to ask how many people kept weight off after a VLC diet?

[hairbrushbedhair]

I'm a complete yoyo dieter myself. Have you had a fast weight loss and managed to keep the weight off after?

I'm thinking of doing a vlcd (cambridge?) for about a month and then swapping onto SW or WW once I've got going. Bad idea?

What is vlcd? Curious?

I think you need to stop dieting and change your eating habits for good, three meals a day and no sncking, no chocolate, no crisps, no fizzy pop and no fried foods.

Eat three sensible meals not over 600 calories at a time

Don't eat between 7pm and 7am every night

See what happens.....slowly

Vlcd 'very low calorie diet'

And yes... I agree. I have a rather emotional relationship with food though which means while the theory is sound in all of that, me putting it into action is something I struggle badly with.

I thought a fast weight loss might motivate me

Excersise excersise excersise and change your diet slowly. Nothing drastic! and it will become a habit I promise. I've lost 4 Stone!

TBH they have limited use for anyone who isn't having surgery and needs very fast weight loss etc - people really do put all the weight plus more on afterward.

Do the 5:2 fast diet, honestly. You will then be doing a VLC diet 2 (or 3 if you prefer) times a week and the rest of the time you can eat healthily but not reduce calories.

Advantages:
You get to not worry about being 'on a diet' for 5 days of the week, and swap the days around to suit you
You will lose primarily fat, not muscle
Your stomach will shrink, so your portion sizes (which are probably a bit big if you're overweight) will likely get smaller naturally
Your bad cholesterol will reduce
If there is any T2 diabetes in your family, your risk of developing it will be reduced

I second 5:2. It really does make you feel in control.

VLC means very low carb to me!

Nope, I lost 2 1/2 stone on Cambridge and put it all back on! Now doing slimming world and losing more slowly but it's much easier and feels like a plan I can maintain. The problem with Cambridge was because its so restrictive as soon as I stopped doing it I just wanted to eat constantly!

No I didn't iv actually screwed up my metabolism and am now bigger than iv ever been after and really struggle to lose weight now.

It sounds like you need to stop dieting and rethink your portion control and exercise.

I think ivykaty has it spot on.

It was Cambridge I done also.

I lost 6 stone on Cambridge as I needed an operation. Afterwards I drifted back into bad habits and put 3 of it back on.

I now follow SW and have lost the 3 stone (so far, still more to go). This time I am also exercising a lot and my body shape has changed for the better. On Cambridge I has a lot of loose skin whereas now I'm not as jiggly

I bumped into my old Cambridge consultant at an exercise class a while back and she actually sounded surprised when she said "ooh, you've managed to keep the weight off, then...?" I think she must get a lot of people going to back to her time after time.

I think research suggests its comparable to any other diet plan, so 95% of people put weight back on. Disheartening!

Well....I lost 3 stone with Cambridge and kept it off for over a year. Unfortunately depression saw me put it all back on However, I've just lost 1 stone in 4 weeks doing my own version which is much cheaper (however I have a scientific background so am very careful).

To be honest I'm finding doing it my own way a lot easier, as it's not as mind numbingly boring/tedious.

Ah well , guess I will skip over that idea then. There's a SW group local to me tonight so I will pop in there instead

I lost 2 stone on a vlcd and kept it off for a long time but have put back on 1.5 stone recently. However that was entirely due to me stuffing my face and nothing to do with the diet. It's like any diet, if you go back to eating the way you did then you will put the weight back on . I am currently back on my vlcd again to lose the weight I gained and it definitely works but only as long as I am careful afterwards.

If you have an emotional relationship with food you need to sort that out first, you really do.

I have a friend who has now lost 8 stone 4 times. She gets the weight off, but never deals with why she overeats and why she runs to food for comfort so just goes back to the old ways.

I have lost weight on a VLCD, put it back on. Lost same weight at weightwatchers - put it back on. Lost it again gym/healthy eating - put it back on.

I strongly believe it doesn't matter how you lose it, if you go back to how you were eating before you lost the weight then it will go back on.

That said, i know plenty of people who have kept VLCD weight off because they changed their eating habits.

Cleo

I'm sure I would have kept it off had depression not reared its ugly head, as up until the birth of DTDs I'd always exercised and maintained a healthy weight. But yes, as others say, your relationship with food needs to be sorted out for it to stick...

Yes I would go to sw or similar instead, something that is long term sustainable lifestyle change rather than a short term fix

It really depends on your personality and eating habits.

I think a VLCD can be effective if you're someone who's slid into poor food choices maybe working long shifts, or in an environment where junk food is prevalent or if you've grown up around people who've made poor food choices, giving you distorted views about portion size, nutrition etc. In this case, a 'short sharp shock' diet can be really educational, and very motivating when weight comes off quickly. This can be enough to really change your whole perception of food. It feels like a fresh start.

But... if you're an emotional eater, or prone to binges (eating with very little pleasure), then I don't think it's a good idea. It makes your 'treat' foods seem even more important. It can encourage any binge/starve tendencies you might have; IMO, the discipline required to stick to a really reduced calorie diet is just the flipside of that total loss of control you feel when eating yourself sick. If you need to change the way you feel about food, VLC won't help. Plus, if you do too many weightloss/gain cycles, it can mess with your metabolism, pushing you to be dangerously restrictive to lose any weight at all.

I know it's very gratifying to see weight dropping off quickly, but I think it's important to be really honest with what's happening long-term. I'd say, if you've done VLCD two or three times, and have still regained weight after, it's time to say that it just doesn't work for you. It just means you have to rethink your approach. Don't say 'the diet worked, but...' -- the diet didn't work, if you're back where you started. It just seemed like it was working, for that moment when you hit goal weight, but beyond that it didn't help or change anything. Like a pair of shoes that look great in the shop, then fall apart in the first rainstorm or cut your feet to ribbons. Get something you can walk in for miles.

It's like any diet, if you go back to eating the way you did then you will put the weight back on

Another reason I can cope with 5:2 versus all else.

I though VLCD was 'low carb'?

Anyway, reducing the amount of carbs worked for me. I rarely eat bread or pasta and limit cakes, pastry, biscuits etc.

I've managed to keep 30 pounds off by doing this.

Lower carb, high protein, high veg works best fro me.

Check out BIWI's thread.

Before you make any decisions based on how many people have kept all their weight off after doing a VLCD, ask how many people have kept their weight off after losing it on Weight Watchers, Slimming World, calorie counting, etc etc.

I think you will find the stats are pretty much the same. Its all down to whether you take steps to maintain your weight once you have reached goal. The process of losing weight then keeping it off is a life-long procedure.

And the stats aren't great - something like 93% of people do not keep it off.

I am in the process of doing what you're thinking - vlcd to get the weight off (and boy does it work!) with a graded return to eating once I'm where I want to be but changing to a low carb 5:2 type pattern as an intermediate before I go completely back to food.

So in the fast weight loss/intensive phase I have 3 200cal meal replacements per day plus 2 cups non starchy veg. In the transition phase I have 2 meal replacements, one low carb meal and 2 cups veg. Finally I'll have 3 low carb meals a day but for two days a week I'll go back to the intensive phase (500cal intake).

It's working so far in spite of many lapses (birthdays, social events, meals out, glasses of wine) but it's early days yet. I'll come back in a year and let you know :)