meal replacements

meal replacements are useful to me for a few reasons :

• saving time : they reduce time spent grocery shopping , cooking , dish cleaning , and eating . i can easily drink a shake while i do something else , like taking a walk or making art at my desk ! it's not that i don't value good food , it's that good food comes with an opportunity cost , and i often value other activities more
• saving energy : when i'm sick , or have little energy for some other reason , it's nice to have food that's easily prepared and cheaper than prepackaged meals or take-out
• sensory friendly : when my tolerance for sensory stimulation is reduced , highly flavorful or unpredictable food can be uncomfortable to eat . meal replacements are generally very bland and predictable , while remaining more nutritious than something like plain rice
• calorie fulfillment : for a long time , i've struggled to eat enough calories per day . being able to make a shake or two to fill in the gaps has helped significantly

i'll be sharing my thoughts on Huel products below , which is the meal replacement brand i've spent the most time eating . i'm not sponsored by Huel in any way , they just appear to have the highest quality nutrition for a vegan meal replacement . i also like that they partnered with Tony's Open Chain , an initiative for eliminating exploitation in cocoa farming .

huel shakes

below i've rated every shake flavor i've tried on a scale of 1 to 10 . i'm currently using the chocolate flavor because it comes in the Essential variant , which is the cheapest type of powder they sell .

i've noticed that the powder tends to be much coarser for certain flavors , which is unpleasant to me . Vanilla was very grainy , while strawberry was quite smooth .

huel hot & savory

the Hot & Savory Meal Packs are much less economical , and they take longer to prepare . however , they are generally pretty tasty , so i still like to get them sometimes !

i usually mix habanero powder into my food , which probably augments how i experience the flavor somewhat .