Add a meal week, Do you do it?

TaraTeal

Silver Member
Hellooo there,

To all of you experienced VLCDers out there. Who of you do the add a meal week every 4 weeks? Do you find it benefits you, do you stay in ketosis when you do it? Do you find it harder to stick to just the packs afterwards?

Just curious as to whether I should go all out until mid march (8weeks on plan) or whether I should add say a bit of chicken and veg for a 5 day period and then switch back? What do all of you think?

xxx

Also newbies like me, will you be planning to do any add a meal weeks? how long do you plan to stay on just packs alone?
 
I don't do it. I just have planned breaks instead. I had a planned break after 6 weeks for a holiday and then another break after 12 weeks for Xmas / New Year. I prefer to get down to it and keep my eye on the break coming up than add a meal option every 4 weeks. A break after 4 weeks is not part of the S&S plan either I think.
 
No it's not part of it, but I did see someone else stating they were going to do that, just wondered if it was something that many people do. I know that it isn't advised to follow a plan for more than 12 weeks at a time isn't it? I think I will try and stay on plan until my bday and then take a few days off for when we go away and then get straight back on until may. That would equate to around 12 weeks in total. Thanks for your input BG. I know you've had breaks and got back on it really well, so hope same can go for me!
 
I may be wrong, but I think Exante or W8 has the add a meal week. I've not heard of it on S+S. It does make sense, for the re-introduction of food but I think I'd sooner lose more then start re-feeding closer to goal.
 
When i start i dont plan on having any breaks at all. I did with LT and never got back on it which is why im having to go through rstarting again. Have a holiday at the begining of june so plan to start reintroducing food 2 weeks before that. So round about 16 weeks full pelt. Canny wait!
 
I find it quite hard to have food and then not so that's one of the reasons that I like to stay on track for as long as I can. Once you start on food again it becomes more difficult to get back to the packs only so I try not to have food breaks too often on that basis. Easter will be my next food break unless something special crops up to change that. The exception is a low carb / protein meal if I need to have a meal for a specific occasion. I don't deprive myself, but I don't go mad either.
 
Thanks guys, I just read that you should not stay on plan for more than 12 weeks at a time. I think I will try and stick until my birthday and then we are going away for a couple of nights. I totally understand about how hard it is to get back on it when you have a break though. This is why I wanted to know if any of you had done it.

I don't intend to stay on this diet right up until the wedding, but would like to try to stay on until may, then try slimming world red (ie. Low carb, high protein) xx
 
I'm on CD and, as per the NICE guidelines, had a week of over 800 cals after the 12th week. Stayed in ketosis, mind. I should technically be doing the same next week, as this week is my second 'week 12' - but i'm starting refeeding in less than four weeks so i shall trust my body can cope!

AAM week every4th (5th?) week used to be part of Cambridge, i think - but hasn't been for a while. I would have found it very hard - i had to be super controlled about week 13, so that i was happy to come back to TFR straight after.
 
I started on vlcd with AAW8 in October and they have Add-a-meal week every 4 weeks. So when I switched over to S&S, I've carried on with it and haven't had any problems with getting back on after.

A few years back, I did a vlcd and didn't take a break and my losses slowed down as the weeks went by.
This time round, I was terrified of add-a-meal week but it seems to boost my losses in the week after.

My next one starts this Monday and I'm really looking forward to it :D
 
I've just completed week 8 no breaks. I intend adding milk to my four a day in Week 12, following advice from BG re another diet plan (sorry, the source has gone). I don't want to add solids or tasty foods til I'm nearer my goal. So milk it is during Week 12 (with the sachets, not only milk...!)
 
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Haha yeah, didn't imagine you just gulping the milk down lol a few people have said that it seemed to help boost their losses if they had a week of eating around 800cals whilst staying in ketosis. Hmmm, not sure whether to try it or not.
 
I have spent years as a large person with little control over food. So put it this way, that hasn't been sorted in 12 short weeks. I think it has to be an individual decision as to how you 'up' the cals/carbs. I think it's important that you do that, the question is, how?!
 
i think one of the selling points of some of the plans is the quite carefully structured reintroduction of food at the end of the diet. Cd's is 7 weeks minimum, and i think LL's is 12. of course a lot of people skip it but, y'know - it's there.

i didn't find it so hard doing it for a week in the middle - because i didn't allow myself to cook anything enjoyable - just saw it like medication in a way. a certain weight of grilled chicken, a certain weight of broccoli.
 
i think one of the selling points of some of the plans is the quite carefully structured reintroduction of food at the end of the diet. Cd's is 7 weeks minimum, and i think LL's is 12. of course a lot of people skip it but, y'know - it's there.

i didn't find it so hard doing it for a week in the middle - because i didn't allow myself to cook anything enjoyable - just saw it like medication in a way. a certain weight of grilled chicken, a certain weight of broccoli.

I hear that Spangles! Bland and safe is my game plan! Enjoyable, but not enough to send me back into my bad old ways!
 
Spangles! you have lost 84lbs in 24 weeks, that's amazing. Good on ya! I am hoping for around 60 before june. And you've not had any breaks really either, hmm interesting!
 
no breaks at all except the one week you're sposed to go over 800 cals after 12 weeks - and i stuck to that like glue, too. i just know myself, and my track record on other diets was terrible. if i could take an inch i'd take a mile, and a couple of bottles of wine for the road... :eek: i think the only reason this has worked for me has been that it's completely black and white. 3 packs a day, and water to drink. and that's the long and the short of it.

of course when i finish, i'm going to have some work to do on my relationship with food... but at least i won't have 8 stone to lose while i'm doing it.
 
You are totally right, losing the weight is only the tip of the iceberg. All or nothing seems to be working for me too. I am only on day 6, but I can say that in totally honesty I have never stuck to a diet/plan 100% for a week in my life! Even slimming world, I went over my syns alot of the days. It's very easy to have just that little taste and then your body wants more, and I'd be telling myself no, but before I knew it I would be in the queue to the tills armed with all sorts of baddies!
 
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