1:1 (Cambridge?)

[NamechangeoutedbyMIL]

Right, this is it (after Christmas and new year...)

What have your experiences been with the Cambridge diet?

Currently around 13 stone ish (haven't weighed myself for ages... Living in denial) would like to get to 9 and a half stone ish. 5ft 4.

Is this going to be the one???

Cambridge is great ! Tastes so nice especially the mousse but you really have to be careful when you come off .

Yes same thing with me - weight back on and some more.
I have not managed to diet successfully since and that was 10 years ago.

@TheMostHappy and @Blossomhill123
Do you have any advice or tips to help those of us at the start of the journey? Is it about continuing with the consultant meetings so as to get support to maintain the new healthy weight?

@Iprefergin Thank you for sharing that. Makes me less alone.
Am hoping the structure around what I can and cannot eat will help bring clarity

For me it was a willpower thing. I fell off the wagon spectacularly. I was doing really well for the first 11 weeks, followed the plan to the letter, then I had to do a 26 mile charity walk and DH said I needed to eat to prepare. And I ate and then I couldn't stop eating and I was too embarrassed to go back to the consultant the following week because I'd put on a bit of weight so couldn't pick up more supplies from her so carried on eating until I gained back allllll the weight plus an extra few stone . So yes I'd suggest sticking with going to the consultant!!

I would agree - your consultant is there to help you plan for how your eating plan can fit in with whatever life is throwing at you, so you could discuss stepping up or down if you need to eat more/lose more.

Day 7 I can hardly believe it. How is everyone else doing? Kids are back at school which is brilliant

Day 4 here. Much easier now I’m back at work and not confronted with the Christmas chocolate at home

Well done everyone.

Are you resisting the urge to weigh yourselves?

I will weigh every 2 weeks or so. Dont care about the scales just want fat loss and inch loss

I started originally back in June and lost just over a stone, but started to creep other food into my diet so was only losing a pound or staying the same or regaining the same pound, so I stopped and tried to go it alone. Inevitably, I put it all on again bar 2lbs, so stated again last Thursday and have lost 6lbs so far, hoping to do a couple more by my Friday weigh in with my consultant.

I find that carbs are really the worst. As soon as I eat some, I become ravenous for more and my whole day becomes written off. So if I do have the odd cheat along the way, I am going to try and make sure it's not carbs!

For those saying a out not putting the weight back on afterwards, the idea is that you gradually reintroduce food as you go up through the steps, so it shouldn't be a case of going from products straight back to proper food with no restrictions. In theory!!

My friend who started on the same day as me last year has lost nearly 4 stone and looks amazing and I am kicking myself that I didn't stick with it and that I'm not where she is now.

I haven't weighed at all. H even went out and bought some fancy scales and I haven't gone near them. I tend to get obsessed with numbers so I'm hoping I notice a difference in my clothes by the end of the month. H on the other hand has lost 8lbs since Saturday!

can anybody let me know how much it costs (the Cambridge diet) even if its a rough figure? I'm assuming you have to buy all your food from them for every meal?

@guiltynetter it’s roughly £2.50 per product. Depending on what step you start on will depend on how many products you have a day. I’m on step 2 which is 3 products and a 200 calorie meal but step 1 would be 4 products.
It can seem a lot but I remind myself I would think nothing of spending £6 plus on lunch everyday

You can get 60 shakes for £45 on exante.

Having done both, I lost more on Cambridge. The accountability with a consultant and the higher cost made a psychological difference to my commitment.

Do the products fill you up? I'm a nightmare if I'm super hungry!

I've got my first appointment with a local consultant on Friday - anything I should ask?

I will be honest the first 4/5 days are torture you are sonbloody hungry. But now the hunger has gone I'm still battling the cravings mainly for toast but it's just that. I'm seeing the shakes as fuel and just that. Exante only do 4 vegan shakes and only 1 of them tastes nice so I'm pretty restricted. But I'm feeling better mentally, taking care of myself, making sure my nails and makeup is on little.things like that I let slip when I feel down about myself.

Sounds like you're doing amazingly @FthisS especially as you're more limited with the choices.
I'm keeping the first week clear so I can get some early nights, help keep energy levels up!

Right, I'm in. Saw the consultant this morning and am stocked up for the week. I had stuff in which I can do a 200 cal dinner with so decided to strike whilst the iron is hot! I'm starting from Step 2 as I've still got the family to cook for and am fairly sure I don't have it in me to go full on product. I just picked a random selection of things to try. So far I've only had the Thai noodles but they were surprisingly lovely. About to go try a shake of some sort...

Urgh, I don't think I'm a shake person. I had a lurid pink strawberry one earlier, looked like pepto bismol, I stirred rather than blending and it was lumpy too. Better luck next time. I was more than happy with my 200 cal dinner of skinless sea bass sprinkled with Cajun spice plus asparagus and broccoli. I'd eat fish every meal if I could but my middle DS isn't so keen so I'm going to make the most of it. My 3rd product of the day is a pack of little salted caramel chewy bite things. I had two before dinner, they are mega sweet so will have a couple more later. Really good for scratching my regular chocolate cravings though. I'm going to try the macaroni cheese tomorrow and see whether that scratches my savoury itch!

You definitely need to blend them, it literally makes all the difference! Good luck.

I always find the strawberry shake is lumpy however I mix it. Chocolate orange is my fave but they’ve discontinued it
So far I’ve enjoyed all the savoury stuff (the cottage pie looks rank but tastes good) and I really like the soups too.
The mint and the peanut bars are my absolute fave though
Have you found the 1:1 blog which has a few 200 cal recipes on?
www.one2onediet.com/blog/recipes

I'm just having the chocolate shake now made with a stick blender and it's much better with more air in it. I had the cottage pie earlier and was a bit nervous after looking at it but it wasn't so bad. Yes, I've seen that blog, thank you. I'm pretty relaxed about the 200 cal meal bit, stocked up today on various white fish and leafy green veg. I think I'm going to stir fry my piece of chicken tonight with a bit of 5 spice powder and some veg. Easy enough. The kids are having toad in the hole which I'm not keen on anyway. Meal planning stuff for them which I don't like is the way forward I reckon!! I've spread my salted caramel bites out over two days as they are so sweet I can only eat two at a go (in little bites) but they def scratch the itch. I think savoury stuff might be the tricky one for me so will order the golden veg powder for next week.

Oh and this is TMI sorry but holy crap, is it normal to have quite such an explosive reaction on Day 1?! My Thai noodles shot out my rear end last night, never seen anything like it. If I hadn't been at home I'd have been in real trouble. Is it either that or constipation?! Not sure which is worse...