VLCD Day One - AIBU to feel stabby already

[LotToLose]

I’ve started a VLC diet today and I’ve got an awful lot of weight to lose.

Not losing it is not an option, as I’m a single Mum to 2 kids who need me around for as long as possible.

I could really do with some thinspiration, has anyone here managed to lose a lot of weight on meal replacement shakes?

So I guess my AIBU is AIBU to hate former me for being such a greedy cow?

About 5 years back I lost 6 stone on a vlcd and even ended up working for the company for a short while helping others. Unfortunately for me, losing weight is never the problem, it's keeping it off. I'm back to my heaviest ever now and considering bariatric surgery now.

As for AIBU, nope, we all do it.

Problem is what happens when you go back to eating properly? Shakes aren’t a long term solution and don’t tackle the issue or create a healthy lifestyle

@jael300 I’ve never managed to lose anymore than 10lbs following any diet. So well down for losing 6 stone, but sorry to hear you put it back on. I know how easy it is to gain.

Which surgery are you considering?

I have deep food issues, but I’ve not tried to just cut out food by just using shakes before.

I guess it is a bit like re-weaning myself!

Worse thing I ever did was loosing weight on shakes. When I started to introduce reg food I put all the weight back on instantly and then some more. This has somehow upset my body and I had struggled ever since. My DH is on Keto diet lost all the weight he needed to and now kept it off for over a year. He has no trouble sticking to it.

The one I did, Slim and Save, was good for the re-feed for me as it included several packet meals with the shakes and toy could either do one protein/veg meal or just add veg. Not perfect as I have serious issues with eating and mental health. I lost 7 stone overall and while I have put it back on that was due to circumstance, I was diagnosed with arthritis which has ended up with me disabled and very limited in what I can do exercise wise and food prep. I honestly don't know how I'd be if this hadn't happened.

The first few days are most definitely the worst without a doubt. I found a lot of support on various forums including this one and the official one for the diet which helped will power and really helped make the diet work with different idea for the packs and the protein/veg allowance. Making the oatmeal into cookies or making it with spices changed it up, making the spag bol with broccoli added or baked into half a pepper. MFP really helped with keeping track of the non-pack foods.

If ever my condition is actually controlled enough to get back to it all I will, without a doubt, but right now I can barely open a shake packet let alone shake it up and carry it to living room.

I did. I lost 3.5 stone on lighter life and put 1 back on over the next few years. It's possible to keep the weight off, but most people don't, because they haven't dealt with the mental issues that cause overeating, and because the human body fights to regain weight.

If you're doing it by yourself, i.e. no group, I'm sorry but I think you'll find it hard to stick to when the weight loss slows down. You're going to be particularly tempted when cooking for the family; i was single so didn't have that issue. So you might want to consider a group or online group if you're not doing so?

My own purely personal view - they make a great start if that's how you can see them. They aren't a cure all; they aren't a magic bullet; and the real work comes when the weight loss needs to be maintained.

Let's face it - if you need to lose 6 stone, losing a pound a week at first isn't going to cut it from a motivational perspective. Losing a stone in a fortnight will.

BUT you have to be ready with the healthy diet and exercise plan when you start reintroducing food. And you have to be really honest about why you gained weight. Eg I had a terrible habit of buying sharer bags of crisps or chocolate, because the actual packet was too frightening in terms of calories. This then let me disguise the fact that I was eating 3 times that over the course of the day from myself! Also remember that your kids will be watching you, so you want to instil good habits into them.

Final tip - buy a blender and make the shakes with about 6 ice cubes as well as the water. It turns a powdery 125 calorie shake into a credible version of a McDonald's milkshake!!

🤞🏻🤞🏻

Oh and if you had a carb heavy diet, don't be surprised if you get an awful headache and feel like shit on day 3 or so (google "carb flu"!). If you can get through that bit, it's true that you do stop feeling hungry for a lot of the time. I did it for 2.5 months and I can honestly say i only felt as if i were starving for the first few days. The carb headache was an absolute bitch, but it went by the end of that third day.

I'm following exante, back on plan as of yesterday. I just caved this weekend after sticking to it completely for 2 weeks, and fucking about for the last 4 months After the first week it gets much easier.

Can you work on your issues with food as well/instead? From experience that was more helpful than dieting and then gaining it back again!

To be honest I found the VLCD extremely easy, you knew you couldn't eat and so didn't. My problem, like so many others was keeping it off. I lost 7 stone on Lighterlife, went through the whole process of re-weaning etc but still put it all back on again. Now lost 4 stone through just eating less and logging it on myfitnesspal but still not confident I will keep it off. Time will tell.

YANBU, the first four or five days are the hardest. Don't cheat! Then you'll turn a corner and the hunger will go. Oh and DRINK ALL YOUR WATER!
I lost 4 stones last year on a VLCD and haven't put any back on. You do need to change your mindset around food but I found that not "eating" really helped, when I came back to being able to eat "normal food" I trod so carefully because I was used to the shake/meal/bar sizes.
Good luck!

VLCDs are a total load of bollocks. Sorry, but they really are, as pp have said.

I did Cambridge after DC1 and lost 3 stone, got pregnant and put on 3.5 stone. Did it again, lost the weight again, then after just lusting after burgers and pizza (not facing my shit eating habits head on) I decided to join a ladies weight and circuit group to keep it off. This has totally changed my mindset and I have learned what we actually need to sustain a healthy body and healthy eating habits and thankfully I am in the best shape of my life...not a stealth boast, just a fact. I would have advocated for VLCDs until I went through it a second time then learned about how our bodies actually use and need calories/protein etc.

Shake diets are very dangerous and absolutely unsustainable. (Source-My sisters and mum all did Cambridge and have all put all the weight back on and then some).

I am sorry to say but you are highly unlikely to keep the weight that you lose, off. You would be so much better off long term by joining a fitness group that has some sort of nutritional element too. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

I did Slim and Save for 3 months at the beginning of last year. I lost 2 1/2 stone and kept it off until the end of October, when half a stone crept back on!

I'm doing it again now to lose that half stone plus a little bit more. As said above, it's a good diet as there are 2 different ways of doing it, and there are certain "extras" that you can have if the Meal Planner on the website allows.

The re-feed and maintenance advice on the website is very good. When I've lost this last bit I'm planning to do 5:2 with SnS products to maintain.

Good luck, you can do this!

Thank you all for the advice and replies. Seems like it can work as long as I’m super careful about reintroducing food at the end.

And some great tips, thanks!
I’m definitely going to try blending ice into the shakes. Adding veg to the meals when I get to that stage is also a great tip too.

I’m doing the Slim and Save too, as PPs have also mentioned.

Take measurements of your waist, thighs etc now and again in a few weeks - this will help you keep motivated!

I’m on Slim n Save at the moment - everyone is trying to talk me out of it and coming up with “helpful” suggestions . Same people never say a word when I’m stuffing my face with rubbish or looking hideous in my size 22 clothes. I’ve been overweight most of my life and this is the only diet I can stick to

I've done the Cambridge diet three times, so that will tell you how effective it was for me. Each time I gained it back, and a bit more. I find low carb works best for me, but I have such a lot to lose now, I'm completely unmotivated...

Sorry, not been online since I commented.

I'm considering a gastric bypass now and have more than 8 stone to lose.

The first few days on a vlcd are always the hardest. If you're struggling then have some protein like chicken or ham or some very low carb veg to fill you up a bit (I loved swede chips). As there's no carbs it wont affect you getting into ketosis and it's better to have that than go off the diet completely.

I'm on day 2 but I'm on a plan that always me to add extra protein to it, so its really just low carbing.

I've been going to slimming world since January and have lost almost 3 stone , still eating 3 (large) meals a day, plus a bar of chocolate or packet of crisps everyday, it's great, so easy to follow and you never feel hungry, I couldn't do the shakes, I get too hungry and end up picking at stuff (part of the reason I'm so over weight just now)

I lost a stone in 2 weeks on Slim and Save and it did stay off for quite a while.

Ignore the people that say the weight will go back on once you stop because DUH. That would happen with any diet if you want back to eating exactly how you did before.

I felt stabby for the first 3 days and then the fog lifts.

I’ve now lost 4 stone from just eating better and exercise.

I started a VLCD today! I lost almost 7 stone on Slimming World and then got pregnant, stopped going and have put almost all of it back on. I'm having 3 Atkins shakes a day, plus loads of water and had a cup of Bovril this evening as I just craved something salty. I'm planning on using it just as a kick start for 4-8 weeks and then very low carbing. Will see how I get on. It's not just VLCDs that you put weight back on again! Good luck, OP, please keep us updated!

I’m day one of slim and save. I did it a couple of years ago but put the weight back on. Mainly due to having food issues. I have three young kids so need to shift the weight for them. Once I’ve lost the weight I’ll be looking at ways to keep it off. But I’d like it gone quickly.

Do the blood sugar diet to get off sugar, the eat fewer meals of low carbs to give your body a chance to fast (repair and use stored fat) and then use intermittent fasting to melt off the fat. Easy ( after the first week!) and you never feel hungry.