New to VLCD - 1st week

Hi All,

I started on NYE and now have a few different types of shakes and am liking them so far, I have some veg soups but not so keen on those. Anyway, today is day 4 and I'm 5.5lbs down but STILL not convinced I'll get great results (ever the pessimist). I found this forum yesterday and have found it very useful so far. I *think* I'm in Ketosis now, finally not hungry, but the first 3 days were so hard, not just the hunger but accidentally licking my finger when breaking chocolate for the kids or the spoon when serving yummy Heinz tomato soup silly habits that I need to break really. I have also been having weird cravings for raw veg and mayo! Really hoping I can stick to plan and lose a decent amount of weight then move on to SW or WW to get to my target weight.

For today I'm busying myself with a post Christmas de-clutter then I need to think of new ways of distraction, not being hungry will certainly make life easier!

Hi HEmam, congrats on losing 5.5 lbs so far, that's great going. what is NYE? i am on Exante, and had lost 5st up till beginning of DEC, then came off it for a break for xmas, and went mad on the choc (and not that mad on choc either ) and put on a stone, but am now back on it since wed. usually weigh every day, but am trying to resist weighing till wed, so far so good

Welcome to Minimins and the world of VLCDs! They definitely work if you stick to them, they can't NOT work so I guarantee you'll see good results. What VLCD are you on? How much do you want to lose? Well done sticking to it so far

Thanks lovelies! I have a bit of a mix at the moment, some New You, slim & save & avidlite. Mostly slim & save. I'm now day 5 & 7lb down. Not sure if that's good or not at this stage? I mean it's fab to be 7lb lighter but not sure if it's "supposed to be" more by now?
No more hunger or cravings which is good, managing a bit of exercise each day too, not had the energy burst that I heard happens in ketosis but then I'm in the tail end of a cold so that may be why.
Ideally I wanted to lose 6 stone all together but that might be unrealistic for me (that was my lowest weight as an adult and I was only there 2 weeks haha) so I'm aiming for 2 stone on VLCD then going to switch to something low calorie but not as low. Nit sure what yet but plenty of time to research it, so 2 stone is first goal, 4.5 stone 2nd goal then I'll be in normal BMI range so can have a think about if I want to lose more xx

There isn't really a 'supposed to be' as we all lose at completely different rates but I would say for someone that has what you have to lose, that's a very good loss so far. I'm on day 4 and had a sneaky midweek weigh and I'm 8lb down and I have a very similar amount to lose. I NEVER have that energy burst in ketosis Guess again we all react differently, wish it was a side effect I got but then I don't get many of the bad ones either.

Why are you planning to switch after 2 stone?

I don't know really, I think when I decided to do VLCD I assumed it'd be something I'd not manage to stick to for long. Also thought it'd be very expensive but I've been buying clearance shakes so it's actually not expensive at all. I'll probably see how it goes at each target. I also don't want to put loads on when I stop VLCD assumed switching to lose the rest would be the best idea. So much to learn xx

Think you've got the risk of putting on whatever plan you do if you just stop after, the important thing is to carry on and work up the plans to maintenance on any diet and you should be fine. What VLCD are you doing? Just do what is best for you, if that's VLCD for a couple of stone and on to something else that's fine, for me I know I need to continue with VLCD for most of the journey. Just wondered what your reasoning was.

Yes you're probably right to be honest. I think the idea of VLCD was, and still is at times, rather daunting and if I'm honest I didn't think it was realistic beyond a couple of months, now I'm almost a week in I feel more positive about it but still not sure I would be able to do it long term. My children are young and they love food and going out for meals, family roasts etc so I have ended up having to keep out of the way so I don't get tempted but also I'm worried about my kids getting the wrong ideas about food and healthy eating since I just have 3 shakes a day and nothing else, if that makes sense? I've always had issues with weight and food, more to do with how I feel about it than how I look, and I really don't want that to be passed on to my daughter, or my son for that matter. I imagine once I get comfortable with VLCD and experiment with low cal/carb meals I'll change my mind, going to do the packs I have now (slim & save,avidlite and some exante) which is 5 weeks worth, then see how I feel about continuing. Just a case of taking it a step at a time for me in the hope I don't fail xx

They're 3 and 5 (well almost) aren't they? I don't think they'll be learning anything from you having shakes and packs at the moment, I think they're too young to even think anything of it so I wouldn't worry about that. I would just do what works for you and as long as this is working, keep on with it and if you reach a point where it's not you can change tactics. You've got to believe in yourself, you're stronger than you think.

How did you know that? Haha They are almost 3 and just 4 so yeah maybe too young to notice anything. I'm a worry pot! I'm getting more and more confident about VLCD the more I read (on here and FB groups) so that's making a big difference. Thank you, I appreciate that, I'm really not all that confident in myself so maybe a lot of my problem is being pessimistic and expecting to fail. I actually feel positive about this and am very focused at the moment so maybe things are turning around xx

I know all things!! Haha not really, you posted in the how long thread about when you met, got married, had kids etc with your OH and I saw it.

Ah of course! I have a short memory, I was thinking, wow super spy here lol

I remember first worrying about being "fat" when I was about 5. Looking back at photos I wasn't fat at all, I have no idea where it came from so young. Later on I was picked on at school for being the fat one, again I actually wasn't fat, just happened to hang around with some girls who were much taller and slimmer so I suppose I looked it in comparison.

Something actually very empowering about VLCD for me now that I'm past the first few days