Looking to Make a Change

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Good afternoon, all!

I’m new (obviously) and am considering Huel and have spent some of the day perusing the forum. I’m not sure if I should hijack another newbie lookin’ for info discussion so here goes.

For years I’d eat a bagel for breakfast until this past winter when I decided to mess with the 310 meal replacements. Thinking I’d cut down on the carbs and aim for something healthier at the same time. 310 was chosen because the women in my wife’s office like it and seem to be getting results.

Problem is, I’m not getting all that full and I find myself needing to snack before lunch. I add in frozen berries and bananas, chia seeds, PB powder, vanilla yogurt (Greek generally), and use unsweetened vanilla almond milk as the liquid.

While researching smoothie recipes this morning Huel came up.

I’ll give anything a shot, but am wondering if Huel has an advantage over simple produce department recipes or other OTC “DIY” powders.

I’m in IT and sit at my computer for the bulk of the day. I’m in the car for the commute for about an hour eah day. I walk whenever I can, skipping the elevators at work and my wife and I try to get some extra steps in while walking the dog - to tire the pooch out and to meet any goals.

Dinner during the week is often salad or skinless chicken with string beans or brussels sprouts.

I’m looking to lose weight and trim some inches off my waist. I’ve been making smarter choices lately, but it’s very easy for me to look for something unhealthy to hold me over. Which I regret soon enough.

Is there anything I should be concerned about?

Thanks in advance!

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I do 125g (500cal) for breakfast because it’s easier than even toasting a bagel and Huel is cheaper per serving than anything I could make DIY

I drink 40oz of coffee before noon, so there is some appetite suppressant from that and i get the pleasure of consuming coffee between 8 and 12. I also noticed that with 120mg of ginko at breakfast, I stay focused on work and I’m not distracted by all the office junkfood.

I’ve been eating about 200 or so calories worth of larabar or trail mix for lunch by 1pm. Again, I really don’t want to bother with making food or going out (losing choice parking, also spending too much, and being easy too full)

I eat whatever moderate dinner around 6pm to make up the day’s calorie requirement. I also work in IT, I really don’t have an interest in going to a gym - so keeping control of food is how i maintain 160ish pounds

Huel is an ideal breakfast choice. Your mileage may vary depending on your lifestyle.

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Hey DAP. I had a quick look at 310 and by the looks of things they are 90kcal per serving which would explain why you are hungry!

There is nothing wrong with carbs, it’s more about diet quality rather than individual macronutrients. Low GI carbs are satiating, can be good for the gut and a slow-release energy source.

I guess the difference between DIY powders is the convenience. You know the exact nutrition you are getting, and if you tried to copy Huel ingredient-for-ingredient it will likely be more expensive because you can’t buy in bulk.

We are nutrition first here at Huel, you can check out the articles we have to help your understanding more here: https://huel.com/pages/information-articles

Losing weight is mainly about how many calories you consume. Have a look at our article on fat loss: https://huel.com/pages/guide-to-fat-loss and this calorie calculator: https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html and come back to me if you have anymore questions.

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Coffee is definitely consumed during the day. Some days more than others. I’ve also cut way back on the sugar I add to it, often drinking it straight.

I really should buy more jerky if I feel the need to snack at my desk, aside from the occasional peanuts or sunflower kernels or granola. (I’m allergic to pine nuts and some tree nuts so Kind and Clif bars are never an option.) I’m not sure why I never thought about Larabar. I’ll change that.

I’m with you 100% on parking. My wife and I get to work and the car stays in place until we leave. Any time I do leave campus for lunch is with others and someone else is driving. That said, some days I may get sushi or salad from the cafeteria if I don’t bring my own simple wrap or leftovers from home. And there are days when I power through it and skip lunch if I know I’m doing something decent for dinner.

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Thanks for the links, @Dan_Huel.

I’m seriously considering Huel for breakfast. And I’m wondering if I’m putting too much fruit in the shakes I’m making now, increasing my sugar intake.

I see a lot of the info regarding Huel pertains to the vanilla powder. I prefer chocolate, but I’m not sure how different the numbers might be or if it’s primarily just a difference in flavor. My default was ordering the starter pack with just chocolate, but maybe I’ll swap one out for vanilla.

Can you tell me if it’s worth adding chia seeds to Huel like I currently do with 310? Or do the ingredients already in the powder make that redundant? I would also be making it with unsweetened (and likely vanilla) almond or coconut milk. I’ll probably add fruit, but not as much as I’m blending with 310.

I’m liking what I’m reading here on the message board and online from other users.

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I wouldn’t worry about fruit providing sugar too much. It has been blown out of proportion and the benefits of fruits benefits outweigh their sugar content. If your daily sugar intake is a little high, look to other areas of your diet first before reducing fruit. Although reducing fruit is an option.

This is mainly because vanilla is the most popular and was the first flavoured Huel. There is very little difference, if any, between flavours it’s just the flavour system used that differs. So the information you have read on vanilla will apply to chocolate too.

Not really. If you like the taste/texture add them however, Huel is high in fiber, and vitamins and minerals so there’s no need to add them. It’s personal choice.

Lots of people use milks over water because they prefer the taste or texture.

Hope that helps!

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It really does!

Aaaaaannd my order has been placed.

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Yey!

Me going off to my manager for a raise:
giphy

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I got your back. There’s no way you can be turned down.

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This! Get yourself a good tasting milk, like oat milk. Then mix your Huel in this or a 50/50 mix of water and milk. Of all the milks I’ve tried, I find that oat milk blends best with Huel, probably because of the oat content already in Huel.

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I dispatch for a large city transit company - thus, I sit on my tail end 90% of my day. But also, I need something I can drink through a lunch at my desk.

I can vouch for the chocolate powder - it’s good mixed up with almond milk but my secret sin is the Oreo flavored “iced coffee” drink from International Delights. I only use about 4 oz so I don’t destroy the diet lol but man, it’s so good.

I got some powdered PB the other day - I’m looking forward to mixing up a chocolate PB Huel.

FWIW, I like the blender bottle shakers over the Huel shakers. Don’t get me wrong - I love the Huel shakers for other things (like iced drinks) but for annhilating the Huel, the blender ball is where it’s at for me. Of course, if you’re blending lol ignore me :slight_smile:

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Thank you for the “sinful” tip. That’s definitely something I’ll be keeping in the back of my mind.

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Well, I’m an idiot.

Box arrived Friday (actually, two boxes arrived. One with the powders, the scoop, and the (frosted, YAY!) shaker. The other box had the shirt and welcome/get started booklet) and I was stoked. Giddy to get started. Read the booklet once and kept flipping through it as the weekend continued.

But I couldn’t start Saturday since we were seeing Avengers: Endgame at midnight and I didn’t want to introduce anything into my system that might cause me to miss any of the sequel 21 films in the making. But I did pick up some bananas and more mixed berries and another gallon of almond milk so I can hit the ground running Sunday (I really need to nudge the little grocer near me to stock PB2 powder).

Before we left for the theater I grabbed my scale and got started. I scooped some chocolate and noticed it wasn’t fully packed, but weighed it to get an idea of how much a scoop holds. It was a little under 60g. Which caused me to conclude it must hold 60g. So my first shake was made with 120g of powder, 16oz of almond milk, half a banana, and some mixed frozen berries. Blended it all, threw it in the fridge, and found myself looking forward to waking up Sunday.

Then I resealed the bag and noticed the sticker on the back that lets you know 100g is 400 calories. And that two scoops is 100g. Even though I read the booklet. Even though I practically lived on the Huel site for the past week. Even though I watched countless Huel review videos. Even though I did all of that, it never registered that I put in 20g more of powder than I should have.

So yeah. Idiot.

Regardless, it was still hella tasty. I have the unfortunate ability to taste artificial sweetener. I don’t/can’t/won’t drink diet beverages, can’t do anything other than white or turbinado cane sugar in my coffee. Still, there was definitely an artifically-tasting substance here. But the fruit did its damnedest to hide it and helped it go down.

Last night I tared out my blender adding only 100g of powder and did the same on the almond milk and berries as the night before.

It pretty much tied me over until lunch today.

I’ll be trying the vanilla sometime this week.

Happy to add I have experienced no stomach or gas issues. Adding to that add I’ll mention I did take two Beano tablets before I started swiggin’. This weekend I might tempt fate and have a shake without them.

I think I’m off to a solid start. I’m sure I’ll know more and know better once I can speak on it for longer than 24 hours.

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