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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.

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Original poster

Cambridge Diet Counseller very overweight - bit off putting

34 replies

lifeisforliving49 · 12/04/2015 11:32

Hello
I have a fair bit of weight to lose - over 5 stone to get to ideal weight. Decided to do cambridge for a month and then go to slimming world. I want some fast results to get my motivation going.

Met counseller last week. She has before and after photos on her website which show her as very overweight (before) - and super slim (after). I walked in the room and she was nearly same size as me. During conversation I gently asked her if she still uses cambridge - and she replied that she does but just for breakfast or lunch as she has re-educated herself about eating and only makes positive choices.

Am I being shallow in letting this put me off? She wanted to sell me a fortnights worth of cambbridge because she might not have any appointments next week - I said Iwill just have a week supply because not sure if it is going to suit me.

Does anybody else have experience of cambridge - and are most counsellors good examples of cambridge working?

OP posts:

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 12/04/2015 11:39

I have no experience of the diet, but I would be pretty dubious of any diet where a "counsellor" has shed lots of weight and then piled it all back on again...

EdSheeransGString · 12/04/2015 11:43

Yes I have followed the Cambridge plan 3 times over the past few years.

I lost 4 stone in just over 3 months the first time and my consultant was the same size as me when I started.she had before and after pictures which were great but she did state that she was no longer on the plan herself.

I came off it because I couldn't afford it and as soon as I started eating (proper healthy food not like I was before) the weight piled back on because my body wasn't used to food after 4 months of liquid food.

I attempted it again after the birth of dd2 but failed miserably and I have just started it again with the leftover shakes from last time but I don't know if I can keep going

It's very very hard emotionally. It's easy to follow but the hunger (for me anyway) the first week is unbelievable.

Every person I know who has been on Cambridge and came off it has put weight back on and never kept it all off.

JemFinch · 12/04/2015 11:48

It's a great quick 'fix' but isn't sustainable long term. As your counsellor shows. Can you just go straight to SW, it's more achievable.

Original poster

lifeisforliving49 · 12/04/2015 11:59

That isn't good is it - dont want to go through all the deprivation just to put it back on.

I think I will just use the stuff I have got this week and then be brave and go to slimming world and see how that works for me.

Thanks for comments.

OP posts:

VeryVeryDarkGrey · 12/04/2015 12:11

Nope if my counsellor was overweight how could i trust the plan works?

26Point2Miles · 12/04/2015 13:01

Wow what is this 'stuff' she sells?

Original poster

lifeisforliving49 · 12/04/2015 13:52

The "stuff" is proper Cambridge Weight Plan food replacements - shakes, bars and cartons . All official Cambridge - but I am intelligent enough to know that I need to change my behaviour - eating. lifestyle etc - I just wanted to try Cambridge to give me an initial fast result.

It wasnt just her size - she was quiet ambivalent about everything - apart from trying to get me to part with my money

I will use the sachets I have and then bite the bullet and find the local slimming world.

OP posts:

26Point2Miles · 12/04/2015 13:54

Yes, use it up as you've paid for it

Good luck, I lost 5 stone through low carbing and exercise. Kept it off for 3 years now too. I'd be too ashamed to sell that stuff if I'd put it all back on

Dowser · 12/04/2015 16:51

Avoid. You're best doing a week of Dukan diet or wheatbelly diet. At least you are eating real food.

LokiPokey · 12/04/2015 17:29

Oh dear.
I'm going to see a Cambridge Consultant tomorrow for the first time. Not feeling very confident about it now

amothersplaceisinthewrong · 12/04/2015 17:31

It clearly does not work longterm then, OP.

Just eat less and move more.

FelixFelix · 12/04/2015 17:37

To be honest, I wouldn't bother carrying on after using up what you've paid for. I did Cambridge a few years ago and lost 3st, but put most of it back on over time. I know a hell of a lot of people (in real life and online) who have done it, or similar diets and only a couple have kept the weight off. One of those who kept it off is my DP but only because he took up cycling and does hundreds of miles a week now.

I've done every diet going and Cambridge or other VLCD programmes are the only ones I would discourage people from doing. It's just a waste of money and not sustainable long term.

Start Slimming World and see how you get on there. I believe the average losses on Cambridge is 1st per month, and SW is around 7lb a month, so realistically it will probably take you double the time but you won't be miserable and unsociable because you can't eat anything.

SoonToBeMrsB · 12/04/2015 17:59

I know someone who has lost three stone on Cambridge and kept it off for a year through healthy eating, it's not inevitable that you'll put the weight back on.

Jenda · 13/04/2015 12:33

I think the problem is that people lose the weight and think oh yay its done and go back to eating rubbish. My friend did this and piled it all back on and then some.

I disagree but this types of diets, but am doing one but my thinking is that I just want to blitz the first few stone (I am extremely overweight) and take food out of the equation, and then completely re-educate myself with slimming world or ww, or my own clean eating plan. So i see it as a headstart, not an answer.

My old SW leader was very overweight and it was embarrassing seeing her next to her slim photos. To be honest it made me sceptical about the whole thing, that and that her helpers were like stern school mams and I couldn't be bothered with feeling like i was a naughty little girl!

ppeatfruit · 13/04/2015 13:26

The real answer for staying slim for life is to eat healthy food but also re educate your body with Paul Mckenna "I Can Make you Thin" way of eating; so you eat when you feel hungry but you stop when you're full, which is done by eating and chewing slowly and really tasting the food. Also not ignoring your hunger signals. You're never hungry on it.

It works! I lost nearly 3 stone, am maintaining ,and a lot of others have lost more. (There's a good support thread on here) It's great because if you go off it you just go back on it the next day or wheneve. P.M. hates all the slimmimg foods; have you looked at the ingredients in the Cambridge stuff it's not real food IMO.

DH went on it lost a stone and put back 2stone on top!!

VipersBosom · 13/04/2015 13:39

I lost just under five stone on Cambridge, and have kept it off for two years by doing 5:2 and being 'mindful'. I understand why people are snide about VLCDs, but taking food entirely out of the equation was useful for me, because it made me think properly about the extent to which I used it as a reward/ procrastinating device/a comforter etc etc. Despite the fact that research now fairly unanimously suggests that weight lost quickly is as likely to stay off as weight lost slowly, people are still a bit incredulous about anything drastic and fast.

Weight loss is weight loss, however you do it. Some diets involve you from the beginning starting to eat the way you should be aiming to eat the rest of your life, some, like VLCDs, stop you eating 'normally' for period of time, then - if you do it properly - involve reintroducing healthy food in controlled steps. Either you re-educate your appetite and habits at the beginning in order to lose the weight, or after, as you are about to hit your target. You won't regain lost weight 'automatically', but only if you overeat/revert to old habits longterm.

For me, the key was working back up through the steps of reintroducing proper food gradually, until you reached a level where you were maintaining. And regular weekly weighing for me, which means I can combat a creeping pound or two rather than a stone or two.

OP, your consultant sounds like bad news. Do switch to someone you like and feel inspired by. Mine was lovely, sane, funny and realistic, and had maintained her target weight (helpfully, she was my height and the weight I was aiming for) for several years.

HelpMeGetOutOfHere · 13/04/2015 13:47

one of the school mums lost 8 stone on lighterlife and has kept it off, but she exercises a lot now and has completely changed the way she eats.

Someone else I know of, lost 10stone on slimming world and has kept it off, but what she doesn't tell people is how many hours she spends at the gym and on her spin bike at home. her instagram is full of gym shots.

Slimming world will work as will other plans but you need o be realistic and up the exercise a lot in order to get great results. If you have more than 5 stone to lose, you will probably need to exercise both cardio and toning exercises or end up with loose skin. I've lost over 8 stone and have exercised all the way but still have a horrible crepey tummy and my arms aren't as toned as I'd like.

But in answer to the question, no if my counsellor/consultant was overweight I wouldn't be encouraged by them, unless I could see that it was part of an ongoing weight loss maybe.

lucylou1977 · 13/04/2015 15:23

I wouldn't find it very encouraging, I have to say!

Having said that, I did once do a SW class and the consultant wasn't exactly skinny - she wasn't huge but had definitely put on a fair amount of weight since her 'after' pics. However, she openly admitted that getting to goal wasn't the end of the story and that maintenance could be tough and was a really supportive, enthusiastic consultant so I didn't actually mind.

ppeatfruit · 14/04/2015 09:36

It just shows that Little Britain is very true with Matt Lucas as the obese WW 'counsellor'

Skirting · 14/04/2015 10:12

I once saw my Cambridge counsellor completely gobsmacked. Two clients had collided on her doorstep, and one told her that the other woman was the Slimming World leader of a SW group she had used to attend. The leader claimed to her group her weight loss was down to following SW, while she was secretly on Cambridge...

ppeatfruit · 14/04/2015 10:13

OOOOOOh that's effing crazy.

Jenda · 15/04/2015 11:19

Vipers, how long did it take for you to lose 5 stone?

gotredonyou · 15/04/2015 11:28

I lost three stone in three months on Cambridge and have kept it off for the last year by calorie counting. My consultant was overweight but I didn't see that as an issue- After all it was my weight loss we were discussing not hers. She was very motivating and on call whenever I had any questions. It is the only diet I have ever succeeded at as it literally takes real food out of the equation- There is no temptation or cravings because once you get into ketosis you don't want to come out! I am considering joining again this summer to lose a further two stone for my wedding. :)

VipersBosom · 15/04/2015 11:33

Jenda, I did it quite slowly. I lost the first three stone in about 3.5 to 4 months, then took a couple of months out because of complicated personal circumstances -weight stayed relatively stable in the interim. Then I went back on a less strict step and lost the last stone/stone and a half in about seven or eight weeks. Generally, as you approach your target, the consultant suggests you start to move up the steps and incorporate more food.

In fact, I've lost another half stone since - my target was close to the top end of a healthy BMI, and I wanted a bit of a buffer. Where I am now suits me and is sustainable.

VipersBosom · 15/04/2015 11:35

I mean, quite slowly by VLCD standards. I think the general Cambridge estimate is that on the lowest step you lose a stone a month. My initial weight loss was quite dramatic, as you'd expect, but then slowed down.

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