Anyone done Lighter life?

[itsbetterthanabox]

I need to lose weight quote quickly due to a health problem and I'm wondering how lighter life worked out for people? I know you can just buy the packs now in superdrug so don't have to join a group. Or is there another vlc diet anyone can recommend?

My friend did the lighter life, she lost stones and stones and then she put it all back on with interest.

My friend did this and lost a shit load of weight, about 6 stone. But even she admits it's hard and you have to be seriously committed. One slip up will see you putting weight back on and hunger pangs back straight away. She didn't use a knife and fork for about 4 months.

It was also really hard to start eating normal food and not put all the weight back on. She's put about half her wright back in as she wasn't strict when she started eating solids again.

I know a couple of people who did this. They all lost weight, and then put it back on again.

I did! I lost eight stone and kept it all off and more. Are the packs the same price as when you go to a group? It was £66 a week when I did it and I found that was the main way I was able to stick to it, if I was ever tempted to cheat I'd think to myself that a biscuit would cost me £66 and all of a sudden I didn't want to eat it so much!

Much the same as PPs have said - I know someone who lost a great deal of weight using LL but, several years later, she is now heavier than she has ever been.

Only person I knew lost loads but put it all back on too.

Although apparently someone at DS's school did it and kept it off and is now a counsellor for them.

I have been tempted recently though. Need to lose 5 stone and am really struggling with sticking to anything.

When I was doing WW last year I met someone who had lost lots on the Cambridge Diet and was joining WW so that she wouldn't put it back on.

Bloody well done BigOrange!

My friend did it, she lost 10 stone in a year. (She put most if it back on within 6 months but that's wasn't the diet's fault in fairness)

In all honesty though I lost 5 1/2 stone in 7 months just by calorie counting so it's not always quicker. Plus MFP is free!

I depends on the individual. My friend wouldn't have managed with calorie counting, she needed the structure. She found it much easier to have no food at all than to limit what she ate. Hence the rapid re-gain when she finished.

I tried it for about 8 weeks but had a shit counsellor. It was expensive and the food packs are vile. My friend had a really good counsellor, lost loads of weight but is now back on it 4 years later. Slim and save do the best VLCD food in my opinion. The group therapy approach of LL is potentially very helpful but totally depends on the counsellor. It is also quite expensive compared to some others.

In my case I had to change my diet radically due to a health problem which led me to shed my weight almost as a side effect as I became unable to eat many foods.

Wow BigOrange! You need a new name!

Am impressed. More impressed you kept it off to be honest. How did you manage that? That's the bit that worries me. I'm tempted as I turn 50 in May and am going to New York and would love to have lost a good amount of weight - 3 stone would be good. It took me six months to lose that on WW two years ago but have put two of that back on.

Reincarnated thanks for the info on slim and save, that's much cheaper and I won't have to meet with a counsellor. My doctor has recommended a vlcd to me many times but I've been too scared. The stories of putting it all back on scare me. I don't mind putting back on some I just want to be a weight that doesn't exacerbate my condition.

I will not stick to mfp I know I won't. Or slimming world or low carb...

If your doctor's recommending a VLCD then go for it - but get a referral to counselling at the same time. You'll need to shirt out your relationship with food properly, and something like CBT should help you do this.

My sis did Lighter Life - lost loads, put it back on, still yo-yoing with other diets.

I tried LL it nearly killed me and 4 years later I still suffer.
I did it for 8 weeks and lost 3 stone but I wouldn't advise it as I now have really thin hair which is a common side effect but they reassure you it grows back...in my case it hasn't.
I also have a dodgy bowel and was bleeding heavily from my bottom.
I also cannot tolerate certain foods and I found that out when my guts started to contract to the point I thought it was a heart attack.
The doctor refused to let me do it anymore because of all the problems it caused me.
I have now lost 4 stone in 2 years counting calories and learned to cook from scratch.

Gobbymare - that is scary! I wonder why that would be? Were you having any solid food or just shakes?

Those side effects would scare anyone.

I was wondering about doing it just to lose a stone quickly and then do WW and sort of low carb.

I really struggle to stick to anything to be honest. I am starting a 'holistic' programme on Thursday with hypnotherapy, food sensitivity and nutritional analysis. It's the mental side that gets me. I can't seem to stick to anything at the moment.

Gobbymare poor you! Wow is that common at all? What caused the bleeding? I hope you start to feel better.

I have known somebody do it. Yes, she lost heaps of weight but she looked awful - drawn, pale, hairy face. A mate who hadn't seen her in 8 weeks thought she was ill

I tried one of the meal replacement packs out of curiosity. As soon as it hit my stomach, I vomited it back up, so it's not something I would try if I needed to lose weight.

A work colleague did LL and she lost loads of weight, she was was determined and committed. She never wanted to cheat. However once she went back to food none of the issues she had regarding eating had been addressed and she put it all back on just as quickly as she had lost it.
It was quite sad actually because when she lost weight she sent pics and her success story to a local magazine, however by the time it was published she had put most of her weight back on. She was gutted as the weight loss had been so brief.

I do think side effects are pretty common.

My friend lost a lot of hair, it did grow back eventually but took a very long time.
She also felt pretty rubbish throughout and was constantly cold.

I thinks me of the main reason that long term success is rare with VLCD is because total deprivation doesn't sort out the psychological issues. When you say you wouldn't stick to other diets that's a worry because if that really is the case then any weight you lose is just going to go straight back on afterwards anyway.

I think you are risking seeing VLCD as a quick fix and not looking at the bigger picture.

I'm not meaning to be nasty btw, it's just that that's exactly what my friend did and I wouldn't want you to go down that road.

To be honest it's been sheer will power. I was mid twenties when I did it and I'd been a size 22/24 for years. I dropped to a 12/14 and it changed my life completely. I had been bordering on agoraphobic prior to losing the weight because I was too embarrassed to go out with my thin friends. I could also all of a sudden shop in places other than Evans and wear trendy clothes for the first time ever. Every time I thought about having a blow out I remembered where I'd come from and it would put me straight off. I also calculated how much I'd actually spent on LL and couldn't justify wasting it.

I am trying to work out my binge eating issues. I am already having CBT for anxiety though so I don't think I'll be able to get help that way. I've seen nutritionists but I know how to lose weight I just can't do it without feeling awful.

Well if eating is one of your responses to anxiety - and that's not at all unusual - then ask your therapist to work on it with you as well?