Lighter Life **New Me****

[hollyp0402]

Hi,
So after 4 years TTC i have finally got the news that we have to have IVF. unfortunately i have about 4-5 stone to shift first! so tomorrow is my first day embarking on the Lighter life journey. Would be great to hear if anyone else is doing the same. I have a very small idea what to expect but not loads! Ive heard brilliant things about it and very excited about a new year and a new me.

[Dowser]

Pauline Quirke?

Lost loads of weight then as soon as she came off it most of the weight came back.

These diets are expensive and unsustainable for people who live in the real world, which we all do.

You don't educate your palate or retrain your brain. Your stomach might adapt to eat less food but your brain will be screaming ' I want that pizza!"

Far better to go to sw and learn how to still enjoy real food and eat less and lose weight.

Yes you'll lose weight with LL while you are on it but as soon as you stop it, what then?

Quitting sugar is your best bet. Follow it up with bread and refined carbs.

Eat a protein breakfast, protein lunch or a healthy soup with protein and protein, veg and a good quality carb supper.

Cut down fruit intake. I gave one apple a day. Drink fruit infusions/ teas and have an occasional g and tonic.

I'd give those daddy diets a wide berth.

[Dowser]

www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/pauline-quirke-piles-pounds-again-4255017

[Dowser]

A aargh! Faddy diets

[cedricsneer]

I'm sorry, I agree with all of the above. I have countless friends who have lost staggering amounts of weight doing ll and then put it all back on. Not one person I know has sustained it - this is their business plan obviously - it ensures a never ending market.

I'm really sorry if this isn't what you want to hear - but I honestly cannot understand how these diets are even legal.

Great advice from the poster above about sustainable ways to lose weight. Best of luck with it and I wish you every success with IVF - I hope it hasn't come as too much as a shock.

[NickNacks]

dowser please don't do that. It's incredibly difficult to start such a journey without people telling you you're going to fail before you've even started.

op good luck! As long as you build a maintenance programme back in to your diet so you are eased back on to regular food you should be fine. I'm doing Cambridge and have found a really supportive Facebook group if you're on there, maybe have look for a light life one? It's great picking up tips and seeing photos.

[Dowser]

I stand by what I said Nick nacks. We live in the real world and I'd rather be honest and warn the op of the pitfalls before she embarks on something that is expensive and may lead to failure or worse putting on even more weight.

Look at these stories here

forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1342551


Remember Oprah when she lost weight rapidly. Not sure if it was LL or CD or something else. I remember her saying though, the night she wore those tight jeans to celebrate her new slim physique was the last time she wore them as she began eating normally and her weight shot up so quickly she couldnt even do them up about a week later.

Slow and steady wins the race and eating food. It's what our bodies are designed for.

Didn't the founder of LL put all her weight back on. Doesn't that say it all.

Sorry nick but I'm being honest.

[NickNacks]

Everyone who does this sort of diet is in a desperate place. This won't be their first diet, they will have done the slimming worlds and weight watchers and low carb diets. The LL or CD will be a last resort. They do cost a lot of money so lots of thought and commitment goes into them. The OP is wanting to start IVF, I can't imagine what a drive that must be. I see the links are full of failures but there are lots of success stories too!

I think the op needs support (as do I) and beating them with another stick that they are making yet again a wrong choice isn't nice to see.

[Dowser]

I don't see anyone being beaten with a stick on here and I'm surprised that you do.

I can only see people being supportive.

Eating good quality food with your family must be preferable to downing a glass of quick fix that offers no long term solution.

Having read the stories here

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1212909/Revealed-The-obese-woman-whos-millions-extreme-diet-linked-death-bride-be.html

I know what I'd choose.

You cannot expect to be fit and healthy on 530 calories a day. It's just downright ridiculous.

Our bodies are so complex . They need vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes...I don't know I'm not a chemist but with my simple logic I understand that if our body is an engine and to keep it fine tuned it needs good quality food feeding it too much sugar processed foods etc will cause it to fail...eventually.

Giving it stuff like this that it doesn't recognise as proper food...how on earth is that meant to work. A lot of us are suffering from wheat intolerance because our bodies cannot cope with the changes that have been made to wheat over the last thirty years.

It's Op' choice what she decides to put in her body and if she wants to prepare it for a baby I'd be feeding it good quality food that it actually recognises.

[doitanyways]

I lost 5 stone 12 years ago on Cambridge.

Over the decade and more I've put some on and lost some (and am doing Cambridge again now) but I've never even come close to the size I was when I left university.

The number of people returning to weight watchers and slimming world after losing weight is also phenomenal. That doesn't attract criticism though - wonder why that is.

The diet is fine and suits some people; it doesn't suit others and if it doesn't suit you, great, no problem, don't do it :)

[Dowser]

But you can't blame sw for the weight gain. It's people reverting to bad habits.

Mine is my addiction to sugar. I came off it for 3 months. Went on holiday . Stayed in a hotel where there was a fabulous dessert table. Started off with one dessert after my meal and by the end of the two weeks I was having two.

I've only myself to blame. I can't blame SW. Their plan works.

Just I didn't stick to it. I still eat healthy though and since September I've probably and (ive had a couple more holidays since then ) .only put on about 2-3 pounds. I don't go by weight as ifind it unrealistic. My legs are skinny at the moment but in summer they swell.

However Im working on my sugar addiction because I know I feel better without it.

[MyVisionsComeFromSoup]

the thing about these meal replacement diets is that they take away everything about food, and give you the chance to see exactly what your issues are (because by the time you've got as far as a VLCD, you've tried everything else out there ). You need to identify your food/binge/control/whatever triggers, and that's very difficult to do while still having to deal with food on a daily basis.

The counselling is vital if you don't know why you eat the way you have been, and to support you through the most important part of the diet - the re-introduction of food. The losing weight part is easy after the first week, the keeping it off is the hard part (as well as dealing with your mental/emotional issues).

Plus, for people with medical issues (I have PCOS, plus am taking two different painkillers, both of which cause weight gain), it's really disheartening to need to lose three stone, go to SW/WW, do it properly, and lose half a pound a fortnight.

[NickNacks]

Well equally could be said the same about LL or CD- it won't work if you go back to the same bad habits. You have to follow all the steps and I can only speak about Cambridge because that's the one I've researched. The plan isn't just a liquid diet. It reintroduces food slowly and teaches you how to eat properly in the same way that SW does. Those who have sailed will have come off plan and reverted to bad eating habits in the same way that you describe on your holiday.

All the shakes and products from Cambridge contain all the vits and minerals that our body needs each day. Most overweight people won't be getting that from the cramp food they were eating before hand.

[hollyp0402]

I'm sorry Dowser but I need support not for you to throw it in my face. I've tried all those sorts of diets before and now this is the decision I have made. I haven't asked for your opinion on it and I understand your concerns but I'm looking for support and positive posts regarding this. I have known loads of people who have done LL and have sustained the weight loss. I know it's drastic and all the implications however I have so much to loose that this is the way I would like to do it. Please guys only positive posts!

[Micah]

I think "faddy" diets include those that exclude entire food/nutrition groups :).

O/p, good luck. If you think ll will work for you, it likely will. Just be aware as others have mentioned that it will still be a long slog keeping the weight off, especially through pregnancy.

Also get to know your body and what works for you. Bread is a staple for me, filling, easy and relatively low calorie. If i try upping protein i put on weight very quickly. Cutting stuff out generally works by reducing calories, rather than some magic metabolic formula.

Eat less, move around more :)

[doitanyways]

Not necessarily, MyVisions

I was 21 and a 'portly' 14 and a half stone when I started Cambridge. I was at university and feeling (in May 2002) most attractive in a white knitted hooded cardigan. Some teenage boys took this illusion away from me!

I googled 'fast weight loss' made an appointment and never looked back. By the time I started my teacher training in late September 2002 I was 9 stone 10lbs, a perfect weight for my 5'3. I didn't even bother with weight watchers or slimming world as I can't cook and I knew I wouldn't be able to follow the plans and besides, I wanted to lose the weight fast!

[MistressOfAll]

I'm not a fan of LL etc for all the reasons above but you asked for positive stories and I have one ☺
A good friend lost 4 stone 8 years ago. She Followed all the counselling etc and gradually reintroduced food. She is still the same healthy weight now and has also had her first child since. She eats normally, weighs herself weekly and looks great.
During the diet she was bloody miserable and hard to get along with though! Xx

[hollyp0402]

Thanks doitanyways and NickNacks

[hollyp0402]

Thanks mistressofall- that's brilliant news for your friend!
I know it's going to be hard work to start with but people are right- I have to remove food to start and figure out what's going wrong. I also and hugely depressed with my weight and size and I think this will give me the motivation and boost I need.

[DinoSnores]

Yes, yes, yes, slow and steady would be the 'best' way to do it all. 'All you need to do is eat less, move more.'

There are millions of pounds being spent on obesity research in this country. I used to be one of the clinical researchers in this area, and, you know, it just isn't as easy as some people want to make it out to be. (I've linked to research from Cambridge and Oxford profs before, but there are always people on MN who know better!)

In holly's case, I can completely see why a short, sharp shock would be the best thing right now. There is a limited window for IVF and doing something in 6 months would be far, far better in terms of success rates than in 5 years time.

Lots of people put weight on after losing it. That comes down to genetics affecting how different people's appetites work, the social-environmental pressures of living in a obesogenic world, your hypothalamus trying to get you back to your previous weight in preparation for the famine that (now, for us) never comes, the psychological reasons that contributed to someone overeating before.

Research shows that there is very little difference in the long term outcomes comparing very low calorie diets and more traditional low calorie diets. It basically all comes down to how that individual changes their life and how they remember that they can never take their eye off the ball, or it will go back on.

[hollyp0402]

[Dowser]

There you go OP. you've got your positive stories.

I shall bow out now. Good luck to you. I wish you well with your weight loss and your hope of a pregnancy.

Hope it all goes great for you ;-)

[Focusfocus]

I'd just like to add that weight loss in preparation for ivf and for sustaining a healthy pregnancy is basically preconception weight loss

Preconception is a very important period, where the body should ideally be well nourished and ready for a healthy pregnancy to grow

I'd just keep in mind that this font be like any other weight loss rather a kind of weight loss which won't shock or deplete the nutritional reserves and systems of a woman about to become pregnant .

[Heyheyheygoodbye]

OP my friend lost 12 stone on LL and had kept it off for the past five years. It took her a long time to complete the re-feeding process at the end because she was committed to re-learning everything about food.

She does a LOT of exercise now but LL saved her life I hope it works for you!

[doitanyways]

I have never felt more full of energy, healthy and glowing than when I'm on Cambridge.

The nutrients are in the packs. It was certainly better than my university crisps for breakfast, a missed lunch, sweets, chocolate and kebab for supper