Anyone else starting the Cambridge diet this week?

[hattiejacques]

I'm starting CD on Tues. My main worry is how my body will adapt after being on a vlcd? Anyone due to start soon or have any experience of maintaining their weight loss on CD

had my first shake for breakfast just before 10 - busy morning taking husband to work and DD to nursery, was first chance to sit down. I went for a choc orange - didn't really love it and then realised I had to take the cats to the vets so downed it and had to have a pint of water chaser. can anyone recommend their favourite flavours? have soups to try for lunch. so hope that is more successful.

First of all. Good luck with the diet. I'm sure when you find your favourite flavours you'll be well away and after 2 weeks you can have the mousse mix and the bars. I think the flavours are down to individual taste but I like the choc mint (hot) and banana and chicken and mush soup. I love the banana and choc tetra's frozen (they taste like ice cream)and the choc orange, choc and toffee bars. Yum!

Hope you got through the first day ok MM,sounds like it was a busy one so that helps.
My favourites are mint choc yummy,like liquid after 8s.The sunshine powder for orange flavoured water is great when you are up to your eyeballs in water, makes the next pint a bit easier to stomach.
I like the vegetable powder you can add to hot water as a extra drink, very drinkable.Only had it a couple of times but it breaks the cold shakes up a bit.
Butterscotch and toffee walnut are nice too.

Hubby said today he can't believe I haven't eaten for over a week..to be honest I'm quite surprised as well!!!

How are you all doing? I had my week 3 weigh in today and have lost 4 lbs. My total loss is 17 lbs in 3 weeks!! I'm really pleased. My cdc did my measurements and photo's and I've lost a few inches too. Have now got the mix a mousse to add to shakes and have already had a banana one. It was delicious. A bit like angel delight.

Yah!!! Hattie you are doing so well.Is it getting any easier?
I am bored today and have wanted to eat all day,think the cold change in the weather has made me naturally want to turn to comfort eating,restrained so far but sorely tempted.
No hunger though.
x

Hi again everyone.
Well today was my 1st weigh in and guess what - - - - I LOST A STONE - - - -
Hooray!!!!
Really really pleased.
This week I have ordered soup as well cause I want something warm to sit down to a tea time with the family.
Tonight I had the ?? Chilli one and really enjoyed it. Put black pepper on it. Used just under boiling water and blended for 1 minute. No powdery taste - very pleased. My next weigh in is in 6 days so i'm now focusing on that.
Well done to all of you for keeping going and for starting too.
Loosingit

What a great weight loss loosingit! Well done!! And well done for keeping going 2littlins. I too have tough days when I think about food all the time and feel on the verge of eating but mostly it's ok and has definitely got easier. I feel like for the first time in ages that my goal is achievable. Keep going all of you. Imagine what we'll all look like by xmas!

am a bit behind the rest of you but day 2 which i thought was going to be difficult passed without a hitch. I had a really mad day at work and keeping busy i think may have helped, amazingly i managed to steer clear of huge trays of muffins and chocolate all day. finally got back home today (now day 3) after 2 nights away with work and tested and i'm in ketosis so that is my mini milestone. I'm not feeling hungry at all really although i finding all the water a bit tough. so far i do well to get through the minimum.
i was really worried about getting in to ketosis so pleased that it wasn't too horrible!

WOW you must be so happy losingit! Thats one down you don't need to worry about anymore.
MM supposidely you will be through the worst of it by end of day 3.Everyone gave me that advice if you can get through the first 3 days you can get to the end.
I have been doing my pilates dvd today and feel nicely relax afterwards.Are going to try to up the exercise amount to 3 times a week...I say believing it
I know what you mean Hattie, I know this is the long haul but I just focus on 1 kilo at a time and one day at a time and it seems to be working.
Have my eldests 6 birthday this weekend so will be a bit harder than normal temptations, but should be OK.
I can't wait til end of week 4 to see where I'm at.
Keep going girls, great efforts by all!

Hi everyone.
End of day 10 now and I had chicken and Mushroom soup for tea tonight and I loved it. I mix them in blender for 1 min and the 2 I have tried so far have tasted just fine. I was worried cause others have said they aren't that nice!!
MM - I found the really bad breath and smelly wee on day 5 - I did some research to see why this is and i found out that when in ketosis we burn actual fat as you probably know - fat is divided into 3 parts - 2 of them are used up in energy and the other part comes out in breath and wee. So, I figure this foul smell should be embrassed for the quickest of seconds before we brush our teeth or whatever !! Strange I know ! Ha
Stone 1 gone for me now, only another 7 st 5 llb to final goal. My 1st goal is gonna be to get into the obese section rather than very obese. Gonna take a look and see how much I have to lose to do this and i'll let you know.
Keep it up everyone and thanks for support with my weight loss.
Loosingit

loosing it - you have done so well to lose a stone in the first week. I have to say i'm not really getting on with the shakes but i love the soups - so far vegetable, chicken and mushroom and just mushroom. however, I would steer clear of the broccoli and cheese. it's just a little odd. i couldn't work out whether the cheese was brie or stilton but all in all a pretty odd combination. i think i will have to persevere with the shakes and hope i get used to them.
i think it seems like a good idea to have little goals along the way - i would like to lose a stone by my birthday, middle of October, and then see where I can get to from there.
spoke to my CDC last night on the phone with more questions. she is really supportive and cheering me on.
hope you are all having good days. got a bit of a headache this morning but think i need to be upping my water intake today.

Well done both of you. You're both doing brilliantly. I'm in week 4 now and quite looking forward to my aam week next week although a little worried that I might be tempted to increase my portions! I'm going to have to be really strict with myself. Btw mm it might get easier for you after a couple of weeks because you'll be able to have the bars and mix a mousse. I've got a little routine going of a bar at about 11am then a choc or banana mousse mid afternoon then a tetra ice cream after the ds's are in bed. I also have about 3 litres of water, a bouillon drink and sometimes a coke zero. It's hard to fit it all in! Stay strong girls. We can do it!!

Hello,
Weigh in today and I have lost 4.1 lbs.
That takes my lost amount to 12.6lbs for week 2.
I am very amazed to report that despite spending the afternoon with 7 under 6 year olds for my sons birthday and attending a buffet pizza resturant I didn't have any food.I did in a moment of sheer desperation grab hubbies double gin and drink half the glass but don't feel bad about it as it could have been a lot worse.
I did a ketostix on return and there were still traces od ketones so maybe not a complete ruin of the day.
I think the positives from this are I look thinner not that anyone has remarked yet,jeans that were too tight are now too loose [falling down into the rain puddles even though I took up a week ago]and I am starting to rediscover my neck and jawline....haven't seen either in years.
The negative for me is I often want food even though I aren't hungry but can never think of anything that would actually satisfy this feeling.I say this as I am ashamed to say a number of things have been put in my mouth and a couple even chewed, but always stopped short of swollowing.
Hope you are all having a good weekend look forward to hearing how you are getting on.
I now have 2 exhausted littlins who are alternating between screaming & crying every two minutes so its probably time for bed.
Hattie my shakes and soup are had about the same times as yours and I have to say it works well with the coke zero and a vegetable broth drink...I am loving the oriental chilli soup..

Well done on your weight loss 2littlins and on resisting all that yummy pizza. You must be feeling great. I know what you mean about thinking about food alot of the time. I'm the same. Sometimes I really could eat something but also have times when I'm preparing food for the family and am completely not bothered. Looking forward to tuesday - getting weighed and starting aam week. Good luck for the next few days to you all.

Thank goodness someone is still here!!
What is aam Hattie? You will be glad to hear that since I seem to be managing to stick to this, I have got in touch with a local concillor.Hopefully will hear back soon so I can get into it properly.
I have had a very productive day today putting away all the summer clothes and getting down from the loft clothes that haven't seen the light of day for at least 8 years [..as a goal to get into by my birthday in November hopefully.]
I am really happy about the weight loss and are still in awe really that it does what is says it does!!!!
Good luck for this weeks weigh in everyone.
How are you all doing??

I have my first weigh in tomorrow, although i have been having cheeky checks on my own scales. I am really not getting on with shakes (have never really been a milkshake person) but liking the soups. in fact the only one i don't like is broccoli and cheese which is just plain weird. the other are all ok and i like the tetras. getting used to black tea and i think coke zero will be my saviour.
the two things i am struggling with are: drinking enough water; and really feeling that i want to eat something (not that i'm hungry i just want to chew something and miss sitting down with my husband). i'll get through it though as i feel slimmer already!
really looking forward to the bars and mousse in week 2 and i'm very excited about aam week. who would of thought 50g of chicken could ever be that exciting!

Hi,

I am contacting my local CDC tomorrow and hoping to start in the next week or so.I was just wondering if you have to get the ok from your GP because mine is very anti these sorts of weight lose programmes.

TIA

Chocolateaddict you don't have to get GP approval to start the diet but have to complete a medical questionaire and I'd imagine if certain conditions come up you would have to get your GP's ok before starting. I don't think most people need to see their GP though so hopefully you'll be ok. Good luck with it and don't forget to let us know how you get on.
Great to hear how you're getting on MM and that you're feeling slimmer. I think you'll find it easier when you get to week 3. I haven't had a shake now for a week and am quite enjoying my daily bar, mousse and tetra. I have to say I too struggle with the water. I was aiming to drink 4 litres but have only managed 3 most days.I feel physically ok with that amount and my weight loss is good so I'm not too worried.
Btw 2littlins aam is add a meal week! On week 5 you are supposed to add a protein and veg meal once a day to prevent your metabolism grinding to a halt. Apparently weight loss continues so can't be bad. There is a list of the foods you can have on the Cambridge website. I can't remember - are you doing it on your own? How much do you want to lose? I started at 12st 11 lbs and am according to my scales 11st 5lbs (official weigh in tomorrow). Keep posting girls!! I really look forward to seeing how everyone is getting on.

Hi everyone

Well done for sticking with it and getting some really good weight losses!

I'm still struggling with my last half stone which i'm trying to lose while on maintenance - I thought it would be fine, but I'm actually finding it really really hard now food has come back into my life, I never thought I'd say it but SS seems easy now!!!

CA - as was said you will only need to get your dr to sign the form if you have any medical conditions, but the dr will also need to sign it if your BMI is over 40. Remember, if you have any problems, point out to your dr that you are not getting his permission to do the diet, just that you don't have any conditions that will be affected by you doing it. My dr is VERY anti these diets and refused to sign (my bmi was over 40), if that happens, you'll probably be able to go and see a more "sympathetic" dr and get them to sign it instead, I found the answer was to word it right (ie, tell them, not ask!!!) good luck.

hi again,
I am doing it alone but are trying to get in contact now with my local CD councillor...I hope she will take me on even though I started myself.
I need to loose about 5 stone to get to a healthy BMI of about 25.I am one stone down and I think its the mind playing tricks on me always wanting to eat but knowing at the same time I can't [old habits die hard!].Its soo nice to not be near the 100kg anymore.After losing 3 stone after I stopped breastfeeding number 2, I yo yo lost and gained 2 kg for about a year which is why I started researching the CD and LL.
I have read the book and saw the bit about eating ,what you can have and the sizes.Looking forward to that but hoping the weight loss won't stop!!
NQSBFM how amazing the weight loss you have had to get down to your last 1/2 stone.Hang in there, if you have come this far you know you can do it!!
Take care all and keep posting,look forward to hearing how you are all doing.
x

Hi all
I am still waiting to see if I passed and can become a CDC...
Currently I am managing to maintain my weight although I still have half a stone to lose I am just healthy eating at the moment cos I am out of CD packs and I refuse to go to my CDC and buy them when I could get the call tomorrow and be able to buy my own!
Looks like you are all doing so well, stick with it! The results are well worth it!

NQSBFM and SMM you're both such an inspiration!! I can't imagine being 1/2 stone from my target. You must feel great. Did you come off ss when you got to BMI 25? I'm a bit confused about when you move up the plans. Also any tips for aam week?

Hattie, You should come off Ss when you are at BMI 25 PLUS one stone. Then you should do AAM, for at least a week, pref 2 (for all stages) then 790 etc etc. all the way up to maintaining.
AAM week I found hard tbh. I adjusted my food packs so I was having 1/2 sachet at breakfast, a full one at lunch, AAM at tea time with 1/2 a pack then had usually a frozen tetra in the evening. It made me feel very full. Going back to SS was hard, but it is do-able. HTH

NQSBFM
I find having a good drink of water helps before meals during maintenance. I still get through about 4 litres a day now. the water takes away some of the hunger and I try to eat low GI foods, I.E brown/granary bread, brown rice and pasta. I tend to stick to the amounts on 1000 or 1200 really.
Typically I start the day with 2 Shredded Wheat and skimmed milk. Lunch is granary bread sandwich of cottage cheese or something similar with a small bowl of salad and dinner is a salad with protein and a small amount of carbs. Tonight I had a Tuna Salad with a spoon of Potato Salad on the side. Its DH's birthday so I had a small slice of his cake instead of going heavy on the carbs in my meal
I am maintaining, maybe even losing. I am trying not to jump on the scales but my size 12's still fit!!

I am really starting to want to try this diet but I'm worried about feeling tired and headachy at the start (I have an exam in a months time and work full time)
Also Christmas is coming up and I would be still on it I would have though then but I have so many things planned for around then.
Or am I just making up excuses and I'd be able to deal with all those things?