Meal replacement diets, which one?

mapcr77

Hi,

I'm desperate to lose weight and would like to try a meal replacement diet, does anyone have any info on costs and overal quality of the meals, plus what else is involved? (I don't find the faff of dealing with a 'counselor' appealing, all i want to do is buy the stuff, pay the money, end off till next lot is needed ).

I briefly tried celebrity slim in the past, but i didnt like it and have heard it's not the same as say cambridge diet or lighter life, so any advice is good. cheers!:beer:

flea72

meal replacement diets only work whilst you are on them. as soon as you stop using them the weight goes back on (and more)

if you want to loose weight for a special occasions within the next 6-12m then they are an ok plan to follow, but dont expect your mindset to change, which would allow you to then eat normally afterwards, it just doesnt happen

until you have your LBM, there is nothing that will help you keep the weight off

personally, very few people need to loose weight, by amending their diet. the majority of people just need to be more active. so put the money you would have spent on meal replacements towards a gym membership, or exercise classes

however, in answer to your question, most people i know, lost the most weight, the quickest, with lighter life

F

consultant31

How long did it take you to put weight on? Many years I imagine, so it's not reasonable to expect to lose it in a few weeks.

If you lose weight too quickly you run the risk of losing lean muscle tissue, messing up your metabolism and thus making it harder to lose weight at all.

Look at the 7 day plan on Slimming World www.slimming-world.com and see that you can lose weight on fish, chips and mushy peas..... add a side salad and you've got a plan most people can live with for ever so that the weight, once lost, won't come back again if you're sensible.

The liquid diets, as far as I can see, cost between £100 and £150 per month. You do lose a lot of weight with them but what happens when you go back to eating food? Once messed up, your metabolism can take a very long time to start working properly again.

jellytastic

I lost 7stone on Cambridge Diet in 2009, ive not put a pound back on but I am very careful with what I eat, in fact I only eat 1200 calories a day in order to maintain. Please note thought that I am physically disabled and as a consequence very inactive.
If I could afford it I would use cambridge products for all my meals as I never felt better than I did whilst on the plan.
It is expensive, cost me £50 a week!!!! I thought losing the weight would improve my mobility but Im still disabled -just a more attractive person in a wheelchair

catlover47

I'm planning to do meal replacements and have bought some celebrity slim off the internet as have heard some good firsthand stories and I had no idea which brand to go for either. Having a bad back makes strenuous fat burning exercise a problem for me so I need something more drastic to shift the weight. I used to be a nurse but since being signed off sick I've piled on the weight and it's bringing me down. I'm going to give celeb slim a good go and see how I get on.

consultant31

jellytastic wrote: »

I lost 7stone on Cambridge Diet in 2009, ive not put a pound back on but I am very careful with what I eat, in fact I only eat 1200 calories a day in order to maintain. Please note thought that I am physically disabled and as a consequence very inactive.
If I could afford it I would use cambridge products for all my meals as I never felt better than I did whilst on the plan.
It is expensive, cost me £50 a week!!!! I thought losing the weight would improve my mobility but Im still disabled -just a more attractive person in a wheelchair

I'm glad it worked for you, I just think that people need to understand that it's a very difficult way to lose weight, after all, most of us love food, the taste, the smell and the preparation of our meals.

I lost 3 stone in 4 months on Slimming World and have kept it off for 5 years now. I eat loads and walk my dog every day for exercise. My grocery bill is tiny....there's no way I could afford meal replacements even if I could stomach the idea of not having real food to enjoy.

1200 calories is very low for a maintainance plan although if you're sedentary I suppose that makes a big difference. I would be losing weight on that as my maintainance is in the region of 2000 calories.

ali-t

Exante is one that you can order online and have delivered to your house without having to see a 'counsellor', get permission from a GP or get regular health check ups. I don't know if it is any good but seems to work on the same principles as other VLCD's

GillM

I used the Cambridge diet years ago and it was so disgusting I only lasted about 2 weeks - had to stop it when it made me vomit!

However, because it had been expensive I was determined not to waste the money so for the next 8 weeks or so I dieted rigorously - normal food but much smaller portions and no snacking. In other words, pretty much what you are encouraged to do by doctors etc - just healthy eating. That way my stomach shrank and as I was eating 'ordinary' food, after the 8 weeks I just increased the portions very slightly, lost the 2 stone I was aiming for in the 8 weeks and kept it off for about 3 years.

Wish I could do that again - many years on I am about 5 stone overweight. I believe the Cambridge diet has improved since my day but I still don't think I'd recommend it.

globetraveller

http://www.dietchef.co.uk/
Easiest diet ever. And enjoyable. They do have milkshakes but I don't choose them. Would rather eat the real food they have. I do seem to be at a higher level of calories than previous diets- for me its 1400 but others have even more. So after the first week its down to 1 or 2 lbs a week. On top of what they give you add fruit and veg and some other healthy options.

LadyGooGoo_2

I did a version of DIY Diet chef using Nairns and Dorset cereals sachets for breakfast, low calorie soups for lunch, Nairns choc chip bickies for snacks and an innocent veg pot every evening. I quite enjoyed it.

consultant31

But with a very little effort (and less money) on your own part you could eat like this:-

Day 1

Breakfast: Fruit salad made with strawberries, grapes, apple and melon. 2 Ryvita Original spread with cottage cheese topped with chopped peppers.
Linch: Ham & vegetable omelette made from eggs, chopped ham, peppers, onions and mushrooms. Add cooked new potatoes (chopped) to the mix for a Spanish-style omelette.
Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese: made with extra lean minced beef, onion, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes & oregano. Serve with spaghetti and 28g parmesan

Day 2

Breakfast: Poached eggs and baked beans on toast (2 slices w/meal bread from a 400g loaf).
Lunch: Jacket potato and tuna with lots of crispy salad and 2 mini Babybel cheeses.
Dinner: Chicken Kiev (chicken breast stuffed with quark mixed with crushed garlic) with syn-free chips, peas, carrots and broccoli.

This is just two days from Slimming Worlds Extra Easy Plan. Costs are minimal, all the family can eat the same so you have it much easier in the kitchen and you don't feel deprived of real food!

At the end of the day we all have to do it the way it works for us, but having tried all the quirky diets going over the years I have found that SW really works and I can eat to appease my appetite which is big and lose weight at a steady rate of between 1 and 2 lbs a week which is healthy and sustainable.