Cambridge Diet- Harriet's 5 Stone Weight Loss Diary 2014 (Diet Newbie!)

H

HMM

Member
Hi everyone!

My name is Harriet and I am 13 stone 6 pounds as of my weigh in this morning. Not good!

My first Cambridge consultation is on Wednesday night, and I hope by Thursday I will start my diet and subsequently change my lifestyle forever!

This is my first ever diet I have taken part in. I was always a slightly chubby child growing up, and when I turned 14 I decided to lose weight. Hard work and healthy eating (ish, at this point I still had a hatred of vegetables- I am a lot better now don't worry- so portion control was key) prevailed and I lost about a stone and a half (which in all honesty was all I really needed to lose) and I was super fit!

Since then, I (very) gradually over 5 years, put on weight, escalating to me being almost 190 pounds (!!!!!) today. My level of fitness is pretty low (I can do about 10 minutes running on the treadmill before thinking 'that's enough of that, this isn't fun anymore'!), but because I am only a young-un I have no health problems... YET. The problem is that I am a naturally confident person. I was brought up in a very loving family who told me how beautiful I was all the time, and so even at the size I am I sometimes find it hard to get motivated to go to the gym (I always see myself as the tiny person I was a few years ago, not anymore!)- but this time it got out of hand.

I really want to get fit and lose a lot of weight, with no particular time goal in mind. I stumbled upon this diet when I opened up my Facebook and saw an article posted on a women who's husband in the army did not recognise her when he returned, as she had lost so much weight, via the Cambridge Diet. I googled it, having never heard of it- just to satisfy my curiosity- and read up, not thinking of it again. A few days later, I took a good look at myself in the mirror and realised I had let things slip, even my loving parents were starting to encourage me to increase my level of activity before I went back to uni, etc. So I took the plunge, Cambridge sounded great and I emailed around some consultants in my area where I attend university.

I'm not sure exactly what weight I want to go down to, I am honestly hoping to be somewhere between 8 and 9 and a half stone, I guess which ever feels more natural nearer the time! I know that I would like to shift at LEAST 4 stone, but in reality I am sure this will need to be more like 5 stone.

I am 5'2" and have an hourglass figure. I have a pretty small waist with a more curvy bust and hip. I find it naturally easy to keep weight off my stomach area (not including my hips!) however because I let my weight get so high, my stomach is no longer flat and protrudes quite a bit! My bone structure is not very large, probably would fit somewhere between small and medium, but probably closer to medium. I have quite a petite figure, but because of my body shape I can carry weight quite easily before looking 'fat', which I do now.

I am genuinely eager to get started on this diet, especially after an indulgent festive period, but for me this really is about changing my life for good. I want to be able to go the the gym and be proud of my body and the fact I am keeping fit, not feel like a whale jiggling on the treadmill not being able to keep going for very long! The hardest part for me I genuinely think will be not drinking, as I find it is such a social activity that allows you to be confident and meet so many new people. Luckily I have amazing friends and flatmates who are getting involved by attempting to take part in 'Dry January' with me! I'm not sure how long I will be able to last, but I know even if weakness hits in February and I give into one or two Vodka and sparkling water's, I will not give in to anything more- 100% Cambridge from now on!

I hope I can share my journey with anyone that has done/is in the process of doing this diet! GOOD LUCK DIETERS!

START: 13 stone 6 pounds
 
Hi am on day 6 and found it hard on sole source so introduced myself to step1b.....which is so much easier. I struggled because I dont like the cambridge products apart from the soups which are just about bearable.

I wish you luck and hope you get required results

Sent from my GT-I9505 using MiniMins.com mobile app
 
HMM said:
Hi everyone! My name is Harriet and I am 13 stone 6 pounds as of my weigh in this morning. Not good! My first Cambridge consultation is on Wednesday night, and I hope by Thursday I will start my diet and subsequently change my lifestyle forever! This is my first ever diet I have taken part in. I was always a slightly chubby child growing up, and when I turned 14 I decided to lose weight. Hard work and healthy eating (ish, at this point I still had a hatred of vegetables- I am a lot better now don't worry- so portion control was key) prevailed and I lost about a stone and a half (which in all honesty was all I really needed to lose) and I was super fit! Since then, I (very) gradually over 5 years, put on weight, escalating to me being almost 190 pounds (!!!!!) today. My level of fitness is pretty low (I can do about 10 minutes running on the treadmill before thinking 'that's enough of that, this isn't fun anymore'!), but because I am only a young-un I have no health problems... YET. The problem is that I am a naturally confident person. I was brought up in a very loving family who told me how beautiful I was all the time, and so even at the size I am I sometimes find it hard to get motivated to go to the gym (I always see myself as the tiny person I was a few years ago, not anymore!)- but this time it got out of hand. I really want to get fit and lose a lot of weight, with no particular time goal in mind. I stumbled upon this diet when I opened up my Facebook and saw an article posted on a women who's husband in the army did not recognise her when he returned, as she had lost so much weight, via the Cambridge Diet. I googled it, having never heard of it- just to satisfy my curiosity- and read up, not thinking of it again. A few days later, I took a good look at myself in the mirror and realised I had let things slip, even my loving parents were starting to encourage me to increase my level of activity before I went back to uni, etc. So I took the plunge, Cambridge sounded great and I emailed around some consultants in my area where I attend university. I'm not sure exactly what weight I want to go down to, I am honestly hoping to be somewhere between 8 and 9 and a half stone, I guess which ever feels more natural nearer the time! I know that I would like to shift at LEAST 4 stone, but in reality I am sure this will need to be more like 5 stone. I am 5'2" and have an hourglass figure. I have a pretty small waist with a more curvy bust and hip. I find it naturally easy to keep weight off my stomach area (not including my hips!) however because I let my weight get so high, my stomach is no longer flat and protrudes quite a bit! My bone structure is not very large, probably would fit somewhere between small and medium, but probably closer to medium. I have quite a petite figure, but because of my body shape I can carry weight quite easily before looking 'fat', which I do now. I am genuinely eager to get started on this diet, especially after an indulgent festive period, but for me this really is about changing my life for good. I want to be able to go the the gym and be proud of my body and the fact I am keeping fit, not feel like a whale jiggling on the treadmill not being able to keep going for very long! The hardest part for me I genuinely think will be not drinking, as I find it is such a social activity that allows you to be confident and meet so many new people. Luckily I have amazing friends and flatmates who are getting involved by attempting to take part in 'Dry January' with me! I'm not sure how long I will be able to last, but I know even if weakness hits in February and I give into one or two Vodka and sparkling water's, I will not give in to anything more- 100% Cambridge from now on! I hope I can share my journey with anyone that has done/is in the process of doing this diet! GOOD LUCK DIETERS! START: 13 stone 6 pounds
Click to expand...

Good luck Harriet I started yesterday and so far so good been 100% I'm 14 stone exactly and hope to go down to 10 and see how I feel :)

It's a hard diet first 3-4 days are hard but stick to it your see quick results :) x
 
Thanks everyone for the encouragement! That is the amazing part of these forums. Everyone is in a similar boat and hoping to succeed.

Today I spent 45 minutes walking (in some parts across fields) to get to my consultation. I knocked on the house of the address she had given me, I had even fpimd to on google maps! There was no one home, so I knocked on her neighbours doors to aske if they knew anyone with her name and of her description living on that road- they said they hadn't heard of her! I felt so knocked down and disappointed, I was so ready to start! I was also annoyed about the walk. The walk back was even worse- the back gate to my university was closed and so I had to walk an extra half an hour in order to get home- in the rain! (Was thinking about the calories I was burning!) Luckily I emailed back another consultant (there was a mix up, she was my original choice but her response email didn't reach me so I had to find another one!) and my consultation is at 10 tomorrow, early enough so I can have a late breakfast and start my very first day on Cambridge! Was disappointed today, but my spirits have lifted and I cannot wait until tomorrow!
 
Good luck for your appointment today , sounds like you had a rough day yesterday but good that you didn't give up with it I prob would have to be fair lol ! Enjoy your first day of Cambridge :) x
 
Day 1 was great. I like to have porridge for breakfast, shake for lunch and soup for dinner.

I had my first appointment at 10, and by 12 I was having a porridge. I drank my shake at 3 and had my soup at 7.30 (meant to be 6 but my nap overran!). I feel like I am really ready for a savoury soup by dinner time, it really feels like I am eating proper food and reminds me how lethargic I felt when I was eating huge meals and overeating, making me put on weight.

For some reason (pretty sure it was purely psychological) I felt a bit headachy at around 2 ish (my next meal was at 3) which was weird as I rarely get headaches, but it soon passed! Didn't really bother me. The only time I was hungry all day was at 5.30, before my 6 o clock dinner. I was up late last night and woke early this morning (for me) so I treated myself to a nap around 5.45 and woke up at 7.30 and had dinner. My friend asked if I wanted to join her to the gym, but I don't want to exercise really until my second week, so I declined but have been trying to walk everywhere I can, so if anyone wants to go somewhere I will try to join them.

So far today I have drank 3 litres of water and 1 litre worth of green/detox/cleanse teas. I have needed the toilet quite a lot, which has been very annoying! I always feel like when you drink a lot of water it feels like a different type of needing the toilet, like you just feel like your bladder is really heavy- but it is nice to feel like all the toxins are leaving my body. Probably going to drink another litre of water before bed. I use the Volvic 1L bottles of water. For some reason they didn't look as big as some other 1L bottles at the supermarket and so didn't feel as overwhelming.

Today opened my eyes to my relationship with food. At times I really wanted to eat, but not because I was HUNGRY, just because I was bored, or hadn't eaten for a while etc. I feel like that will be my main battle with this, but now I've recognised this hopefully it will be easier.

Interestingly, my consultant weighed me at 13 stone 9 pounds, so her scales weight me slightly higher than mine at home did (although I'm at university now so I don't have any scales to weigh myself on anyway!), so I will change my starting weight to that, although honestly I am more focused on my measurements shrinking.

I'm sure the days will get harder, day 3 I am very much dreading! But right now I am liking the feeling of really clearing out my body. I do feel like that once my lectures start I won't have time to sit around and think about the fact I am not eating very much. Also most of my lectures start late (1 o clock onwards, apart from one 9 o clock lecture a week) so I won't be up too early, which I feel makes me hungry earlier, causing me to eat more.

Great day, can't wait to carry on!

START: 13 stone 9 pounds
 
Last edited:
Well done on taking the first step and hey don't worry about day three I'm on it today and it's been the easiest day so far ! I think different for everyone :) i didn't like the porridge myself and stick to shakes all week :) x
 
Day 2 went really well!

Honestly, I am hardly noticing I am on a diet, apart from the fact I am not feeling bloated and lethargic- I feel like I have a good amount of energy and I am rarely hungry. Today I woke up at about 1, had porridge at 1.30, lunch at 3 and dinner at 6.30.

I really like all the products and the fact they have so many flavours to chose from is BRILLIANT because you can have exactly what you are craving/wanting! I have a large Tupperware box with all the sachets in, and I've put them in a certain order to have throughout the week (for example, not the same two days in a row and I have a portable carton ready for Tuesday's lunch when I will have a lecture) which means I don't worry too much about choosing, I just have whatever is at the front. Today I had put spicy tomato soup for dinner, but I had a craving for the chicken and mushroom so I had that instead.

Today so far I have drank 2 litres of water (will have either another 1 or 2 before bed) and 2 green teas (also planning to have a detox/cleanse tea before bed).

Tomorrow I'm planning to go to the gym at 1, will have my porridge before I go then hope to crack on with an essay I have due when I get back- will be interesting to see what is it like to exercise while on the plan (I'm not going hard, just going to do a bit of walking or light jogging on the treadmill!).

I'm hoping that I won't get hungry tonight. Last night I had a bad headache (like I mentioned before, never really have headaches) at about 11 until midnight when I went to sleep- no idea why as I wasn't even physically hungry.

Hope everyone's Cambridge Dieting is going well!

START: 13 stone 9 pounds
 
slimming deb said:
Well done on taking the first step and hey don't worry about day three I'm on it today and it's been the easiest day so far ! I think different for everyone :) i didn't like the porridge myself and stick to shakes all week :) x
Click to expand...

That's really interesting! That is true- I'm finding it easier than expected as of right now. Really? I surprisingly really love every product! Even the original porridge (which I didn't think I would like) I find really nice, love the chewy lumpy bits. I don't even like normal porridge that much! I would recommend everyone to try this diet, I really am impressed with it/my perseverance so far!
 
HMM said:
That's really interesting! That is true- I'm finding it easier than expected as of right now. Really? I surprisingly really love every product! Even the original porridge (which I didn't think I would like) I find really nice, love the chewy lumpy bits. I don't even like normal porridge that much! I would recommend everyone to try this diet, I really am impressed with it/my perseverance so far!
Click to expand...

Ohh yeah it's great diet I'm on day four now been fine today totally normal but I feel I want food not need it which is hard lol
Yeah I guess I'm fussy I only like mint chocolate , strawberry and chocolate :) I thinking to have a few soups next week as I think I like a few of them spicy veg I think l.
Day 3 for you tomorrow well done :)
 
Day 3 went well, just as the other two have been.

I didn't know if I was going to do much exercise in the first two weeks, however I decided to join my (very fit and active) friend to the gym to do her workout with her. I had my porridge (LOVE all the porridges, even gave some to my friend to try and she said they were nice!) about 11 and we were in the gym by 12.30. She knows I am on this diet and so didn't push me too hard, plus she had already been to the gym once today. We did the cross trainer, rowing machine, ab workouts on a mat, treadmill then a yoga-type cool down. Felt GREAT afterwards. Came back at about 2 to have my shake and then sat down to do my essay at about 4, but ended up napping from 4.30 to 5.30 in the end. Had my soup (spicy tomato, the only thing I am not too fond of so far- could very much have it again but it didn't 'wow' me like the others, could see myself getting bored of it quickly) at just gone 6, and now need to get and do some work tonight before bed! Water intake has been 3 litres (may have another before bed) and 2/3 of a litre of green/detox tea (will definitely be having another one before bed).

5 minutes into writing this post and BOOM, very weird metallic taste in my mouth! As come on me all of a sudden. Last summer I had an almost constant metallic taste in my mouth, which I discovered was from the hot water urn which we had at work and used to make our teas and coffees, however this is VERY different. It is more intensely metallic and more at the back of my mouth more so than on my tongue, which is where I had the metallic taste in summer. I don't THINK I am imagining this taste, but could be... My consultant told me not to worry too much about ketosis, and so I'm not- but it's quite exciting that this metallic taste might be a sign of it!

A bit worried about my Monday challenge of going out and not drinking at all (especially as it is our first 'back to uni' night out, everyone is planning to go hard, and there will be me on sparkling water!) but I am prepared for it. Now looking forward to Wednesday's weigh in!

START: 13 stone 9 pounds
 
Day 4 started off not so good, but ended up very well!

I woke up at about 9.30 feeling quite hungry, which is weird as on the diet so far I have NEVER woken up hungry. I put it down to my gym session yesterday. I went back to sleep at 11.30 and woke up feeling very ill. I was having hot and cold sweats, could barely focus on anything. I made my porridge so quickly I could not wait to eat it (I felt so rough, almost had to run to the kitchen I was so hungry) and had my porridge but still felt ill. I knew I had this huge essay I had to do today so couldn't be feeling like this all day, so decided to have a few sips of milk (I was too scared to have any solid food!). I got back into bed and fell asleep until 1.30. When I woke up I felt SO much better! I felt normal again, not even very hungry. I had my shake at about 2.15 and then had my soup for dinner at 6.

Today at about 8, my friend and I did a yogalates DVD (called Yogalates for Weight Loss) which left me feeling very serene and happy afterwards. Some of the DVD is really challenging- I have gotten SO inflexible since putting on weight! It wasn't any hardcore gym session or cardio though, so I'm sure I will feel fine tomorrow.

Also, I have changed my weigh-in to Thursday, after my essay is due, because I really want to get down on Wednesday and finish my work before the deadline, so didn't want to break the day up with my appointment very much. This is probably a blessing in disguise, because it will be a full weeks worth of the diet at the weigh-in.

Hope the diet is going well with everyone else- I am counting down the days (41!) until I think I will go onto SS+ with the meal & I can FINALLY have solid food again!

START: 13 stone 9 pounds
 
HMM - I'm on day 5 - so pretty close to you. I was debating doing some exercise but haven't felt hungry at all since being on plan ad worried f do I will be hungry. Did you feel hungry at all the days you hadn't done exercise? Today was first day today that felt properly "normal" - either felt headachy or a tad spaced out the other days!

Good Luck on your journey - hanging out to weigh in on Wednesday (bit nervous though aswell!)
 
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