Has anyone tried lighter life or the cambridge diet?

lynzpower

Bitsy_Beans wrote: »

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.

Pee

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_2

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

MessyMare

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

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

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_2

You have to have a BMI Over 29

HTH

Steph xx

robf001

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

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

Intergalactic_Floozie wrote: »

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!!