Hello!
I’m torn on this stuff for weight loss. I’m over weight but have started back at the gym and also ordered Huel. My concern is the amount of carbs in each serving, it seems very high. High to the point someone couldn’t lose weight if they consume Huel. I understand you can calorie count but the carb load is so high I don’t see how its possible. Has anyone had success, how did you do it? How did you deal with the carbs?
Many people have successfully lost weight on Huel. Just track your calories and you’ll lose weight. Plus, you’ll need those carbs when you hit the gym right.
You will lose weight if you burn more calories than you consume. The carb content is not what you should look at for weight loss (unless you’re doing the keto diet, which in that case you should do a lot of research first and talk to your doctor. I would recommend just counting calories unless your doctor says otherwise). Your macros (ratio of carbs/protein/fat) are important when you’re worried about muscle gain, satiety, and energy levels. If your only goal is to diet without trying to build muscle, worrying about them will just make things more complicated than they have to be. Like the other user said, the carbs are necessary for your energy levels. If you’re exercising, you need them to get through a work out. If you’re not exercising, you’ll still benefit by feeling less drained from dieting.
The huel site has information about the macros here: https://huel.com/pages/nutritional-information-and-ingredients#formula
Good luck!
Also, not all carbs are equal. A medium cucumber is around 10g carbs in it. Those carbs are not the same as 10g of carbs from a donut. Huel carbs are the ones you need.
I’ll offer this and apologize if it’s TMI but… I noticed when I left the gym before Huel, I smelled super “ammonia-y”. Almost as if I’d spilled ammonia, the cleaning stuff, all over me. It was seriously gross. I did some research and found that if one is eating too much protein this can happen, basically my body was burning excess protein and not carbs. I also noticed that while I was losing weight, it wasn’t necessarily coming off in large amounts like I was used to.
You need the [good] carbs in Huel to fuel your workouts so that you’re burning the right stuff.
Like everyone else said, weight loss is math - burn more than you eat and you’re good to go. Just make sure you’re fueling up the right way before your trip to the gym - or wherever.
It could also be you haven’t drinken enough water. At some point you sweat so much it smells like ammonia, either that, or there is bacteria in your work out clothing that when you sweat, emits that smell.
If that’s the case boil the clothing and it’ll fix it!
So fasting and low carb? Huel doesn’t off this in the way of low carbs
I like Huel I use it. But not full “meals” and not multiple times a day. When I do use it I use a single scoop, soy or almond or cashew milk, low sugar juice and fiber and make a shake out of it. Right now until I get close to goal weight I’m going low carb/keto. IF has changed my life. I fast 18/6 min five days a week and two day a week fast all day.
that happens to me, too, when i’m working out long and hard. i’m the only one who can smell it but i can smell it really strong.
ammonia smell does come from the anaerobic breakdown of protein, so when the energy you’re expending is greater than your glycogen stores (from carbs) and you exceed your aerobic capacity, that’s when you break down your muscles for protein for energy.
i am a type 1 diabetic and i’ve read a lot of the other diabetics posts and they seem to have increased glucose sensitivity from huel, meaning that they need less of their medicine for diabetes. i usually dose my insulin based on the carb count. so i think even though there are a lot of carbs, most of those are from fiber (which don’t count towards the insulin dose) or from complex carbs, which don’t cause the insulin surge that simple carbs and sugars do—thus, the low glycemic index. insulin is responsible for the storage of energy as fat (not necessarily a bad thing) and too much insulin floating around from eating high GI foods causes insulin resistance as well as increased fat storage.
tl;dr
as in most things, balance is good.
i can’t wait to try it!
Don’t think that’s true- 47 grams of carbs and only 9 grams of fiber. It’s carb loaded and not a good source of nutrition for weight loss.
I have never been a fan or low carb diets or high protein diets but I do see the benefits for people who want to shed pounds without the exercise. My main rule is to stay away from processed carbs period (Huel does not have processed carbs)
If you are hitting the Gym as you suggest focus on limiting your total caloric intake during the day and make sure those total calories are healthy calories, for example focus on eating foods rich in protein and fiber not to exceed XXXX calories a day, high fiber foods have carbs (good carbs) so do not freak out about the carb content in Huel as they are good carbs.
For now forget about carb content and focus on low caloric/quality meals, if you later decide to cut and go for that summer body then that is a whole new game but for what you are trying to do Huel will help you big time.