CAMBRIDGE DIET CLUB ....... THREAD 3

[catsmother]

As the old one was getting rather large.

Feel free to post this weeks good and bad news, frustrations, tips, feelings etc.

Wow Bendigo - that is fantastic! How much more do you want to lose?

Thought I'd do a 'for the record' moment myself - had a sneaky weigh-in today because I just felt thinner and I have lost 3 stones exactly in 64 days (9 weeks)! Sadly I am about half an inch shorter than I thought but that still gives me a bmi of 24.7 so can't complain. I shall settle for a few more pounds to get rid of my muffin top and then try to maintain and start toning in earnest.

Welcome and good luck Joash. In some ways you may find this diet easier than others because losing so quickly does motivate you, you shouldn't really feel physically hungry after a week or so and taking food completely out of the equation just simplifies it all.

Luciemule - I read an article from some US obesity institution (must look it up again) about the most successful dieters and maintainers and seemed to remember their research showed doing a sudoku or crossword when you felt a binge coming on worked better than other distraction methods. Worth a go!

Took me so long to write my post that we crossed posts bendigo! You are doing so well - time will fly for you.

Everyone seesm to be so positive about this diet - I'm glad becasue I have some friends who just think it sounds mad to not eat.

Hi girlies - well not such a great success story for me this week but Bendigo's post has just me break out into a huge smile it was so positive. I want my weight loss list to look like your's! Unfortunately I only lost a lb but that was entirely down to my crapness and complete lack of willpower. I did lose 4cms from hips though and added 1cm to bust (that's good as my boobs look like friend eggs!).
Right - time to stop making excuses and do the diet proper.
Will buy myself a crossword book this afternoon on the way back from school - good idea (sudoku might make me want to eat out of frustration!).

4cm is great! I was looking at my stomach tonight wondering how much it would have to shrink for me to be able to notice. Note that I am on day 3 and already thinking these things. I have a headache tonight. Normal?

Bendigo your weight loss is inspiring. I'm definitely not stopping no matter how tempting it is. I had to buy proper food for dd tonight and it cost me £9. I am going to struggle this weekend though not just with the food but without my glass of wine.

Must not give in though as I want to look better by the summer. Must not give in.

hi jumpingin - you need to drink more water I reckon if you've got a headache. If it's bad to start with, take 2 paracetemol then keep on drinking. I include lots of red bush tea as well as water as it's caffeine free but who am I to give any advice after my big binge tonight on 2 flour pancakes spread with creme fraiche and jam!!! Just what am I doing. I have absolutely no idea. Also decided to sole source again this week but instead, I allowed myself a tea of quorn chicken and rocket. There's a blip in my brain which needs switching off at tea time I think. I'm going to take some pictures of my wobbly thinghs I think and stick them everywhere in the kitchen - that might work.....

jumping in, a headache is very normal. just drink loads of water and have a headache tablet if you normally wd. don't suffer in silence! the 1st week is the hardest i think, i felt very weak and tired and cold and basically sorry for myself but the losses will keep you going as everyone else says!

had my 3rd week weigh in today and have now lost 18.5 lbs in the 3 weeks and 2.5 inches round my waist. my skin is also much improved, as is my self esteem already! i can't really notice a huge difference yet in my body but i think it takes your mind a while to catch up!

well done everyone for their great losses, esp you bendi, you really are inspiring!

this thread is great cos it shows so many people at different stages on cd and gives us all hope and encouragement!

well done Devonshire - great losses.
How are finding it now - can you cope without cheating?

Just read about Cambridge diet on web as am totally fed up being 7 stone over weight. Does it work and am I going to have to re mortgage to pay the food packets each week.

Yes Natric - it does work !

It's not easy, and very boring, but you will notice results far sooner than on other diets.

Read through this thread, and 2 previous ones, which will give you an idea of people's different experiences.

21 meal replacements (soups, shakes) cost £32.50 a week. Plus you might spend on bottled water, if you don't like tap water.

thanks luciemule, i am just being strong as i know that if i cheat once it will be the beginning of the end!

it costs me £32.55 a week, prob less than i wld spend on meals and drinks and all the additional crap i wld buy!

hello Natric01 - yes it does work if you do it properly but even with cheating, I've been losing 3lbs a week on average and have now lost 16lbs in 6 weeks. It's the first time in goodness knows how many years, I've noticed myself looking slimmer and now I'm thinking this diet really does work (I know I sound like an advert but I didn't know anything about the diet until a coupole of months ago when a friend told me about it).
Why don't you give it a go and see how you get on. The reckon on average to lose a stone per month if you do the sole source plan. It roughly costs 35.00 per week if you buy 3 shakes but counsellors can charge what they want but I guess they're all pertty similar.

Thanks Devonshire
Really thinking about giving it a go only problem is still breastfeeding and DS3 will not take formula I had to work today fed him at 08.45 when I left, mil tried to give him bottle of formula no joy he didn't cry and was happy all day but didn't have anything other that 100ml's of baby juice until I got in at 6pm. Can you do this whilst breastfeeding or do you have to wait till after and if so is there a time I should wait DS3 5mths

while we on the subject of the sucess of cd...is there anyone on this thread or that you know of who has done cd, got to target and stayed there?

i hope that when we go back to eating, we can keep this weight off! is it like any other diet do you think, if you slip back into old habits the weight will go back on?

some people in RL have said that if you lose weight so fast eating so few calories, it can't stay off once you are eating again...meanies!!

whaddya reckon?

natric, not whilst bfeeding.

Devonshire - I read on the CD website that they have proven that just because you lose weight quickly, there's no evidence to suggest it'll go back on quickly. However, that's where the maintenance phase plays the big part. ALso, when you starve your body, any fat that it does have, after that, it stores to keep the body from starvation. (I think that's right). So I guess it's about maintaing the weight with the right number of calories for your weight/height so you always keep it in check. Don't completely quote me on this but I reckon that's about right. Read the FAQ's on the site - it answers about putting weight back on. Perhaps once your metabolism has readjusted, you stop putting it back on as quickly - that's just a theory, that last bit.

thanks luciemule, will have a look!

i just imagine being a skinny pin and eating what i like when i get to target and not gaining. i live in a dreamworld!!

I think that's what I'm doing at the moment - looking at my quite nice new figure and thinking oh well I'll just eat that..............wahtever it happens to be! It won't stay quite nice for very much longer will it?!!

I don't think I could drink anymore water! I had 2.5 litres while at work today and came home and had 3.5 pints of water. Not sure what that is in litres but a lot!

you will quickly get used to it, your bladder will turn to iron as well! i have about 4 litres on average but may up it if my losses slow.

Hi everyone, i got weighed today and have lost another 3 lb, that's now 33 lb in total that i've lost.

Feel so much better for it.

Still have loads more to lose.

catsmother Carry on and you'll lose that next stone by april.

joash Welcome and good luck.
We're all here to support you and you will feel great once you see the weight begin to fall away.

bendigoblue Well done with your 43 lb weight loss.
I have some catching up to do!!!

moonshine 3 stone in 9 weeks is fantastic.

devonshire well done on losing 18.5 lbs in 3 weeks.

Sorry if i've not mentioned everyone.

You're all doing so well.
Wouldn't it be great if we could all meet up sometime with all of our before photos.
What do you all think?

Hi,

I've just joined mumsnet and noticed this thread, can't say I can get through all the posts though!

I've been on CD for 2 weeks and have lost 9lbs so far. I need to lose another stone minimum to be in the healthy BMI range.

My partner followed CD while I was pregnant with #2 and lost almost 6 stone in as many months. He's largely kept it off, but his weight does flucuate more now than it used to. If it gets out of control he does sole source for a week to keep it in check. He finds it hard to keep to the maintainence plan.

Hi Emmyroo - it's nice that you're husband can support you as he's done it already and knows how hard it is.
Slightly changing the subject - how do you find studying with two small DCs? I'm planning to go back and do a PGCE once my DS starts school in 2 years time but not sure if I'll cope?
Anyway - let us know how you're getting on - I'm always of in need of tips to stop cheating: everyone else seems to have loads more willpower than me!

Natric - I don't think you can sole source while breastfeeding. I remember how exhausted I often felt when I was breastfeeding and that was eating normally. You'd really have to discuss with a counsellor but I expect that if they accept you at all it will be on one of the higher calorie plans.

As for keeping the weight off. Well, my counsellor has. She lost 3 stone about a year or so ago and is still slim. She still drinks loads of water each day - that way she's not tempted by sugary drinks, and it helps curb her appetite. She eats normally now, but is very aware of portion sizes and tries to eat healthily for most of the week, with just 1 day of treats at the weekend, instead of a takeway several times a week. All sensible stuff, and all stuff we know (or should know) how to follow. Personally, I am hoping that the incentive of being 9.5 stone again for the 1st time in god knows how many years will be enough to keep me in check. I intend to cut back when I notice a pound or so gain, rather than simply moving into "big" clothes.

I'm very lucky because I have 100s of pounds worth of clothes vouchers to spend. This is the legacy of birthdays and christmases from about the last 3 or 4 years, but I have always vowed only to spend them once I got the body & weight I wanted (I have been living in cheap Tesco jeans because I didn't want to spend more than I had to on "big" clothes). So ...... that will be another incentive for me, because I will want to stay in my lovely new clothes.

Fact is we are all larger than we want to be because we ate too much and/or didn't exercise enough. If we carry on like that afterwards we will get large again. I think eating healthily is vital and TBH, right now, the thought of eating healthily - or eating anything at all - seems wonderful. Maybe I am torturing myself, but throughout this I have read loads of cookery books and storing away healthy-ish recipes to concentrate on once I get to goal. For example, it is possible to make passable chips in the oven with just a very fine spray of that 1-cal oil, making sandwiches without butter by using very low fat mayo or tsatsiki instead ...... that sort of thing. I really think that's the path I am going to have to try and follow when this is over, and plan "treats" once or twice a week only, because, unfortunately, I'm not the sort of person who can just eat 1 square of chocolate a day !

Hopefully, going through the CD maintenance plan will help me stick to that. My counsellor also said to keep telling myself that getting to goal is your investment in yourself. Not only will you have spent a fair bit of money to reach that point, you have also invested in your health, so it would be awful to throw that away.

Wow this thread has moved on really quickly - usually when I'm not here. Do you all hide in a corner somewhere and wait for me to go?

Catsmother - you are very similar to me. I obsess over cook books and mags and save recipes etc. I have jut taken a subscription out to Good Food actually because I think it's great and they always list the full nutritional value of each recipe. Anyway, good luck with reaching your target.

...and this is where I am bowing out. I am an 'all or nothing' girl and have known for several days/weeks that I had reached the end of my tether. Funnily enough that Louise Rednapp documentary, of all things, helped me make up my mind as it made me think this is no way to lead my life now.

I don't want to put a downer on the diet. God knows it has served me well, even though I have been obsessed with it/Lighterlife since April 2005 when I was nearly 18 stones. Today I am 10st 9.75lbs. I know I should move up the maintenance plan but I just don't do 'sensible' or 'advisable' on the whole. I ate my first meal last night (chicken and salad!) and will try not to go on a carb-fest, but I will not not eat things like tomatoes, carrots, wholemeal bread etc until week whatever. I need to get myself back into some kind of 'normality' which involves coping with hunger, eating with my family and tasting the things I bloody well spend ages cooking! And I want to really start exercising and toning properly - oh and have a drink.

My deal with the devil is that I expect to put on some pounds quickly but then I shall try the more conventional cutting down and exercising route (and occasional CD pack I'm sure) and hopefully stop being so bloody miserable. I shall just not let it get so out of control this time if/when I do put on weight.

If you have got this far, well done and sorry for the long post. I shall still pop in to check how people are doing and to let you know just how badly or not I am doing.

Good luck all with your weight-loss journeys.