650 kal a day

[Differentstarts]

For 2 months iv been on a vlcd consuming 650 kcal a day and lost 2 stone - AMA

I think you’re amazing. You’ve researched and found a system that works for you. There’s three months to break bad habits which you fully acknowledge you had, and a switch program to help you transition back to normal food. Sounds great. Proper proactive!

I agree. You say you had an awful diet before hand so how is this helping you break those habits and stop you from just going back to them after you finish the 12 weeks?

Did you miss the bit where the OP says the food she's consuming are sachets and bars supplied as part of the New You diet, a diet recommended by the NHS? She's not wolfing down biscuits and pasta, she's eating nutritionally balanced meal replacements, under medical supervision.

She’s not making the choices, it’s a set plan that contains 100% of the recommended daily vitamins and minerals. It’s very processed but is only for 12 weeks.

When I did a very similar plan a few years ago and lost just over 50lbs I needed something different and quick. I was overweight and had been on "diets" for years. I was so low and needed something that would work for me. Obesity is complicated, emotions, trauma and life events make "just eat healthy " an impossible task when you have a sad fat person in the mirror. Impossible to understand if you've not been there. Comical reading the pile on with all the easy answers.
It was similar to OP, shakes and bars for me. Those results made the difference and my weight hasn't fluctuated by more than a couple of pounds since. My diet is healthy. I'm healthy. That short and swift diet worked for me.

I didn't tell anyone other than my partner though, reactions on here are typical of the "experts " my overweight self had to listen to. For me, this was the solution. No weight gain almost 8 years on.
Good luck OP.

Fair play to you OP.

The food sounds quite grim, does it have a lot of artificial sweeteners in it?
How else do they achieve low cal chocolate brownie?

It's different dependent on my shifts at work but usually a shake between 7 and 9 am, lunch soup or bar usually between 12 and 1. tea between 5 and 6 something like spicy noodles, spag bol, cottage pie ect then supper between 8 and 9pm which is usually either a shake made into a hot drink so it's like hot chocolate or you can make ice cream or mousse with the shakes or a brownie or something. I also have a snack at somepoint in the middle of the day. I only felt unwell day 2 and 3. Iv occasion usually just before my period had an extra snack but that's obviously only been twice in the 2 months. People on the plan if hungry either make jelly or ice lollies out of the water flavourings or drink bullion (I think it's called I'm not sure iv never needed to.

@YellowAsteroid but it's not supposed to be typically healthy or a diet you stick to long term.

It's deliberately designed to do things like lower cholesterol and blood pressure as well as reverse conditions like Type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance.

The idea is that you kick-start the weight loss and get your body working properly again before moving on to a more typical, sustainable diet.

It does what it needs to do it's not something you would eat outside of plan but it's OK. I mean some people love it and probably would but obviously everyone has different taste preferences and some people are very creative with the food on their and turn it into allsorts iv never bothered with any of that.

Thankyou and well done on your loss and maintenance 🥰

I would urge you to read the ultra processed food book. What you are eating is not food and will likely create just as many issues as it solves. If you can go to these extreme lengths, why can’t you just cut out the crap from your diet.

How will this short term plan help you go from your previous bad diet to a heathy, balanced diet? As it - if you didn’t eat healthily before to lose weight - why would you after this? How does it change your mindset.

Because after these 12 weeks I will never eat a brownie again. You need to understand this isn't like proper food that you buy from a supermarket or bake at home, you won't be craving it when it's gone what I have learnt from this diet is portion control everything is tiny and I'm not hungry iv learnt you don't need to pile your plate with food to be full, what you do need is protein to keep you full

Why won’t you ever eat a proper brownie again? So if you’re at a party etc you won’t ever eat cakes/crisps etc again simply because of being on this 12 week plan? Is that sustainable..? I can understand that you won’t want one of the packet brownies again!

Do you miss treats OP? I wonder if this kind of diet can help the psychological attachment a lot of people have to food.

I have noticed recently I was getting larger so I started calorie counting, I am still healthy BMI/size 10 so not in the range of needing these diets/ozempic etc. but I find that my eating is so psychological, I found it quiet depressing not having 'treat' foods, for example.

Because I never want to be in that place again or have to do this diet again, iv learnt the importance of getting all your macros, that it's more important to eat little and often the pile your plate up. And I'd lost complete sight of what a portion was

For anyone tempted to do this... I did it and regret it hugely.

For some reason it changed the way my body holds fat.

I put about half the weight back on, but it ALL went to my tummy.
I have changed from a plump hourglass to a apple shape.

Now, my stomach holds any weight gained and it hasn't ever happened like that before.

I am not in menopause or peri.
This is literally the only thing I did and it all happened within 18 months.

I think losing weight that rapidly on such low calories completely changed the way my body stores fat.

I am now doing keto and losing weight in a sustainable way that feels healthy.
I am on 1300 calories ish and healing my relationship with food.

I highly recommend reading ‘Why We Eat (Too Much).’

Is the food provided UPF OP?

It's completely psychological. No I haven't at all, maybe a little the day before my period but that's it. I use to always think I needed chocolate everyday I haven't had proper chocolate for 2 months and couldn't care less. Also a lot of people on their say their taste buds change so they don't like all the sweet and fatty stuff afterwards that they liked before

Yes as its literally packets of powder

Can I ask why you didn’t opt for Ozempic or saxenda instead?

Blimey, the OP would be applauded if she said she was using injectables 🙄

Sounds like a good kick start that you know isn't sustainable and it's not meant to be.

I lost 50lbs and have kept it off so far. I did it slowly, a lb or two a week.

Also what was your typical diet before you started on this plan?

You've literally described switch, did you not do that at the time of finishing tfr