VLCD Sequel: Electric Boogaloo

castingnasturtiums

castingnasturtiums

Full Member
tl;dr: Did a VLCD, lost a tonne of weight, had no clue how to move from being on a VLCD to living a healthy life at my new healthy weight, put all the weight back on.

Aaaand so here I am again. But I'm sort of hoping that being aware that the problem, for me, is not the dieting but the stopping dieting I will not screw this up again.

My last VLCD had an inbuilt support structure which was helpful initially but got increasingly less supportive as I reached my goal weight, and I wasn't mad keen on being dependent on a person for my products. Because for someone with a severe weight problem I am apparently also a control freak?

Anyway, some Googling found me Exante--although technically I'm living on a wild smorgasbord of leftover diet products, along with the Exante stuff. Which is the VLCD equivalent of a life of luxury.

Today, for example, I kicked off my day with an Exante caramel chocolate crunch bar (think the inbred bastard cousin of a Toffee Crisp--delicious), lunched delicately on a choc mint shake, and I'm looking forward to a CWP spag bol for dinner.

I started this a week and two days ago on Sunday 29th April. I started at 16st (OUCH) and I'm currently 15st 7. You always lose a lot first week, but I'm still pretty happy about it. I think I'm getting into the routine of things now.

But I thought some kind of diary here might keep me accountable and help me meet some other people doing the same thing.
 
Thank you :) I mean, you always get a massive boost at the beginning because of water and ... stuff? <-- not science.

I encourage you to take the, err, scales plunge. It's not fun but it's good to know where you are. And if you're anything like me, I managed to pretend everything wasn't as bad as I thought it was (err, not that I'm saying you're in a bad a state) for ages before actually taking action. So getting on the scales helped me commit to doing this
 
You're already doing better than me :) Err, not that it's a comparative game at all! But just think, after a week on the diet, assuming no slip ups, you probably hit 15st or less. How good will that feel?
 
Day 11, and so far so good. No slip ups and not too much suffering.

I mean, I was a bit moody and lethargic last week, and I was definitely hungry some (most) of the time, but I think I've settled firmly into ketosis. And I'm feeling good!

If I get hungry at the moment, it's because I've left it too late to eat a product (although I tend to get moody before I recognise it's hunger) and because it's late in the evening. I'm not hungry at night but usually between 9 and 11 I get .... I don't know what to call it because it's not physical hunger. I think I get emotionally hungry? Because I've spent years building up a habit of 'relaxing' at the end of the day by stuffing my face.

Basically I think what I feel is the ghost of hunger.

And I find that a bit rough to deal with because it's so abstract. But then, losing weight is as much about your head as your body so I guess it makes sense.

Got into work this morning and opened a random drawer to discover a hoard of CWP bars. VLCDs turn me into a ridiculous squirrel because I'm terrified of getting stranded without a product - so I just leave little stashes of them everywhere. So, yes, I chilled with a cranberry bar for breakfast. These were/are my second favourite after the mint ones. I prefer crunchy to squishy (squishy isn't how they advertise them) because they feel more substantial in the mouth and the stomach. But some of them (hello peanut bar) are just so crunchy they're actually painful to eat. Cranberry is in the middle, being quite soft but dense enough that I can't scarf it down.

Also it tastes ... well ... nothing like cranberries. But like somebody's idea of a cranberry that isn't a total miss.

Hope you all have a good day!

xxx
 
A thing I kind of enjoy about Exante ... in the desperate way of someone who has removed one of their major sources of pleasure (food) from their life ... is when your box of product arrives. It's like Christmas ...

... if you accidentally wrote 16 dhal pots on your Christmas list and nothing else.

Apparently I fucked up my order. Thank god I like the dhal pots. Although I wasn't exactly intending to eat sixteen of them.

Probably I should change the name of this to THE DHAL POT DIARY.
 
Hello! Just dropped by and saw your diary. I'm in week 5 or 6 (I've lost count) doing the four packs a day approach (currently three packs and some chicken).

Are you sure you messed up the order? Exante has a bit of a reputation for messing up the orders, but then being very nice and swift in fixing it when you tell them so.

The dhal pots are better with a bit of chilli in them, but they are super salty. My favourite is the sweet and sour noodles, but also like the pizza and fajitas if I can be bothered faffing about with ovens. If I'm not cooking, I'm not cooking, you know?!
 
Hiiii - thank you stopping by! :)

No, I messed it up. I opened the box and was like "omg, what kind of idiot would order 16 Dhal pots and nothing else" and was all prepared to harangue Exante. But then I double checked the order and ... the idiot was me.

I'm currently on 3 packs & nothing. A bit nervous for the food week because on Cambridge you go for 12 weeks before having food and with Exante it's only 3 weeks. But I do really like the dhal pots (though I might not after I've eaten 16) - and I'm not actually troubled by the saltiness. I will add chili though, that sounds delicious. I also like the sweet and sour noodles but they get a bit sickly after a while. I haven't tried either the pizza or fajitas precisely because I don't want the faff either - I bet in week 7 when I'm bored out my noodle I'll change my mind though :)

Congratulations on making it into week 5 (or 6!).
 
Yeah, they're all a bit blah after too many... although I add a dash of soya sauce and some chilli flakes to the sweet and sour noodles too (both allowed according to exante!).

The pizzas are great if you're struggling without bread from an emotional perspective - if you slightly overcook them, they are quite cracker-like. I water the fajitas down so that I can have more than one, and so they're quite pancakey, but the chicken filling is surprisingly nice - salty again though.

Enjoy your dahl-fest! ;)
 
I had a hilariously unsuccessful food evening. Basically, I end up super craving eggs when I'm on products. Eggs and ... tuna steaks. Neither being foods I'm particularly enamoured of in the normal course of things but apparently 11 days on powered food substitute and I start dreaming of scrambled eggs.

And because I'm a weirdo in so many ways, sometimes when I'm having diet-emotions I sort of cruise other VLCDs to see what products they have available, how they compare to Exante and the other programmes I'm familiar with. Turns out Slim 'n' Save do an egg substitute meal. I mean I knew it was going to be a disaster. I KNEW IT. But novelty is everything on a VLCD (I mean, no, losing weight and not cheating is everything, but I make my own fun) so I ordered a pack, along with some of their bars and some other stuff, just for interest.

Anyway, the eggs were crumbled yellow powder in a packet, like eggs that had disintegrated to dust over long centuries. You added cold water to them and microwaved them for 90 seconds then another 90 seconds. And what you got was sunshine yellow polystyrene flakes that tasted like ... nothing? And had the texture of ... something horrible. Like wet and crumbly at the same time? God. No. I managed a few spoons and fed the rest to the bin.

Since this probably amounted to 50 calories and I didn't want to mess myself up getting super hungry, I finished up with a mint chocolate bar, also from Slim 'n' Save. The bar was only about 167 calories so I figured with my mouthfuls of anti-eggs between them I'd get a 200 calorie meal. Anyway, the bar was adequate. I really loved the choc mint bars on CWP and they were absolutely no substitute. But they tasted minty and did not make me want to lie in a hole and cry like the eggs. So I'm counting that a win.

Based on product adequacy alone, so far Slim 'n' Save has been my least successful VLCD product experience. It's really made me appreciate Exante which, while not every product is a hit, has never provided me with something stomach churningly grim.

"Adequate" is my baseline standard for a diet product. I mean, we're not here for a rich, gourmand experience. So basically if something strikes me as adequate (basically edible with some flavour that is not unpleasant, and ideal some reasonable texture to it) I'm happy. I am thinking back wistfully on the coconut Exante shake I had for lunch. It was a bit too sweet for my personal preferences, but it was smooth and even tasted like coconut. GOOD TIMES.

Oh, I also bought some water flavouring from Slim 'n' Save (or Slime 'n' Save as my terrible typing keeps rendering) - because I drink such a lot of water I occasionally like to treat myself to mildly flavoured water. CWP did an elderflower and raspberry which, honestly, I'd sell for my grandma for (I mean, when she was alive ... or now, if there's a good trade in deceased grandmothers) because it was genuinely delicious. Anyway, I bought Generic Berry (not actual name) from Slime 'n' Save, made up a bottle and concluded water tasted better. So. Ho hum.
 
You had me at 'Electric Boogaloo', but 'ridiculous squirrel' sealed the deal.

If you really want an egg, the best thing to have is probably an egg, actually. Along with leafy greens an egg is possiblythe most beneficial and least problematic food you could add to your VLCD menu.

I waited a lot longer than four weeks for a food week I think, but when I did it threw me a bit. So I mainly added egg, salad ,and egg salad. Oh and spinach. And gin.
 
YellowWatermelon said:
Exante do something eggy too, but they have horrendous reviews so I have steered clear so far - https://www.exantediet.com/diet-pro...f-7-cheese-bacon-breakfast-eggs/11267055.html
Click to expand...

I think I've learned my egg lesson. And, dear gawd, does that look horrendous. I do find the reviews on Exante to be fairly reliable (and fair play to Exante for publishing them) in that I've never bought a product the majority of people are calling an assault against the senses and thought to myself "how wrong everyone else is, this is splendid."

So I might just live without eggs.

FullFathom said:
If you really want an egg, the best thing to have is probably an egg, actually. Along with leafy greens an egg is possiblythe most beneficial and least problematic food you could add to your VLCD menu.
Click to expand...

It did cross my mind the most sensible to craving an actual egg would be to eat an actual egg - but, honestly, I was worried about breaking the VLCD mindset so early in the process. I mean, y'know, it might start with an egg and three hours later I'd be sitting there with a bottle of wine, six bars of chocolate and a fillet steak with blue cheese.

I've read up about the food week and I'm tempted to drop it, to be honest. Most other VLCDs seem to suggest 12 weeks is a good time, and I'm nervous about introducing food too early. I did wonder if it might actually be psychological beneficial to have it so early (in that it stops food, and the prospect of eating food, becoming so outlandish) but I'm kind of not super willing to take the risk so early.
 
...or you could have a boiled/poached egg plus three packs of food a day for a week. Or slice a boiled egg and spinach on an Exante pizza. It will make no difference to your weight loss unless it makes you eat more than that. Some posters on here actually lost more on that week doing just that, but they were individuals who were pretty unstoppable. I found it weird myself, but then I'm a bit odd. I felt like I was cheating, even though I wasn't. But I did enjoy it too. Had a vegetable stir-fry over Easter! Crazy luxury :)
 
My god. Such decadence.

I have to say, though, you're making me eye up almond milk with FAR too much interest.
 
I am feeling fairly bouncy for a Thursday.

I got to lie in a bit this morning, and my walk to work was actually kind of pleasant. I mean, it's always a lovely walk because it's a beautiful city but with me being so godawful fat it's been a gruelling physical ordeal for about a year now. I know I've only lost 7lb but it's already making a difference. It helps that the weather is ideal (sunny without being too hot) but I've made it back and forth for a few days now without turning into an achy, sweaty mess at either end. The walk is about 2 miles so still under the recommended daily of amount, and I take it pretty easy. So it's not exactly exercise but it's really good to re-discover the act of moving my body.

After yesterday's egg-gate I treated myself to the one of the Exante strawberry jam bar things for what I guess what technically brunch, as I nommed it at about 11:30. These are my current favourite ... I'm not entirely sure why because they taste of absolutely nothing but you get THREE WHOLE textures (a layer of bright red goo, a layer of sawdust, then a layer of white paint that I think is meant to be yogurt). Anyway, I'm here for the whole experience of plunging your teeth into goo and then having all the moisture sucked out your mouth by the sawdust. I'm not sure what the white paint brings to the experience but I like that it's there because THREE WHOLE components is the height of VLCD luxury.

Err, I sound like I'm being snarky here. And I am. But I also do legit enjoy them.
 
I don’t mean to sound like a bore but it is better to have a food break. The reason for this is Leptin. As you diet your Leptin levels deteriorate and this stops weight loss. When you increase your calorie intake they rise again thus speeding up weight loss. This doesn’t have to be a week long break. It could be just a day. Ideally using foods that keep you in ketosis so you don’t have to go through feeling like crap again. Anyway I’m definitely NO expert but you can google Leptin resistance. In the past I have noticed that this seems to work. If my weight loss slowed right down I’d have a controlled day off. It definitely doesn’t work with that LOVELY wine chocs and steak you mentioned.
 
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