View Full Version : Has anyone tried lighter life or the cambridge diet?
I want to join one of these diets. I went to see a lighter life counsellor but a group won't be starting for three weeks. I wanted to start asap.
Someone told me the cambridge diet is exactly the same but cheaper and the food packs aren't as nice as lighter life.
I just want people experiences and if you have done both which one you prefered and why?
Thanks in advance.
My friend did LighterLife. She lost 9 stone but at a big price. Her metabolism is completely messed up and she has loads of problems because of it.
LL/ CD seem very attractive as you lose the weight quickly but they put your body into starvation mode to do it, which is neither healthy or sustainable once you've lost the weight. Many people who've done them put the weight straight back on.
Have you considered Slimming World? The results aren't as fast, but you are eating proper food, and learning how to prepare decent healthy meals without going hungry. Much more likely to maintain yor new weight that way.
My friend did LighterLife. She lost 9 stone but at a big price. Her metabolism is completely messed up and she has loads of problems because of it.
LL/ CD seem very attractive as you lose the weight quickly but they put your body into starvation mode to do it, which is neither healthy or sustainable once you've lost the weight. Many people who've done them put the weight straight back on.
Have you considered Slimming World? The results aren't as fast, but you are eating proper food, and learning how to prepare decent healthy meals without going hungry. Much more likely to maintain yor new weight that way.
Is slimming world like weight watchers?
Lilith1980
25-06-2009, 9:54 AM
I agree with Sare, you've got to be careful with these sorts of diets.
Once your body goes into starvation mode your metabolism slows right down as you aren't getting the appropriate amount of nutrients.
As soon as you start eating "normally" again you will put the weight back on, plus a bit extra because your body will think "thank god, I've got some food" and hold onto it in case the food supply is cut off again. This has happened to me and I put on 2 stone extra! It's come off now but this has been through healthy eating and regular exercise.
I see the appeal of these quick fix diets but much better for your body to eat healthily and exercise regularly.
I thought with the food packs they include all the nutrients your body needs
Lilith1980
25-06-2009, 10:00 AM
I wouldnt like to say, I've not done either of these diets. Maybe they contain the basics. But a diet where your weight drops so quickly doesn't sound good for your body to be honest. If you do it gradually you probably have more chance of keeping the weight off in the long term.
Saint_Chris
25-06-2009, 10:00 AM
Cambridge is half the price of lighterlife plus, with cambridge you get a one to one with a councellor
take a read here.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1698997
and here is good to
http://www.minimins.com/cambridge-diet-forum/
it's worked for me,
cyclingyorkie
25-06-2009, 10:05 AM
I want to join one of these diets. I went to see a lighter life counsellor but a group won't be starting for three weeks. I wanted to start asap.
Someone told me the cambridge diet is exactly the same but cheaper and the food packs aren't as nice as lighter life.
I just want people experiences and if you have done both which one you prefered and why?
Thanks in advance.
I caught a very good programme on the BBC iplayer about the risks involved with so called fad diets - done by a former Holloaks actress who had lost 10 stone the hard way - ie diet and exercise!
They talked to a woman who had done this sort of thing (they didn't name names) who ended up with hospital admissions in agony with gallstones and eventually had to have her gallbladder removed!:eek:
They talked to a health professional who was not surprised at what had happened!
Not trying to frighten you...just reporting what i saw...
ema_o
25-06-2009, 10:42 AM
Slimming world is not quite like weightwatchers - there are meetings and weigh ins which is similar, but rather than counting points there is a list of food you can eat unlimited amounts of and some things that you have to limit yourself to as treats
I have a good friend who had never managed to lose weight before who is doing slimming world and the weight has dropped off her, she has found it really easy to follow
I don't have faith in quick fix diets like LL, I think the number of calories you have is very small and therefore your body goes into starvation as mentioned above. I think slimming world would take longer but you would have a better chance of keeping the weight off xx
nervousftb
25-06-2009, 11:53 AM
i have never tried either of these, but there was an article in this week's mail on sunday about lighter life:
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/health/article-1186869/Its-based-Third-World-rations-called-organised-starvation-So-safe-LighterLife-diet.html
not saying i agree with everything they wrote, but interesting nonetheless!
oliviasmummy
25-06-2009, 2:29 PM
the packs on lighterlife do contain 100% plus the nutrients your body needs in fact your body would probably be getting more nurtients on the diet than eating regularly now.
it is true that alot of people put the weight back on and its not advised as a quik fix but if you take on board the councelling and change your lifestyle alot of people have kept the weight off myself included.
if you believe you ahve the will power to abstaeinf ro the 100days then i would reccomend it worth every penny in my eyes and the councelling was the main attraction to me as i needed that support along with the food packs.
fuzzylu
25-06-2009, 4:54 PM
i have done the cambridge diet 2 years ago and lost 4 stone, i am currently back on it again i did put some weight back on but only some of it.
i did end up with gall stones and had to have a lap chole (gall bladder removed)
however there are many causes of gall stones and one is a high fat diet, which anyone who is over weight has had at some point. also putting weight on or losing weight quickly can cause gall stones. so yes the losing weight quickly could have caused them but so could the being fat in the first place.
i have found the cambridge diet the best one for me as i have a real problem with food and this takes away the problem untill you lose the weight then gradualy introduces it back, with the aim to re educate your relationship with food.
however after finishing the diet the first time i went back to eating how i did before the diet, hence you i put some back on, if i had then maintained the loss by eating a balanced diet i wouldnt have had a problem.
XxX
Thanks for all your replies. i've decided to do the cambridge diet. I brought my week supply today and I'm going to start on money.
My friend starts the lighter life diet on tuesday. So where gonna to go through it together and she's going to share the information she gets from her weekly meetings with me.
jackomdj
27-06-2009, 7:51 PM
Good luck India. I am a Cambridge Diet Councellor.
Regarding starvation mode, your body does not do this as it is receiving all the vitamins, minerals & nutrients it needs every day - which as a previous poster said you do not usually get even with a fairly good balanced daily intake. Your body goes into a mild form of ketosis so it has used up it's short term energy store of glycogen & had started to use its longer term energy store, ie your fat.
I always say to customers that if you go back to eating what you used to eat in the quantities you used to eat them you will put weight back on - for the same reason as it went on in the first place. If however you use you sole source (where you are just on Cambridge products) time to think about what you eat & why you eat it (ie for me I used to habbit eat as I walked through the door from work & late at night when OH was snacking) & change that when you go back to conventional food. Also it is so important to work back through the plans, introducing the correct food in the correct quantities until you are back to eating the correct volume & mix of foods.
I am sure you will have been told this by your Cambridge Counsellor but I am writing it in part to help you & partly to counter some of the negative comments above.
Also a lot of my customers are health care professionals, I have had Doctors, nurses & health visitors diet with me...if it was that bad I would not be seeing all these people. Additionally Cambridge work alongside health professionals assisting people to diet prior to operations etc.
HTH
Nicky - Cambridge Diet Counsellor
lynzpower
27-06-2009, 8:00 PM
the packs on lighterlife do contain 100% plus the nutrients your body needs in fact your body would probably be getting more nurtients on the diet than eating regularly now.
it is true that alot of people put the weight back on and its not advised as a quik fix but if you take on board the councelling and change your lifestyle alot of people have kept the weight off myself included.
if you believe you ahve the will power to abstaeinf ro the 100days then i would reccomend it worth every penny in my eyes and the councelling was the main attraction to me as i needed that support along with the food packs.
Completely agree. I lost 3 stone on cambridge and never felt or looked better, there was no question that I was "unhealthy" my skin was brighter, teeth whiter , hair silkier, I really did look the biz! :T UNfortunatley due to other events in my lie at the time I didnt maintain well and started eating high levels of carbohydrate again. I have put the weight on, but that is a stone and a half in 2 years and I have eaten a lot of chocolate in that time. ;)
I am a firm believer in low carbohydrate diets, and those I know who follow thme ( even those as half-hearted as me!) know that the relationship between your blood sugar and carb intake is the reason for a lot of overeating/ eating more carbs. Even if you use Cambridge for a few weeks as an introduction to a low carb lifestyle this also works well ( this is what Im going to try this time, maintain over a longer period though) You wll see this for yourself within days of doing CD, how little your body actually needs. You do not STARVE your body, this is a myth.
It helps that I went down from a 14 to an 8-10 which is really my natural size ( tiny feet, quite short!) . Im now a 12 and want to deal with this now, before the weight makes me more tired and low. I need 100% energy for my job and I know the CD will do it for me and give me the help i need to get there.
I have als phoned a new CD lady, and I hope to see her in the next few weeks. Theres a long running thread on the beauty forum here of CD ers.
grey_lady
28-06-2009, 12:45 AM
Isnt the long term success rate of both cambridge diet and lighter life (and WW and SW) e.g people who lose weight and maintain that loss long-term around 2-5%? that means that 95-98% of people regain... bearing in mind the cost it doesnt seem very MSE :-)
I had a friend that did lighter life and although she lost the weight she looked absoloutely dreadful. She was tired, had no energy and just felt awful. She lost all her vibrancy and lust for life. I agree with all the other posters who say the only healthy real way to losing weight is the hard way sadly. Quick fix's are just that, usually temporary and in my opinion unhealthy. They may have all the vitamins and minerals etc thast are bodies need but we all know that the best way to have these is through fresh fruit and vegetables and not through chemical replacxements.
grey_lady
28-06-2009, 1:10 AM
Actually on Martin's blog a while back there was a post about him losing weight - from what I can remember he just changed a couple of habits, e.g going for the skinny cappuchino instead of fullfat and a few other similar things and gradually lost a stone or two.
poppyolivia
28-06-2009, 7:13 AM
I know 3 people on the LL diet, they are doing great and you do get all the nutrients from the food they give you.
sarymclary
28-06-2009, 11:28 AM
My best friend has done both diets (in fact ALL diets).
On the CD she lost 5 stones, and looked great. She gained 7 stone over the next couple or so years again.
She did Lighter Life after having her daughter, and going up to 18 stone. She lost 6 stone in the 100 days, sticking to the plan 100%. She didn't do as much of the exercise as she was recommended to do at her meetings - in fact she gave me the sealed CD's & fitball! She was 12 stone, and at about the weight she'd wanted to be in the November. By the following spring she was 15 stone. A year after reaching 'goal', she was back to her starting weight again.
Despite all this she was not only receiving the counselling from CD or LL, but was paying £80 a week to see a private nutritionist/counsellor to learn about her eating, and relationship to food, who was very much against her doing anything like LL or CD, because they are VERY low calorie diets, and the body simply is not designed to exist on so little food. Unless a health professional has a vested interest in any of the diet plans, I would imagine an impartial nutritionist would not be happy to condone them (bear in mind the medical profession have one of the highest alcoholism rates, as well as suicide rates, so they are as prone as any other person to drastic measures).
My friend, after gaining all her weight, and dabbling with LL in fits & starts, then tried the Go Lower diet plan. This is pre-prepared meal packs & snacks. The difference for my friend is that she has to be confronted with food preparation, without the temptation of the supermarket shop. This, again, is not an ideal long-term solution, and it has been a yo-yo experience.
For long-term weight loss I believe a person has to ask themselves why they've been able to gain so much weight? Why have you been overeating? What are the triggers? Do you eat for comfort, from boredom, when stressed, when happy, etc. If you can recognise your 'triggers' you can try to control situations that lead to you making either bad choices, or eating too much when they occur. If you don't tackle the root cause, I'm afraid you'll be looking at tackling your weightloss for many more years to come.
The CD and LL, and those like them, offer a rapid weightloss, which in extreme cases, can be life saving. It's a bit like having virtual gastric band, which prevents you from eating too much each day. Conventional food is taken out of the equation for a set period of time, with the hope that when it is reintroduced, you have dealt with the demons, triggers, or reasons for you overeating.
What will maintain a lower weight will always be portion control, a healthy, balanced eating of lower and healthier fats, unprocessed natural complex carbohydrates, and fruit & vegetables, combined with regular exercise. If you don't adopt this way of living, you will forever be faced with bouts of weight gain, and attempts to lose it.
If you were to take a trip over to read through the Losing Weight thread in the 'I wanna' board, you'll find some inspirational stories, as well as lots of support from the contributors, who are attempting to either lose weight or maintain a weight by a variety of means (CD included).
India, ultimately the choice is your's, and I hope the CD works out for you (I remember my friend's mantra when doing it: 'mmm, I'm going to have my delicious, nutritious shake' but after about week 4 she didn't believe a word of it). Well done for making a decision to tackle your weight, and ensure you get as much support along the way as you need. Have you bought your meals through a CD counsellor, or bought them online from an 'independent'? I know there are always lots for sale on places like ebay, but you don't get the benefit of the counselling that way.
Bitsy Beans
28-06-2009, 11:44 AM
Diets don't work IMO. I know 2 people who followed LL and still put weight back on. As far as I am aware fat is needed to fuel the body. I don't see how LL or CD shakes, soups etc can provide that sort of fuel. Sure you might be getting vitamins and minerals but that's not the same as decent fuel for your body. the only thing I can see that might be useful is counselling to sort out your relationship with food.
The diet industry exists because so many diets fail. They rely on people losing weight and putting it back on, losing weight etc etc.
I would suggest looking at your portion sizes, comfort eating, over eating etc.
lynzpower
29-06-2009, 1:03 PM
Diets don't work IMO. I know 2 people who followed LL and still put weight back on. As far as I am aware fat is needed to fuel the body. I don't see how LL or CD shakes, soups etc can provide that sort of fuel. Sure you might be getting vitamins and minerals but that's not the same as decent fuel for your body. the only thing I can see that might be useful is counselling to sort out your relationship with food.
The diet industry exists because so many diets fail. They rely on people losing weight and putting it back on, losing weight etc etc.
I would suggest looking at your portion sizes, comfort eating, over eating etc.
Yes you are right in the first bit.
What LL and the CD do is to create an environment where the Fat you have in your stores ( ie all the extra fat you carry) to be used for your extra vitamins and for energy burning. So instead of eating fat to use for energy leaving all that sat on your belly arms, bum etc, then the body uses the fat sat around for energy. :confused:
I have three friends who have tried these. The one didn't lose much weight, basically didn't have the willpower to follow it properly after a couple of weeks and found it very difficult socially. The other lost a lot of weight but had problems when she started eating properly again - vomiting after eating pizza and there was a very peculiar way of starting eating again, but she has kept the weight off for over a year, much to my surprise. The first friend suggested I try it and I said def no as I'm TTC and much to my surprise another frind who has just had a baby said she was still on it when she conceived and she was losing weight to conceive... this makes me think that it isn't actually unhealthy, although it could just be the one exception that proves the rule...
Stephb1986
29-06-2009, 5:28 PM
I have done LL with the rest of my family its been about 2 years since we did it. We lost weight BUT we have put it all back on and more besides, diets like this are dangerous you feel totally deprived from food and end up binge eating like I have.
Steph xx
ColleenPamela
29-06-2009, 7:11 PM
I did Cambridge diet, and I lost 5.5 stone in just under 6 months. The milkshakes were looovely! Don't buy them off ebay though, this is actually forbidden by CD and they are generally being sold at an exorbitant price!
notakid
29-06-2009, 7:54 PM
I went to slimming world enjoyed the diet and lost 5 stone I was chuffed and vowed I'd never put in back on! Ten years later I was heavier than my "large" weight. You can educate yourself on healthy eating as much as you want but if you have a bad relationship with food you will put the weight on hence the low figure of people maintaining on ALL diets.
Reading on this very forum I heard a comment from (I think it was Lynne to be honest!) saying that the Cambridge was like having a band without the surgery, its suddenly clicked. I made an appointment and lost 5 stone. Of course I've put some back on, its what I do, I can't help my relationship with food, I'm greedy, its my only vice but as soon as I started creeping up I went back on the diet.
To be honest, it took a while to back on stride, in 4 weeks I've lost 1 and half stone and I hope for my holidays late July I'll be able to wear my swimsuit without feeling like a beach ball.
I always crush up ice when blending the milkshakes, they taste like Maccie shakes then. I boil up cauliflower and use the veg and water to make the soup thicker and taste "homemade". Its great for me as I'm the type to eat six donuts in one go.
I'm wired a certain way, I don't think I'm ever going to have a good relationship with food, certainly not like "normal" people. Anyone ever watched the film the man with two brains? I'm like the Katherine Turner character, I'll be fat in any body because my brain's weakness is food. I don't drink really, never liked smoking and never wanted to take drugs but food? Its my trigger!
The reason the diet works is after a while you don't feel hungry, at all. Infact you get a tremendous sense of wellbeing and energy level. However on the downside your breath smells worse then a dog.
Go for it! Keep an open mind!
And remember drink lots of water. (thats another downside if you have gone thru childbirth you can wet yourself if not careful!):o:rotfl:
Bayblue
29-06-2009, 11:07 PM
I think that both lighter life and the cambridge diets both have minimum BMI requirements, don't they. Does anyone know what they are?
I know someone who successfully did the LL program, but without being too negative she really has a strange attitude to food and eating nowadays, which I don't think I would want to be like. In fairness I did not know her before LL, so perhaps she was always like that. I couldn't do either plan because I like to eat real food and I'm not a fussy person but I really don't like milkshakes.
I've lost weight on various diets in the past, I'm actually quite disciplined when required to be, it's afterwards I have the problems. I need to change the way I think and feel about food, I'm totally fed up of the diet and yoyo bandwagon, I want something that I can and will do for life. Don't get me wrong, the idea of losing a lot in a short amount of time is very appealing,and TBH if I had say a wedding or some important occasion I may well even do something like LL or the Cambridge diet myself. I can certainly see the attraction.
But really 'diets', or how you go about losing weight are all about what suits you as an individual and for now I'm choosing to try something completely different.
Good luck to everyone however they go about it.
Stephb1986
30-06-2009, 8:49 PM
You have to have a BMI Over 29
HTH
Steph xx
robf001
09-07-2009, 2:45 PM
I think that LL now has a new programme for people who are in the overweight category. which is between 25 and 29. You can eat normal food on this programme too!
Their main programme is for BMI over 29 as Steph said.
Intergalactic Floozie
11-07-2009, 7:50 PM
When I joined two years ago, you had to have a minimum of three stones to lose. Now I saw an advert recently saying now you could do it if you just had one stone to lose.
I know five people (including myself) who have done the diet and only one of us has kept the weight off (and that's not me). In fact not only have we put all the weight back on, but more.
Bronnie
11-07-2009, 11:22 PM
When I joined two years ago, you had to have a minimum of three stones to lose. Now I saw an advert recently saying now you could do it if you just had one stone to lose.
I know five people (including myself) who have done the diet and only one of us has kept the weight off (and that's not me). In fact not only have we put all the weight back on, but more.
But I think that's probably true of all weight loss diets. The majority of age 40+ women in a WW or SW class will admit to having been backwards and forwards to these classes most of their adult lives!!
Intergalactic Floozie
12-07-2009, 8:40 AM
But I think that's probably true of all weight loss diets. The majority of age 40+ women in a WW or SW class will admit to having been backwards and forwards to these classes most of their adult lives!!
Couldn't agree more. But OP was asking if anyone had done CD or LL. A lot of people expect them to be a miracle diet (which they are because when you are on them, you do lose weight), but it's keeping the weight off which is hard work whatever diet you are on.
I actually found this diet so much easier than SW or WW because you don't have to think.
Interestingly the lady who kept her weight off (out of the people I know). Had gained two stone when she was laid up after breaking her leg. Prior to that she was the Matron in a nursing home, and a mother of two children and owner of a large dog which needed walking twice a day so was permanantly busy and active. She never overate and would just eat small things little and often and on the run.
The activity stopped when she broke her leg so she started overeating through boredom. Once she'd recovered from her broken leg and got her mobilty back she went back to her old eating habits which caused her to lose a little bit of weight but she wanted rid of it ASAP so went to LL.
Due to the BMI index LL said she did have three stone to lose, but due to my friend's build she knew she only needed to lose two stone to get back into a size 10 (those 2 extra stone were pushing her towards a size 18 - it seems she can drop a dress size in increments of around half stones, whereas it takes me a stone to drop a dress size - I got all her old clothes as she lost the weight).
So she did LL and lost 2 stones pretty quickly. However by the end of it she was well back into the swing of her old lifestyle (dog walking, rushing round, eating on the run) so her weight has stayed off. Apart from those few weeks laid up, and then struggling to regain her mobility overeating has never been a part of her life, like it has been mine,
compared with me on the other hand, very inactive, works in an office sat at a desk for 9hrs with the only reason to move a visit to the loo, drives everywhere so has no excuse to do any walking.....and I've regained all the weight I lost.
I'd never knock the diet and thought it was great but unfortunately the counselling aspect never worked on me. It is true what they say, you need to change your eating habits.
Bronnie
12-07-2009, 1:42 PM
Couldn't agree more. But OP was asking if anyone had done CD or LL. A lot of people expect them to be a miracle diet (which they are because when you are on them, you do lose weight), but it's keeping the weight off which is hard work whatever diet you are on.
I actually found this diet so much easier than SW or WW because you don't have to think.
Interestingly the lady who kept her weight off (out of the people I know). Had gained two stone when she was laid up after breaking her leg. Prior to that she was the Matron in a nursing home, and a mother of two children and owner of a large dog which needed walking twice a day so was permanantly busy and active. She never overate and would just eat small things little and often and on the run.
The activity stopped when she broke her leg so she started overeating through boredom. Once she'd recovered from her broken leg and got her mobilty back she went back to her old eating habits which caused her to lose a little bit of weight but she wanted rid of it ASAP so went to LL.
Due to the BMI index LL said she did have three stone to lose, but due to my friend's build she knew she only needed to lose two stone to get back into a size 10 (those 2 extra stone were pushing her towards a size 18 - it seems she can drop a dress size in increments of around half stones, whereas it takes me a stone to drop a dress size - I got all her old clothes as she lost the weight).
So she did LL and lost 2 stones pretty quickly. However by the end of it she was well back into the swing of her old lifestyle (dog walking, rushing round, eating on the run) so her weight has stayed off. Apart from those few weeks laid up, and then struggling to regain her mobility overeating has never been a part of her life, like it has been mine,
compared with me on the other hand, very inactive, works in an office sat at a desk for 9hrs with the only reason to move a visit to the loo, drives everywhere so has no excuse to do any walking.....and I've regained all the weight I lost.
I'd never knock the diet and thought it was great but unfortunately the counselling aspect never worked on me. It is true what they say, you need to change your eating habits.
Sorry, my post was a bit obscure in relation to the thread title! It didn't really reflect my thoughts properly as I am wary of singing the praises of LL type diets (in fact not even sure if I've mentioned my experience before)since they always attract such a strong negative reaction!
10 years ago, I lost nearly 6 stones on Lipotrim (same type of diet, medically supervised by a GP at the time and therefore with a limited amount of counselling style advice). I am 5' 8" and I went from dress size 22 to dress size 12. Over the years I have maintained pretty much a healthy BMI . My weight can creep up at times, but only one dress size before I intervene. I generally maintain a size 14 which is fine for my age and height and a realistic weight to maintain. Last winter, I crept up to a 16, but have lost that again this Spring. I have used Lipotrim twice again for 2-3 week periods exclusively, and also using it to replace 1 or 2 meals a day and find it a weight loss method that suits me.
Even after 10 years that big fat woman will always be there inside me and the old habits are potentially still there. People who didn't know me before, cannot believe the old photographs are of the same person, but being a healthy weight is a source of great joy and pleasure for me!
The weight maintenance is another story, which I am happy to discuss if anyone is interested in my experiences.
Intergalactic Floozie
12-07-2009, 3:04 PM
Even after 10 years that big fat woman will always be there inside me and the old habits are potentially still there. People who didn't know me before, cannot believe the old photographs are of the same person, but being a healthy weight is a source of great joy and pleasure for me!
The weight maintenance is another story, which I am happy to discuss if anyone is interested in my experiences.
I've heard of Lipotrim but admittedly that is one I haven't tried (yet)!. It's strange how a diet like this took me no willpower at all to do yet I did it so easily, yet I dont have much willpower when it comes to restricting my normal food intake.
Bronnie
12-07-2009, 4:33 PM
I too find this the easiest of all diets to follow....but I tend to be an "all or nothing" person and having learnt this about myself, I now can now put this knowledge into practice in my weight maintenance.
I'd rather have no wine than restrict myself to one small glass....therefore I don't keep wine in the house or drink it as casually any more. The WW/SW idea of a fun size choc bar as a daily treat doesn't work for me either!
Intergalactic Floozie
12-07-2009, 4:46 PM
Yes, "all or nothing" describes me to a tee. Moderation is not a word in my dictionary!!!
cazzasmazza
21-07-2009, 4:28 PM
I firmly believe that slimming and maintaining a healthy weight should be based on healthy diet, eating real food and exercising more. We are supposed to eat FOOD, not a substitute bar.
I agree with those who have posted saying this type of fad diet drops your calories to horrifically tiny levels - it's just not healthy. They are a quick fix, rarely a long term solution.
I have lots of weight to lose and if I don't get off my backside to exercise more and change my ways to eating more healthily, then I reckon I don't deserve to be slim, IMHO.
It's all about changing your relationship with food and adopting a healthier lifestyle. Ignoring real food and eating vitamin replacement thingies for months does nothing to combat that.
Caz
Bitsy Beans
21-07-2009, 7:03 PM
My friend is doing Cambridge Diet. I asked her how many calories she's has per day. Its 600. thats the same amount I saw on a TV prog some american kids being put on as they suffer with Prader Willi Syndrome (they never register when they are full). No wonder she's losing weight she's starving!
Pennylane
21-07-2009, 8:27 PM
Someone I know has recently lost 6 stones on Cambridge Diet. She has done this before on other diets over the years. She is due to go in for an op next week and has been told that she must stop the CD at least a week before her op and must not go back on it for about 6 weeks afterwards. This seems odd to me if it's supposed to be a "healthy" way to lose weight. The op is nothing to do with her stomach/digestion by the way.
Pennylane
21-07-2009, 10:48 PM
I meant to say that the lady I mentioned above reckons her calories are 400-500 a day! I dread to think how much weight she is going to gain while she is getting over her op and not following the CD.
Riablo
05-10-2009, 4:01 PM
Hi,
I've read this thread with interest (and fear I must admit!).
I'm 26 and I feel like I have been watching my weight since I was 16. I've obviously not been watching it very well as it has steadily been increasing and I feel like I need to do something to stop this viscious circle.
I already cut out a lot of fat from my diet, and generally I don't think my diet is bad, although I have a weakness for sweet things. I don't drink much at all and I have a maderate level of exercise, horse riding, walking the dog, doing agility competitions with my dog etc.
I tried really hard for 6 months going to the gym religiously 3-4 times a week 45 mins a time, working very hard (got told to slow things down by gym owner until they realised I liked to push myself). I watched what I ate without being on a fad diet but in 6 months I only lost half a stone. I was gutted. I can only think that I didn't cut as much out of my diet as I thought I had.
I am starting Lighterlife tomorrow. I have never done another 'diet', but I have seen too many people yo yo on Weight Watchers and Slimming World and I'm really hoping that the counselling, cognitive behavioural techniques and not having to think about food, will help me to reassess things and get a better relationship with food for the long term. In the short term I am hoping that the quick weight loss will motivate me to stick to the regime.
I'm concerned that so many people seem to put the weight back on again, but this seems to be the norm with most diets.
I feel like I need to re-establish a healthy way of eating and I'm hoping that LL will help me do this, not with the diet, but with counselling and then the route to management.
I'm worried I might not even manage the first week and I'm also worried about the cost...but if I keep worrying I wont lose any weight!! I decided I needed to take a step and do something drastic to change this gradual weight gain. I hope it works.
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