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My new counsellor (moved away from where I used to go) mentioned today that you can now have two bars a day, and you're allowed to have them on your first three days too unlike previously. She said they'd changed the recipe so they now have similar content to the other packs. Looking at the...

I'm getting back to LL starting from tomorrow, so fingers crossed it won't be too bad as I have a busy week at work... First time around I got off very light and was actually fine from the very start. Others in my group did have some of the symptoms you're describing but I am assured that they...

Well, two and half years later and I've finally decided to lose that extra bit that I never got around to the first time around. I'm pleased to say that I have not actually gained weight since finishing LLT and have maintained my 9.5 stone weight loss - now it's time to kick the last 2 stone or...

Yep. I've lost a lot of weight, I have a boyfriend who tells me that I'm beautiful and sexy, I've been maintaining this weight for nearly a year now.... but some days I just feel fat and useless! Don't worry, I think it's normal.

I used to look forward to my toffee bar all day long. I'd be practically running up the stairs when I got home, seriously. Those things are nomtacular. I'd still eat them now if I could...

Hello Mrs T. When I started on LLT I had a BMI very similar to yours. I've been maintaining my end weight (with a BMI of around 24) for a year now, and may even have lost a little more. To answer your questions, just from my own experience and thoughts having gone through the programme: Will...

Hi Daisy, Strictly speaking, you should only be able to do Lite, as you finished your Total course, maintained and are now returning to LL. However, it depends a lot on your counselor and if you're near to the line then I suggest you give her/him a call and talk it over with them. On Lite...

The water flavourings won't stop you from getting into ketosis. They're designed to help you to drink plenty of water, as some people find it really hard. Personally I would have struggled a lot more than I did, if I hadn't had the St. Clements flavouring. I went through 2-3 tubs a week.

I have to say, I always found it hard to get that kind of motivation from other people. It always had to come from me - so if I was struggling to stick with it, I really had to just stop myself and think of all the reasons I wanted to do it in the first place. Sometimes you forget that you're...

I guess that because I don't feel hungry as such, sometimes I forget them, especially the last one in the evening. I always have it but sometimes it's really late just because I forgot about it. If you do struggle in terms of just actually not wanting them though, the doubling up idea is...

Well as you said, with any diet if you go back to old ways, you will put the weight back on. The difference with LighterLife is the counselling and the management aspects, which help give you the tools to manage your weight once you lose it. But like most things in life, what you do with your...

Well one of the things that always put me off joining a weightloss programme was the group stuff, because I'm really not into all that. But the counselling really does help you identify the reasons why food is a problem and come up with ways to deal with that. Of course there's a lot more to...

My LLC always says you can take whatever painkillers you need, they don't have any effect on weight loss. I think if you were taking a lot of Ibuprofen you'd be more likely to have a problem as you're meant to take that with food.

Most antibiotics don't prevent you from drinking - I think it's mostly the ones you get from your dentist? You could also say that you have a blood test on the Monday or something and you don't want to still have alcohol in your system and/or have to cope with a hangover while you're fasting on...

Man, today is really a day for me coming across wrong :P

Hey, you can ask anything on here and if people know I'm sure they'll tell you. I don't mean to be critical, anything you eat or don't eat is your choice. I'd just be worried, personally, about looking for things to make it easier so early on, because actually it is probably already one of the...

Well what I have found from seeing people come and go in groups is that you really have to be in the right mindset. So it's either kick yourself up the bum and get into it properly, i.e. no picking or cheating, or you know what, just don't do LL and actually do lose the weight by going to the...

Glad to hear it :) I have up and down days, just got to keep with it.

I have a toffee bar every day and have done since day 4 of LLT. I still averaged 3lbs a week (probably a little more) so I don't feel they affected my weight loss. I completely understand what you mean about the "treat" mentality and yeah, that is a challenge for me sometimes. But then I...

Yep I did it for 7 months (on Lite now) so it is very doable indeed.

On total there isn't really an "allowed" list. It's very basic stuff like salt, pepper, tabasco sauce etc. In practice I suppose it depends how much you plan to use, but no, according to the rules this isn't something you can have. Edit: I'd also like to say well done for restarting - but...

I am struggling for motivation myself at the moment. I basically have to set myself interim goals instead of thinking about the end goal, and give myself things to look forward to to keep me going. As was suggested above, I do buy clothes that are just a bit small and I tell myself I can try...

Well you won't lose 17lb every week :P the average is 3 and it can be up or down from that really, sometimes it's very significant and sometimes less. It is still a lot more than you would expect on a "normal" diet!

I was incredibly excited before I started too - and with good reason! I'm sure you'll do just great :)

Offtopic and I'm sorry but I just noticed something in Minerva's signature. For the Horde!

Yep, all the time. But when you finish you feel proud that you didn't quit! I'm not talking about dieting by the way, it's more about the cleaning thing, hahahah. Cleaning is the kind of thing I give up on VERY easily...

Well, I did LLT for nearly seven months, had 2-3 soups a day and absolutely loaded them with salt and pepper. Never had any hydration problems :) Also depending on your BMI you might be able to switch to Lite (which is what I did recently), if your body is really telling you that it needs more.

You lose one hour of beauty sleep but you gain lovely long evenings :) And yep, doing stuff around the house sure does take one's mind off eating. Speaking of which.... *goes to clean*

I've actually been really lucky I guess in that no one I particularly care about has said anything negative. Sure, they've asked questions about how healthy it is etc. but they trust me to make my own decisions. Anyone who says anything negative is generally not someone I'm too concerned...

Well think about reaching for the chocolate - given that what you did that's making you feel so bad was to eat something you shouldn't, would the chocolate actually cheer you up? In my experience there are some battles worth fighting and some not. My relationship with my mother is very complex...

Thanks for the lovely replies! I had my weigh in today and lost 2.64lbs this week - not amazing but really not that different from a normal weight loss. I'm certainly going to keep going on Lite for now because I do think my body is telling me that it needs food, and getting fit is very...

I was doing pilates for some time, and only this week started doing aerobic exercise, which is a 25 minute cycle each way to work and back. The first day I did it I also decided to give LL Lite a trial, because my body was definitely telling me that I needed more energy. My first weigh in...

Thanks for the great responses guys, really. I am trying a meal a day for this week until my weigh in but I'm not feeling very positive about it to be honest. It feels really strange... but I'll let you know how I get on. To give some background, the thing that really pushed me into the...

Well, this week I'm giving Lite a trial run. I'm an obsessive scale-hopper (yes, I know many people have opinions on this but I've been doing it since the very start :P) and seriously, if the needle has moved at all in the past few days it's moved upwards. I think that mentally I really need...

I didn't have any stomach (or other) problems with the curry soup - but I found that the taste was just too much for a whole cup of soup. I felt that it should have been served with chicken and rice. Back to mushroom soup for me.

Well, you sound like you're trying to convince yourself to be honest. The only real motivation can come from you. All I'll say is that you're 20% complete already according to your ticker, so why cave in now? I can tell you to "be strong" and that "you can do it" but it doesn't mean anything...

Well you're not getting many calories so if you're not used to that level of exercise then maybe it was just a bit much. Maybe stay with 15 mins for the first few times, then 20, then 25 etc. Build it up slowly so your body doesn't go OMG WTF ARE YOU DOING TO ME? I'm sure you'll be fine...

I had a month or so of having this problem really badly but seems to have cleared up. Using that Carmex stuff helped with mine a bit, it's quite good.

I found it dragged a little at the start because I was so excited and hopping on the scales three times a day :P Once you settle into a routine of it, it'll go by more quickly.

Actually you do also need to worry about losses. Not having all 4 packs means your body may go into "starvation mode" because it's not getting enough of what it needs. If it does this, it will try and retain fat instead of shedding it. If you're having trouble fitting them all in, why not...

I live on chicken soup, mushroom soup and toffee bars. The toffee bars are almost too good though... Take it day by day - it gets easier with every one as you get one day closer to your goal.

Well, the act of chewing something prepares your stomach to take in food. That's why chewing gum sometimes makes you hungry or queasy - it causes your stomach to produce acid to break down the food you're ingesting. So I don't think it's a great idea to be honest!

I live in west London, well, on the fringes anyway... Middlesex. I'm Irish though.

Ohai! I finally had the nerve to post a pic of me at the start of LLT and one of me now (with still 3.5 stone-ish to lose) in my gallery. I'm not a photograph person :P Like that one of you btw :)

I'm single at the moment (and loving it) but I hate being bigger than my partner, as I have been with all my previous men. I want to be the GIRL damnit! Being huge makes me feel like the man.

Not sure about stores but you can order them on Amazon.

Your LLC shouldn't allow you to do LLT. LLT is designed for people who are obese and presumably there's a good reason why they don't recommend total abstinence for people with a BMI of less than that. In addition, LLL is still a ketosis-basis diet and actually according to my own LLC, people...

Grats Pinkie! Definitely feels good...

Afternoon all, This may well be a silly question... but I'm going away for a weekend in a few weeks and was just wondering if anyone has ever had any trouble bringing your LL foodpacks in your carry-on luggage overseas. I'm not sure if there might be a problem with powder sachets etc...

Yep I have gone from morbidly obese to overweight. Next step - NORMAL! Thanks for the lovely posts :)

It's a small milestone really and it shouldn't be this big a deal, but today I'm insanely happy as I am now officially no longer obese. Such a terrible word and I never plan to fall into that category again!

The calorie content of alcohol varies a lot, but I'm a wine drinker personally and that's one of the worst things in terms of calorie content. Alcohol should not in itself knock you out of ketosis, but it WILL affect your weight loss. The amount of weight that you lose is based on the...

Thanks for the recommendation :)

...as tomorrow, for the first time since I was about 8... I'm going to wear a skirt. If anyone goes blind, I'll know it was too soon.

I'm guilty of weighing myself every single day - but I don't use it to actually look at the weight as such, I use it to see how much I'm losing over the week, i.e. I look at the difference in weight every day and it doesn't matter that my scales say something different to the LL scales. For my...

Our LLC never has any problem taking forms as long as they confirm blood pressure and heart rate. If you're concerned, give your LLC a call or e-mail and he/she should answer this for you easily. By the way, your CIF number is your client number and it doesn't matter if you don't put it on the...

Chew but don't swallow :P

Or female, in fact.

Well, what were you planning on doing with your day off? As long as you keep busy at whatever that is, you'll be absolutely fine :) Nothing to do? Go for a walk or a swim... I do stuff around the house when I have nothing else to do (as I'm lazy most of the time and there's always stuff that...

Hey there and welcome to the forum! Well done on amazing first week loss :)

Nah it shouldn't mess up your weight loss - just make sure you're getting enough fluids and you should be absolutely fine. Your body even at rest needs more calories than you're take in on LL in order to function so you will still lose weight. The important thing is that you eat all your food...

I very occasionally feel dizzy. It may just be a one-off thing for you, but it can also be blood pressure related. See if it's a bit on the low side the next time you go for your monthly checkup. Also, if you're not doing it already, try adding salt to your savoury packs as our LLC says this...

Wellll I still need to pee a lot, but not as much as at the start! Good luck at your weigh-in.

Well I got a lot of gurgling stomach, and I know a lot of other people in my group got that too. So something similar maybe? I still get it but it was worst for the first week or so.

Ah well I'm very stuck in my ways on things like this. I have a chocolate shake for breakfast more or less as soon as I get up so like... 07:45ish? Then chicken soup for lunch at 12:30, then a bar when I get home which is usually around 17:30, and then another soup before bed so probably...

Someone in my group comes to my LLC because she didn't get along with the one in her area. I don't believe there's any problem with it. Might be worthwhile talking it out with your counsellor first though. It would be a shame to lose the support of your current group. Maybe go back for one...

Hi Yasmine, As with all diets, whether or not the weight goes back on afterwards is entirely down to how committed you are to changing your lifestyle. Taking myself as an example - I started LighterLife at over 20 stone at the end of August this year. Now I weight around 16 and a half stone...

Let me fetch my steel-toe boots.

Don't worry, you're doing great - keep it up. They will have to say something eventually!

£600 per day? Marry me? I guess you mean calories :D I completely froze the fingers off myself earlier, scraping ice off the car. I'm not having a problem with water really. I guess if it's cold you could drink black tea/coffee instead? I'm not aware of there being any limit. I have two...

That's pretty good motivation though! I can certainly imagine that when you've been at your goal and you can remember how amazing that felt, that the desire to feel that way again would really keep you on track. Personally I've never been at that point and I'm really looking forward to it! At...

Heya, I was just wondering what everyone is doing to keep themselves motivated. I personally have a couple of lovely items of clothing hanging up in my wardrobe, which are my ultimate goal, in a size 12-14 (as well as a few interim pieces to keep me going, which I try on every week to see...

My group is on Sunday so it's not too bad! Think you made the right choice about Cadbury World though - just too much temptation all in one place. I accidentally watched a cooking program the other day too but I'm gonna have to avoid them - anything Jamie Oliver cooks makes me drool. Hope...

Someone I know told me she thinks the tomato soup has changed too, can anyone confirm? I never liked it before but I wouldn't mind trying a new recipe.

Yeah the mushroom has been changed. I usually have 14 mushroom soups a week, but this week I had 1 and had to swap the rest for chicken. It's awful. I hope they give feedback to LighterLife as I absolutely loved the old mushroom soup! Toffee bar is my favourite but from the description...

I'm sure they'll be exchanged without a problem, it's just unfortunate that you can't do that as soon as you need to. Well, if you need to have something I'd suggest as low carbohydrate as you can get, like plain meats.

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll think about it some more but maybe it's better I just hold off on the restaurants thing til I finish this... would be dumb of me, I guess, to do anything that might make it harder.

We haven't really discussed this in group yet, but I've been personally agonising over it for a while. I live away from home and only actually fly home one a year - Christmas. Our Christmas is always very centred around food and drink and there's lots of it around. Now, I'm OK with...

Well, I'll talk to my LLC about it but I think that I won't be allowed with my BMI?

Heya, I'm just curious... in a couple of months I'm going to meet a friend overseas, for a long weekend, and really I'd like to be able to go out and try some of the restaurants there etc. Has anyone here ever planned a break from LL for a few days, and if so any tips or comments? I'm...

Kim, before I started LLT I drank almost exclusively Coke Zero and 7Up Free. Seriously, I was drinking it by the can and drank about 8 cans (maybe more) a day of the stuff. So naturally, I was petrified about suddenly not being able to drink it any more, as I don't really like water and I...

There's someone in my group who suffers from depression (though I don't know anything more about her condition), and she was still allowed to join but I think had to get a letter signed by her doctor? It's not impossible.

Thanks :)

...but actually I feel excited and relieved and a whole bunch of other things. Split up with my boyfriend of over 4 years this morning. I'll have to go through the hell of selling our flat (and hoping not to be left with a huge debt afterwards), my car, rehoming my cat... but ultimately, I...

I cut down on carbs for 3 or 4 days prior to starting and had pretty much no ill effects at all in the first few days. Depends on what you eat/drink most of to be honest, as Hanmac said maybe cutting down caffeine would be good if you drink lots of tea/coffee/caffeinated drinks.

I just crossed from Morbidly Obese to Obese. Woot :P It'll sure feel great to get under 30 though!

My LLC has been very adamant that we must make every attempt to eat all 4 foodpacks a day, for 2 reasons: 1. You don't get 100% of your daily nutrients if you don't 2. You actually lose LESS weight by eating less than the 4 foodpacks. Reason being that if you eat 4, you've got the minimum...

End of week 3, 4.4lbs this week. That's a step up from last week so I'm uber-happy :D

Well I can imaging that you probably would have less energy, as your body will be using its energy to fight off whatever illness you picked up, but you're still giving it only 500 calories a day. But your immune system I wouldn't expect to be adversely affected, because you're still getting all...

Hey Flossy, welcome to the forum. I'm in week 3 at the moment, finding it OK so far! Hoping for a nice loss at WI this Sunday. Sticking to it 100% so far but have of course been tempted a couple of times. Biggest challenge for me is taking control of myself!

Thanks for the comments (and really amazing pictures!). I've never been slim and I think that, even if I end up with loose skin and stretch marks, the sheer joy of being a size 12 (or whatever size) will be enough for me! And yep, exercise is not high on my priority list right now, but...

Ah don't worry, it's easy to forget little things and panic! I've only been doing this a couple of weeks but everything is already a total habit to me. Good luck ;)

Unless you put in like a pound of paprika you'll be fine. Obviously don't make a habit of it ;) but one day where you added a bit of paprika to a foodpack isn't going to have any major impact.

I actually feel pretty angry on your behalf! But well done for not eating - it's so hard to stick to a diet when something like this happens.

Best of luck - I'm sure you'll do it in no time ^^

Thanks guys - and Slendablenda, grats on the swimsuit ^^ that's one of my long-term goals!

I'll definitely be doing RTM - I've read a lot of stories who put the weight back on after they finish, but I agree that many of those probably didn't do RTM. Abstaining for food for however long will get the weight down but I'm sure it's really easy to slip back into bad habits afterwards -...

The funny thing is, really I do agree with you about the scales! But I'm obsessed at the moment - I don't think I can give it up just yet..... I will try though!

Thanks for your reply! You're right - it is better to have some excess skin than to be really overweight. I've been overweight since I was a child really, so probably nearly 20 years at this stage. I guess I'll see how it's going in a few months and then maybe start with toning exercises and...

I'm sure I'll be back to my normal self in no time! Very unlike me, really I've felt nothing but happy/excited so far so I'm sure it's just a temporary glitch... well, I hope so anyway. So does my boyfriend :P

...the biggest thing that probably worries me about losing a lot of weight (and really, I got a lot to lose!) is that instead of having lots of fat, I'll have biiiiig folds of skin hanging off me. Ew. I'm told that after a year or so your body does start to adjust, and you can do toning...

I've suffered from migraines since I was about 13, as has my older brother. This is the start of week 3 for me and I can honestly say I haven't had a single ill effect in terms of headaches, nausea etc. That said (and I'm sure you know this), people tend to have different migraine triggers so...

Glad to see everyone doing so well, and a shame about not being able to stay on LL, Beeswax. This is the start of my third week and for no real reason today I've been miserable and depressed all day - not like me at all, and nothing particular happened... wonder if it's a food/lack of...

I suppose that technically I started in August, but it was the 31st so I count myself as more of a September starter. Two weeks in, and I'm a little demotivated because I only lost 2.64lbs in week 2 :( Hope it's a bit more next week, but hey, a loss is a loss. Best of luck all.