lighterlife v's cambridge v's slimfast ?

[lisndai]

Hi all,
I hope this is in the right place if not feel free to move me .
I am also aware that extreme dieting may not be everyones cup of tea BUT......I stood on the scales today in Boots and could have stood there and just cried , im so annoyed with myself firstly for letting myself put 3 stone of the 5 i lost back on i had kept this off for nearly 4 years but also which in my opinion is by far worse , for being nearly 2 stone heavier today than i was 5 months ago , the day after i gave birth !!!

My question is , i simply cannot afford either the lighterlife or cambridge even though i know with willpower the results are great , So is it possible to do the same but using slimfast and how ? I just need a big boost and that buzz you get when you start losing and feeling better i do think these feelings really make you want to stick at it .

I am very overweight and feel like carp !! but the more i think about it the more i want to eat . Like i say i would love to do the above but in true MSE stlye we live on a very tight budget i just cannot justify that expense right now plus slimfast is so much cheaper .

I hope i havent waffled too long .

Lisa

[Stephb1986]

Hi Lisa my brother in law did slim fast while the rest of the family was on lighterlife, to be honest its been just over a year since we stopped being on lighterlife and we've all put the weight back on sadly :(

He lost a bit though on slim fast :)

HTH

Steph xx

[lisndai]

Hi Steph ok the burning question ...lol do you think you have put it all on because of eating the wrong foods or would it have gone back on even if you had stuck to a really strict healthy diet ?

Lisa

[Stephb1986]

Its a bit of both im eating naughty foods but in moderation once a week i buy myself a kit kat chunky and have curry or chinese as a treat. I exercise for a hour every day just bought a wii fit too so thats helping alot!

I'll be totally honest LL was the hardest diet i've ever been on!

Steph xx

[Krasnoludek]

Cambridge is much kinder than LL and half the price, I have been scrimping and saving selling my too big clothes on ebay. I figure that I will loose the weight in half the time as I would on WW so I wont be on it for that long hopefully. My friend is doing SF and has lost about a stone and a half over 3 months. She is a very big girl and has a lot to get rid of

K x

[whatatwit]

I have no experience of either Lighterlife or Cambridge, but if money is tight, then have a look at the thread on the Old Style board about weight loss. There are quite a few regular posters, who are trying to lose, but eat ordinary food.
They are trying to change their eating lifestyle.
Good Luck

[dawny_blue]

Hi Lisa

I successfully lost 3stone on the Cambridge diet and found it quite easy, you really don't feel the need to eat food after the first few days. The bars were gorgeous and the shakes I made with icy water and ice cubes whizzed up in a blender and it was like having lovely milkshakes.

It costs around £35 - £40 a week (unless you are over 5' 6" I think then it's a bit more) BUT as you aren't eating any other food at all just think of what you probably spend on takeaways and food shopping. LL is twice the price but helpful to people that have real food issues and need proper counselling

You can't do slim fast alone without that healthy 600kcal meal as you don't get enough nutrients etc from SF alone.

I have to say on Cambridge my migraines stopped and I had more energy than ever before. It is a battle for me keeping the weight off now but the daily compliments I get (and the money I've spent on fabulous new clothes) keep me focused on keeping it off.

Good luck whatever you do, but just remember once you've lost the weight that's just the start, keeping slim is a lifetime battle

Dawn x

[jackieb]

Don't do Lighterlife! I did it for 2 months when it was still £46 a week - I stopped when it went up by £19 a week. I lost over 3 stone in that time but ended up with gallstones. If anyone has ever had gallbladder attacks you'll know that they're more painful than childbirth. First time I had one I thought I was having a heart attack.

[G-G]

Agree with the gall stones, I had my gall bladder out in April after 2.5 yrs of suffering! :shocked:

You usually get them from crash dieting etc..

I am on a diet myself, so this is not judgemental at all.. but.. if you want to make sure you keep the weight off when you lose it then do something that doesn't make you hungry all the time and something you can stick to.

Light exercise, such as walking for 1/2 hr a day, or less if you would struggle with that, would be excellent and really would help you lose the extra pounds and get you feeling happier, fitter and more positive. ;)

I am doing this diet.. http://blogg.passagen.se/dahlqvistannika/?anchor=my_lowcarb_dietary_programe_in

We have a support thread on here for people doing Atkins, Dhalqvists and Idiot Proof diet.. basically anything low carb, high fat :)

Find us here if you decide it is something you might be interested in.. we are all very friendly.. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1011759

[Ted_Hutchinson]

I do think it is important to make the point that you do NOT have to spend money to lose weight.
You do NOT have to exercise to lose weight.
You do NOT have to buy special foods to lose weight.
I lost weight by following this eating plan. (http://blogg.passagen.se/dahlqvistannika/?anchor=my_lowcarb_dietary_programe_in)
It did NOT cost me any extra money.
By lowering my insulin levels this also lowered my leptin levels so I was not so hungry so I did not eat so much.
Because I was not craving food or drink I was able to stop drinking easily.
The savings I have made in not drinking so much red wine or beer more than compensates for the extra bacon in my cooked breakfast.
I've dropped from 14st9lbs to 11st3lbs over just over 20 weeks simply by cutting out those foods that raise insulin. Bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, sugar, high fructose corn syrup. This has also (temporarily) meant no wine & beer (well almost:rolleyes: ) All right maybe I could have done better if I had exercise more but for me that isn't an option and if you can lose weight at 2.25 lbs a week for 20 weeks consecutively whose complaining?
I really think you must be mad to contemplate spending loads of money to lose weight if you haven't already tried low carbing. It really is the natural way of eating. This is the food our bodies would have eaten 10,000yrs ago. This is the food we ate for 2million years before we invented farming. Fat, Protein and green veg, nuts,berrries were the only option., Sugar didn't become popular until 1750 less than 300 yrs ago. There have only been 333 generations of wheat eating humans compared to the 76667 generations humanoids have existed. The proportion is simply insignificant. It is ludicrous to suppose wheat is an essential part of our diet and absolutely absurd to suggest sugar is essential to our diet.

[skyrocket]

What about those Whey Protein shakes that body builders use? Are they not the same thing? :confused:

[Paul Varjak]

What about those Whey Protein shakes that body builders use? Are they not the same thing? :confused:

Interesting observation!

[Louisepp]

What about those Whey Protein shakes that body builders use? Are they not the same thing? :confused:

No. Not at all. LL, Lipotrim and Cambridge are nutritionally balanced so they a suitable as a total meal replacement as it has all the vitamins and minerals that you need in the day. Whey proteins don't.

There is nothing wrong with Slimfast, but it is a whole different programme to a VLCD (LL, lipotrim and Cambridge). With slimfast you have to have a meal of conventional food as there are not enough nutrients in the slimfast for it to be a total food replacement.

With Cambridge, LL and LT, you go into ketosis which suppresses hunger and protects the lean tissue. It's a fat burning process. You don't get that with slimfast....that's not what slimfast is all about.

I did Cambridge which is like lipotrim, but has a number of plans, most of which include conventional food, though I mainly just kept to SS (sole source...cambridge only) as the weightloss was quicker, and I was sick to the teeth of being overweight.:p

Just a case of working out what is right for you :)

[jackieb]

I forgot to add that my hair came out in clumps for weeks after i'd stopped doing LighterLife. I've never had that before - that was frightening. It did come back after a few months though.

[Staciep88]

Hi there! Ive done Lighterlife (very expensive - £66 p/week!!) and it was good - it was hard though. I lost 2 stone in 2 months which was great. But I then went on holiday and I put a stone on over that holiday - I came bak and lost that stone in a week! So I thought everything was great but I have put it all back on now + plus more. I dont recommend it tbh. I then tried the Cambridge diet which has the same idea as Lighterlife but but half the price! Again, I lost 10llbs in the first week but guess what - I've put it on again. I am now going to Weightwatchers and have joined a gym and have lost a stone in a month and it hasnt even felt like I've been dieting. Please- just eat sensibly and exercise. :)

[davetrousers]

Please- just eat sensibly and exercise. :)

This sums it up perfectly.

One thing from the Paul Mckenna book is, eat slower and be more conscious of what you are eating, ie take time to enjoy the flavours and texture of what you're eating.

[Louisepp]

Again, I lost 10llbs in the first week but guess what - I've put it on again.

With respect, as long as you follow the advice in the book, there is no reason to put it on again any more than other weightloss programmes.

Unfortunately people do judge the diet by how they did it, rather than by how they are advised to do it.

There are 6-8 weeks of plans to follow after SSing that restores the glycogen and metabolism. If you don't do that, then do the old lifestyle change, there is a good chance that the weight will pile on again.

Staciep88[/b] ]Please- just eat sensibly and exercise

Ah yes. Great advice. Unfortunately some people find that extremely difficult. When you are at your biggest, plagued with eating disorders, feeling very low about yourself, etc etc, the the eating sensibly and exercising is one of the hardest challenges in the world.

Rather like saying to a lifelong drug addict, just give up drugs. Don't bother with therapy, medication to get you through. Just quit. Some can do it, some would try for years and years and still be fighting the battle.

I do the healthy eating and exercise now. It's easy now. Try as I might, it felt impossible before I lost the weight.

[Plum Pie]

I currently work with a woman who lost 9 stone 2.5 years ago with the Cambridge diet. She started putting the weight back on last summer and has gained about 5 stone since then. Whatever you decide to do, you must, must learn some basic stuff about nutrition (from a nutritionist or other scientific/medical/health source, who is NOT trying to sell you a diet product!) AND work through whatever emotional stuff is making you over eat.

[Louisepp]

I totally agree Plum Pie!!

For me, the diet was to get the weight off, so that I could concentrate on trying again....but doing maintenance right this time The last few weeks of the Cambridge diet is a low GI diet, which though wasn't a way I particularly wanted to go, it's good for a lot of people

BUT...if you don't take the head stuff on board (regardless of what diet it is), then you will be forever in diet on/diet off mode. I think my head is in the right place now. I haven't followed any diet programme for 3 years....but it's only worked because of all the head stuff, reading, learning, applying what I've learnt etc.

Unfortunately, there is little support and help in this world for those people who reach goal. You end up being an orphan of the weightloss programme with most diets. So...when was the last time anyone went into a newsagent to get their copy of Maintainers World or Maintainer Watchers :D

It's no wonder so many people find maintenance so difficult.

The diet isn't the problem...it's what happens after.

[SuziQ]

Many GP surgeries and community clinics run weight loss clubs which are free,if you feel it's the camaraderie and support you need? Ask around as the one I used to help run was very popular and very successful-even once at goal weight people used to come back regulalrly to be weighed and keep on track and that's what many people need to keep the weight off afterwards.

Don't get so down that you throw all your will power to the winds and eat for endland-you have done it before so you know you can lose this and it's a much smaller amount to lose this time! It's hard after having a baby. After my third I was straight back in my favourite jeans 4 days after the birth-everyone was amazed. 6 months later I had put half a stone on,and the moment I am a stone heavier than when I had him 6 years ago,partly due to being on steroids for a while but still more down to me being greedy and being unable to excersis due to severe anaemia.
There's lots of support on here,keep your chin up-many people would wish to be only 3 stone overweight (glass half full moment!).