My eating is out of control! Should I.try a VLCD to kick start weight loss?

[BarbaraVineFan]

Since having DD 4 years ago and going through a lot of stress and life changes, my weight has crept up and up and I am now in the obese category. I have a stressful job, am a single parent and now am a massive comfort eater. I find myself eating more and more in the evenings once DD has gone to bed and I'm feeling really disgusting now :(

I have tried calorie counting and also low carb but I can't stick to them . I saw an advert for a 21 day VLCD, where they send you all the meal replacements and snacks and you just eat those for 3 weeks to kick start your weight loss. Just wondering if anyone has done this and if you would recommend it? It's quite expensive but if I it works, it would definitely be worth it to me as I am getting really miserable looking at my body.

I carry most of my weight on my tummy, if that makes a difference. I honestly look pregnant by the evening :(

It’s one option, but will you stick with it? What do you mean by comfort eating - what is eating doing for you? If you understand that you might have a better chance of overcoming your bad relationship with food.

presumably you must have junk in the house that you’ve bought, I assume you can’t nip to the corner shop for stuff with dd asleep. Can you start with cutting down on the shopping?

I guess it is boredom or loneliness, although I don't feel enormously lonely. It also acts as a stress reliever I think - I feel very stressed a lot of the time.

I.don't eat a lot of junk exactly - just a lot. Tonight I had some crackers with hummus, a fried egg sandwich, a satsuma, some grapes and a small bowl of custard. I eat my main meal at lunchtime and so in the evening I should really only be having a small meal, but instead I seem to have multiple small snacks which add up to loads of calories.

I don’t know op but I’m in the same boat
I’m going to cut out alcohol except for a slim and gin at weekends no eating after 6

my calories mount up on snacks in the evening after being good all day

I am in exactly the same boat. Comfort eating. I feel depressed and stressed if I don’t have the comfort food i.e chocolate.

we can buddy up if you’d like. Check in with eating diaries and weight tracking?

I honestly think you need to be in the right mindset to lose weight. If you don’t have the mindset you won’t lose it, that’s probably why you can’t calorie count or low carb long term. Sometimes little changes are the answer instead of following a strict eating plan. My weight crept up two years ago and for me (this isn’t for everyone) I had to log everything in MFP that I was putting in my mouth. It wasn’t about calories for me it was more of a diary of what I was eating. I cut out the crisps, chocolate, biscuits etc and started putting more veg into my diet as well as more protein. I logged my food into MFP for 2 weeks and I lost 3 stone in 3 months with just cutting out the shite I ate and not eating until I felt hungry, this was the game changer for me. I never eat unless I feel hunger and stop eating when I stop feeling hungry. As I said earlier, it’s very much a mindset for me.

I found that everytime I walked past or through the kitchen I was grabbing a couple of biscuits/crisps/crackers out of habit/boredom. The only thing that cracked it for me was drinking loads of water and going to bed at 8pm to read so I didn't have the temptation of the fridge.

Once I was out of the habit of evening snacking it was easy to reduce my calories by about 500 a day - a kit kat, crisps, some ice cream and fruit/cheese will add up to that easily.

On my WFH days I eat so much more 😬

Thanks everyone. The problem is that I have tried a lot of these things and they haven't worked for me, then I feel even worse because of my chronic lack of willpower!

I am very tempted by the VLCD thing to be honest. Has anyone tried it? The company is called the New You Plan.

Hi @BarbaraVineFan,

I'm currently into week 3 of total meal replacement on the New You Plan.

I weigh in on a Monday and have lost 24lbs so far.

Back in 2012 I lost 4 stone on the Cambridge Diet. So am pretty well experienced with VLCD's.

If you've never done a VLCD before, I'd say the hardest thing is the mental adjustment needed. You won't be hungry once you reach ketosis (around day 3-4) but your brain is going to scream at you for food. Once you get past that point, it'll probably be plain sailing. There's a bunch of benefits around being in ketosis, chief of which is that your hunger is surpressed.

For me, Day 1 is ok, Day 2 is a bit harder but doable. Day three is an absolute bitch. Day three seems to be the day when my blood suger is gone and my body is entering ketosis. I get headaches, no energy, irritable and can't really think straight. Paracetamol stops the headache. To be fair, it's not much worse than a hangover.

When Day 4 comes around, I wake up feeling much better and know that my body is now using fat stores for fuel. From thereon out I feel epic, and maybe just a bit smug.

Hope this helps!

Hi @LoveSkaMusic , thanks so much for your reply! Wow, 24 lbs is fantastic! Well done you. I have about 3 stone to lose, so it definitely sounds appealing to me...

I have actually just gone ahead and ordered the 3 week plan! Quite nervous but pretty excited too. Your detailed info was really helpful, so thank you very much!

Keep this thread updated with progress! I have notifications turned on so if you have any questions, just throw them up here!

Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

I think 21 days is too long and you might struggle with that. I once did a 7 day VLCD and it gave me the kick I needed to then go into calorie counter eating. After 7 days of sachets, I was SO grateful for 1500 calories a day and 'real food'. I bought 7 days of products online from the Kee diet. It wasn't too bad!

I am considering doing it again for 7 days soon.

Also OP, I tried the New You plan and I couldn't stomach the taste. Found them very powdery and I think there's better tasting products out there...but that's just me! Everyone is different.

Oops, I should have read the whole thread before commenting! Ignore me and good luck!

Don't worry @chunkyfunkier , it's good to have different opinions! I'll update whether I find it tasty or not

Intermittent fasting has worked for me.

I stop eating at 7pm at night, and don't eat again until 11am the next day. It totally cuts out the evening snacking, and skipping breakfast means I don't get so hungry during the day. Main meal at lunchtime, and a moderate dinner.

Also on day 4 of fasting - using an app to track it , I’ve been stuck at this weight for a while now and have a stone to lose just couldn’t find the “will power”

i hope your meals work for you but i think the only way to properly lose weight and sustain it is by eating sensibly and with the fasting I also do 7pm-11am so it does cut out late night snacking because if I start I won’t stop so knowing that I’m not allowed to eat ANYTHING means I don’t start the binging! I allow myself a cup of camomile tea before bed to relax. I kept telling myself I deserved to have this or that after a stressful day but really it was just making me feel worse so you have to say to yourself you deserve to love yourself and your body and your body and mind won’t thank you for late night snacking!

im using these groups to keep myself motivated , its not just you who feels like this , so we can do it together!
good luck!