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Original poster

How much can you lose in 6 months on CAMBRIDGE DIET?

27 replies

LadyOfTheHollyAndTheIvy · 29/12/2007 19:29

If you are classed as obese/very obese and how many calories a day does following this plan work out at?
Many thanks.

OP posts:
whoops · 29/12/2007 19:39

I have been on the cambridge diet since mid October and have lost 3 stone so far.
As a guide they say about a stone a month is average for loss on CD my cdc says that you can't lose more than 3.5lb of fat a weeks anymore than that per week can be muscle I believe.
When you sole source you are having about 55o calories a day.
I have had a break from it over Christmas and restarted yesterday

Original poster
LadyOfTheHollyAndTheIvy · 29/12/2007 20:46

So how do you find giving up real food then?

OP posts:
whoops · 29/12/2007 21:01

I found it easier than I first thought I would!
I am determined to lose the weight so knew I had to stick to it, plus seeing the great results helped a lot too
I would recommend it to anyone in a dilema over which diet to choose

Original poster
LadyOfTheHollyAndTheIvy · 29/12/2007 21:47

so it costs around £32 a week yes?
is there any way to get it cheaper as we cannot afford that DH says.

I dont want to be fat anymore though.

OP posts:
whoops · 29/12/2007 21:57

My cdc charges £39
I was going to stop because of the cost of it but when I worked out how much I spent on the food I bought at lunchtimes and the takeaways etc I am probably saving money (well on food anyway ) I seem to spend a lot more on clothes etc at the moment

Alambil · 30/12/2007 00:01

Lady - get a book on a Low GI diet. Go for a walk that makes you sweat 3 times a week and join a gym if you possibly can (altho that will only aid it - not hinder it if you can't afford membership)

That is cheap (Low GI = meat and veg mostly with oats; no wheat, no caffeine, lots of minerals and good things for you - a few in nut/seed/dried fruit form)

It is really not expensive, especially if you have a market or such to get cheap veggies from.

Please try it - I have lost 2 stone (and gone from a size 26 to 20) in 10 weeks on this diet.

Just wanted to offer an alternative

Alambil · 30/12/2007 00:05

oh I really made a hash of that post - I will elaborate.

Low GI basically sorts your insulin levels and levels out your energy intake (carbs in morning, less in afternoon, none in evening) in order to aid digestion and weightloss.

The whole eating plan can be done for life - when you are at target weight, you can have weekends off.

It is very simple - no weighing out etc. It is all normal food.

The excersise is the bit that will make the difference; the walks need to be as fast as you can for a good 20 mins (to begin - can expand as necessary when you get fitter).

I am not an expert - I am simply a dieter on this diet and loving it (if only I could force myself to get back on the wagon after Christmas!)

Bubbaloo · 30/12/2007 00:33

I was on the CD and lost 4 stone in 3 months.Found it very easy as I didn't have to think about food at all and as whoops has said,I was actually saving money because if you add up everything you eat and drink in a week,I think you'll be very surprised to find it's more than you think.
I then got pg with ds2 and put on 5 stone.He is now 8 months old and although I've tried the CD again,I've found it really difficult this time around.You really need excellent willpower otherwise it won't work.It is very unsociable and apart from the lack of food,you have to drink an awful lot of water.
Best of luck if you decide to go ahead with it.I still have a couple of weeks supply,so I may try it again.

lulabelle · 30/12/2007 08:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chocolatespiders · 30/12/2007 09:02

it is meal replacement.. eg milkshakes, soups, bars. and tons of water.... you lose weight very quickly if you stick to it....

what about slimfast those that cant afford it?

Bubbaloo · 30/12/2007 11:54

Cd and Slimfast are very similar in price.Cd packs are around £1.65 each.

bigwombat · 30/12/2007 12:06

I did CD for a week (am not hugely overweight, maybe about a stone) and lost 7 lbs, but felt terrible (really faint and weak, couldn't even walk dd to school which is only 5 mins away!) Maybe I didn't stick to it for long enough to get used to it, but it is a very drastic diet. Dp however did really well on it and lost 3 stone in about 3 months (creeping back on over Xmas!)

mosschops30 · 30/12/2007 12:08

Yes you'll lose weight very quickly but once you stop, it will all pile back on again.

I find it hard to believe that in 2008 people will still be using 'diets' as a way of losing weight.

The most sensible (and reliable) way of losing weight is changing your lifestyle by eating differently and most importantly exercising. neither of these cost a fortune, or require any books or special drinks, what a croc of shit!!

Start walking every day to start with and build up your exercise levels and get a weightwatchers or slimming world plan

DaisyMoo · 30/12/2007 12:13

Does living in Cambridge count as doing the Cambridge diet?

juuule · 30/12/2007 12:16

CD was great for me to get rid of weight fast. I had tried other diets but got dispirited at the slow weight loss. Felt like I was putting a lot of effort in for nothing whereas with cd I could see results quickly. I lost over 2 stones in 8 weeks and felt great on the diet. Would love to do it again but sole source isn't recommended once you've reached a bmi of 25 and the cambridge diet counsellors wouldn't hear of it.
As for putting the weight back on, of course you will if you go straight back to the eating habits that made you overweight in the first place. But losing the weight that's getting you down and stopping you doing other things is a great start to changing your diet in the long term.

juuule · 30/12/2007 12:18

Daisymoo - I'm sure it does

DaisyMoo · 30/12/2007 12:20

Oh good, I will point this out to my scales

bigwombat · 30/12/2007 12:27

My BMI is around 25 so perhaps that was the problem with doing sole source - the counsellor said nothing to me! I've considered doing my own version substituting lunch for a CD soup, and eating healthy low cal stuff for the rest of the day... (dp still gets the soups from the counsellor so I can nab a few soups off him!)

juuule · 30/12/2007 12:28

Daisymoo - if it works, let us know. I might move to Cambridge

juuule · 30/12/2007 12:32

Bigwombat - didn't your counsellor explain about the stepping up and re-introducing food once you had reached bmi 25? I was given a booklet and a talk and everything was explained.
Have you had a look on the Cambridge diet site. There's more info there about the different diet stage programmes.

bigwombat · 30/12/2007 12:59

Thanks, will have a look. The counsellor was very relaxed - don't think she took it very seriously tbh!

chocolatespiders · 30/12/2007 13:07

you can buy a tin of slim fast milkshake for approx £5.00 this makes 12 shakes... to me that equals... approx 43 p per shake....

the soups are more but i would just have a tin of weight watchers soup... or other low fat soup which most are and prob tastier than others...

i am not against cambridge diet at all. just giving those who dont have much money an alternative- which there is,

whoops · 30/12/2007 15:29

The only thing about slim fast is that it doesn't have the nutrients that cambridge diet packs do

hercules1 · 30/12/2007 15:33

I lost 3 1/2 stone on cambridge over about 3 1/2 months HAve put on 1 stone since though. I would love to lose it using cambridge again but too much hassle to get to counsellor now and cant afford it.

Doing by calorie counting now

slalomsuki · 30/12/2007 15:38

I started the cambridge diet in September and found it OK but I didn't like the counsellor and stopped because of her. She spent all the time talking about herself and how it had changed her life and her family and not how I could do it. I would live to be able to do it myself without the counsellor since I have watched my mum do it sucessfully but haven't been able to find a source online.

I lost 10lbs in 2 weeks but found the soups disgusting and liked the bars

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