New to Huel / Going 100% Huel!

Experiences
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I’m brand new to Huel, and I’ve never experimented with any other meal replacement supplements before. I’ve decided to go all in and replace all meals with Huel, and I’ll be monitoring all sorts of vitals and labs (my little science experiment). I’ve committed myself to this routine for a month, then I’ll recheck my labs and stats to reassess if I will continue. I’m a clinical pharmacist, and a certified lifestyle/dietary modification counselor, so my lab interests lie in my passion for research. I was also a Marine Corps infantryman from 2001-2006, so I’m no stranger to hard training and exercise. I’ll be posting my experiences and results from my Huel diet, and hope someone finds it useful. I currently do heavy strength training 5-6 days per week, with 20-40 minutes of cardio mixed in to the workout. Based on my current size and goals to cut body fat, I’ve calculated that I’ll be taking in 2000 calories of Huel daily, along with another 360 calories of Isopure protein to increase my protein intake to suitable levels for my build. I go to the gym in the morning from 4:30-7:00 depending on the length of the workout I have planned. Here’s the my dietary plan for the next month:

Pre-workout (4:30 am): 51 grams Huel, & 1 cup black coffee
Intra-Workout (5:00-7:00 am): 10 grams of BCAA’s with 160mg caffeine
Post-Workout (7:30 am): 76 grams Huel, 30 grams Isopure protein (120 cal), & 2 cups black coffee
Meal 1 (11:00 am): 127 grams Huel, 10 grams Isopure protein (40 cal)
Meal 2 (3:00 pm): 127 grams Huel, 10 grams Isopure protein (40 cal)
Meal 3 (7:00 pm): 127 grams Huel, 10 grams Isopure protein (40 cal)
Meal 4 (9:30 pm): 30 grams Isopure protein (120 cal), 23 gram Trailhead Nutrition Fruit & Vegtable superfoods mix (has additional phytonutrients, probiotics, and digestive enzymes) (80 cal), and 10 grams of pure essential amino acids.

Macro totals (daily):
Calories: 2,440 kcal
Carbohydrates: 204 grams
Fat: 66 grams
Protein: 239 grams, with an additional 10gm of BCAAs, and 10gm of EAAs

My first impression of Huel this morning was that it was easy to drink and tasted about like oatmeal with a slight vanilla flavor, natural not artificial or sweetened. I like oatmeal so that’s a plus for me, I think it tastes pretty good. I mixed it in the proportions given in the guide that came with my first order, and used only a shaker bottle. No problems with clumping at all. I didn’t feel bloated or full at all, but I did have 2 smaller portions before and after a workout, the real test of satiety I suppose will be after I have the full 500 calorie serving later this morning.

For those who are interested in the details, here are my stats as of this morning:

36 yr old male, 5 ft. 9 in.
BP 127/72, Pulse 54
207.2 lb, 19% BF, BMR ~2036 kcal, Lean Body Mass 169lb
Total daily energy expenditure 2952 kcal, based on an activity modifier of 1.4
ICW 76.3, ECW 45.4, TBW 121.7, ECW/TBW ratio 0.373

A/G RATIO 1.6
ANION GAP 11 mmol/L
GLUCOSE 90 mg/dL
SODIUM 139 mmol/L
POTASSIUM 4.3 mmol/L
CHLORIDE 103 mmol/L
CARBON DIOXIDE 30 mmol/L
UREA NITROGEN 20 mg/dL
CREATININE 1.2 mg/dL
TOTAL PROTEIN 7.3 g/dL
ALBUMIN 4.4 g/dL
CALCIUM,TOTAL 9.1 mg/dL
BILIRUBIN,TOTAL 0.6 mg/dL
ALKALINE PHOS 64 IU/L
AST 42 IU/L
ALT 44 IU/L
eGFR 69
CHOLESTEROL 157 mg/dL
HDL CHOLESTEROL 45 mg/dL
CHOL/HDL RATIO 3.5
TSH 2.84 mIU/L
TRIGLYCERIDE 90 mg/dL
LDL (CALCULATED) 94 mg/dL
HEMOGLOBIN A1C 5.3

Lots of labs… I didn’t post the urine study, but everything was within normal limits there as well, specific gravity, pH, etc. All labs were within normal reference ranges, so we’ll see what effects this new diet has on them over time, I expect bloodwork should be similar at the next draw. I’ve calculated that I should be around 500 calories in deficit daily, with a goal of ~1 pound fat loss per week.

Enough with the ridiculously long post for now, I need to go mix up my next Huel and get fed! I’ll be updating basic stats a couple times a week along with dietary adjustments as needed, cheers!

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What was your order? I’m confused, do I get 3 pouches at a 4 week delivery subscription to replace all three meals for a month?

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I eat 3 full meals and 1 additional meal split before and after my workout in the morning, so at 4 meals per day, I use 8 bags to replace all 4 meals daily for a month. It would depend on how many calories you want at each meal, but if you stay with the listed serving size of 500 calories, there are 14 meals in each pouch, and you would need about 6 and 1/2 bags to have 3 meals a day for a month.

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I don’t think I could manage to eat that much or that often or keep to a schedule like you posted.

From what I know of those numbers you look like you’re in pretty good shape healthwise - do you have a goal weight or are you just going to train for a month and see where you are?

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I feel like I am in pretty good shape overall, I don’t focus much on weight, but rather body composition. My goal overall is to cut body fat and lean out. I read quite a few posts online where people were questioning if a diet consisting solely of Huel was safe/healthy/etc, so I thought I would actually run labs and record my progress with it. The labs are just to show whether or not switching from solid foods to Huel actually influences anything in that regard. As far as my eating frequency, I already typically eat 6 smaller meals per day, and my training schedule is the same as it was prior to starting the Huel, so from a daily schedule perspective nothing is changing. Eating Huel instead of solid food is actually saving me time during the day to be honest. As for quantity, this regimen is leaving me about 500 calories in deficit daily, so I’m pretty hungry when it comes time to eat again. The amount that I’m eating is calculated specifically for me, and would need to be adjusted for anyone else.

Today is my second day on Huel. As for yesterday, I can say that I never really felt full, and most of the day I didn’t feel hungry either. Later in the evening I was getting fairly hungry, and I ended up eating at 6:30 instead of 7:00. I really like the taste of the vanilla Huel, I don’t think I’ll be flavoring it with anything in the future. I didn’t feel groggy or lacking in energy throughout the day. My bowel habits haven’t changed either, so it hasn’t effected my gut adversely, at least not yet. The only change I noticed this morning was during my lifting session. I still felt energetic and my cardio was good, but when it came to strength training my muscles got to the point of failure quicker. I lifted the same amount of weight, but could not get as many reps in. I’m sure this is due to the caloric deficit I’m running, which is to be expected when trying to cut body fat or lose weight. Before I switched to Huel I also added 30 grams of dextrose to the BCAAs I drink during my workout, keeping my glucose levels up during the workout. I can definitely feel the difference without the additional glucose boost in my workout. In any case, I still got an excellent workout in, and feel really good this morning.

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Thanks! Looking forward to your posts.

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Nice. I’m a pharmacist as well. Finishing up here at work, in fact. Look forward to your progress. Your labs look immaculate. My latest A1c was 5.0 and I was rather surprised at how effective exercise is at lowering A1c.

I’m using Huel for my intake while at work, and solid food when at home. So roughly half my intake has been Huel for the last few days.

Holy ****, that is a ton of caffeine in your regimen. I would not be able to handle that. I can tolerate up to, like, 20 mg per day at the most. Most days, I do no caffeine.

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1Week Update:

I’ve been 100% Huel for a week now (as of Friday), and things are going pretty well over all. I feel energetic overall, which is surprising given the calorie deficit I’ve been in. I have had a few cravings for solid food, but they passed quickly. I still enjoy the Huel, and I’ve placed another order with some strawberry flavor to experiment with. I’ve dropped 2.2 pounds over the last week, and 1% body fat which I’m impressed with. My total body water has actually increased slightly, so I don’t feel the drop was related to water shifts. If I continue to lose weight this quickly I’ll probably increase my calorie intake, as I think 2 pounds per week is a bit too aggressive for me. My calculations were intended to put me at 1 pound per week fat loss, and I don’t want to compromise the lean mass that I have. If anybody is wondering, I’m taking my body composition analysis with an InBody 570 machine, so the method is direct segmental multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis.

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Hi BMcCune,

I just wanted to say thank you for such a thorough and clinical breakdown of your use of Huel. I like hearing the intangibles as much as anyone (how you feel, cravings, challenges, etc) but that married with such objective analysis gives a complete picture.

Sometimes our stats are lagging indicators so good on you for going a full month. That should be a sufficient sample size… thank you again!

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Two week update:

I’m 2 weeks in to my Huel only diet, and I really enjoy it so far. I actually really like the flavor of the regular vanilla Huel, but I’ve also gotten the strawberry flavor boost, and it’s pretty decent too. My energy levels have come around to be really good at this point, and I’ve noticed that I don’t get as fatigued lifting as I did the first week. I think my body just needed to adjust to the caloric deficit I’m running. Cravings for solid foods have pretty much tapered off for me, but I’m a creature of habit thanks to the military, so I may not notice as much as others will. Last week I actually broke a couple different plateau weights powerlifting, so that was very reassuring to me.

I’ve leaned out considerably, here are a few stats from the last two weeks:
Start -> 1 week -> 2 weeks
Weight: 207.2 -> 205.0 -> 202.6
Body Fat: 19.9 -> 18.9 -> 18.0
Total body water: 121.7 -> 121.7 -> 121.9
BMI: 31.0 -> 30.7 -> 30.4
ECW/TBW: 0.373 -> 0.373 -> 0.373

These measurements were all taken on an InBody analyzer, same time of day on Friday mornings, under the same conditions prior to workout (food, water intake, etc.)

Very positive progress so far, and I’m feeling really good!

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3 Week update:

Still feeling pretty good after my third week on Huel, it’s become a very easy routine for me as far as diets go, and I still enjoy it. My energy levels are very good, and I’ve ramped up my exercise routine a bit. I’m strength training 2 days on and 1 day off, with 30 minutes of cardio on lifting days and 1 hour of cardio on rest days. All rest days are active rest, so while I am doing 1 hour of cardio, my circuits are all low resistance with a goal heart rate between 130-140. My cardio routines are all 15 minute circuits between rowing, stationary bike, elliptical, climbing machine, stair-stepper, and the trusty old treadmill. I’ve continued to make significant progress in leaning out; I’ve gotten far more vascular and I can see the start of some abdominal definition finally. I still have plenty of belly fat I’d like to drop over the next month. I’m scheduling my next set of full labs to follow up on my initial post for late April, just after I’ve hit the 2 month mark of my Huel diet.

Stats update for the 3 week progress mark:
Start -> 1 week -> 2 weeks -> 3 weeks
Weight: 207.2 -> 205.0 -> 202.6 -> 200.8
Body Fat: 19.9 -> 18.9 -> 18.0 -> 14.8
Total body water: 121.7 -> 121.7 -> 121.9 -> 125.2
BMI: 31.0 -> 30.7 -> 30.4 -> 30.1
ECW/TBW: 0.373 -> 0.373 -> 0.373 -> 0.370

These measurements were all taken on an InBody analyzer, same time of day on Friday mornings, under the same conditions prior to workout (food, water intake, etc.) I had a significant increase in total body water this week, and I’m wondering if that affected my body fat reading being that I had such a significant decrease over the week…

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1 Month Update

I’ve completed a whole month on my Huel diet and things are going really well. I’m pretty adapted to just Huel now, and any food cravings I had have pretty much disappeared. I’ve noticed that I’m processing it efficiently, and I can feel when my body needs more calories. Right around 3.5-4 hours I start feeling tired, but after I eat again that’s gone pretty quickly. It may just be me, but I feel like I need to drink more water than I previously have to keep up with my diet, I seem to feel dehydrated faster than I did on solid foods. From a strength training perspective, I am still making steady progress, no apparent loss of muscle mass or strength from calorie restriction as of yet.

As I had suspected, the difference in total body water at my 3 week analysis had corrected by the next analysis at 1 month, and my body fat reading was a little more realistic. I have scheduled my 2 month follow up blood work for April 10th, and I’m really interested to see what changes this diet has made.

Stats update for the 1 month progress mark:
Start -> 1 week -> 2 weeks -> 3 weeks -> 4 weeks
Weight: 207.2 -> 205.0 -> 202.6 -> 200.8 -> 200.2
Body Fat: 19.9 -> 18.9 -> 18.0 -> 14.8 -> 16.9
Total body water: 121.7 -> 121.7 -> 121.9 -> 125.2 -> 121.9
BMI: 31.0 -> 30.7 -> 30.4 -> 30.1 -> 30.0
ECW/TBW: 0.373 -> 0.373 -> 0.373 -> 0.370 -> 0.375

These measurements were all taken on an InBody analyzer, same time of day on Friday mornings, under the same conditions prior to workout (food, water intake, etc.)

So, total 1 month weight loss of 7.0 pounds with a body fat decrease of 3.0%

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One thing I forgot to mention, I just received another order of Huel last Friday, and it seems like the new shipping setup they have is paying off. I ordered 8 bags on Tuesday, and it showed up via Fedex on Friday. Hopefully this 3-4 day turnaround is the new norm for shipping, it was certainly a pleasant surprise this week!

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5 Week update:

Busy morning so I’m just updating stats for the 5 week progress mark. Still making some good progress although not as dramatic change as the first few weeks.

Stats update for the 5 week progress mark:
Start -> 1 week -> 2 weeks -> 3 weeks -> 4 weeks -> 5 weeks
Weight: 207.2 -> 205.0 -> 202.6 -> 200.8 -> 200.2 -> 199.1
Body Fat: 19.9 -> 18.9 -> 18.0 -> 14.8 -> 16.9 -> 15.5
Total body water: 121.7 -> 121.7 -> 121.9 -> 125.2 -> 121.9 -> 123.5
BMI: 31.0 -> 30.7 -> 30.4 -> 30.1 -> 30.0 -> 29.8
ECW/TBW: 0.373 -> 0.373 -> 0.373 -> 0.370 -> 0.375 -> 0.373

These measurements were all taken on an InBody analyzer, same time of day on Friday mornings, under the same conditions prior to workout (food, water intake, etc.)

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This is awesome. Curious to this InBody thing, something someone can purchase online?

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You can purchase InBody analyzers online, but it’s not very realistic to own one. The retail price for the InBody 570 I’m using is around $10,000, and I’ve never seen the price on the 770 model that we have in the hospital. I did see someone selling a used 570 online for $6,700 a while back, not sure if it’s still there or not.

A lot of performance nutrition shops will have them available to use for their customers, and some gyms also have them on hand. You’re much better off finding a shop that has one and asking to use it, most of the nutrition shops are happy to help you out. Companies like Omron have much cheaper “consumer level” body fat analyzers, but I would be cautious about purchasing one. They’re much more affordable, but in testing we’ve shown that they’re not very accurate or consistent in their measurements.

What city do you live in? I might be able to find you a shop that has one.

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Oklahoma City. I looked online, although you can probably do a better search than I can, but the closest to me is Dallas. This might be okay, I mean I could feasibly get down there every three - six months or so. If you’ve got something closer than three hours away though, I’m all ears :smiley:

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I’ll take a look and see what I can find for ya!

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Alright, made it 6 weeks so far and everything is still going well. I’ve moved from an endurance routine in the gym to a powerlifting routine, and I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to hang like I used to with the calorie deficit I’m at, but I was definitely wrong. We had deadlifts yesterday and I was able to get 10 reps at 400 lbs, which I felt really good about. All of my lifting weights are moving up steadily, and the progress is really motivating. I’m still cutting weight and body fat at a reasonable pace, and I’m feeling really healthy. I’m really looking forward to seeing what my labs look like in a couple of weeks compared to when I started. My body fat reading was below 15% today, and I feel confident that it’s accurate this time. Ultimately my goal is to be below 10%, and I know that will take some serious work.

Stats update for the 6 week progress mark:
Start -> 1 week -> 2 weeks -> 3 weeks -> 4 weeks -> 5 weeks -> 6 weeks
Weight: 207.2 -> 205.0 -> 202.6 -> 200.8 -> 200.2 -> 199.1 -> 198.9
Body Fat: 19.9 -> 18.9 -> 18.0 -> 14.8 -> 16.9 -> 15.5 -> 14.9
Total body water: 121.7 -> 121.7 -> 121.9 -> 125.2 -> 121.9 -> 123.5 -> 124.1
BMI: 31.0 -> 30.7 -> 30.4 -> 30.1 -> 30.0 -> 29.8 -> 29.8
ECW/TBW: 0.373 -> 0.373 -> 0.373 -> 0.370 -> 0.375 -> 0.373 -> 0.372

These measurements were all taken on an InBody analyzer, same time of day on Friday mornings, under the same conditions prior to workout (food, water intake, etc.)

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Do you have instagram? I’m keen to follow your progress. I appreciate anyone who includes numbers with their fitness. I run a CF gym in Medford, Oregon.