Considering VLCD-advice

[berrychakewellplease]

I desperately need to to lose 2 stone for medical reasons. Currently BMI 33. Need to get below 30, so around 2-3 stone.

I am thinking of considering a VLCD.

I will talk to gp first but wondered what anyone's perspective is and hints tips and brands. Want to avoid MLM too.

I use slim and save. The meals are nice, there's an excellent Facebook group for advice, and they have a re-feed plan and support group when you achieve your target weight.

I tried Exante - shakes are fine but the meals were horrendous

Thank you so much - how much did you lose over how long? Did you manage to maintain

Is is all you consume ie no 'real food'

Try reading The fast800 by Micheal Mosley it gives a lot of interesting science on rapid weight loss plans and explains how to do an 800 calories plan with real food. He is not against using shakes for convenience if you want to though. So even if you choose a meal replacement diet it is still interesting to read about the science. There are also some threads on MN about the fast800 plan in the fasting diets section.

Thanks all
I'd never heard of Slim and save and it looks good and website is good. Yet to look at examte but have heard of it.
Will read fast800 to look a science but I really need to avoid food for a bit.

I'm doing Exante. Early days but it's ok so far and getting easier now I'm almost a week in. Good value. Shakes and bars are ok. Great Facebook support group. Everything does have a chemical aftertaste, but not hugely unpleasant.

For me, I know how to maintain using MFP (my last baby threw that off course but I was happy for that at the time - hence the weight gain!) But I want quick weight loss to get back to the point I can maintain. I don't like the slow -0.5lb a week approach to losing weight, I find it too disheartening and more likely to binge out of sheer boredom and disappointment with it. Short sharp shock, back into my old clothes ASAP - I hope! Not for everyone though.

I tried "shake that weight". Like exante but cheaper. The food is fucking disgusting tbh. The shakes are really delicious, even made with just water. Unfortunately they give me the runs! So slim fast it is for now. I've also ordered some exante as they've got a special offer on making it in the realms of reasonable now (50 shakes/bars for £55). They haven't arrived yet though.

I did really well on slim fast/800 cals a day last year. Lost about 3 stone or something in about 4 or 5 months, I can't remember now. I stopped dieting for Christmas, pigged out, never really got going again, and then lockdown happened, so I've put about 1.5st back on before deciding enough's enough and I have to get back on it. I find the worst bit is the first week when you're not in the zone yet, you haven't got your first results yet, you're fucking starving all the time and you just want to give up and eat everything! After that you get used to being hungry, you're motivated by your losses and you get into it and develop some enthusiasm for losing weight.

Thanks @flaskmaster that made me laugh. What is slim fast 800?. I did lose around two stone on slime fast a few years back but life has changed considerable since then. I had two shakes a meal and a snack. Do you think it is possible to do 3 slim fast shakes and no meal?

@tinseltits thanks for sharing. Hope it goes well for you. I just need a break from eating and a massive kick start.

I've used slim and save ( also lighterlife but that is much the same at 3x the price) the weight comes off about 1 stone in first 10 days as some or most is excess water then a steady 1 stone a month , a steady 3 lb per week ,good results but hard work keeping it off afterwards ,
The first few days can be hard but you can soon get used to it , I live on the Sainsbury's sparkling water to fill me up in between , you will find your way

I should have added the meals all taste quite nice