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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to consider doing Lighter Life? Need to do something drastic!

127 replies

makeaBIGchange · 30/10/2011 08:49

AIBU to do lighter life or something similar? I have name changed for this as I am so ashamed by how I have let myself get. I don't actually know how much I weigh now as I haven't weighed myself in so long but I would guess I probably need to loose around 10 stone if not more.

I have tried diets such as slimming world and weight watchers but the results just arn't quick enough and I fall back into the same bad habits.

Has anyone done lighter life before? How hard is it really? I've read all the forums etc and I am so close to signing up. Everyone has said to wait till after christmas as it will be too hard around christmas and I agree but part of me feels if I start now, by christmas I could be a stone or two lighter!

AIBU?

OP posts:

Proudnscary · 30/10/2011 08:53

I'm going to ignore my suspicions that you are a PR for Lighter Life...
I wouldn't recommend it because you'll put it all back on again when you revert to solid foods. We all know crash diets don't work longterm and can fuck up your metabolism and affect your health.
Sorry you feel so shite, I really would stick to WW. It's the only really safe, sensible diet in my opinion.

lifechanger · 30/10/2011 08:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

dustystarry · 30/10/2011 08:54

Ive not tried it but a friend has and she lost lots of weight using it and has recommended it recently to another friend.

Atwaroverscrabble · 30/10/2011 08:54

I have tried most things including the tablets that make you leak poo if you eat too much fat and have been tested by the doctors for everything and to be honest he said the best thing to do was basic exercise and portion control... I have signed yp to tesco diets and am generally ok following it, its easy and just needs a bit of planning but i have also signed up to do a 10k run in july for a charity and am going to a nice gym twice a week... In 4 weeks i have lost about a stone but have 4-5 stones still to go....

Give yourself a specific target and make it public.... Good luck!

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 30/10/2011 08:55

Search for Pauline Quirke + Lighter Life. She's done so well on it but I know somebody who does it who yo-yoes between light and heavy and I'm sure that's not good for anybody.

I don't know if you just want to kick-start for Christmas, Billy Blank's TaeBo dvd (which I love), comes with a boot camp diet which is quite restrictive but nutritious and short-term (1 month). I would recommend that if you want a quick blast before Christmas as it's proper food. The idea is that you do the whole bootcamp and you see results fast because of the exercise. I love TaeBo, I'm not very good at it though and you do need to be quite mobile but other than that, you're good to go.

The person I know who did/does Lighter Life has pouches. It's about £60 per month. That's all I know about it. I don't think it would be for me if I needed to be drastic.

Good luck, OP.... I think there are diet/food groups on this board somewhere too if you need support.

Original poster

makeaBIGchange · 30/10/2011 08:56

Proudnscary - I can assure you that I am not a PR for Lighter life, I have such a huge list of concerns with the plan, mainly worrying about what will happen if I go off plan e.g. if I am ill, what I can do if I am starving ( sometimes when I get really hungry I feel odd and need to eat fast), how I will tone up all the flab, how I can afford to buy these shakes etc. If there was an easier way I would pick it but lighter life or slim fast or whatever seems to be a way to get food out the equation and sort my head out!

OP posts:

dustystarry · 30/10/2011 08:57

As proud says though if you don't change your eating habits you will pile it back on after stopping the diet. The friend I mentioned did exactly this a few months after stopping lighter life and has since gone on to have a gastric band fitted (which comes with its own set of problems)

microfight · 30/10/2011 08:58

I know nothing about lighter life but I would start now not after Christmas. Christmas doesn't have to be all about food and certainly not if you are looking to lose a fair amount of weight.
I would get exercising and calorie counting, it will make you realise how much you have been over eating compared to you output and give you an incite into how much fats sugars are in the foods you currently eat.
Go and see your GP to get a health check and ask for advise.

MorelliOrRanger · 30/10/2011 08:58

I wouldn't suggest a liquid diet, because as soon as you start eating properly you pile it all back on again.

Quick fixes will rarely work longterm, I've tried loads of things. Weightwatchers worked for me for a while but they changed it again and I was the only person who was doing core in our group so my support was gone, I gave up, put on a stone and a bit in a year and bit.

I did the Dukan diet, which is changing the way you eat forever. The first couple of months are quite intense as it's very low carbs, but you can lose quite a bit quickly if you stick religiously to it. Between March-June I lost almost 2 stone. I'm pg now so obviously putting weight back on again, but when I have bubs I'll do it again strictly.

Also do a bit of exercise too - Swimming is good low impact exercise. I did the couch to 5K which is a 9 week program and by the end of it I could run 5k in 30 minutes. It's downloadble on the NHS website and I recommend it to everyone, it's brilliant. I started running when I was at my heaviest pretty much.

justpaddling · 30/10/2011 08:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

makeaBIGchange · 30/10/2011 09:01

I do want to change my eating habits, I am desperate too. Once the weight is off, I will do everything in my power to stop it coming back, even if it means I can never eat chocolate again!

OP posts:

pinguwings · 30/10/2011 09:02

But long term you don't want to get food out of the equation. You need to learn to educate yourself and your body about healthy weight loss. Eat less and eat healthier. Exercise. It's not glamorous but it works. Try something like myfitnesspal.com to track your calories.

Even if you only lose 1lb a week it will be sustainable and all in the right direction.

ToothbrushThief · 30/10/2011 09:02

I think LL is a good way to get rid of a large amount of weight. For some people the enormity of the problem means they cannot start (nothing intended by my use of words here)

However and it's a BIG however.... unless you then learn a new eating habit you will just pile it back on. Learning a new eating habit takes a long time.

If it were me I'd set yourself a target and then use LL as a reward. Your target would be sustained healthy diet demonstrating weight loss of one stone before you use LL. If you can't do that...no point using LL.

A friend who did it lost huge amounts...looked gaunt when she finished and then piled it on back on but not before suffering some horrible side effects of the loss requiring surgery

MorelliOrRanger · 30/10/2011 09:03

Oh yeh and there's a great website called My Fitness Pal which I've found very helpful - you log all your exercise and food each day - there are a lot of great support threads in the forums and there are some fantastic before/after pics.

My Fitness Pal

Nanny0gg · 30/10/2011 09:06

How much do you want to lose?

NowNowThen · 30/10/2011 09:07

I know one person who has stuck to Lighter Life and lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. I think she was losing about 10 lbs a month, and has lost all in all about 6 stone so far (she was very big - maybe 20-odd stone). But I also know several people who have forked out for all the LL gear and then just not been able to stick to it. It does sound incredibly brutal!

I have also tried many diets. The thing that has worked for me has been low carbing (not NO carbing!) and exercise - I do the 30 Day Shred DVD 5 x days a week and a Pilates DVD the other two days a week. It is the only thing I have been able to stick to (I do relax it now and then, too - had Chinese and wine last night - but try to stick to it 9 days out of 10 - that's my own little rule!).

I have lost 20lbs since start of Sept, so not a massively fast loss, but enough to start seeing a difference and it is something I can stick to - it has actually started to become a way of life for me. The exercise has also changed my life. For the first time in years I have a waist. My stomach isn't flat, but definitely flatter. I can see definition in my arms. And most importantly, I have a LOT more energy and feel so, so much much better about myself. I was a complete exercise-phobe previously, but I have built it up slowly (started off doing just the Shred 3 times a week and could barely get to the end I found it so hard!).

I do think this is a better way to approach things than LL, but I do understand that urge to kick start with a big weight loss. I just think the danger with rapid weight loss plans is that as soon as you come off them, the weight piles back on.

Original poster

makeaBIGchange · 30/10/2011 09:07

between 10 and 12 stone Nanny0gg.

OP posts:

jubilee10 · 30/10/2011 09:08

I have a friend who lost 10 stone doing lighter life 2 years ago. She has since put it all back on and more. She now not only feels fat but a real sense of failure. Also loosing so much weight so quickly has aged her.

I had about 7 stone to lose and have tried loads of different diets (over more than 30 years) but been unable to stick to them. I am now doing slimming world and have lost almost 2 stone since the beginning of august, so not the quickest weight loss but I really feel it is sustainable. It requires organisation, but I can honestly say that following it properly I have never felt hungry and feel I can easily carry on.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Groovee · 30/10/2011 09:10

I have 2 friends who started lighter life at the same time as I went on SW. They had a lot more than me to loose. But both said the counselling sessioned helped them more than they'd expected. Both went to slimming world after meeting the LL target and both have kept the weight off by following sw.

HarlotOTara · 30/10/2011 09:12

I know several people who have done lighter life and the weight loss was impressive. However both have now put the weight back on and one suffered with bowel problems for a while afterwards (not saying they are related but at least a coincidence). I think it costs something like £60 per week - if so surely a gym membership and something like weight watchers would be cheaper and more effective in the long run. I can see that the fast weight loss is appealing but I do think being overweight has its roots in how we feel about ourselves and is more complicated so will not be solved by drinking shakes for 12 weeks or whatever.

TestAnswers · 30/10/2011 09:13

I have a friend who is doing it now and is definitely having a lot of success with it and seemingly sticking to it more easily thant she did with slimming world etc.

I also have another friend who lost all of her excess weight (at a guess 4+ stone) very quickly with LL but has now put it all back on. Indeed the first friend I mentioned apparently has lost before with LL and now is in the position of needing to lose it all again.

However, I have lost weight with WW and SW and put that back on, too! Maybe people notice more when it is a LL weight gain as it is lost so quickly.

I still need to lose some weight and I admit have been tempted by meal replacement diets but something always stops me. I got a few diet books out of the library a few days ago and have decided to try the lunchbox diet as I think that fits in better with my lifestyle and health goals. The problem with me is that if I'm not losing I am gaining so I really need to find a way of eating that changes habits for good.

MorelliOrRanger · 30/10/2011 09:13

One of my friends on MFP is doing lighterlife, he's just gone back to it and his food diary is really brutal - I mean really brutal. He's lost over 100lb so doing absolutely amazing, I couldn't do it.

30 DS is brilliant too, I did that and lost 16inches all over in the 30 days, I've loaned it to my sis now. But would be too hard for someone who does no exercise IMO.

MrsStephenFry · 30/10/2011 09:14

This is not an aibu, you know there are topics for diets, healthy living, wwyd, and even chat?

Original poster

makeaBIGchange · 30/10/2011 09:16

Groovee -interested to hear your friends do SW know. I know the SW diet very well and hadn't considered as an option to maintain my weight loss but think it might be a good option. Glad you mentioned this!

OP posts:

purplewerepidj · 30/10/2011 09:16

I know someone who did ll, lost lots but still has massive issues surrounding food so has put it all on again. Your money would be better spent on a personal trainer and a counsellor to sort out WHY you eat, they will both support you to keep the will power, and your self confidence will improve because of your acheivements.

You may be able to get an exercise prescription from your GP, you'll need to consult them anyway to make sure there's no underlying health problems

Good luck

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