A buddy and I had a beer and were curious what it'd be like to live off Huel for a week. We set ourselves these goals:

1. Only eat Huel
2. Don't drink any alcohol

We were curious on the impact on

• Weight
• Exercise ability
• Poop quality
• Sleep quality
• Energy levels
• Anything else?

Why is this interesting?

1. My macros are imperfect, partly as I'm vegetarian - many meals are pretty carb heavy (pasta, pizza, etc). Huel claims to have optimal macros. So with Huel I should
   • Hit protein targets much more frequently.
   • Get healthy fats (most of the fat I eat is from cooking oils, a peanut butter addiction, cheese, etc)
2. My baseline food is reasonably healthy, but not amazing. I eat out rather a lot (2x lunches, 2-3x dinners a week), which tends to be pretty unhealthy - rich, salty. My default lunch at home is baked beans on toast - OK, but not amazing. My dinners at home are often carb rich (e.g. pasta + vegetables).
3. Huel also has lots of micros that I might be somewhat low on (e.g. omega 3's, prevalent in fish, less so in veggie food).

Instant Failure

I failed on 'only eat Huel' on day 1 as my amazing wife brought back some delicious rosette from Italy, so I changed the rules to 'have 2 Huel meals a day'.

Not my rosette, which was mushroom. Image from Tina's Table. Rosette are amazing, go make them.

I failed on don't drink alcohol on days 4 and 6 because my social life has a worrying focus on going to pubs.

Eventual Methods

I mostly went for Huel Black. I tend to buy this as it has more protein. Given my relatively low protein veggie diet, I think makes sense to compensate.

I had 4 store bought 'ready to drink', which is the default one without extra protein, when I didn't want to carry 2 extra portions to work.

I had at least 1,000 calories from Huel each day, and often more - e.g. on the first day I had 1,800 calories per day.

I started 05/09/2024 and ended 11/09/2024.

Results

Weight

I gained weight, 68.4 -> 70.8kg. I was surprised by this, I expected to lose it. Hard to say if it's fat or muscle. My weight fluctuates a lot, so I'm not reading much into this. I did feel full more, so it's possible I was just consuming more calories.

Exercise ability

I felt stronger - I squatted heavier than I have for the last 6 months, and had some of my fastest casual runs over the last 6 months.

Annoying 'mins per kilometre with fractional minutes'. e.g. 5:20 min / km = 5.33 (20s/60s = 0.33). Plotly doesn't handle min/km well.

There are only 4 data points there, so the boxplot is a tad grandiose. 2 runs were bog standard. But my 2 fastest runs in the last 3 months were during that week.

They weren't shorter than usual runs too, so I wasn't just doing short sprints.

I suspect this is a very strong placebo effect, but if it works I don't care. There could be other confounds in here too - e.g. sleeping well the night before, having a couple of easy runs in there.

Poop Quality

Trigger warning: shit talk

• I had 2x one wipe wonders. These are very rare for me.
• They seemed darker than usual. Weird.
• No noticeable change to frequency, though I didn't track it.

Sleep quality

I felt like I was sleeping a bit worse the week of the challenge, but similarly the week or two before, so I don't think it was causal. The distribution looks pretty similar.

Sleep Score according to Garmin: A number taking into account duration, stress, and phases of sleep.

The awful nights at the bottom are caused by drinking alcohol that night. This always shows up very strongly on Garmin.

Energy Levels

I regret not tracking this better with some kind of check-in score, but I think I felt pretty good most of the week. Not sure really any better/worse than usual though.

According to Garmin, my 'Body Battery' was within range, but possibly worse than usual.

Body Battery according to Garmin: energy levels estimate, measured using HRV, stress, sleep quality and activity. This is the highest it ever hit for a day in/out of the challenge.

As above, but lowest for a day.

This could be impacted by running further/faster too, as it does take activity into account.

Anything else?

Mental acuity

I felt reasonably sharp this week, but I'm not sure much change from usual.

Stomach feeling

My stomach often felt heavy, in a not-awful but not-pleasant way. Not quite like a big meal, more like there was something sitting in it. I think I'm not used to that much protein.

Convenience

Not thinking about breakfast / lunch was pretty good. I may have run further than usual at lunch as I knew I could just drink Huel at my desk and not miss more work.

Cost

If at the office I'll spend £8-12 on lunch 2x / week. ~2 Huel portions would be equivalent, which is ~£3.34.

If at home: Lunch example: Beans on toast might cost £0.40 beans, £0.38 bagel, £0.35 cheese, then a £0.16 banana = £1.29 Breakfast example: Greek yoghurt £0.44, strawberries: £0.62 = £1.06

So Huel is a bit more expensive. I'm a bit surprised by this.

Summary

• I felt stronger, which is likely placebo, but even if it is - still a win! 2 fast runs, 2 strong weights sessions felt great.
• Poops improved.
• Evening meals are a social opportunity with friends and family, and usually the most delicious meal of the day. Very hard to skip, and even if physically healthier they're a joy I don't want to miss out on. Breakfast and lunch I generally care less about, though work lunches are social (and often delicious) too.

Overall, I think I'll stick to trying to increase my Huel intake - aiming for the majority of breakfasts and lunches.