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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

CAMBRIDGE Diet Support Thread

138 replies

ASecretLemonadeDrinker · 14/02/2011 13:03

2nd thread, I know, but the first was asking Qs. So, those of us that are doing it (not many seemingly!) can moan chat here :) I am starting tomorrow (I think - seeing lady tonight) - I am 5'3" & 13st 3lb (ish) and goal is 8st (used to be 9 and to be honest was kinda chubby still, I'll see how I am at 9st and tone though)

OP posts:
LondonSuperTrooper · 28/03/2011 12:40

Hello Ladies!

I'm a newbie to this thread and hope that you don't my joining you. Today is day 5 of my cambridge diet and I'm FINALLY in ketosis. I think it took me a while to get into as I'm taking fish oil supplements.

Looking forward to getting to know you all.

bubblebabeuk · 29/03/2011 21:19

Just thought an update was probably due, been on 810 for two weeks now and lost 4lbs first week and 3lbs this week, so pretty pleased and feeling happier about trying the 810 plan. It seems to be working well for me, especially while I can't reduce my level of activity until the veg patch is firmly established ;) my CDC says if I had been on SS I probably would of stayed the same. Its getting easier, if I do have a slip up its not the massive problem it is when on SS, your only in mild ketosis on the 810 plan which makes the difference.

bubblebabeuk · 29/03/2011 21:20

Hi LST, welcme to our cambridge thread, now your in ketosis it just gets easier and easier, don't cheat though that can put you back to the start and you have to go through the getting back into ketosis stage all over again :) when is your first weigh in? keep us posted and good luck

LondonSuperTrooper · 30/03/2011 08:52

Thanks bubble. How long have you been doing the plan? How much weight have you lost?

I'm getting weighed on Monday but it will Day 12 for me. I'm currently TTC (I should add not very successfully). According to my scales I've lost 10lbs so I'm pretty pleased about it.

I'm thinking of asking my CDC to do the 810 plan during my 2 week wait. What do you think?

wonka · 31/03/2011 10:35

Just thought I'd check in see who's still here
I've just has my 3rd weigh in I've lost one stone and half a pund in three weeks! I'm in the next stone zone!!
Too many I'm baking like a mad thing too.

laylasmummy09 · 31/03/2011 13:41

hi ladies can i join please? im starting tomorrow on ss and ive already cut out caffine but still having headaches im ttc and was wondering about the 2ww thing too, im 5'5 11st 12 lb size 16 and i cant wait to get started, good luck to you all and congrats on your next stone zone wonka

LondonSuperTrooper · 04/04/2011 10:58

Wonka, well done!! That is fantastic.

Laylasmummy - I'm TTC and have been told that it is OK to SS. With regards to the 2ww, I am intending to carry on SS and take a pregnancy test early. Was told by my counsellor and by Cambridge Diet Head Office that I must stop SS once i get the BFP..... so here's hoping that we'll both get the BFP this month Grin How much do you have to lose? How long have you been TTC?

As for me, I'm off to get weighed this evening. I have done 1.5 weeks of SS.

laylasmummy09 · 04/04/2011 13:43

hi london i want to lose 2 stone ive only done 4 days and ive lost 3 lb so i will be keeping it up, im struggling with the water intake but its the easiest diet ive ever been on coz i just tell myself if its not come out of that box its not going in me lol, my oh keeps offering me food and then apologizing, this is my first month ttc following my 2nd miscarriage hence the need to lose weight i want to do all i can to stop it happening again, what about u do you have much to lose, cant wait to see how u got on Smile

ASecretLemonadeDrinker · 04/04/2011 20:49

I keep cheating! I just can't do this diet, I'm crap. Her scales weigh alot more than mine, but I guess I am the same weight as the past few weeks - 12 10. I was 13 st (before a quick 5lb (9lb on her scales) gain) before the diet so all the weeks - months (!) of hard work and I have lost 4lb. I started this diet on her scales at 13 9, so maybe lost 13lb in total but that's rubbish :( My clothes started to fall off me and now I am padding them out again. I just cannot cannot stop cheating. Nearly 2 months now :( Why can't I just stop cheating???

OP posts:
VodkaGirl77 · 05/04/2011 09:14

Hi can I join you please? I'm four weeks into SS+ and after my weigh in yesterday have lost 1st 2lbs and 11" from my body, so am very happy with my progress.

A bit of background. I did CD (SS) back in 2007 after the birth of dd2 and lost about 4st, which I managed to mostly keep off until getting pregnant with dd3, when a combination of SPD and a penchant for Gregg's sausage rolls caused me to pile the weight on. Following her birth I weighed in at 16st 9lb and I managed to lose 1st 6lb through healthy eating and exercise during the 4 months after her birth. I decided to do CD to get the weight off as fast as possible, so I can get back into my old clothes and start to live a normal life!

I'm finding SS+ really good, as eating a small meal on an evening means that I can be a part of family mealtimes and stops me cheating through the day. DP has been very supportive, and as he does most of the cooking, he keeps finding new ways to cook the limited choices I have.

Anyway, that's me - my goal at the moment is around 11st, which won't put me quite in the healthy BMI range, but I may reassess at that point.

bubblebabeuk · 05/04/2011 11:04

Lemonade has you CDC not suggested the 810 plan, its perfect for those who struggle with no real food at all, you have three cambridge meals as well as a real meal, although the food your allowed is fairly limited in range it helps massively if your a bit of a picker!

For example Yesterday on 810 I had...........
Mapel and Pecan porridge for breakfast
Leek and potato soup for lunch followed by a "water flavourings" Jelly
for dinner I had 260g canned tuna in spring water (bigger than the normal tins) with a pasta bowl full of lettuce, cucumber and chopped up radishes with a generous drizzle of fat free (1% or less) salad dressing. then I had another jelly for pudding and had my toffee cambridge bar (chilled in fridge) chopped up into loads of pieces while watching tv in the evening.

Because the amount of protein is huge for one meal, sometimes I'll turn it into two smaller meals, you could have two eggs instead and make an omlette, loads of recipy ideas. also I usually end up with bits left that I can pick at, I put any extra prawns or chicken and cucmber and raddishes in the fridge for nibbly moments.

bubblebabeuk · 05/04/2011 11:07

Water flavouring Jelly allowed on all Cambridge diet plans from SS through to maintenance

350mls cold water (out of the tap is fine doesn't need to be stupidly cold)
1/2 teaspoon of chosen water flavouring (adjust to taste tho)
1 scoup mix a moussee

using a hand held stick blender, blend the bollocks out of it, tip it into two pudding dishes, put in fridge, takes a couple of hours to set, I make mine every morning, its ready by lunch time.

bubblebabeuk · 05/04/2011 11:15

London, I've been on the plan since the 22nd of Feb

start weight - 12 stone 11lbs

week 1 -5lbs (SS)
week 2 -4lbs (SS)
week 3 STS (SS)
week 4 -2lbs (810 plan)
week 5 -2lbs (810 plan)

week 3 even though I didn't cheat I stayed the same, my CDC thought it was due to being overactive, 2 piglets under the age of 2 and I was doing an hour on the wii fit as well as digging over my veg patch. so I switched to 810, and the weight started dropping again.
Total loss so far is a lb off one stone, so am very excited about my weigh in this evening to see if I've broken the first stone loss :)

LondonSuperTrooper · 05/04/2011 12:19

laylasmummy I need to lose about 2 stones to get into the healthy BMI range. So far I have lost 15lbs on the CD (includes yesterday's weigh in).
Unfortunatley after SS for 12 days, I stuffed my face when I got back from my weigh in last night Angry. I'm back on the plan now though but of course I am no longer in ketosis. I hope that I can hope with the horrible business of getting into ketosis, last time it took me 4 days and it was a nightmare!

secretlemonade Really don't know what to say as I cheated big time yesterday. All I can suggest is getting back onto the plan. Perhaps you can think about what bubble said?

vodka It's great that you are getting on so well with SS+ Are you in ketosis? What is the avergae weekly weight loss on SS+?

Bubble Good luck with your weigh in thos evening! Hope you get past the 1stone barrier. Thanks for sharing your reciepes etc.

LondonSuperTrooper · 05/04/2011 13:05

After my 12 days on SS and my spectacular binge last night am I supposed to class today as SS day 13 or SS day 1? Just curious musing ......

VodkaGirl77 · 05/04/2011 15:01

LondonSuperTrooper - personally I wouldn't say it's day 1 - you've got straight back on the wagon - just keep going and you've got another week before your weigh in so plenty of time to get any weight off that you might have put on.

I think I'm in ketosis - although today I am a bit hungry but mostly I don't feel the hunger. My losses so far have been 5/5/2(night out)/4 so not far off SS losses I think.

bubblebabeuk - good luck with your weigh in tonight and I'm sure you'll break that 1 stone barrier

ASecretLemonadeDrinker - hope you can get back on the programme - like bubble said what about 810 or even SS+ - having an evening meal really keeps me on the straight and narrow.

Have just baked cookies for the family - think they are a little over done, but hopefully they will enjoy them anyway. Absolutely love baking, but it is hard not nibbling or licking the spoon!

LondonSuperTrooper · 06/04/2011 09:47

Well had another binge last night Blush and hoping to stick to the plan from now on......

bubblebabeuk · 07/04/2011 08:19

Week 6 -2lbs

Now lost over a stone :) however I know my weightloss should be more than that and I know its because a haven't been managing all three cambridge diet packs in a day, so will be making a proper effort this next week, will have them all without fail.

LST - it might help if you dont binge and then write off the day if you know what I mean, its too easy to fall into the "I already messed up will just have some more" train of thought, one bag of crisps is less of a big deal than say 6 okay.

even if you cheat, always always drink enough water and have the right number of cambridge packs, its also worth having things, its not the end of the world if you eat available to you. put prawns, cooked chicken, cucumber stuff your allowed on 810 anyway in the fridge, if you can't help yourself snack on that. by having carbs you knock yourself out of ketosis and start carb cravings again, it makes it all much more difficult again and means you have more chance of a slip up ;) if you cheat by eating chicken or slices of ham that kind of thing, it probably won't knock you out of ketosis and thus adversly affect your weight loss.

If your actually feeling genuinly hungry you really needs to drink loads and loads, it really does help. maybe try splitting packs down so its feels like your having more. make the jelly, really handy as a pseudo-sugar fix, better for you to eat than biscuits or chocolate. The veg flavouring is so like a soup it makes a good subsitute meal, so I don't have to use a cambridge pack at lunch or can have one as pudding instead.

Remind yourself how much this diet costs, everytime you cheat your cheating yourself out of weightloss and more importantly wasting money on the diet.

If chewing the bars makes you miss food more, its probably worth ditching the bars altogether. on the other hand if you can't resist it would always be better to have an extra bar than a mars bar, and even with it being an extra pack it still won't knock you out of ketosis. the same goes for the flavourings if having extra means you drink enough water and don't cheat, its a minor addittion in the great scheme of things.

You'll get there, be strong, you've been doing so well so far, don't let minor setbacks make you give up altogether.

bubblebabeuk · 07/04/2011 08:22

bugger think that should of been directed at lemonade, I'm so rubbish at remembering who I'm replying to. Spose it covers anyone cheating though.

Also forgot to say, Well done everyone, keep it up.
Everyone has slips, just don't let them destroy the hard work you've been doing.

VodkaGirl77 · 11/04/2011 13:05

Anyone around?

Had my 5th weigh in today and lost 2lbs - 18lbs in total. Although it's lower than I would have liked, I am pretty happy with it, as along with being constipated and TOTM, I had a bit of a naughty weekend - barbecues Friday and Saturday evening. I stuck to protein only, but of course burgers, steak and pork are not as low in calories as chicken and salad! Also had a few cheeky sloe gins (home made and very delicious). So all in all a respectable loss.

Hope everyone is doing well? Bubblebabe - well done on your 2lb loss - you definitely need to have all three of your packs a day, otherwise you won't be getting your full nutritional intake. Hope you have a good weight loss this week.

ASecretLemonadeDrinker · 12/04/2011 11:12

CDC suggested SS+, but if it's a choice betwen salad/chicken/fish and sticking to it 100%, I'd rather stick to SS 100%, I only cheat for crap food!

Had a hen weekend, so diet was totally out the window. Starting today again , I feel bloated and my pics were awful when I should have lost about 2st before it! The DSs are still eating pick and mix from their holiday - my favourites are left :( Trying so hard not to have "just one milkbottle". Had shake no.2 already today, but I didn't finish my breakfast hot choco

OP posts:
foreverondiet · 12/04/2011 13:59

Secretlemonadedrinker - why do you cheat - is it because you are hungry or for some other reason. Its a very expensive diet so if you are consistently cheating perhaps you need to address this and try something different rather than waste more money on it. Would you cheat on rubbish if you were totally full on chicken?

I am doing low carb low fat - sort of dukan meets south beach meets 1200 calories a day. If I really want to cheat, I do (on a small scale) and have a 1200 calorie day. If I can stick to low carb I have a dukan day etc. TBH I can't really eat carbs in any quantity anymore as I have spent so long thinking about them turning into fat on my thighs.

ASecretLemonadeDrinker · 13/04/2011 20:54

I have no idea. I just suddenly crave something....sometimes I'm actually hungry, sometimes I just pinch one crisp from a pack, then eat a whole pack because I have the taste for it, ... I wasn't eating so much crap before this diet! Today was a great ady...until MIL gave DS some milk chocolate buttons....I pinched one... then 3.... I'll keep trying, I have about 1 days worth, and if I can't do it i'll quit and go back to Dukan - I lost more on that and could eat!

OP posts:
foreverondiet · 13/04/2011 22:01

SLD Yes good thing about dukan is you can eat loads of proper food, but it doesn't help with cravings as its quite restricted. As I said I have been doing dukan(ish) and personally could not stand the idea of sticking to a shake based diet. And am loving myfitnesspal....

Another idea for you could be Tim Feriss's slow carb diet, also low carb BUT you have a cheat day once a week where you have to stuff yourself (look up 4 hour body).

hangingonathread · 09/05/2011 15:48

Is anyone still doing the Cambridge Diet? I started on Sunday and need a bit of support :)

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