To want to do a drastic diet?

[Sunshinemakesmehappie]

I have gained huge amounts of weight over the last two years and am now nearly 15stone.

At my height, that’s pretty large and I’m very depressed.

Wondering about doing a liquid/shake diet. Any views?

I did the Cambridge diet, lost two and a half stone in 17 weeks and it has stayed off. I can’t recomnend it enough!

I was thinking about Cambridge. Is it hard to stick to?

They definitely work very well to lose weight quickly. I went from 15 stone to 11 stone in about 9 months, maybe less doing the Atkins shakes for two meals a day and a low carb meal. The problem is that when you stop doing the shakes, you can put weight back on very quickly. I therefore resigned myself to doing them ongoing for ever, which helped me stay at my ideal weight. However, after a few years, I have now developed an allergy to milk (not sure if the shakes were the cause or not) and can’t drink them anymore. My weight went up by a stone and a half very quickly when I cut them out altogether. And I am now trying to lose weight by exercising and eating low calorie which is just so hard in comparison. Have been trying so hard and keep losing a pound and then gaining a pound. I wish I could do the shakes again because it is so easy and effective in comparison. So that’s my story. Despite my allergy I would still recommend you try them to get your weight down fairly quickly as it is very motivating. Just get proper advice as to how to maintain your new weight afterwards. Good luck!

I was very over weight so I joined slimming world after Christmas and so far I've lost 3.5 stone, still a bit to go but it's really easy to follow, healthy and you can still eat plenty food so never hungry, everyone i know who's done meal replacements do seem to lose weight short term but put it back on when eating normal food again, so I'd stay away from that.

Slimming world isn’t for me at all, but thanks. I really need to lose this weight quickly. I am very depressed

I have no experience with VLC diets. However I know you say you need to lose the weight quickly as you're very depressed about it but would it be worse to lose it all then put it all back on again. Slow and steady is the best way to keep it off which would be better for you long term.

Yes, but I think weight goes back on when you go back to old eating habits I do suspect slow and steady is a myth perpetuated by diet companies.

But why wouldn't you go back to your old habits? Liquid diets aren't sustainable, after all.

Quick fixes will not work and you will most likely end up gaining more weight back if you look into set point theory.
It’s very boring but the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat less and move more.
Crash diets don’t work, if they did why would there be so many different types?

Why is SlimmingWorld not for you? You want to lose weight and slimming world gives amazing results, you will lose weight steadily and keep it off long term whereas with shakes you may lose it faster but keeping it off is nearly impossible unless you are going to change your eating habits and lifestyle? If you are then you may as well do slimming world! X

The myth perpetuated by the diet industry is losing weight by reducing calories. A better, more sustainable way, is to create a calorie deficit using exercise. I know how unhappy you are and I know you want to see results quickly but VLC diets are not sustainable long term.

I did the 8 week blood sugar diet - great for people who are addicted to sugar. I really enjoyed it once the first week of carb detox was over.
I lost 16kg (2.5 stone) and most of it has stayed off over the year. I have totally changed my way of eating.... feel so much better for it

I have lost 4 stone with the keto diet in the last year. I started off a similar weight to you. The main thinking behind the diet is that weight gain is caused by insulin resistance and restricting calories doesn’t tackle this so you’re fighting a losing battle by following the usual eat less move more mantra. Eating keto reduces your insulin resistance, maintains/increases metabolism and moves your body’s set point so you’re not constantly battling to stay at a lower weight.

I wish I’d discovered it 15 years ago. You don’t need to buy any special products and I find it really easy to stick to.

To get into ketosis; a fat burning state instead of a carb burning state you need to eat fewer than 20g of carbs a day, moderate protein and enough fat to make you feel full.

A normal day for me might be fried bacon, sausage, egg and mushrooms for breakfast, skip lunch and salmon, broccoli with (keto) cheese sauce for dinner. Or I skip breakfast and eat avocado, cheese, ham and boiled egg for lunch or a Caesar salad with no croutons and loads of dressing. Eating more fat means I’m fuller and I feel more satisfied between meals; i don’t want to snack and just eat when I’m hungry. It’s very liberating for a former sugar addict! Drinks wise I can still have gin and diet tonic or a couple of glasses of prosecco or red wine without getting knocked out of ketosis.

Now if I have the odd carby treat on a weekend, but eat keto in the week I tend to maintain my new weight quite easily. If I’m strictly keto all the time I’m still losing.

If you want more info around keto and particularly the science around it the 2 keto dudes podcast first few episodes are brilliant.

All diets work for in the short run - the key to long-term weight loss maintenance is to not diet, but to change your lifestyle. That does mean slow and steady in order to make permanent changes to your habits so that any weight loss is also permanent.

I do suspect slow and steady is a myth perpetuated by diet companies

I think you've got it the wrong way round. Slow and steady is a diet company's worst nightmare in a lot of ways because you don't need to "diet" to achieve slow and steady, you need to adopt a new and healthy lifestyle which supports the weight you should be. A VLCD is the myth. Pay a fortune and gain drastic results. But learn nothing about a healthy lifestyle and in 95% of cases, put it back on and more.

Unless you know why you've put on weight in the first place and how to maintain a healthy weight, dieting is pointless.

Do you know of anything locally that might help? Have you seen your GP?

You absolutely can do this but a VLCD is overwhelmingly unlikely to be the answer.

I’ve put on weight by eating too much

Do 5:2 op it really works.

No, I would gain a lot of weight on that, thanks though.

From yesterday’s paper, seems doctors are recommending the drastic approach for some people.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/25/formula-meal-diet-plan-can-tackle-obesity-in-short-term

What is your plan to change your bad habits; why can't you change to good eating habits today, and keep them up forever into future?

hotchips. Can I ask though your diet is low cal?

OP, I had amazing success with The Scarsdale Diet - a super easy, and fast, Diet from the 1970s. You can buy the book on Amazon for 99p. He tells you what to eat each day (just the ingredients, not portions or how to cook it) for 2 weeks.

For example, on Sundays you'd eat:

Breakfast:
Grapefruit, or fresh fruit in season.
One slice low-carb bread.
Coffee or tea.

Lunch:
• Cold or hot turkey or chicken
• Tomatoes, carrots, cooked cabbage, broccoli or cauliflower
• Grapefruit, or fruit in season
• Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water

Dinner:

•	Plenty of broiled (grilled) steak, all visible fat removed before eating; any cut of steak you wish- sirloin, porterhouse, London broil, etc.
•	Salad of lettuce, cucumbers, celery, tomatoes (sliced or cooked)
•	Brussels Sprouts
•	Coffee/Tea/Diet Soda/Water

I found it so easy, and the weight falls off. It's low-calorie and low-carb, and it teaches you to eat in a completely different way, which is regally easy to carry on when you're all thin and gorgeous.

I lost 3.5 stone in 4 months and kept it off for 8 years!

I really wouldn't do the shakes/replacements - you're really setting yourself up to regain it all when you start actually eating again.

ll - It’s a lot easier to eat healthily, exercise, do the “right”things, when you aren’t massively fat.

The myth perpetuated by the diet industry is losing weight by reducing calories. A better, more sustainable way, is to create a calorie deficit using exercise

It’s alnost impossible to exercise enough to create a calorie deficit if you don’t change your eating habits.

Don’t get me wrong, exercise is really good for you and important for weight loss but it has to be in conjunction with eating less of the wrong stuff and more of the right stuff.

There are risks to VLCD, such as gallstones and loose skin.

I was massively fat in January. I cut out carbs, sugar and things I knew were ‘bad’. Basically I stopped eating everything I like 😂

I’ve gotten so used to it. It’s now easy to stick to and I’ve lost 5 stone. Now I feel confident enough I’ve joined the gym and love going. (You would laugh if I had said that a few months ago.)