn’t feel hungry or desire for anything else.

It seems mother nature already had the idea of a “complete food” before Huel came about. (Although if I had a choice between eating only potatoes or Huel for a year, I’d definitely do Huel.)

https://youtu.be/grk-_083iBs

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I ordered too much in the beginning, thought I would use more than I actually did. Really using it as a quick healthy after workout breakfast. Fortunately Huel is really good to work with on the subscription side and I can easily manipulate my order.

Go big up front so you have it on hand, then modify as time goes on.

I take it with me internationally (and ALWAYS get the full search as Huel can be confused for other contraband) as all I need is a safe water source and I am good to go.

At home the blender is the way to go to add fruit or Splenda. At work or on the road I use half servings more often so I can get a smoother product in the shaker.

I tried Huel only but you do miss “real” food. So don’t go out to fast. Then you just back fill with that candy bar. I also do not count fruit or vegetable calories, great fillers and I will take the nutrition over the worry about numbers.

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Great tips, thank you… Mijack (Kellie)

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Thanks for bringing up Intermittent fasting. I used to do the whole '5-6 meals" a day thing and I also have found that IF works much better and faster. Also I feel a lot better and less stressed not having to figured out how to eat so many times a day!

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