Struggling.

[LMS]

Hi all. Just though putting my feelings down might help me a little. I'm really struggling this week. I haven't been weighed due to having to work my weigh in night so I'm having a 2 week weigh in next week but I'm really finding I'm missing food now. I've stayed on plan. Had to go up to step 2 last week as I was on nightshifts and that was a struggle in its self...everyone is always hungrier on nights I just wish I could have been weighed this week. So my real dilemma is I'm missing food a lot and I'm worried it will become too much and I will have a binge. My friend has been at weight watchers for 4 weeks and had lost more than I lost in my first 4 weeks on CD. It's just makes me wonder if I should join a diet club to loose my last 2 stone? I've lost 5 stone already and it seems silly to deprive myself of all food when I could potentially have the same/better losses eating? I know there is no guarantee I will do as well as my friend on weight watchers but its just got me thinking. I've been on CD since 16th October, 100% no break for Christmas or anything.

What you all think?

Lynne - 70.5lbs down 25lbs to go...

[lass321]

What a dilemma. Ultimately you must do what works best for you, your body and of course your psychology. But it is a good idea to take a rough poll of other people's opinions. My thinking would be that you might consider gradually weening of CD and onto WW. I think CD has a refeed stage? IMO it is essential to have something to move onto whether you are maintaining or still losing. WW seems a good idea for those still losing, though you need to be prepared to gain a little water weight due to higher carbs. One bonus of this is that as you lose your last 2 stone you are having real food so you won't have the fear of food often associated with ending a tfr diet. Also I believe WW portions are more controlled than for example sw so you will be learning about portion control too. If after a few weeks you find it is not for you, you will at least have given your body a break without blowing your diet, and can return to CD for the final few weeks with renewed enthusiasm.

[lucy03]

Hi,

Firstly congrats what am amazing weight loss and some serious commitment!

If it was me I would prob try the 5:2 diet as its a midway point and use something like my fitnesspal for calorie counting ...

With the 5:2 u eat 500 - 600 for two days then normal the others so you could still use the packs you have and make sure the weekly calorie count is low. I'd start at increasing calories very slowly like 100 calories a day increasing weekly.

I did ww however as a vegetarian I found "no limit to fruit and veg" didn't work for me and I found they encourage a lot of snacking and their own range of sweet treats!

I'd recommend sticking with harcombe diet plan ... No processed and no mixing carbs and fats

Sorry to ramble on ... I hope that might help!

Good luck in whatever you do!

Lux

[Lily]

Hi all. Just though putting my feelings down might help me a little. I'm really struggling this week. I haven't been weighed due to having to work my weigh in night so I'm having a 2 week weigh in next week but I'm really finding I'm missing food now. I've stayed on plan. Had to go up to step 2 last week as I was on nightshifts and that was a struggle in its self...everyone is always hungrier on nights I just wish I could have been weighed this week. So my real dilemma is I'm missing food a lot and I'm worried it will become too much and I will have a binge. My friend has been at weight watchers for 4 weeks and had lost more than I lost in my first 4 weeks on CD. It's just makes me wonder if I should join a diet club to loose my last 2 stone? I've lost 5 stone already and it seems silly to deprive myself of all food when I could potentially have the same/better losses eating? I know there is no guarantee I will do as well as my friend on weight watchers but its just got me thinking. I've been on CD since 16th October, 100% no break for Christmas or anything.

What you all think?

Lynne - 70.5lbs down 25lbs to go...

Hugs

I can guarantee that every single one of us who's done Cambridge or a similar VLCD has thought what you're thinking and, worse still, has a friend who's doing WW, SW or just plain old calorie counting that seems to be doing better than we are.

Here's the thing. The weight loss on pretty much all diets is the same during the first month (usually those of us on VLCDs lose a couple of pounds more but maybe not as many as you'd expect considering we eat dust ). That's because the major component of weight loss on any diet at the 4 week stage is water.

It's what happens after that first 4 weeks that the differences start to show themselves. On a VLCD, you can usually expect to carry on losing an average of 3-4lbs a week (while you still have several stones to lose). On any other plan, it drops to around 1-2lbs a week. And often it drops lower than that, because having the freedom to eat means that those on those plans are likely to take days off the plan more often than those of us doing a VLCD.

Long story short - you won't have better losses on any other diet. Many of us have been lured away by the prospect of eating more and still having good losses and it never works that way. No, sadly most of us end up back here, a stone or so heavier than we were when we left, and return to the VLCD wagons we hopped off.

Just my two-penneth You could be one of the folks who'd benefit from a switch to a different diet but in my experience, you'd be a rare person indeed.

[Lily]

Oh, and by the way - 5 stones off in 4 and a half months is fantastic! What a brilliant achievement!