Considering Cambridge Diet, advice needed please

[gingernutlover]

hello all, I am thinking about doing this diet soon, my SIL is a councellor for lighterlife but I undertsand that cambridge is basically the same thing but with a therapy session each week. I am already having councelling anyway (for PND) so think I'd rather try the cambridge diet, the price is also a big convincer as me and dh want to both do it. I am 5,4 and weight 14.5 stone, want to lose at least 4 stone. just had some questions.

do i have to have a medical with my gp or his consent to do the diet?

how long am I looking at to lose 4 stone and gradually get onto maintaining etc befroe I can start eating normal food ie not the food packs again. I know everyone is different but a vague estimate?

What format does the programme take, ie do I attend meetings? Will I meet others on the diet? What happens each week?

Does anyone do the diet with their other half?

Has anyone come out the other end and maintained their wieght loss? I would like to think the new me will be motivation to form good habits but interested to hear your views.

just to add, the counselling I am getting is not specific pnd counselling, just general for my self esteem which is the root of my unhappiness and my overeating iykwim. Maybe lighter life counselling is fantastic but it just sounds soooo expensive

Hi there,

I've done Lighterlife and Cambridge - I found the Lighterlife counselling fairly useless really - Cambridge is much more independent. Different counsellors run it differently but most just give you an appointment - weigh you, note it in your records and take your order for the next week's food packs. It's not usuallly done in a group setting - so I doubt you'd get to meet others.

It is a quick fix - and you will only keep the weight off if you change your eating habits. Most people ime yoyo up and down with these diets - but I do know people who have used them as a desperate measure - me included - and once they've lost the weight they adopt a healthier life-style and keep the weight down.

Not sure how long 4 stone will take - everyone's different - I think a stone in a month is pretty common - but not sure of it slows down after the first bit.

Good Luck !!

Forgot to say - I had to have a medical for Lighterlife as you have to be calssed as "obese" before they'll put you on it. But I am pretty certain you don't have to for Cambridge although they might advise it - I don't think it's compulsory !

thanks scatter brain. the idea of a meeting actually doesnt appeal which was putting me off any more diet clubs, I have done the rounds of weight watchers, slimming, world and rosemary conley a few times each and nearing 30 feel I really must do somthing drastic, I have yoyoed on every single diet I have evr done and what appeals about the cambridge is the promise of fast loss which m,ight just keep me going long enough to see results. I really wnat to be a size 12 again and be able to keep up with dd who is really getting aorund now.

have emailed off using their website so hoefully a local rep wioll be in touch soon

also thanks for the tip about LL sessions, the thought of sitting for 2 hurs and discussing my own fatness with others just really doesnt appeal, would rather be doing anything else ....

when you say the consellers just wiegh you and record it, does this involve any chat at all - why are they called counsellers?

I think they have to keep records - they're not at all doing "counselling" - actually I'm not even sure now that they are called counsellors - I may have got that wrong.

Usually it's just a quick chat "How are you geting on ?" type stuff and they can offer you bits of advice - like if you say you are a bit constipated they'll recommend drinking more water etc - not at all deep or menaingful I'm afraid !

But on the whole I like it better that way !

shallow and terribly unmeaningful is absolutely fine. Cabn't wait to start . . . . . .

.... so why do I want to go downstairs and eat biscuits??????????????????????????/

Well if you're anything like me you will now stuff yourself stupid before starting the diet ! One good thing is that the first few pounds come off really really fast if you do !!!

Gingernutlover ...... have a look at the other recent Cambridge Diet thread here. There are a few of us doing it right now.

I lost 21lbs in my 1st 3 weeks. Don't know what I lost in Week 4 because my weigh in would have been due on Xmas Day ! I now don't get weighed until 8th Jan, but am still hoping to register a loss then even though I've eaten all sorts for the last 3 days.

I'm back on the diet as of today. Not too hard because I actually made myself feel quite sick with what I did eat .... think maybe that was a reaction to fat/sugar etc after 4 weeks of not consuming any.

Personally, I don't find the diet too hard (so far). I certainly haven't felt hungry at all ..... though I admit I do feel bored. One great side effect for me is that I haven't had any headaches on the diet .... yet used to get them 3-4 times a week before eating "normal" food (mind you, there's a lesson in there somewhere).

My Cambridge Counsellor is great ...... she encourages questions and says she's always on the end of a phone but like you, I did not want to sit around discussing potatoes (or whatever that week's topic was) for an hour. I find it much more helpful to have a one to one session where you can ask about things which matter to you personally.

As Scatterbrain says, like any diet, the weight will go back on if you don't sort your lifestyle out. Cambridge do a "maintenance" programme (which I think is about 6-ish weeks) once you get to your goal, where you gradually reintroduce foods into your diet and also gradually up your calories. The idea behind this - I think - is to help re-educate yourself re: portion sizes and "wise" choices ...... obviously everyone's metabolism is different and the idea is that you try and establish what it is that you -personally - need to consume in order to be the right weight for you (i.e. not putting any on, not losing any more).

I am determined to go through that plan because I really want to discover my own personal limits ..... it would otherwise be so tempting to blow out once you get there.

hi catsmother

thanks for the advice, 21lbs in 3 weeks is absolutely amazing, well done. Your comments ahve made me sure this is right for me, and I wiill also read the othert thread.

a friend yesterday said to me that she lost a stone in a month at ww but, am I right in thinking I can expect to carry on losing quite quickly if I stick to this? On ww I find it very difficult to keep up the motivation when I have yet another 1.5lb loss after a week I thought I had really done well