Cambridge or Atkins?!!

[Plumjuice]

I really cant decide which of these 2 diets is the best route to go down!!
I would love to hear from people who have done both diets and tell me their pros and cons. I need to lose 6 stone, I know with sticking to Cambridge I could do it in 5-6 months but I do find it SO hard to stick too and drink all the required water! I really hate the taste of plain water!!!
Any help?

 

[JoanneM]

Well Ive done Exante which is similar to Cambridge and have recently moved back to Atkins. Theres no contest for me to be honest - Atkins any day. Total meal replacement is indeed the quick way to do it but its also the hard way.

It doesnt matter what diet you decide on though. Either way you do have to drink plenty of water although to be honest you should be doing that anyway purely for health reasons regardless of whether you are dieting or not.

 

[bubbles]

atkins every time!! i did cambridge and lost 6 stone it was amazing for me how quick it came off BUT it taught me nothing about food and this may be a bit controversial but it gave me more issues with food than I began with, I wont go into massive detail but i ended up with more problems after, yes I kept most of the weight off but I thought it was normal to starve myself whether this was with their shakes or by myself as I got to the point where I couldnt afford it anymore. I have been battling to get the last 3 stone off and been on and off every diet u can think of in the last year. I have got into excercise and its that that kept me away from cambridge as they dont recommend you do lots of excercise on that diet. You will get faster losses but at what cost? socially its a complete nightmare, they make you terrifed of eating and it resulted in me binge eating so badly after I came of it. With atkins you can eat, still enjoy food and its more a life style change than strict diet. Thats just my thoughts but whatever you go with good luck!x

 

[J2BLUE]

Consider extreme Atkins? 5-8g carbs a day from veg with unlimited meat, eggs, cheese, oil etc. I bet the losses would match Cambridge diet but you'd get to eat!

I'm currently doing this.

 

[bubbles]

true its the same prinicipal going into ketosis without stopping your life! when i did CD i didnt go anywhere for 6 months which wasnt fun AT ALL!

 

[British_Claire_84]

Hello, couldn't read and run.

I've done both CD and atkins. They are both very very different. It's my belief that certainly for myself, can't really speak for others, that you get one decent shot at doing a vlcd. I did the SS+ of CD and lost 3 stone in 3 months. I then needed to get some extra nutrients to do some training i had coming up so i moved over to atkins then and continued to lose another 1.5stones comfortably in about 3 months. CD was easy the first time round once i'd gotten into ketosis, i genuinely didn't feel hungry or have cravings. However getting into ketosis is very hard on a vlcd as you know that there's nothing to snack on or to take the edge off things when you need it. At least going into ketosis whilst on atkins you can snack on low carb things which really helps. CD is pretty much guaranteed to work and it is probably one of the quickest way to lose the weight imo. However, once you're off the wagon with it the weight creeps on very easily. I've tried twice to get back onto CD to lose weight quicker but failed each time because i just couldn't get into it, the spark of doing something new had gone and i knew i'd be hungry. I've also tried doing Exante which is practically the same as CD but 200cals per meal replacement rather than 150cals. You have 3 meals a day where as on SS+ with CD i was on 4 as i'm 5"8 and liked the milk option to have it in tea and coffee. Exante was fine at the start as again, it was something new that i could give my all however i soon got fed up of eating the same things day in day out and my job doesn't really help matters eating dust all the time and not being able to snack outside of it.

 

[rosebug]

You have to be desperate to do CD, that's the truth of it. I lost 5 stones or so my first go at it, when I was really really heavy. It does work and it works faster than just about anything else. I do agree with Claire on the 'one golden chance' principle with most diets including atkins actually. If you do cambridge you have your best losses the first time around, and the same with Atkins, unless there's a several year gap in between for your body to go back to old habits - which is exactly what you don't want.

You can have water flavourings and certain flavoured waters (non citric acid) on cambridge, much like you can on atkins.

The first time doing cambridge was a breeze. I tried again last year and had a much much harder time of it. So if you're going to go into cambridge then only do it if you're fully determined to stick to it, not worried you might come off. Try Atkins first if you're in that state, and if it doesn't suit you, maybe then go the cambridge route.

Either way there will be things that are hard and things that surprise you by being easy, but I think Atkins is a much more easy going first thing to try.

 

[MaxieP]

Bubbles, I could cry reading your post, it might as well be my story almost word-for-word. Cambridge made me soooo much worse. It made my binge eating insane. For me, exercise negates some of the stress that would normally make me overeat and Atkins stops the cravings caused when I eat carbs.

 

[bubbles]

Its a love/hate relationship for me with cambridge i love it for helping me lose 6 stone but i hate it for giving me so many more issues with food than I did before! i wish id done and stuck to atkins because its not saying you are fat you cant eat anything its saying yes your fat here is why, here is how to control it and lose weight and here is how to have a life while your on it. I wont ever recommend cambridge to anyone ever again I even did LL for a bit to do the counselling side but telling me I eat to hide my feelings isnt exactly something i didnt already know!! Ive stuck to atkins for 2 weeks now and not once have i had the urge to binge at all & quite honestly im shocked by that as I used to get it every single day!

 

[RachieB]

Hey bubbles I am following u on threads; not stalking u honest !!! I've just read ur post and I totally agree. I've got problems with food and yes LL helped me lose 5 stone but u put it back on plus another stone. Yes I loved being skinny and fitting to clothes. I've always being tall and big and for 6 months I felt acceptable.

I totally am with u about the sugar cravings and I have carb fixes. In the past 5 days I haven't had cravings. I have tried to go back to LL and CD but I couldn't stick to it. I will keep going and hope for a loss tomorrow.

 

[RachieB]

MaxieP. Hi to you too. I using my phone so I didn't see ur post above!! I totally agree with the golden chance saloon with both CD and LL. After I did both my binge needs grew exponentially. I think I will keep trying with Atkins to help with preventing bingeing and mood swings xx

 

[Wannabe Weeney]

Hi Plumjuice, I lost 3 stone in three months on Cambridge back in 2009 and vowed never to put it back on, I had worked too hard to sabotage my new slim self!! However once I returned to conventional food the weight started to creep steadily. I was eating a more balanced diet but hated the endless calorie counting and misery of portion control. I ate virtually nothing in order to remain slim, was constantly hungry, miserable and became quite obsessive about my size. I had gone from a foody to moody in six short months and realised I could'nt sustain this 'life'. You only have to lurk around CD forum to read how many (like me) are failed CD returners. Cambridge without doubt is very effective if you stick to it 100% but in my humble opinion is a short term fix only. Im now on week 6 of Atkins/low carbing and 19 pounds down and dont feel like im on a diet, the food is flavoursome, filling and gorgeous! I feel confident that once I reach my goal maintenance will never be a problem. Good luck Plumjuice with whatever diet you choose x