Today is the day!

Experiences
#1

My first order is due to arrive today. I’m excited to get started. I’m a female in my late 40s and in the throws of peri-menopause. I’m hoping the great nutrition will help with brain fog, fatigue, and weight loss. I don’t think I’ll have a problem with the taste because I’ve always found earthier natural tasting food to my liking.

The other issue I’m hoping this will help is gastrointestinal. Six years ago I was a very fit person who lifted regularly and ate like a body builder. Then an unexplained bowel obstruction occurred and I had to have a bowel resection. Then last year I had to have another surgery to release my intestines from the scar tissue created from the resection.

The stories I’ve read here about folks having success managing their intestinal issues are reassuring. This community has is really what made me decide to buy the product.

I’ll update soon.

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#2

Yes, please update. From what I’ve seen in the hospital setting, intestinal and other GI surgeries can be quite complicated for patients and really present a challenge for their diets. It may end up being a lengthy journey finding something that works for you. Crossing my fingers.

My wife and I are also in our 40s. We’ve found great success in intermittent fasting and eating plant-based meals. Both of us have lost the stubborn “mid-life-crisis weight” and feeling much healthier. She’s got the fatigue, but attributes that to the mixed connective tissue disease. (I am secretly hoping removing dairy from her diet will help with that. We’ll see.)

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#3

Best of luck Joni! Please do keep us updated with your progress.

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#4

Good luck! My intestinal issues are just IBS, but I feel like Huel has been very easy on my stomach. My bf had things much rougher at first, but he’s also used to eating lots and lots of grease. Hopefully you have the same luck I did and it works well for you!

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#5

Got it, tried it, loved it, having it right now! It’s only been a few days, and I’m usually not one to get excited too quickly, but I do love how I feel.

PS. The gastro issues I mentioned in the first post are very mild. Since the second surgery, I have issues only rarely and not daily like I had been. The obstruction was caused by a spot of damage on my bowel, and no one knows or will ever likely know what caused it; probably an infection of some sort. However after years of issues, while the drs told me everything is fine, and I should be able to eat anything, I still struggle with the emotional and psychological toll of not knowing what caused it and therefore whether something I do now will cause it to happen again. I’m lucky I don’t have a chronic GI disease, and I plan to focus on my gratitude for that.

Now, I want to overcome symptoms of peri-menopause. No one really tells you what it’s like. Or maybe I just couldn’t comprehend, but it seriously sucks in every aspect. I refuse to let it make me feel old, get fat, and act like a bitch. I think nutrition is a huge part of that. I searched and didn’t see a lot of posts related to this, so I’ll plan to post more about what I’m experiencing and whether or not things are improving.

Huel is my choice because it’s nutritionally complete, balanced, and convenient. I hate planning, grocery shopping, cooking.is.the.worst., and clean-up sucks. This makes Huel a no brainer for me. I don’t expect it to solve all of my problems… just almost all of them :smile:

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#6

Hope all goes well for you, I chose Huel for similar reasons. Love how it has all the vitamins in it.
Keep us updated as time goes on, i just started using Huel myself for 3 days now, and love it so far.

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#7

Haha. So yesterday was soup day. A huge pot of pumpkin soup with a bunch of stuff in it. The wife did most of the work but I helped a little and cleaned. Then today it was Jamaican style breakfast with callalou, breadfruit, dumplings, fried Boniato, and mango. I did the clean up for that. Then the trip to grocery store to get fruits, and it’s my job to wash, dry, and put away.

Now, I enjoyed the food. It’s great. But if I had to be honest, all this added up to about 6 hours total of effort between the two of us. We do enjoy cooking every once in a while on a lazy, relaxing weekend. But indeed, it’s a lot of time and effort. And every once in a while I catch myself thinking ,“if I just ate Huel this weekend, I’d get another 5 or 6 hours of free time.”

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#8

Cannot wait for you to get started. I have heard good things too in regards to support in intestinal health. One thing you’ll more than likely encounter is gas/bloating the first couple times. Just a heads up. Your body may need time to get use to the change in diet.

Congrats though!!

#9

Thanks @Cory_Ley! I am loving it so far, two smoothies today and two yesterday, and literally not one issue. I will say I’d already been cleaning up my diet and working out for about a month before my order arrived. I think I was getting a good amount of fiber for the majority of the month. I’m so very happy with the experience so far. Today my energy was OFF.THE.CHARTS!!

Thanks for the nice message. This forum, filled with encouragement and positive people, is my new happy place.

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#10

The foods sound amazing!

#11

Today I learned that 1 cup of frozen fruit with two scoops of Huel is too much fiber… :blush:
TBH I’m not sure I need the fruit (or the extra calories). I like the taste and texture enough without anything added. Still don’t really know what I’m going to do with the unsweetened though. Does anyone make shakes or smoothies with it alone?

#12

Hi Honihen,

I found your post because I have the same surgical problems as you- small bowel obstructions needing surgery from adhesions- I too decided to try Huel to help with this. My doctors told me to try a ‘liquid diet’ or ‘bowel rest’ if it helps, if food is causing problems. I’m waiting for my first order.

Mine seems to some and go, sometimes it flares up and I get more pain. especially after eating. i am also perimenopausal. Anyway glad to hear Huel seemed Ok with you.

My doctors had prescribed my Ensure drinks in the past before a surgery it was not very pleasant and very sweet. I don’t think they prescribe these drinks anymore in the UK on the NHS so this is another option for me.

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#13

I make my wife’s Huel with coffee, cinnamon, and ginger and I think the cinnamon and/or ginger help with the perimenopause symptoms. I think the coffee is just because coffee is awesome :slight_smile:

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#14

Hi Orangeblossom,

It’s nice to connect with someone who’s shared the experience. I hope you find Huel helpful. I have enjoyed it, and when I consume it regularly, it does seem like my body appreciates it. I have been very inconsistent with my Huel use, and have a variety of symptoms that have either gone away, or appeared since I started incorporating it into my diet.

For the first month or so, I used it 2x daily. I noticed that my hot flashes and night sweats disappeared. After the first 30ish days, I started getting lazy with Huel and really only used it at lunchtime. I was attempting intermittent fasting, so it was and still is my first meal of the day on weekdays. But I found I had little appetite for the 2nd shake, and was really in want of typical food to chew and taste. If I did both shakes, the lack of appetite would prevent me from putting any effort into making an evening meal within the 8 hour fasting period. If I did one shake, by the time I got home from work (I work late and have an hour commute), I would eat everything in sight. So I have some work to do to figure out how best to incorporate Huel into my day.

Three years ago, I had an IUD inserted to control heavy bleeding associated with peri-menopause. It worked quite well up to just this past September when we decided to remove it because it didn’t seem to be doing it’s job. Since the removal, I have had a return to painful, urgent, and truly inconvenient bowel issues. At times it’s almost as bad as the year before my original resection. I have a very good gastroenterologist who tells me that my intestinal issues are not related to anything hormonal; one has nothing to do with the other. If he’s right, then it’s just coincidental that the more severe gastro symptoms re-appeared when the IUD was removed.

I will say this, I have a very angry tummy. I have yet to determine the rhyme or reason it is angry. I have to come to terms with simply not knowing, and just do the things that make the most sense and keep it the most happy. Huel is one of those things. I think stress may be a factor, and I’m coming to the realization that I need to incorporate regular trips to the gym for intense workouts to help relieve the physical symptoms of normal everyday stress.

As much as I would have like to have said that Huel relieved the symptoms of peri-menopause, I am unsure. It’s possible, but also possible that it was some other hormonal swing.

I’m anxious to hear how Huel works for you and if you notice improvements. Keep us updated. This is a nice site and the people here are great! Welcome !

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#15

Hi Miked,

I just added cinnamon to vanilla Huel yesterday and I thought it a nice addition. I’ve read that cinnamon, turmeric, and ginger can be beneficial for peri-menopause. And I agree, coffee is awesome. If only I could get my husband to make it for me… :thinking: :grin:

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#16

Hi thank you for replying. I too am just getting used to how to use the Huel on a daily basis. So far it seems to be helping my tummy a bit I think.

I wanted to mention something, about the adhesions and periods etc, cramps…well the doctors told me the adhesions can cause pain and cramping during periods due to physically constricting the organs so if you get period cramps that can affect the bowel again due to it all sticking together. I get this I think. In case it helps any with your ideas about the cycle and problems.

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#17

Well, this is patently incorrect. It is quite well known that progesterone slows down bowel motility, causing constipation. Now, I know it was an IUD and it theoretically should only act locally in the reproductive organs but there is some suggestion that the progestin in Mirena (and others) does enter the bloodstream. It is mind blowing that your gastroenterologist isn’t aware of the effects of sex hormones on the GI tract.

Anecdotally, I’ve had Mirena twice and both times constipation was/is an ongoing issue.

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