Huel – New Hot & Savoury Launch

I thought I would create an extra post between my regular diet updates, as this week saw the launch of Huel’s new Hot and Savoury meals.

~DISClAIMER: As stated before, I am not affiliated with Huel in anyway and I have not received any incentives to write this article. This is all my own honest opinion on Huel and how I have been experiencing it. All products I discuss have been purchased by myself.

So what is it? As stated by Huel, “Hot & Savoury is a nutritionally complete vegan meal packed with rice, quinoa, vegetables, herbs and spices.”

A secret launch event took place in London on the September, 5th which I unfortunately couldn’t attend due to a prior engagement. However, I did register interest for the chance to order the new product a week before the official public launch on September, 15th.

So today, I received my first bags of Thai Green Curry and Tomato and Herb flavours. Like ordering powder for the first time, the order included a free heat proof pot and measuring scoops. As delivery came at 4:00pm, I had to wait until my next shake was due before sampling. 

But then 5:30pm came and I tore open the Thai Green Curry pack. I was instantly hit with the aroma, the smell was so good. Reading the packaging, there are two methods you can use to prepare the meal. One uses boiled water, the other cold water and then microwaving the mix.

Image from uk.huel.com

I’m not a fan of microwaves, so I opted for the kettle. With the water heating up, I measured out the recommended two level scoops and placed them in the pot. Once the water was ready, I poured this in up to the guideline on the inside. I screwed on the lid, and left for five minutes. 

After five minutes, I took my first spoonful and the taste was amazing. I’ve never had quinoa before, so I was not familiar with the taste or texture before today. The ingredients in the Huel provided so many different flavour experiences that each mouthful had me discovering something new. The texture was good, I used just enough water to keep it firm with a little soup mixture left over at the end. You can easily adjust the amount of water to suit your preferred texture. More water for a soupy experience, less for something with a little more crunch. 

There was a pleasant amount of heat from the spices to leave a warm glow for some time after finishing the pot. In all honesty, it was really hard not to make another serving. I’m still restricting calories until I hit my weight goal, so I had to resist the urge to tear open the Tomato and Herb to give that a try. I’ll swap out tomorrow’s lunch shake for this.

So what’s the cost breakdown? Ordering the new Hot & Savoury requires a minimum three bag order (21 meals). Like the powder, you can make a one time purchase or set up a subscription which automatically gives you a 10% discount. Shhhh, you can setup a subscription to get the 10%, then cancel without issue.  In the UK, a one-time purchase will come in at £54.99 (£2.62 per meal), with the subscription cost coming in at £49.50 (£2.36 per meal). If you’ve never used Huel before, you can use my referral link to give you an additional £10 off your first order.

As of now, the new Hot and Savoury will become part of my regular meal plan and is going to be a welcome addition during the coming winter months. 

If you would like more information, you can visit the Huel website and sign up for updates. This link was operational at the time of writing and might change once the launch date arrives.

 

Huel – Time to Get Healthy

~DISClAIMER: I am not affiliated with Huel in anyway and I have not received any incentive to write this article. This is all my own honest opinion on Huel and how I have been experiencing it.

I’m sure most of you will have heard of this before, but for those that haven’t, Huel is a meal replacement powder made of oats, rice protein, pea protein and other ingrediants. I became interested in the product when it started appearing in my YouTube feed after hitting on some random recommendations. Some YouTubers are using it to supplement meals when they are on the go or at work, whereas others are using it to fully replace all of their diet.

A little about me

I am not a healthy person. I’ve never been able to eat breakfast and I usually only eat one meal a day…in the evening…before bed. I know this is bad for me, but that’s the routine I was stuck in due to work demands and other factors.

I’m overweight, I don’t exercise and I eat all the wrong things. I calculated the amount I spent on takeaways one month and almost cried, it was a lot of money going out. I’m a chocoholic and crave sweet things all the time. So any snacks I do buy, are usually the wrong things.

I’ve been wanting to improve my health for some time now. My wife is on a ketogenic diet, but that is too much hard work for me. The meal preparation alone puts me off of that, and I don’t think my heart could take all those fats (she will kill me for typing that).

So, I was interested in Huel. I was seeing positive results from YouTubers (could be confirmation bias on my part) and when I compared the costs of my takeaways to Huel, it seemed like a good switch. So at the beginning of March this year, I took the plunge and ordered my first two bags of Huel. I ordered on Saturday and it arrived Sunday. Great first impression. The packaging is akin to receiving an Apple product. It arrived in a branded box, with my plain white bags of powder (coffee and chocolate flavours), shaker, scoop and free T-shirt.

My plan was to start my new diet on the Monday, beginning with two Huel drinks a day, with a regular meal in the evening. To prepare, I tried a shake on the day of arrival so that I knew what I was in for. I ripped open the bag of coffee powder, and immediately noticed how great the smell was. I mixed up my first shake and gave it a try. It wasn’t that bad at all. The taste is hard to describe, some say it tastes of oats whereas others struggle with it. I actually liked it. I’ve used SlimFast in the past with good results, so I can handle powered meal shakes.

If I had to describe the taste, I would also say it was oaty with a strange plant like aftertaste, mixed with whatever flavour you are having. I like it, I find it quite addicting which is odd. About 20 minutes after drinking it, I did feel flushed and warm and my stomach did become bloated. After chugging my first one, I did read later that the best way is to drink the shake slowly over a period of time. Well done for me on reading that first. But the feeling soon past, and I felt positive about starting the new diet.

So, that night, I mixed up my first breakfast shake ready for Monday morning. My usual way of mixing Huel has been 400ml of water and two scoops, shake and leave over night in the fridge. The next morning, add an additional 100ml and shake again before drinking. This has been working great, credit to Andrew Cromarty for that tip.

On Monday morning, I rejected my usually cup of coffee and went straight to the fridge for my Huel shake. I started working (I’m mainly based at home) and drank the shake over about 30 mins. No hot flushes this time, but a little bloat. I continued with water throughout the day and then at lunch time, I made my second shake and took it slow over 30-minutes to drink, and then continued with water.

At no point during the day did I get any hunger pangs or cravings, but I did find my mouth would get dry very quickly, so drinking the amount of water that I had probably helped with this. I was good until evening meal time and had something light to eat.

Since then, I have been on Huel daily with a regular evening meal. It’s early days, but I have noticed some benefits already. I feel a lot more mentally focused during the day now. My work has me in front of a laptop all day, and I usually end work with a headache or other mental fog. But lately, I’ve not had that. I feel more energised and willing to work out (kettlebells are being abused now and the odd sit-up session comes on unexpectedly), which is probably due to having some form of meal now in the morning and during the day.

So, with these early, positive results, I have decided to switch all meals over to Huel. Starting on March 9th (second week of diet), I will be having nothing but Huel shakes. I’ll continue posting updates on this blog with weekly weight records and how I have been coping with the switch.

Blatant self-promotion incoming: If you are interested in trying Huel, you can use this link to get £10 off your first order. This will also give me £10 off my next order for referring.

I am not an avid YouTuber, so if you want to see how others are doing on Huel, there are plenty of good videos to see. I’ve added two YouTubers below whose videos inspired me to take the plunge.

Andrew Cromarty – 30 Day Results

 

Little Tipple– A Normal Person’s Review